Amelia and Olaf visits. - October 1st - October 2t1h

Pretty quiet week. We went to our exercise classes, me at the arena and Ray his physio. His leg now bends to 120 degrees. Thursday I went for my pedicure. After a bit of grocery shopping, we decided to try out this little ramen noodle place, called Neko Ramen. Delicious. Apparently the Dad comes in every morning at 8 am to make the noodles for when they open at 10am.

Is this utensil called a spork?

Friday, instead of going out for lunch, I made a "Pub Lunch". Fish and chips with home made tarter sauce ... Yumm.
 

Sunday and it's warm enough to finally sit outside and have a fire. It is bright enough that you can't see the flames lol

As you see it's been pretty boring around here, not many options of taking pictures. The lake is pretty quiet now that fall has arrived. We've enjoyed some beautiful fall mornings.

Wednesday, Oct 9th, I picked up Amelia at the Highway 18 interchange from Jason. She is out of daycare this week to keep her healthy for their plane trip to Halifax, NS on Saturday. A little sad at first missing her mommy and daddy, but once she's at the house and all her toys she hadn't seen for awhile, all was good.

We had a busy 2 days playing and baking. Amelia went to bed at 7 without any trouble and slept through the night both days.

Making blueberry pancakes.

After breakfast we made 2 apple pies. Amelia did all the turning of the apples. 

We took her out for lunch at JV Diner for milkshakes. Here they are counting all the old radios on the ledge above the tables.

Vanilla for Papa and Strawberry for Amelia.

After lunch:

Riding her scooter.

Puzzle time with Papa.

Papa and Amelia made a big fort.

Bathtime before dinner.

Friday morning she helped me scramble eggs and make bread.

Car races.

While Papa went to Duncan for his doctors appointment, Amelia and I sat outside in the sun and she played with her sidewalk chalk.

Time for lunch and pick up all the toys as we wait for her daddy to come and get her. So much fun. She seems to absorb so many things when you talk with her.

Jason arrived about 1:30, Amelia's really happy to see him. Fed Jason some of our bread that Amelia and I made and a slice of pie and off they went leaving Olaf with us for a week. They are all flying to Halifax tomorrow morning.

Olaf was happy to be here.

Saturday, we had our "turkey dinner". I prepped 2 turkey thighs to cook later on. After morning chores, Olaf and I sat outside on the lawn, well I sat and he played fetch lol. It was a lovely warm afternoon at 19C.

Monday and Tuesday were kinda wet, but Ray managed to get out for some "Fall Colours" around town, Tuesday afternoon.

Roy, next door, took this picture taking his boat out for the year showing our houses and fall colours.

I noticed a big black "blob" on the other side of the lake by the marina .... it was a bear. 

The bear was right below our friends house.

It's been a quiet few days with Ray's knee hurting, especially after physio and my right foot flared up with arthritis in the ball joint. Getting better though. Olaf has been a real good puppy. Ray gives him 4 short walks a day. Lots of play in the house.

Cuddle Time

Play with me Grandma.

Saturday morning after voting for our Provincial Election, we took Olaf home to Nanaimo. Amelia's very happy to see her dog. Kristi made us breakfast and we left at 11 back to the lake. 

We have an "Atmospheric River" happening here in BC. Started yesterday with pouring rain and has not let up. It's still raining on Monday morning. The lake level increased substantially in 3 days.

Saturday afternoon, Oct 19.

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Sunday afternoon, Oct 20th

Monday, Oct 21st.

Here are a couple of pictures of Vancouver area in the news.

This morning a much better day. The lake is officially full.

Some early morning activity on the lake.

That's all that has been happening with us for the past 3 weeks. 

Summer weather is over! Sept 23 - 30th

Monday I went to my Chair Yoga. Boy did Ross work us hard on our cores. I realize now the chair is only to help balance you, not for sitting. LOL

Tuesday is the day I put "summer" away. The rest of my front planters were emptied out ready for my gardener to move them under the sundeck for the winter. I put the rest of the deck and driveway furniture away using my "green dumper" and adjustable dolly into the basement. Most of it I did while Ray's at physio, so he couldn't try to help me lol. He did disconnect my front irrigation though and blew out the lines. With all the lifting, I'm pretty sore afterwards, even after having a hot tub. 

The rest of the day we spent sitting in our chairs on the deck, the ones we just cover and use over the winter. It's a really warm, humid afternoon at about 21C (70F). Last warm day, the rain begins tomorrow. I went to bed at 8:30 pm and asleep immediately. 

Wednesday off to exercise class. Wasn't sure if I would go as I'm so sore, but decided to go after loosening up in the hot tub. What beautiful warm fall afternoon. Great water reflections.

Ray finally got to take off the bandage from knee surgery. He is healing well. He can bend to 112 degrees, at 4 weeks. Awesome.

Thursday Raywent to physio, so that pretty much did him in for the day. I puttered in my kitchen a bit, another batch of tomato sauce with the last of my tomatoes and an apple pie. Ray bought a bag of apples at the Duncan Farmer's Market last weekend and they were already going soft, So instead of throwing them into the compost, I got out my "Johnny Apple Peeler" and made him a pie. Today is a miserable rainy day. Our gardener postponed taking our planters off the deck until tomorrow, so he wouldn't be tracking all that dirt and mud through the house, since that is how we get them off the deck.

Tonight's my Island Art Night at Jake's. My first time painting on a canvas. It was 2 hours of lots of laughs. My picture actually turned out not too bad. The hardest part is that I had a TV behind me that kept changing colours which would reflect on my canvas. That made it hard to seeif I had the appropriate coverage of paint. My picture turned out not too bad.

How it starts out. Mario gave us a stencil to trace out the plane and then paint it.

My tablemates.

I'm definitely going to give it another try and booked for the October 24th class. Pat, our neighbour, is also coming with me.

Friday, definitely a bit tired after staying up later than usual. Then moving fast in the morning as Sean's coming at 8am to clear off all the planters and put them under the deck for the winter. First Ralph and Sean had to dig a bunch of the dirt out and dump it into my front garden before moving them with my dolly. Now I have to finish cleaning the deck this weekend. They also helped me pull the ladders up on the dock, so now I just have to clean them from the green slime from the lake. I'm glad I went into the water on the last warm day and tied the ropes to them instead of swimming now!

Dirty deck!

While I'm busy with that Ray started figuring out his Christmas Village .... I had hauled out all the boxes of houses etc. He has 47 houses, 3 trains, 10 other bigger features, lots of people and a bunch of diecast cars. He will have to paint everything white, make hills and carve out his foam. A lot of figuring out how to go vertical! He started it downstairs, so has 2 months to figure it out before moving it upstairs. 

Decided not to go to my exercise class as I'd done a bunch already today. At 2pm I drove into Duncan to the Toyoto dealer for the first service on our new car and get our extra key fob programmed. Due to a chip shortage, we only received one key fob for the car. A bit of a pain between the two of us, as I clip my keys to my purse and often leave Ray in the car while doing a small shop. Then he is stuck unable to open windows etc. Also a bunch of times, he comes into the store with me for picking his stuff, then waits in the car. Several times he went to the car and then realizes he can't get in. Problem now solved. lol

Saturday morning we have a bit of a nice sunrise before the clouds moved in again. Morning temps are certainly chillier at 5C instead of 11C now. They have opened up the weir more, so more water is getting into the river for the salmon. 

I spent the morning pressure washing the gazebo and ladders down on the dock and then moved up to do the front of the house and part of the driveway to clear up all the dirt from the planters. My hose to the dock is 10 feet too short, so borrowed one from Pat and Darryl ... Ray gave all our extra hose away with the motorhome. 

That's exhausting work lol. Ray took me out for lunch as I'm too tired to throw something together. lol Sure looks much better. Tomorrow the sundeck! I kept 3 planters of herbs until they die off later in the fall.

Sunday, I managed to get the sundeck all pressure washed. This is my last big job for the fall. Looks much better. I'm glad to get it done on a nice day instead of the rain.

Ray played with his village setup downstairs for a bit. We have to make 2 villages .... so he can show off his 3 train sets. lol

He still has lots of pieces to figure out, then he will be painting the foam white, gluing his tracks and then build boxes to raise up the houses ... alot of work to do.

Monday, the last day of September OMG. This month went so fast. A very foggy start to the morning where we couldn't see across the lake. By 8 am though the sun broke through. Today is "take it easy" day, with both of us quite sore. I see a hot tub in my future, while Ray is still unable to go in until his incision scar is "scab free".

We did manage to hang our 2 new paintings. 

After doing a bit of grocery shopping, Ray took me out to lunch at Jake's for Seniors Day ... 25% off food. Great deal.

Fall is here! Sept 9 - Sept 22nd.

The weather became more "fall like" with temperatures of low 20's C (70F). The clouds are starting to come in, so there's a bit of a sunset Monday night.

Our granddaughter Amelia had a lesson this past week of physics and gravity ... poor thing forgot to brake on her new bike and hit their garage door. Messed up her face quite a bit and a bloody nose. This included a bunch of tears, but she is quite a trooper. 

Looking pretty bruised, poor thing.

Fortunately after a couple of days and lots of puppy hugs, she's looking much better.

This fall, since we're not going south, I've signed up for exercise programs at the Cowichan Arena. In the meantime, Ray's got 6 weeks of physio with his new knee. He goes twice a week, Tueday and Thursdays and I go 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

In between, I've been emptying the dock boxes and putting some of the furniture on the sundeck away for the winter. I've emptied out some of the deck planters and harvested all my mini peppers. At the end of the month, my gardener will move all the planters under the sundeck for me. 

Tuesday night brought rain, which we haven't seen much of since July 9th. Glad I put away a bunch of stuff yesterday.

The rest of the week and weekend became much cooler, but enough sun came out to be able to sit on the driveway. 

Our neighbour's friend landed on his heli-pad for a visit, 4 houses down from us. Right over Pat's house. Sure is loud!

View from our driveway.

Bye bye!

Sunday I drove up to Nanaimo for a Costco run and stopped in to see Amelia and Jason on the way back. Took them out for lunch and spent some time reading with her before heading back home. Jason made me a 1/2 dozen jars of yum yum pickles. Thanks a bunch! Back home for 2 pm to join Ray sitting outside on the driveway in the sunshine.

The rain on Friday, finished off most of the flowers in my planters so time to rip it all out. Quiet weekend other than puttering in the yard a bit.

Next I will be emptying the front planters and then next week Sean with move these off the deck for me. Then the deck can be pressure washed when Jason comes up to help me move the rest of the patio and driveway furniture into the basement for winter. 

Got to keep busy this fall, because at this time last year, we'd already left for our winter vacation in the motorhome.

I also went to a craft night at our local pub. Made a seaglass wind chime.  A lot of laughs with my table mates.

The weather's been quite warm in the afternoons, so we've spent quite a bit of time either on the driveway patio or the back deck. I had our gardener's helper, Penny, plant about 100 daffodil bulbs so I'll be here to see them next year. Notice her on her hands and knees, precisely why I had her do it. lol I did have a drill attachment to dig the holes making it easier though.

Penny

We had a "guest" perch in our front entrance again .... a bat! I wish they wouldn't decide to rest there between flights! Fortunately, with the screens Ray put up, they can't get into the very top and into the house. After fighting with them entering the house for 5 years, this year we seem to have finally convinced them to nest somewhere else. At least we have not seen the "droppings".

Saturday morning we went to an Art Show put on by our neighbours daughter Tara. All the proceeds are going to Lake Cowichan's Food Bank. 

We bought two of them lol

After we dropped Pat off next door, we headed into Duncan to visit the Farmer's Market and drop Ray's picture off to be framed. We noticed another mural we haven't seen before.

After wandering around for an hour, it's time for brunch. I started with mimosa's ... yumm.

A great Saturday. The rest of the day we spent down on the dock and out on the driveway enjoying the last day of sunshine for a bit.

Sunday, the first day of fall, sure looks like it. Cloudy and showers in the afternoon. Good day for chores and playing in my kitchen. 

Ray has his left leg knee surgery - August 26 - September 8th.

Monday and Tuesday we spent doing anything that needed doing before Ray is laid up for the next 6 - 8 weeks. Fortunately our son-in-law Jason and Kristi, will be down here at the end of September to help put away our summer furniture from the dock, deck and driveway. Too much for me to handle myself. We also have very helpful neighbours if I need help with something. So lucky we live where we do.

Dropped Ray off Wednsday at Cowichan Hospital at 6:30 am. Unfortunately for him, there was an emergency surgery ahead of him. A young boy broke his elbow and took a three hour surgery to fix. Ray finally got in at 11 am. Dr. Popovich said the surgery went really well and is happy with the result. Fabulous! 

We were able to finally spring him out of the hospital at 4:15 pm. He's happy to get back home. The next 5 days will be limited sleep for me, and him with meds every 2 hours. Just like having a newborn lol.

The weather is finally back to summer again. Ray's able to sit outside on the driveway and on the sundeck. I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen processing my tomatoes.  We will have a lot of tomato sauce ready for fall cooking. For the first time, I tried pickling some veggies with cherry tomatoes. I have to wait a week to taste test.

Friday morning I left Ray at home and went to the Cowichan Hospital in Duncan for an 11:45 am Echocardiogram. This was requested last summer. Kristi asked us to get one to find out who carries the "gene" that Amelia has. "Dilitation of the Thoracic Aorta".  Basically it is the possiblity of an aneurysm. More likely if you have high cholesterol. My blood tests are within range. Kristi has it as well, but very minor. She said if you've it bad, you'd already by dead by 40! I guess if I have the gene it is minor lol. The fix is a stent. Ray had is Echo in April and he didn't have it. 

With being the last long weekend of the summer the lake traffic has picked up substantially. Lots to watch. Friday night's dinner is homemade butternut squash ravoili with fried sage, brown butter sauce and candied pecans with prawns. Delicious. This is a take on a dish I used to order at Cactus Club in Surrey. Ray's a happy camper. He said "that's one of the best things you have ever made!" I guess this dinner will be hard to beat :) Since we are "stuck" at home for the next few weeks, I'm keeping my self busy with processing tomatoes and cooking. Afternoons are spent outside enjoying the warm weather.

Saturday morning is beautiful. Another batch of tomatoes processed into tomato sauce. Trying to keep up so it's not such a big job. Tonight's dinner will be Chicken Parmigiana with my homemade tomato sauce.

Sunday we spent the afternoon sitting on the deck watching all the activity on the water. It was so warm that I went for a quick dip in the lake to cool off. Ray can't make it down to the dock for awhile yet. His new knee is doing really well.

Monday the kids called to see if they could come for a visit. Of course that meant I'm making lunch and dinner lol. It's great to see them and our granddaughter Amelia. It's a month since we've seen them.They were camping and then we were worried about Ray getting sick before surgery.

We played in the driveway, and on the road. Zoom Zoom!

First up lunch, Italian Sausage Pasta ... fortunately I'd just made a batch of tomato sauce from my tomato plants.

Next is sitting outside on our driveway patio.

We set up the little pool for Amelia. She had a great time as "naked baby" for an hour or so. At the end it's time to give Olaf a bath before draining the pool.

He was so tired he found a place to sleep while we were out on the deck.

All too soon it's dinner time and then they were off by 6:00 pm in time to get Amelia to bed at their house in Nanaimo. So nice to see them.

Tuesday afternoon, Ray's dressing on his knee started staining with discharge. Oh oh. Ray called his surgeon's office and they told him to come to the hopsital tomorrow for 9am at the Ortho Clinic. We watched it for the rest of the afternoon but by 8pm his leg looked like it was getting red as well. Off to the ER we went. Arrived at 8:30 and he wasn't seen until 10:30 pm. After taking bloodwork and a culture they bandaged him back up and we left shortly after midnight.

Wednesday morning we were back at the hospital at the Ortho Clinic. It turned out that Ray'd developed a blister beside his incision for whatever reason and it popped, which is where the discharge came from. His incision is healing perfectly. 

His knee is redressed with the proper dressings and we came home. What a relief. If I'd been allowed to take his dressing off myself, I would've seen the issue. Oh well, better safe than sorry. We're both exhausted after only 5 hours sleep and the worry from the night before. We made use of the front driveway patio and the sundeck for the rest of the afternoon. I even managed a nap. Our "garden angel" came and transplanted two of my hydrangeas for me. The garden has a lot of roots and rocks so I didn't want to do it.

Thursday another gorgeous day. I spent the morning cutting down my tomato plants and harvesting all the green tomatoes. All the vines have died off and are yellow, so it's time. I've quite a few to ripen. lol

Ray spent the morning outside in the front before the heat moved him to the back deck. It sure is a hot one. I ended up swimming in the lake to cool off.

Friday I left early to go into Duncan for some shopping, return Ray's walker and get a pedicure. When I got back at 1 pm, there's a different guy waiting for me lol. Ray shaved off his goatee and moustache. Haven't seen that face for 3 years. :) I like it. 

Saturday's still quite warm and probably my last swim in the lake this year. It's really hazy out with the smoke from Washington moving north. It isn't as hot as predicted, but still warm enough for cooling off in the lake. 

Sunday I cut down my mini pepper plants and harvested a bowl of peppers that'll ripen on my counter with the tomatoes. I'm surprised by how many 2 small plants produced. The deck boxes are slowly emptying out getting ready to be moved under the sundeck for the winter. Today the temps are only low 20's C so we're now into fall temperatures, no more hot days this year. Time to start bringing up the deck box stuff from the dock. Last year at this time we were packing the MH getting ready to leave Sept 14 for the USA. So different this year.