More company. Martin and Suzanne come to visit. Sept 1 - 6

Wednesday, Sept 1st. A beautiful morning, sunny and the lake like glass. Ray brewed up another pot of coffee and we put on some warmer clothes and sat on the dock for an hour enjoying the peaceful morning.

I finally saw the lounger at the bottom of the lake ... it moved from one side of the dock to the inside portion in front of the boat. We did try to snag it with Darryl's fishing rod but it is too heavy to lift. Darryl and his friend Brian are coming tomorrow morning with something else to "grapple" it. Hopefully that works.

Ray puttered getting our storage room sorted in preparation to start putting "summer things" away this next month. I started clearing out some planters that have died off. A little sooner this year, but it was so hot a lot of plants ran out their life cycle a bit early.

Ray noticed some bat droppings on the sidewalk again .... so I sat outside on the neighbours stairs and watched. Yup they are back. They managed to lift a piece of drip edge on the belly band of the house to gain access. They crawl out one at a time as the space is so small. Must have been at least 100 of them. Ray will have to nail down the drip edge in November and seal it up once the bats move on for the winter. 

While sitting out there, Pat and Darryl invited us over to meet their friends and drink some wine. A nice end to the day.

Thursday morning a cool start. Darryl and his friend, Brian, came over and managed to fish out my lounger from the bottom of the lake. Yeah, my heroes. lol

I went to Duncan and left Ray puttering here cleaning up the storage room in preparation for summer to be put away this month. Noticed this guy driving while out shopping. What a huge dog!

Friday it clouded up quite early in the day with just a few sprinkles, certainly not the rain we were hoping for. I spent the day prepping food for our company coming tomorrow and Ray puttered downstairs. Otherwise a quiet day.

Saturday morning, a cloudy start. Still no rain but the Weather Network says it's coming later on and into this afternoon. Martin and Suzanne should arrive around 1 pm. I spent the morning getting ready for dinner and making a cheese board. Good thing, as Martin is always hungry. lol Ray and Martin worked together for Western Forest Products for quite a few years together and Martin always came several times through the summers to MackTush Creek Campsite by Port Alberni, for fishing. We had a site there for 15 years.)

By 2 both Martin and Suzanne arrived. Suzanne came from Victoria after visiting her daughter and Martin from their home in French Creek.

A lovely afternoon and evening. My prime rib turned out fabulous, gotta like that dry brine treatment for 24 hours before cooking. Fresh Apple Pie with ice cream for dessert. We spent most of the afternoon and evening out on the sundeck calling it a night at 10 pm. 

Sunday morning after coffee, the boys went out fishing. Unbelievably after a couple hours, they came home with 2 trout. Ray was ecstatic after so many hours spent fishing, finally some fish! I cooked up the trout for lunch with potato wedges, delicious. First up though I made Eggs Benedict for breakfast.

After breakfast, it was time to haul out the new fire pump and hose to give it a trial. It's great Martin is here to help Ray. After testing the flow, the bonus is being able to fill our hot tub with lake water. Unfortunately, this pump is not as strong as we hoped, but did push the water to the front of our house. The snorkel is a bit finicky to stay primed. We will need another couple 50' lengths of hose to reach the woods at the park on the other side of our driveway which was the reason for getting the fire pump. We're concerned with campers throwing cigarettes' down etc. There does not seem to be much in the way of fire prevention equipment at the campsite.

Even though it remained cloudy all day it's quite warm out. Ray and Martin were hot after dragging all the hose around so went for a quick swim to cool off. 

While I was preparing our trout lunch, Ray took the crew out for a short boat ride including filling up the gas so the lads are ready to go tomorrow morning.

Balsamic glazed trout.

We spent the day between the deck and the dock. Martin and Suzanne even managed to go out in the kayaks for a paddle. 

Martin making sure there are no spiders to scare Suzanne. lol

Off they go.

And back they come. 

Three young adults stopped by the dock asking if they could pat Freya. Of course Freya is thrilled, it made her day. Lots of face washing.

Since we ate lunch so late I didn't start my barbecued chicken until late in the afternoon, so dinner was not until 7pm. Of course left over Apple Pie for dessert.

My kitchen crew are awesome, I never touched a dish after making all the meals. Thank goodness for a dishwasher as it definitely is running full out. lol

After dinner we sat back on the sundeck listening to all of the crickets. So peaceful. As the lake water is quite warm, 68 F. it did not take too long for the hot tub to heat up, so Martin and Suzanne were able to have a dip before bed. Another wonderful day with great friends.

Monday morning, a bunch of marine fog at 6:30 am. They guys were out into the boat by 7am to try and get more fish. Ray and Martin were back at 9:30 with one good size trout in the boat. Happy guys.

 After blueberry pancakes our company hit the road at 11 am. A great weekend.

Later in the afternoon, Ray and I just relaxed on the dock watching all the boat traffic. Last day of summer for most people going back to school and work. This long "red boat" for some reason kept going towards the marina and then back down the lake a short ways and back again about 1/2 a dozen times .... don't know what was up with that. lol

This summer sure has gone by in a blink....

August 25 - 31st Dianne and Steve come to visit!

Bye bye Lighthouse RV Park

Wednesday, left the campsite at 9:30 after packing up. We enjoyed a great week, but it's time to go home and spend time on the lake. Pulled in the driveway shortly after 11:30 am.

We did have a casualty to that windstorm on Sunday, the base of one of our white loungers is now sitting at the bottom of the lake. We'll have to try and "fish" it out. I've ordered a big weighted treble hook from Amazon to retrieve it, so will attempt to get it back when it arrives. Took the idea from Swamp People and how they hook up the alligators lol. Of course it is at the deepest part of our dock and I cannot see the bottom. lol 

It was nice enough to sit on the sundeck for awhile, after unpacking 75% of the motorhome. Ray's back was pretty sore after the pack up and unpack, so we both went for a "toes up" for an hour. Nice to be home.

Thursday, I was busy getting caught up on laundry from our week's vacation and finished unloading the motorhome. Later in the afternoon it was off to Victoria for Ray's post-op appointment for his eye surgery. The predicted showers started about 11 am, although very light hopefully it does not make the roads to slippery.

Ray's appointment went well, but at 4:30.  The theory was to go for a bite to eat before heading back to Lake Cowichan to allow the traffic to subside from rush hour levels. We originally planned to go to the Steamship Grill and Bar but they were only taking people with reservations as their dishwasher was down. :( Anyway, we crossed the street and ate on the patio of the Grand Hotel. A Jazz band had just set up so we had music while we ate appetizers. The appy's were expensive and not all that great.

So, how did our theory work out? We hit the road about 5:45 pm and the traffic leaving town was good until we hit Tillicum and then was still pretty stop and go until after the McKenzie interchange. From there, smooth sailing all the way home.  Google's traffic map showed the congestion more when we left than after the appointment.  Oh well, lesson learned.

Friday, a difficult day. We went up to Nanaimo to babysit Amelia as Kristi and Jason took Athena to the vet to be put down. She had dementia now for about 5 years but the final straw is she is now not answering to her name and is really unstable in her back end falling over. So the decision was made. We will miss her. It's been a tough year. Our son Garrett's dog, Kira, Freya's half sister, passed away last January and now Athena. Poor Freya's expiry date is coming up too as she is really struggling with her back end to as both her knees are shot. The cycles of life. Athena will be missed greatly.

Amelia loves to eat Grandpa's arrowroot cookies. lol

Saturday, what a beautiful day. I'm too busy to sit down at the dock, but did enjoy a little bit of time sitting on the sundeck watching all of the lake activity. Grocery shopping and prepping food is on my agenda. The people are coming, the people are coming! lol

Sunday, a beautiful clear and sunny morning. The lake is like glass. Starting to see fish rise again, so soon Ray will be able to go fishing again. It will be another busy day for me as Steve and Dianne are arriving this afternoon for a couple of days. 

Turkey is going into my Traeger Smoker. Yesterday I brined it overnight so it should be real juicy. Also prepped yesterday was the gravy and fresh cranberry sauce. I bought a flat of fresh peaches a couple of days ago and now were ripe enough they needed processing as well. So fresh peach pie was also made yesterday for tonight's dessert. Thanks to Ray for peeling and prepping for the pie as I worked on freezing the rest of the peaches.

Dianne and Steve arrived at 2 pm ... let the party begin! So nice to see them again after almost a year. It was nice and warm at 24C so we were able to sit down on the dock for awhile. 

Back up to the house around 4:30 as the wind came up on the lake. We continued "our party" on the sundeck. Ray's margarita's were appreciated.

Picture by Dianne

Picture from Steve/Dianne

The turkey turned out delicious and moist on my Traeger. Brining is certainly the key to success.

Dinner! Pics by Dianne

Yup that's what happens when you eat a big dinner ... turkey coma especially after peach pie for dessert. lol

Everyone pretty bushed so bedtime 9:30pm. Monday morning after relaxing and eggs benedict. Ray suggested a walk along Stocking Creek in Ladysmith. A great little outing to stretch our legs. Not very much water in the creek this time, but still very pretty. It was a bit sunny and warm at 20C. A great hiking temp. lol

(Steve's picture)

(Steve's picture)

Steve's pic

Some interesting trees along the path. Never seen this before, 2 species of trees growing as one.

Looks like a fir tree growing out of a cedar tree.

Last time we were here in the spring, I did see some trout in the creek but not this time.

Grumpy tree next to the nurse tree.

(picture by Steve)

Back in the car we headed the back road to Chemainus and stopped at the Sawmill Tap House for a bathroom break and of course, a beer! Although we did not stay for food, as we had turkey sandwiches on our menu at home today, we definitely would come back here again. The food coming out of the kitchen looked delicious and good size portions.

Once back at home and ate our turkey sandwiches, we sat outside on the deck with the heaters on. Quite a difference in temperature between yesterday and today. Cloudy and cool. Here at the lake it's only about 16C, much warmer in Ladysmith.

Mike Taylor, our RV tech, came by in the afternoon to check out our suspected gas leak in the motorhome from the new stove installed down south.  This past week we noticed a propane smell when we turned on the stove so did not use it and shut off the gas and used our outside stove and BBQ. Turned out we had TWO, one where the propane connects to the stove (not tightened sufficiently) and a broken gasket on the front burner! Parts on order. Good thing we did not have any more trips planned. This sure ticked me off though, as we just had that stove installed in while in Quartzsite before we headed home in February of 2020. They didn't do a pressure test. Poor workmanship!  Glad we did not "blow up".

Dinner, pork rib roast on the rotisserie, turned out great on my new barbecue. With lots of leftovers of potatoes and veg from yesterday's feast, dinner was easy. Thanks again to my great kitchen crew who did all my dishes for the past 2 days. Greatly appreciated.

Update ... Ray managed to catch "Senor Frog" as he was again on my barbecue when I took the cover off. He's been relocated to the park next door. Also, we noticed bat droppings underneath the closed up patio umbrella. Yup we saw a bat under there, I encouraged it to fly off at dusk. We do have our different wildlife here. :)

Bedtime was 9:30 again after a busy day. We all don't seem to be able to stay awake after that. lol

Tuesday morning after a big breakfast, Dianne and Steve hit the road at 10am. Sure was a great visit. 

As I mentioned earlier, our poor old Freya is having a tough time these days. Her back knees are shot so she drags her feet along. It is getting pretty tiring for her and now her front legs are getting sore as she is licking them all the time. All the pain meds she is on only seems to hold for awhile and she is waking us up at 4 am in the morning pacing around and licking. This past Friday night she did not wake us up to go out and unfortunately the basement door at the bottom of the stairs was left open. She probably thought she could go outside as she usually can during the day, but the outside door was locked so she ended up having a most terrible pooping accident all over the rugs in the basement .... so her time is coming unfortunately. Her tummy has been upset for a week or so and even Kaopectate doesn't seem to help. I think the pain is upsetting her guts. She is going for a vet appointment next week so we shall see what Dr. Wiley thinks.

Here are a few of our "August Pics" of our other granddaughter Stella.

Riding her bike Kristi, Jason and Ray and I bought for her first birthday. First time outside.