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1 to 15 July 2023 16 to 31 July 2023

Saturday, July 1st, 2023.

Happy Canada Day!

Natasha would not let go of her pine cone for her nap.

We decided to stay home for Canada Day.

Natasha is helping me empty the pool. She likes to jump in the puddles.

Saturday evening is sleep-over time.
She eats a lot of junk food with grand-maman, in our bed!
They watch a Disney movie.

Both of them are playing with glow sticks and a glow mask.

Grand-papa is the story reader before bedtime.

It was another good day.

Sunday, July 2, 2023.

Natasha woke up at 7 h 45. This is very late for her and good for us!

We had an easy morning at home.

A good part of the afternoon was at the local playground.

Another good day with the people we love.

Monday, July 3, 2023

Jeremy is back to work. It is a cooler day and we have smoke in the air.

It is a statuary holiday, so no daycare today.
I spend at least an hour at the playground with Natasha. She looks sad, but we actually had a lot of fun.

After Natasha's nap, we went to the blue playground.
We were alone and after 30 minutes, we came back home.

Nothing like a Mr. Freeze to lift the mood.

Here she is, telling everything to grand-maman.

I cannot remember why, but we did not use the pool today.

It was a good day.

Tuesday, July 4, 2023.

It is the last day of work for Jeremy before his leave. He is leaving tomorrow morning to be on the ferry to the mainland very early. He is going to Alberta and visit his son, Gabriel, for a few days, he then goes to a friend's wedding in Moose Jaw. Kristin will fly to Moose Jaw on July 12. The wedding is on July 15. Kristin flies back from Moose Jaw on July 17. Jeremy will pick up Gabriel after the wedding and bring him back here for the summer holiday. We will look after Natasha from July 12 to the 17.

We probably will change the blog a little and put many days together if not much happens during that time.

Wednesday, July 5, 2023.

It is hot today, +30°C.
We are in downtown Courtenay this morning.
We want to take a check two grocery stores and a thrift store.
The first grocery store is about local and organic everything, meaning expensive. But the choice of local items is extensive.

One block east is the thrift store. We bought some stuff.

The next grocery store is the Old Farm Market across the street. Here too, they have a large selection of local items and international.

The prices are closer to normal here. They have a very nice sandwich bar here. We resisted.

We spent the rest of the day inside the house, too hot outside.

Thursday, July 6, 2023.

It is much cooler this morning. It won't last, the forecast calls for +29°C by late afternoon.

We checked out some travel trailers at a local RV dealer. The salesman was nice and put no pressure on us. We were just looking at options. We would like to sell the MH first.

It is Taco Night. Yes, I cook dressed like this. It is warm in the house and even warmer by the stove. The AC works, but we do not have it set too low to be cold

Jeremy is in Blackfalds, Alberta where he is meeting his son for a few days. When Jeremy comes back from Moose Jaw, he will pick up Gabriel to bring him back here. It will be a road trip for the father and son.
This is Gabriel after 2 km of biking and 3 km of hiking and a belly full of sushis, he is burned out.

It is still hot, so most of the day is spent inside the house.

Friday, July 7, 2023.

The MH is officially for sale. It is advertised on FB Market Place, Kijiji, Craig's List and Auto Trader. All we need now is a buyer.

After supper, Michele, Kristin and Natasha went playing at the playground.
Natasha can move across the wobbly pole by herself now.

Saturday, July 8, 2023.

We went to a few yard sales this morning. We also stopped at another thrift store.
Look what was for sale? Old 8 tracks cassettes!

That sure brought back some memories.

We decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Popeye's. This photo is from the internet, it was probably during COVID. That is why you have a line of people waiting outside.

We had some good, fried, greasy, chicken.

After Natasha's nap, we are back at the playground.

She is getting better, more confident and more adventurous in the structure.

It is a sleepover in the MH time.

Got to have some glow sticks.

And some masks

Story time before bedtime.

We had a good day.

Sunday, July 9, 2023.

I am out with Natasha this morning. We are hiking the Tsolum River Exhibition Loop. This trail is a loop about 2.1 km long and it is flat.

Natasha with Ariel and a gnome!

It is really pretty here.

We stopped to check out the spider on her spiderweb.

She is a good hiker.

The Tsolum River is not very big.
Natasha is good a throwing rocks in the river.

The trail follows the river for a while.

Natasha is really intrigued by a Banana Slug".

After we got back, Natasha had to tell her mom all about the hike.

Another good day.

Monday, July 10, 2023

I have to get in shape, not the round shape I am in.
After breakfast, I am off to Seal Bay Nature Park and its many trails.

I decided to do the Seal Flipper and Coupland Loop. This trail is 2.6 km long. It has some steep areas near the beach.

This is a second-growth old forest.
It is so peaceful here.

This is Seal Bay and the Salish in the background.

After the 2.6 km, I decided to do another one. This time, just the Coupland Loop. It is 2.3 km.

I walked part of this loop a few minutes ago.

The forest is very dense in this park.

The rest of the day was spent at home.

Tuesday, July 11, 2023.

We received some photos from Jeremy. After a quick visit with his son Gabriel in Blackfalb, he stopped near Kananaskis for a couple days before heading out to Moose Jaw.

He is meeting his friend Francis. They are staying at Francis' uncle's place, Richard.

They get to the top of the mountain with the chairlift.
From L to R, Richard, Jeremy, Marie-Ève and Francis. Marie-Ève is running the trails.

Jeremy had a ball.

What should we do today?
This is the fence in the backyard. It is not very private.

We bought a privacy fence. We are installing it today.

We have a section left.
The BBQ is close to the fence. When the wind blows, the BBQ has a hard time staying hot.

We are using the leftover section to create a wind break.

Natasha's coming back from daycare.

I roll Natasha in a blanket. It told her she is a burrito. She finds this very funny.

Wednesday, July 12, 2023.

Natasha loves Mr. Freezes, especially after daycare.

Michele brings Natasha to the playground almost every evening after supper.
Today is also the day Kristin is leaving for Moose Jaw and joining Jeremy for the wedding.
By being in the playground, it is easier for Kristin to leave. Natasha is not upset at all!

She sure has a nice snack before bedtime.

I dropped off Kristin at the Comox Valley Airport.
The airport is less than 5 minutes away from the house.

Have a good trip, Kristin, and have fun at the wedding. We will be good with Natasha.

Thursday, July 13, 2023.

The first morning Kristin and Jeremy are not here.
It went really well.

We are on our way to the daycare.

After that, I head to Seal Bay Regional Nature Park for another hike.
This time, I will hike Melda's Marsh Loop. It is 3.4 km long.

The trails are well-marked. I did hike 3.4 km because I walked the extra distance to the observation points.

The things I saw today.

I stopped at the blind and observed birds and other critters.

It is so quiet and peaceful here.

It was a good hike.

It is still hot during the day. Why not have a Mr.Freezes after daycare.

She had a good meal.

And the next step, snacks and bedtime.

She knows which book she wants me to read.

She is so tired, she fell asleep fast.

Another good day for us.

I booked an appointment to get an out-of-province inspection for the car. After that, I will be able to change the registration of the car for B.C.
I also got a call from our doctor's office. We have our first appointment with him in early September.

Friday, July 14, 2023.

Jeremy is in Moose Jaw for his friend's wedding. Of course, he goes riding his bike with his friends.
The results of his latest ride.

Natasha loves breakfast sausages. I have no choice, but to share the one I am eating.

To the daycare, she goes.

OK, some of you wanted to know how do we dispose of our black/gray water from the MH?
Well, we dump them, but not on the ground or at the dump station. So how do we do it?
A while back, I purchased a used household macerator. I connect it to the MH and at the exit of the macerator, I connect a garden hose.

Next, I run the garden house through the basement window.

I connect the other end of the garden hose to a modified cap and place the cap on the sewer pipe in the house.
It is an (almost) closed system. I run the macerator, open the dump valve and the used water is macerated and pushed to the sewer connector. Very little used water falls to the ground.