As always, July began with a celebration of Canada! Americans aren't the only ones who can celebrate with hamburgers, hotdogs, apple pie, and beer. It was great to beat the heat by tubing the Cowichan River with friends. Karyn, her girls, and some new friends visited for the first time, making for a wonderful afternoon. Afterwards, Karyn, Kyra, Shaun, and Debbie joined us for dinner on our deck. The following day, we spent the afternoon visiting with Debbie and Shaun at Lily Beach. We made two more trips to Cowichan Bay with our car fully loaded, spending the night in our new home each time. We then made two trips in one day with a borrowed truck - thanks again, Debbie & Shaun! While Lisa attended a work dinner, I enjoyed the new deck for the first time, then prepared perogies for my dinner. Despite stressful, time consuming moving preparations, we fittingly spent time enjoying Debbie and Shaun's company and hospitality on our last weekend living in Honeymoon Bay. After having us over for dinner on Saturday evening, they invited us to join Deb's parents for lunch on Sunday. The food was delicious, but the friendships are even better! Even with all of the prior trips to Cowichan Bay and the extensive preparation, the move took 9 hours with 3 hired movers and the 2 of us working constantly. I'm glad I'm not a mover, as it was exhausting! On our first morning "officially" living in Cowichan Bay, we walked the local paths, enjoying the sights, eating blackberries along the way, and picking a full bag of plums, too. On day two we went on a much longer walk in the morning, and an 8 km bike ride in the evening. It's nice to take breaks from all of the cleaning, unpacking, & organizing required to make our new house feel like home. On day three in Cowichan Bay, we tried out the local tennis court at a small, but busy park. Just four days after moving, we needed to go back to Honeymoon Bay to complete many tasks and errands at our house and around the area: meeting a realtor, meeting an appraiser, clearing out the shed in Mesachie, cleaning the now empty house, removing television wall mounts and mudding the holes in the wall, weeding, taking out and bringing in garbage and recycling bins, taking photos for a listing, changing our address on our driver's licenses, grocery shopping, etc. The following day we hiked Cobble Hill before heading to Rona and Island Bakery. I got all of my clothes unpacked, sorted, and put away! We continue to make progress in converting this house into our home, while Lisa also squeezes in work for CDMS. Lisa began day 6 in Cowichan Bay by cycling a loop route while I visited with some neighbours. We then went to check out the Cobble Hill Farmers' Market, where I was happy to sample some flavoured vodka as well as some selections from a new brewery in Duncan. The rest of the day involved some errands, and continued efforts to unpack and put things away. I added insulation to two small areas in the crawlspace and sprayed a wasps' nest, while Lisa completed some focused, specific cleaning. It continued to be extremely hot, so daily watering was needed. On our evening walk, I indulged in way too many delicious blackberries, and we encountered two surprises: we met Bert from Honeymoon Bay, and we witnessed a water's edge photoshoot featuring five nude women! Lisa began our seventh day in Cowichan Bay by cycling a different loop route past pastoral landscapes, while I continued to organize the garage. Upon her return, she did an amazing job scraping off the baked on food remnants from the stovetop. Lisa had a dinner meeting in Duncan, so I shopped at Home Depot and Walmart, then read at the library. Buying a home and changing communities is always a big decision and results in exciting, yet anxiety filled times. We believe we will be happy in Cowichan Bay, and look forward to making wonderful memories here.
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