SUCCESS!!!!

He got the job!!!!  Graeme would disappear into his room every day and spend time looking and applying for work.  Its going to be some time before Air Canada is ready to take him back and train him, so what would be the next best thing?  The Zed Hotel.  This hotel is funky and fun, owned by the Farmer family, managed and run by the daughter Mandy.  They also own Accent Inns. 

The Zed is purposely a throwback to the sixties.  It's orange and turquoise, has usable typewriters in the lobby for guests, has available bikes for guests to use, has vw flower hippie vans for shuttling, rotary dial colourful telephones in the rooms and on and on.  He would so fit in to this quirky place!  And he was told yesterday, after two interviews, he has the job!  He will train for two weeks in Victoria on the fifth of July.  They offer accommodation too.  I am so proud of him.

So we took him out for dinner last night to celebrate!  We went down to the Starboard Grill, the only restaurant on the water in this town.  Its a really nice place and we had a fun meal out on their patio looking out over the water.  Pics below.

We received a lovely parcel in the mail from Arnie and Bradley.  Part of it was for Monte for his upcoming birthday, and the rest for me.  Wait til I tell you about that!!!  But Monte first.

They got him bitters!  He was so excited.  Monte has a bar downstairs in the rec room.  It's a very big elaborate mirrored (I think) bar needing stocking.  He has glasses, he has a Jack Daniels decanter, the booze never lasts long enough to be of consequence in this list, and at xmas Arnie and Bradley gave him a complete bar set including an ice bucket.  And yesterday they gave him bitters!  He has really really been wanting bitters, especially mint, and thats what they got him!  And Bradley got him a fillable with water, flair bottle to practice with.  

Monte took the bartenders course quite a while back and part of it was flair.  And not only did he get about 98% on his test, which involved memorizing about 200 cocktails, but he had a 'flair' for flair!  I mean this is the guy that seriously could break the Guinness record for spinning a pillow on one finger and hopping it back and forth from one finger on his right hand to one on his left, never breaking the spin.  So he needs to practice now and give us a show!  Such a great gift!

Now for the other part of the parcel.  I have a giant bag of onions on the deck.  I go through more onions in my kitchen than any other product that comes into this house, (except maybe salt. Oh and butter)  Back in the day I used to buy fifty pound bags of them at Stupid Store for 8 bucks and go right through them.  I see now they are 12 dollars.  The one I have right now is about fifteen pounds or ten..something like that.

So this kitchen implement she sent is an onion dicer!!!!!!!  I think its generally called an Alligator.  And it works like a hot dam!!!  I peel the onion, cut it in half and put it through the Alligator jaws, ziplock the diced onions and freeze them.  Frozen onions are awesome.  Safeway in Kamloops accidentally put a five pound bag of diced onions (it was meant for their deli, not for general sales) in their freezer.  They charged me 11 bucks for it and it was the best thing I ever had in my freezer.  So now I will have a supply of onions all diced up in my freezer..happy!  Thank you Arnie and Bradley!

Yesterday Monte and I spent another afternoon in a nursery.  The day before yesterday I bought a Boston fern!!!  I haven't had a house plant for about seven years.  And then its was a very straggly drucinia, Drew.  It ended up dead...three different parts, three different ways.  And I haven't had a Boston fern, my fave houseplant, since the seventies.  I will have to take a pic of it and post it.  Just what you want to see, right?

Well yesterday I decided to see if I could find another one.  The old couple who lived here the entire life of this house, put up many many hooks in the ceiling.  I want to make use of them!  But I have to say, this town isn't big on hanging house plants.  We went to Nesgaards and ended up buying three gorgeous baskets for the deck and two boxes of strawberries that they grew there on their farm.  Unbelievable!  You forget what a real strawberry tastes like!  Alas...no hanging house plants.

I planted sweet peas in containers all along the deck railing.  I have been anxiously watching for the wee sprouts.  They are finally just beginning to pop up.  I made the big mistake of watching a sweet pea planting and growing youtube, after I planted my peas.  Ach jeez!  I did it all wrong.  Who knew it was so freaking picky planting what to me amounts to a type of extra flowery weed.

  Soak the seeds for overnight, don't just throw them in the ground.  Then start them in the house in little pots, one inch into the soil, keep moist constantly but not too much.  Sure.  Then when they are about three inches high pinch the top something off to encourage spreading growth.  Then stake them so they have something to cling to.  (Oh! Oh!  I planted a bunch in the pot with the tomato plant.)

 And on and on and on.  Crap.  I did soak them, for about five days.  I just didn't get the containers of dirt sooner.  Then I just shoved the seeds into the dirt helter skelter.  They are finally coming up but very erratically.  I really hope they grow.  I have been really looking forward to a wall of sweet peas out there.  I get the feeling that the picture in my head just isn't going to come to fruition.

Well our bbq keeps crapping out.  I think the writing is on the wall with this critter.  So I have decided to start looking for a better one.  The hard part is the building of it.  Sigh.  I need to get it before Graeme leaves.  He is amazing at that sort of thing.  I am pretty lucky.  I have one boy who is so tall that he does all things tall.  I have one boy who can fix anything and can build stuff.  I have one boy who is an amazing conversationalist, feeds my brain.  Every household should have that!!!

Well gotta get my day started.  Its beautiful out there!  Keep safe and healthy!  TTYL

ps.  I just heard a loon!!!  How is that possible?  It must be lost!

THIS IS THE RESTAURANT THAT MAKES THE BEST CANDIED SALMON CHOWDER YOU EVER ATE!!!

CURRIED POUTINE

TUNA BOWL (I ACCIDENTALLY CUT HIS HEAD OFF....CUZ I USED MY PHONE CAMERA....CAN'T SEE IT IN THE DAYLIGHT)

I THINK THIS GROSS HUGE PLANT IS CALLED SOMETHING LIKE GANERA.  I ALWAYS CALLED IT GONERRHEA.

Three of us, all separately at different times, upon looking at the pictures, commented on how fat we are.  Sigh.  (shovel list). Guess which three!!! Hahahahahaha!!!!!