Mom and Daughter Weekend At Salt Spring Island

Mom and I are back from our two-night adventure to Salt Spring Island.  Fortunately, Buddy was well enough that hubby could take care of him while we were gone.  He continues his recovery but it will be a couple of months until he is totally back to normal.  He is still on a leash in the house for one more week.

We left home on Friday morning early wanting to make the 2-hour drive and then 1/2 an hour ferry to Salt Spring so we could get there at a decent time.  The forecast called for possible rain.  As we were waiting in line for the ferry dark clouds moved in.  As soon as we got on the ferry all hell broke loose - nonstop hail for 20 minutes and thunderbolts hitting the bay all around us.  Since we moved to the island I have only seen hail once and only for a couple of minutes.  I have heard thunder but never seen lightening here, they are both an extreme rarity.  It was so loud in the car I was beginning to fear that the hail would grow larger into the vehicle damaging kind we used to get in Alberta.  Fortunately, it stayed pea size or smaller but when it was over several inches covered our windows.  Just as we reached the other side it turned to rain.  A very unusual storm indeed as neither Vancouver Island or Salt Spring Island got the hail or lightning, just out on the water.  

 Our first day after checking into our hotel we wandered across the road to a pub named Moby's.  I had read they had good fish and chips.  It was full of locals and noisy fishermen on this Friday afternoon, boisterously loud but we did not feel like going anywhere else so stayed.  I am so glad we did.  This is literally the very best dish I have had in Canada in 20 years.  It was prawn and lobster tacos, definitely not a Mexican style taco but scrumptious all the same.  I am so glad we went there.  One of those bars that employs a chef versus a cook.  I would go back in a heartbeat.

Salt Spring Island is known as having one of the top 10 Saturday markets in Canada.  It is right in downtown Ganges on an oceanside park and even in late September was thronging with locals and tourists alike.  Each vendor seems to know how to perfectly arrange their wares for photogenic shots.  There were lots of pastry vendors too, those were teeming with people so I couldn't get any decent shots.  The prices were similar to our farmers market which surprised me as this is definitely a tourist attraction and is run all day on Saturday versus the usual half-day market.  

The shot below is apparently an ornamental kale.  So pretty.  I am not a big fan of kale (I've tried!), but this was beautiful.

One of my favorite trees in the whole world is the arbutis tree seen below.  It lives with bark that just peels off, looks a bit like a naked tree.

This yacht below came in to harbour when we were at the market.  It is apparently owned by the Wheaton family in Canada.  They own a huge portion of Canada's car dealerships.  My husband used to deal directly with the family 20 years ago when he was in advertising.  The internet is a fabulous thing...just by googling the name I found out the owner and value - $25,000,000.  Likely that is USD.

While waiting for our supper reservation at an italian restaurant on the water we watched this Heron land on these boats and go fishing.  He caught a little fish right off the dock.

We don't tend to take a lot of pictures of ourselves but I wanted at least one of the weekend so we took this selfie lol.  

It was a lovely weekend.  We did everything we wanted to, ate and drank our fill and still managed to come under budget. We can't hike or anything like that as Mom has 2 legs that are different lengths so only does well on flat ground - that is due to having 2 knee surgeries years apart.  

Our rains have now returned - the usual fall wet weather is upon us.  

Both hubby and Buddy were very glad to see me.  Only one more week of on-leash then we all get a bit of freedom!  Buddy has been quite depressed and quiet up until this Tuesday, then he seems to have turned a corner and seems happy and playful.  Likely most of his pain is gone and he seems to have much more normal movement from his leg.  All his ligaments had to heal after the hip was reset and that takes a long time.  

I have been afflicted with a tooth issue since Monday.  The dentist fit me in yesterday but as my whole half-face hurts and is swollen we couldn't tell even after 3 Xrays which tooth is causing the issue.  I have an infection, likely under an old filling that will probably need a root canal ($$$).  In the meantime I am on antibiotics to get rid of the infection and we shall see after that. 

We are losing our biggest client so have done some belt-tightening and salary reductions so Buddy's vet bill and my potential tooth bill come at a lousy time but that is why you always need backup resources which fortunately we have.

I best get this published, I have had it drafted for a couple of days but felt so lousy haven't finished it.  Have a good weekend everyone!