wedding lists and chores

Vinetarta in progress

Whew! We are going like crazy trying to get things organized for our trip to Victoria ( BC ) and our oldest son's wedding.  Work for me is 11 - 16 hours a day as we have a major project under way and then trying to clean the big house for the house/pet sitter.. and it goes on.  Our youngest son moved out this week - only a block and a half away LOL! He left a few messes to clean and that is on today's list. He has decided to live in a rented house with 3 other young hardworking men, and that's ok. " Mom: if I don't like living with these guys can I come back? Yes.  Mom: When I go to school in Burnaby, it will be tough paying rent there and here, can I move back? Yes. Dad: Can I use your truck to move stuff? Ok then, I guess I will move out".  It is good to have a safe home base! He just turned 20, and did spend a year away already on his own at University, so he will be fine.  I only wanted to know if they had a washer and dryer - and yes they do - hooray!
   Donald's family on his mothers' side is Icelandic - and every special occasion like Christmas, an Icelandic cake is made.  It used to be made by his Mom, and then his adult sisters, and now he has joined in.  The cake is called Vinaterta. Apparently, the more layers you make, the more accomplished? you are. I think his sisters have made 5 and 6 layers, and Donald made 6 layers yesterday.  His 26 year old nephew last Christmas made 7 layers so I don't know if this is going to be bested or not - way to go Sean!  The cake is a shortbread/cookie type layer with a filling made of prunes, cinnamon, cardomom and other spices.  It has to sit for some time so that the cookie type layer becomes moist from the filling.  Then, it is iced using a white butter frosting.  It is cut into very small pieces to eat.  One of my co workers was married in Manitoba, and this was her wedding cake. It is extremely good!!! We will take the cake to Victoria for the wedding rehearsal night. - we didn't send it ahead, as we mailed one last Christmas to Victoria, and at 5lbs plus packing, it cost a pretty penny!

see you next season to a great park

 

View out the rear RV window at our site

The nearest Provincial Park closed this week on the 15th.  So, we were probably the last visitors to the park when we left Monday afternoon.  There are still many RV tourists passing through our area, but the Provincial Parks are managed by a commercial operator and this company feels it is not worth the effort to stay open past the 15th.  That is a shame - the weather can be beautiful and last weekend there were at least 20 units per night in the 52 spaces available.  The staff working there thought it was a shame as well. There are 2 bears in the park right now though! Donald saw the young black bear when he pulled in on Saturday.  The young one has been pulling down all the saskatoon trees to get at the berries at the top. The trees are down all over the place and he is not even eating all the berries as they are all over the roadways as well.  The staff were spending lots of time going up and down the roads with equipment to clean up behind him. The old big black bear mostly stays on the perimeter and away from people. I had my camera at the ready, but the young one did not come by our site - he had already pushed down all the saskatoons near our site and we were talking and listening to CBC radio outside.

View out the dinette window

By the way, we are "bear aware" having lived in Jasper, Alberta for 20 some years and then here. We are careful!

last weekend?

In Northern B.C. it starts to get chilly pretty fast come September. We usually have to quit RV'ing in our area about the third weekend. So, we did go out this past weekend to the local Provincial Park, and Saturday night was so warm we had the windows open for sleeping - most unusual! We could go this coming weekend, but we are in countdown mode for our oldest son's wedding and the 'TO DO' lists are daunting. So, we will have to see how much we can get done during the week. Our son seems to be taking it in stride - he was sailing last weekend and hopes to be in a sail race this weekend. I asked him if there were things to do for the wedding " Not much to do, Mom" - hmmm just wait til his mum gets there!

Beeping Chickens

I thought this picture was soothing - it is Madge Lake Saskatchewan, where the family cottage is. I must admit - I love every day that comes and we're generally happy people but this was a crazy day at work so I was glad to get home! We were going to head out in the RV tonight to the lake closest to us, and then I would go into work for 5 hours or so in the morning, but it's pouring rain, so we stayed home tonight and we'll make a decision in the morning. Donald decided to experiment and make beer can chicken for dinner - with his own secret "rub". It is a serious undertaking - he has his own digital meat thermometer for his own use. I use the old fashioned stick it in and look at where the red needle goes kind. After using tech equipment all day long, I don't need anything else beeping at me and flashing words I can hardly see - especially about a chicken - Ha!

Fall chores

As the weather turns cooler, chores await! Yuck. We still live in the big house as I am working, so yesterday I started making the 'minor' list of chores and the 'major' list of chores. The minor chores are the regular around the house things - the major chores are the things that we should/must do before we sell the house. New countertops for the kitchen;paint the kitchen; painting the laundry room, 3 of the bedrooms and one of the bathrooms; ripping out carpet for laminate in the den.... you know how it goes. We also have the last 1/3 of the back deck to complete and a new front door to purchase and install. Donald said he was so busy today, he was leaving a room, closed the room door with his foot as his hands were full and neglected to see the cat and the door hit the cat in the head. She's fine! We just like our animals so that was a little bit of trauma. Oh yes, and we are getting ready for #1 son wedding at the end of the month. Ah - we look forward to tomorrow and heading back out to the serenity of the lake in the RV.