Sunday

It was such wonderful sunny day that we went for a lovely tandem ride on the Lochside and Juan de Fuca Trails (part of the Galloping Goose system) and had a picnic on the water. Then we rode home along the road on the seaside Scenic Route and just as we were getting ready for tea .... Frank and Mary Jane showed up for tea in the park. So we obliged and had tea in what we like to call our yard, that is, the park beside our building.

Saturday

It was a busy day right from the beginning today. Well, right after our Lavazza coffee, that is. Yes, the Tour de Victoria rode right past our back window.


I thought I'd sort through some more boxes with a view to purge more stuff, so stayed inside in the back hall near to the window.


Peter, on the other hand, chose to go outside and watch the race up close and personal.


Then we did some laundry, dropped a few boxes off at the donation store, went grocery shopping and came back to make a cup of tea. We then walked down to the harbour to find a bench in the sun to people watch and sip our tea. The bench we chose this time was on the lawn in front of the Empress Hotel. Rather fitting for our cup of tea, don't you think?

After dinner we got busy in the kitchen. First, Peter figured how to re-hang the 'floating shelves' in the kitchen. It is now so sturdy that I filled it with cookbooks!

Now that's sturdy ...

Next we hung my favourite pot rack - a wheel from my old touring bicycle (adapted by our friend Andy and modified by Rob). It sure pays to have creative friends who can weld with confidence. We are both very pleased with the result.

Our little apartment is getting to feel more like home all the time!

May 2011

I know it's been a month since our last blog - but we've been busy! Busy, busy, busy.


Let's see, first there was John, Karen, Kendra and Lynn came to Victoria for a visit one weekend. We had hoped to have a picnic in the Park with them, but while it was sunny, it really wasn't warm enough to sit and eat outside. So we settled for a walk around Beacon Hill Park and ate burgers at our apartment afterwards.



Then Nana, Grampa and Peter went with them to Butchart Gardens to check out the new carousel. That evening we went out for fish and chips at Barb's seafood at Fisherman's Wharf. After eating we were able to run around the playground close by and let the girls burn off some energy. As you can see - fun was had by all!


The following weekend was also busy. Rob came to town for an overnight stay and he very kindly brought some of our 'stuff' from Hornby with him. Suddenly, our apartment looked like we just moved in ... again! Oh well, it was good to get our dining room table set up again and get rid the GUTZ desks. With Rob visiting, it was another good excuse to have a wander through Beacon Hill Park. But we started the day with a visit to the start of the inaugural Tweed Ride Victoria. As you can see there were some very dapper people in attendance, along with some lovely classic (old and new) bicycles, tricycles, tandems, etc. We MAY have to join the ride next year!


















See .... everyone is smiling ...
That night we had dinner at the relatively new addition to Victoria's food and drink scene, The Moon Under Water Brew Pub, where we enjoyed wonderful fresh brews, and a very delicious traditional Sunday meal of roast beef with Yorkshire Pudding. I was too busy enjoying myself to get any photos, sorry.

The week following kept us busy going through the boxes from Hornby and hanging some of our stored art. We thought that it would be nice to have the place 'in order' for the event of the week - Frank's birthday. We thought he would appreciate a birthday cake (my sister-in-law Cheryl's carrot cake recipe and now a family favourite) plus a little gift of assorted traditional sweets from the English Sweet Shop on Yates St.

Then this past weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend so we all decided to go to Hornby Island. Peter and I had the goal of finally emptying Frank and Mary Jane's garage. When we moved from our house on Hornby last fall, they very kindly allowed us to store all the things we wouldn't be needing in our one bedroom apartment in Victoria. So, this was the final push to sort through things. Three piles - one for Victoria, one for the crawl space, and the biggest one for the Free Store. Two truck loads to the Free Store (aka the 'dump') and a lot of sorting through boxes and we did it! The drive home was quite satisfyingly happy as we brought the last few boxes to our new home.If you compare this photo to the one from a month ago, you'll understand the satisfaction.

Oh yeah, and we stopped at the Crow and Gate for the usual Kilkenny and a cup of tea :) Tired but sweetly satisfied.