Peter's Dream Home

I knew it the minute I saw it - this is Peter's dream home.  It's got everything!

Saturday September 24th

Last week PeJu were smart and purchased a case each of Campari tomatoes and freestone peaches.  All BC grown.  Naturally, our meal choices this week have been influenced by these purchases.  Friday night Judith realized the box of frozen puff pastry in the freezer might make a nice companion ingredient for some of the peaches.  Besides, it really had been in the freezer too long anyway!  It HAD to be used up.  So, Judith did her best to make some peach strudel.  Needless to say, it was heavenly.  Unfortunately, we neglected to take a photo of it and it was gone by 10 am Saturday morning.  But we wanted you to know that these kind of good things happen and brighten up our lives.  May you all be blessed with strudel too!

Monday September 19th - Flex day

Every second Monday is Judith's scheduled flex day at work.  Theoretically, this means a 3-day weekend every other week.  We think this is a great idea!  On September 19th, it was a gorgeous day so PeJu headed down to one of their favourite spots (Clover Point), folding chairs and picnic in hand for a wonderful gourmet lunch (quinoa salad with fresh salsa).

September 12th - Full Moon

Full moon by St. Ann's Academy.

Tuesday September 7 - the day after Labour Day

Sooke Potholes - view from way above the potholes, from the road.

PeJu walked down a path and waded into the river to an island of rocks.  It was perfect.  Picnic lunch and a swim in the river.

Drying off in the warm sun after our swim.

Monday September 5th - Labour Day

Labour Day was quiet for us.  PeJu needed to relax and recover from the Saanich Fair. Did I mention it was really hot and dry? Anyway, part of R&R was juicing fresh local bounty. Mmmmm!

Here is our juicing machine and setup.  It is an attachment to the Viking mixing machine.

Sunday September 4th - Saanich Fair

The Saanich Fair is huge! And it was packed too! Lots to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch.

Llamas of all kinds and sizes ...

Rides ...

Fun for the whole family.

I wanted to go on this one ...

Did I mention it was really hot and dry?

A classic Ferris wheel

This woman had been doing this one for years!

Saturday September 3rd

BluesFest arrives in Victoria - we start our Saturday walkabout here.

... and check out the Classic Wooden Boat show in the Inner Harbour. I think 50 to 70 feet would be enough for me. LOL

The walkabout takes us to Beacon Hill Park for the lunch picnic where we devour half a small watermelon each. Judith is still wearing her wonderful Hornby Island birthday t-shirt.

In the evening, we end up at Clover Point again watching the waves caress the rocks.

And wait for the sunset. A beautiful day.

Another relaxing and satisfying sunset at Clover Point.

August in a nutshell - Part 8

Found these during an after work walk in Beacon Hill Park.

Another lovely evening at the beach (Clover Point).

August 27 - Peter gets his hair cut en plein air at the James Bay Saturday Market.

After a day's walkabout, we had a light dinner and watched the clips from Jack Layton's state funeral.

Dunlins racing up and down the beach scouring the sand for bugs at Willows Beach.

August in a nutshell - Part 7 August 20

After our stop at Fol Epi, Peter suggests we go for a drive out towards Sooke.  We drove and it was a beautiful day for a drive. We ended up in Port Renfrew!

Port Renfrew

Port Renfrew

We purchased picnic items and headed down to the water at French Creek Provincial Park.

Really nice and hot at the beach.

View up the coastline at French Creek Provincial Park.

We also stopped at China Beach. This is the view from part way down the trail from the parking lot.

There were some really big trees on the trails.

Another view from the trail.

A walk along the sandy beach.  The water was quite 'refreshing'.

Another view of the beach.

We finished the day back in Victoria at The Moon Brew Pub for a brew and bite to eat.

August in a nutshell - Part 6

Back to work - Peter seemed amused by Judith riding her mountain bike with a long dress and fancy sandals!

Another lovely evening picnic at Willows Beach.

Aug 20 - it's the weekend! Is there any better way to start the weekend than a stop at Fol Epi for a latte and pain au chocolate?

August in a nutshell - Part 5

Aug 13 - mmmmm, roasted bananas for breakfast.

Aug 13 morning - we drove out to La Push, which is on the other side of the Quillayute River mouth about one mile south of Rialto Beach.  Here you can see we are waiting for the fog to burn off and testing the water.

Aug 13 afternoon - Just after our picnic lunch at the beach the sun managed to shine through.  Here we were visited by a flock of pelicans.

Aug 13 - a view toward the mouth of the Quillayute River.

Aug 14 - time to leave the campsite and head back to Port Angeles. On the way out of the Olympic National Park, we stopped at the Salmon Cascades on the word of a young Park Ranger that she had seen salmon jumping.  We did in fact see salmon jumping and in this photo you can just see one below the surface of the water. Really!

Aug 14 - in Port Angeles the Snikles dropped PeJu off at the ferry terminal for their ride home. Here is Peter all packed up and ready to go!

Aug 14 afternoon - after a lovely sunny ride back to Victoria we arrive at the breakwater. So many times PeJu have stood on that very breakwater and waved at the Blackball ferry!

August in a nutshell - Part 4

Aug 12 afternoon - after lunch we drove out to Rialto Beach on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula to see the Pacific Ocean. As you can see, the fog hadn't burned off yet. This is the view north.

Aug 12 - Rialto Beach: view to the south.

Aug 12 - Rialto Beach: Snikles skipping stones in the Pacific Ocean.

Aug 12 - One of the highlights of the Olympic Peninsula is a stop in Forks, the vampire capital of Washington State.