Week 8 - A Time of Change

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the beautiful fall weather we had been enjoying, maybe I jinxed it or than again it is mid October. While some of you get to marvel at the brilliant reds and muted golds of changing leaves, our signal of seasons passing is the onslaught of rain. I'm sorry to see the warm sunny days fade into just memories but having lived in B.C now for a total of 11 years ( we took a break of 3 years to sail south ) we're pretty use to it.

I haven't done a really good beach walk and Saturday graced us with still yet another day of clear blues skies, a perfect day to wonder along the shoreline.

With camera slung around my neck, I head out down the boardwalk and who do I find taking a stroll himself...Sam.

Every season there is someone new making our bay as their base. This year a gaggle of Canadian geese have taken up residence. After the lonely cry of the single loon who comes around, the honking of geese ranks right up there with the calls of nature I love to hear so I am quite pleased that they have joined us.

What has surprised me the most about our beach is the amount of stuff or lack of, that washes ashore here. Before our arrival, the first year, I was anticipating unearthing all sorts of flotsam and jetsam that the currents would direct our way but the opposite has been true. Each year I find less and less. Now less garbage is good of course but the variety of shells or shells at all have been dwindling along with interesting bits of wood. I know it's quite early in the season but on this walk I came back empty handed. The motionless bay caught the attention of my lens instead.

What a treat I was given as this fellow performed an underwater acrobat performance. Soaring through the water at amazing speeds, doing rolls as he went, he'd dive under the dock, keeping me guessing where he'd pop up.

They must have a sixth sense. I quietly opened the patio door from the upper deck of the lodge and slipped out to stand behind one of the posts but the moment I stepped out they took flight.

So that was the gorgeous day on Saturday, this is Sunday......and Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. Oh what a difference a day makes.

Birds of a feather flock together...especially when the wind is howling and the rain is coming down in sheets.

Wednesday 3pm – This is what you call “waterfront property”

Gloomy wet weather hasn't dampened my spirits this week mainly because I've been so busy. After mentioning my apple crisp experiment last week I received some tried and true methods from my uncle Dolan on how to use up all the apples we still have but won't last much longer. Setting Mike up in his favourite chair armed with a knife and an afternoon movie, we peeled apples and a small case of pears that were beginning to be past their prime.

A portion of sliced apples will be vac packed for pies or crisps to be enjoyed in the middle of winter when I know our 'fresh' supplies will be a thing of the past, some will be made into pies to be frozen before baking and a mix of pears and apples will make an interesting apple-pear sauce.

Something I haven't made in years is apple jelly and with a mound of peelings that would otherwise be a wonderful treat for Sammy I scoop them up into a pot and look to the internet to refresh me on how to exactly make it. Actually super simple.

Looks like there's a new girl in town. Once or twice we've seen her from afar but maybe after seeing the 3 amigos hanging out at the back door she's become curious.

Till next week,

Heather & Mike

Week 7 - Blue Skies Nothing But Blue Skies

I haven't paid much attention to what the weather has been like in other parts of the country because it's just been so darn nice here. Day after day we're been rewarded with cloudless skies in varying shades of blue.

 

We had a visitor this week....almost. Not hearing exactly what Mike was saying as he rushed into the lodge, just the tone of his voice told me something was up. “A plane is landing!” is what I finally caught and in unison we both head to the bedroom to put on our 'company clothes'. We've learned from past experience that it takes a while for touch down to happen and than to taxi up to the heli pad so there isn't the mad rush anymore. We're still in the lodge watching from the deck as the floats make contact and slice through the water. I snap a picture before heading down and Mike is on the radio trying to make contact.

By the time I get down to the docks his engines are in full throttle, water spews into the air and before we know it the small plane is airborne.

This scenario played out last year .... I wonder why he stops here?

I love the vacuum packers that they have here. You might have one at home as I do but the commercial variety just can't be beat. The job of taking care of all the perishables is done and now it's on to the freezers. Most of it is just emptying the cases and planning on what goes where. The only case that will involve some work is the 20kg of chicken wings. Two separate bags each a solid block needs to be thawed, three quarters baked, cooled, portioned into bags, vacuumed sealed than back down to the freezers. Might be work now but makes for a quick Friday night dinner.

This is half of the case. Whole case - 480 wings!

Barbecue, lemon pepper, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, honey mustard or sweet chili are my regular mix-ins. There's never a set menu, I just wing it.

I am looking for some new tastes...got any saucy suggestions?

Those are apple crisp in the casserole dishes. With lots of apples on hand I thought I'd try baking them, than freeze, cut into portions, vacuum pack and toss into the frozen 'dessert' section. It's an experiment, let you know how it goes.

An opened bag of munchies need not be eaten entirely so as it doesn't go stale, I just vac pack it.

This is Al - hasn't he become much bolder this year. I must say it's rather startling to suddenly look up and a deer is standing not 3 feet away.

Mike spotted this unique pattern on his daily morning walk down to the docks and before he messed it up came and got me and my camera.

A raccoon we suspect.

Human, I suspect. Mike, I hope.

I have been hearing these rascals chattering away for 2 seasons now and it was only this week that one actually stayed put long enough for me to take his picture. Maybe he's getting use to seeing me.

I started out telling you just how lovely it has been this week so I'll end with a couple more “make you stop for a moment” pictures.

Till next week,

Heather & Mike

Weeks 4,5,6 - Kitchen Duty

The days rush by with a multitude of jobs to take care of, as is the norm at the beginning of each season. The most pressing is to use up as much of the produce in the walk-in as we can before it turns into treats for the 3 amigos, Norm, Al and Sammy.

With cases of tomatoes, celery, peppers, mushrooms and zucchini I make an army size batch of spaghetti sauce thick with veggies. Simmered for the best part of the afternoon I end up with 18 containers to freeze - enough to last us through the entire year.

 

A bucket of ONIONS ( Mike HATES onions) is a main ingredient for a barbecue sauce recipe that has been in my family since 1966. The 4L jar plus might seem a lot for one person but I find myself dipping out a cup or more to smother a slice of meat loaf, simmer with chucks of chicken, spoon over a bed of rice or sauce up an omelet.

 

My yearly repertoire of favorite dishes are made in quantity and stored in the 'quick meals' section. Stuffed peppers, spicy chili, turkey noodle, minestrone and beef barley soup, cabbage rolls and manicotti have used up most of the remaining produce.

Finding a restaurant size container of sour cream gets the wheels turning as to how to use it up. Walnut Sour Cream Coffee Cake, New York Style Cheesecake, Garlic Cheese Bread, Vegetable Dip, Blueberry Scones and a rich Chocolate Cake. No....we haven't been eating non-stop, most of these delectable goodies now reside in the 'frozen dessert' section of my grocery store.

It doesn't matter what's on the “to do” list for the day, when the sun comes out so do we. Warm, sunny and not ripple to be seen in the bay the water beckons us to jump into the kayak for some exploring.

After several trips out this season (each in our own boat) thanks to the awesome fall weather we've enjoyed, we decided to give the two-man kayak a try. I really couldn't turn around so I just held the camera above my head and clicked - not too bad.

 

Sea lions are a common sight throughout the summer but this is the first we have ever seen the bay.

 

Must have stayed around for the late season fishing.

Don't blame Mike and I for creating this very friendly fellow, sure he was coming to the back door at the kitchen before we left but now he can be found standing outside the kitchen window, with his nose almost pressed against the glass - Jordan were you giving him treats through the open window? As you can see he is totally comfortable strolling everywhere.

How can one resist such a face.

                                                     “That was a tasty snack”

Along with the halibut that was given to us there was also several smaller salmon which the crew left to add to the 'fish' section of the freezers.

Even though it's been at least 10 days since the barge was here we are still working on getting the water all the way up to the lodge. A rack consisting of 40 18.5L (5 gals) bottles isn't heavy when wheeled one by one but when you think of it as 800 gallons, which we will consume all of, it puts a different spin on the quantity.

Experiencing a -16C cold snap last year and losing 8 bottles due to freezing and splitting open we have decided to move all the bottles into the “dry room” which is located just off the living room and can be accessed from inside or out. Will be very handy when a new bottle is needed for the water cooler and the rains are torrential.

Ingram as she is know throughout the summer and Princess for the rest of the year is still as aloof, demanding and affectionate as always.

For those who don't follow the Outpost blog on the WCFC site during the summer will be sad to hear that Brock (Big Fat Cat) is no longer with us.

Nobody knows for sure where she went, just that one morning she was no longer around. Mike and I miss watching her wattle down the boardwalk to her favoured  spot by the bucket of the backhoe where she would watch the world go by. I think Princess feels the loss also for one day we found her sitting on top of the backhoe.

Till next week,

Heather & Mike