Day 6: Owls in the Family

Dominic's re-enactment of Shaelyn's infamous dishwashing picture. 

Alex spotted three large owls in the lower Douglas Fir grove as we began our hike up Pender Hill. I should have brought my big camera. . . .

Dad and Alex peering up into the trees. The owl had its big eyes trained on us but did not swoop down to take our hats. 

When you hike slowly you have an opportunity to see more. A millipede making its way around the moss. 

A very tiny ant was lifting this bit of cone litter up and over the root. 

Alex and Dad looking at the south end of Texada Island towards Lantzville/Nanaimo in the far distance. 

Pender Hill looking down into Hotel Lake (left) and across to Pender Harbour (right). If you squint just right you can see Mark and Shawna backing their trailer in, lower right. The rellies are arriving!

A snake survey board. Nice?!

Oh, post-hike pie at Grandma's!

I don't think the boys will suffer. 

Burgers while watching the 6 pm PBS News Hour. 

California Quinoa Salad in the making. 

8 pm Beaver Crossing.

The Tolkamp's have arrived. Honking and waving. . . 

. . . followed by hugs and hello's. 

Calvin backs up the trailer like a pro. 

Shaelyn gets cranking. 

Fire time. 

Day 5: Unicorns and Lumberjacks

A unicorn with its own boat. You never know what you will see on Hotel Lake!

The boys have settled into life with Grandma and Grandpa's cabin.  Wifi, World Cup soccer on TV, nice breakfasts. . . and then at 1 pm, after the second soccer game it is time for chores with Grandpa. 

Early morning kayak ride. 

Getting ready to make dinner at Mom and Dad's cabin. Making sure I remember all of the ingredients for Instant Pot Gyros. . . 

Splitting the small Douglas Fir that was felled yesterday. 

Loading more clippings to take to the dump. 

The reward: ice cream with black berry sauce. 

Interesting creature lurk in the camp bathroom. 

Soon the boys will have to move back to camp so I have set up the Shangri-La for them. They are spoilt. 

Day 4: L is for Loon, Logs, and Loenen. Lovely!

Just one loon today. 

Well, another lovely day on the Sunshine Coast. The camp is still very quiet with only two parties other than me. The raccoons make up for the lack of campers.  Loonies will begin arriving on Thursday. The boys helped take down a small Douglas Fir, I worked, Grandma knit. Not too much to report. But, for a 'nothing' day I did manage to take a lot of pictures :).

The raccoons paid a visit at 12:08 am. In an effort to get the lid off of the garbage can used for tin can recycling they proceeded to roll it around for a while. This was followed by the tipping over of the garbage can used for glass recycling. Tinkle!

Here is the discarded exoskeleton of the dragonfly nymph. It managed to emerge without me.  Happy travels new dragonfly!

Grandpa's logging crew was on duty today removing a small Douglas Fir that was crowding others out. 

Fire wood. 

Transportation Engineer. 

Hmm, I wonder what this will be made into?

All's well in Lee Bay. 

Oh, another boy, hauling wood. 

Getting those branches cut to wood stove length. 

Last year's banners are available for purchase each spring at the City Works yard. This one was designed by Beth, the caretaker at Covenant Court in Richmond. 

Klompen from 'Grandma in the Little House', Dad's Mom. 

A blue bird day. 

Since the new neighbours no longer feed the eagles from their porch they do not roost in the big Douglas Fir outside the living room window.  While this is a bit sad, at least we no longer hear the eagles screeching for their breakfast early in the morning. We have to be content with long zoom shots of them flying from across the bay. 

A herd of 9 harbour seals passes by as they dive deep for lunch. Typically, we see 2-3 at a time. 

Grandma knits a bear while watching Netflix by the window. 

Alex tries to make friends with one of the neighbourhood cats. 

A deer grazes across the street. 

Oh, there's the banner again. I really like this design. 

A pit stop at the camp for a spot of tea before getting the daily paper at John Henry's. The old fish and chip place has changed ownership. The new entrepreneur was busy pressure washing and scraping grease off of a kitchen appliance out front. Oh, not fun! We wish him luck because we like fish and chips. 

Marla's Maple Pork with Caesar Salad. Next time, make rice for all of the glorious sauce!

Day 3: Ravens, Raccoons, and Rain

5:38 am The Raven alarm clock rings. 

Our first full day at Hotel Lake. The boys sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's cabin to soak up the wifi and World Cup soccer. They missed the raccoon fight in the middle of the night. I woke to hissing and the sounds of raccoons scampering up and down the trailer stairs. Later, the ravens woke me; however, this was a great opportunity for photos so I did not mind. 

Morning mist. 

Jenny's Dock 

My bedroom window is perfectly situated. 

Berky! Rather impractical in the trailer but the water tastes great. Since we are in place for two weeks he got to come along. 

Five Loons and one underwater. No babies seen yet. 

Time to get to work. Summer school waits for no one. 

The boys help Grandpa take clippings to the dump. 

This is not my photo; however, we did spot a Common Merganser Mama in the ocean in front of Mom and Dad's place last night. She was valiantly swimming in the bay with 4-5 fluffy babies on her back seeking evening shelter. 

Dad crafts a new cleat out of Purpleheart for the Lady Jayne. 

Fake KFC: Paprika, sage and lots of butter. 

Dragonfly nymph. I kept forgetting to go back to check its progress. I will have to find another one tomorrow.