Lotta Stuff Done in a Little Time Frame

Today was the planned day to come home from the cabin for an overnight so that I could do laundry, replenish supplies, check my mail and otherwise get things done around here that shouldn’t be left for two solid weeks.

At around 10 this morning I started to shutter up the cabin.  A few years ago my brother changed most of our cabin’s window shutters from screws to lag bolts and holy smokes that sure sped up the closing up process.  Yes, I know I am only up for an overnight, but people have broken in with less time available – so we don’t take chances.  As I was putting up the shutter on the storage room, my cousin Ruth let out a huge yell:

“ERIN – WHALES – OVER THERE – LOOK!!!”

Just off the cabins there were two large pods of Orca (Killer Whales) headed north in the channel. Close to shore,  we could see them playing as they travelled – and we could count them – the first pod had four or five in it and the second had eleven – some of which were young and therefore smaller than the adults.

What an amazing treat to have today!  While we were watching, the skies even cleared and the sun started to shine overhead.

GORGEOUS!

Ok… back to work.

Since Sis & Al (Sis is what we all call Ruth) were over near my cabin, they very kindly helped me to carry my boat down to the water – saving me some time and effort in the process.  That done, I continued to shutter up the cabin, and then carted my stuff to the boat, loaded it all up and headed across.

Once over on the “other side” I hauled the boat up the shore and locked it up and then loaded Jasmine and my stuff into the car and headed home.

Here, my tasks became orderly and planned.

1.      Shower

2.      Bath for Jasmine

3.      Laundry

4.      Mow the lawn

5.      Water the outside plants

6.      Costco

7.     Laundry - Part II

8.      Pet store

9.      Grocery store

10.  Laundry, The Final Chapter

That summed up today's chores.

Tomorrow I need to fill the water buckets, load the cooler, load the car, and then head back to the cabin.  I do need to make yet another stop at the grocery store – I forgot Kleenex – and a quick stop at the liquor store for more cider, but other than that, my up town adventure is done.

Just after I finished Jasmine’s bath and was starting to mow the lawn, Rob (my brother) arrived with a friend of his to dismantle and remove his bed from my spare room.  They also took Rob’s kitchen table, which I had (very gratefully) used as a study table when I was going to school full time just after I got back from Jersey, and a couple of his kitchen chairs which I had in my storage locker.

Challenge: My spare room no longer has a bed in it.  So now I get to investigate new bedroom furniture (or perhaps second-hand if I can find something attractive and relatively inexpensive) so that I have a spare available for company. I’m not expecting any company any time soon – maybe December? And so have plenty of time to plan and execute where this is concerned. Ooh – this means I can look at furniture with specifics of Feng Shui in mind!  Cool!

No pictures to upload tonight – I took a bunch of last night’s sunset, but the camera is still in the cabin and so they will have to wait until tomorrow or Sunday to be uploaded to a post.

With love across the waters,

Decisions, Decisions - But While on Vacation?

Vacation usually means that the most difficult decision I have to make is whether or not it is time to add more sunscreen.  The answer to this question, for me, is always yes.  If I am thinking I may need more then yes, I probably needed more an hour or so ago.

Yesterday I wrestled with what second hand books to buy. Buckshot Books, just in Errington / Qualicum area, is a WONDERFUL book shop, and the owner / operator (Carol) knows her stuff!  I found 8 or 9 books to add to the vacation reading selection and am now good to go for another week at least.  I also found the COOLEST Sesame Street mug - Super Grover! It is over in the car right now, but when I get it home & washed out it will become my new coffee mug.  God knows, mornings ARE a job for Super Grover!

Home (to the cabin) again, booty unpacked (and by booty I refer to loot, not prominent hind quarters *grin*) I sat down to continue reading my current book - The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest.  Damn, SUCH a good read and a crying shame Stieg Larsson died!  Anyhow, some reading and a nap later (yes, vacation also equals napping) I found myself out of the sun and wind for a little while and planning out “what next”

My what-next decisions right now surround the ever-present question of my current state of under-employment, whether or not I need to make any additional re-arrangements of furniture (Feng Shui wise) and, on a more relevant to vacation platform, what time I need to head up to Comox on Friday in order to best optimise my time there as well as the chores I will need to accomplish in the 24 hours I will be home for.

Under the “Under Employed” category, I’m still wrestling with whether or not I might be best served by leaving my current employer.  I’m happy with the company, but the region in which I currently live is notoriously tight for full time work, and the branch itself doesn’t appear to be a best-fit for me after all.  I’m applying for full time positions, both internally and externally, but what being on vacation has allowed me to contemplate is my happiness levels… and right now, in the role I am currently doing, my happiness levels aren’t high.

Right.  Look for new work.  New Employer and full time job is the Feng Shui focus as of today.

Ok, decision made.

Heading home on Friday isn’t really a tough decision.  I’ll go up at high tide Friday afternoon and come back down on the high tide on Saturday.  That will allow me a little more than 24 hours to do laundry, mow the lawn & water my plants as well as get some groceries and perhaps cope with some paperwork once the real chores are complete. I may even tidy the house and vacuum - but I don’t want to over-do it!

With love across the waters, 

Vacation Pictures

Ok, here are some initial pictures from this year's vacation - part 1.  :-)

With love across the waters,

Jasmine soaking up some sun

Add captio

"PLEASE quit bugging me!"

Boylan's Cabin

The view from the kitchen window

New blackberry growth

Pretty weeds

Grasses on the Big Bluff

More Grasses on the Big Bluff

Plants Amongst the Rocks

Munching Grass

Yellow Wild Flowers

Painted Shells in Someone's Playhouse

Playhouse

Mrs. Baird's Cabin

Do I Look Fierce? 

I May Frame This One...

Feather... Canada Goose or Eagle? Not Certain. Probably Goose

Happy Pooch

Exploration

May Frame This One Too...

Pretty Purple Weeds...

… And The Sun Also Rises

Hee hee hee.

Ok, I have wanted to use that as a title for a while and, believe me, no disrespect is meant to the initial author who penned it.

Generally speaking, when you have a dog, sunrise isn’t actually much of a consideration.  Jasmine wakes me up when she wants to, not when I actually want to be awake.  This morning, thankfully, it wasn’t awake at sunrise (which was at 5:13 AM) but I was awake a little earlier than I would have liked to be.  

The great thing about the cabin, AND this time of year down here, is that it’s OK for me to open the back door and let her wander around at will and I can go back to the half-doze of sleep that early morning seems to find me in.

She, having had a damn good wander around, located herself yet another ikky dead thing (bone from long-deceased seal, if you are interested) and brought it back to the cabin where she lay down on the ground just outside the back door and proceeded to chew on it.  Me, being in the dopey sleep-state I was in, promptly started to dream that she’d found a golf club and was chewing on it.  This was taking place in one of the locations I have recently been walking her.

I’m sure there’s some Freudian meaning to that somewhere!

I struggled out from under the “ignore it and hope it goes away” state that early morning sees in me and dragged myself from my warm cocoon of blankets to confiscate the bone from her and throw it into the trash. If she found another one after that she (wisely) didn’t bring it back to the cabin to chew on.

Later, awake, I sat in the sunshine (yes, wearing a good layer of my SPF-50 sunscreen) and started to make a dent in my plan to catch up on reading.  I have managed to avoid sunburn and am now inside, long sleeves and pant-legs removing the risk.  Exhausted by heat, new scents, sunshine and general life, she’s now fast asleep on her bed on the cabin’s kitchen floor. 

This is, after all, the way vacations are meant to be!

With love across the waters, 

The Sun Sets

The first night down at the cabin after being away is always a real treat for me. Once in and set up, the afternoon is usually spent puttering or maybe reading (this is how I spent most of my afternoon) and the first night’s sunset is the capper to a great day.

This is probably my first time down here in June in YEARS and this year I managed to coincide my vacation to have me at the cabin for the longest days of the year. Well, almost. I have to head back home for a re-start to work on the 20^th of June, but the real treat for me will be the extra long days to rest and relax.

It’s about quarter past 9 now and the skies are fading to pinks - the kind you get when there’s been some cloud cover. I’m sitting in the kitchen and looking out over the island - tide high and still coming in a little more - and giving thanks for the wonderful place my heart calls home.

With love across the waters,