Monday, February 18th - Happy Islander Day - or whatever it's called in your province

Good Monday morning from the gently rolling hills of Wheatley River. I'm house sitting here later in March but an unexpected trip came up so I'm here for 10 days or so. Charles was planning to fly to Ontario last Wednesday to visit family, but due to the storm, he didn't get out. So instead, they decided they would both drive. I came out here on Friday afternoon and they left on Saturday morning.

It's such a treat to have a whole house again, not just one little room. Having a full kitchen at my disposal is also really appreciated. I brought what food I had in town and then went shopping and picked up more things to cook. I'm a happy camper at the moment!

My duties while here include monitoring the wine that's in the vats, looking after 8 ducks and one very large dog. Not too bad a gig.

Last Wednesday we had a snow day. I had finished all my cards on Tuesday so didn't have to go anywhere. It was predicted we would receive 20 to 30 cms of snow in town but in the end it was only 19, but enough to make a royal mess of things.

Thursday I went out to Fort Augustus to cook dinner for the VanGaals. I had asked Brenda earlier in the week if Bernie had any great plans for Valentines. I didn't want to intrude. She suggested that Bernie was hoping I was coming out to cook. So that's what we did. Our menu included a mixed salad, roast pork tenderloin with mashed sweet potatoes and carrots and parsnips for vegetables. Dessert was heart shaped chocolate brownies topped with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. All in all not too bad a night. Some wine and Grey's thrown in and it was pretty much perfect.

I stayed overnight then went into town early to do a couple of errands. Then it was back to the Shamrock Club (after a sandwich at Brenda's) for a double basket weaving class. We missed last week due to freezing rain so we did a four hour class this week, instead of the usual two hours. I finished my second basket just in time to head out to Wheatley River.

Saturday was mild and rained for a good part of the day. It did melt some of the ice that was hanging around but it's still pretty slippy in spots. It did turn cold overnight but fortunately it wasn't an issue for travel on Saturday evening. I'd been invited to the Bairds for supper on Saturday along with the VanGaals. We had a lovely evening along with Jackie's parents. When I left to come home it was still slightly above freezing so my apprehension about icy roads was unfounded.

Sunday morning was cold but very sunny. It really was a lovely day. The sun came streaming in the windows for most of the day. Brenda and Meghan had gone down hill skiing out at Brookvale and stopped in for tea on their way home.

I built a fire in the wood stove and settled in for a movie on Netflix, after making myself some supper. I'm going to enjoy my time out here, I can tell.