We've had enough, please

rain that is. Not much we can do in the garden when it rains. Even Cliff had to do jobs inside like making a new sawhorse which is a good thing because the old one was in danger of collapsing so maybe I should not complain about the rain.
Tonight we used the last of our Pizzas. Now I need to make 6 more. I like to have those in the freezer for the night when I just cannot think of something to serve. We had Hungarian Goulash for lunch and it was very tasty with enough leftover for tomorrow.
I finished my book "The Prodigal Summer" this afternoon. I really enjoyed it.
We don't have flowers at the front of the house. I gave up on that a few years ago since there was not enough sun. The house was shading it in the morning and in the afternoon the trees were doing that job. Now the trees are gone but the deer are in full force. This is what the flowers would look like today, only stumps left.

Good thing it is just weeds. It used to be very frustrating to see the flowers chewed off. Instead of flowers we can watch a beautiful 2 point Buck for the last few days. Cliff wanted to take a picture this morning but by the time he found the camera the Buck was gone.
Our vegetable garden in the back is fenced off. The fence had to be 8 feet high because the deer would just jump over a lower one. Just now our neighbourhood Buck arrived again and here he is

This time we were able to catch him on camera.
It's late and I will go to bed now.
Good night everybody ☺

Lucky us..

Late Saturday Cliff saw an ad on UsedVictoria that was of great interest. Someone had a truckload of 5 ft long tree logs that he wanted to give away. Cliff answered that ad at once and yesterday he picked them up. To make the deal even sweeter the place was in Shawnigan Lake, just a few miles away from us. Since we had no plans for the day Cliff sawed them into stove length and I helped for a little while to pile the wood. There is a least a full cord. I don't have much stamina though so most of the work is left to him. Good thing he likes to do that. The weather was suitable too, not too hot and only a little bit of rain on and off.
It looks like we will have our woodshed full come winter. Of course should there be another windfall we'll be there with bells on ☺
Today we watched a bit of the Victoria Day Parade on TV today. It is amazing how many floats and marching bands are in it. The organizers even had to turn some entries away. Very colourful and the weather was great for the parade.
Now it is nearly time for "Dancing with the Stars". I have not watched it all but I always like to see the Finale.
Good night everybody ☺

Another rainy day

We can use it though because the ground was very dry before.
I defrosted blackberries that Cliff picked last Fall and made jam. I don't like the pits in it so I put them through a sieve which takes a little longer to do. I think this is the last jam I'll make until the time the raspberries are ripe.
Talking about blackberries...
Here is something black that Cliff encountered yesterday while he was going for a walk

Cliff and friends with their dog were walking along the Haul road here in Cobble Hill when a bear cub ran onto the road in front of them. The dog saw it and ran after it. At that time the mother bear came out of the bush and took after the dog. In shock the owners called the dog back and luckily it obeyed. The cub climbed up a tree and the mother disappeared. That sure was a lucky break for the dog.
I finished "A painted House" this afternoon just before the News and I liked it just as well as I did the last time. Give me another 10 years and I'll be ready to read it again ☺
Good night everybody ☺

Clean-Up

Today we got inspired by two sources, first by our friends Tom and Joyce and then by Rick's Blog.
Tom called this morning and during the conversation he mentioned that he was going to pressure wash his deck since he finds it easier to do while the rain already soaked it a bit. I rained last night quite a bit. As usual I read Rick's Blog and he mentioned that Paulette pressure washed their deck etc. Cliff and I then started to scrub our balcony using a stiff broom and Tide detergent. Two years ago we tried using the pressure washer on that too but it took a big chunk of the deck paint off which was hard to repair. It took us more than an hour to do and because it looked so nice and clean we decided we better clean up the cement patio too which took a beating during the last two winters. It had lots of moss growing on it.
After lunch Cliff hooked the machine up for me and off I went. That is a job I like doing because I can really see results. Now the patio and the walk around the house are nice and clean and again I am promising myself that I will do it every year. Hope I can keep that promise. ☺
We also went to Mill Bay early this morning for a few groceries and I had to pick up a book at the library I had ordered. "A Painted House" by John Grisham. I read that before and remember liking it a lot.
Now I will read so

Good night everybody ☺

Bye bye car

Just before Christmas 1986 Cliff took our Honda Accord to Discovery Honda in Duncan because of a recall for faulty seat belts. I was writing Christmas cards when I looked up and saw a silver flash go by the window. Could not be our car because it's colour was maroon. Of course I went outside to investigate and learned that Discovery Honda finally gave in to Cliff's price demand so he traded the old car in for a new one after all it was Christmas ☺


Well, that nice new shiny car is now gone. We sold it yesterday. We listed it on Used Victoria and Used Cowichan at around 9.30 AM and by 10 AM the first person called and came to view it right away and bought it. We could have sold it several times. It really was in great condition and has never let us down but Cliff wanted to have cruise control and I air conditioning none of which was on the old Honda. It really made me sad to see it go but we now have a brand new shiny silver Honda but I really have to get used to it's bigger size. Same Honda Accord type but the new one is so much bigger. I wish I could shrink it a bit ☺

Today I finally used some of our rhubarb to make "Heavenly Jam" which is a family favourite. It's made with Rhubarb, canned crushed pineapple, sugar, lemon juice and Strawberry Jello, no Certo. Very easy to make and oh soooo good. As soon as I buy more Jello I'll make another batch. I also stewed some Rhubarb with canned crushed pineapple and a bit of sugar to put on our pancakes tonight. Very yummy!
Now I will carry on reading my latest book. The autobiography of Jeannette Walls "The Glass Castle". Reading this makes me very thankful that I have grown up in a normal family.
Good night everybody ☺

Swallows

For a few years now we have 2 swallow houses at the gable of our garage . We could watch them fly about gathering nest building material and catching their keep. Not this year! We see them only once in awhile and even see them coming from the nest but most of the time they are nowhere around. If I did not see them flying from the nest I would think they found better accommodation elsewhere. It will be interesting to see if there is nesting material in the houses after the swallows have left for the winter.
UPDATE
I wrote the former this morning and shortly after that I saw quite a few swallows and one or two even went into the nest and stayed for awhile before coming out again. So I guess they wanted to prove me wrong ☺ I am really glad they are here.

Now to the Mason bees. It is amazing how many are flying around. The air is full of them and the buzzing is super loud. Cliff keeps making more bee houses for them and they are busy filling them. The last one had over 100 holes but no matter how many nests we have they still fill every electric plug-in that is outside.

We had our usual company this afternoon and again had a great time together telling stories from "Yesteryear" when we were all young.
Hope everybody had a good Mother's Day.
Now it is nearly time to watch "The Amazing Race"
Good night everybody ☺

Getting Wood

We left the house at 7.15 AM to get a load of wood. After the logging companies are through they issue permits ($ 40.00) for a pickup load of the leftover wood. Of course you have to cut it yourself and the logging roads are pretty hard to travel. The wood lot is a good distance from where we live but we go just the same with our good old wood truck. It's certainly not a pretty truck but suits it's purpose very well; 4-wheel drive and rugged ☺
The weather was absolutely perfect for that task. Cliff was wearing his black coveralls but they came off very soon. I helped pack the wood and pile it in the truck but most of the work fell to Cliff.

This wood intrigues me. I wonder how the markings come about?

We came home at noon and after making lunch I had a snooze on the couch while Cliff unloaded the truck. Shortly after just as I was nodding off I had a phone call from a neighbour. I did not want to go back to sleep so instead I made a batch of cookies, my favourite ginger mounds. I'm not going to tell you how many I ate already ☺
Tomorrow is the last day before the woods close until September but since it is Mother's Day we won't go again (I hope).
That's it for today.
Good night everybody ☺

Finally sun again

When I got up yesterday morning I was shocked to see the frost on the roofs around us. Right away I thought of our two baskets planted with the little flowers that stayed outside overnight.

I could see them from the picture window and they looked OK. Boy was I happy. Last night I took them inside and will do the same tonight because according to the forecast it will probably be freezing again. We find that if Victoria is less about 3 C then it will be freezing here, so in they come.
On the other hand the patio tomato and the basil are staying outside. They probably won't grow much just yet but they'll survive.


I had a nice surprise when I opened our mail box..there were 2 Mother's Day cards from my girls. WOW that was great. Thank you, girls ☺
I went to the library and grocery shopping this afternoon. I am getting used to the new car and really like driving it.
Good night everybody ☺

Wind and more Wind

I was reluctant to do the laundry this morning because of the high winds. My washer is electronic and I was afraid the electricity would cut out due to the wind. So far so good, we did not lose the juice ☺ I dried the sheets outside for the first time this year but it was a struggle. Every few minutes I had to run outside to untangle them from the line. I persevered and was rewarded with fresh smelling sheets for tonight's snuggle.
We had to go to Chemainus after lunch and since it was sunny it was a real nice drive. On the way home we stopped in Duncan. I had to try to return a spindle of Verbatim DVD-RW to Staples. I bought them last August but never used more than a few of them until a few days ago. I found out that just about every other one was coming up as "invalid disc" Hmmm. Since they were brand new I decided to see what Staples could do for me. Since I had them for quite some time they could not reimburse me but they would sell me a spindle for half price. I took the deal because I need them for our DVD recorder. Now I hope that these ones will be fault-free.
We were at Canadian Tire yesterday and bought enough tiny plants to make up 2 hanging baskets. They are now sitting on the south side of our balcony under an old boat windshield to keep them warm over night.
That's it again,
Good night everybody ☺

Garden in progress

It's that time of year that the wood chopping and hauling is put on the back burner and the garden work begins. We still have a fire in the fireplace early in the morning but only one fill-up is enough to take the chill off the house for the day. 
Cliff has been slaving in the garden, spreading manure, digging and planting. Our garden is not very pretty but it sure keeps us fed. See for yourself

This is where the tomato plants are growing; nice and cozy inside a cloche.

lettuce also under a cloche which is opened during the day and particularly when it rains lightly.

our sour cherry tree which will hopefully provide lots of cherries for our "Sauerkirschen Torte" ☺
 
a splash of colour with rhubarb in the back.

  
"food for the soul"
I started more veggies from seeds up on the balcony and some of them are already poking through the soil. Cucumbers, more lettuce and basil.
Hopefully the weather will be favourable to grow a good garden.
This afternoon I drove to the Mill Bay library and a bit of grocery shopping. I am getting used to driving the new car. Cliff is still griping about it. Too much control taken over by computers.
I have one complaint: The driver's seat can be pumped up or down and the steering wheel can be moved up or down. If I adjust everything so that the air bag in the steering wheel does not point at my head ( which the manual says to avoid) the steering wheel is obscuring the instrument panel. I wonder if other people have the same problem. I am only hoping that the air bag never deploys.
That is all for tonight.
Good night everybody ☺