It’s been a very mixed week. First the weather has been cool and rainy. Unseasonably cool and rainy. The garden is not growing very fast. We’ve gotten a good number of strawberries, enough to freeze a gallon so far, but the other crops are significantly behind where they should be. We need heat and sun, but it’s been more like March than June. Then we haven’t been sleeping well. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this before but Lantzville has been trying to evict Barbara again. We thought this was resolved last fall but a few weeks ago it came up again. This time Marsha went to City Hall and got all the public records for the property. Upon review we discovered that the problem wasn’t Lantzville. The inspection a few months ago turned up some significant issues and unfortunately the property owner hasn’t made any of the repairs or upgrades. The City has had no choice but to cite the property and issue the eviction notice. Worrying about where Barbara would end up has kept us from sleeping well the last few weeks.

Thursday morning was the nadir of the week. I got up at my usual time and worked out. I wasn’t really feeling that good, due to the combination of not sleeping well and wine with dinner.  Then I twisted my knee on the treadmill so I was limping for the rest of the morning. I hobbled upstairs to make breakfast, my normal hot cereal in the microwave. When it was ready I took it out but the bowl slipped out of my gloved hands and smashed on the stove spraying boiling cream of wheat on me, the stove, and the floor. I spent the next 20 minutes cleaning the kitchen. Most frustratingly, this had been my favourite cereal bowl. It was the blue “Big Bowl of Self Esteem” that I got from my friend Leslie a few years ago. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48889103129@N01/3395655932/ )  It was perfect because in addition to being a really cool thing to wake up to, it was a little larger than average so the cereal would rise to the top as it cooked but never overflow. I really liked that bowl, but it’s gone now.

Rats

Then I started to make breakfast again using the backup bowl. The one I used to use when the first one was dirty. I’ve made cereal in it dozens of times. For some reason though, after it was in the microwave for less than a minute and I heard a “Ping!”. The bowl had cracked cleanly in half and I spent the next five minutes cleaning the inside of the microwave.

Double Rats.

I gave up and settled for toast. At this point I was really looking forward to the drive into work. I figured that the way things were going the car would probably get hit…by a meteor.

You’ve probably heard about the concept of Karma. Well, on Thursday it was definitely true. Marsha had been looking for a new place for Barbara and she hit the jackpot. That evening Barbara, Mike, and Marsha went over to check it out. (I didn’t go because I figured I’d jinx the deal.) The place was wonderful. Light, open and airy with two whole walls of big windows overlooking the ocean. A newly remodelled kitchen, actually the whole place has been redone. It was great. A deal was agreed upon and Barbara is scheduled to move in at the beginning of August. We went back over on Friday to sign the paperwork and get some measurements. I was very impressed and Barbara and Marsha liked it even more than the first time.

Friday night we slept better than we have in weeks.

There was other good news this week. Wednesday we ran across a story from Nanoose, just a couple of miles north of here. Some guys were fishing when they noticed a commotion in the water. A pod of killer whales was closing in on a seal. The terrified creature was doing everything to stay away but they had it cut off and the situation looked pretty grim. Then the seal pulled a Capt. Kirk, and won by changing the rules of the game.  The seal jumped into the fishermen’s boat where the Orcas couldn’t get it. The fishermen gently motored to shore and the seal escaped to safety. Clever Girl.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/06/27/bc-video-orcas-chase-seal.html

Then Friday Marsha was walking back from downtown when she came across an iPod in the road. She picked it up and brought it home but that wasn’t the end of the story. We looked through the device, found the owner's name and after a little bit of work figured out where she lived. We got the iPod returned to the (rather grateful) owner AND we met another one of our neighbours. Cool!

This is Canada Day weekend. Three days (we get Monday off) of sun and camping and barbecue, and fireworks. Or at least it would be except that it’s raining again. You know all those jokes about miserable British summers? Well this year they seem to apply to our miserable British Columbia summer. So Marsha is catching the Twins on the Internet, and I’m writing and playing video games. (For those interested I’m playing Limbo, possibly the creepiest game I’ve ever played. I’m also writing a short story about an attempt to colonize Mars.) Let’s hope the rain stops and we can salvage at least one day of the weekend.

Doug & Marsha.

PIX: Geiger in his perch, Momiji enjoying the deck, We celebrated Canada Day weith Maple Leaf Pancakes with Canadian strawberries and Canadian Maple Syrop