A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/in-the-summertime/

One more day until the Vacation!  I’ve given this such a lead up for what is essentially a “stay”-cation.  Stay at home and do things around the house and yard.  Maybe read a book or 6.  But have no fear – I will still be here too, avoiding the daily prompt, and perhaps adding one or two more posts to my week.  The sky’s the limit!

But, I digress from the avoidance.  Yesterday.  Monday.  I have pictures for you – yes, they are of the kitties and garden again.  Let’s start with kitties.

Guess who is whom…

And now…the back garden!

I know, I know, you’ve seen some of these before…but there’s more of them!

A bee

And some new blooms

And almost new blooms

Veggies flowering too (the zucchini will be coming very, very soon!)

And eggplant and chili peppers getting bigger

Restful space…

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/generation-xyz/

The story of yesterday.  We slept in – Saturday night was much fun, much drink, and much late.  Ran errands.  Went to Tower of Power.

There you have it!  What is hip, anyway?

Pictures for yesterday include cherries against a cloudy sky that never did rain.

“Artistic” shots of tri-coloured foam as we went through the car wash (one of the errands).

The stage set up for Tower of Power (we were in row U, but centre aisle!)

And now, two more days of work before the vacation!!

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/celebrate-good-times/

So this is one of those times when it will seem like I’m complying with the theme, but rest assured, it is only coincidence.

Last night we went out – yes, I know.  Again!  It’s been a social couple of weekends.  And the trend will continue tonight and tomorrow night…don’t know how I’m going to get through it! 🙂

The first social event of yesterday was our end of the term work lunch at the Fireside Grill.  Sorry.  I only have a picture of my empty sangria glass.  I was too busy socializing and eating to remember to take other pics!

Anyway, last evening we went to a Jazz Festival concert:  Pink Martini.  This is the picture I have.  I was not one of those people pulling out my phone during the show to take pictures (although I saw many of them being told to turn off their cameras by local authorities).

After the show, we were hungry, so it was the normal “where do we go in Victoria for dinner after 9:30 that isn’t a tourist trap” discussion.  And we ended up at the Brasserie L’ecole.

Here is Kevin and my glass of wine.

Here is the bread I can’t eat, but Kevin enjoyed.

I had the steak and frites.  With truffle oil.  Yummy!  That’s Kevin’s nearly empty plate behind my frites.

Almost done.  Kevin finished them off!

Tonight, more fun and frolics with friends Judy and Gord!  I’ll try to remember to take a few pics as the evening progresses!!

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-golden-hour/

Ah yesterday.  Day of Wednes.  Trundling along into the last half of the week.  The last full work week before the last two days before the vacation (have I mentioned the vacation before?)  A cloudy day with varied pitiful attempts at rain.  A day without a song (?)

But now it’s Thursday, and the sun is shining (again).  I still don’t think there is a song, but somehow my heart feels lighter today!

Now, I know you’re getting bored of seeing photos of things in our garden and of our cats (NOT in the garden), but that’s what I took pictures of yesterday, so that’s what you’re getting!

To keep things orderly (and to keep you interested since you know kitties will be next…), first the garden!

Our neighbour’s rose hanging over the fence

Delphinium #2 blooming at last!

Dahlia getting closer

Another dahlia going nuts

Another one of those flowers I can’t remember what it is about to bloom.  I think we will have a lot of this in the garden soon (there seem to be a lot of plants I don’t really remember from last year growing tall and getting ready to pop…)

That flower whose name I couldn’t remember, but I was given the name of in the comment of another post…Coreopsis – thanks Lance Weisser!  http://weisserwatercolours.com/

More cherries, but too high for me, alas…

Zucchini bloom!

Roses on our deck

And now…kitties!

Dexter, of course…

Jasper

Doesn’t he look pitiful?

Elliot, caught mid yawn.

Ah…Thursday.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/mix-tape-masterpiece/

Wednesday.  Need I say more?

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/snapshot-stories/

So, getting closer to the vacation.  It won’t be The Vacation, like last year when Kevin and I road-tripped to Saskatchewan and back (the first real vacation we had taking in 20 years – and something I should finish blogging about this vacation), but it will be the longest stretch of time I’ve had off work for a very long while.  So, yes, I’m looking forward to it.  I still love my job and the people I work with, but it’s time for a break!

Anyway, yesterday was work, so I don’t have much of a story today.  I could make something up.  Let’s see.

How about some random scenery from last night and the past few weeks?

First, roses on the plot of grass between our driveway and the neighbour’s driveway:

Random shots from when Kevin and I went for a walk along the water a few weeks back (have I mentioned how much I LOVE living 3 blocks from this?)

Random wildflowers you can find everywhere right now.  I’m sure they have an official name, but I don’t know what it is, and I’m too lazy to look it up right now.

Beans in our raised beds about to flower

Zucchini also getting ready to bloom

Random attempt-at-catching-a-bee-on-the-lavender shot

Jasper playing last night (the cat toy lights up and sparkles when it moves)

Dexter guarding the stairs last night

Elliot wondering what all the fuss is about

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/toy-story/

So, yesterday was Father’s Day.  And I did spend quite a bit of the day with dad, and mom.  We drove up to West Saanich to the First Unitarian Church of Victoria (don’t worry – not going to get religiously political, or is that politically religious?) to see a concert. There is an early summer concert series here called Eine Kleine Summer Music (http://www.eksm.ca/).  I had never heard of it before, but mom read about it in the Victoria Symphony brochure and got us tickets.  They were doing a Schubert Violin Sonata Trio (violin, viola, cello), a Beethoven Piano trio (violin, piano, cello) and a Shostakovich Piano Quintet (2 violins, viola, cello, piano).  It was overall very enjoyable.

Anyway, the church is located up the peninsula, just past one of the campuses where I work, in the countryside.  Here are some of the views.

And here we are coming up to the church (I confess, this is the views as we were leaving – the views coming in were full of people lined up waiting to get in.  Apparently this is a very popular concert series).

The church itself is bright and cheery on the inside, but the acoustics are a bit on the bright side, however.  Wouldn’t want to hear a brass quintet in there!

Here is the chair I sat behind.

After the concert we trekked back to Victoria (it’s about a 30 minute drive from mom and dad’s to the church) and then hung out a bit before supper. Here is the view onto, and from, their balcony:

You see, we were going out again!  Kevin met us at the condo and we walked the 2 blocks down to Padella Italian Bistro (http://www.padellaitalianbistro.com/), the little Italian place (did the name give it away?) near mom and dad’s.  This time I managed shots of all out dinners BEFORE we ate them.  And let me tell you, the meals again were quite delicious – we will be going back!

Appetizers:

And main dishes

And, of course, some vino

Yum!!