OUT AND ABOUT

It's now been a month since we moved in the house.  There is a lot of work involved in setting up a house from scratch.  We seem to have purchased all the furniture etc. for making this house our home.

We had a great day Sunday.  We explored the village of Naramata.  Narmata is on the east side of Okanagan Lake through the city of Penticton and along the "benches" above the lake, about 35 minutes from town.  The village is at the end of the road.

There are several beaches.

This is called Naramata Bay

This one is Manitou Park.  It has a lot of facilities baseball diamond, playground, picnic area etc.

Don't remember the name of this one

There is another one called Three Mile Beach which is clothing optional.  Glad we found that out before we took the grandchildren there.

After exploring for a while we had dinner at the recommended pub in the village.

The food was excellent.  We ate it before I thought to take a picture of it.

After dinner we went to a fundraiser at our friends' church.  The choir has been invited to sing in Carnegie Hall in New York City in November.  They are the only Canadian Choir selected.  They were wonderful.  Church was packed and very, very warm.  

There was a silent auction which we participated in.  A worthy cause and we won three items.

The yard continues to entertain both Doug and I and the cat. Doug built a bird feeder and put it outside the living room windows.  It's like television to Zoe.  The tail goes crazy.  She watches for hours.

A finch on the left, a magpie on the right.

We were not aware that there were quail in the area.  They are not native but they are definitely here.  They "dust" in the gardens.  They seem to be fatter than the Arizona variety.  More to eat I suppose.

Our garden continues to delight us.  The irises are pretty much over but the roses, oh the roses.

This one is blood red.  Perhaps Latin Lady

This week we were going to be  working at replacing the nook in the motor home but it is so hot out we have to wait for cooler weather.

A PROBLEM SOLVED AND FLOWERS, lots and lots of Flowers

For the past few days I have been unable to access this blog.  Blogspot insists that you use gmail accounts.  A long time ago, I decided, for some unknown reason, to have 3 gmail accounts.  It got troublesome so I deleted all but one.  My blogs usually did not ask me to sign in, so when it did the other day, I was signing in with the wrong account.  Anyhow, all's well that ends well.

Just a short blog to show you some of the flowers we have blooming in our garden.  This house has been rented for several years and according to a neighbour different tenants planted different perennials.  Irises spread.  We have so many irises.  Just a few.

And my two favourites:

The irises will be finished soon but have no fear, the roses, the daisies, the lilies are next. 

 By the way, as we have a gazillion plants that we had no idea for the foliage what they are, I found the coolest ap.  It's called Picture This.  You take a picture of the unknown plant and your phone can identify the plant.  Gives you are the information on the plant as well.

SETTLING IN

We have been in the summer home for about 20 days now and are feeling settled.  There is always going to be a lot to do but we do find time to just relax.

Same photo as the header, but in bloom

The gardens are immense in the yard.  Fortunately, Doug loves to garden.  I love to pick flowers and bring them inside.  Of course when the vegetables are ready, I will pick them and bring them inside too.  Some canning may be required, some jam will be made.  I can do that.

This iris is so purple, they are considered black.

Hawthorne tree along the front fence

A patch of yellow irises.

Irises everywhere.  Here along the driveway by the pond.

We are settling into Penticton too.  I got a haircut and a pedicure.  Fantastic job but I am sure that I can find a place a lot less expensive.  I have to keep reminding myself this is not Arizona.  

It may not be Arizona but we do get sunsets over Okanagan Lake.  This is taken from our living room.

The cat!  Well she has settled in too.  She is hilarious.  We have had cats our entire life but never has there been a more entertaining cat.  And vocal.  Her way or the highway.  

Hey, so what, I'm comfortable.

MAIDEN VOYAGE

We took the motor home on its maiden voyage.  Just a little jaunt over the mountains to Monck Park.  The trip is just over 2 hours and I cannot tell you how many times Doug said how much easier it was to drive the Cruiser than the Thor.  It handles easily and has no problem conquering the mountains.

We visited with Donna and Gord, the couple that took over managing the park from us.  We didn't take the car this time so we were chauffeured around.  We went to Merritt for dinner.

Yesterday we both rode the golf cart with Gord and toured the park.  They have had an enormous amount of flooding and are working hard to have the park fully operational for the long weekend coming up.

While touring the park, we both had the opportunity to view this eagle family.  The one on the lower branch would be last year's eaglet and doesn't sit with its parents.  Beautiful, aren't they?

We were invited to Doug's brother and sister-in-laws' for dinner.  We always have fun with them.  It will be nice to be living in the area for a few months and having more visits.

David baked the cake, a pineapple, cherry, mango upside down cake.

Doug has worked very hard to get the vegetable gardens planted.  The plots were all there but had to be cleared.  It's all done and I am excited about having our own vegetables.

This is the perfect climate for gardening and most of the vegetables are up.

The gardens are blooming too.  The irises are amazing and there are literally hundreds.  Purple ones, yellow ones and burgundy ones.

 And we have fruit trees as well; cherries, peaches, apples and apricots.  There are a couple of others that we will just have to wait and see.

We have already developed such an attachment to this house and wish it could be our forever home.

THE MOTOR HOME

Our new-to-us motor home was finally ready on Friday.  We drove the big one, the Thor, to the lot and returned with the smaller one, the Gulfstream BT Cruiser.  What a breeze to drive.

the doorway is hidden before the slide

She has 3 slides and is 30 feet long.  She has all the features of the bigger one and a couple more including built-in vacuam and remote control fans.

From the bedroom to the cab

The living room, hide a bed in their (we added the carpet and the hassock) Notice the huge window above the cab.  This was the feature that sold me.

The nook, I love the sky lights over

The cab, we can even hear each other in the cab.

We kept the new mattress from the Thor

What we lack for storage in the kitchen we make up for in the bedroom.  

The cab is like brand new.  Very low mileage

We are planning a couple of short trips this summer.  Come September, well , we don't plan that far ahead.  

OUR SUMMER HOME

And here we are.  A month ago, we really didn't know which direction we were going.

And now, we have set up in a rented house in Naramata, BC.  We have furnished it and it really feels like home.  I never would have believed I was ready for this change but by the way I am loving it, I guess I was.

We are starting to get ahead on the gardens and the pond.  There are dozens of koi in the pond,

We bought a house-full of furniture, moved it all in ourselves.  Decorating is something I have always loved.  There are a few additions we have to make but we have time.

The kitchen

The dining room

We have this house until September.  We will use the four months to find another place to rent, year to year, or we will find a house/condo to buy in the area.

The living-room

We have traded the 38' Thor for a 30' Gulfstream and will become "part-timers" rather than "full-timers".  I can drive the small one, taking some of that responsibility off Doug.

We feel this house and the gardens and the community are just perfect for us.  We are already planning get-togethers with friends both local and from the coast.  Doug has started a vegetable garden and I am going to plant bedding plants.  Doug can bike the Kettle Valley Railway trail as it is just at the bottom of our road.  I have several projects lined up, including building a headboard for our bed.  I will have the opportunity to try my hand at painting.  My father and his mother before him were very talented that way.  I definitely have lots to paint around here.