Thursday ; Thin overcast, sun trying to peek through, +8° C, feels and smells like spring is coming, wildflowers coming up on the forest floor.
Late this morning, before having lunch, we took Apollo for his regular noon time walk in the woods then drove into Mill Bay to replenish groceries at Thrifty Foods.
In the afternoon I continued working on our income tax returns. As an old man I can afford to simply putter around with preparation of income tax returns for an hour (or less) per day. And I paid some bills. And I posted my blog entry.
Every second day for the three weeks we have been here our landlady advises us that the washer and dryer for guests will be repaired and functional “in two days”. Yeah ... NOT !
Friday ; Raining all day, +5° C during the day ... +7° C in the evening. That’s odd !
We went out late this morning to do some exploring. We drove north almost to Duncan, then turned west and followed scenic back roads to the village of Cowichan Station, then a bit beyond found our way to Cowichan Station Creamery to buy some fresh (today !) cheese curds. Joanne had found on their website that they make cheese curds every Friday morning. We had purchased some of their Shawnigan cheese at the Duncan Farmers’ Market a couple of weeks ago. Because ... their Shawnigan cheese is probiotic fortified.
Cowichan Station Creamery is a Mom & Pop owned and operated small dairy farm and cheese maker. At the Duncan Farmers’ Market we had been served by Pop. Today on the farm we were served by Mom. She and I chatted for quite awhile about their different cheeses, and the heavy emphasis she and her husband place on the complex science of dairy farming (and cow breeding) and cheese making. I was very impressed.
And ... HA HA HA ... I was impressed, intrigued, and amused that while she was serving and chatting with me, she kept one eye on the large screen closed circuit TV screen, which monitors a variety of strategically placed CCTV cameras around their farm and barns to allow them to monitor their cows at the same time as they work on other things. Their herd is small, and they are meticulous records keepers, in accordance with the “science” of their farming. They can identify which of their cows produced which batch of milk which was then processed into which “type” and batch of cheese.
“Want gouda produced from “Old Bessie’s” milk ? Here it is ! Her milk has always produced very fine gouda !” HA HA HA !
Want to see their live cow cams ? https://cowichancream.ca/live/
After buying squeaky fresh curds and other cheeses too good to resist ... we sampled all their cheeses ... we headed off to find lunch in the village of Glenora. It was a series of back roads through lovely farm and forest land, filled with small farms and large homes, to the village of Glenora where we found our way to Glenora Store & Café, a very small café serving superb home made food for lunch every day from noon to 2 PM. Another Mom & Pop business. Mom was in the kitchen, Pop was out front serving customers. This area seems to be filled with small home based businesses / artisinal businesses / hobby farms / side hustles / rich old hippy run businesses, etc. <sigh> <thinking> Too bad we’re not twenty years younger !
As I said, lunch was excellent ! We shared a bowl of extremely hot (as I requested) chicken noodle soup, a potato and vegetable samosa served with a side of apple chutney, a beef sausage roll, and a roast chicken (pieces, not slices) with Havarti cheese panini sandwich with sprouts / micro-greens and a flavourful mayonnaise based sauce of some sort. MMMMM ... yummy ! OH ... and a large hot chocolate with whipped cream on top.
From Glenora our GPS took us along the rising, fast running Cowichan River back to the highway, then home to Xanadu Estate. I guess the recent heavy snow fall, melted now, has all found its way downhill into the Cowichan River.
I cooked an egg and cheese (cottage and shredded) pie for supper tonight, the second time I have made this new recipe. MMMMM ... even better than the first time. Well done, Daniel. I lit a fire in the fireplace and we had another movie date, watching Downton Abbey : A New Era. It was great, we’ve been Downton Abbey fans for many years.
Oh, yeah ... and the curds are really good, although slightly different than the cheese curds from Bothwell Cheese in Manitoba. Or the cheese curds from the northern Okanagan region of BC. Or the cheese curds from Ottawa and Quebec. Cowichan Station’s curds are lighter in colour, more moist, milder flavour. Great for snacking on with crackers, probably not quite right for making poutine.
Oh, yeah ... again ... (poor memory) ... as we drove down back roads there were a lot of small farm fields filled with snow geese and (wild) white swans, neither of which we see back home in Manitoba.
Saturday ; Overcast, light drizzle, +7° C.
Another lazy day, mostly because of the weather. I worked on income taxes for awhile. I read a lot. Joanne did a lot of TV “research”. We have only streaming TV services here at Xanadu Estate, something we’re neither familiar with nor fond of. We took Apollo out for a couple of meandering walks around the grounds. Smells like spring in the forest here.
Once again, the “laundry repairs” scheduled completion deadline has passed ! ! ! ! ! It has now been out of order for at least the last twenty-three days ! We are out of clean socks and underwear. Looks like it will be another laundry day in Duncan tomorrow. We will be expressing our displeasure with this issue and others (such as the icy driveway for two weeks) with our wallets. We WON’T be back here next year !
Sunday ; Heavy rain starting around noon, +8° C.
When I took Apollo out this morning around 8:30 AM, the dryer was still not functional. So ... as I walked him around noon, Joanne was loading our laundry into the car, preparing to go to the laundromat in Duncan. As I was returning from walking Apollo she was sitting in the car, engine running, as she was setting the GPS for directions to the laundromat. I peeked into the laundry room attached to the garage, and ... <sputter> ... the dryer was finally fixed ! I stopped Joanne just as she was driving away !
So, with only one washer and dryer here, she spent from noon until 6 PM doing our large load of soiled laundry. At least she didn’t have to drive to Duncan and back, and sit around in the laundromat.
I spent the afternoon working on our income tax returns and reconciling our large January MasterCard statement. And paying it. And ... well ... you know ... <whispering> ... napping ! HA HA HA !
And listening to ... and fuming about ... CBC’s Cross Country Checkup show about what both Canadians and Americans think about the “51st state” bullshit ! Do better, CBC !
Monday ; Rain, +6° C.
SLAVA UKRAINI
We got a late start ... around noon ... on running errands in Duncan. I dropped Joanne off at Dollar Tree, went to Superstore’s Mobil fuel bar, refilled the minivan with fuel, and returned to Dollar Tree to pick up Joanne. Then we replenished groceries at Superstore. We arrived back at home for a very late lunch at 2:30 PM.
In the evening we had another movie date, watching The Grand Budapest Hotel. Captivating, very quirky, a bit difficult to follow, very amusing.
Tuesday ; Mostly cloudy, sun peeking through occasionally, +10° C.
Late this morning we went out to run some errands. After lunch Joanne went out again, by herself, to run some errands in Duncan.
This morning we drove to Country Grocer and did some shopping, mostly to check out and buy some advertised items. Then to Old Farm Market to replenish fruits and vegetables. On the way back home we made a stop at the dog park. Yes, yes ... he did ! Twice in about two minutes, then he was ready to go home. <shrug> Good dog, Apollo ... I guess.
After lunch Apollo and I went to nap and Joanne drove into Duncan to shop at Dollarama and Wal-Mart. While she was gone our landlady came over to discuss an issue, and to visit and chat. She has difficulty remembering Apollo’s name and persists in calling him Pluto, so ... <snicker> ... I have also begun addressing him as Pluto. I should stop ! Every time I call him Pluto he looks over his shoulder to see who am I talking to ? HA HA HA ! Much like us ... he might be old but he ain’t stupid !
This evening we watched the English language debate of the Liberal leadership candidates. Although I concede that Mark Carney will likely win the leadership, I’m still a huge fan of Chrystia Freeland. They are personal friends before political rivals and I suspect there may already have been a backroom deal made for Freeland to become Carney’s “second in command”. As she was for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
We bought some tomatilloes (tomaTEEyos) at Country Grocer today. Joanne made chicken chile verde (CHILLay VAIRday) for supper tonight, one of my favourite Mexican recipes. Just before supper was ready I lit a firelog in the fireplace and we spent an evening in front of the fire.
Wednesday ; Mix of mostly cloudy, brief periods of sunshine, +10° C.
We spent the day exploring. We left home before noon, and returned at 6 PM as it became dusk. We made a large “loop” route with Shawnigan Lake being the primary destination.
We found our way to the village of Shawnigan Lake where Joanne had chosen a Nepalese restaurant for lunch. Because ... we had never eaten Nepalese food before. When we arrived at the village and found the restaurant we decided we weren’t quite ready for lunch yet, so we explored the lakeshore drive along the east side of Shawnigan Lake. WOW ... pretty nice ! Very pricey looking real estate ! ! ! One of the things we found on the eastern side of the lake was a private boarding school, offering grades 4 through 12, for very rich families’ children, both domestic and international. Costs for Canadian students, for tuition, room and board, is well in excess of $80,000 per year ! For international / foreign students ... <sputter> ... well in excess of $120,000 per year ! <blink blink>
We returned to Shawnigan Lake village and had lunch at Momoville Restaurant, a very small Mom & Pop Nepalese restaurant, with seating for a total of fourteen people. Pop was out front, Mom was in the kitchen. Very interesting, good food ! Pop was friendly and interesting to chat with. We were the only customers.
After lunch we drove to the Kinsol Trestle trailhead, parked, and hiked about 1.25 km. / 0.75 mile to the trestle, now part of the Cowichan Valley (hiking) Trail, but built over a century ago for trains to cross the Koksilah River. See / click on the following link ; Kinsol_Fact_Sheet_Final.
The 2.5 km. / 1.5 mile round trip hike left Joanne and I tired, but it left 13 year old Apollo exhausted ! All he did for the rest of the day was snooze, awaiting bedtime. HA HA HA ... poor little old guy ! By the way, on a hike that long, probably the longest hike we’ve been on with him since getting him nine months ago ... <whispering> ... he defecated three times ! HA HA HA ... a “hat trick” ... a three shit hike !
From the Kinsol Trestle we drove along the west side of Shawnigan Lake, then back to the Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 / the Malahat Highway at the Malahat Summit, then turned north heading back towards home at Xanadu Estate. On the way back home we explored Spectacle Creek Provincial Park and Bamberton Provincial Park.
I asked Joanne why we were exploring these two provincial parks when our camping days are clearly behind us ? <shrug> Old habits die hard !
DSK
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