It's a sunny, cold day at the farmette. Minus six degrees, but going up to plus five!!! The grass here in Grey County has yet to turn green. Unlike Vancouver Island, where it's getting positively lush, and where we spent last weekend.
Hard to believe we were 3,500 kilometres away from home. Incredible that we could get there in one day and back here in one day, with an extended weekend in between. This is us (Dana, me, Jane, Rob) at Gary's, a restaurant in Qualicum Beach where we were looking sufficiently sated after feasting on eggs benedict. Yum.
It was short, but so blissful. We had not seen Jane and Dana in person for five years, thanks to the pandemic, so the reunion was sweet.
The trip out was a bit rough. Air Canada delayed our flight four times, which meant we were 2 hours late. (This is what we looked like prior to boarding). Which meant re-scheduling the ferry from Vancouver and actually arriving at about 8:30 p.m.
Thankfully, Dana had already made a gorgeous French onion soup, Jane made a lovely salad and we had crusty bread for a very late dinner. Which we heartily appreciated.
We were also excited to see the doggoes again. Sophie (r) and Jordy (below) are truly lovely animals. Sophie's the new addition since the last time.
She's a bit skittish and barks when she thinks she's threatened, but got used to us after a while. Jane puts "snoods" on their heads at feeding time to keep the long spaniel ears out of breakfast and dinner. How scrumptiously cute are they?
We went to a few different places on the island for walks. While it was not warm, by any stretch, there was not even a hint of the white stuff, and actually quite a bit of blossoming, which I had to capture with my trusty iPhone. Here are some highlights:
In their own front yard in Parksville, the Stills have heather blossoming. The entire property has been re-landscaped since we visited last time, and it's gorgeous, including a lovely water feature and a unique piece of art that spins and twists in the wind.
The Parksville Community Park is great for a stroll along the beach boardwalk, the mountains as a backdrop and inventive artists who create their works for all to see.
Dana frequently shops at a farm market just outside Parksville that has fresh fruit and veggies and locally grown and made meat products, jams, jellies and sauces.
Here's Rob with his best "man about town" pose.
Jane and I trekked through the Englishman's River Falls Provincial Park and took in the VERY fresh (!) air.
Evenings were spent playing rousing games of euchre (which we hadn't done in ages). The ladies prevailed despite some nefarious cheating on the part of the lads (hahahahaha).
So that's it. While we love our little farmette, it was a joy to get away for a bit and visit with dear friends. Until next week.
Gratuitous cat photo courtesy of Fred, who, along with the rest of the feline family was well cared for during our sojourn thanks to the loving attention of Kelli Kinsman, our stalwart pet sitter.
