Time flies when............

Well, we really are locals now. We miss the Vancouver Canadiens baseball games, but the Nanaimo Night Owls game against the Wenatchee Apple Sox was a lot of fun as well.

 

Summer time, starting to see cruise ships cruising by Parksville, headed where, I'm not sure.

Seems like there is more sky here than in Burnaby, is that possible?

Now that's a lot of food! Ritsue and her friend Akemi who came for a visit, did not even come close to finishing, lol. (I showed restraint and did not participate in the taster tower experience!)

....and just like that, I'm getting closer to catching up, here we are, oops wait a minute, that was Canada Day last year, oops.

....a cooler morning, but still nice to have a coffee in our own back yard.

..on this day, we be yard-saling? in and around Parksville. I bet a lot of the tourists do not get to see this tides out view looking towards Mount Arrowsmith.

....back to the Night Owl's game, it was fun, we wore our own stuff, which is accepted in Vancouver, not sure about Nanaimo. (over-thinking, I'm sure no one really cares one way or the other.)

....not quite the park like setting that you get at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver.

New resident in the neighbourhood......

...sunset at French Creek Marina, how peaceful......

.....until this! (Actually thrilled that Junior and TJ came to visit.....)

When are you guys coming back?!!!! We had such a good couple of days.....

We, like many others in the world, got totally into the Fifa World Cup this year. (Sorry, Japan, and Canada, not this time, although.) Very exciting right up to and including the final between Spain and Argentina.

Nice snack to watch with, too. Home made bread and just the right ingredients to enjoy the final!

A beautiful day to go check out Spider Lake for the first time.

My, we had to find a spot by ourselves on a very crowded day, pic. ((Lots of families enjoying the warm summer day. (...just around the corner, lol...))

The random, why are crabs worth a picture, couldn't resist, pic.

The not so random, Dad making his (in his own mind) world famous pancakes wearing his new apron, pic, phew!

The other side of the French Creek Marina.....

.... and back to one of my favourite views of French Creek again....

Wow! Rick, our neighbour, gave us a couple of salmon fillets from a recent fishing outing. Ritsue turned them into something so special and yummy!

.... one day I will see whales by my favourite beach access, so close to home. (For now it's been great seeing seals, eagles, and the Georgia Strait itself of course.

Wow, on the first day of August, the blog finally made it to Canada Day on July 1st!

We got a little festive this year!

Here we go, the sky's the limit!

What a great Canada Day we shared with the neighbours, so much fun!

This was next on the summer plate and it did not disappoint. A selection of ciders and brews from all over Vancouver Island and the Mainland. 

The walk home was so "Island." The tide was far enough out from Parksville Community Park that we just walked across the sand to the nearest beach access close to our place.

I will see the whales one day, but until then, this eagle pic will suffice.

Tourist season......

Sorry for that car trying to get out, I guess we're kinda blocking the view.

 

Early morning solitude, so close to home. (Shhhhhh, don't tell the tourists!)

We're going to see those Orcas one day!

Out and about, found the Silver Meadows Farm Market in Errington. Cheese and broccoli this time, but we'll be back.

On this out and about we got a little hungry from exploring, so of course we went to Samurai Sushi in Parksville for some Monkey Brains!

Another glorious day at Qualicum Beach.

The old Qualicum Beach train station, built in 1914 was a cool place to check out.....

Reminds me of the Kettle Valley Steam Train in Summerland, except this one is not running and giving rides.

Walking distance to downtown Qualicum, yet we were the only ones there.

.....love coming here, but not a walking beach per se....., lol....

Accidently put my phone on portrait mode, now that's how I would of like to have seen this beer.....

....instead of this pic, but oh well, still cool and refreshing to my other sense.

We found maybe a Parksville secret? This lounge is above and part of the Quality Foods store. Very comfortable and lots of happy hour specials, yay!!

A proud moment, we finally put up the Hummingbird feeder. (As of today, still a very popular hang-out.)

We went out to Nanoose Bay, and headed to, of course, the ocean. This was our first time to Moorecroft Regional Park.

...not Kingsway and Edmonds, just sayin........

Eagle eye view........

The one day we tried to follow the Nanoose Whale Watch page on Facebook. We started at Beachcomber Regional Park in Nanoose Bay.

....ended up at Surfside Drive East beach access in Qualicum Beach, one day Orcas, one day.......

Ketchup........

Yup, lots of catching up to do. A beautiful Sunday morning at French Creek to start.

 

An interesting night at the Black Goose Inn in Parksville. It was a busy night and our only option was to be placed in a side room off of the main restaurant area. What we didn't expect was to be the only ones in that side room. Still was an enjoyable evening, good company.

.....making time for Rathtrevor.....

.....and, the picture doesn't do it justice, Englishman River Falls.

......'twas a beautiful day.

.....ohhhhh, that's a long way down..... anddddd......

.....Careful!

Catching up on our new hood adventures....

....makes me misty.......

Love the old growth around here, hey, like me!

It was a very enjoyable, fairly easy, 1 hour hike.

On the way home we stopped at a roadside fruit and veggie stand. This guy was not on a roof........

....but he could make the cut, he was quite a poser.

Lots of Island time, Ritsue, you'll make a connection with the neighbour cat Simba soon enough! (...and since then she has, uhhh, kinda...)

Some neighbours are not so welcome. The concern is this Eastern Cottontail will take a fancy to Ritsue's newly planted garden. Getting used to Island life......