May Long Weekend Joy!

I am in the final throes of a long long-weekend (today being the last day of six off) and will spend the day in pursuit of clean laundry, a long dog walk, groceries and some catching-up on various mini-projects around the house.

Wednesday (the 18^th of May) after work I headed down to the cabin for my first weekend of the year.  It was GLORIOUS! Off work at 5 PM, I blasted home, loaded the cooler, changed, put the dog and cooler into the car and headed down the highway.  The ride was bright and sunny and the roads were clear & free of delays.

Into Nanaimo, I stopped at my brother’s place and picked up the oars and then headed straight for the beach.  7:25 on the dot was when we arrived and I was over, shutters off and into the cabin before 8:30 PM that night – so well before sundown!

The next morning was when the fun started.  Before 8:00 Thursday morning I had confiscated 3 or 4 ikky dead things from her – bits of fish and parts of a Canada goose that had died and started to fall apart on the beach as it rotted.

YUK!

This in mind, and once I had my coffee, I decided that a walk about was in order – partly to get her away from the ikkies on my beach and partly to scope out any OTHER ikkies that may be “brought home” over the course of our 5 days down. So we wandered freely around the cabins and up the bluff for a look-see of the flowers and sunshine.

Jasmine in the Camas Lilies

Camas Lilies up close

A patch of Buttercups

And even some Daisies!

Growth on the Gary Oak trees

Springtime!

 Family started arriving at their various cabins later that evening and the first official cabin-long-weekend got under way.

Aside from being on “dead thing” watch (the total included parts of about six dead and dried out fish, dead seal bones, a dead and VERY gross Canada Goose and one mostly rotted out Canada Goose chick) I was able to finally catch up on some long missed reading.  I finished four books this weekend!  To be fair, two of them had been started, but two others hadn’t yet been cracked – time to hit the second hand bookshop and find new reading material!

Jasmine and I headed home yesterday.  I had planned not to come home until today, but I miscalculated with her food and ran out of the last little bit of it yesterday morning and so opted to come home and start the “clean-up” process yesterday.  Clean up started with Jasmine having a bath – she had been in swimming a few times and was a very salty pooch.  Next was me into the shower and after that started the laundry. 

My Salty Dog!

The last load is in the washer right now and I’m just about ready to take Jasmine out for a long walk in the bush and then do some grocery shopping.

With love across the waters,

An Afternoon at Piper's Lagoon Park

Yesterday was a gorgeous day here on Vancouver Island and, with the convenience of a low tide in the middle of the day in mind, I decided to take Jasmine to Lagoon.

Some history... my grandparents built our cabin in the 1940's when he came home from overseas (WWII.) My Dad grew up spending his summer vacations down there, and so did my brother and I. Now that we're adults, we spend as much time there as possible - but, of course, work *does* get in the way of being able to spend ALL summer at the cabin.

Jasmine had, until yesterday, not yet been introduced to either the cabin or rowboats. Since my brother and his girlfriend were down for the night, I thought it would be a great opportunity to bring her down and, with assistance, introduce her to the whole experience.

Since the tide was out we walked across.

Mental note - the oyster shells are almost too numerous to manage. With one cut foot pad (Jasmine's, not mine) I need to look into doggie gumboots. I wonder if Bosley's carries those??

Anyhow, we slowly made our way across and, upon arriving at the cabins, I noted that my cousin was down and in his cabin - so we went to sit on the beach and visit for a while. Jasmine, released from her leash, proceeded to explore the beach and surrounding area at will.

Jasmine and I also went up onto the big bluff to explore the camas lilies that were blossoming, and have a quick wander around and snoop. The more interesting stuff she's exposed to the better her socialization is, and so I am working to expose her to as much new stuff as possible.







Over at our cabin, later on, we had a wander around & I got some interesting shots of logs and flora...





And, of course, Herself...





After loading her in, and seeing how she would be with him... My brother took us back across in the rowboat.



I guess all of the new sights and smells and running around did her in completely. I got her into the car, and within seconds she was asleep in her dog hammock. Home safe & sound, she ate her dinner and was then down for the count - I don't think I have ever seen her quite that tired and am looking forward to taking her back down to the lagoon next weekend for a couple of nights.

Have a wonderful week!