She's Got Legs...and She Knows How to Use Them!

This past Saturday low-tide coincided with midday and some late summer warm weather of 24 degrees Celcius so we took Buddy for a long walk on Goose Spit Park.  We spotted this little crab, which I believe is called a Tanner crab (type of spider crab) in about a foot of water.  He was only a couple of inches wide but they grow up to several pounds and are common in the Pacific Northwest although it was the first time we have seen one here.  The rest of the little sand crabs are already buried under the sand readying themselves for fall and winter.  This is the first real creature I have been able to capture on film since I received my underwater camera for my birthday.  

I think all dogs love the beach, and Buddy is no exception.  He likes the sand portion the most but will agree to wade if the right opportunity for sniffing something in the water comes along.  We still haven't convinced him to swim yet but I think that will come with time.

The beach was pretty deserted, just a few people with their kids and dogs and what appeared to be one car load of German tourists (or local German speaking nice people).  

 I never tire of where we live, am so grateful we found a way to live here while we are still young and can get out and enjoy it.

I believe that Saturday was likely the last warm day as the weather has turned cold and rainy, but I have to say after the long hot summer we had the rain is still welcome.  They are finally lifting our watering restrictions this Friday - after not being able to use sprinklers at all this summer. That means our river is higher with recent rains and our reservoir is not in jeopardy of running dry.

As for renovations Hubby finished touching up the baseboards and we hung two brand new exterior lights on our garage as our old ones were rusted out/pitted and ugly after only being up for 7 years.  Hopefully these will last longer.  I will take a picture on a sunny day once hubby is finished touching up the plates behind them.  We only have two things left - fixing a crack in our ceiling which includes having someone re-texture an area.  If he can match the colour we won't have to paint it (fingers crossed).  If not we will be repainting the ceiling.  Not sure if our backs are up to that job considering they are 10 foot ceilings.  That might have to wait until Spring at this point.  The final piece of the reno puzzle is new countertops which we waited until last to ensure there was enough money in the reno fund for them and it appears we do.  We will be getting quotes on those in the next two weeks.

I scored a great grocery deal this week, chicken legs for $1.49 a pound which is extremely low for around here. I bought 10.5 lbs worth - which works out to 7 dinners for two for $2.87 meat cost per dinner. Yes, I continue to buy chicken parts way cheaper than I can buy a whole chicken, including skinless boneless chicken breast.  We had some for dinner last night and the rest went into the freezer in meal size packages.  Not everyone loves chicken legs(I decided not to take a picture of them for my vegetarian friends :)) but we do and this is one way we continue to stay on our grocery budget.

In an effort to boost our Spain travel fund(April 2016) I have signed up to work Elections Canada Federal Election advance polling in October which gives me 4 days of employment (8 hr days) plus a half day of training.  They usually only hire people who have worked elections in the past for advance polls but if you live in Canada and are legally allowed to work the election (they have a list) and want to work October 19th (12 -14 hr day) plus a half day training session sign up here.  Almost everyone who applies gets called, especially in smaller centres :)  I signed up just a couple of weeks ago and have already been hired.  No resume required - just your name and contact info.  Fortunately this will not interfere with our regular company business as I can just move my work around those days.

And that's what has been shaking on my little piece of Vancouver Island.  How about you?