March 30

Just noticed we forgot to include our supper stop after our day hiking at East Sooke Park. Guess where we went? A pub! This time is was the Seventeen Mile Pub near Sooke. My liver is starting to hope that John doesn't know any more "Mile" pubs

This old guy was telling us how bad Alberta drivers are....hhmmm

Beautiful dog patiently awaiting his owner

March 30

Started the day with Dave doing a bike ride and me and Margaret going for a walk. It is a beautiful day with a high of 17C. In the afternoon John took us over to his friends place, Lynn and Eryl. They are a lovely English couple who make their own beer and wine and also happen to be the most amazing gardeners ever. They have both worked their whole lives working with plants and landscaping and Eryl has been a major force in the beauty that is Finnerty Garden at the University of Victoria. If you ever get the chance go see it...amazing. She was kind enough to walk us through their backyard and show us her early spring garden.

Love the bench and the art...so inviting

The closer you look the more amazing the variety of color and textures is.

Love the numerous hidden characters scattered throughout

Some of the relatively few flowers. Such diversity.

Camouflaged...can you find me?

I know all these pictures might be boring for our friends in the south but for all my fellow gardeners in Alberta this is amazing stuff for March. So jealous!

After the tour we went in for some home made beer and wine and a great visit. Delicious and so interesting to hear of all the travels they have had. Our next stop was John's place to make spaghetti and a salad for supper. Patty joined us and we had a nice visit.

March 31

Got up this morning and it was nice but a bit cool so we knocked out a blog. After that we took Margaret for a long walk. Dave's ankle is starting to feel normal so all the walks and rides are paying off. We met up with John and then headed over to Patty's to help her set up for Easter dinner on Sunday. Then we were off to the Canoe Club to meet up with Nathan, Patty's son, Shannon and Dan and Shannon's friend, Brittany. We had a great supper and a nice walk to the Arena for another Victoria Royals playoff game. Unfortunately the Royals lost but we all had a great time.

John, Patty, Dan, Dave, me, Shannon and Brittany

April 1

Happy Easter!! 

A fairly nice day so Dave headed out for a bike ride while Margaret and I did another walk. After some chores I headed out for groceries as I promised to bring a second dessert for supper at Patty's place. I found a lovely assortment of cakes and a tub of Chapman's Blackjack Cherry frozen yogurt. If you have never tried it, it is AMAZING! Hope everyone likes it. We arrived at Patty's around 4 pm and were introduced to some of her family. We had great appetizers, wine and conversation while supper was cooking. Patty is an amazing cook and it was smelling fantastic! Turkey, ham and all the trimmings. Yum!!

John, Patty, Corrine, Sage, Gavin, Duncan, Olivia, Doug and me

Unfortunately Shannon wasn't feeling well so her and Dan were unable to come. We had a great time. Thanks Patty for your hospitality. We really enjoyed it.

April 2

Another nice day so Dave and I decided to do a bike ride together. Of course Margaret gets to come too.

She LOVES being with us...even on a bike ride.

In the afternoon we took care of some chores until John came over. We had a nice visit and supper in the trailer and a nice, quiet evening.

April 3

Our usual walk and bike ride in the morning. I went to do some laundry and Dave was working out side when he heard the CO alarm go off in the trailer. When he checked it out everything looked fine. A little while later we noticed smoke coming from our fireplace. We turned off the breaker, pulled the unit out and discovered this!

Needless to say we are very glad this happened while we were home and not sleeping as it could have ended very badly. Dave  disconnected and removed the damaged wires and reconnected the power to the heater only. We have heat from the fireplace but not the "look" of flame as those wires were toast, literally. We don't leave the fireplace on when we aren't here anymore.

So after that little scare it was time to head over to John's place for supper. He made a big batch of slow cooker split pea and ham soup from the leftover ham at Patty's Easter dinner. We have tickets for Game 7 of the Royals vs Giants hockey series for tonight!!! Shannon unfortunately isn't feeling well tonight so we'll be giving Dan a ride home tonight. He's pretty close on our way home. Poor Shannon, she would have enjoyed the game.

Royals win!!! 4 - 3 on to the next round

It's been fun going to these games but we move to Sydney tomorrow and up Island before they come back for another game. This is more hockey than we have been to in years. Retirement is fun sometimes :)