Aug 07 - Sept 19, 2008

Where to begin!! I am back from Alberta after being gone a month which I did not expect to be gone that long! Christine's knee surgery went well and she is now in Edmonton with Melissa and Darren. She is progressing nicely. We had found a physiotherapy clinic only 1.5 blocks away from where she lives now. George and the boys fended well on their own and accomplished quite a bit. The docks pieces are done and awaiting installation. We still do not have piles and are just awaiting the pile driver still!! Who knows when it will come. This is life on the coast we have been told.

George took the boys fishing one nice sunny day. A few dog fish were caught and enjoyable time was had by all three. They did see some whales and bears.

Alex and Kelly left before the end of August. Before the boys left, they tried to bring the barge onto the rubber that was laid out on the flat. They were able to do it, but the rubber folded and the barge was not level so was starting to creak!!. It was moved off the next day. After the boys left, George moved the rubber to a different spot on the beach. He moved the barge onto the rubber and fastened one end to the barge. He then proceeded to tow the barge around the bay so the rubber would flow underneath the barge. After a couple of passes around the bay he was able to get the rubber to flow flat under the barge. Doug came over a few days later and helped George fasten the other end of the rubber to the barge.

I arrived back here on the 8th of September. Talk about mosquitoes!! The garlic oil that George sprayed in May had worn off and with the damp the mosquitoes return with a venegence. The 2 skeeter vacs that we have are working overtime. The mosquitoes are dissipating but slowly.

The corn in the garden is going to be quite nice. It is still developing. The carrots are getting big, the lettuce went to seed, the parsnips are growing and the potatoes are maturing. The lone pumpkin has lots of flowers but no pumpkins. The tomatoes are producing nicely. Only got 2 little cucumbers because the plants never grew and the cabbage is wormy. We will be adding soil and fertilizer for next year.

The black raspberries are ripening and I have picked some and froze them. I will be going over to Doug's to pick his. I am trying to get enough to make jam. (Doug says they make good jam, hint, hint).
George is busy fastening the rubber to the sides of the barge now. We have decided that we will not be open this year. This way we can concentrate on doing things properly. There is still quite a bit of work to do before we open.

The poppies are still blooming in the flower bed and I missed most of the glads. George says they were lovely. There are still roses on the rose vine!

Yesterday, Sept 19 Doug took George and I to Port Neville to meet Lorna.
Port Neville is a historic site. The old store has been made into a gift shop/art gallery/museum. It is quite interesting. Lorna was raised in Port Neville and still lives there.
We also met Dave who lives across the bay from Lorna. His wife Peggy used to be a vet and is also an artist. It is her paintings that are in the art gallery. We really enjoyed our visit with both Lorna and Dave. It is always nice to meet people who live on the coast and to find out the history of the area.
Doug took us on a tour of the inlet and gave us a history of it. We were hoping to see grizzly bears but none were around. Port Neville is on the mainland and is only a short distance from Glendale Cove in Knights Inlet. Glendale Cove is known for Grizzly bears. We spent all day with Doug exploring the coast and learning the history. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The mower on the lawn tractor is still broken, so I have been trying to mow the lawn with the push mower. It is quite slow going as the clover has gotten quite high and chokes out the mower. George's mother, aunt and uncle will be here in October and we want the place to look nice for them. Mowing the grass/weeds/clover will keep the mosquitoes at bay as well ( I hope).

It is quite foggy in the mornings and at times you can hear the lonely toot of a fog horn in Johnstone Strait. The weather is still nice with the sun shining almost everyday! I think we finally have summer!! Let's hope it stays this way until after Mary, Kitty and Bob leave. We have a few things planned but they depend on nice weather.

August 03-06, 2008

A few things have been happening in the last couple of days.
The new dock sections are being completed and Christine is busy working on the walkway railings. She has done most of these railings by herself. Here is her and Kelly cutting wood for the walkways.




We saw our first Lion's Mane Jellyfish the other day. These are quite huge with tentacles up to 6o ft long. DO NOT TOUCH, as their sting is deadly.

Christine and I will be leaving on Friday to go back to Alberta to help Melissa move and for Christine's operation. George and the boys will have to fend for themselves for awhile! It should be interesting!

Breakfast is always interesting for the kids. One day it is "heart stopper"buns and the next day it can be pancakes. Today George made a creation of pancakes, ham and eggs all in one. Puts meat on the bones!!

Have not seen any more bears. We think they have moved on. The hummingbirds are still around for awhile, but most of the robins are gone. Soon we will be getting the birds from the north as alot of birds winter here.

July 23-August 2, 2008

Again the time has gone fast!! Much has been done in the last two weeks. The docks have been moved from beside the estuary to beside the existing dock.


Kelly and Christine rode the dock while Alex pulled it with the Black Banana (20 ft Zodiac we bought at an auction, good investment). The dock sections were secured on the beach out front.
The barge itself is getting a good facelift on the outside. One side is completely done.














The kids have been having fun. Kelly and Christine swam in the estuary on a really hot day and Kelly decided to dive off the walkway during high tide.

Our prawn catching is doing not too bad, if we can keep the starfish out of the trap and if we can also keep our traps. We have a tendency to lose the trap. 3 so far this year! We have had several prawn curries so far as when we catch the prawns, they are partially cooked and froze. When there is enough for a good feed, away we go. Good eats!!



All three have gone fishing and Kelly has been really excited about some of the fish that he has caught. The ratfish was especially interesting. Alex caught a 20 lb 4ft ling cod just the other day and we had a good feed. We still have a filet in the freezer for next time.The head of the cod went into the crab trap so hopefully we can have a feed of crab. Not bad fixin's for being just in front of the dock.

Marine Link came in on the 31st with a few lifts of lumber. The kids were quite excited. It was the first time that Alex and Kelly had seen a landing craft delivering supplies. Marine Link does charters for tourists and the boys were quite chatty with them. The charter is a way for tourists to see the working coast and how people live on the coast.

We all went to Kate and Joel's for a weiner roast last night. A good time was had by all. Today is a day off for the kids and they are catching up on some much needed sleep!!

We went to town last Monday/Tuesday and when we returned the boys had to go get the dock pieces. They were in several places around the bay. Luckily they were all found and none the worse for wear! George has to give the boys a good lesson in knot tying!!

Christine and I will be going back to Alberta on Friday, Aug 8 as she has an operation on her knee on the 19th and we are also helping our daughter Melissa move to Edmonton.

Hopefully the garden is still okay when I return. The squirrels are eating the peas and the earwigs like the head lettuce.

June 27 - July 22, 2008

Where has the time gone? Can't believe that it has been almost a month since the last post. Have to get on this a little sooner. Much, much has been going on. The barge/store's facelift is almost complete. The dock/walkway is progressing.



We have had a few visitors to the dock and a few checking out if the store is open.


We hope to be open in the next couple of weeks. Piles are not going to happen just yet, but George has figured out an anchoring system. Four 45 gallon drums have been filled with cement and two of these "anchors" have been put in place by the Sea Roamer. They are strong enough that when the Sea Roamer tied up to them, it could not move. This should suffice until we can get the piles. The pile driver has hydraulic problems and they do not know when it will be fixed. Fortunately, it is across the bay from us as it is being fixed.

I have discovered some of the mystery flowers growing in our flower bed.
They are lettuce leaf poppies and are very beautiful. They are popping up all over the flower beds. The climbing rose bush is full of roses and the garden is starting to thrive. The soil in the garden is very poor and next year we have to look at either hauling dirt from beside the well, or bringing in bags of top soil.


The wind has not stopped for about a month and we are getting quite tired of it. Luckily the sun has decided to make an appearance for the last week. It has not rained significantly for about a month and consequently we are getting low on water. George and the boys have strung out a pipe to the back creek, but so far we are short and need to get more pipe. Our well is a hand dug well and fills with ground water. George then pumps to a cistern (which we have been told is 10 thousand gallons, we have our doubts). Because of the dry summer so far the well is not filling up very much and water conservation has started as a result. This means washing dishes only once a day and not using the dishwasher. Flushing of toilets only happens when needed (or if it has sat too long). Showers are at a minimum. With this conservation, we should be back to normal soon with a full cistern. Conservation still has to happen but when the cistern is more full, showers, laundry and the dishwasher can be done more often.

Our daughter Christine is here now. She came on July 14 and has been a big help. She makes lunch everyday and at the moment she is putting the railing on the walkway. The boys have cleaned out the floathouse and have moved in. I guess it is quite cozy. They have one lamp and a TV/DVD combo. It is their little place!

There have not been as many bears around as there was before. They have obviously moved on.


We did have a visitor in the yard the other day and gave Christine a little bit of a fright. It was a deer and she was only about 4 feet away from it before she saw it. I saw a doe and two fawns across the estuary the same day. I hope they come over here. Since the cows are gone, there is more food for the deer.

The cube van has finally been unloaded of the rest of our things. The loft is quite full now, but at least now we can start to put some of it away. Yeh I have my sewing machine now. The van is now across at Eve River. The Sea Roamer took it across the other day. We will use the van to haul our stock for the store and then it is off to Calgary, so Melissa and Darren can use it to move to Edmonton in August.

The mowing of the lawn/grass/weeds has been put on a standstill as I broke the push mower by hitting a piece of steel and the tractor has issues as well. George will take the deck off the tractor and see if he can figure out what is wrong. The bobcat is sick as well, and we are waiting for a new starter for it. When it was stuck on the beach, the starter must have got some salt water in it and it is corroded. Christine and Kelly were digging for the fork for the bobcat but so far it has not been found. I am athinking that it may be in China! Need that fork! The lifts of lumber at the front by the beach is becoming unsightly!

Kate and Joel are back for the summer. They have a cabin on one of the small islets in the bay. They have been busy building a new cabin, with logs that Joel has cut himshelf. It is quite nice and I look forward to seeing it complete. We had them for supper one day and Kate was the one that told me I had poppies growing. The boys helped them one day to help unload their cube van. They are a lovely couple and we hope to spend more time with them.

John and Nancy arrived last week and came for a visit the other day. They are such nice people, as well. They have a few stories to tell of the bay as well. They have a potluck supper every year around August 17 (Joel's birthday). George's mom Mary will be here this year for it. The potluck has people from all over - Burial Cove, Soderman Cove, Chatham Channel, Lagoon Cove etc. Of course the people from Port Harvey are their as well. What a wonderful time is had by all. We really look forward to this year!