Water therapy

Another beautiful day to swim at the lake! Suzanne and I had Sasamat all to ourselves! We went across the lake and back - about a kilometre. A very relaxing way to start the day. Especially when it's followed up by coffee and tea at Tim H's...

Dan & I went to the Hope Music Fest this weekend. Saw a great variety of local bands - Incognito, Valdy, Doucette, Prism. This is our third year - it's always a great weekend.

I'm off to the Island tomorrow. I'm going to ride my bike to Nanoose and spend the night at my brother's place. Then it's up to Courtenay to see my sister. I've never done a long ride by myself, so it'll be a new adventure for me!

Lakewater Level 1 certified!

Dan & I finished our canoe course last week. We are now officially Lakewater Level 1 certified! (We even have nice certificates to prove it!) We are able to paddle a canoe around on flatwater and actually make it go where we want it to go. The course covered tandem strokes, canoe safety theory and the essentials of controlling your canoe with confidence. And we didn't fall into False Creek!! That is a very good thing. Have you ever seen the water there?? ICK!

On the last day, the instructor wanted to demonstrate a canoe over canoe rescue just so we knew what it was. (He didn't actually teach it, that's level 2.) Dan & I were the demonstrators. We stayed in our canoe and Dan held it steady with his paddle. I was the lucky one who got to reach into the water (past my elbows), grab the upside down canoe, and pull it onto ours. I didn't mind the task itself, but putting my arms in the water.... Scary....!!! I seem to have survived and the funny colour has finally washed off my arms.

Here is a picture of us canoeing on Murtle Lake June 2006. We're in the yellow canoe.

Whistle while you work...

It turns out that cleaning can be fun! Okay, I know it's weird... I was cleaning the house yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. It was a beautiful day, hot & sunny, and I was inside scrubbing the bathroom and vacuuming. But, I wasn't doing any of my usual grumbling about wasting my Sunday afternoon. Instead, I was enjoying what I was doing because I knew that I'd have lots of time today to play! I went out and played this morning. Rainy, Suzanne & I went swimming at Sasamat Lake! Joe was our support in the kayak. It was beautiful!!! Water was warm, lake was calm... It was so peaceful. I'm looking forward to many more mornings out there.

First official day off!

Phew... It's tough being off work!! My plan was to do absolutely nothing this first week. That's not quite how it's turning out...

We had a great weekend in Birken - had a couple of bike rides, cut lots of wood for the fire, cleaned the house and yard. Betty the Cat enjoyed chasing mice and even took a few steps outside. She's an indoor city cat, so I wasn't sure what she'd think of life in the country. I'm sure she'd take to it quite nicely if given the chance. The best part about the weekend was that I didn't have that nagging thought about having to go back to work!!

Today is my first official day off work for the next year! I woke up for a while when Dan left for work this morning. I read my book for a bit and then decided to sleep a bit more. After a couple more hours of sleep, I read some more... I decided to get up around 11:30. Yep, it's tough! However, I've been doing laundry all afternoon. So much for doing absolutely nothing. Maybe tomorrow...