Island life with Peter and Shelagh: April 2018

With coffee and breakfast down our necks we decided to head to the Saturday Market in Duncan, you can read all about this weekly phenomenon in my post from March 10th, 2018. We picked up some nice pork-apple-sage sausages, some pea shoots (tastes like alfalfa) to put on top of our pizza tomorrow and a family sized steak and mushroom pie along with a hot pepperoni stick. Also a home made bar of goats milk soap to try...

Then Shelagh had found a new little park for us to visit near Mill Bay. Mill Bay Nature Community Park is located just north of Mill Bay. At about 7.25 acres in size it's not a big park, but the views of the bay are amazing. There are some nice trails carved through the park and we sure found another great spot for picnics when the weather warms up. The pictures don't really do it justice but I think they'll give you an idea of the beauty here.

People leave these painted rocks in parks. It gets some folks all riled up, I don't see the harm in it.

On our way home Shelagh remembered the annual Maple Bay Rowing Club regatta was happening today on Quamichan Lake, so we went to have a look. These long narrow boats would keep me upright for all of about two seconds, and I would be in the water. The rowers were mostly teen-aged men and women and having a very good time on the water. The event is much larger than I imagined with many rowing clubs participating. By now we were hungry so we went to our local Vietnamese Mom and Pop shop for a couple of spicy beef Bahn Mi subs to go...

Another great day...

We were expecting Chris, son #2, to join us for Easter weekend. He was supposed to arrive on March 29th but got scheduled for work at the last minute, so we would not be seeing him until some time on Friday. A bit of a disappointment but that's the way it is sometimes. He managed to get off work sooner than expected and was at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal making the 11:00 ferry, better than anticipated. He had some errands to do in Victoria so we figured he would arrive here at around 15:00. When the doorbell rang, and we could see his head through the door window, Shelagh went to open the door. And there, crouching down out of sight, was Liam, son #1. Liam was on a special armed forces task in Resolute Bay and was supposed to be going home to Yellowknife. And now here he was along with his son Bailey! What a wonderful surprise! A house full of family. They had all brought bedding so we had nothing to worry about. Air mattresses were already downstairs, just in case, so sleeping arrangements were not an issue. Bailey spent a couple of days with his mother in Nanaimo but joined us on Sunday for the rest of the weekend.

The Kinsol Trestle.

At the Maple Bay Dock.

The weekend was wonderful with lots of catching up and day trips. Good lunches and dinners. We took our boys to see the Kinsol Trestle and Maple Bay, treated them to lunch at the Ship Yard Pub and walked the trail at Sandy Pool in Cowichan River Provincial Park.

Fellow blogger and fb friend Teresa Johannesma Wood was in Duncan with her husband, Derek, and daughter Cassia. We had hoped to get together but with so many things to do, it did not happen. They will be back in town later in the year and we will manage to meet them then. On her fb page, Teresa shared a new microbrewery in town so we went to check it out the next day. Small Block Brewing Co. is located just south of Duncan on the Trans Canada Highway. Liam had a couple of growlers to fill, booze is crazy expensive in his hometown of Yellowknife. We all got a flight of their beers and ordered pizza from the V.I. Pizza trailer parked outside the pub. Delicious Neapolitan style pizza from a wood-fired pizza oven. We highly recommend the beer and the pizza! The brewpub is child-friendly and will have its official opening in June. They also plan to have a menu with delicious food, and an outside patio for the warmer days.

Chris had to go back to Surrey on Sunday after dinner and we took Bailey back to the University of Victoria on Monday afternoon, Liam had a flight booked on Wednesday to Yellowknife via Calgary. A lot of busy people in our lives... We now are back to normal, whatever that is, and it's a bit quiet in the house. Tomorrow we tidy up and go back to our routine here in the "Warm Land". This weekend will be busy with operation "Feed the Freezer". I will make a big pot of Chilli con Carne, Spaghetti sauce, Hamburger patties and Burritos and the leftover ham will go into a pot of pea soup. These young men sure empty a freezer quickly!

66 Mile Trestle in Cowichan River Provincial Park.