First two weeks of November, Nov 1st - Nov 14th

Friday morning had some beautiful fall colour shots from our deck.

 

Saturday morning we were out the door early, heading to Nanaimo. It's nice the rain quit for the day. First up is a Costco shop, then to another store to get  paint supplies for Ray's " Christmas Village".  We also took a quick tour through the Beban Park Craft Fair. We've not been there since we lived in Nanaimo. Came home with only one gift. :) Next up, a sushi lunch then a short visit with Jason, Kristi, Amelia and Olaf. Boy he's grown. 

Kristi playing charades.... answer, you take too many pictures

 

Amelia had "dressup time" with all her various costumes.

After a couple of hours it's time to come home. We left at 7:45 am and didn't get back until 3:30. A long day walking and sitting for Ray.

Monday and a very stormy day. Lake Cowichan did not get the wind that the coastal sections of the island did. Lots of power outages but not here. We pretty much hunkered down inside. The rain did stop late morning with a peak of sunshine to later in the afternoon.

Seems like it was Monday and then it was Friday. 

Tuesday we headed into Duncan so Ray could get his veneer glued back on one of his teeth. We also got our Arexvy vaccinations. 

Brunch on Third

Friday mornings sunrise.

More puttering around the house, that pretty much is it. Ray is enjoying melting his foam. :) Next up painting it. Can't wait to see the finished product.

We have been having trouble with some raccoons deciding that our ramp to the dock is their new latrine! They are also pooping between the dock box and the ramp at the bottom. I guess not having a dog anymore leaving scent in the yard, we've become a "free for all". lol

After cleaning and spraying with Ammonia daily, it is not working ... they are still pooping.  After cleaning up again, this time with soap and bleach, I moved empty planter pots onto the area they are using with a plastic bag underneath and also sprinkled cayenne pepper everywhere. Apparently they don't like the feel of plastic on their feet and information I read, is to move furniture or pots where they were pooping to encourage them to move on. Unfortunately it is pouring rain so I bet the cayenne pepper will be washed away. I have ordered a 

Solar Animal Repeller Outdoor 5 Modes Animal Repeller with Motion Sensor Ultrasonic Animal Repeller for Cat, Deer, Rabbit, Raccoon, Squirrel

from Amazon so hopefully this will fix it. I should get it in a week. I will update. :)

Saturday we attended the local craft fair up at the arena. Ray picked up some local baking and I picked up a couple of things for presents. We like to support local crafters.

Jason and Amelia came to the lake on Sunday to help Ray with the inside Christmas lights that you need a ladder for. Of course that meant cooking breakfast and lunch. I had a great time playing with Amelia while the boys did the work. :) Jason made short work of getting it done.

Amelia playing with the new to her playdough molds from Pat next door. Jason hanging up the lights in the background.

Monday with the lousy weather, I decided to make some Chinese Food at Home. Prawns with honey pecans, and fried rice. Yummm.

Tuesday morning we popped into Duncan for some errands and checked out Canadian Tire's Christmas stuff. Came home with a door mat and some outside garland for the front door. As Elvira was here cleaning, we went for lunch at Jake's at the Lake for their "Roast on Tuesdays" new menu item. It was delicious, stuffed pork loin with gratin veggies. That's dinner too. Next week should be Roast Beef.

After lunch back at home, Ray back downstairs painting and I went upstairs and finished wrapping all of our Christmas Presents. Nice to have that done and ready. Now that November 11th is passed we can start pulling out Christmas. :)

Wednesday woke up to pouring rain again bouncing off our metal roof from the predicted overnight storm. Although windy outside, we still have power :) This fall so far, we've had storm after storm. Glad Ray bought me a backup honda generator now we don't have the motorhome's generator to use, as we are home in the winters. One of his Christmas presents for me. :)

Ray's been busy working on his Christmas Villages ... after forming and painting his foam it's now time to start putting it together. Stuff everywhere!

Here are some pictures of how much the lake has come up in a few days!

As I had mentioned ... nothing too exciting going on around here except watching the lake rise!