Midsummer Checkin

 Yes, I am still here - enjoying life with my family and my dog.  Life has been treating me well, we've had a lovely summer to date with lots of visits to the ocean and together time.

When I last blogged we were looking forward to a weekend away at Quadra Island which is a short drive and ferry ride away but sometimes seems like you are on a different planet due to the complete tranquility.  We watched magical sunrises and sunsets from our tiny one room cabin right on the ocean.  We were experiencing the tail end of the heat dome (30-33 degrees celcius) when we got there but it cooled a tiny bit.  Even so we had to be careful to not get too much sun.  Fortunately from the bed in the cabin we could watch the whole world go by on the ocean.

The owner lived next door and was a wonderful host.  She has these massive Costa Rican rhubarb plants on the hill behind her house - unfortunately they aren't edible, just decorative.

As always when by the ocean we always manage to see lots of birds - and completely unexpected a rare sighting of a mink running extremly fast on the beach.  I had taken my good camera and had the sport feature on or would have never been able to capture this guy motoring across the beach.  Mink were almost hunted to point of extinction in Canada due to the fur trade but on some of these small islands they flourish well.  They eat lots of small rodents and love fish and crabs, likely what he was looking for.

He was also moving quickly because there were plenty of eagles about, and he would have been a choice meal for them if he had been caught.  Fortunately, he can easily run under rocks so the eagles didn't get him.  

All sorts of happy birds.  I am not sure what the one below is, maybe a nut hatch based on the way he was flitting about.  Nut hatches can run straight up and down trees which is unusual and fun to watch.

A photo of us a little wind blown on the beach.  We were very lucky to be staying on the side of the island that had the most wind as the temperatures were so high.

The view from our patio

The view from the bed.  Buddy absolutely loved being able to look out the window.

My husband took the above photo panoramic with his iphone.

Every evening we were treated to stunningly beautiful skies.  It was a wonderful few days away.

Two weeks after that my brother in law and sister in law (hubby's brother) came for a visit.  Again, they stayed in a hotel and we did safe yard visits and meals outside with them.  We are all fully vaccinated now but are being extra vigilant so none of us spread Covid even being vaccinated.  It was a great visit.  

Just a shot I sent a friend - Buddy likes to rest on my shoulder and look out the front door window when we sit on the couch.

The above shot was taken when our relatives were here.  I've gained weight.  Something about eating as much and whatever the heck I want heh heh heh.  

My garlic harvest this year - so easy to grow!!

After our company left to be frank we were just relieved.  No more visitors.  Just normal life again.  And that is what we have been doing ever since.  Our Province and Island are extremely dry and there are many forest fires.  We did get the first rain in 60 days a couple of days ago - it was wonderful - but with more heat than we are used to (days on end of 30 degrees) things are tinder dry.  We've just received notice that we are no longer allowed to sprinkle our lawn starting next Monday.  We are allowed to hand water flowers and shrubs so will do that.  

The kids are doing well.  My stepdaughter (youngest) is back to work after several restaurant shutdowns due to Covid.  Her and her boyfriend are moving into a house that they've rented in a couple of weeks, something she has really been wanting after being sick of apartments.  

The middle 2 boys are both returning to school this fall, the younger doing his final year of plumbing and the older starting his engineering degree.  The oldest son in Ottawa and his fiancee put their wedding off for another year (next July) as it was the right thing to do.  They decided instead to focus on buying a house and getting pregnant.  They just moved into their new home and are working on the second item :).

Mom is doing well, we hang out a couple of times a week with meals and movies.  Hubby is slowly winding his business down to minimal part-time.  He was ready, my health just speeded up that process.

As for me - I am doing surprisingly well and am just taking things one thing at a time.  The only thing I suffer from is lack of energy.  I just started taking vitamin B supplements and that is definitely helping.

Anyway, life is beautiful.  My husband is a rockstar, and the love of my life.  Buddy is still there every single day for both of us = such a little bundle of joy.

Stay safe and well my friends - Cheers!!!!!