May long weekend and the Colibaba's come to visit!

May long weekend ... lots of eating and drinking ... drinking and eating, hot tubbing, sitting in various places and a little fishing!

Thursday afternoon the rain started as predicted. I am sure Steve is unhappy about that as he spent quite a bit of time washing his truck a week or so ago and hates to get it all splashed up again with road dirt. Don't blame him as his truck is a beast to wash! At least it is all pavement to get here. lol

The Colibaba's arrived at 2 pm. We sat on the deck for most of the afternoon watching the rain. It was quite warm and muggy with no wind for the most part. Ray settled them in with his famous Margarita's.

It was also World Ceasar Day so later Ray made Dianne and I one.

At 5 the wind came up so back in the house we went. Glad they are here.

Dinner was easy as I had made a lasagna the day before, add a salad and voila.

For a treat I also made a gluten-free cherry pie. Our Country Grocer has a great gluten-free freezer of a large variety of items.

Back on the deck for the rest of the evening as the wind had quit.

Dianne's picture

Dianne's picture

We all came in and crashed by 8:30 pm, especially since both Dianne and Steve are getting over horrible colds. (They had not drank alcohol in 9 days ... hence the colds me thinks!)

Friday morning after fueling everyone up with a big breakfast it was off to Duncan for Dianne and I to do some clothes shopping for her. We always enjoy a "girls day".  Dianne had a very successful shopping trip and I treated her at Original Joe's where we shared an order of fish and chips. Didn't want to be too full for dinner. We did not have to worry about the guys as they had leftover lasagna.

Breakfast

While we were gone, Jason arrived to grout the backsplash with his dogs in tow. Awesome tile job Jason. 

Steve and Jason helped Ray with a couple of shelves he was building and then it was time for the boys to go fishing leaving Jason to finish his grouting.

Here is the entrance to Bear Lake, a perfect place for fly fishing. There are a few cabins up there.

That's not a fly rod ... it's my new spin casting rod. lol

They did not manage to catch anything but had fun. Once they were back we sat out in the backyard in the sunshine out of the wind.

Ray and Dianne had a hot tub. Ray for his back and Dianne for her knees. They both felt much better after.

Steve's picture

Ray and Steve decided they better gas up the boat before the weekend traffic at the gas dock. We thought we had put it away for the season with a full tank but we didn't. Probably because we were in a hurry to get it into the garage before they tore up the driveway getting ready for concrete!

Steve's picture

We sat on the deck, including Jason waiting for Kristi to arrive. She was in surgery today at Nanaimo General so we had to wait for her to get off and come here. She arrived about 6 pm and after a Malibu Rum and orange juice with Dianne ... it was time for Steak, Salad and Corn.

We will get rid of your cold Dianne! lol

After dinner and the dishes done by our wonderful guests we watched a movie to stay awake at least until 9:30 pm lol

Saturday morning was cloudy and a little breezy. Dianne had put together a "Wife Saver" Egg Puff breakfast yesterday so we only had to pop it into the oven and fry up bacon to feed the crew. Thanks a bunch Dianne.

Picture by Steve

Kristi and Jason headed out to golf at the Duncan Meadows Golf Club leaving the dogs here with us.

Ray and Steve headed out to fish even though it was slightly breezy. They did not catch anything other than another boat that needed a tow over to Gordon Bay, the Provincial Park. Apparently this guy had a Suzuki outboard motor. We had one years ago and it was horrible to start and this appeared to be this guys problem too. Here are Steve's pics.

By the time they had unloaded those guys at Gordon Bay the wind had come up substantially so Ray and Steve had to troll slowly home so it was not too bumpy for Ray. A much longer trip than anticipated so Ray's back "NOT GOOD"!

This water really is not too lumpy if you don't have hardware in your back ... but for Ray there cannot be bumps.

Dianne and I took a quick trip into town to pick up some fixin's for the burgers I was going to make.  There was apparently a "Logging Truck" Parade this morning for the town's Heritage Days, but it was done. I had Dianne take a couple of pictures in the car as we drove by. One of those things "you blink" and you missed it! lol

Black threatening clouds but we did not get rained on.

One of Steve's favourite things is burgers so I made him my "garbo burger" with fried onions, mushrooms and bacon with lettuce and tomato. He was a happy camper.

You have to unhinge your jaw to make it fit in your mouth. lol

Once lunch was done and the kitchen tidied up, we all went to sit outside on the back lawn as we were out of the wind and it was beautiful out. Kristi and Jason arrived from golfing shortly after. I had purchased a couple of yard games, bean bag and ball toss so Kristi assembled it and everyone had fun.

The bean bag set had really small bags to throw so Ray was able to play for part of a game and then I finished for him. With his "pick er upper" he did not have to bend over.

After playing a couple of games Kristi and Jason went for a boat ride, the dogs were not impressed!

A great day spent in the yard. Tonight for my belated Mother's Day, Kristi and Jason made us all dinner. Tomato and Sausage Risotto, all gluten-free. It was awesome, thanks so much guys. Dianne and Steve with the help of Jason and Kristi did all of the cleanup and dishes too, while I sat out on the deck.

After dinner, Jason headed back to Nanaimo as he needed to pick up his Step-Dad's birthday present, before he goes golfing with him in Victoria tomorrow. The rest of us sat outside for a bit until bedtime and then watched a little TV. Freya is adamant to lay on the couch between Steve and Dianne. lol She nudges them until they let her up.

Sunday morning after waffles for breakfast and dishes were done again by Kristi, Dianne and Steve.  Steve tried his luck again fishing off the dock, no luck again. Apparently he was having fun fly casting into the pilings. lol Ray is "couched" today from fishing as he put in too much time yesterday and is pretty sore today.

At nine, Kristi and Steve with her two dogs headed out to hike Bald Mountain by Youbou. Freya could not go as she is way too crippled up. Dianne is also too crippled up to go hiking until she has her knee fixed. It is a fairly steep climb with a lot of switchbacks.

Here are Steve's pictures. Kristi and Steve said they were the only ones on the trail going up but more people were coming up while they were going down so they did not have to "share" the views. They had a great hike. They were back at noon.

Athena and Zeus with Steve

While they were gone Ray, Dianne and I went into town to get propane and some hot dog buns for the smokies we were going to roast over the fire. Kristi and Steve came back just in time. It was a little cool out and cloudy this morning, so a perfect day for a fire. Later on the sun came out for awhile though.

After lunch it was "girl time" in the hot tub, for my neck, Dianne's knees and Kristi's legs from her hike. Of course internal medicine is also good, so Ray made us all Margarita's lol.

After the hot tub, Kristi headed off for a nap with her dogs. She has been putting a lot of hours working lately and is tired. She has to work tomorrow, so will go home after dinner. At 3 pm we moved up to the sundeck so I could put on the pork roast on the barbecue and have dinner earlier than usual so she can get home sooner.

 We sent Kristi on her way right after she had eaten. Ray helped with clearing the table and Steve and Dianne did all the dishes again. Wow what great company. After cleanup we all sat back on the deck and Ray and Steve had ice cream for dessert. We stayed out there until the sun went behind the trees.  Once inside we decided to watch a movie so we would be able to stay up until 9:30 pm. Steve managed to snap a picture of the sunset. What an awesome day.

Monday morning we woke to rain as predicted. We all sat watching Global News and had our faces stuffed in our computers and tablets while we enjoyed our first cup of coffee by 6:30 am. Good thing Steve and Dianne have the same morning routine as us. lol After our first cup, Dianne and I moved outside on the deck with the radiant heaters and fire table to enjoy watching the rain snuggled up in our blankets drinking our second cup of coffee. What a life! After an hour I came in to make "Monkey Bread" as promised for Steve. I made it for him the last time they stayed here and it was requested again.

After breakfast, Steve and Dianne packed up all of their stuff and it was time to say goodbye. Gonna miss you guys, but it will be great seeing you again in 3 weeks in Campbell River. Thanks again for all your help with the dishes ... the part I hate most about cooking for a crowd. lol

Apparently our "remedy" for colds, lots of liquid, preferably alcohol must have worked because Steve is back to normal and Dianne is feeling way better today to go home. lol

And there they go!

The Grizzly Den has left the Driveway!!

Change in the weather and Mother's Day

Sunday ... Happy Mother's Day

Received phone calls for Mother's Day. Kristi and Jason will be down next weekend so we will celebrate "Mother's Day" then. With Garrett and Kat over in Squamish it's too hard to come for just the day. Kristi has said she will cook dinner next Saturday night for us and our friends Steve and Dianne Colibaba for my belated Mother's Day. What a nice treat for me.

Ray decided that we should go out for a drive to somewhere we have not seen and go for lunch. It was decided to go to Cherry Point and stop by the Cherry Point Winery. We took Freya with us as she loves beaches and it was a much cooler day at 16C.

Very limited parking

Our favourite artist, EJ Hughes, painted this same view.

Next we stopped in at the Cherry Point Winery. We hoped to have lunch there but they only have very limited seating for the Bistro and they were totally booked up with reservations. Oh well, off to our favourite Fish and Chip place, Original Joe's in Duncan.  We haven't been impressed with the wine from this place, so didn't bother to go in for tastings.`

Ahhhh great fish and chips.

Back home we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. A great Mother's Day.

Monday morning a little breezy but still sunny. It will change overnight according to the forecast for a day of rain which the forest around us sorely needs. The shorts and tank tops will be put away for the next week I think, and the jeans and t-shirts will be back out of the closet. lol

I spent the day in Duncan purchasing items to restock my "larder" in preparation for company this weekend. Also managed to finally get some clothes shopping in for summer clothes. Had a very successful day and was back home by 3:30 pm in time to put some leftover potting soil on the bare spots on the lawn and spread the new coated grass seed. This time hopefully the grass will fill in. The rush was on as it was supposed to rain overnight and be cooler with showers for the next few days, perfect for grass growing weather.

Tuesday, it was off to Nanaimo for me for a doctor's appointment and then back home. The landscapers were back this morning to pressure wash all of our concrete in preparation to seal it on Friday. We won't be able to use our driveway until after the long weekend to prevent any staining. Fortunately our neighbours on both sides are going to be away and have offered up their driveways so our company will have somewhere to park ... the motorhome will fill the cul-de-sac! (Got a call from the landscaper's tonight ... as it is not supposed to rain tomorrow they will seal the driveway then so we will be fine to drive on it for the weekend.) The cleaned concrete looks great.

It rained on and off all morning but stayed raining all afternoon so good for the forests. Wish it would rain every night but be sunny and warm during the days.

The electricians came by at 2 pm to install the lights in Ray's shop and to put another couple of lights in the A frame on the porch to highlight our etched glass, it looks fabulous. They will be back to put the plugs back in the wall in the downstairs kitchen once Jason finishes the backsplash.

Good thing Ray's "Bat Cave" frame is sturdy! lol

Wednesday, woke up to cloudy skies so the driveway sealing can happen. Ray's off to Ford to get the wiring repaired for towing the boat, the part finally came in. I went out to check out the driveway and there are too many pressure washer marks so it is not clean enough to be sealed so they only sealed the back patio and the two sidewalks down the sides of the house. They will be back on Tuesday to wash the driveway again and then apply the sealer.

Our son-in-law Jason arrived at 9:30 to install the downstairs kitchen backsplash. Kristi and Jason chose the backsplash ... they did not like the pebbles stuff we already had. He sure did an awesome job. There were enough tiles over to put a bit of a backsplash in the bathroom too. Thanks so much Jason. Jason will be back Friday morning to grout in the tiles and then voila it is done.

Here is the before picture:

Ta da!

Thursday morning foggy but not raining. It is expected to start raining this afternoon again though, just in time for Steve and Dianne to arrive for the weekend. With Kristi and Jason also here it is shaping up to be a fun filled weekend.

Glorious weather and Martin comes to visit.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday ... so far this week has been stellar. The weather is fabulous, warm and sunny. Our irrigation system is on and helping me keep the new grass seed wet so it will germinate. The birds think I have provided them with a feast though. ha ha. The other new plantings seem to be happy.

 After Saturday's lake traffic and noise, Sunday was surprisingly very quiet on the lake. Ray and I took a drive over to where they are clearing trees on the other side of the lake on Sunday afternoon to have a look. They seem to be leaving a strip of trees so it won't be completely cleared. So far they seem to be putting in an access road.

Monday, the noise of chainsaws and excavator is still continuing on the other side of the lake. The neighbour to the left of us has a small crew hammering and sawing replacing the boards on the approach to their gangway. We can also hear another excavator further down the lake towards town clearing another lot for a lakeview house. Ray and I took off to Nanaimo for a Costco run and to stop in and pick up mail at Kristi's and Jason's. A great day to travel on the highway. I now have 3 new hanging baskets for the front of the house. (My Mother's Day present to myself lol) My garden room looks great.

Ray managed to finish painting the lattice for me on the weekend and we installed them today.

To hold up my sweet peas.

We also managed to have the boat pulled out of the garage for us by our electricians who were luckily working next door. Will be ready for launch sometime this week once the car's lighting system is fixed.

Kyle's Kraft emerges from its cocoon!

My strawberry planter finally arrived from Amazon yesterday so will need to pop into Duncan and purchase the plants to put it it. This is for Ray as he loves fresh strawberries and planting them in the yard with the deer is not an option. lol After this I am officially done with any planting, now I get to watch everything grow.

Tuesday went shopping to Duncan, had a pedicure and came back with strawberry plants. Another gorgeous day. We had a huge hatch of carpenter ants, a lot of them with wings. Wow. Ray and I were squishing them like crazy on our front driveway as we were sitting out there. By the end of the day with the driveway so hot from the sun they were "cooking" themselves. The next morning only a few were seen. This all happened over 12 hours. Very strange. Roy, our neighbour says this happens every year about the same time.

Wednesday was "boat day". First thing in the morning we tried to launch the boat ... dead batteries. Ray had charged them he thought too, but we did not think to check them. :( Oh well back in driveway hooked up to the charger again. I took Ray's electric motor and battery down to the beach and they were all hooked up and charger put on it as well. Washing the kayaks came next. At noon I launched and had a paddle around for about 20 minutes but came back as the wind started blowing. Did not want to hurt my neck either ... just need to slowly strengthen the muscles so I can finally get rid of this neck pain.

Now Ray will be able to fish early in the mornings ... the fish are rising and other people are using various craft to get out there, even a paddle board. lol

We also saw a bunch of kids learning how to paddle a large canoe.

I planted the strawberry plants into my new planter. Once they grow Ray should have tons of fresh strawberries to eat. That concludes all of my planting for this spring other than encouraging more grass seed to sprout in the bald spots in our lawn.

Ray and I had a date night and went out to the Chemainus Dinner Theater and saw the production "Foreigner". We had a great buffet dinner and the play was a hoot. Lots of laughing. A lovely venue.

Thursday, surprise another gorgeous day. Our new deck boxes arrived shortly after noon today. A fellow named Ryan came this morning and erected our new gazebo on the dock in about 3 1/2 hours. Unfortunately 2 of the roof panels are a different "black" than the rest. Hopefully the hot sun will bleach them this summer. Too much of a hassle to try and get them replaced!

Ray dealt with the battery issue in the boat by taking the battery in to Duncan to Monti's Marine. Monti's kept it overnight to confirm that it was shot ... it was as it only charged up to 11 instead of 13.



Friday morning out of the house early delivering the coach to Revy RV and pick up new battery at Monti's Marine. With our neighbour Darryl's help the boat was in the water by 11 am and shortly thereafter at the dock.

Here Ray comes ...

One happy camper!

The empty trailer was tucked back into the boat garage. Tonight, Martin is coming for the night and bringing us some firewood ... what a nice guy. Otherwise Ray spent some time putting a deck box together and I did laundry and did some dinner prep in advance of company. Freya spent her time in and out of the water, by noon it is 24C outside.

Our neighbours tree stump was towed away today as well. This arrived because of the high water in December and was getting stuck under docks so the neighbours tied it up to suspend it between the 2 docks.

And there it goes.

When Martin arrived at 3 pm it was 28C ... wow pretty hot. Martin after working in the woods all day was so hot he actually dove into the lake. It was a balmy 58F  Yikes, pretty cold he sure got back out of the water quickly. lol

After a cold beverage sitting on the dock, Martin and Ray drove back to Revy RV to pick up the motorhome. Once back it was time for dinner. 

After dinner we noticed all of the fish rising so Ray and Martin spent half an hour trying to catch them but were unsuccessful.

A great day catching up. We all were in bed by 9:30. Martin tried to stay up and watch TV upstairs but found himself asleep on the couch shortly after turning on the TV. When he woke up an hour or so later then he went to bed he tells me.

Saturday morning after coffee and Carolan's, Ray and Martin headed out to fish in the boat. This will be the first time Ray has been out fishing in our boat as we never seemed to have the time last year with all the work going on at the house and yard.  For "Mother's Day" Ray purchased a new casting rod for me from our local fishing store and Martin will get to try it out this morning.

And they are off!

After a couple of hours the boys came back for breakfast. Ray caught a real small fish but otherwise no luck. They had a blast though and fished a spot that Ray has been thinking about since we checked it out last summer.

Martin and I unloaded his truck with the fir rounds and took them to the back yard so he could split them for me. As he worked through the rounds I did all of the stacking. We now have double the wood all bone dry.

Martin was so hot from chopping he actually jumped in the lake and popped out just as quickly. Next into the hot tub ... back into the lake and back into the hot tub. Thanks a bunch for the wood Martin. He has been working really hard with 12 hour days lately and working in the bush with the hot temperatures this week. He is pretty pooped. One beer and it was "lights out". lol

Ray and I took him out for lunch at Jakes on the Lake as a thank you. Back home he had a half an hour nap and then we sent him on his way back home.

For Saturday night we had been invited to dinner at Pat and Darryl's where we met some other neighbours, Paul and Lynn. Fabulous evening. We had a blast. Thanks for a great dinner Pat. Of course we were so busy yapping we forgot to take any pictures.

A great week of wonderful weather.