Nov 15-Dec 04, 2009

ITS A GIRL!! Signe Deborah was born on November 24 at 2:16 am via C-section. Melissa and Signe are doing well. She gave her mother a hard time trying to get out but she made it. She was one day early from her due date. We are happy, happy grandparents. I was in Edmonton from November 23 to December 1 to help Melissa. I thoroughly enjoyed my little granddaughter.
Doug is thrilled and so are all our other neighbors. It will be nice to have a baby in the bay again they say. Signe is a Norwegian name (as Darren's family is Norwegian) and Deborah is George's sister.

November weather has been absolutely horrible this year. We were certainly getting tired of the rain. We had puddles all over the yard. There was ice in the bay on Wednesday and yesterday. With all the rain, the rivers and creeks are overflowing so there is quite abit of fresh water in the bay to freeze.

The water is crystal clear and the air is fresh. The sun is shining and it is brisk. Everything smells so clean and new. It is getting ready for a new year.

We will be in Alberta again for Christmas at Mother Mary's. George is anxious to meet his granddaughter. He says he will be teaching her to run a boat and to fish, but not for a few years yet.

We are still busy gathering wood and George has been busy fixing the end of the barge. It was slow going with all the rain and wind. George will be going to Masset in the Queen Charlottes to look at a boat we are thinking of buying. It will make it easier to get around.

Sept 23-Nov 14, 2009

Time sure goes by fast. I did not realize that the last entry was on Sept 22!! Not much has happened since then. George had gone back to Alberta to spend time at our True Value store there. Our manager is on extended sick leave and we have to travel back and forth. I also spent a week there. It also allowed me to see Debe and Gary, as I stayed at mother Mary's. I am sorry that I did not get to see Terry and Maureen, but we were all busy. I spent the weekend in Edmonton and was able to see our daughter Christine, as I had not seen her since March and Melissa and Darren. Melissa is getting quite large and is patiently waiting until the end of this month. Darren is busy with school. We all went to Ikea and did some baby shopping. It was so much fun!! I am just waiting till after the baby is born and then I will have a lot more fun.
The "door to nowhere" now goes somewhere. George has been busy fixing the last end of the barge. He has put up a top floor and will be framing in walls soon. We plan on extending the kitchen part of the restaurant to allow for more seating space. Underneath this will be the new laundry and shower/washroom.
Coastal Missions were here again on October 8 and 9th. It was really nice seeing them again. Too bad that George was gone this year. This is when he went back to Alberta. Roy, Gloria and Petunia are doing well and were amazed at the amount of work that had been done since their last visit. Everything was still a shell and we were still working on the dock and barge. Doug and I had supper on the Coastal Messenger.
The weather has been up and down. Lately we have been getting typical November weather which is wind and rain. Our well is overflowing at the moment which is a good sign and our cistern is full. If only it would last longer but water must be used at times. We would smell horribly otherwise.
November 6 was Carl's 70th birthday and we had him and Doug over for supper. I think Carl liked his chocolate cake and homemade ice cream. Yard work is getting done and the garden is almost put away. Jam and relish are being processed and I hope to sell some next year.
We have a resident heron staying on the dock. He has made it his home and the 6 geese are prowling around. There were 4 swans at the head of the estuary last week, but lately there has only been one. I feel sorry for this lonely swan as all he does is swim around the bay, honking for his fellow swans. I hope he finds them. They are such beautiful birds. Juncos, Varied Thrushes, Flickers, Stellar Jays, Robins, Chickadees and Sparrows have frequented the lawn, especially after the rain. There is a feeder out but is not being used.
This is the time of year for really high tides during the day. Its a good thing we made the walkway so high!

Doug and I heard a pack of wolves in October. They were in the trees between our two places. We have not heard them since and I hope we do not. There is nothing here for them.
The three otters are having fun on the end of the dock. They especially like it when there is frost on the dock and they can slide around. Trees still have leaves, some green but mostly yellow, pink, orange and red. The wild cherry, red currant and big leaf maple are especially lovely.

Aug 31- Sept 22, 2009

The season seems to be over. We had one boat on Sunday and we thoroughly enjoyed their visit. A boat called yesterday morning from Port McNeill but did not get here. They called again and mentioned that they only got as far as Telegraph Cove.

Melissa left on the 7th. She will be missed. I enjoyed her company. We have not spent so much time together since she was in high school. Soon she will be a mom too and we will be grandparents. Joy, Joy.

George and I had a great time with Mother Mary. She was quite impressed with all that had been done since her last visit in October. She even helped with a couple of pizzas that were made. Her plan was to help me when George was gone for his check up (which went really well by the way). Mary and I went on the mail run with Doug and then Mary went by herself on the mail run. She had a good time. We cleaned out the fridge in the store and sorted things in the restaurant. We picked the plums from Doug's tree as the bear would not stay away, but now it likes the apples on our tree. These apples are not eating apples as they are quite tart and bitter, but the bear likes them.

Plum jam and zucchini relish were made much to the delight of Mary and Doug. They both liked both.

George and I are now getting down to business of getting ready for next year. We are amazed at how many boats we had considering advertising was only by word of mouth.

Kate and Joel have left. We enjoyed the times we had with them and look forward to next year. It is fairly quiet in the bay now. I am looking forward to getting yard work done and spring flowers planted. 80 tulips will be going in soon. I hope to have more lilys next year as they are my favorite and easier to grow. The weather has been cooperating as it is quite hot right now. I hope it stays for awhile.

George is busy constructing the end of the barge (the one with the door to nowhere). The floor is done and soon he will be putting up walls. His plan is to extend the kitchen upstairs to make more room. We found it to be a little cramped at times this year, especially when we had a house full.

More projects will be started and finished by spring.

August 14-30, 2009

The last two weeks have been hectic to say the least. It has slowed down abit now and we will still be having boats in September. Darren has returned to Edmonton as he starts University soon and Melissa will be leaving before the 7th. George's mom - Mother Mary will be here on the 7th.

We have had quite a few returning boats and we were glad to see them and hope they had a wonderful summer up north. There are still a few that have just started out. Fall cruising can be quite nice. We get quite excited when we see returning boats, its like seeing friends again after a long time. The boaters are wonderful people and we enjoy their visits. A few have stayed for several days, and they are special to us. They know who they are.

We were all able to attend the annual Port Harvey Pot Luck. It was held at Kate and Joel's this year and may be held here next year. It was nice to see all the neighbors, from Lagoon Cove to Burial Cove and Soderman Cove and of course from Port Harvey itself. A great time was had be all. Last year it was held at John and Nancy's.

The days are getting shorter and the nights are longer. It is still quite warm and we have very little rain. The blackberries have been abundant and there were even some huckleberries which are quite good. Time to make jam now. Melissa wants some before she leaves.

Have lots of zucchini as well and plan on making relish which was George's dads favorite. The flowers have died, but that was expected with no moisture and not being able to water. Can't believe that the garden survived, all except the potatoes. The tomatoes are going to be plentiful, if they ripen. May have to force them to.

We are looking forward to fall and cooler weather. Logs need to be gathered and split for the winter and the garden has to be put away. We will be busy this winter making more dock, the showers and washrooms, laundry etc.