5C's Que Pasa

We had a break for a few days with no fire smoke.  Today that all changed again.  With a high of 34C/93.2F and winds gusting this afternoon up to 25 mph we are solidly smoked in.  The forecast over the next seven days ranges between 34C  to 37C/98.6F.  Hot and dry, perfect conditions to fan the flames of the fires surrounding us.  Much progress has been made on the fires but we still have some very active out of control fires.

Today was the first time that we have seen this colorful sail on the lake. You can tell that the mountains have disappeared into a fog of smoke.

Not only have I been saving money of late but also cooking.  Fresh wild sockeye salmon, kale from or garden and zucchini from a neighbors garden.  Everyone is sharing any extras from their gardens.

So how have I been saving money?  First off I found two gift cards from at least 2009 worth $100.00.  Bingo!  That is how we decided to go to Earl’s Restaurant for Colin’s birthday dinner.  He thanks you all for your birthday wishes.  So despite the expensive wine we only paid $34.00 for our meal which included a very generous tip to our fabulous server that also covered the special dessert that she gifted us.  I have contacted both the local management and the head office in Vancouver to commend this very special young woman.  So $100.00 saved.

While shopping at Walmart the other day I was shocked to see how empty the shelves were and they now often are.  Since they moved to promoting their Great Value brand big time, things just are not the same.  So many of my shop at Walmart only items, because of the great prices, are disappearing.  So I was pleasantly surprised the other day to find my jarred decaf coffee on sale at $1.50 per jar off 😀  I bought enough jars to get me through the winter and saved $30.00!

We are also saving money on vegetables. This was the last of our peas but I do have another row growing well so far.  Hopefully we will get more peas.  We have been getting at least this many ripe tomatoes each  of the last five days.  Today I noticed that one of my large tomatoes is finally turning red.  We are no longer buying tomatoes nor vegetables.

We have a landline with Telus on which we have a home phone number as well as our business number which has a special ring.  We recently changed credit cards in order to get more travel discounts in the future and I was calling around to change my auto payments via credit card.  The very kind lady at Telus asked if I would mind holding a moment while she reviewed our account.  We have been with Telus for over 35 years and already have a great loyalty price.  She offered to lower it another $14.00 dollars per month, so are now only paying $20.00 per month for our landline.  An annual savings of $168.00 😎

Zoomed right in, this looks like a mini catamaran of sorts.

I still have $50.00 to spend at Superstore re the bread issue rebate.  Money in the bank.  I found a deal a few days ago on Colin’s tinned Maxwell House Suisse Mocha coffee mix that he adds to his coffee.  I bought enough to get him through to next May and saved $26.80 🙂  The dollars are adding up.

For the very first time ever I made eggplant parmigiana.  I had a recipe to make it in a crock pot.  It was very good but I would decrease the cooking time.  I like this recipe as no frying of anything is involved.

We have had so many leftovers but oh so very tasty especially along with my mandarin pasts spinach salad.  We have only paid to eat out twice since we got back from Europe mid June and the one time I had the $100.00 gift vouchers.  More money saved.

Today I bought four one litre bottles of wine, our favorite, on sale and saved $9.00.  Even more amazing is that one of our favorite Okanagan wines ( Peller Estates Proprietor Reserve, Pinot Grigio ) now comes in a  four litre box, perfect for transport to Mexico and it was on sale for $3.00 per box.  So I bought five cases ( four 4 litre boxes in a case ), three for Mexico ( equivalent of 62 bottles ) and two cases for here.  And of course I saved money, $60.00 to be exact.  Mixing these up with the wines I will purchase in the US, we will have a lovely selection over the winter.

Yes there is a theme here, sometimes you have to spend money to save money. To sum it up I saved $239.80 this month alone, with a further $14.00 off our phone bill forever plus I have a $50.00 credit just waiting for me at Superstore.  Then there are all the veggies we are enjoying from our garden.  What a fun few weeks.

Today Colin turned 68 today!

I bought this tree for him for his birthday back in 2011.

Here we are seven years later. It’s enormous.

We had a quiet day at home, a bit of business work, some house cleaning, some computer work and of course some guitar.  I even found a few hours to read my book.  We don’t usually do much for birthdays other that a special dinner out.

However I saw this hand pained wine glass that featured butterflies.  I thought that was rather a perfect gift.  Colin loved it.

We went to the best restaurant in our little area of Lake Country, The Greek House.  Great spanakopita, roasted potatoes, huge salad, tzatziki and pita bread.

Perfect way to celebrate Colin’s special day.

I read this article way back in December and it struck a cord with me.  The article is about why being near water really does make us happier.  I know that for myself and Colin we prefer to be near water.  We don’t have to be in it or on it but just to look at it soothes the need.  Before we got the RV we usually vacationed at least once per year in Hawaii and if we could, we also took a cruise.  Once we got the RV our main purpose was to camp near water, even just a river.  That eventually led us to Mexico, where for many years once we had our adventures crossing Mexico in a southerly direction, on different routes, we stayed in Acapulco on the the ocean for three months or so before heading home each year. This will be our  tenth winter on Isla de la Piedra, just off of Mazatlan. Our last home in Vancouver/Ladner was on a creek and we were only a block from the Fraser River with paths that we walked along.  Once we discovered this place in Kelowna, where we now live, we knew that this was it.  This is our third lot in this park and our second home.  When we moved into our new home here in 2003 we could see the lake and now we are right on it.

Soothing.

To read the article click here.  It is a bit long but easy to skim.  It explains the scientific reasons that we are drawn to lakes, rivers and oceans.  I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I did.  Let me know your thoughts.

Thank you all for your lovely anniversary wishes.  We really appreciated them all.

I had planned a post for yesterday and another for tonight but we have had a hectic 48 hours so I am just going to give you a bit of this and that.

The smoke from the local fires is worse at certain times as you can see.  Where did our mountain view go?  Because of wind today it was better. However the wind simply fueled the fires.  We feel so badly for those who have been evacuated as well as for those who are on evacuation alert.

Frightening times.

We purchased the center tray in Positano on the Amalfi coast, not far from Naples.  This coffee table is new and needed something.  That is the Gaudi inspired piece on the right.

Easier to see the detail and color.

About to head into Kelowna for our anniversary dinner.

The view from our table.  So glad we chose to eat inside rather than outside on the upper deck, it was very hot and the smoke was not pleasant.  That bit of color above ‘The Sails’ piece of art is from the smoke.

The Kelowna Yacht club was in the background.

We were dining at Earls mostly because I had recently found a $100.00 gift card 🙂  Looking at the prices of the individual glasses of wine made it more economical to order a bottle.  We were a night late, turns out that on Tuesdays a bottle of wine is 50% off.  We went with the Lagaria Pinot Grigio from Italy.  Our server wanted us to go with the Blue Mountain Pinot Blanc as it was their most popular.  She very generously brought us each a sample glass of both wines.  We found the latter much too sweet so the Italian wine it was.

Looking at the view helped with the wine prices not to mention the gift card.

These bikes are part of a very new program here in Kelowna.  Dropbike share started mid June with an 18 month commitment.  The bikes rent for a mere $1.00 per hour along with a refundable $50.00 deposit.  In this past month they have become very popular and the program is expanding.  Dropbike started with 300 bikes and is already expanding to 1200.  We saw this type of bike rental system everywhere that we went in Europe.  Why would you buy a bicycle when you can rent one to get to work and then rent another to get back home?  Two dollars per day!!

It was fun watching the outdoor activity between our conversations.

This couple, on their own bikes, had stopped to watch the sun go down behind the mountain.  Romantic I thought.

Veronica our server was incredible and did not rush us at all. I made a point to commend her to the manager before we left and will do so to head office next week.  I have to say that I most surprised that our very expensive bottle of wine was delivered to us in a carafe.  Of course I asked why.  That $44.00 bottle of wine came out of a box!

We were going to order the salmon ( ? wild or not ?? )  but realized that the way Colin BBQs our fresh wild fillets that nothing would even come close.  So we had Fettuccine Alfredo with prawns.  In Mexico they simply call it shrimp fettuccine.  I  think that here they believe that using the word prawn, justifies the price 🙂

We were just pleasantly full, not stuffed. Veronica surprised us with a dessert at her expense ( which we covered as well as the tip ) .  A chocolate & taffy mix with ice cream as well as a rich chocolate cake.  Needless to say we went home stuffed.

It really was the perfect day.  Thank you for sharing it with us.

On a very hot July 18th, much like today, we were married in Vancouver in 1987.

It was a garden wedding.

Such big eyeglasses in those days.

This morning when I went to make the bed after Colin had gone out I found a card with a surprise.  Later I found another homemade card and a surprise.  Yet another surprise found in the coffee drawer.  Now I know why he kept telling me to go make my myself a coffee before he left 😀  I thought that we were not doing gifts as we had just had a very special trip to Europe.

Lucky me.  Apparently we have been married 11,315 days.

By now Colin was home and suggested that I put a bottle of wine in the fridge for later.

Look what I found.

My husband of 31 years is awesome and so very very special.   Thank you for all my surprises and the fabulously homemade cards.   I wondered why the printer kept going last night.

So as I am writing this post I turned to check something on my desk and found this….

Yet another surpirse 🙂  I never even heard him beside me at my desk.  Love the look of this bottle, a 2016 Freudian Sip from Therapy Vineyards.  My type of therapy indeed.  For those that would like to know this is a blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.  At 14.2% alcohol/volume this should be interesting.

Thanks to Colin this has been a fun day.  We are going into Kelowna for a dinner with a view of the lake but as the smoke is getting thicker who knows what type of view we will have.  Regardless we will be having fun.

I might as well get the party started.  Cute label.  Nice wine, smooth, sumptuous with a refreshing finish.  More please.

Happy Anniversary, te amo mi amor!