October 17th 2012
Started the day with a breakfast/ smoked salmon packing session at David’s. We bought the fish – chum salmon -- directly from Gary, the fisherman who had his boat at Mansons dock. I helped fillet it and David did the smoking. We had dual (dueling) FoodSavers (vacuum packers). It was fun and I came home with a bunch of very delicious smoked salmon.
Today I completed the T&G wall by the entrance. Very happy with this project. The T&G is 2 x 6 pine, premium grade and is lovely stuff.
Christian came by and worked on the bath tub. It is now almost operational and if I knew which breaker to turn on I could have a hot bath!
I also worked on the stairs down to the living room – installed the two metal stringers and cut temporary treads. More work on this tomorrow.
Today I also installed the rotating shelves in one of the kitchen counter corner units. Now I’ve overcome my anxiety about tackling this job I feel confident to move on to the other two. BTW I love Ikea instructions. They are so clear and so beautifully wordless.
I was invited to play music with Rick and Brian but am too beat to drive up there and back.
Instead, I am enjoying a (another) quiet evening at home in my trailer. Supper tonight is three cheese tortellini with fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic and kalamata olives. Plus a touch of Thai red curry paste. What can I say? It’s heavenly! My salad is a mix of different lettuces with grated carrot and red onion. The dressing is a store bought Blackberry and Fig concoction that gets a thumbs up from me.
After supper I plan on playing a little music on guitar, flute and my newly acquired accordion.
Oh and I forgot to mention the wine… tonight I’m drinking a 2010 Portuguese red from Perequita, the oldest winery in Portugal and the first to put wine into glass bottles. It was a recommendation from Amy at the Squirrel Cove store as a low cost wine that actually tastes good. I concur. Thanks Amy.
My time here on Cortes Island is drawing to a close for this year and I confess to being a bit sad about leaving, even though my lovely wife Danielle is waiting patiently for me in Vancouver.
I guess I’m growing used to this place where you can buy fish straight from the fisherman who publicizes his dockside sale on Cortes Radio and pays the DJ in fish! Where my young friend Russ is starting an enterprise to sell his homemade chocolate that is simply the best I have ever tasted – and I’ve tasted quite a bit. Where the walking group meets at 9am Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays all year round for a two hour walk. Where we have one of Canada’s first community forest association which manages a big tract of forest in partnership with the local native Indian band. Where my 85 year old neighbour just commited suicide by paddling his kayak out on the ocean and deliberately flipping it. (He left a note at his home stating when the bed linen had last been washed). Where the quiet is so deep you can drink it and the air is so clean it wakes your sinuses up with a big “Howdy!”
And of course, Cortes Island is just another scene of human drama, stupidity and ego. Oh bla di, Oh bla da!
Much love, Andy
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