More Birthday celebrations.....

The day before Daf's birthday, we were at Maggie and Ingrid's and had munchies and wine and then did a walk along the (now sadly quiet) Via Rail track behind their house. "come this way" says Ingrid.













Miki and Ingrid wander down the tracks.......











Ingrid and Daf share a moment on the walk. Sure hope the train is running again up island soon!












On Daf's birthday she had a wonderful breakfast on the deck, then a picnic lunch at the beach.












It was sunny but cool, so you can see the beach was not crowded, which suited us fine.












D walked way out into the warm water, contemplating the past year and looking forward to the next one.













Tide was coming in at this point................













The Beach Club from the water.











A couple of days later, Murielle (last winter's house sitter) had us over to her place for a wonderful joint birthday dinner. She is house sitting still in Parksville at a house with an amazing garden.......










The garden is lovely, but screams "lots of work" to us.........












Many different beds of various flowers and plants......













Daf among the roses...............













Miki helped out by monitoring the barbeque.......












And it was a wonderful feast for sure.....we were spoiled!











Miki and Muriel......thanks for a great birthday dinner!!!!  Funny how we all wore the same colour pink tops...!!

Metchosin Magic

Last weekend we attended the "greening of the slope"- a house warming at Sheila and Anne's new farm in Metchosin. What a lovely spot - if you look carefully, you will see sheep wandering around the neighbouring field.









Front yard of the house...nice shady areas and gorgeous gardens.











The house - lots of work to do here, but these 2 are up for it! Many charming features and the ocean view is wonderful.











Whimsical gate at the property line that backs onto a forest and creek.











Ocean view from the front yard - even more amazing from the house higher up.












Fenced gardens for the deer to drool over but not indulge in.











Magical pond with fish in a shady glen.....













Perfect place to relax on a summer afternoon.....













Back yard overlooks the gardens and the "slope" at the back of the 2 acres which will soon be planted.










Garage/barn which has stalls (and Anne loves horses, so wait for that announcement....!!!) and holds firewood at the moment. Many friends came to celebrate this new space and I am sure it will be a constant gathering place over the coming years.









Chiik "helps" Miki drive sometimes.....of course he looked away just as I was about to snap this pic....what a boy!

Birthday girl.......

It was Miki's birthday (yah, 39 again!) on July 21, so she started with mimosas and breakfast in bed, then more champagne in the afternoon with Janice, then off to Terri and Larry's for a magnificent dinner.









We sang, we drank, we laughed, and Miki had a ball......












She carves a mean cake, this woman........













.....and enjoyed a fine day and a fine evening with dear friends!











The birthday continued a few days later when Ingrid and Maggie took us out to the Mansion to celebrate Miki's special day.











We all dressed up in our finery and had an amazing meal in this historical magnificant building.











We had wonderful dinners, desserts, after dinner drinks....oh my, what an evening.











I think it is safe to say Miki felt very special, as she should on her birthday!!!











Mary Lois came up for another weekend and we took in the sand castle competition at the Parksville Beach.










As always, they are amazing sculptures, and while the poor carvers had to do their work in a cold driving rain, we went down a few days later on a lovely sunny day.









Every year there are sculptures that are incredible...these are just a few......














.....fine work......












and they are here until mid August - so come see the sculptures!

Annual picnic at the Rotary......

This was LAST year on Qualicum beach......sun....heat.......

Just look at all those people.......last year.......

It was hot, it was sunny, we all got sunburns and enjoyed swimming in the ocean.......

and THIS was this year......in the rain.....in the cold......no sun......no swimming......

The ocean was cold, and we all had to huddle under the canopy around the picnic tables, not out there in the warm ocean like last year.......

So the lovely sitting area stayed empty.....

But we all had a good time anyway - under umbrellas, under the roof, and in fact, it brought us all close together so we got to know new people and still had fun. Thanks Pat for organizing another great picnic!