Spring, at least according to the calendar lol, Kristi and Amelia come to visit. March 19 - 31

Saturday turned out quite sunny for a change, so we decided to take a drive to Ladysmith. We have never walked the main street to see the architecture and little shops. Today is the day. They really showcase that they were a logging town. There are pieces of equipment on every corner on 1st Street.

Unexpected cozy courtyard next to the pizza place.

Gate secured with a really old(and very large) lock

1st Avenue downtown Ladysmith

After wandering around for an hour it's time for lunch at the Fox and Hound Pub located in a really old building. Ray really wanted steak and kidney pie that they make from scratch. Yuck to me!!! I ordered their beef dip. Definitely decorated like an old English Pub with all of the telephone booth paraphernalia and dark beams. They even have an old one outside their building.

Photo from google

Back home by 3 pm where we had a thundershower. There were even whitecaps on the lake. You could see how much moisture in the sky with the blurriness.

Within 10 minutes it was over and everything was pretty calm again.

Kat sent us some pictures of Stella. She sure is growing as is their puppy Charlotte.

Sunday is the first day of spring. Woke up to 0C (32F)  Could have fooled us! There is new snow up on those hills. lol

Monday, more rain. The upside is hopefully protecting against a bad fire season. Sure would like to see a little more sunshine though. Still seeing snow on the mountain, but not as low as yesterday.

Tried to make a "low calorie" zucchini bread yesterday. Big Fail. Neither of us liked it. Into the "dust bin". This morning I decided to make Japanese Hotcakes for brunch instead. Delicious. The cakes were light and airy. This is a picture from google as I forgot to snap one. My hotcakes looked like this, but had a blueberry compote that I made with a dab of whipping cream on top instead of syrup. A little fiddly, but a good challenge for me. This picture shows a stack of 2, however I only gave us each one in the spirit of Ray trying not to eat so much. lol

Rained all day so I played in the kitchen with making marinara and meatballs for our spaghetti dinner.

Tuesday, we headed up to Nanaimo to Jason and Kristi's to visit and stay overnight. I need to accompany Jason with Amelia to the dentist for her first visit tomorrow morning. Bringing some marinara and meatballs so Jason doesn't have to make dinner other than cook pasta.

We left early and ate lunch at Nori Sushi before braving a Costco shop. Arrived at Jason's at 1:30 just in time for me to put Amelia to bed for her nap while Jason had some errands. Jason's mom had come up from Victoria to visit so after I put Amelia to bed we were able to visit for an hour before she headed home. Kristi was able to come home early from the OR so had a nice visit.

Of course once mommy is home that is who Amelia wants. lol

Wednesday morning Jason put Amelia in her car seat in our car and I followed him with the baby to the dentist. She did amazing. Jason's dentist Sean, is also a friend and Amelia had previously met him anyways. This appointment was to get her used to the office. Cute as a button in her baby yoda suit.

Jason brought her back out to me, I took her to the car, fed her a bottle and then took her home for her nap. What a good baby. Not one tear and right to sleep. Once Jason came home from his dental cleaning we headed back to the lake.

Home by 11:30 and after lunch we were able to sit on the lawn in the sunshine out of the wind for an hour or so. It was a balmy 14C. Lovely day. Our heather is blooming and Ray puttering with winter debris. Best to take every advantage when the sun comes out as it has been mainly dreary and wet for the past few weeks. February was quite dry but no so March.

Thursday we headed out early to Duncan for some shopping and a pedicure. :) Cloudy all day but a few peaks of the sun.

Friday, another cloudy day. Kristi and Amelia arrived at around 3 pm. A great afternoon with our daughter and grand daughter. Of course Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding on the menu as requested. lol

Cookies with Grandpa

Raspberries all over the window. lol

Amelia tucked into the roast beef and yorkshires too.

Yup there is a baby here. :)

Amelia went to bed at 7:30 and we ate our apple pie and ice cream. A great day.

Saturday morning woke to rain. Cuddle time then cheerios time.. :)

Spent the time playing with the baby and made scrambled eggs for Kristi and Amelia. At 9am, Kristi, Amelia and Ray went for a nap. lol I spent the time prepping for lunch. Great day having both of them here. 

Kitchen helper.

Sunday morning after breakfast of waffles, Kristi and Amelia with Zeus headed back home during the baby's first nap. Packed and on their way by 8:45 am. Great visit but certainly life is busy with a baby who goes non stop until she sleeps.

After Kristi left, Ray moved the motorhome to the street and at 9am our guy showed up to do the pressure washing. It took him 3 hours to do the driveway to get rid of all the "green". He made it down the sidewalk to the back concrete patio and quit for the day. Trent will start up again tomorrow to finish. Glad it's not me this year. :) A young kid of 23 and he said his legs hurt and his back was really sore. :( Last year I did it all over three days and was really sore for a week.

Monday morning rain ... but by 9 it tapered off. Trent arrived at 9:30 to finish the power washing of the sundeck and patio under the deck. He first moved all of the planters to the front of the house, ready to be deployed back onto the sundeck and the front of house.

Tuesday, I spent over an hour pressure washing the kayaks, and the bottom of the railings. I think Trent is a little colour blind. lol The black flashing when wet barely shows the green algae until it's dry so needed to be redone. Ray then took over and scrubbed the gazebo roof and peak part of the roof that he could reach from the deck. That was it for both of us for the day.

Wednesday morning, was quite windy and the next door's ramp for their new dock arrived. Took some tricky piloting to get around the breakwater and our dock. One of the crew had to get to our dock and push it around. 

By the end of the afternoon they had it installed. Now just the decking needs to be done.

Ray headed to Duncan for a dental appointment first thing. Once he came back we moved the planters to the sundeck ready to be filled with dirt and flowers. Feels good to get spring chores done one my one.

Thursday morning it was a bit cloudy and the lake calm. Last night we were supposed to see the Northern Lights but getting up twice during the night showed only clouds so no light show here. 

That was it for March. On to April :)