August 4 to 9th Fun at the Lake

Tuesday, August 4th is the hottest day we will see for a week or so. After chores in the morning, Ray and I retired down to the dock to enjoy the afternoon. I even persuaded Ray to float in the water with me on our water loungers. 

I sent a message to Robyn to bring Amalia over for a dip in the lake as it was so hot. She arrived around 3:30 and stayed for almost an hour before Amalia decided she had enough. :) Ray and I watched under the umbrella on the small dock for social distancing. As of next Monday we are clear from Kristi's guests for fourteen days so we can get closer to Robyn and Amalia. 

We stayed down at the dock until about 4:30 before coming back up to the sundeck. For dinner I had some leftovers and I cooked the trout for Ray.

Hopefully we catch bigger ones soon. The boat is in getting the kicker motor installed and the Easy- Steer system so I can operate it from the steering wheel.

Wednesday morning woke up to a very windy day. It is supposed to rain tonight so I guess the wind is in front of the rain. Ray headed to Duncan to do some errands, while I caught up on our laundry. Looks like we won't need our bathing suits for a few days.

I decided to try a recipe I had seen on Facebook. Cornish Pasties, or hand pies as they are referred to. Amazingly they turned out fabulous. Kind of like a shepherds pie in a pastry you can pick up. Had two for lunch and two for dinner.

Also made a batch of chocolate chip cookies that Ray had requested. 

It was a breezy day so we mostly stayed up on the sundeck in the corner out of the wind. Later in the afternoon I received a message from Robyn asking if she could bring Amalia over for a dip in the lake. Ray and I moved down to the dock to watch and visit with them. What a cutie.

Thursday morning it was pouring rain when we got up. By 7:30 the sky was clearing and the sun was trying to come out. We took a drive over to the other side of the lake where there will be a new housing development. Ray and I have watched them clear the land for almost a year. Here is a picture of the artist rendering. We will see this directly across from us on the lake. 

Very small lots but you do get a boat slip with the house. The lots start at $169,900 but it is for a 99 year lease as this is on Native Reserve land.

While driving in I saw these 2 elk grazing right beside the road. They did not seem to concerned with me driving by.

The rest of the day we puttered around outside, Ray down on the beach and I was working a bit in my front garden as the rains mowed down a bunch of tall flowers so I had to stake them up. My flowers are doing well this year.

Friday morning still a bit breezy and cloudy with sun. Unfortunately some rain will happen later this afternoon but the ground and forests need it. 

Ray spent the morning in his shop and I did some gardening, pruning a bunch of plants that have grown wild over the summer. Managed to get my walk in as by 3 pm the forecast rain did begin so we were pretty much inside for the rest of the day. Boat should be ready to pick up tomorrow.

Saturday morning we picked up the boat, fueled it up and launched it. Ray piloted the boat back to our dock while I drove the car and trailer back to the house. It was a bit breezy but we were able to sit down at the dock in the afternoon. 

Our neighbours, June and Roy, invited us over for a spur of the moment get together with Pat and Darryl as well. We sat outside on their sundeck sampling several bottles of wine. A great few hours catching up.

Pat and Darryl

Roy and June

Sunday was the nicest day we have had in a while. Ray and I went fishing for a couple of hours. We did have one hit but maybe we will have better luck next time. lol Hardly anyone else near us. Fun times.

The new steering system for the kicker works well.

Today was warm enough to swim at 25C . Lots of activity on the lake. Houseboats coming in from their weekend, skiers etc. A great view sitting down on our dock.

That was our week. Hard to believe we are now going into the second week of August.

August Long Weekend Fun with Kristi and Jason

Thursday, July 30th, I headed into Duncan early to get my grocery shopping done before it gets too busy with too many people. Kristi came down from Nanaimo early as well and I met up with her at the gate. Great timing. lol Jason had an appointment in Nanaimo Thursday afternoon and a golf game scheduled for Friday so he will come down Saturday morning.

A beautiful day and we spent most of it down on the dock as it was smoking hot out at 34 C. All of us in and out of the water including the dogs. About 4:30 we came up to the house and we had barbecued hamburgers for dinner. A quiet evening and into bed at 9 pm.

Friday morning Kristi and I headed back into Duncan for our scheduled pedicures. After that Kristi treated me to a take-out lunch at Breakfast on Third. Delicious sandwiches. Got back home about 12:30 where our fridge repair guy Alex was back to get our ice machine working. Still don't have a diagnosis, so I had to empty the fridge and completely turn it off for 24 hours in case one of the 7 lines are frozen. This will either fix it or he said a seal must be broken somewhere and that means a new fridge. What a pain. I did give it a good cleaning though since it was empty.

Saturday morning another gorgeous day. Kristi and I met up with her friend Robyn and little girl Amalia for a walk on the other side of town. Such a cute little girl at 20 months old.

Jason arrived at noon. After lunch we all moved down to the dock.

Robyn came back with Amalia so they could play in the water.

I started up the fridge, fingers crossed it will work making ice.

Kristi made us a wonderful dinner so Ray and I did the cleanup. Thanks sweetie.

After dinner we sat outside on the deck for awhile before all of us heading in to our own spaces. Another great day at the lake. At 9 pm  before going to bed, I started up the Traeger Grill and put on a beef brisket to smoke overnight. 

I checked on my phone a couple of times through the night to keep an eye on the internal temp. Everything moving along fine until 5 am.... it's done! 8 hours instead of 12! So at least it is ready for dinner tonight. I pulled it off and wrapped it up to rest and went back to bed. )

Sunday morning Jason and Ray went out fishing to try out the new downriggers. While they were gone Kristi and I just puttered around, the clouds came in and the wind continued. The boys came back "fishless" but it was quite windy so no point staying out there.

Also this weekend one of our neighbours floated in his new dock.

The afternoon turned out quite gloomy and breezy so I made pizza for lunch. Kristi went down for a nap, then Ray decided to have a short nap while Jason played his video game.  I sat out on our deck reading. 

We had Brisket Beef with dip for dinner and then watched a movie from Netflix. Another great day.

Monday woke to clouds with some blue sky. The wind has finally stopped. The plan is for the boys to go out fishing for a bit and then pull the boat as it's going in tomorrow to have the new kicker bracket and kicker installed. We are having the fuel line plumbed into our big gas tank.

The guys called me at 10 am on their way back, so off I went towing the boat trailer to the boat launch to meet them. We handle the whole thing pretty slick. Ray even caught his first trout with the new setup. Big enough for the fry pan tonight, about 10 inches. lol

Back home Ray and I washed the boat and car to get all of the lake gunk off the boat. Next up, Jason helped Ray with a project in the workshop.  He showed Ray how to clamp and glue the workbench top (it's a known Christmas gift for Jason). After lunch of leftovers, Jason was on his way back home with the dogs. Good timing as it started to rain. It did not take very much time for the boats on the lake to stop racing around. I guess everyone will now pack up wet stuff after the weekend.

Fridge update ... after 48 hours I have a total of about 24 ice cubes! So the fridge is not working correctly. The temp in the bottom freezer is -1 C as it was set and the inside above is at 35 C as was set so ????

A great two weeks of fun. Will miss having them here. :)

Kristi and Jason's vacation at the lake and my birthday.

Friday, another lovely day. Kristi and Jason's friends with their 2 little boys arrived at noon. Let the adventure begin. Ray and I kept our distance due to Covid, but were able to sit outside and get to meet them. Kristi invited them to stay last January when we were away, so they saw the inside of our house anyways. With Kristi and Jason's trailer in the driveway for them as accommodation it would work well for the visit.

Lunch at the dock. Ray coming back after fueling up the boat.

The boys moved the picnic table up to the back lawn so they could use it for their meals outside. Then they carried the new deck boxes to the dock for Ray. Thanks a bunch guys. Now Ray will have to secure them to the dock and finish putting on the hardware such as hinges, handles and hasp locks.

Jason took the crew out for a boat ride. Just like a car ride the two little boys came back sound asleep. lol The dogs watching them leave. The next day they did not want to go for a boat ride because they knew they would fall asleep.

Throwing rocks, the boys favourite pass time.

The lake is still quite high for this time of year, usually we have about 5 feet of beach.

Our bathing beauty, Kristi. She had me take this picture as there was a comment in a medical journal or report that female doctors should not be seen in bikini's, as it's unprofessional. Well you can imagine the criticism on that comment. All the female doctors are posting pictures of themselves in bikini's for defiance. The comment has now been apologized for. Of course Kristi being so fair immediately put on her cover-up clothes so she doesn't burn after the picture. lol

Kristi and I went for a kayak ride while everyone was still in the trailer. Gorgeous morning on the water.

 

Kristi and Jason practicing ....

Dogs staying out of the sun.

Jason took their crew out for another boat ride and this little guy loved driving the boat.

The weather this weekend was spectacular. Lots of dock time watching all the boats go back and forth. Saturday night they even had a band playing on the dock at the other end of Point Ideal Drive. Unfortunately we could not hear it from here as our neighbours had their own music and many people over at their house. :(

Ray headed into town this morning to surprise me with fixin's for my birthday dinner tomorrow. Fresh crab and scallops. I decided to cook it tonight while it was still fresh. Yumm. Kristi and Jason will cook us steak and fixin's tomorrow for my birthday and set us up at a separate table as we are keeping our distance from their guests.

Aprons to keep the crab juice off our clothes. lol

Sunday, July 26th My birthday.

A lovely day on the water. In the morning, Ray worked on his deck boxes securing them to the dock with Jason's help. I had laundry to do, so was busy in the house.

Their friends were kept busy with the boys playing on our beach. They spent all afternoon chucking rocks into the water. It certainly was a warm day, topping out at 29 C. Hot up at the house but nice and cool with a breeze on the dock. In fact, so breezy the wind actually tipped over my full glass of beer! First time that has happened. :)

Jason and I took Kristi and her friend out on the inflatable for a ride while the boys and their dad had a nap. Lots of other boats towing people as well. A very busy day on the lake. At one point Kristi's hat flew off so we had to stop and retrieve it. Kristi had told us to go slow but that did not last very long ... speed up ... speed up! So we did and watched them bounce along over the waves. :)

Off we go.

For my birthday Jason and Kristi made us dinner with their friends ... at a distance. :) Delicious steak.

Chef Jason

We sat out under the patio for some time with Jason and Kristi and their friends until dusk. A lovely day. Thanks a bunch for cooking us dinner guys. Much appreciated.

Monday, July 27th

Today everyone leaves and goes home. It will seem quiet around here. lol Kristi and Jason will be back later this week and here for the long weekend. More fun to be had. It was nice to know that the suite downstairs functions well for them, as this is the first time it has really been used for cooking etc. So glad we put in a tub shower combination in the bathroom as the boys had great baths. :)

Such a nice morning that Ray and I sat outside on the deck having our coffee and watching the fish rise on the calm lake. Gorgeous.

Kristi's company did not leave until after feeding their boys lunch so by 1 pm Kyles Kottage was back to the quiet we have come to know. lol A very hot day 33 C in town and Ray and I spent the day down at the dock. It was unusually hot, as there was not a whisper of wind. I put buckets of water onto the dock to help cool the wood down and Ray and I ended up swimming several times just to stay cool. So did Freya.

We heard a big crash and noticed that the guys gazebo with his gangway fell into the lake. It came off it's support last February with our high water and he did not fix it. He was down south I think and came back July 1st ... Still didn't have anyone come so down it went! the whole walkway to the gazebo is also all crippled up.

That was a busy four days ... mostly for Kristi and Jason. Now we have a few days to ourselves and then they will be back for the long weekend. Fun times.

July 16 to 23 ....Kristi and Jason here for their holidays.

Thursday morning we were treated to a beautiful sunrise so Ray grabbed his camera.

The rest of the day ended up cloudy and breezy so an inside day. Not to Freya's liking. lol Friday morning same deal.... clouds and wind. Fortunately the clouds disappeared for the afternoon and we were able to get outside. Beautiful evening so we sat down at the dock for an hour.

Friday afternoon I think summer weather finally began. Forecast for the next two weeks is quite warm. Yeah. This deer was waiting for me to leave the gate open to come into the strata ... no go deer! Damn things have eaten the tops of all my Gladiolas and New Guinea Impatients.

Saturday another gorgeous day. Today was our annual strata meeting and Ray and I "attended" remotely with Zoom. With everyone opening up their "bubbles" with lots of friends and family we decided not to take the chance, especially with Jason and Kristi coming for their holidays. One couple just returned the day before the meeting after touring through Calgary and Kelowna, two of our most recently hit Covid areas.  All of us have been so careful not to contract Covid with Kristi having to work in the hospital it did not seem worth it to risk ourselves.

The temps got up to 27 C today, so it was definitely a dock day and swimming day in the afternoon. We did not come up to the house until 5pm. Lots of activity on the lake today with the first real warm weekend this summer.

In the wee hours of Sunday morning Ray went down to the dock to see if he could get a picture of the comet Neowise. All he got was Venus... no tail showing for a comet.

Sunday, another gorgeous day and the infamous third strike. My dishwasher quit working and has an error code. Googled it and it has a plugged drain. I will deal with it tomorrow and see if I cannot fix it myself before calling a repair guy. 

Kristi went to Squamish for the weekend to visit with Stella, Kat and Garrett. Stella is sure growing.

Drunk'in milk baby smile. lol

Family Pic 

Monday was a scorcher at 32C feeling like 35C. Ray and I did our own thing in the morning including me prepping dinner, beef wellington, and then spent the afternoon swimming and sitting down at the dock. It's so hot I have to water my herb garden 3 times a day. 

Managed to watch 2 YouTube videos regarding the dishwasher and managed to fix it. If it does not drain again it will be the pump which I will need someone in to fix. Also the fridge repairman guy is finally coming Thursday to fix my ice maker ... only been waiting since June 25th!

Tuesday, Kristi and Jason arrived just after noon. We spent a few hours catching up sitting down on the dock until it got too breezy and then up on the deck until 5, when we parted ways. I had leftovers for us to eat and they made their own dinner downstairs. It will be nice to see how all the kitchen appliances work downstairs as this is really the first time someone was downstairs long enough to cook. :)

We woke up to clouds and some fog. Very breezy today but the sun finally came out around 11 am. Freya is thrilled to have her "pack" here. We hardly see her. lol Kristi came with me on my morning walk. It was nice to have company. I made pizza for lunch.

Delicious but ended up in a funky shape. lol

All of us sat on the dock for awhile until the wind became too brisk, so up onto the lawn we went. Here is Jason trying to get the dogs to cooperate getting their picture taken. lol

Ah Success!

Ta Da!

Got out the ladder golf game and played for an hour or so. I actually won 2 games! Kristi took off at 2pm to meet up with a friend for a visit. They went on a walk to maintain social distancing.

Kristi and Jason cooked us dinner, a grilled pineapple salad and marinated chicken thighs. Delicious. Thanks a bunch guys.

Thursday, again breezy and foggy skies. Ray and I left for Nanaimo at 8:15 am for our doctor's appointments. Jason headed out  before us to run into Port Alberni to pick up the new kicker motor we purchased and will split the cost so both Ray and Jason can use it through the year.  He also had to pick up his trailer to bring it down for the weekend for their friends to stay in when they arrive tomorrow. Social Distancing ...  Kristi got to stay home by herself and have some "me time". 

Yes the driveway is a little full. :)

Back home at lunch we sat down at the dock for a bit. Zeus attracted some ladies to come and see our dogs. lol

The rest of the afternoon, I stayed up on the deck as it was quite breezy down at the water but Ray persevered for a couple of hours. He did call it quits when his hat blew off his head into the water. lol Jason arrived back at about 2:30 pm with his trailer so I guided him into the driveway. He set it all up ready for the guests tomorrow. I stayed close to the house as the fridge repair guys was supposed to arrive sometime between 1 pm and 5 pm. Kristi wandered between upstairs and downstairs for most of the afternoon.

The fridge repair guy finally showed up at 6:15 pm! As I suspected, the ice maker control had to be replaced. Something to do with a mister not working and the mechanism to dump the ice was not stopping in the correct position. Both issues combined made the ice maker work very intermittently. Fortunately he had ordered the replacement part before coming to see me. Good thing it's on warranty, he didn't leave until 7:15 pm and then had to drive all the way back to Victoria. I sat well away from him at the dining table to keep a safe distance and had the patio doors open. Ray hid in the bedroom and Kristi and Jason stayed downstairs. Once he left I sanitized my counter and fridge with sanitary wipes so we are all "clean" from Covid.

Alex from Arrtech Appliance Repair.

Definitely lots of wires after pulling out the ice maker component. Yes the orange thing is the water filter. lol

We had dinner just before he arrived thankfully. Otherwise a quiet evening. Looks pretty grey outside.

Another day gone and another week has passed by again! Wow the summer is moving along quick.