March 20 to 26, 2025 ; Cobble Hill, B.C.

 Thursday ; Sunny in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon, raining in the evening, +6° C.

I’m feeling a bit bored here at Xanadu Estate in Cobble Hill. The weather, ever since our arrival on January 31, has been less than ideal and not very conducive to getting out and exploring. There was more to do, the weather was warmer, and we were more active while in Victoria in December and January. I guess I’m feeling just about ready for our return back home to Dugald Estates in a couple of weeks. Oh, well ... lesson learned for next year !

I thought our plan for today was to go to Salt Spring Island for a day trip of exploring. Joanne thought our plan was to go on Saturday. HMPH ! Apparently I was mistaken !

This afternoon Joanne went by herself to replenish produce at Old Farm Market while Apollo and I napped.

In the evening I made another fire in the fireplace and we watched last night’s episode of Survivor

Friday ; Raining all day, +5° C.

We are all feeling SOOOOO bored, and suffering from “cabin fever”. We overestimated what / how much there was to see and do out here in our “mansion in the woods” suite, and were ignorant about how different the weather was here than in Victoria. In desperation I suggested, around 5 PM, that we go to the dog park for awhile just to “get out of the house”.

Well ... we did. But ... it was raining heavily, it was cold, and like all the rest of the dogs in the dog park, Apollo got quite muddy. Oh, well, at least we got out for awhile. It is now a little after 7 PM, Joanne has begun to prepare supper, I’m here typing on the laptop, and Apollo ... well, he’s still a bit wet and muddy, looking a bit miserable, lying on the couch, wrapped in a blankie.

Saturday ; Cobble Hill to Salt Spring Island & return

Sunny and 7° C in the morning in Cobble Hill, cloudy and 10° C in the afternoon on Salt Spring Island, raining when we got back onto Vancouver Island at 6 PM, and rain for the rest of the day.

Well ... better late than never ... we finally got to Salt Spring Island for a day of exploring. We left Xanadu Estate at 10:30 AM and drove north through Duncan to the little village of Crofton to catch the ferry to Salt Spring Island at 11:30 AM. The ferry arrived at Vesuvius Bay on the west coast of Salt Spring Island at noon. We drove to the centre of the island, to Ganges, the main town on the island.

It was a lot more “spring time” on Salt Spring Island than at Xanadu Estate / Cobble Hill. Daffodils were blooming, cherry trees were in blossom, etc.

We spent about half the afternoon exploring in and around Ganges, and about half the afternoon exploring south and north on the island. Most of our exploring in and around Ganges was on foot. We visited a glass foundry art gallery first, then a multitude of specialty food shops. We had lunch at Buzzy’s ... “A Montreal Jewish deli from an island with more bears than Jews” ... HA HA HA ! Exquisite Montreal smoked meat sandwiches and concoctions. I had a “Bare Naked Lady”, a smoked meat platter with everything except bread. But including a latke. Joanne had smoked meat chili. It was great ! I’d like to try making that at home. Lunch was so good ... how good was it, Dan ? ... I bought a half pound of Montreal style smoked meat to take home for lunch sandwiches. Before leaving Ganges we bought three loaves of bread and some pastries at a bakery.

From Ganges we drove south to Salt Spring Island Cheese, a cheese making goat farm. I had bought one of their cheeses while we were in Victoria in December. Very good ! Very expensive. Slightly cheaper at the farm gate / cheese making factory. In December I had placed then cancelled an order for one of their “Christmas baskets” as a gift for Joanne when she ... <ahem> ... “reminded” me that she doesn’t like goat cheese. But today at their cheese shop all their products were available for sampling. We tried some, she liked some ! (and I disliked some !) We bought three types of their goat cheeses today. They will be a great pairing with the sourdough and light rye sourdough bread boules we bought at Embe Bakery in Ganges.

We drove back to and through Ganges then to the north end of Salt Spring Island, to visit a sheep farm. We were unable to shop in their wool products shop because we arrived a few minutes after their 4 PM closing, but we did walk around outside and visit with Teddy Bear the sheep, Lexi the billy goat, and Nigel the tom turkey, a few of the friendlier animals around their farm. Nigel seems to be responsible for “protecting” a small flock of hen turkeys, and he was not shy about gobbling loudly and fan spreading his tail feathers to show how large and threatening he could be. He had a loud argument with Joanne. HA HA HA ... she started it ! Who knew that my 71 year old little wifey could imitate a turkey gobble so well ? HA HA HA <snort> HA HA !

While at the north end of the island we also visited a couple of farm stands before heading back south to the ferry terminal at Vesuvius Bay to catch the 5:30 PM ferry back to Crofton on Vancouver Island. We could see the very heavy rain on Vancouver Island as we crossed on the ferry. Sure enough, as we arrived back at Crofton, it was raining, and remained raining quite heavily for the rest of the evening.

On the way home to Xanadu Estate we stopped in Duncan to refill with fuel at Superstore’s Mobil Fuel Bar. We arrived back home around 7 PM just as it got dark. Hey, Apollo, how did you like your first ever visit to Salt Spring Island ? Poor Apollo, he was exhausted from having a big day of exploring.

Sunday ; Raining all day ... forecast to rain all next week ... 9° C.

Mostly because of yesterday’s adventure, we slept very late this morning. Mostly because of today’s weather, we had a fairly lazy day.

Joanne did some laundry. I wrote yesterday’s journal entry, did yesterday’s credit card accounting, downloaded yesterday’s photos from the i-Phone to the laptop and processed them, paid some bills online, finally received and downloaded the late T3’s, etc.

In the evening we relaxed in front of a fire in the fireplace.

Monday ; Cloudy, intermittent light rain, +9° C.

Today was another lazy day of computer work, and watching news, mostly because of the poor weather. Credit card bill payments and statement reconciliations, income tax preparation work ... got the T3’s entered ...

Tuesday ; Sunny, +12° C. Nice spring day ! Finally !

We went to Country Grocer just before lunch to pick up a few grocery items. I spent the afternoon finishing our income tax returns. WOO-HOO ... DONE !

Wednesday ; Mostly sunny and ... <blink blink> ... warm ! +15° C. Thunderstorms late in the evening.

I wasn’t feeling well today so this afternoon I stayed home with Apollo while Joanne went to Duncan to replenish groceries ... probably for the last time ... at Superstore. I did some work on income tax planning for this year / next year. I did some work on next winter’s accommodations planning.

Lately we have been spending a lot of our time chatting about politics and current events, both in Canada and ... to the south !

ELBOWS UP, CANADA !

<muttering> Asshole !

DSK

March 13 to 19, 2025 ; Cobble Hill, B.C.

 Thursday ; Mostly sunny, windy, a very chilly +3° C.

I spent much of today getting “caught up” after yesterday’s day trip to Vancouver ; credit card accounting, writing yesterday’s journal / blog entry, downloading and processing photos and videos from the i-Phone to the laptop, posting my weekly journal to my blog.

While Joanne prepared supper I made an excellent fire in our fireplace, and it burned bright and warm for the rest of the evening. We had supper while enjoying the fire and watching last night’s episode of Survivor.

Friday ; Sunny, +7° C.

This afternoon we went to Country Grocer in Cobble Hill, then Superstore in Duncan to replenish groceries. On the way back home we went to the Cobble Hill dog park. We were there between 5 PM and 6 PM so there were a lot more dogs there than usual. Apollo is not all that interested in socializing with other dogs, but he certainly enjoys meeting people.

Saturday ; Raining, +3° C.

Today was a long, difficult day of nothing but bickering, ending with a lot of anger and hurt. HMPH ! Haven’t done that in quite awhile !

Sunday ; Mostly sunny, still not all that warm at +6° C.

We will be certain not to repeat this year’s mistake of spending only half the winter in Victoria, where it was and continues to consistently be 5° warmer than here in Cobble Hill. <shrug> HMPH ... learning curve !

Tonight it was my turn to make supper. I made another Udon noodle stir fry creation.

Monday ; Mix of sun and clouds, intermittent rain ... and a short bout of hail (!), +4° C.

We had planned to make another visit to a local beach area today, but the weather was not co-operative. It seems as if we are going to have chilly, wet weather for most of the upcoming week. <sigh>

This afternoon I worked again on preparing our income tax returns. BORING !

And this evening I made another lovely fire in the fireplace, and we watched multiple episodes of The Dog House, a British show chronicling the workings of a dog rescue shelter.

Tuesday ; Mostly sunny, +7° C. Seemed a lot colder than that at the beach !

Mid-afternoon we headed to nearby Cherry Point Nature Park (beach). BRRRRR ! Windy ! We had not expected that, as there was no wind at home / Xanadu Estate. We didn’t stay at the beach long.

Back at home I continued the boring work on our income tax returns. I’m slightly stymied by a couple of late T3’s that I have not yet received.

Wednesday ; Mix of sun and clouds, +7° C.

This afternoon Joanne went grocery shopping by herself ; Country Grocer in Cobble Hill, Dollar Tree and Superstore in Duncan. I stayed home and napped with Apollo, then paid bills, reconciled February bank statements, and continued working on preparation of our income tax returns. Almost finished, just awaiting that last set of late T3’s.

DSK

March 12 day trip to Vancouver ; pictures & videos

 

DSK

March 6 to 12, 2025 ; Cobble Hill, B.C.

 Thursday ; Sunny, +9° C.

Today was a busy day of “catch up on errands at home” day. Joanne did laundry. We both cleaned a lot of dog snot marks off the car windows. The price we pay for leaving Apollo alone in the car for hours at a time. HA HA HA ! I did a lot of work on the computer and i-Phone, setting up some new apps on both, updating phone account records, posting my blog, putting away “winter stuff” and reloading it into the car, yesterday’s credit card accounting ... YIKES ... updating investment records ... YIKES ... figuring out how to access ... (new software required) ... and read my Rolex watch’s new service records “chip” card, figuring out how to access ... (new software required) ... a new messaging function for Winnipeg Humane Society volunteers ... <sigh> ... and so on and so on, all day long !

Friday ; Mostly cloudy and chilly, despite temperature this afternoon of 8° C. HMPH ! Thought spring was here ! Apparently not, looking at the forecast for the next week.

After an early lunch we headed out to drop our recyclables at a local recycling yard, then continue on into Duncan to visit a store that Joanne thought I would be interested in, an Indigenous art gallery / dealer. Well, the art gallery was interesting, but also a bit disappointing. I expected a larger store, with more inventory, and ... well ... a bit more reasonable pricing. And more representative Indigenous art from a wider geographic area than just Vancouver Island. This gallery’s offerings were almost all “local” artists.

We had also intended to visit some thrift stores in Duncan today, but ... I got pissed off (no pun intended) at the first thrift store when I asked as I was paying for my purchase if I might use their restroom, and was refused access. HMPH ! Take my purchase, put it back into your inventory, I’ll go take a piss and spend my money elsewhere ! ! ! The second thrift store wasn’t a charitable thrift store, it was a privately owned “used merchandise” urban junkyard store. Both of us decided that was enough, it was time to head home.

On the way home we stopped at the local dog park. Good dog, Apollo !

Today I finished acquiring and setting up a new e-mail account with a Canadian service provider, a process I started last Sunday. I have had an e-mail account / address with AOL, originally America OnLine, for 30 years. All change is difficult, but sometimes necessary, often desirable, and for me, always rejuvenating and exciting.

Saturday ; Light rain all day, +7° C.

This afternoon Joanne went by herself to Duncan to do some grocery shopping. I napped with Apollo then did more work on our income tax returns. After Joanne returned home I installed and configured our new Canadian e-mail service onto our i-Phone. SHIT ... that kind of techno-stuff is extremely difficult for an old man my age. It took me well over an hour to figure it out and get it done. However, I should probably be proud of myself. Based on my knowledge of our friends and neighbours, I would suggest that very few people my age could have done any better.

In the evening we watched a “comedy” entitled SHIVA on CBC GEM. Comedy ? ! ? I think not ! What a despicable character. Nothing funny about that at all.

Sunday ; Cobble Hill to Victoria & return

BRRRRR ... steady rain until late afternoon, 6° C.

We left home right after lunch heading to Victoria for a Victoria Symphony Orchestra matinée concert at 2:30 PM at The Royal Theatre. The heavy rain made driving to Victoria on the Malahat Highway difficult. We parked in the Victoria Public Library underground parkade about half a block from the concert venue, and left Apollo waiting in the car for about 2¾ hours. Very good dog, Apollo. We rewarded him with a stop at the local dog park on our way home. We arrived back home around 7 PM.

The concert was A Night (afternoon ?) At The Oscars, a Pops concert featuring Academy Award winning song scores from movies going back almost a century. It was okay, not great, first half better then the second half. We had front row centre seats. I like front row centre seats, most people don’t.

We arrived back home to the news that Mark Carney had won the (Canadian) Liberal party leadership, and therefore will become Canada’s Prime Minister next week. In my opinion that was the correct choice ... for now ! I’m disappointed that Chrystia Freeland did not do better, but Mr. Carney’s huge margin of victory indicates that the Liberal Party, and hopefully most Canadians, are united in believing that Mr. Carney is the right person at this time to take on Trump and his tariff nonsense !

VIVE le CANADA ! <mumbling> you orange piece of shit !

While Joanne made supper I lit a fire in the fireplace, and we ate supper in front of a nice, warming fire while watching last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

Monday ; Chilly again, raining lightly most of the day, +6° C.

For me and Apollo, a bit of a slow day. I graciously declined Joanne’s generous invitation to join her for an afternoon of Wal-Martin’ in Duncan ... <rolling my eyes>.

I did some routine monthly maintenance on the car after her return from Duncan. DARN ! AGAIN there is a low pressure tire on the car. One tire has been consistently losing about six pounds of pressure per month ever since we left home in November. And I am old enough and wise enough and experienced enough to know that most tire shops will find it impossible to identify / locate a leak that slow. The response of most tire shops will be simply ... “time to buy new tires ... <big smile>”. Tomorrow I will go to Kal Tire in Duncan (again) and adjust the pressure in that tire. After we return home to Dugald in a month and have access to my own air compressor in our underground parkade I will remove and replace the tire valve core in an attempt to identify / eliminate the problem.

Tuesday ; Raining all day, +6° C.

Right after lunch we headed out for a few errands. First stop was at a nearby tire shop to adjust the air pressure in the car’s tire that needs adjustment monthly. Then grocery shopping at Country Grocer, and finally, produce shopping at Old Farm Market. We were hoping to stop at the dog park on the way back home, but it was raining, so we didn’t.

Late in the afternoon we did some planning for what to do tomorrow in Vancouver for about five hours. We had previously made plans, but they were predicated on nice weather. That now seems unlikely !

For supper I made an Oyster mushroom frittata. HMPH ! I guess one can’t hit a home run every time at bat !

Wednesday ; Cobble Hill to Nanaimo to Vancouver & return

Raining all day, +7° C.

We were up at 8 AM and out of our suite at 10 AM heading to Nanaimo and our Harbour Air seaplane flight to Vancouver at noon. We left Apollo in our suite, having made arrangements with our landlady for her to walk and feed Apollo.

On the way to Nanaimo we stopped in Duncan to refill with fuel at Superstore’s Mobil Fuel Bar. We arrived at Nanaimo Harbour shortly after 11 AM, parked in an underground parkade and checked in at Harbour Air for our noon flight.

While I have flown Cessna 172’s on floats, this was our first flight in a seaplane larger than a four seat Cessna. Today’s flights, in both directions were on Harbour Air’s Canadian manufactured De Havilland Single (turbine engine) Otters, with seating for thirteen passengers. Flight time between Nanaimo Harbour and Vancouver Harbour was twenty minutes in each direction, flown at only 1000 feet. I was surprised at the low flying altitude, and that there was only a single pilot, no co-pilot. And surprised by the need to strap a flotation device (like a “life jacket”) around our bodies underneath our seat belts.

We had five hours to walk around downtown Vancouver. We actually returned to the Vancouver Harbour Seaplane Terminal after four hours, tired of walking around in cold, wet weather. We had a very interesting Persian lunch at a restaurant owned and operated by an Iranian immigrant. Just before returning to the seaplane terminal we had an excellent Coconut Milk Latté with Brown Sugar Boba Pearls at a bubble tea restaurant in one of the many food courts beneath one of the large downtown high rise building towers. We spent the final hour resting (her) in the seaplane terminal’s comfortable passenger lounge and (me) watching many float planes landing and taking off in Vancouver Harbour. <sigh> I want to go back in time about forty-five years and become a commercial seaplane pilot.

It was still raining heavily in Vancouver when we left at 5:30 PM but the rain had stopped by the time we arrived back in Nanaimo at 6 PM. After landing in Nanaimo we picked up some take-out Korean Chicken at Nanda Chicken in downtown Nanaimo, for dinner at home. We arrived back home at 7:30 PM.

During our 9 ½ hour absence our landlady had fed Apollo, and walked him twice. She took him to her home (next door, same building as our suite) and he visited with her, including having an afternoon nap on her bed. HA HA HA ! Good dog, Apollo.

DSK

February 27 to March 5, 2025 ; Cobble Hill, B.C.

 Thursday ; Mix of sun and clouds, +10° C.

Late this morning we drove to Mill Bay to buy dog food and treats at Bosley’s on their monthly seniors’ discount day. And to buy some advertised specials at Thrifty Foods.

This afternoon I downloaded from the i-Phone and processed in the laptop a lot of photos from yesterday’s outing. Then posted my weekly journal including photos to my online blog. And ... of course ... napped !

In the evening I cooked supper, Udon noodle stir fry using Korean marinated beef ribs. We watched (streamed) the season premiere (from yesterday) of Survivor (season 48).

You know, when Ontarians re-elected Doug Ford for a second term a few years ago, I thought ... “well, if you’re that stupid ... you deserve him” ! And tonight ... <sigh> ... yet again ! ! !

Friday ; Mostly sunny, +10° C.

Today was a lazy day again, by design. I spent two hours on the phone trying to resolve an issue with our phone service provider Telus. I finally gave up, telling the third and final agent that I dealt with that I had spent all the time that I was going to today on the phone with them, and she could continue to work on it, then call me back. Not surprisingly, there was no subsequent call back. I think I may have figured out a way around that problem. It will require a visit to the Telus store in Duncan in a few days. If that doesn’t solve my problem ... there are “many fish in the sea” of phone service providers ! ! !

Much of our afternoon was spent staring agog at today’s Zelensky / Trump “meeting” in the White House, and its aftershocks. As I said before, and always ...

SLAVA UKRAINI / Слава Україні

And for what it’s worth ... to readers of my blog ;

Stand up for what you believe in ! Get off the fence ! Pick a lane ! Take a stand ! ! !

<taking deep breath ... calming down>

In the evening I lit a fire and we watched multiple episodes of an Australian TV series Better Date Than Never.

Saturday ; Mix of sun and clouds, +10° C.

We headed out around 11:30 AM for a day of exploring the town of Cowichan Bay. On the way there we stopped at Cherry Point Nature Park (oceanfront beach) to wander the mudflats at low tide and “beachcomb”. It was pretty, and peaceful, and interesting. Most of the “beachcombing” was done by Apollo, although I did find an intact butter clam. The large expanse of estuary mudflats (Garnett Creek empties into the ocean there) had many off leash dogs romping, although we kept Apollo on his leash.

Once we arrived at Cowichan Bay we went for lunch at Rob’s Lighthouse Eatery, a very small, takeout seafood restaurant with a very small patio (in a large tent with plastic windows and a fireplace to warm the inside) out front. We shared a bowl of excellent seafood chowder, and a fish & chips platter with cole slaw and fries. All excellent ! Having seafood chowder, and fish and chips, in an ocean side town is the aquatic “bay to table” equivalent to the inland “farm to table” dining concept. The seafood chowder in particular was much better than any I’ve had before, with a variety of “seafood” that was probably swimming in the bay a day or two earlier.

After lunch we wandered over to the Maritime Museum. It’s quite large, and is dedicated to local ship and boat building history, as well as exhibits of a variety of small boats and Indigenous cedar dugout canoes, etc., and excellent displays of outboard boat motors from fifty to a hundred years ago. Part of the museum is the very long, restored dock / wharf that extends a long way out into the bay behind the museum building. It was originally an Esso refueling wharf for ships.

We returned to where we had left our car parked, with Apollo patiently (?) awaiting our return, and drove a short distance through town to a waterfront park area. We took Apollo for another long, relaxing “beachcombing” walk.

We returned back home to Xanadu Estate around 4 PM, Apollo and I ready for a nap.

I cooked a new recipe for supper tonight, an eggs, cheese and spaghetti frittata concoction. <shrug> It was okay, but ... not really a “keeper” recipe.

HA HA HA HA HA ... as Joanne got into bed, and Apollo snuggled up against her, she complained that after an afternoon of beachcombing on tidal mudflats, Apollo’s feet smell like seafood chowder.

Sunday ; Mostly cloudy, a bit of sun, 11° C.

Late this morning we headed to Mill Bay to buy a few items at Pharmasave and Thrifty Foods. On the way I stopped at Sweet Meadows Farm Market and bought some of their nice heirloom cherry tomatoes. As we left Sweet Meadows I saw a nearby sign for “firewood by donation”. I filled a small tote box with scraps for kindling. On the way back home I stopped at a “Little Free Library” box beside a bus stop and picked up a couple of books to read.

This afternoon while Joanne washed our bedding I processed yesterday’s photos, did some updating of investments data, and dealt with the changes made to our upcoming Harbour Air float plane flights from Nanaimo to Vancouver and back the same day.

In the evening I lit a fire in the fireplace and we watched yesterday’s episode of Saturday Night Live. And a few more episodes of the addictive Better Date Than Never.

Monday ; Mostly cloudy, a few minutes of light rain this afternoon as we were driving home from Duncan, +10° C.

After an early lunch we headed to Duncan to shop at Wal-Mart. While Joanne started the Wal-Martin’ I went to the nearby Telus store to check on something. HMPH !

On the way back home we stopped at the local dog park. Yes, yes, he did. I timed it. Eleven seconds after arrival ! HA HA HA ! You do you, Apollo. Good dog !

Tuesday ; Raining all day, +8° C.

Late this morning we headed out to run some errands. First stop was nearby Rona to buy some firelogs and kindling on their monthly seniors’ discount day. Then Country Grocer to replenish a few groceries, mostly advertised specials. And finally, Old Farm Market, to replenish fruits and vegetables.

This afternoon we watched, on and off, news about the tariffs drama. I hope that Canadian readers of my blog have realized that if you haven’t already done so, it’s time to overcome your apathy and appreciate that our country’s economy and sovereignty are threatened. Figure out what contribution you can make to resist / defend against that ... then do it ! ! ! ! !

Yes, yes ... it will require a teensy bit of commitment and effort !

Wednesday ; Cobble Hill to Victoria & return

WOO-HOO ... sunny ! Not a cloud in the sky ! +8° C. in Cobble Hill, +13° C. in Victoria. We left home this morning at 11 AM to head into Victoria. We returned home to Cobble Hill at 4 PM.

A few days ago I spent two hours on the phone with three different Telus agents trying to switch my phone service to a different plan. “No, no ... can’t be done !” So ... I went to a Telus store in Duncan. “No, no ... can’t be done !” So ... this morning before we left home I phoned the Telus store in the Bay Centre in Victoria to ask if they could sell me a new SIM card. The agent asked why I wanted a new SIM card. I explained what I was trying to do, and the only way I saw to achieve that was to cancel my Telus account, and start over as a new customer. “No, no ... no need to do that ... I can work around the constraints of the system, come in and ask for me, I can get done what you want in about fifteen minutes !” <blink blink> WTF, Telus ? ! ?

We drove to Victoria, I parked in the Bay Centre’s underground parkade, found the Telus store in the shopping centre, and the agent did what I wanted, took about twenty minutes, cost ten bucks less than I was expecting. <blink ... blink> Thank you very much Telus agent Thiek ! This is not the first time I have run up against “no, no ... can’t be done” cell phone drama ... UNTIL ... serendipitously finding the right nerd/geek/tech bro who says “sure ... I can do that !”

From Telus we left the Bay Centre and crossed the street to Lugaro Jewellers where I picked up my Rolex watch. I brought it to Lugaro Jewellers on December 3, two days after we arrived in Victoria, to have it overhauled / rebuilt. I bought my Rolex new in 1987, in Thunder Bay while I was there on a Canada Post project management assignment. I have had it serviced at a Rolex service centre every seven years or so since then, most often at Watch Hospital in Yuma, Arizona. But now, at 38 years of age, it was ready for a Rolex factory overhaul / rebuild. And a very fine job Lugaro Jewellers and the Rolex factory did ! Took a long time. And ... uhhhhh ... <whispering> ... cost an obscene amount of money. But ... <shrug>

As we left Lugaro Jewellers Joanne pointed out to me that Murchie’s Tea store was next door to Lugaro’s. She asked if I wanted to buy any of Murchie’s exquisite teas for myself. Well ... no ... BUT ... I would like to buy some as a gift for someone. AND ... lucky day ... today was Murchie’s monthly seniors’ discount day. Excellent !

We crossed the street back into the Bay Centre and went to Owly Café, the restaurant where Joanne wanted to have lunch. It was pretty good. We returned to the car in the parkade where Apollo was patiently (?) waiting for us to return. Two hours alone in the car in the parkade ... good dog, Apollo !

We drove out of downtown Victoria and headed west on the Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 into Langford. I refilled the minivan with fuel at Superstore’s Mobil fuel bar then we went into Superstore to buy something I needed to make tonight’s supper.

Coming out of Langford we headed north on the Malahat Highway heading back to Cobble Hill. But when we arrived at Cobble Hill, instead of turning right off the Malahat to return to Xanadu Estate, we turned left and headed to ... WOO-HOO ... the dog park. A treat for Apollo for being a good dog. He romped around briefly with three other dogs, but when a four month old puppy arrived, he found the puppy’s antics irritating. He’s a cranky old man. HEY ... I can relate, Apollo. Let’s head home ! HA HA HA !

A few weeks ago at the Duncan Farmers’ Market we bought a frozen package of beef pho made by a local restaurant. Tonight we had that to start supper, then I made a couple of Monte Cristo Melt sandwiches to follow the pho. Well done, Daniel !

DSK