My New Mousecatcher

A stray cat was hanging round the marina for the last week or so. I would hear its pitiful howling from under the woodpile whenever I walked by. Finally I decided to try and catch it. I got it out with a can of tuna but it was too scared to follow me down the dock as there were alot of people and dogs about. A little while later Tana managed to catch him and brought him down to me. He jumped on board and wouldnt set foot outside again for a week. Havent seen hide nor hair of a rodent since he has been on board.Yahoo! He is a good cat,very quiet and respectful of my stuff.He has started to go out for long stretches of time now, which worried me the first time but he always comes back at some point. He/she ( Im not quite sure) is quite tiny and finds the strangest hiding spots on the boat. I call him Casper because he can just vanish in here, which is quite a feat in such a tiny overstuffed place!


In other animal news here is a picture of Miss Bridgette and her new babies...sooo cute!


Our neighbor Micheals new kitten managed to get its head stuck in a hole in the cupboard.Try as they may they couldnt get it out , so had to remove the whole board and cut it away.The kitten is fine but was a funny sight to see

The Worlds Shortest Vacation

About mid-month I got the urge to go to Vancouver Island for a few days.I left here in the morning , caught the 10am ferry by the skin of my teeth and was in Qualicum Beach by 12:30.I checked in with my friend Cora and went off shopping in Coombs for a few hours. I found a great deal on a teak staircase shaped cupboard and after much struggle got it into the car with not a millimeter to spare. I envisioned it in my kitchen and thought for sure it would fit.


Next it was backs to Coras where I spent almost $500 dollars in about 15 minutes on a new wardrobe. She has the cutest clothes in her shop and I pretty much bought one of everything.I stayed for dinner and checked out their wedding pics from a trip they just took to a Carribean Island ( St Lucia , I think it was??) Beautiful place, beautiful wedding, congratulations guys xxoo

After dinner , I hightailed it up to Courtenay and dropped in on my friends Wes and Jim. Jim told me about a book detailing how to cover a wooden boat with fiberglass. Ive tracked down a copy on Amazon and have it on order, cant wait to check it out.I left there around midnight and went to a hotel. They had advertised a pool and jacuzzi and I was really looking forward to soaking in some screaming hot water( our on demand propane had been getting colder by the day as we played with the adjustments trying to find some heat), I was desperate for a good long soak.Alas they closed the pool at 10 pm, I missed my shot. The bastards didnt bother to let me know that the roof was being reroofed at the crack of dawn.I didnt even get to sleep in. I made up for it with a 2 hour blazing hot shower,made sure I got my moneys worth out of that room !

Much refreshed, I headed up to the cemetary to bring my Mom some belated Mothers days flowers. When I was done there, I went by Dads old property where I used to live.When I was there it was a mobile home sitting on a acre with a large garage in front. The people who bought the place left the mobile home there and built their house right around it! I dont have a before pic but here's what it looks like now. You would never know there was a mobile home in there from the outside.


I then went to see my Uncle Roland who lives on my Grandmothers old farm.It was the last place I lived when I was in Courtenay and still holds alot of memories for me.He took me up to Merville by the back road which I had never been on before. It was awesome, all nature ,woods and farms, lots of green and fresh air, just what the Doctor ordered. While I was there I went into an RV place to find out what they had for small appliance options. I got a good deal on a Propane cookstove and picked that up.When we got back to the farm, I had Roland cut me some of Grans honeysuckle to try and root back here.It has the most lucious smell, I hope I can get it to grow for me.

Then it was off to town for something to eat and a visit with my Aunt Hilary. We had a nice chinwag out in the sun and then I went to do some power shopping before everything closed for the day.Another couple of hundred dollars later and I was finally on my way back home.

It was a short and sweet trip but I managed to spend $1500 in total in less than 48 hours... not bad if I say so myself.

Unfortunately the wood shelf couldnt find a place on my boat after all.Its at Davids right now while I ponder whether to sell it or keep it in case I get a bigger place someday.Looks like Im building my kitchen storage myself, I cant seem to find anything suitable. Ive never sanded wood and varnished ect, so a bit nervous about the whole thing.Its definately on the project list for sure tho.

Where Does the Time Go?

Whew, so May was a very busy month, kept meaning to get on here, but never had the time or energy. In the last month, the Pacific Express caught on fire( its the big boat beside me)( they managed to save it), another boat sank twice,( you can read more about those incidents on Tanas blog).

David has continued to drag in vast quantities of material,barges and docks ( you can read more about Davids doings on my other blog "The Mad Canadian". I have been busy getting all kinds of stuff done on my boat in between working tons and a quick trip to Vancouver Island.

This month I accomplished quite a bit. The van is finally tuned up, cleaned up and running again. I used it to take in my 2 Mercury motors( a 7.5hp and an 85hp) to see if they can be repaired. They won't get a chance to look at them until next week, I have my fingers crossed in the meantime. I can't wait to get out on the water and go exploring.

I finally found some nice material and am getting my couch reupholstered. Here are some before and after pictures of it.



The local Rona in Richmond is closing their store , so I got a deal on a 6 drawer wicker and wood cabinet that fits in my bedroom for more storage(Its a good thing :))
I also picked up another stain-glass lamp to replace the ugly bit of tracklighting thats over the couch and some nice wood to build a kitchen counter.


I found a deal on a nice 2 burner propane stove top that I will set into the counter with the convection oven below it. Here is a before shot of the stove and oven waiting for their new home to be built.



We finally got a technician in to look at our propane on-demand water heater. He did some adjustments and we now have screaming hot water, Hallaluyah!!!!!! David got his shower up and running the other day and it works awesome. Its a huge shower stall with 2 shower heads, a waterfall and 2 seats built in. I dont mind my tub/shower set-up but what a treat to be able to stand in a shower again.

Davids cousin Paul has moved out here for the summer from Windsor Ontario. He is staying at Davids house and helping him build his empire.Davids off to England next week to see his Daughter so he has Paul servicing all the equipment and re-doing our electrical nightmare before he goes, so all will be safe. Its nice to know I wont be on my own when he goes as something breaks down pretty much every day around here. Id be camping for sure.

We have been getting some sun down here as of late, so Ive dragged over my BBQ, table and umbrellas and have been making good use of Davids floating front deck.Summer at the marina is most definately more fun than winter!! I miss going kayaking, but the freshet has been running very hard this last week and Im worried I'll get swept downstream. As soon as things calm down, I want to load the kayak in the van and take it up to the North Shore where they are supposed to have awesome places to go.

Well I have to go to work but will try and post the rest of the news tonight along with some pics.xxoo