Tuesday, July 31st - Happy Anniversary Cheryl and Norm

It's a balmy 16' at 5:30 am but we are expected to reach a high of 28' later with sun and a humidex that will make it feel like 34'. And people were complaining of the heat yesterday!

Well, it was a pleasant evening, although nothing too special. I got home from work, and Lloyd and I made a quick supper because Bernie was coming over with a big tractor. It was going to take Lloyd a very long time to move the shed by hand so Bernie fixed all that. He arrived on the tractor and then his brother came over right behind him with his wife and Brenda in the truck.

The non-leaning Tower of Pisquid

It was amazing how much quicker it was to move it with three guys and a tractor. Once again, we owe a huge thank you to the Van Gaals. Now it's in it's new spot, back a bit from where it was meant to go, but there's a bit of a slope right there so now it's on a hill. It even has a concrete step now that will make clearing the snow in front of it easier in the winter.

It's a big relief to get that moved and with any luck the digging will start soon on leveling out the area where the garage is going. Once that's done, Lloyd can actually start building. We hope to at least get the outside walls and roof on before winter so that we can store the wood inside. He'll pour the concrete floor and finish the inside next year. But we'll see how it goes. He's planning a quick trip to Ontario soon so that will take up one of his weekends.

Our friends Judi and Gail are coming down to the island and will be staying with us for 10 days. I'm planning a get together on the last Sunday that they're here. I'm thinking corn and mussels and maybe some rolls. That should feed a hungry crowd and be some fun. We don't really know that many people here on the island but so far I have close to 30 people on my list. If we're not careful, this could turn into a party!  

Our plan is to one day have a big BBQ like the one that Walt has in Ontario that you can roast a whole pig on if you wished. Each year we hope to host a large BBQ and make it an annual event. Perhaps this year will mark the first of many. 

I talked to the kids last night when they called to wish me a happy birthday. They are all pretty excited. James if moving into what used to be the playroom in the basement. That means Tristen can move into James' old room and Meghan will stay in her room but she won't have to share it with her little brother. So now they will all have their own space. Meghan is quite excited and advised that she doesn't want any toys for her birthday but instead would rather have money so she can buy things for her new room. Her Grandpa (Greg's dad) is going to paint it for her. I asked what colour it was going to be and she says purple. Good thing I put lots of shades of purple in the quilt I made for her. It's only a single size and I suspect she'll be getting a bigger bed but it will still be a nice warm cover to lie down with for a nap or just if you want to wrap up in some of Grandma's love!

Gosh, the summer is slipping away. I'll be tied up for three weekends with company, Brenda is busy this weekend, and before we know it, she'll be off to Holland. Our biking is taking a serious beating this year, and we're not even going to talk about the kayaking!  Oh well, one of these years we'll both be retired and maybe then we can find some time during the week.  But fall is usually pretty nice so we should get some good outdoor activities in then, even if it's just a hike in the woods every so often.

Yesterday I forgot to mention that we all (me, Lloyd and Brenda) went to the Confed Centre on Saturday night to see a play. It was called Kitchen Witches and was great fun. We thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to any one who likes a good laugh.

http://charlottetownfestival.com/en/25-The-Kitchen-Witches

On our way home, we stopped in at the Rec Centre to help celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of Anna and Charlie Duffy. There was quite the crowd and it was really nice to see such a turnout.

Which brings me back to today's greetings.  Back when I was in college (we're talking WAY back) I had a friend named Cheryl. During the summer between our first year and second year, she and her boyfriend, Norm, got married. We all felt so grown up the second year because all of us single girls who hung out together - me, Debbie and Liviana - would go into Toronto and have supper at Cheryl and Norm's apartment.  Gone were the days when the four of us girls would just cruise around in Cheryl's Plymouth Duster.  Now she was an old married lady. So happy anniversary, you old married couple. If my calculations are correct, this should be your 41st anniversay??? Oh my gosh, how did we all get so old!  Time flies when you're having fun so I guess we must all be having a real blast!
Happy Anniversary guys !

Monday, July 30th - Happy Birthday to Ethan (and ME!)

What another glorious weekend we had! It's an overcast 16' right now at 5:15 am but the sun will come out later and provide us with another wonderful 24' day. We sure can't complain about the weather this year - at least if you're a beach person. If you're a farmer, then maybe not so much. But it really has been quite exceptional, and it's forecast to be more of the same for most of the week.

So Friday was a fun evening. We invited the Van Gaals over for a BBQ (well, really we just wanted to use up the left over salads from Thursday, but they weren't left over to them so it was all good!) We had a few drinks and watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics online and had a lovely evening. Of course the rum soaked slushy drinks helped as well.

Saturday morning I worked and when I got home, Lloyd was attempting to move the shed - by hand. He had jacked up one side, placed long poles underneath and was rolling it from point A to point B. It's a very slow process to do by hand, moving a couple of inches at a time. He still has a ways to go but he may get a bit of help today or tomorrow.  Right now, it now has quite a lean to it.  This is all in preparation for the digging up the site for the garage, that he hopes to have the outside shell completed before winter.

The "Leaning Tower of Pisquid"

 While he did, that I finally got started on the flower bed I've been wanting to dig up since June. When Patti's aunt died, she bought a lilac bush for me to bring back. Jean loved Anne of Green Gables as a young girl and always wanted to visit PEI. I was so pleased to essentially make that happen by moving here. She came to visit the summer of 2010 and was able to visit Cavendish and see all the memorabilia surrounding our beloved Anne. Patti thought a tree planted on the island in her memory would be a nice thing to do. So she purchased a lilac bush - it had to be small enough to fit into our already crowded car - for the trip back.  But I needed to dig up a spot to plant it and I wanted it to be just right. Finally after a month, it's now in the ground. We all talked about the fact that now the family members will have to make to pilgrimage to the island to visit the memory tree (or in this case, bush).

A reflection of Jean's rural roots and her fondness for PEI

Sunday morning dawned a little foggy but that soon burned off. It wasn't as sunny a day as was predicted but it was lovely and warm. Lloyd went off for breakfast with the boys on their bikes while I finished up my flower bed and tree planting.  I still had some sod to remove and the soil to dig up. Once that was done, I headed over to Brenda's to see if there was anything I could help her with. She had lots of company arriving and was in full on cleaning mode. I arrived in time to help with a couple of small chores until Bernie got back. When he arrived I was ordered to go home as my husband was also at home.

A perfect spot to cast in a  line

 We decided to go for a drive and  have a picnic. We headed down to Murray Harbour, where the guys had traveled last Sunday. There's a lovely drive out towards the water and the road ends at a series of tall red cliffs, overlooking large rocks. Lloyd slowly picked his way down the cliff to the rocks to try his hand at fishing. But it wasn't so successful as there's lots of greenery in the water there that kept snagging on his line so that experiment didn't quite go as planned. But in his walk about he saw that off to one side there was a sandy beach - a perfect place for a picnic. If you could have seen the two of us navigating this cliff with picnic backpack, table and two chairs you would have thought we were both nuts - but it was worth it in the end. We set up our table (that folds up into a carrying bag when done) complete with bottle of wine, wine glasses, cheese, pate, a lovely fresh baguette and some grapes.  When he first mentioned a picnic I was thinking salads, maybe some fried chicken, that sort of thing. But I didn't have any of those things available. Then we thought, wait a minute, we have to drive right past a couple of grocery stores in Montague on our way.  So we picked up what we needed there  and it all turned out quite pleasantly. We did see one couple, who came walking along the beach. I'm sure they must have thought we were totally mad! But it was fun.

"Oh, look honey, I found a beach for our picnic"

All we have to do is climb down this steep hill

 

Now this is what I call a feast!

Can't go wrong with a bottle of wine, a nice piece of cheese and a loaf of bread!

We packed everything up just in time to get back to Sturgeon, a little hamlet on the way home, to attend a musical evening in the church hall. Our neighbour, Margie Carmichael was performing along with a host of other folks. It was a very enjoyable evening and a good time appears to have been had by all.

Neighbour Margie (far right) with some of the other performers

 This morning is mine and Ethan's birthday. So Happy Birthday to you, Ethan.  You have lots of visitors at your parents place so a good time is sure to be had by all. Have a great day. As for me,  nothing special is planned. It's off to work as usual. I had thought about baking a cake to take with me to work today, but I was just too busy yesterday. Not a big deal. Brenda and I plan to go out sometime later on when things are not so busy - but from the looks of it that might not be until October! haha
I guess my celebration will come in August - when I receive my first pension cheque!

Friday, July 27th - it was a great day to be off!

It's a brilliant red sunrise over the river this morning and even though folk lore tells us that it should be bad weather (red sky in the morning, sailor take warning) the weather people seem to think it will be a fine day. It's 17' right now with some clouds  and a sunny high of 23 expected later. We'll see who's right.

I had a wonderful day yesterday, finally getting to some of the little jobs that have been needing to be done for quite some time. I moved a few things from the pantry out to our new temporary storage in the bunky, so it's not quite so cramped and crowded in there now. My floors got their first mopping in quite a while and the bathroom doesn't have quite so much of a 'lived in' look to it. I managed to sleep in a bit before getting started on the salads, and then finally sitting down and doing the blog. Once everything was nicely under control, I went up the road to pick some strawberries. They aren't too plentiful now and those that are there, are quite small. But I managed to find enough to fill two boxes. There are still berries there but it's time consuming to find them. When I went to pay for them, there was a young girl at the house collecting the money. She says the raspberries are being picked right now and will likely only have another five days or so,  which means if I want to make any jam this year, I'd better get to it over the weekend.

My ice cream base had been chilling in the fridge overnight and I poured it into the new machine and turned it on. In 25 minutes I had delectable ice cream. It was still a bit soft so I put it into an ice cream container and put it back into the freezer to harden a bit more. It turned out perfectly.  Now I'm anxious to try out some of the other recipes in the book that came with it.

The almost finished ice cream, churning away

 The salads were tasty. The potato salad was different but I liked it. I love broccoli salad but I have to admit that I've never actually made it myself. The recipe called for almonds and raisins but I substituted toasted pecans and dried cranberries and it was quite good.  Fortunately there are left overs so the VanGaals can try them out tonight.

My frozen slushy drink also turned out really well. I found several recipes and made a couple of substitutions. Mine has orange and pineapple juice and a bit of rum for the alcohol. Mixed with a bit of lemon/lime soda, it makes for one tasty beverage on a hot summers day!

Tony and family arrived a little later than anticipated and the chicken was a little overdone but it was still good. But then anything off the BBQ is great in my opinion!  We had a lovely evening and their two kids really enjoyed trying out the loom. They did quite a large chunk with white wool, which is adjacent to the dark red that Tristen did. I told them when I take it off, I'll mail it to them. I'll do the same thing with theirs as Tristen's and make a pot holder/trivet out of it so it has a function. 

Working on the loom

 They left a little after 11:00 so I've slept in slightly this morning so I'm heading off to the shower now. Have a great weekend. I know we will. We're going to see the play "The Kitchen Witches" on Saturday night and them maybe a picnic on Sunday, but we'll see where the day takes us!

Thursday, July 26th - a glorious day to not have to go to work!

The weather network says it's 10' and foggy, but let me tell you, that is not the case out here in Pisquid! The sun is streaming in the front windows and glaring off the river. It's a gorgeous morning! I did sleep in a bit this morning, just because I could! I've taken the day off to clean and get diner ready for our guests from Ontario. It was a bit cooler yesterday and it may rain tomorrow so it looks like I totally lucked out choosing today.

Last night we put a few things away and moved the dining tent to the back yard closer to the house. Because it's meant to be quite warm I think we'll be much more comfortable eating outside. I'm currently working on the salads so they can spend the day in the fridge and then before it gets too warm, I'll be off to the neighbours to pick some strawberries for dessert to go with our homemade vanilla ice cream that I made last night. I also made a bowl of slush to make some refreshing cool drinks. I enjoyed it on Saturday night and thought it would be a fun alternative for tonight. I made mine slightly different - it has a mixture of orange and pineapple juice with rum. It seems pretty tasty in it's liquid state so frozen and mixed with a bit of sprite, it should be just perfect!

So our menu for tonight is as follows:

Loaded potato salad  (a new recipe)

and/or 

new potatoes sliced and cooked on the bbq in foil with butter and salt and pepper 

(for those who might not like potato salad)

Brocolli salad

Ceasar Salad

Beer can BBQ chicken

Fresh baked rolls and butter

Homemade vanilla ice cream and fresh picked strawberries

Does it really get any better than that?  I think not! At least I hope not. They were going for lobster last night so I wanted to do something different.

I stopped in to the Van Gaals on my way home last night to check on progress and things are moving right along. They actually have three separate projects going on at the same time so just looking at one doesn't give you a feel for the enormity of what they are doing. Brenda commented that they had put new doors on the closet - to which I replied "You have a closet???" She's going to let me see it once it's all done so I'll be REALLY jealous. We have these tiny little added on closets in two of our bedrooms and nothing in the other so having a real closet would be a dream. But then I just need to look over my right shoulder at the beautiful view and accept that I can't have everything! I'm really grateful for what I do have. It's nothing like the view of the back loading area we had at our previous apartment.

Wednesday, July 25 - Only five months till Christmas Day - does anyone care?

It's an overcast 19' this morning and we may see some more rain this morning but it should clear up this afternoon and reach a high of 20'

I'm taking Thursday off to clean my house and prepare for some dinner guests. Some folks from Guelph are vacationing on the island and he just happens to be our financial advisor who has some papers he needs signed. Seems a little extreme to drive all the way to the island, dragging the entire family with you, then renting a cottage on the beach for a whole week just to obtain a couple of signatures. Boy, we must be really special!

Since Lloyd arrived I really haven't had any free time to get any work done around the house and you can tell.  So I'm taking a cleaning day from work. It should be warm and sunny tomorrow so I'm hoping we can eat outside, but I want to move a couple of things around first.

Yesterday Brenda texted me to let me know about the Paderno sale at the arena. I'd already seen the flyer. I stopped in at lunch and picked up a couple of things. One of them was an ice cream maker, that I've been looking at recently. I'm planning to make homemade vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries for dessert tomorrow night. I'll go up and pick some berries early in the morning. The rest of the meal will be fairly simple - a chicken roasted on the BBQ, a salad, some veggies (probably purchased at a road side market on my way home) and a new recipe for potato salad that I'm itching to try. 

Other than that, not much is going on. I haven't talked to Brenda but I'm assuming that progress is being made on the bathroom renovation. 

Last night when I picked up the mail, there was a letter from Meghan that she wrote from camp. It sounds like she had a great time.

 

I know Patti was a little concerned that she might get home sick part way through the week and it's a long ways from home, but apparently her worries were needless. Meghan did just fine her first time away from home (except for visiting Grandma, but that doesn't really count).

Tuesday, July 24th - another coincidental meeting

It's a cooler morning with a promise of only 22' later. We should get some rain later but they've promised that before and not delivered. Let's hope the brilliant red sky at 5:00 am was a true indication of some badly needed rain.

This week Lloyd is working 10 am to 6 pm so it gives him a bit of time in the morning and then I have some free time when I get home. Last night as I drove up the road, I noticed that he had cut the front lawn and I was amazed at how brown and dry it was. There's still lots of green but the brown patches of dry grass are there - something I've not seen here before. Usually it stays lush and green all summer long. We just need a couple of days of continuous, gentle rain and everything will be back as it should be.

I finally got to the weeds in my front flower bed before Lloyd got home so I was very happy with that. When he arrived, we decided to make a trip into Stratford to look at yet another sofa.

In our quest for a new one,, we saw an ad online from an older lady who had purchased a very nice set about 5 months ago but has since moved into a smaller apartment and it's a little too big. The style and price were good so we thought we may as well check it out.  When we arrived she was apologizing for the 2 mosquitoes that were outside by her door. We laughed and told her not to worry, we were accustomed to many more. She asked where we lived and it turns out she's the lady friend of the fellow who used to own this place. Regular readers will remember the story of my finding Edwin Walsh quite by accident when he came into the dealership one day back in the spring. He came out for dinner and when I invited him, he mentioned that his 'lady friend' was away out west. Turns out that's who we met last night. It's such a small world here on the island.

We didn't choose to take the sofa, but we spent quite a while chatting. She seems like a very lovely person and I hope we will meet her again, which I'm sure we will.  I have this idea. When our friends Judi and Gail are here, towards the end of August, I'd like to have a get together, maybe a corn roast and invite lots of people (well, the few that I know!) We can put up the big tent in the yard and hope the weather cooperates so we can eat outside.  But more on that later.

By the time we got home, had a quick bite to eat, that was it for the day.  I thought about calling Brenda to see how work was progressing in the bathroom. Their company ended up not arriving as scheduled so it allowed them to go ahead with more work on that project.  But I figured she was either still busy, or really tired and gone to bed by then. I'll check in with her later today.

Monday, July 23rd - back to hot and humid weather today

It's a breezy 18' right now (at 6:00 - I slept in) but we should reach a high of 26' that will feel like 30'.
The sun is rising over the river with a few clouds to obscure the view, but they are quickly dissipating and by the time I get to work the sun should be streaming in the front windows.

Another busy weekend has passed. It feels like that will be the norm for the rest of the summer.  Friday Lloyd and I were out looking at sofas as we're on the hunt for a new one. It was almost 8:00 by the time we got home, so once we had something to eat and cleaned up,  that was pretty much it.
Saturday morning I worked while Lloyd stayed home and accomplished quite a bit. He finished blocking all the wood (now it just needs to be split) and installed the vanity in the upstairs bathroom. He needed a couple of things from the plumbing aisle at the hardware store so he met me in town at 2:00 where we looked at a couple more sofas.

I had baked some cupcakes on Friday evening to take to Lesa's birthday gathering and I had iced them on Saturday morning before going to work. I just had one more little touch I wanted to add so I did that when I got home in the afternoon - a little chocolate letter 'L' to each one. 

Before long it was time to pick up Brenda and head to the party. Lesa's quite liked her cupcakes, and I was pleased about that.

Happy Birthday, Lesa!

Her sister was visiting from Halifax and does readings on people regarding their guardian angels and what the angels would like to see them doing to gain inner peace and balance in their life. I was told I need to say 'NO' a little more often, but it was pointed out to me that 'NO' didn't apply to:
1) cooking school and
2) any requests from Brenda.
It was a good time and everyone enjoyed themselves. We even all went home with gift bags. I had the extra pleasure of getting one of her sisters books, that I'm sharing with Brenda. To learn more about Lesa's sister, visit www.karenforrest.com 

Sunday was the church BBQ but it wasn't until the afternoon so we had some free time in the morning. Lloyd went off for a ride with Bernie and Ray and Brenda and I ventured over to Tracadie for the Lion's pancake breakfast. Let's just say our day didn't get off to the greatest of starts, and leave it at that, but all was good in the end. Maybe the rest of the day had something to do with the pennies we found in the parking lot that we picked up for good luck - at that point we both needed it!

The BBQ, the second annual, was another great success. The numbers were down slightly from last year due in part to a competing event going on, but it was still very successful. We took our big pot to cook the mussels in and it was a bit of a guess for us as to how long it would actually take to cook 100 pounds of mussels and we were pretty close.

First the wine, carrots, onions and celery

Then in go the entire 100 lbs of mussels

All ready to start steaming

The finished product - YUMMMMM!

We know next year how long they will take and be better able to time it. Everyone who had them enjoyed them and there was lots of positive feedback on them. But really, how can you miss with fresh out of the water mussels, a little white wine, some onions, carrots and celery.  It was a bright sunny day with a light breeze so it all went very well. It was also a great opportunity for Lloyd to meet some of the Fort Augustus people. After 3 years, I'm sure some of them thought I was making up the story about having a husband!

After packing everything up, Brenda and I went back to her place to unload, wash up all the dishes and end the day with a nice cold beer.  We were all pretty tired and a nice hot bath to soak my tired feet was the perfect ending to a great day.

Friday, July 20th - better late than never

I dropped everyone off at the airport this morning and then headed to my favorite coffee shop. For whatever reason, I wasn't able to access the internet as usual. Same story when I got to work,. So I wrote up my daily post and saved it as a word document. Finally, it's 10:00 on Friday night and I'm now just getting to loading today's entry.


Here's what I wrote at 6:00 this morning at the coffee shop:

For some unknown reason I wasn’t able to access the internet at Timothy’s this morning, hence the delay in today’s post. It’s a bright morning now with the odd sprinkle of rain. Some if us were up at 4:30 to catch the early morning flight to Toronto. We made it just in the nick of time as they were ‘paging passenger Dennison’ just as we got there. Talk about down to the wire. But they got seats and are on their way.

The airport has undergone some major changes and now you can see into the gate area where people are seated. Tristen took great pleasure in waving non stop to Grandma through the glass till time to board the plane. Good thing too, because just before they got on board, I realized I hadn’t given Patti back Tristen’s health card, so I was able to hold it up for her to see and come back through and retrieve it. She didn’t actually have to come back all the say, one of the ladies who checked luggage let me into the secure area far enough to give it to her to pass on to Patti waiting at the door. Can’t see that happening in Toronto! Of course it couldn’t just by virtue of the size and distances involved.

We had a great day yesterday. Patti texted me that she was on an early flight and would be arriving at 12:10. She texted again  at 12:05 to day she was outside waiting at the terminal. So I took an early lunch and picked her up. I had a couple of things to pick up at the grocery store so we did that together. Then she dropped me off and went and picked Lloyd up for his lunch break.  After dropping him back at work she had a bit of time to herself before she picked Tristen  up at UPEI. They then went to MacDonald’s that has the playland so he could check that out before coming back and picking everyone up after work.

A quick trip home to change into jeans, and let the dog out, and it was off to supper at the Van Gaals.  They had made moose burgers the night before and had made too many so we were more than happy to come over and help out with the left overs. Tristen had a great time with Ethan and “Ethan’s brother” (he can never remember Will’s name so just calls him Ethan’s brother). He begged to be tied up to a chair like they did to him last summer as a joke when they were looking after him one day. This time it was duct tape.  Very effective method of control, just wish I’d thought of it! Ha ha 

We had a lovely dinner and I was absolutely stuffed by the time I got home. We had planned to have a bonfire last night but it started raining while we were there and kept up till after we left so that was out of the question. But by the time we got Tristen’s things all gathered together and made the plane reservations for this morning, it was time for bed anyway.

On our way to the airport he was lamenting the fact that he had to go home but promised he will come for two weeks next year. I’m sure his big brother won’t mind, who went out for supper with his mom and dad on Wednesday night and when the server asked if they were celebrating anything special, he announced that he was celebrating his last night as an only child!

When they get to Toronto, they will be heading to Muskoka this afternoon to pick Meghan up at camp and from there to a baseball tournament in Barrie for the weekend. It will be a pretty busy weekend for all of them.

It’s going to be pretty quiet at our house tonight. 

Thursday, July 19th - hard to believe the week will soon come to an end

It's a partly cloudy 16' this morning with daylight just breaking through the clouds. You can see a fine haze over the river and it's very still this morning, an unusual sight here. We should reach a comfortable 21' later this afternoon with sunny skies.

Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day. Lloyd and I were out at lunch and he dropped me off at work at 2:30 and took the car from there back to his job.  I decided it might be a good idea to get Tristen a little earlier so I took the shuttle to UPEI and picked him up at 4:00.  It was around 4:15 when we got back so I told him he had to go and sit in the waiting area and watch TV until I was done - no bothering  the working grandma and no running round the showroom. He had assured me earlier in the week that if he could go to work with me he could stay there all day. Well, he lasted about half an hour and then he came over to my desk. He was hungry and he was bored. I reminded him that he thought he could do it for the whole day and he readily admitted he wouldn't be able to do that.  But it wasn't much longer to wait for Papa to pick us up.

All packaged and ready to take to his buddy Bernie

He was anxious to get home so he could make peanut butter balls to take home to his family as well as to share with Bernie. My friend Donna dropped in on her way to a dinner engagement in Morrell so it was 7:00 by the time we got to mixing peanut butter and rice krispies.  We put some chicken in the oven and some potatoes on to cook while we dipped the molded balls in chocolate and set them aside to harden. He was very keen to take the finished product over to the Van Gaals on the back of Papa's bike.

But first we had to eat supper. He did very well, had a good supper and it was almost 9:00 by the time they got on the road. Needless to say it was dark when they got home.  But a good time was had by all and he got his second motorcycle ride, which he was desperate to do.

Now that's a  happy camper!

His mom will be arriving sometime this evening and they're heading out early tomorrow morning. They have a really busy weekend. She's going to Muskoka to pick up Meghan, and then meeting Greg and James in Barrie for a ball tournament. Everyone is scattered around the country but by tomorrow night they'll all be back together. Patti was sad and worried to leave Meghan alone at camp last weekend but she got a letter from her yesterday from camp. Apparently Camp Nagiwa is "the best thing in the world" and she's made friends with everyone in her cabin. The food is awesome and she passed her swim test. But there is one thing she is afraid of - the snapping turtle in the lake. It's easy to sleep and she loves the campfires so it appears it's been a really fun experience for her. As Patti said, she probably won't want to leave on Friday. Of course, Tristen isn't crazy about leaving PEI either. I told her all she had to do now is find someone to give James a summer job working on a sailboat and she'd have a quiet, relaxing summer!

One last note, Happy Birthday to Lesa Murnaghan - we'll be celebrating with her on Saturday evening! Have a great day Lesa!

Wednesday, July 18th - we cooled off with an icy movie!

Yesterday was once again warm and sunny but with the breeze it didn't feel too bad. It's overcast this morning and the weather network says showers but there are none at 5:00 am. It's 19' and only heading for 23' later but the humidity will make it feel like 29'. Yesterday was extremely hot in southern Ontario. It was reaching 37' with a humidex reading of 43'.  That's WAY too hot even for a warm loving person like me. I checked the weather online last night and at 8:00 it was still 32'. Patti tells me she's ever so grateful they have air conditioning, that's pretty much been on continuously since May.

We chose to cool off yesterday after work by going to the movies. We stopped for a bite of Chinese food on the way to the movie, then went to see "Ice Age - Continental Drift".  The graphics and quality of kids movies has evolved amazingly since our kids were little.  It was very entertaining and Tristen loved it. He was very tired after camp but once he had a bit of food into him he perked right up.

http://youtu.be/qi_fcmm4nmg

Of course by the time we got home, it was almost time for bed so a few minutes playing an online game and a snack, and he was off to dreamland.

Tonight we're going to make Peanut Butter Balls because his mom will be arriving tomorrow and he wants to make some to take home (and to share with Bernie!)  If we start them right after supper then maybe later on Lloyd can take him and the balls over to the Van Gaals on the bike so he can get in one more bike ride. I know he's really anxious to do that.  He's also very keen to go to the McDonald's in town because it has the play area. I suggested to him that maybe we can do that tomorrow on our way home when his mom is here, assuming she can get on the flight she wants to get on.  We'll play that one by ear.

Other than that, nothing is new. I called Brenda when we got home last night and she wasn't in.  She called back a few minutes later, having just returned from a bike ride. It was a lovely evening for it. They've been busy at their house  with multiple projects going on.  It's hard to believe we're almost half way through summer already and there are going to be several weekends when we won't get out together but once fall comes, there is usually some pretty good riding and kayaking weather to be had.

Tuesday, July 17th - maybe some rain?

It's amazing how quickly the days start getting slightly shorter once you reach July. A few short weeks ago it was bright outside at 5:00 but now it's quite dark, with just a hint of light creeping in.  It's 19' this morning but overcast and we should reach 26' later. Yesterday wasn't quite as warm as was expected so it was a pleasant change from the heat. We did get a sprinkle of rain last night but I don't think it amounted to much.

Good thing we went to the beach on Sunday. It was very warm and after going for a bike ride, then stopping for some breakfast, we called it a beach day. Brenda came and picked Tristen and I up along with all our stuff - lawn chair, sand toys, etc.  We drove over towards Savage Harbour and went to a little beach that is little used. It's fairly stoney in spots but the beach is great. Unfortunately there were jelly fish in the water so Tristen was having no part of that.

Brenda was brave and went for a swim - much braver than I was, I have to admit.  She had been to this a couple of weeks ago and it has a really interesting feature. A ways down from where we came in from the car, there are 4 spots where an underground spring comes up right in the middle of the beach. They make little rivers to the water and are very shallow but quite fast moving. Needless to say, they were a wonderful source of enjoyment for a six year old boy. He played there for a very long time and at one point, another little boy came along and was playing with him.

Later he came back to where he was building something but we're not sure what. It started out as a sand castle but the sand kept sticking in the bucket. So he changed tactics and collected a variety of rocks and built a maze for mice (apparently).  Eventually it was supper time and we had to make up a story about everyone having to be off the beach by 5:00 pm because the tide was coming in, or he'd s
STILL be there. Needless to say he enjoyed his day. But before he went to sleep I asked him what was the best part of the day and he said it was the motorcycle ride with Papa. Guess we'd better try to get in another ride before the end of the week.

Yesterday morning I dropped him off at UPEI and he just marched in like he owned the place. He was quite chatty with the staff checking us in, and happily left to go to his group. I think he was the first one there so he'd enjoy the opportunity to chat with the staff by himself. When I went to pick him up he was happy to see me but equally happy to be coming back today.

After supper last night I set up his laptop on the butcher block table that's sitting in the living room so now he has his very own workstation with a computer. While I did some laundry and Lloyd cleaned up the dishes from supper, he happily worked away at some games on Treehouse and Disney until time for bed.  

Tonight we're going to see the movie "Ice Age" playing at the theatre. It starts at 6:10 so the timing is perfect. A quick bite to eat somewhere and then the movie.

Yesterday I got some pictures in my email from the wedding we went to on Saturday. They were much better than the ones I'd taken.  I still can't believe what a great job they did with the building that housed the reception. It's a garage! Amazing what you can do with a bit of ingenuity and a lot of work!

Monday, July 16th - and the hot , dry weather continues

It's a cooler 17' at 5:00 am but by midday we should be sitting at 26' with a humidex of 32'. We didn't get any rain on the weekend, as was predicted last week and even into the 14 day forecast, there's virtually none. This is really quite unique for a maritime province, to be this dry.

It's been a very busy few days. Friday night we devoted exclusively to decorating the cake. It would have been a much longer process if Brenda hadn't come over and helped.  We cut out the pieces of fondant to be applied and once they were done we did the shaping and painting. The top layer of cake needed to be covered and the noodles made. My pasta cutter worked perfectly for that job. Carrots and peas had to be painted and little squares with Chinese words needed to be made. Working together made it go much faster and by 10:00 we were finished. All I needed to do was put it all together once we arrived at the wedding.

Brenda using a lightbox to transfer images to fondant with food colour markers

Once that was done, and Brenda was gone home, I killed some time while waiting for the trip to the airport to pick up Patti and the kids. Turns out all three kids came so that was a nice treat for me.  They arrived right on time and we went straight home and off to bed.

Saturday morning everyone took their time getting up as it had been a late night. Brenda popped in for coffee around 9:00 and the kids were pleased to see her, as always.  After some breakfast, Patti, Meghan and Tristen and I headed into town to do some grocery shopping for Tristen's lunches this week at camp. Lloyd and James also went into town to buy a fishing rod for the kids as he only had two. They went in on the motorcycle and James really enjoyed that.

Once we were all back at home, we quickly made some lunch then got ready to go. Meg, Patti and I were getting ready to go to the wedding while the three guys went to Cardigan to go fishing. It was pretty cloudy and grey outside and we were sure it might rain during part of the day, but it never materialized.

We arrived at the location for the wedding the they had done an amazing job. They had virtually transformed a large garage into a lovely site for a wedding. All the walls were covered with white fabric, as was the ceiling. There were twinkly mini lights everywhere. All the tables were covered in white fabric as were the chairs.  We worked quickly to set up the cake as it was almost time for the ceremony.

Everyone gathered outside and down by the river where the ceremony was going to be held. It was a lovely service complete with brides maids and groomsmen.When it was over, everyone went back up to the house and enjoyed some drinks and snacks before dinner.

Patti and Meghan and I spent quite a while walking along the beach. There was all kinds of interesting creatures in the water that totally fascinated Meghan. We saw numerous crabs of various sizes, some hermit crabs, some tiny little things that looked a bit like crayfish, and lots of huge clam shells. She had a great time, all dressed up in  a new dress and good shoes, digging in the sand for clams, that kept squirting liquid into the air from tiny holes in the sand.  

After a delicious meal, we said our good byes as we all had to get up really early in the morning to put people onto the early flight. It was also the last chance to spend any time with the boys. Mike and Willow really liked the cake and there were lots of comments on it so I think it worked. We took a couple of photos of them with the cake before departing. Heat and humidity are not a cakes best friend but i held up not too badly.

When we got home, it was around 7:30 but the boys weren't back yet. So we girls got into our PJ's and watched the video of Meghan's dance recital that she had brought for me to watch.  Around 8:30 the fishermen got back after a somewhat disappointing day but at least James did catch a fish. Once he caught one, he didn't want to leave. He was pretty happy with his catch. 

Unfortunately it had been sitting in the water in the heat too long so it was no longer great for eating as the flesh was all mushy. They didn't expect to be gone quite so long and had no where cold to store it. So we dug out some frozen pizza from the fridge and some other bits and pieces and made a quick supper for them as we all had to get up to catch the 6:00 flight.

More on the weekend tomorrow - I have to go and make a lunch for Tristen to take to camp this morning and get him up and ready to go!

Happy Friday the 13th of July!

Today will be more of the same hot and humid temperatures as yesterday. Everyone was complaining yesterday about how hot it was but there was still a breeze.  Coming from southern Ontario, THIS is what I'm used to for summer weather. On the other hand, I don't mind not having it for weeks on end. We should have more of the same for today - going from the 18' we have at 5:30 to 26' later with humidity to make it feel like 31'. Unfortunately we now have a 70% chance of rain tomorrow. Hopefully it won't interfere too much with anything that's planned for tomorrow.

Last night when we got home I started in right away making icing  and Lloyd set about cutting up wood. This morning Benny is coming by to pick up a cheque sometime between 6:00 and 6:15. He just happens to be going by this way so that works. Lloyd's really happy with the wood this year. It's skinnier trees so they're much easier to cut through and they'll be a dream to split. In the past we've had some really big pieces and they are much more trouble to cut through and to split. Of course those ones burn longer so there are trade offs.

The cake is progressing. It doesn't look like much right now but the basics are there. I've made it

wider than the original picture to accommodate the numbers they want to serve but once the decoration are all on it I think it will be somewhat like the picture (says she optimistically) . I had made a top layer with styrofoam but I wasn't happy with it so I made another with cake. This one I baked in a squre bowl that I have and I think it will work out just fine. I really wanted the entire thing to be edible so this way it will be.  It also gives them another flavour of cake. The bottom layer is lemon poppyseed, the middle is coconut and the top little one is chocolate. It's not iced yet but it will be covered in white fondant. It seems like a lot of red right now, but once the gold accents are on it the red will be toned down slightly.  I'm looking forward to the final decorating tonight. Stay tuned for more pictures of the final project on Monday.

And that was pretty much our evening. I didn't talk to Brenda last night so I'll have to call this morning to catch up. I think she had exercise class last night so was busy.  There will be lots to paint on this cake. I have gold food colour paint that works really well on the white fondant.  I might get her over tonight and hand her a paint brush!

One last note, Happy Anniversary to our friends Richard and Daralen Anderson over on Five Houses Road.

Thursday, July 12th - it's going to be a warm one today

17' at 5:00 and heading for a steamy 28' later that will feel like 31'. That's mighty warm for the island but we  likely won't have that for weeks on end like other parts of the country. It is getting very dry though, and there's even talk of putting watering restrictions on in Charlottetown. Now that's something I'm used to in Ontario but I've not seen here before.  There are talking rain for Saturday which is good if you're a farmer, not so good if you're planning an outdoor wedding! I'm not sure but I think that's what Mike and Willow have done. I know the reception part will be inside so they may have to move the ceremony part inside as well, but I'm just guessing.

The good news is Lloyd has Saturday off so he can take the boys fishing. I'm assuming you can still fish in the rain but I don't know for sure. We'll just have to hope for the best for all concerned.

The cake is progressing slowly but right on schedule. The cakes themselves are all baked. I did that last night in spite of the fact we kept running out of water. Our local plumber had installed a replacement part on our pump last week but there seems to be some issue with it as it keeps shutting the system down.  Hopefully that will get fixed tonight with another new part.

Brenda came over last night just as we were finishing supper and I caught up on her trip. She and Meghan had a wonderful time exploring Vancouver and the Whistler area. She also brought me back a copy of the Granville Island Cook Book. There had been an article in the Charlottetown newspaper about it just a few days before she left and it reminded me to mention to her to add Granville Island to her list of must see spots while in Vancouver. It's a lovely book and I'm up early enough this morning that I can make myself a cappuccino and spend a few minutes looking through it. 

My kitchen was an absolute mess last night when Brenda arrived and as soon as Lloyd was done eating he headed out for a bike ride. I had cakes to bake and Brenda decided she would help out by washing up some of the dishes that were piled everywhere. What with supper dishes, and baking dishes the pile just kept growing.  But the water was still an issue so we sat and had a glass of wine instead while the cakes were baking.  Eventually Lloyd got home and she started in washing, despite my protests  - she just got back from holidays and didn't come over to work!  But she's like that, our Brenda, and kept at it until she was saved by the bell - literally. It seems she has a cousin staying down the road at her aunts cottage, who had arrived at her house. Like most people, they know if she's not home, there's a really good chance she's here! So when my phone rang, and it was for her, it was no surprise !  So she told the caller to put the kettle on and she'd be home in a couple of minutes.  Now the cakes are baked, the dishes are all done (I finally got them all done before going to bed) and all is well with the world.

And on that note, there's a cup of coffee and a cookbook that needs browsing before I get ready for work!

Wednesday, July 11th and no water this morning

It's a pleasant 14' this morning before it warms up to 25' later today. It's gotten really dry around here, as we really haven't had any rain for quite some time. Now this morning when Lloyd went to take a shower, we have no water. I'm sure the two things are in no way connected. I suspect it has more to do with the plumbing problem we had earlier last week.  All I can say is thank goodness Lloyd's here.   I'd really hate to be calling Raymond at 5:30 in the morning! But I'm sure Lloyd will be able to figure out what the problem is. Of course, Raymond is away with Bernie so that wouldn't do any good anyway.

I did some work on the top layer of the cake last night. I decided to use styrofoam for the top because it's the most fiddley and I can do it well in advance. It's quite small anyway so we're not really sacrificing much cake.

I didn't get any calls from Brenda needing a ride home from the airport last night at midnight so I'm assuming she got home okay. She sent me a text yesterday to tell me about a hot dog she had in Vancouver - just to make me jealous. I checked out the website and it looks pretty amazing. Check it out at http://dougiedog.com/ 
Can't wait to hear all about it.

I talked to Patti last night and she and the boys are arriving on Friday on the same flight (the midnight one) but I'll still be up doing cake stuff, I suspect.  We're not sure yet how Saturday is going to play out, just depending if Lloyd had to work or not. But we'll see. We'll just take it as it comes and work around it.

Okay. I slept in a little this morning so time to go. Have a great day.

Tuesday, July 10 - now in full wedding cake mode

It's a calm 15' right now heading for a much balmier 26' later this afternoon, but the humidity won't kick in till later in the week.

Last night I spent the evening working on using the new food colouring paints Lloyd brought me from Ontario as well as the food colouring felt tip markers. I wanted to try them out on some scrap pieces of fondant before I attempt to put them on a cake. I've finally finalized the plan for Mike and Willow's cake and that's a big part of the project. Even though I had a basic idea, there were some changes Willow wanted to make so that made a difference in the overall design. But I think I have it down now. 

The big challenge is the golden dragons and phoenix around one of the layers. But I've got that figured out as well. After trying the paint, I think it will be easier and look better for me to make the figures in a flat sort of three dimension and glue them on the sides of the layer and then paint them once in place. That way it will go on much smoother and I won't have to worry about mucking it up in the assembly. Once it's on I won't need to touch it.

The challenge this week will surely be the weather. It's looking to be very warm and humid later in the week and you can't really refrigerate the cakes once the fondant is on them but at the same time you don't want them subjected to too much heat either.  But I'll figure it out.

So after a few texts yesterday, it was determined that Lloyd was indeed right, that Brenda won't be home until later tonight.  They've had some great weather and some really wonderful experiences judging from the pictures she's sent via phone. 

Also texting yesterday was Patti. She and the boys will be arriving sometime this weekend for Tristen's visit next week. Some timing details need to be worked out yet but we will work with them however they end up.  There are several options for Saturday but we'll sort that out once we know who is going to be where, when.

Other than that it's a pretty quiet day.  We were both pretty tired last night after a really busy weekend. A couple of small steaks on the BBQ and a salad for supper with fresh strawberries and the left over crepe filling made for a decent supper and the rest of the evening was just relaxing. Lloyd watched a program on his Ipad while I played around with my paint and fondant.  Now it's getting down to the crunch and I need to get some solid planning in place to pull it all together for Saturday's wedding. Stay tuned for pictures along the way.

Monday, July 9th - another successful Village Feast

It's a cool 15' this morning and we're heading for a balmy 24' later but no humidity to make it feel hot and sticky. From the looks of it the temperatures should stay around this level for the rest of the week - very pleasant when you read about weather conditions in the rest of North America. We really do seem to be living the dream this year!

Well it was a pretty packed weekend. Saturday afternoon we drove out to Borden to visit some cottages on the south shore. One of Lloyd's co-workers from Great Gulf was staying there with his wife and two daughters as well as another couple and their daughter. We arrived shortly after 5:00 and what a beautiful spot. The tide was going out and the three girls were having a great time digging for clams and checking out the very long expanse of ocean floor that was exposed. Meanwhile, the adults sat inside a very nice cottage and had wine and chatted. I'd not met them before but they were very easy to get to know and of course, Lloyd and John enjoyed catching up (although it has only been two weeks!).  They've never been to the island before so they had lots of questions. While we chatted the two ladies got supper on the table and what a feast - we enjoyed a delicious homemade potato salad,  tossed green salad, BBQ steak and lobster (again?).  I had suggested that I would bring dessert, which was Strawberry Cream Cheese Dessert Crepes, made with strawberries from the neighbours.

What we didn't know was that they arrived on the island approximately 45 minutes before we got there. I was astounded that they managed to pull together this feast in such a short time. Well done ladies!  It was a most enjoyable evening but by 11:00 we really needed to hit the road. Sunday was going to be a long day.

Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny, a perfect day for a village feast. We loaded up the pot and headed out about 10:00.  Things were well underway by the time we got there. Rika, the volunteer coordinator had suggested we didn't need to arrive until 1:00 because we were both serving but because they were going to use our pot to cook potatoes, we arrived early.  This was the fifth year and as a lot of the volunteers have been with the group since the beginning, it just gets more organized each year and everyone knows exactly what to do and what needs to be done. The documentary on TV about last year really helped boost volunteer numbers as well. Other than a few minor tasks, there really wasn't that much left to be done. I helped with the pizza's for the volunteer lunches and they were mighty delicious. They were cooked in the Speerville Flour brick oven, and take no time at all. They then used the oven to finish baking the bread for the meal. Lloyd was assigned to the beer tent, to sling beer and wine. Not a bad gig as it's out of the sun.  I was on one of the serving lines and it was hot and sunny but a light breeze (sometimes very breezy)  helped a lot, especially with the heat and smoke from the BBQ pits right behind us.

This year they sold 1200 tickets and as usual, it was sold out. It was a busy day, and by the end of it I was exhausted.  My feet were very sore from standing in one spot for 3 hours, and I was hot and grimey so all I really wanted to do at the end was go home and have a nice long bath, and that's precisely what I did. All in all it was a great day, and already it's Monday, again.

Brenda has been texting me over the weekend. They are having a really great time out in Vancouver and I'm sure she'll be sorry to see it all come to an end. I'm looking forward to hearing all about it when she gets back. I know she arrives on the midnight flight tonight so I suspect most of today will be taken up with travel.

Friday, July 6th - have I got an idea!

It's another overcast, gray day dawning with a chance of showers this morning. Right now it's 18', heading for 24' later. The afternoon should be sunny and humid making it feel more like 30'. Unfortunately we didn't get much rain yesterday at all, and we can really use it. We got some but no where near what was expected. Hopefully we'll get a little more this morning.

Okay, so yesterday morning we're driving to work through Mount Stewart. There's a little restaurant on the corner that's been closed down for a couple of years and it's for sale, for an amazingly low price. By the time I got to work I had a plan. There's already a restaurant in the village but why not a bake shop? The ideas swirled around my head all day long and I jotted them down on a piece of paper at my desk.  I contacted the listing agent and made an appointment to go and look at it at 6:00.
When we went through town, she was already waiting for us. It needs some work to make it into what I imagine it could be and of course there is no equipment so that would also need to be acquired.  But it really does have potential. Of course, when Lloyd picked me up at 5:00 and I said     'We need to talk",  he had no idea what scatterbrained scheme I've come up with this time.  The only trouble is there is already an offer on it that's been accepted but the person hasn't actually seen it. He's flying in today to look at it and will turn it into 3 apartments - which is crazy because it's not that big. But that's just my opinion. The agent suggested that we could put in an offer and if this fellow decides he doesn't want it then our offer would come up next as there was also someone else coming to look at it at 7:00 last night. The price is so good that I can't imagine he won't take it,  just for the lot. But I guess we'll have to see. I'm a little disappointed because I had a great plan. But everything happens for a reason so I have to accept whatever takes place.

Meanwhile we're making plans for the Village Feast on Sunday. I had a phone call from someone on the organizing committee asking if we had a burner we could bring to use for cooking potatoes. I think the plan is to have lots with pots but that's a lot of burners for potatoes for 1,000 people, plus the crew.  It doesn't look like the military kitchen is coming this year. I initially told Rika we didn't have one of those little ones but then we talked about it and Lloyd went out to fire up the lobster pot and it worked like a charm. So I sent this photo to Rika and suggested that we'll bring along our pot as well. It just means we have to be there a little earlier than planned on Sunday but that's okay. It seems kind of strange to not go until 1:00 when a lot of the work will be done. I haven't heard back from her yet about what time they plan to put the potatoes on but I expect I'll hear from her this morning.

Brenda should be in Vancouver by now. She was leaving yesterday around lunch time, stopping in Toronto and then flying out early in the evening.  I checked the Vancouver weather and it looks like it will be pretty much perfect the whole time they're there - sunny and 23 or 24'. Can't ask for better than that! 

We also received an email last night from one of the Great Gulf people who is vacationing here on the east coast. They plan to be on the island Saturday, Sunday and Monday so we're going to get together with them before they leave.  Lloyd invited a lot of people from his old company, so we may be in for a lot of visitors in the next few years - and that's a good thing!

Thursday, July 5th - the humidity remains

It's overcast this morning and we should be receiving a lot of rain later - good thing because we really need it. It's 17' at 5:30 this morning and going up to 23' later but the humidity will make it feel like 30'. But I suppose we really can't complain.  I saw that Toronto reached 36' yesterday and with the humidity it felt like 44'. Now that's hot. There's no breeze here right now but I'm certain there will be later.

This weekend is the Village Feast in Souris. I'm helping with food prep on Saturday afternoon and then with serving on Sunday. Lloyd is likely working on Saturday but he is available on Sunday so Rika tells me she's putting him at the bar with the other bikers. He'll really enjoy that, I'm sure. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. One year they held it inside the arena but it's just not the same as outside.

Brenda came over for a visit last night before she heads out to Vancouver this afternoon. She and Meghan will have a great time.  They'll keep me updated on what 's going on.  She's meeting up with Meghan in Toronto and they are going from there together.

The Dennison family has been busy. I received this photo of James from his dad. It would appear James went fishing, although I don't know where but I'm thinking Port Elgin. He did manage to catch a fish, after 5 hours. That's quite the catch, James!  Hopefully he'll be luckier the next time he comes to PEI, now that Papa knows where to take him.

Meghan has also been busy. It looks like some strawberry picking may have been on the schedule and she's made her first batch of jam, with a little help, I'm sure. Well done, Meg!
The sign she's holding reads:

"Fresh Strawberry Jam made by Meghan"

Yum - can't wait to try it!





And lastly, I received this one from Brenda.  It was taken out at the East Point Lighthouse on Father's Day. We took a ride out there on our bikes. I'm sure Bernie is pleased not to have to be looking after two women all the time now. You did a great job Bernie. Thanks so much for always being there whenever I needed help with something and I know Lloyd really appreciated knowing I was never stuck in a jam.

Wednesday, July 4th - half way through the week already

The beautiful flowers on the orchid that Katie gave me

It's a sunny 17' at 5:30 this morning and we're heading for our last really warm day for a bit. We  should reach 25' later that will feel like 29' but it's still pleasant. Yesterday was pretty much the same but there was a light breeze that just made it ever so comfortable. I suppose if you had to work outside all day it might have been different but those of us who spend the day inside except for our lunch break, it's such a treat to go out at noon.  Some days it's really hard to make yourself come back inside.

The meat shop isn't open as yet. They had planned to open yesterday but they didn't have all the stock they needed. They spent the day prepping more product and getting more things ready. They hope it will be open before the end of the week as the ads are going into the papers this week. Lloyd was ever so pleased with himself as he learned how to de-bone an entire turkey so you are left with the whole thing in one piece, without any bones. At that stage there are lots of possibilities. It can be rolled and then roasted but in this case they will smoke it but I can see potential for future birds at home. When you can roll it you can then put stuffing in the middle and roast it like any ordinary roast. There was a poultry market in Guelph that sold rolled deboned turkeys and they are a dream to cook.

He's really learning a lot and very much enjoying doing it. It's such a diversion from what he was doing before and he looks forward to going to work each morning. I suspect that once they open he'll be working later so he's probably take the bike most morning until it get's too cold and then we'll have to figure out if it's worth it to take two cars or just wait for each other. He can have coffee in the morning before he starts and I can do the same at the end of the day. But that's down the road - as they say, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. The one advantage of taking two vehicles and me getting home earlier, is that I can get supper started and it's ready when he gets here, rather than ending up eating really late. But we'll see.

Last night after supper of smoked pork chops, and left over salads, we went over to Five Houses Road to weed the wee garden. Some things are doing well, others not so much, but it's all a learning adventure. I'm well aware that I planted the radishes too close together and they are quite crowded so I pulled some of the larger ones out so the smaller ones have room. So I suppose I can say I have the first harvest from my little plot.

The tomatoes are doing well as are the onions. The peas should be fine but I've lost most of the beans. Beets and lettuce are doing so-so but my cucumber and zucchini plants seem to be thriving.  Jennifer next door, is getting another hose so that it will reach from her place to her garden and then she can water both of them. Fortunately we are meant to get some heavy rain tomorrow so that will make a big difference, as it's been so very hot and dry the past while.

On our way over there, Lloyd commented that he hadn't seen Richard since he got here. I reminded him that he's no longer on vacation and that things tend to be different once you are here working for a living! Socializing is no longer your number one priority. So after we finished the weeding we stopped in and had a little visit with the Anderson's. It sounds like they had a great weekend touring around the island with the  top down. I have to admit I'm just a tiny bit jealous. It certainly was great weather for it. They said they sat and watched the bikes going across the bridge but they didn't see Brenda. I told them it was on facebook so they can check there.  We had a lovely chat and it was 10:00 by the time we left.

Tonight Lloyd is going for his first haircut with Charmaine. I'll take him the first time and then after that he's on his own.

Tuesday, July 3rd - back to work day

This morning is quite overcast although there are a few holes forming in the clouds. It's 16' right now (at 5:00 am) but it's going to be a hot and humid 25' later, which will feel more like 29'. It would be a great day for the beach if we didn't all have to go to work  That is, of course, unless you're a substitute school bus driver! But I'm sure she'll have lots to keep her busy today.

It was brilliant and sunny when I got up yesterday morning but then it clouded over severely and rained quite heavily for only a few minutes but just enough to take the edge off the visit to the beach. Once everyone in the RV was up they decided to just hit the road and see if they might be able to get to St. Andrew, NB. I see from the list of visitors that someone viewed the blog from Saint John, so perhaps it was them on the ipad. If that was you guys, welcome and have a safe journey!

The RV just leaving - Katie got out to take a photo at the end of the lane

Katie brought me a beautiful orchid. I'm not usually good with plants but she tells me they are extremely hardy and require very little maintenance. I hope she's right. Patti has one that's been sitting on her kitchen counter for a number of years so maybe that's true.

So after they left, Lloyd set about getting his smoker up and running. He had caught a bucket load of mackerel when he was out on Sunday and his plan was to smoke it. He began by mixing together a brine and soaking the filets in that for a while. Then he started a fire in the smoker, using some dried branches he'd trimmed off the apple tree back in the winter. Fish doesn't take long to smoke so before long we had some lovely smoked fish. He took half of it off when it was still quite moist and left the other half on for quite a bit longer to get drier. They are both tasty but one is definitely drier and smokier than the other.  I have a couple of pork chops brining today that we'll try smoking tonight on the BBQ.

The fish being smoked

I attempted to do laundry but after the first load I ran out of water. It seems there's some sort of switch that's leaking so we called the local plumber. Lo and behold, he was here within the hour but the switch he put on was not a good one. He said it would be temporary until he can get another one today. Good thing because it doesn't work any better than the old one, except it doesn't leak. So after you run the water for 5 minutes, it runs out. Then you have to shut it off and wait a few minutes and then it goes again. Not so good for laundry or showers. But at least we have some water so it's not that big a deal for the short term. Hopefully it will all be fixed tonight.

We were invited to go over to visit some folks I recently met in Mount Stewart so we went over there around 3:30.  Besides Roy and Barb, there were Roy's parents who were visiting from England, as well as an uncle and his wife who live in the Souris area. We sat out on the deck all afternoon and we were amazed that there were no mosquitoes. I believe that's because the entire mosquito population of the area lives between Websters Corner and Pisquid! We could never sit out on a patio all afternoon like that here. They were told there would be lots of bugs but so far they haven't landed in their yard as yet, and they are in the country surrounded by trees and you can see the river off in the distance. Don't know what the difference is but it's quite remarkable. We had a pleasant afternoon and came home around 8:00.  Just in time to read a little bit then off to bed.

Monday, July 2nd - What a great Canada Day Weekend!

It's a beautiful sunny morning with 18' and the promise of 24' later, that will feel like 29' - almost like Ontario weather - but not really! We have a lovely breeze most of the time so it's never that really hot, humid weather that feels like 40' that Toronto has experienced lately. It is early in the year for us to have this kind of heat though. But we're not complaining. It's been a glorious long weekend.

Saturday morning Brenda popped in nice and early for a coffee before her exercise class (she knew I'd be up). After some breakfast it was in to town to drop off some garbage ( a whole trailer load) and pick up the vanity I'd purchased for the upstairs bathroom and then some groceries. (I had previously picked up the lobsters at the neighbours on my way home Friday night.)  Then it was home to finish off the last of the tidying and cleaning of bathrooms, kitchen, etc.

Patti's friend Katie and her family - husband Joe,  daughter Jessica and son Joseph - were arriving by ferry at 7:30 Saturday night. We drove over to Wood Island to meet it and had no trouble connecting. They followed us home and as they hadn't eaten yet, and neither had we, we quickly made some spaghetti and meat sauce and garlic bread. It wasn't fancy but it filled everyone up before it was time for bed. It was 10:00 by the time we finished eating and everyone was tired from a long day on the road.

Sunday morning dawned hot and sunny again, and as soon as the 'neighbours' in the RV were awake I whisked them away - some still in their pj's -  to visit the spirit spring down the road. It really is an impressive sight and the mosquitoes really don't care how your dressed. I know that Katie and Joe will go home with a new appreciation for Ontario mosquitoes - I'm sure more than one conversation will start with "remember those wicked mosquitoes in PEI?"

They planned to do the Tip to Tip drive on Sunday but it was a little later by the time they got on the road so they only made it to North Cape and back. Of course I had told them to be back between 5:00 and 6:00 for supper so that may have factored into their day. The idea when they got home was to go out to East Point this morning to complete the tour, but further consideration during the evening dictated that perhaps this might be a better beach day. That only means they'll have to come back another time to do the eastern leg of the journey.  They will be more than welcome at any time. It would be really fun if they came back some time and Patti and the kids could plan to be here at the same time. The kids all go to the same school and are good friends. This trip was rather spur of the moment for them coming to visit us but next time it will be better planned.

Before they left, I took the kids next door to see the new calf. On our way back we stopped to chat with Laurie, who mentioned that Frank has been fishing mackerel off the dock in Georgetown. When I got home Lloyd was on the computer just finishing the online purchase of a fishing license. I told him Frank was going fishing and he was across the yard like a shot. A few minutes later he was back, fishing pole in hand. He had lots of stuff to get ready before they left at 1:00. Now he knows exactly where to take James and Tristen when they come to visit. No stocked ponds for them - it will be straight to the ocean to catch some fish.

So now I have my work all done, and Lloyd's gone fishing, what to do! I called Brenda, who was busy making rolls, and we decided to go for a little bike ride. It was much too fine a day to waste not doing something fun. We headed out about 1:30 and took a drive into Montague, where we parked and sat on a sunny patio overlooking the river. I'd already eaten before I left so I just had iced tea and some ice cream while Brenda opted for the iced tea and some bruschetta.  Then a rather scenic route home, one I'd not been on before.

I was just getting home when I heard a bike coming down the road and it was Bernie on the Indian. He was on his way from  getting gas in Mount Stewart.  He was wondering what Lloyd was up to but he was still out with Frank.

I was only home about 10 minutes when people started arriving. First Lloyd and Frank, with a bucket full of fish, came in and had a beer. Then Katie and her crew arrived shortly after. Brenda called to say they might be a bit late and go ahead without them but we were a little behind schedule as well. I tried a new idea for lobster stuffed mushroom caps and they turned out not too badly.

We were just getting the mussels ready to go into the pot when the Van Gaals  arrived so it was all good! We ate our mussels in the house then took the salads and lobsters outside and ate in the tent - a  little more room and no worries about the mess.

Happy Canada Day Patti and Greg - sorry you weren't here to enjoy it with all of us!

 

I'm sure Brenda has dishpan hands this morning from all the dishes she washed last night. By the time we got the dishes done it was time to head to Stratford for the fireworks. Brenda was left in charge of serving the dessert and tea so many thanks to her this morning. We piled everyone into the car and were almost there when they started so we didn't miss much. We found a parking spot right away and we couldn't believe our good fortune.  After enjoying the fireworks, and a few bites from the city mosquitoes, (as opposed to the country ones) it was time to head home and get everyone to bed. Both kids were sound asleep by the time we got back.

 All in all, it had been a great day for everyone.