Home and now the work starts to get ready to go south for the winter! September 4 - 17

Home Saturday afternoon and after our KFC lunch it was time to sit down at our dock. Nice to be home.

We took a couple days off to recover from all our early mornings and long travel days. Sunday it actually rained for a few hours so we basically stayed inside and did small chores like laundry. lol

I'm still suffering from my cold with coughing but otherwise felt pretty good. We brought things in from the dock and yard to start the winter storing. Wednesday the boat came out of the water. We fueled it up before bringing it home. Now Kyle's Kraft needs a bath before it is stuffed into the garage for the winter. That needs doing before we can get on with other projects as the MH needs to be moved out of the way first and then everything else fitted back in around the boat like a jigsaw puzzle lol.

The afternoons are spent sitting down at the dock enjoying the last of summer. You can sure see fall is here with the cool morning temperatures causing "smoke on the water". It does heat up for the afternoon to a balmy 25C or so.

Thursday Ray managed to get the boat all washed up, ready to be into the garage for the winter after it dries off. I spent the morning going through my freezers and chucking out some old breads etc. I also prioritized my stuff as to what's going south with us. 

some halibut, prawns, chorizo  and chicken were getting "long on the tooth" so I invited Pat and Darryl over for Paella tomorrow.  

Friday is busy. We managed to get the boat into the garage for the winter. Next we moved the planters from the sundeck to the front of the house. Ray moved the motorhome back in place and levelled it so we can finish our pack up before leaving on the 19th. 

Our gardener came today to mow the lawn, so he is able to empty all the planters and move them under the sundeck for the winter. Another chore done before we leave. I also bought a can of spray paint and marked all the perennials that will to be trimmed to the dirt after they die off in October so he doesn't inadvertently clip the wrong plants. lol Next Friday he will empty all the herb boxes and the pots on the retaining wall so we will basically be done. I collected all my solar lights as well. I will turn the irrigation off next week and they will be blown out end of October as per usual. Everything organized. :)

I  prepped the Paella ingredients early and once Pat and Darryl arrived at 5 pm the cook started. A lovely couple of hours visit. They head out tomorrow for Oliver, BC for their annual "brothers meetup". 

Pat brought over a fabulous Saskatoon Berry Pie for dessert.

Saturday morning we met up with the kids to pick up Amelia at Highway 18 Junction for her overnight with us. The baby sure doesn't mind coming here. She charged in the front door straight to her toys.

After lunch and some running around the deck it's time for her nap. We must have done a great job as she slept 2 1/2 hours!

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After nap snack with Grandpa.

Then it was more fun. We took her to the new kids park to run around. The smoke came in quite heavy so it's not too hot. Of course we had to take her baby. No wonder Ray's back is a little sore after she visits for a couple of days lol Would not miss it for the world though. Fortunately she walks most places now so not so much carrying her.

On the way back home Grandpa stopped for ice cream.

After a busy afternoon, dinner and a bath she definitely wanted to go to bed after her story. lol

It's quite a smokey afternoonm so we mostly stayed inside after the visit to the kids park.

Lucky for us she slept from 8 pm through to 6:30 am. without a peep. Sunday morning after blueberry pancakes it's playtime again. Here she is feeding her baby some of her cookie. So cute.

Taking her baby for a walk. The smoke is less today, so more comfortable breathing outside.

Jason, Kristi and Zeus arrived about 1 pm. They helped us take the remainder of the deck furniture down to the basement and helped get the ladders up out of the water for the winter. Where they parked their trailer there is blackberries, so they picked a bowl for Amelia and she finished them before she walked back to our house.

Jason headed home after dinner as a friend is arriving later tonight and Kristi and Amelia stayed overnight.

Monday morning after coffee and breakfast, I drove Amelia and Kristi back home before her nap.

Grandpa needs to read her the book but she want's mommy close.

I played with Amelia while Kristi unpacked. She was determined to carry her baby in her back pack they way Mommy used to carry her. :)

After a quick bite to eat, I left to come back to the lake. We managed to sit down at the dock for a bit but the wind came up and it turned too chilly. Sure feels like fall. Temps only getting to 22C. 

Kat sent me some pictures of our granddaughter Stella. Boy is she growing as is their puppy Charlotte and talks a mile a minute.

Tuesday I got my hair cut real short for our next adventure to the USA, so I won't worry about getting it cut for awhile. Boy did she take me seriously! I think I have to hide for 3 weeks so it grows out a bit. lol

We also had the Fireplace guy come. Our gas FP in the living room decided to quit last week when Ray tried to turn it on in the morning to warm up the house a bit. I want it working so I don't have to deal with it at Christmas. Turned out to be the receiver and he replaced it. Not a too expensive part but with the service call it was a few bucks.

Rest of the week we were checking off a bunch of things like emptying out fridges and packing frozen food into the motorhome. Thursday our last visit with Amelia and Jason up in Nanaimo. Going to miss this little peanut and the kids of course. lol

Before we went to Jason's we stopped for lunch at the Fox & Hound in Ladysmith for their pot pies. Yumm.

Fun at the toy store with Daddy.

Friday the final garden stuff got done, everything put away for winter. Ray put the final stuff away down at the dock. He took the MH into the tire shop to get an extender put on on of the back inside tires to make it easier to check the air and I ran into Duncan for some final things. Housekeeper came and cleaned the inside so everything is cleaned out, especially 2 fridges. lol The house is ready for Christmas :)

Ray spread some moss killer (the black in the picture)

With the house all clean, and fridge emptied, I managed to snag another night down in Victoria for Sunday too, so we will leave Sunday morning instead of Monday. No point messing up the house.

Saturday, I did the last of the laundry and changed the bed so we are GOOD TO GO! So excited.