Good times at the lake, August 11 to 16

 Monday, Ray headed out the door to go to Duncan to have the windshield replaced in the car ... he cracked it carrying lumber. We have ordered an aluminum utility trailer now to carry the wood needed for his projects. lol  Also tired of all the sawdust in our car. :)

They had a courtesy car for him to use so he decided to take a walk through Somenos Marsh. This walk is located right beside the highway as you drive south into Duncan. Ray has driven past it hundreds of times while working in Duncan and never stopped. Here are some pictures of what we have been missing. lol There was not any birds to view (lots to hear) today though.

Ray was home by 10:30 am.  They ordered the wrong windshield, so now he has an appointment for next week. After chores around the yard, we sat down at the dock for a bit but it got too windy. Received a message from Robyn late in the afternoon, asking if she could come over with Amalia. Of course!!! So back down to the dock we went. lol Amalia sporting her new to her water wings. They really did not stay on very long as she was not impressed. :) After an hour of playing in the water they went home at around 5:15 pm.

Tuesday woke to  very cloudy skies. The sun did not manage to come out until around 11 am. Our gardener arrived in the morning to take a bunch of branches away that Ray had pruned from some of the trees in the yard and do some weeding.

Around 1:30 pm the fridge guy came and changed out the fan for the icemaker. This is the last possible fix for this fridge! (stay tuned) So if this doesn't work then I should get a whole new fridge! We shall see. :)

It was pretty breezy today and not that warm but we managed to sit outside close to our hedge for awhile and finally moved to the front of the house in the shade to get out of the wind. Our garden makes for a nice view too. :) My perennials have grown huge this year. Another great day at the lake.

Wednesday was my shopping day in Duncan. I was out the door by 7:45 am and back home by 11 am. It is nice that Walmart has mask wear mandatory now. Wish all the stores would do this.

The rest of the day after finishing up our daily chores was spent in our favourite place, down on the dock. 

Mother Goose and her ducklings. lol

Thursday, out the door early for doctor's appointments in Nanaimo and then up to Coombs to pick up our new aluminum utility trailer ... so Ray's wood stays out of my car! lol

I suggested to Ray that since we are in Coombs, we should check out the Walker Bay dingy's at Industrial Marine just up the road from the trailer place. We went and had a look at their small boats and decided that we would pick up the 8' one that would fit in the trailer. This will allow Ray to fish all winter when the big boat is put in the garage for the winter. He could also take this little boat to Kissinger Lake where there is great trout fishing.

After purchasing the trailer and getting insurance we decided to have a bite to eat at the Treehouse Restaurant and Bakery located in the same complex as the trailer shop. They had some picnic tables well spaced on their patio so we had lunch. Our first restaurant meal in 5 months with Covid. Great fish and chips.

Next up buying the dinghy. One happy guy!

Kyle's Kart. Yup the dingy fits perfectly. 

I drove back home towing the trailer. It is hardly noticeable that I was towing anything. Hugs the road well. A rather long day for Ray, but we accomplished what we had hoped. The rest of the afternoon we spent down on the dock enjoying the day.

Friday, haircut day ... YEAH. I have been waiting to get into my hairdresser for months and had to get someone else to cut it in June before getting into see her yesterday.

I did not get back home until 1:30 pm so time to sit down at the dock as it was really warm at 27C. Darryl our neighbour out trying paddleboarding for the first time. lol Stayed down on the dock until 5 pm when Freya vocally told us it was her dinner time. :)

For dinner it was barbecued hamburgers. We sat out on our new little bistro table I purchased from Wayfair. It all folds up to a small rectangle out of the way when not used.

2 chairs and folding table.

Kristi texted me and they are coming tomorrow for two nights and will be here in the morning to enjoy a lake day. Yeah.

Little Stella is 3 months old today. What a smiley little girl. Growing like a "weed". Apparently she is a pretty happy baby.

Our little "frog" is getting so big.

Ray spent the morning fixing the sundeck tiles. The original install was done pretty shoddy with not enough support under the porcelain tiles so some of them rock. He had ordered more supports and is gradually working through the tiles and fixing the ones as necessary. Not a great job for him on his hands and knees but he does a little bit here and there.

I did my chores, and prepped a salad for dinner and put the prime rib into some marinade ready for the rotisserie later in the afternoon.

The gang arrived by 11:30 am and we all headed down to the dock to enjoy the day. It got up to 31 C by late afternoon. The breeze on the lake kept us pretty cool though. Only Kristi opted to go for a swim. The dogs just chilled after getting them all wet.

At 5 we all came back up to the house and by 5:30 were sitting down for dinner. It was too hot to be on the sundeck until after dinner. A great day.

Sunday was a cooker! The boys went out fishing early. Jason styling in his fishing outfit. lol

Off they go!

Unfortunately they were unsuccessful but it was a beautiful morning.

Once the boys were back and after breakfast we all went down to the dock for the day. Kristi made the suggestion that we pack a lunch and go for a slow boat tour on the lake so that is what we did. Captain Kristi driving as she was the "DD". lol

Everyone jumped in off the boat except Jason!

After an hour or so it was back to the dock for the rest of the afternoon. Hot enough that Jason went in for a swim for the first time in 3 summers!

Freya using Zeus as a pillow.

Then we introduced Jason to the floaty! He likes it! He must have stayed in it for an hour.

This guy's weekend did not end well getting towed into the marina! We see at least one or two every weekend. Sometimes it's a houseboat that is towed. :) The people on the lake seem really good about helping out though.

We came up to the house for dinner at 5:30 pm and noticed some clouds in the sky ...

Dinner was hamburgers on the BBQ and salad. Too hot to eat anything substantial.

After everyone cleaned up and did the dishes, Jason retired downstairs for an online meeting, Ray sat inside and enjoyed the A/C and Kristi and I with the dogs, sat down at our beach with our feet in the water. It was still so warm outside.

We all got woken up at 9:30 (yes we all went to bed at 9 except Jason! lol) with an incredible lightning show and some thunder. Wow. Of course Kristi's dog Athena not impressed and neither was Freya. Fortunately more lightning than "booms". Ray and Kristi tried to get pictures but they were not as great as the one's our neighbours daughter took that I copied from Facebook.

Pretty incredible. We could hear people at Lakeside Park next door hooting over the display. Apparently this event caused 6 fires in the Nanaimo area, most in heavily forested areas. The one in the town outskirts was put out by the fire department. The rest of them will be checked out tomorrow.

With this came about a 10 minute downpour that was totally unexpected so all the chair cushions got a little damp. 

A fabulous weekend with the kids.

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. :)