Finley Family Fun!

We had a VIV - Very Important Visitor!  Finley is so important he travels with an entourage of two who do all the heavy lifting for him....AKA Mom and Dad!  The entourage feed him, dress him, take him places, watch his every move and admire how cute they think he is.

They arrived on a Friday at lunch time and left Tuesday morning.  They tried to squeeze in some activities.

They went to the Marina to look at the seals and feed them.

This cutie could flap his fin to get attention and some snacks.

And look how cute this is - just like me lying on my back when I sleep.

Several trips to the park were in the works.

That's William on the left hand side.  He is 5 years old and can ride a bike like a seasoned pro!  He is son to Meg's school friend Raeleigh and grandson to Janet and Phil's friends Karen and Ken.  Meg and Raeleigh and Ken and Karen have known each other since the girls were in Grade 8!  Did we mention they are both 40 years old now?

Noodles cheered them on.

When we weren't down at the park, Mr. Important ate.

and ate.

and ate some more!

Yaya bought this cute **co-ordinating** outfit at Uniqlo in Tokyo.  The train shirt is a huge hit!  Shirt $7!  Shorts $7!

Phil's friend Peter came by on Friday to have their weekly drink after squash.  Finley called out "Great Grandpa" when he walked into the kitchen.  Meg had to do some real fancy footwork to explain why there was confusion over 70 year old Peter and 91 year old Brian.

She had several options, but the two she stuck with were "it's the red shirt" and "it's the grey hair".

To the average human or canine, these might look like paper clips.  To a two year old child, they are bunnies!

The bounty from Rancher Janet's garden just keeps rolling through the door.   Pattypan squash!

We are being best buddies.

When Finley was finished with his iPhone, he left it beside the recycle he was playing with.  Yaya looked high and low before she finally came upon it.

Those empty bags held two dozen corn.

Before we knew it, they packed up and were gone!  We are sad!  It's so quiet in our house now.

All that's left of their visit is the empty sippy cup.

Down and Out!

Oak Bay is getting a new High School.  It has been under construction for about 1 1/2 years.  The building is now complete and they are in the process of demolishing the old buildings to make space for the playing fields.

Truck after truck hauled out all the debris.  You can see the new school in the background.  Janet wants to go on a tour!

One building down and one to go.

You can't read it very clearly but on the chalkboard someone had written "f**k off Debby".  Not sure who Debby is but hope her feeling weren't hurt.

At the same time, they are restoring Bowker Creek that runs along what is now the front of the school.  The creek is about 8km long, but only about 3km are above ground.  It will be rebuilt and cleaned up and planted with native vegetation.

Hard to believe at this point in time that it's going to be an improvement!

So, that was down.  This is out - two blocks from our house they were floating a house away.  Look how lonely and out of place it looks at the end of the street!

Janet checked the tide table to see when high tide was, but misunderstood when the house would be floated away.  She got up at 4:45AM to see the 6AM sailing away, only to find out it was going to happen at 6PM.  She was really irritated with herself as Janet is not a morning person.  Good thing she took that B52 Latte with her for company.

This was her reward for getting up so early.

Back she went at 5PM and this time there was some action.  First ramp is ready.

Here comes the barge!  There are two other houses on the barge, both from Oak Bay.  THEY were loaded up in the morning at 5AM, but not the location were Janet was.  It was only around the bay as Janet could hear a bunch of noise, but didn't put two and two together.

There was a crane on the barge to lift four long metal planks to make an additional ramp.

Then the house was backed onto the ramp with a semi truck.

There was an extension of the house, but it wouldn't fit on the barge.  That's the part where the particle board is.

Bye bye house!  These three houses are going to the San Juan Islands in Washington State to be part of a below market housing project.  This program permits people would otherwise not be able to purchase a home the ability to do so.  If you purchase the below market house, you are not allowed to sell later at market value.

Where were all these chumps at 5AM?

Meg told Janet about this salad that is really delicious.  Orzo, spinach, feta, olives, pine nuts and corn.  What's not to like?  It's from one of the Whitewater cookbooks.

After Janet made the salad, look who came to visit!  Mr. No. Longer. A. Baby and his handlers.  They stopped and picked up 4 dozen corn.  Half went to Buchanan's as Karen wanted to freeze corn.  Janet has already frozen some but wants to buy more.

Here is Mr. Busy Executive getting ready to close a deal.  He's got his "iPhone" in his pocket, car keys in hand and like all business men - peanut butter on his face!

Don't know what's up with this BS....not one doggie photo!  Get over yourself, Janet!

Janet Turns On The Oven!

It hasn't been quite as hot lately in the last few days, so Janet thought it might be a good idea to make pizza for dinner.  She went to Ottavio to purchase the fresh dough and then came home to get the (pizza!) ball rolling.  The bad news was she forgot the pizza stone needed to heat in the oven for one hour at 500F!  About 30 minutes in, it is a really bad idea.

Shrimp Pesto Pizza with Olives and Sun Dried Tomatoes.  Too bad she can't make a nice circular crust.

Here is a more summer friendly dinner - Teriyaki Salmon (that even Janet said was way too salty) and some grilled veggies.

Janet made a baby quilt to give to Pam and Kirk, both of whom work at Our Place.  She had also started another quilt and found out later the fabric designer was Tula Pink.  Pam's older daughter's name is Tulah, so Janet felt it was a perfect fit.  Tulah is 12 years old and loves sewing, which she takes at school.  Janet was super happy that young children still learn to sew!

Tula Pink in Texas Two Step pattern.

All bundled up for gift giving with two bibs for Mr. Baby Easton.

 Janet tired of her machine stitched quilt labels so decided she would give the computer jobbies a whirl.  Needless to say, there was a huge learning curve (and many, many bad words) before it was mastered.  She thinks there can still be some improvement, but likes them more than the old ones.

These were failures.  Janet was super excited but when they hit the water, the ink faded to a weak orange colour.  Did she test the ink prior to sewing the labels on the quilt - Hell no!  Phil borrowed a friends printer and they were a success in the end.

 Looks what up next - a Hello Kitty quilt with Liberty House fabric.  All of the fabric said Made in Japan on the selvedge edge, but only Hello Kitty said Made in Japan to be Sold in Japan Only.
Janet says the fabric is of such high quality it's really hard to tell the right side from the wrong side.

Janet figures she has pretty much moved from Farmer Janet to Rancher Janet!  Check out this bounty.

It's important to Phil that he keep his flood restoration skills razor sharp.  We had the first of our bi-annual flood for 2015.  This one was caused by a broken timer on an outdoor hose that squirted water into the basement for "a very short period of time".  Somehow, Janet thinks 101 year old houses with carpet in the basement are not a good combo.  This flood, however, pales in comparison to the kitchen flood Phil started last year.  He started to fill up the sink and left to do who knows what.  Janet wasn't at home at the time but he swears up and down the water leaked out of a small break in the silicone around the sink.  There was so much water on the kitchen floor the hardwood actually started to buckle in spots. 

Cute deer buddies a couple of streets over.

Good night, everyone.  Love you!

Le Choit Faim (The Hungry Puppy)

Janet and Phil think the best baguettes in town come from Fol Epi, which, by Victoria standards is  really, really far away.  Only crazy ass Victoria people think they have to drive long distances.  They complain on a way too frequent basis about how it took 5 minutes to drive downtown when they moved here and now it takes 12 -15 minutes.  And, whatever you do, do not get Janet started on Phil's driving and the two merging lanes on the way downtown.  Want proof - just ask anyone of our children who have heard Meg describe a fellow driver when Phil bum dialed her by accident and was recorded ranting and raving!

Now, you can buy Fol Epi bagels at Ottavio, which is a very short walk away.  Janet purchased one with some other groceries and left them by the front door to pursue a more important activity - which would be almost anything!

What the f**k - the bag is empty!

Good job, Noodles!  Janet called Phil to bring another one home, but he wanted to cut off the end Noodles had been eating on.  Janet drew the line.

Janet and Phil have lived in the same house for 29 years.  This year, for the first time ever, they had lunch at the Kiwanis Tea Room on Willows Beach.  The food was OK.  More importantly, last year the tea room raised $40,000 that went to different projects in Victoria.

Janet also went to lunch at Oak Bay Marina with her Thursday volunteer friends:  Katherine, who will turn 79 next week and Welda who is 91 years old.  Missing from the photo is Erin who swears up and down she is in the Witness Protection Program and cannot have her photo taken.

Janet had the Bento Box and she told us it was really good.

Amongst our walks 'round the 'hood, we chanced upon one of the two FiremensPersons Park toys that have lived in the playground forever and a day.  Meg is on a major mental mission to have the park renamed - Firepersons Park, Firefighters Park?  The dump truck was up on the baseball diamond, so Janet and Noodles and myself returned it to the playground area.

Meg let Janet know that these toys had been here for years, which is amazing to Janet.

This is Janet's newest invention - the library!  She hasn't been to the library for decades,  but went when Mr. Baby was here to get him some books for bedtime.  She was super excited!  And, guess what?  It turns out that Thursday Volunteer Friend Katherine's (photo above!) daughter is the graphic artist for the library and made this super cute library card that Janet chose.

Super cool - they send you an email to let you know when your books are due!

A small meeting with one of our fan club members, down at Willows Beach.

Janet made some BBQ sauce for herself and to give to Karen for a belated birthday gift.  Karen used some to make Pulled Pork in the slow cooker are said it was delicious.

This is Karen's container.  Janet's is an old recycled jar.

Crazy Lady says that Mr. Baby left two perfect teeny tiny little hand prints on the glass table top in the TV Media Room that she has very carefully wiped around for three weeks now.  It's her hope that if they get dusty enough, she can somehow make a print of the cute little paws.  Thus far, it's not happening.

Visitor next door - Bambi!  Only Bambi could fit in through the hole in the fence.  As much as Janet loves the deer, she doesn't want them eating all the new plants next door.

Go find your Mom, cute little baby deer!  Janet is shocked to see how much the plants next door have grown.  Big time splitting next spring!

Critical Care Corner

Our Grandpa -

Enjoying the sun.

caught a cold while he was visiting us in Victoria.  In turn, Phil also caught a cold.  He set up his little "Critical Care Corner".  Much to Janet's chagrin, this little setup was there for several days.

What else could a guy need - cough syrup, three kinds of cough drops, water, tissue and two remote controls.  This Care Corner lasted much longer than Phil's cold did.

At Janet's work, there are many programs that people can participate in.  One of them is Reiki, which Janet doesn't know a whole lot about except that it's a type of Japanese healing with hands.  The Reiki practitioner is Karen and she is the full meal deal - lives in the country with a huge garden, makes her own soaps and lotions and has a pet rooster!  Check him out - he is so cute!

Speaking of huge gardens, here is the first of Janet's bounty.  Sadly, there are only two zucchini and while there have been many blossoms, there doesn't seem to be any more coming.

Pesto - coming right up!

This desk was on the streetside, just around the corner from us.  I begged and whined and cried for Janet to bring it home for me as my real name is Emma.  It was pointless - she wouldn't budge!

Janet started to make a new quilt top.  She spread all the pieces out on the floor and I thought I would give them the Pashy stamp of approval.

Before

After.

She decided the blue didn't work, so purchased some different fabric and then put it together.  I tested it again!

I don't believe Janet has any clue how much I do for her!

Back in the olden days (likely before I was born!)  legend has it that Noodles and Rockers could climb up the bottom part of this tree in Uplands Park.  Do you think it's true?

Janet "claims" they could get to the part where the limbs start to come out.  Personally, I don't believe it and will not make a fool of myself trying to live in their so called glory days!

Look at this cute sign on a store downtown - an old suitcase!

 When Meg and Derek and Mr. Baby were here, they went to Pizzeria Prima Strada for lunch - more than once!  When the server put the big wine bottle that is now a water vessel on the table, Mr. Baby said "Mommy's beer!"  Meg was quick to remind him that what happens at home, stays at home!

That's it - I'm bushed.  Later, skater!