Manda and Cherie both took advantage of Wellingtons from the deck chest and this was to prove significant later in the day on more than one ocassion. The weather had brightened and although dewey we enjoyed a trip around the place; leaves, trails, gnomes, workshop; greenhouse, firepit, hot tub, big momma...
..the Bougar (supposed to be a carving of a cougar but is definately more bear), and the woodshed where we spent a while reflecting on a remembering our brother Mark. While in Tralee for his funeral I spotted a registration plate with his name on it and bought it not knowing at the time what I would do with it. It is now attached to the woodshed which is in a peaceful but busy part of the garden and coming and going from that place I often pause to chat.
Our day going forward included the local area around Mission. We are surrounded by beautiful mountains, forests and lakes so no shortage of scenery to take in. We headed out past the Golf Club and climbed up to Hayward Lake. Climbed as in the car climbed while we sat in it! About 5 miles later we crossed the Hayward Dam and parked at the Lake. This is where Chas swam most days during the Summer and me with him...A lovely lake with a 17 kilometre circular trail. We visited the dog beach and paused on the way back for Cherie to pose as a cover girl for Littlewoods. Little woods because I noticed a little wood and things catapulted from there.
The day continued to be bright despite the forecast for rain the previous week; this trend continued for most of the week to come and in October in BC that is close to miraculous (Moriarty intererence methinks!). We then drove down to the lower dam at Ruskin and another favourite walk. Allouette, Stave, Hayward and Ruskin River are lake steps each seperated by dams down to the Fraser River. Our hope was that we would see dozens of bald Eagles in the trees and feeding off the Coho Salmon in the Ruskin River as they headed back to their spawning grounds. What we saw were hundreds of Salmon but no Eagles. By all accounts the salmon feeding in Northern BC and Alaska was still good and kept the birds in those areas. One unforgettable experience though is the smell of dead Salmon. hard to describe so I won't try. Ask Manda or Cherie. A bald eagle was to appear later in the week.
Wellington boot catastophes one and two came together while Manda and Cherie were wading through a short water crossing. Holes sucking in lots of lovely water. Cherie demonstrates the gravity of this event.
On the way back from Ruskin and on the back road we meandered through to a natural spring and hauled our water containers out of the trunk (boot). Our well water at home is fine to drink but natural mountain spring water is something else. Better even than Peckham Spring water Del Boy!
Home again and getting the wellies off Manda required surgery and sacrifice. Scissors and side splits required for removal.
After that we were preparing dinner and awaiting the arrival of Paula and Dave, Kim's sister and her husband. Home made Merlot greased the chuckle muscles along with Molson Canadian Lager and Little Rock Cider. The barbecue was again called into action this time for Fresh Sockeye Salmon cooked in a special Soy sauce and on water soaked cedar boards. The taste of wood smoked and cooked Salmon is awesome. Tarragon Chicken was the second main and the meal was accompanied by a dish similar to cous cous but the name escapes me, plain rice and roasted peppers and vegetables completed the table. We had proscuitto bake appetisers and a berry pie desert kindly provided by Paula. It was a fantastic evening; an evening of reconnecting and new connections all strengthening the family ties from both sides of the pond. We generally find as do most in our family that we migrate to the kitchen to chat and chunter. Our Island hosts many such gatherings.
So another day done and minds starting to think ahead to our trip into Vancouver tomorrow. Would the weather hold? Vancouver when the sun is shining and the skies are clear is a spectacular city. We'll see.......
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