Dianne comes to the lake to recover from knee surgery. - May 20 - 31st

My 65th birthday roses from Roy and June made it another year.

Tuesday, our buddy Dianne, has her second knee surgery today. We'll be waiting to greet her tomorrow when she arrives with Steve, so she can recover in our basement suite. No stairs to navigate. 

Her surgery was successful and they arrived at 4 pm to settle in. We had a short visit and left them to settle in for the evening.

Picture by Steve

Our friend, Laurel, in Austrailia, had spinal surgery on Wednesday. She is doing well she says, but of course in a lot of pain. She had the same surgery Ray experienced three times, fusing spine. Laurel will have a much longer recovery than Dianne.

The rest of the week we popped downstairs periodically, mostly for happy hour. I cooked a bunch of dinner so Steve didn't have to.

Saturday turned out warm enough for everyone to sit outside, Dianne managed an hour before back to the lazyboy recliner.

Earlier in the morning the boys even managed to go out fishing for a bit. It was flat calm. No fish though.

When they got back, Steve helped Ray with a "dump run" to Meades Creek. They also did a walk down to Spring Beach, a Forest Service Recreation Site.

A very busy spot on hot days in the summer.

While Dianne is resting downstairs, I wandered around my gardens.  My Iris's are all blooming and they are gorgeous.

Sunday is a cloudy and windy day. The forecasted rain started at dinner time. I'd made pork ribs on my Traeger, paired with baked beans and a corn salad, for dinner for the 4 of us tonight. Turned out yummy. I also made a tomato and swiss chard tart for lunch for us all. My swiss chard needed harvesting. After cooking for a good part of the day, I'm on strike tomorrow. Steve is on his own. lol 

Monday although cloudy the lake was calm so we got Steve moving early and the boys left for trying their luck fishing at 8 am. The were frustrated, they could see a dozen or so fish at the mouth of Shaw Creek, but other than Steve having one on briefly and a couple of other strikes, no fish in the boat.

Tuesday's a beautiful day and we managed to sit on the back lawn for a bit in the afternoon, so Dianne could get outside too. She is now a week into her recovery and doing well.  While we were out on the lawn we saw a "dragon boat" go by. I think there was a field trip from Duncan with kids.

They all merrily waved at us.

We ordered pizza for dinner as this is their last night here. Steve picked up the tab. Thanks a bunch!

Wednesday, another sunny flat calm start to the day. I have a hair appointment for 10 am, so gave the Colibabas a hug goodbye as they would be on their way back to Courtenay before I got back home. They were here 8 days for her knee recovery.  They handed us a thank you card with a gift certicate to our favourite sushi restaurant in Nanaimo. Thanks a bunch guys!

We spent most of the afternoon on the sundeck under the gazebo. Although sunny, it's quite windy and hot.

Thursday and a very rainy morning. Ray headed to Duncan early for a dental appointment and then shopping for some fishing gear in preparation for our fishing trip next month. By afternoon the sun came out and it's quite hot outside. Ray's busy doing some painting of trim on the stairs and around the house. Spots where the red paint had been banged. He got so hot he actually jumped into the lake!

Outta the water! Straight into our hot tub.

Friday we headed to Cowichan Bay for lunch at the Cook and Butcher before picking up our spot prawns from the boat.

We shared a seafood platter. Delicious.

The prawn boat was late, so I sat on our cooler and waited with a bunch of other people. Ray wandered through the stores and had a huge (6") ice cream cone. Finally at 2:30 the boat showed up. It's a very low tide so quite the crawl down the ramp to the dock.

Back home we sat outside on the deck. Another beautiful day. In the evening, I got an invite next door to Mike and Deb's for a short visit with Debra and her mom, Lolly. Nice catching up.

Saturday morning we woke up to rain. Good for the gardens, but not nice to hang out in. Glad we chose Cowichan Bay yesterday instead of today.

That's two weeks gone. Boy is the time flying by. June 1st tomorrow.

Rhodo's, Victoria Highland Games and the Buchanan Clan - May 12th - 20th

This morning, since the sun's out, I decided to go for a walk down Point Ideal to the Rhododendron Memorial Garden. We've driven by it for 7 years and never walked it. lol All of it is in bloom currently and is absolutely gorgeous.

Then my Rhodo's and Azaleas.

Wednesday night we went to Chemainus Theatre for their performance, The Hounds of Baskerville. A Sherlock Holmes play. It's hilarious. We started with a great dinner buffet at the theatre beforehand too. 

Here is a picture of the front of the Theatre's garden I took at intermission.

Thursday I went to Nanaimo to get my stitch out of my nose. lol I arranged ahead of time to pick Amelia early up from daycare to spend a couple of hours with her, before heading home.

Amelia and I went to the Mcdonalds at Rutherford Mall as there's a play space, but first snack time.

A much faster slide than the Mcdonalds in Duncan lol.

We stayed for about an hour, until I saw a couple of kids arrive with runny noses ..... we are outta there! Back to their house and a short visit with Kristi before I headed home to the lake.

Friday is a quiet day. We waited for Steve and Dianne to stop by, dropping off their things for their stay next week after Dianne's surgery. We hunkered down as the weather not so great.

Another puzzle done by Ray.

Saturday and another wet day, so we postponed going to the Highland Games in Victoria until Sunday, which has a better weather report. Cool at 14C but sun with clouds. The only downside is winds of 34Km  It's a rare day it isn't windy in Victoria.

Sunday morning we left the house at 5:50 am for our trip down to Victoria. We wanted to get parked close to the venue, then walk 15 minutes to Spoons Diner for breakfast. They certainly give you a big plate for $15-$20. Great value. 

After breakfast, we put our many layers of clothes back on to brace against the wind and hiked back to the venue and to our car. Back at the car, we picked up our wagon and our chairs so we can sit anywhere. It definitely is a cold wind. I'm glad we dressed appropriately, as many people weren't and complained about being cold.

We wandered around viewing the events. Here are the Highland Dancers. So cute. I remember learning that when I was about 10 years old too.

This little one did the best, practicing right beside us, while her sister's on stage. lol

My maiden name .... truly Scottish, is McCormack, derived from the Buchanan Clan.

The Clan Buchanan is a Highland Scottish clan with a history dating back to at least 1016 on the banks of Loch Lomond. They have a long and rich history, with links to the Picts and supporting King Robert the Bruce during the Scottish Wars of Independence. The clan is known for its strength, loyalty, and pride, and continues to thrive with descendants around the world. Key aspects of the Clan Buchanan:

Origins:
The clan's origins are linked to a grant of lands near Loch Lomond in 1225.

Traditional Lands:
Their traditional lands are on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond and extend eastward into Stirlingshire, including areas around Drymen, Balmaha, and Ben Lomond.

Cormack Sept:

The MacCormacks are a branch of the Buchanan clan, and their history is intertwined with the Buchanan clan's.

Origins of the Name:

The name MacCormack is believed to have origins in the Gaelic word "Cormag," meaning "charioteer," which is a name that dates back to the 1100s.(Chariot driver)

We walked around the booths trying to find my tartan.

Ray missed the picture. The one to the right reads "Buchanon of That Ilk"

I remember my mom bringing back a kilt from Scotland in the Buchanan tartan years ago.

This is the Ancient Tartan

Monja's Minute on Clan Buchanan

Heavyweight events in Highland Games are strength and power-based competitions that test athletes' abilities with various implements and techniques. They include events like the stone put, hammer throw, weight for height, and caber toss.

I talked with another spectator whose friend competes. Apparently they train 3 times a week with weight lifting.

Caber tossing:

This young lady in the red kilt, tried her best to get the pole to flip over, but she's the shortest competitor and just couldn't do it. She came all the way from Alberta to compete. 

Hammer Throw:

Good thing they have the fence up as one of the competitors lost control and the hammer flew into the fence instead of the spectators. They spin it around 3 times before letting it go.

Next up, the weight for height, where competitors must throw a 25 pound kettle bell over a bar above their head. The bar is set at 2.4m/8' to start. The winner managed 3.66m/12' over her head.

They swing the weight back and forth to gain momentum first.

After watching the various events, we headed up to the Celtic Music Tent.

I sat and listened for awhile and Ray headed back down to the vendors to get some more pictures. I saved our spots so we have a good seat for the Mass Band performance at noon.

The Opening Ceremony started and shortly after the music . Amazing sound with all the pipes. Looking at the results of the pipe band competitions, it looks like Simon Fraser University Band came in 1st place again. I noticed their drummer towards the back, in the middle, at the end of the video.

It was still cold and windy, so we called it a day after this and drove back home arriving just before 2 pm. Another thing off our bucket list lol

Another week gone by ... hopefully the weather improves for my garden flowers.