The weather has been really nice up until this morning. Today, it seems as if fall has arrived all at once. It is rainy and blustery. . .I hope my tomatoes make it; they are all still green! I was also hoping to get out for another session of blackberry picking this week. . .we'll have to see what the moisture does to the berries.
Last week Ron and I went ot Vancouver for the Regional Mona Vie conference. We have been taking a hiatus from our business (and as a result haven't been drinking it either). My joints have been really acting up lately and I am really glad to be getting started again. We finally tasted M(mun) (reminiscent of pears) and we learned Mona Vie now has 4 patents and that they have changed the juice formulas to include more fiber and vitamins, etc.
While we were in Vancouver, we were also able to see Alexis, Vienna and Sean for lunch. Vienna is already walking, and is quite shy. Alexis shared my lunch with me while we had a nice chat with Sean (Ron's oldest).
The kids stayed home while Ron and I were gone. They did take and bake pizzas for dinner and played non-stop Wii. They also did a good job of deciphering and following the chore list that was posted for them. Adam worked and the others went to a birthday party for a friend on Saturday afternoon.
I called and got Kaili and Dax`s course line-up today. This semester Kaili will have fashion & design, guitar, Spanish, English and science. Dax`s classes include electronics, drafting, social studies, and Spanish. We got most of the school supplies yesterday, though I`m sure we missed something.
Today`s chore list includes cookie baking for the kids and I think a big pot of beef barley soup for dinner will have to be on mine. I am also hoping to finish a course for St. John Ambulance and do some required Immigration paperwork . . . I just LOVE red tape and bureaucracy!
After Adam left for work, we took one friend home and picked up several more. We went all went berry picking behind the Superstore near our house. After a while there, we picked up a couple more and went to Air Force beach for more berry picking. There are feral rabbits all over and some of them are quite habituated to humans. Some even would eat out of your hand. Robin had one little guy (or girl) climbing into her berry bucket for a nibble. After just over an hour or so we had about 5 gallons of blackberries. 
When we were all through, we ended up with 42 jars of jelly, jam, and pie filling, 3 quarts frozen berries and 1 berry puff pastry thing. The pastry lasted for about 5 minutes (only because it took that long for me to distribute it.). Hopefully the canned stuff will last a bit longer. I hope to get a few more berries next week and do some syrup, freeze more berries and do a pie or two. I think I will let my scratches heal and get the thorns out of my fingers first, though.
We spent most of this week (Tuesday-Saturday) on Gabriola Island visiting with Ron's folks again this week. Adam stayed home and did the bachelor thing, because he had work and a beach party to attend. It was a very relaxing few days. We did have a bit of excitement when a pod of killers passed in front of the place. The neighbors came and told us they were there, then several of us gathered on shore to watch for a good half hour or so. There were also a couple of seals hugging the shoreline at this particular time. 3 or 4 boats drew in for a closer view and a couple of kayaks headed out that way (they got a late start and missed the show, though). The boat people are much braver than I am! We could see that there were several babies and at least one VERY large orca in the pod. 
%2B(Medium).JPG)
