Hi. I’m back.  The wild child of summer is finally settling down again.

I know it was very selfish of me to just take off like that. At first I was avoiding telling you some bad/sad news. Then company started checking in and I couldn’t find the time or peace to concentrate.

This house was like a revolving subway turnstile at rush hour.  Every week we had over night visitors.  I loved it.   I have this hosting jig down to a fine science.  First a quick clean through,  launder guest room sheets, bring in lots of local fresh fruits and vegetables, cook some amazing stuff, eat lots, drink lots, explore the wineries and art scene, walk the beach, laugh and enjoy life, wave goodbye and repeat – times ten.  It was all wonderful.

Now I have a situation where so much time and events have passed that I don’t know how I will ever catch up with this blog before moving forward with the current happenings.   I have three blogs in mind of essential stuff you need to know:

• What happened to Molly
• The kitchen renovation
• The new fireplace project

Before we begin here is a quick visual scrapbook of July and August.

My garden was crazy this year. Everything grew well but the zinnias, marigolds; cleome and cosmos were mixed in with the tomatoes.   If you recall I was wheelchair bound at planting time .   I hired two local dog sitters to do the spring work.

I wanted to update you on how my hollyhock garden did this summer. Unbelievable. It should have been breathtaking.  This is what I have after three years, thousands of seeds and approximately sixty plants. One very, very tall specimen.

Libby and I went for many magical walks along the Sandbanks dunes beach

Special summer guests from Haida Gwaii stayed with us for eight days which was enough time to knit me a pair of socks.

Along our property line were wild grapes which I picked, boiled down and made delicious grape juice.

One weekend I held a taste-off.  This whole basket of heritage tomatoes (not my own) was  sampled and the best had their seeds taken for next year’s garden

Right now I am gathering the last of my flower seed heads.  I spread them out on a screen door and wait until they are completely dried.  Over the winter I will store them in paper bags from the liquor store. I don’t tear the heads apart until next spring

Stay tuned.  Over the next few days I have a few stories to tell.