I was asked to be there at 6:45 AM. I dawdled at Starbucks grabbing a morning coffee and I was still at their door at 6:30 AM.

I had agreed to go to Vancouver to have dinner with nine women with whom I started kindergarten, fifty-six years ago. We try to get together once or twice a year.. Sometimes a couple of years pass. But one of us was in town briefly from Australia at the same time as another from the States, so I joined them. Takes a lot for me to leave the island and these women are important to me.

Back on the island Craig was completing the fascia. Precarious work hanging over the edge of the cliff.

and E was  building more  rails, more stairs and a framework to hang the gate to the deck.

There are endless details to finish the project. I am sure we will still be at it for years…

When I came back to the island I brought a new (to me) truck. It was my son’s, not suitable for a baby seat but very suitable as an island vehicle. We barged it over yesterday. Before I put it on the barge, I filled it with different types of soil, manure, mulch and plants. Lots and lots of plant divisions from my friend’s garden. Thank you Marion!!! Any opportunity to bring heavy things over to the island without having to load them on and off the boat its a big bonus. I took full advantage.

Today, I unloaded all the soil and carried it to the rockeries where it is desperately needed. The garden up top was in desperate need of my attention so I was up there weeding at 8 AM.  I can say now the flower growing portion of the garden now looks lovely. The vegetable growing portion is a mess, but there is no rush. I won’t be planting much other than the lettuce and peas which are already planted, until the end of May.

The greenhouse temperature was 40 degrees when I came down to the house mid afternoon with a tired back.

As I was going to be in town seeing my friends, I offered to stay on a little longer to help out with babysitting my granddaughter while her parents went to work. It goes without saying that we find it hard to be so far from her. It’s been twenty-six years since I had a wee baby all to myself and I was pretty excited. I couldn’t wait until 6:45 in the morning. I was knocking on their door at 6:30!!!

Hours and hours of singing songs, reading books, mushy yammy kisses interspersed with walks to the park and spontaneous cuddles. Honestly, I thought I loved my kids as much as a person could love another, and then

I met her.