Another busy week

Oh yes, last week there was an earthquake off the west coast, north of Tofino. Colin and Jess had left that area several hours before and were already on the east coast of the island but didn't feel anything, nor did we thankfully. Apparently there was another smaller one a day or two later. Enough already!  

Last Saturday we got up early and did the round of nearby garage sales. Not too many deals but some nice interactions with people. Did score one beautiful old oak washstand though which is doing temporary duty as a nightstand.

The handles have to go.

These guys strolled in front of us as we walked
to the garage sale at the end of the street.

After a quick lunch, we headed downtown to check out the cruise ship which was docked in the harbour for the day. It was amazing to see such a huge ship in this relatively small harbour. We saw it later that day from our deck as it headed north to Alaska. The weather was spectacular and there were lots of people out and about so the place had a great buzz going. Had a closeup look at some of the gorgeous boats (mostly American) which were docked down there.

The "Celebrity Millennium" 

This is likely the size of boat we will end up with!
That's not a girl with long hair but a guy with dreadlocks.

Celebrity Millennium leaving Nanaimo past our house.

A few events were scheduled for the day so we took in a walk around the Heritage District downtown and the Harvest Festival (just caught the end of that). One interesting shop we happened upon was McLean's Specialty Foods run by a Scottish couple who we had a great chat with. Also met the head of the Nanaimo Port (not the drinking kind) Authority so that might be a useful connection in the future - he gave me his card. We continue to be amazed at how friendly and interactive people are here. This is a picture of the McLean's shop - they sold small jars of Vegemite for over $11.00!!

Loved the sign - especially good if you are Scottish.

My baby turned 30 last Sunday! Happy Birthday Heidi! Where do the years go? We couldn't be there to celebrate with Heidi but she had an amazing activity filled weekend so I don't think we were missed. We'll celebrate when she and Antoine are here in a few weeks for Thanksgiving.

Also on Sunday, friend Sylvia made the trek up from Shawnigan Lake (about an hour south) to have lunch and to check out our house. It's just a bit challenging catering at the moment but not for too much longer we hope. We also had visits from two Canadian Coast Guard boats into our bay - docking overnight at the Ocean and Fisheries Canada base just down the road from us. It was interesting watching them come and go - not sure if this is a regular part of their route or just a random visit. No doubt will find out more over time.

Tuesday we decided to continue the hunt for bedroom pieces and headed down to Victoria (about 2 hours away) armed with a list of second hand dealers and antique stores. We had a great time checking them all out - a few were out of business but we discovered a few not on the list and also enjoyed driving the back streets of some beautiful neighbourhoods. One funny discovery was the display of some china plates and bowls in an antique dealer's glass showcase - of the same pattern as some we picked up in a box of miscellaneous dishes at a garage sale! We got about 20 dishes for $3. They were selling one for a lot more than that.

We were downtown Victoria around lunchtime to check out the last spot on the list when a city worker happened by and recommended a nearby restaurant for lunch, "Canoe Brewpub". It's down by the water and the food was fabulous. As is immediately obvious from the hops smell when you enter, they brew their own beer onsite - at one end above the bar are four huge copper barrels (is that what they are called?) which contain their on-tap beers. Their outdoor patio was nice too but was a bit chilly for that - yes, the amazingly long run of hot weather has come to an end unfortunately.

The chandeliers were pretty impressive as was the heritage building.

Some random shots of Victoria's waterfront and downtown area:

On the way home from Victoria, we checked out a couple more antique shops at some small towns - got home very weary and with not one purchase! At least we now have an idea of where to go and what prices to expect to pay for anything of interest.

Our other focus at present is planning for construction of some retaining wall and fencing in the front yard to create a deer-proof courtyard - it will give us a spot to grow whatever we want without it being animal feed and also give a bit of additional security for the front door and windows.

Today (Saturday), we spent the morning cooking and freezing the bagful of plums which our neighbour to the back brought down for us the other day. Felt very virtuous! Also picked the few remaining vegetables in the garden - a few ears of corn, one funny shaped cucumber, a tiny eggplant, some small red chillies and a few beans. I think there maybe one zucchini left to grow a bit bigger. 

Later this afternoon we are off for our first official Nanaimo social engagement!! It's to a BBQ at Angie and Bruce's - they are the lovely owners of The Painted Turtle guesthouse in downtown Nanaimo. We are looking forward to interacting with some new faces. It's been an on and off cool rainy day so far but there are now a few patches of sunshine so hopefully that lasts.

Tomorrow is September 18th - the day our ship is supposed to come in!!! Into Vancouver that is. It will take anywhere from a week to three weeks after that for our stuff to land on our doorstep - I'm hoping I can use a bit of persuasion with the movers to get it sooner rather than later. It is proving to be a long wait that's for sure. I think I should take bets on when it will get here. Patience Ginnie..... (that reminds me of a poster my mother gave me when I was a very young teenager which said "Patience is a Virtue" - I put the poster up on the wall but never admitted to anyone for a long time that I wasn't exactly sure what a virtue was.) Nowadays I could just look it up on Google!