Our gorgeous summer nears its end . . .

Hi there folks! We are just a few days away from returning to our lives in Victoria, and so I thought I would post some summer pictures. It has been an interesting summer with a few unusual events . . . for the most part, the pictures speak for themselves.

The West Kootenays continues to be an amazing corner of the world with stunningly gorgeous vistas and outrageously serene spaces that feel very far from the hub of humanity. We feel very fortunate to have this as an annual pilgrimage.

Kai -- our newly adolescent boy!
Pippin and Skye having a pensive moment!
We finally managed to light up or Vietnamese lanterns at the cabin this summer. They look stunning in the evenings. Great for a dinner party or a romantic evening!
Dave and Bay . . .
Dave brought out his brother John to "liven things up . . ."
Delectable Kootenay carrots grown by Sandra Wyllie . . .
Kai caught his first fish and drove his first car this summer . . .
Kai and Uncle Ken with Little Dog . . .
Sandra Wyllie in her beautifully abundant garden . . .
Skye with her fabulous Auntie Nancy . . .
Gorgeous Ian and Lizanne, the temptress . . .
Pippin, Sophie, and Alden (Pippin's second cousin, visiting from Virginia) had a little table at the local market -- they were making and selling bracelets . . .
Skye, Keira, and the Pipster . . .
We went on a stunningly beautiful hike into the alpine this year, to Idaho Peak . . . The wild flowers were out in full glory!
Laura nearing the summit of Idaho Peak . . .
Skye always thinks of these fluffy seed-heads as "Dr. Seuss Plants" . . .
Indian Paintbrush and lichen-covered branches . . .
We have a summer tradition of making peach pies -- Ronato is the Pie-Making King!Some members of Skye's Virginia family also came for a visit this year . . . a fine time was had by all!
I made a quick trip to Vancouver this year to go Cam's dad's memorial service . . .
The McRae-Piccone's leaning on each other . . .
Luca keeping me company before the memorial . . .
Just to keep us on our toes, Nancy broke her hip after a serious fall and needed hip replacement surgery. That was just the tip of the ice berg in this adventure . . .
Ken with the kids in his man cave . . . the perfect place for some fun and respite after hours at the hospital . . .
John and Bay on their 48th wedding anniversary . . .
Ken keeping Pippin in her place!
The boat ride in Robson with Uncle Ken . . .
Kai jumping off the pier at Bigelow Bay . . .
Our secret beach . . . a piece of heaven.
A dead eagle found on the beach . . .

Kai and Jae -- brothers-in-arms, entering this new realm of adolescence . . .

Chloe at her new cabin in the mountains . . .
Jubi, Katie, Rowan and Jae . . . such a lovely family!
Our last day -- saying goodbye to the Kootenays for another year . . .

It has been too long...

Just for the record .. we have not disappeared off the face of the earth here behind the tweed curtain. We still eat outrageously good desserts on a regular basis... and here is the proof. Recently we celebrated our good friend Jill's birthday and the occasion was washed down with this stunning summer delight. Fresh berries on layers of cream and pound cake... Ouch!

Bounty

We have been eating fabulous delicious organic food from our garden lately. Fresh salads galore and more recently other good things are coming onto our plates. Tonight we are eating some of our broccoli and it is all very exciting. It is great to be growing some of our own food. We have been going into this new gardening direction for a while ... We live in such a perfect temperate climate for growing food.
So here are some pictures of our delicious bounty...
Take care...
R

St.David's Academy of Holy Vaginas

OK - so you probably are wondering what the "St.David's Academy of Holy Vaginas" refers to...
Well, our friend Dave has just spent the last year in Australia on a teacher exchange and he had the rather humorous pleasure of teaching at an all girls Catholic school. There was a significant amount of humour in this because he is about as far as is humanly possible from being a good Catholic boy.
So we decided that the ultimate theme for his surprise 40th Birthday party would be for us all to dress up as Catholic school girls. It was great because everyone who came got into the spirit of the occasion and dressed up.
Boy oh boy -- he was definitely surprised.
What follows is a series of photographs of the night's frivolities. A good time was had by all!

Comox Weekend Away

We just had the May long weekend here in Victoria. The public holiday commemorates Queen Victoria's birthday. We still love the British Royalty here in Canada.
This is the weekend where everyone feels it is safe to plant out all their veggie plants and annuals for the summer ahead because the chances of cool weather is significantly diminished. We are now in full blown spring and the days are very long. The sun goes down after 9pm every evening and we are thoroughly enjoying the nice long days. We come home after work and school and can all still enjoy good times in the garden.
This weekend we went up to Comox (three hours north of Victoria on the east side of Vancouver island). Our friends Dave and Heather returned from Australia not that long ago -- so it was time for a visit. We had a number of friends join us since we threw a surprise 40th Birthday party for our friend Dave...
The next blog will share some of those Birthday details...

Spider Nest

The other day Pippin and I were heading out the door when we noticed this amazing clump of activity on a Camilla leaf just outside our door. On closer inspection we noticed that it was a nest of spiders - several hundred tiny little baby spiders!
Over the next few days the spiders traveled with the wind and spread out far and wide throughout the front yard.
By late summer we will have a garden filled with big juicy spiders with webs designed to catch flies and other unsuspecting critters.
It has been a great sight to take in!

Skye on her Birthday

Time for me to catch up on a few blog posts...
A few weeks ago on May 11th, Skye turned 41. We took in the day with some close friends and had a lovely time.
It was hard not to be reminded of the fact that one year ago we all had just arrived in Provence to fields and fields of the most stunning spring flowers. John, Bay and Nancy were there waiting for us.
The South of France has been flooding into our minds constantly for the last few weeks ... Skye's birthday will always be washed with those incredible memories.
What a gift!