You’d think I could have gotten more done today, but no.  Sand, sand, sand, and then patch some more, which means I need to sand again (and wash walls) before I can paint.  Sigh.

So, no paint in the porch area – only more patching above the door.

No paint in the bathroom – only more patching above the tub

This is how I got up there…

And while I was away from my computer for 2 hours, I miss the big news of the day:  https://grondamorin.com/2017/07/28/general-john-f-kelly-is-the-presidents-new-chief-of-staff/

How does he do it??  Every day, man.

Think I’m going to have another cup of coffee, then go look at my ocean…sigh…

So, I thought I would spend some posts telling you all about our trip to Ottawa – with pictures, of course!

Day 1:  June 27.  Victoria to Ottawa.

An early flight.  I won’t go into detail, but suffice it to say while we had a direct flight from Victoria to Toronto booked, we missed the cut-off for checking bags, so had to be re-routed through Vancouver.  Then on to Toronto, and finally…Ottawa!

Other than the re-routing, the flights were routine (as routine as it can be for someone who hates flying).  I did get brave enough to lean over Kevin to get some pictures of the mountains as we passed over them.

Kevin, of course, slept most of the way.

Then – Ottawa.  Just in time for dinner with some friends – optometry colleagues of Kevin’s who live in Alberta.  We opted for an Italian restaurant in the Market who, much to my happiness, had gluten-free options for all its pasta dishes!

Yum….bread I couldn’t eat…

Followed by 2 kinds of mussels

And then…pasta!!

And that was our day.  Leaving the house at 5:00 am, you would expect more, but it’s a LONG way from Victoria to Ottawa, and we lost 3 hours going across the country. At least it wasn’t raining when we got there!

Stay tuned for Day 2!!

Thought I would do a separate post as an update on how the old garden is looking this end-of-June.

General views from the ground

Potatoes!!

Beans (I built a trellis today – it’s pretty weird looking, but does the trick!  I’ll post a picture tomorrow) In the background are my zucchini and squashes

Beets, and hopefully carrots

Kale and chard

Butter lettuce and arugula

Random close-ups of things in the old garden.  It’s a jungle out there!

As promised:  pictures from yesterday when mom, dad and Aunt and I walked downtown from the old homestead for a bit of picture-taking and lunch!

Whale watching boat at the ready

Ferry being chased by a float plane

Something I had never noticed before (they do NOT actually work…sigh…)

Vantage point

Drone and totem

Another vantage point

The Legislature in all its glory

Lunch!!

The view from lunch:

It’s been fun wandering around various parts of Victoria with mom, dad and Aunt.  Always fun to be a tourist in your own town!!

As promised – pictures of my walk from yesterday!

Ok, yes, I walked along the water for a bit (same views as Monday), and then I headed up towards the Park.

Passed by waving fields of grasses

Past a random bust of the Queen (sorry to say that I find this one a bit creepy)

Through the wildly blooming (and FULL of tourists) rose garden

A few random photos of flowers and water

And then, a hummingbird!  Not bad for a zoomed point and shoot 🙂

All in all, a lovely day for a walk!

Surprise!  Another morning post from me.  I used my avoidance post for Kitten Thursday and realized that I also needed (yes, needed) to post pictures of my walk yesterday, which I took during my lunch hour.  I don’t know if I will walk today or not.  I am not feeling great today (headache, feeling a bit under the weather…) so I better give you some walk pictures while I can!

It was a cloudy and breezy day.  A little on the cooler side, compared to what it has been (and in fact, it rained last night – I was wrong Susan).

Here I am heading down into the Uplands neighbourhood.  It is about 1 km to get there from work, along a busy and noisy street, but once in Uplands, it’s pretty quiet.  That’s important so I can hear my music playing while I walk.  Walk in silence?  That’s just crazy talk.

Yes, there were a few of these guys along the way, keeping watch on my suspiciously.

And Rhodos everywhere – not quite as suspicious as the deer.  Some of them are done now, but some are fresh (and many are huge!)

These ones are done, but pretty in another way now.

Then there were trees to look at

And flowers (other than rhodos)

And stairs and fences.  I think I need to start taking pictures of all the different kinds of fences and gates I see.  Sounds like a new challenge!

And meadows

And a posing butterfly!

Thanks for joining me on my walk 🙂