The windy weather is gone and the water seems to be at peace again. 

For most of our years in L raising our kids we had someone living with us… For seven years we had a nanny. As medical needs required, E’s dad was with us for a few too. Maybe it was the house guests or maybe it was because the bedrooms in our house were all upstairs and I was too lazy to go back up to change once I came down… but …. we have never been in the habit of wandering around the house in the morning in our pj’s.. We are dressed five minutes after we wake up… and we stay that way until the end of our day….Our pj’s as such are not really presentable for the general viewing public.

On these dark cold mornings I am even less inclined to stay in my pj’s. Wooly socks, warm jeans and sweaters are more appealing….. But after today’s hard work I set a new personal record for calling it a day.. At 3:30 I was out of my dirty, wet, seaweed smelling work clothes and back into the comfy attire I save for the privacy of my home.. Only the sea lions and E get to see this stunning ensemble of stretch pants and flannel.

E finished up the pipe project and filled in his trench.. We need a part ordered for his pressure tank before he can do the final hook up.. It isn’t urgent, everything is working fine, just not perfectly.. It was good to get the trench work finished before the frosts.

I shoveled and moved four-wheel barrow loads of burn pile ash. Some of it went to the compost and some of it went to fill in the rocks of my ongoing rockery project. I also raked the maples leaves into the compost. We brought back the sixth and final load of seaweed for the garden from the beach at SoHo.. After we spread it on the remaining bit of garden there was still plenty to layer into the compost bins.

Years ago when E’s Dad was staying with us, his brother came to visit. RP and his wife B are avid gardeners.. As they were leaving, they drove past a townhouse complex at the end of our street and were delighted to find bags and bags of leaves raked and packed into tidy rows stacked at the side of the road waiting for the corporation yard trimming pick up day. They were incredulous that no one wanted that leaf gold.. RP stopped and they crammed every last bag into their SUV to take back to North Vancouver and their banana plants.

There are those who like to lounge in the morning… relaxed in their pj’s. There are those who look at ash, leaves and seaweed and see useless smelly garbage…There are those who are dressed and looking presentable until late into the evening and there are those who think that retiring on a west coast island would be boring with endless days stuck indoors…. There are those…. and then

there is me