Summer is finally here! July 2 - 14

Tuesday July 2nd, Happy Anniversary to us, 47 years, wow!

Ray didn't want me to have to cook on our anniversary, so we decided to try the new Cook and Butcher Restaurant in Cowichan Bay. We've heard good things about it, so off we went for lunch. It is located on the main drag right on the water. Great views.

Ray took some pictures out the window at our booth.

Of course the weather improved greatly after the long weekend. Temperatures to rise for the next couple of weeks.

Wednesday found us back in Duncan for an appointment, so of course after some grocery shopping we went for lunch. This time Brunch on Third. A mimosa flight for me! lol

Back at home relaxing on the dock. Summer is finally here.

On Thursday there's a bunch of tomatoes and my homegrown swiss chard to use up ... stuffed pork loin for dinner. I prepped it all with a salad in the morning so just needed to grill the meat.

Embroidered Anniversary Flowers from our neighbour Pat. Beautiful.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday basically the same deal. Some chores in the morning and then by 10:30 down at the dock for the day.

Sunday and Ray took me out for a big breakfast. Another hot, hot day. I put ribs on the smoker at noon so dinner slowly cooked itself. Fresh corn for our side. Delicious. We spent the day down on the dock. Ray's been using his knee too much according to his physio guy, so he's supposed to take a week off of doing anything major. Today's temp is 34.5C/94F. It's going to be even hotter tomorrow. The lake is finally warming up at 20.5C/71F, I'm actually swimming instead of just briefly dipping. :) The lake level is still high, which is good for having water in the river for the fall and the spawning salmon.

This whole week we had wonderful sunny warm weather ... record temperatures everywhere in the province. All week the afternoons are spent down on the dock. We pretty much stayed home hiding from the heat.

Our gardener took on the pruning of the hedge this year. We have to wait until the end of June to prune as there are lots of baby birds in the hedge May through June. A foot of growth still needs to be taken off the top. A very hot job.

Lots of activity on the lake with the warm temperatures. This is a Ranger Tug, probably about 24 feet. This is a boat we'd considered before going full-time in the RV. We certainly don't need a cabin cruiser now with our "kottage" on the lake.

Hard to believe 2 weeks have gone by. Tomorrow we're off for a little adventure visiting Gabriola Island for 4 nights.