Summertime fun!

It was a very busy July - and what I've seen of August has been just as busy - can't believe we are past the middle of August already.

Brian worked incredibly hard in early July finishing the painting of the deck railing and completing trim. Lots of other little jobs have been done to use up stuff which has been sitting around which feels good. One job I undertook was to pull the (very large) nails out of the old deck railing which we dismantled - makes me appreciate the effort Brian makes all the time with hammering, nailing, sawing, etc. etc.

The garage makeover made great progress and is already in
use on several other projects.

My poor garage floor paint choice (which I call "nasty pink")
was used to paint these kit Adirondack chairs which
had been sitting unassembled for many months.

Finally have house number installed...making one postie
very happy.

I put this up in early July but nary a hummingbird stopped by.

Our garden is continuing to grow very well (most of our garden that is). I learned about hilling potatoes and the fine art of hand fertilising the pumpkin and squash (I have to say that felt just a bit weird but I've been assured it's necessary...okay). So, there I was lurking furtively amongst the plants in the early morn, prying the hiding females and fertilising them from the male flowers with the softest paint brush I could find...all feels very intrusive and I'm at a loss why I have to do it and why God didn't organise for the male flowers and female flowers to be open at the same time to make the job easier for the bees...and for me...but do it I must lest the females not be fertilised and their flowers wither and die and no vegetable emerges from their spot! Interesting thing this gardening.

The first of many potatoes - not all this tiny fortunately.

In two sessions, the rabbit managed to devour every leaf off
the bean plants. I was not impressed. He also likes the onion
and leek tops.

Next year there will be some modifications made to the garden area in the form of fencing to keep little Peter Cottontail out. 

This end of the garden looks a bit better although there
are more flowers than vegetables. I still have much to learn.

Some of the MapleGum Farm produce! Very proud.

One bowl of cherries...that was the sum total of the cherry
crop due to a bumper crop of army tent caterpillars...grrrrrr!

On the other hand, the raspberries just kept on keeping on.

I'd never seen pink strawberry flowers before. The plants
are certainly very good producers.

The lavender was just so beautiful this year.

Above two photos were of a surprise flower which emerged
from a succulent I'd bought on our last trip to Edmonton.

Last week I harvested a lot of the figs and, knowing that I would not be able to eat them all quickly enough, preserved them in a sugar solution so hopefully that will keep them until we have time to devour them. The few fresh ones I ate were amazing. Unfortunately Brian is not a convert at this point.

The apples are all looking really good so I think we will have a good crop of those to deal with next month.

We've had several longer kayak trips out and around Departure Bay. On one outing we paddled past the ferry terminal and half way down the channel to downtown, then came back along the edge of Newcastle Island - stopped on a beach there and then paddled back across the entrance to the bay and down the water's edge near our house. We saw a raccoon, several sea planes taking off and landing around us, deer along the waters edge, several seals popping their heads up for a look, as well as a ferry or two -  very interesting outing.

As we paddled in front of the docked ferry, he revved his
engines a couple of times which gave us a start. I could
imagine them up there laughing their heads off! 

Our weather this past six weeks or so has been wonderful so we've tried to get out and enjoy it as much as possible. One evening, we took our wine and walked the five minutes to a nearby water access and sat on a log and watched the bird and boat activity on the bay.

My quilt group decided to have a day out recently and about 8 of us headed north to the Courtney/Comox area for lunch and a spot of shopping (quilt shop shopping of course).

Some of my new quilting buddies.

On the way back we detoured to Coombs hoping to check out this shop called Bedazzled (or was it Bamboozled?) -  I had missed discovering this on previous trips to the area. Anyway, alas and alack it was closed so all I have are these few photos and the hope of getting back there soon.

Doesn't this look like a wonderful spot to check out?
Can't wait.

We did have a consoling icecream and even managed to see a goat "on the roof".

Mid-July saw the arrival of sister Elizabeth, husband Wayne and their granddaughter Bella for a ten day visit. That was lots of fun and we managed to keep on the go with lots of outings, evening Euchre competitions and even a bit of down time just sitting on the deck and watching the activity on the bay.

And some of our beloved Fishermen's Chowder of course!

Bella made a very intricate pop up birthday card for her
brother while I was busy with my projects.

We took in the famous Nanaimo Silly Boat Races - which were, in fact, pretty silly but made for lots of laughs - and despite the black skies, it didn't rain.

One night we were treated to fireworks from our deck - part of another festival - the Bathtub Race (as opposed to the above Silly Boat Races). The "bathtubs" are mounted to some sort of other boat and they race a pretty long course which can take up to two hours. We could see the boats come into Departure Bay as they neared the finish line.

Not my photo but just to give an idea of what they look like.

We also went up to Parksville to check out their sand sculpture competition (there was even an entrant from Australia) and have a wander on their very big (when the tide is out) beach. Saw a deer with triplet babies along the way...that was a first.

Some very talented people that's for sure.

Random shot of fascinating sea lettuce.

Brian had to work so unfortunately missed our day trip over to Saltspring Island for their famous Saturday morning markets.

She was the cutest little helper.

Not sure what this doughy delicacy was called - absolutely
nothing nutritious in it but was it ever good! 

More eating...lunch.

Some shopping...

Lots of beautiful scenery... 

More eating...early dinner...waiting for the delayed
ferry home.

Finally we leave after a wonderful day of  discovery.

And, before we knew it, our visit was over :(

We had another kayak outing on Departure Bay and this time we were just a little braver and
kayaked around Jesse Island for first time - 3 seals (or maybe just the one three times) checked on our progress. Since then, we have seen one or two seals quite often in front of our house leaping and splashing around in the water - so much fun to watch.

Blue heron posing for me.

Baby geese I think.

Because we have lots of visitors coming in September, we thought it our duty to make sure we checked out some local eating spots in order that we can personally recommend them (or otherwise) for a visit. One of those was a Friday night dinner at one of the nearby pubs which for some reason had eluded our attention previously. Anyway, it was very good, so check out Pipers Pub when you are in town...oh, and Milano's - we've been there already several times but went back again just to refresh our memory...still good! And we had a return trip to a downtown harbour favourite, the Lighthouse Bistro.

We also had a fun night out at Brian's monthly hockey players & wives dinner - first time they had ever sat out on the patio at this pub and we got caught in a freak and unpredicted brief thunderstorm - quick run for cover inside!

We went to a surprise birthday party for our new friend Angie (owner of the Painted Turtle guesthouse). Her husband Bruce organised it at an Irish pub which has opened in the recently renovated Nanaimo Railway Station building - the train doesn't run any more but there are hopes that it will at some point down the track (oh that's punny!). Anyway, the party was lovely and we reconnected with some people we had met when we first came to Nanaimo...and checked out yet another new spot.

The birthday girl - isn't she so cute?

After many weeks of waiting, we have finally started to get a (yes, just one) hummingbird visiting the feeder - I guess the flowers are dying so he/she is looking for other sources of nectar. It's so much fun to watch them.

Last week I went (with a new quilting friend, Robyn) to Duncan (about an hour south of Nanaimo) to go to a quilt show held outdoors on a small farm. What an absolutely beautiful setting to wander around in and admire the handiwork of others.

We also took the opportunity to do a little exploring of the area and ended up further inland at Lake Cowichan which is a beautiful and quite large lake.

Lake Cowichan public swimming area.

Lunch was not worth a mention but the stop to watch people rafting down the river was wonderful - it was a pretty hot day so we were tempted to hop in for a paddle ourselves.

And, look at the style in which I was chauffeured around
all day - not bad eh? That was lots of fun.

Another big project in progress is renovating the laundry room and mud room so the back garden landscaping has been put on hold for the moment. We have taken closet space from the mud room and incorporated it into the laundry area in the form of a counter and cupboards and bar fridge. A sink has also been installed in another corner which is very handy. The mud room is now two spaces - a small bedroom/store room and a wide hallway connecting the garage to the house. Brian continues to work on this while I am away and is making great progress.

The laundry bump out almost finished!

Brian continues to work at Home Depot and is the darling of the management. He has been getting some amazing performance feedback which is always nice to receive.

And of course, most of us spent at least some time watching the Olympics from London. I did manage to watch most of the opening ceremony and was pretty impressed. Had to cheer on both the Aussies and Canucks of course.

During all of this, the Nana-to-be has been busy busy making a quilt as well as some other accessories to add to the nautical themed nursery which Heidi has created for the new baby.

And so this brings us to August 15th - I'm heading off to Edmonton until the end of the month to hopefully be around when the new (first) grandbaby makes his entrance into the world. We are all very excited.

First time I have seen the mountains so clearly when flying
over British Columbia.

August 31st will see me on a plane from Edmonton to Vancouver to meet my youngest sister Megan's flight which arrives from Australia - we'll then catch the ferry together back to the island and the beginning of a month visit in Canada. Can't wait for that either. September is going to be a hopping month - and it's my 60th birthday month so that's a good excuse for good times.

**As I finish this post and publish it, Heidi is in the hospital and I am at her house waiting for baby news! You can guess what the next post will be featuring.