After lunch we grabbed the three dogs and headed out to Burnaby lake for a hike with a friend. We had a nice walk and we saw some frogs - Loic also picked up many, many slugs along the way.....
Friday evening Rob and I took the kids to the night market near Lonsdale Quay. We went with some friends of ours who have a kid in Lolo's daycare - a great time was had by all. My folks came by and the kids danced the evening away. There was a great band playing and every single food truck I have ever heard of was there. I am a big food truck fan. The fancy grilled cheese and poutine were very tasty.
Saturday Rob took the kids to the Lynn Valley parade while I went to a Beekeeping 101 class - moral of the story, no bees for us anytime soon, way too much work. I certainly respect people who keep bees though!
On Saturday night we had our friends from Maple Ridge over for dinner with their kids - the kids again had a blast. I roasted one of Jody's very tasty chickens. Oh, and made some super easy and super tasty thai noodle salad with veggies.
Today I met up with my friend Michelle and her daughter for a bike ride around Deer Lake. Well, we walked, I pushed Maelle in the stroller and Loic and Morgan rode their bikes. Loic is still on his run bike but we now have to insist he learns how to ride his peddle bike....he is too big for his run bike and he is the only kid in tri club still on a run bike.
We then headed to the barn to watch Teepee and Jeff get loaded up on the trailer to go on their holiday; Maelle said "horses going to Hawaii!!" she is so cute that one. And her speech is so clear!!
The three kids loaded up in the horse trailer :)
Saying good bye to TeePee - Loic loves the pony and while she loves to talk about ponies, she is a bit wary still
Now. Garden update. A few hiccups this year - peas planted too early, f**ing caterpillars eating my kale, dead plum tree - but - many more successes! I figure I spend about 2 hours/week on the garden. A nice, manageable amount. Loic is getting more helpful with his watering skills while Maelle is still a bit of a train wreck while 'helping me' :)
Malle in front of some super impressive parsnips. I planted them in the fall and they are now over 4 feet tall, however, they are not so impressive underground.....maybe I will give them some more time?? I am just not sure what to do
Peas in the back half, baby beans planted by seed one week apart and lovely red leaf lettuce. I direct sowed them all from seed.
I learned my lesson and planted 1/4 of the peas that I planted last year. I also planted ones that grow much shorter as to avoid the giant wall of peas I planted last year. We have had some lovely salads already this year. The beans are bush beans and are growing where radishes started out the season.
Tomatoes (started with care by my friend Christy), baby cucumbers (from seed) and carrots (from seed). While carrots are super slow, the kids love them and I planted purple ones this year!
Garlic! Planted in October, 2013 and ready for harvest this August.
You can see it being shaded by the giant parsnips.....
Easter egg radishes from a few weeks ago - they were a success this year.
The kids and my hand at Spanish Banks last weekend looking at a caterpillar. He is lucky he isn't on my kale or he would get squished.
Kale, green onions, baby raspberries, peppers and basil. Quite a mixed bed!
Overall, I am quite pleased with the garden this year. I started my asparagus patch this year and while it is super unimpressive (only a few scraggly spears have showed up thus far) I am anticipating a lovely harvest in 3 years. My dad also replaced my dead plum tree so we are going to try again. The blueberry plants - all 8 in the front yard alone - are loaded with fruit. The potatoes in the back yard are looking great, same with the apple trees.
The dogs are doing well, it is as if Taz has always been here. Most nights I can't find him and when I do he is asleep on Loic's bed. He loves going to work with Rob and is great to hike off leash; totally ignores other dogs and sticks right by me. Such a nice little chihuahua. I will say he is quick to bark, but, he is a chihuahua so that goes without saying!! Tyler is doing well too - we do about half his hikes off leash and half on, but only because I worry. He is great though - back to getting on the couch when we are home and sleeping on the bed. He can also go down and up stairs now so that has made everyone happy. It wasn't that he couldn't do it but we wanted to wait until after the 6 month mark to reduce his risk of re-injury. I will always worry, but, he is back to his happy, running self, albeit with a slightly funny gait. I don't mind and he is certainly happy!
-E
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