A Work Weekend on the Island

Justine was off in France for work, so I headed over to Galiano for the weekend to get some work done around the property. There are lots of projects that need to get done.

I took the ferry over on the Friday night to maximize my time on island. It’s great that it’s such an easy trip -I was able to go straight from the office, and avoid all the traffic. I met Bradley, from the property next to us in the ferry line and we chatted for a bit. He was up solo as well and we made some plans to catch up over the weekend.

Leaving the tent up all summer certainly has made things easier for setting up.

There was some nice light at sunset on the Friday night.

But there were some ominous clouds out over the mountains across the Strait of Georgia.

After getting unpacked and sorted out it was a pretty chill evening. I had the little fire table going, had a beverage or two and enjoyed the quiet of the island. Plus I had a busy day ahead.

I was just in the early stages of training for the RBC Gran Fondo in early September, so I had brought my bike with me and needed to do the first of my “long” rides on Saturday morning. This one ended up being quite short compared to some that were to come, but it was a bit of a rough introduction to how hard the hills on Galiano are! After puttering around for a bit Saturday morning, I rode down to the Saturday Market and back home.

My ~40km ride on Saturday morning.

After the ride, I chilled out a bit and recovered. As I sat watching, I noticed that the bird life was a bit more subdued than it has been. There were still a few white-crowned sparrows, and lots of American Goldfinches, but that was about it.

My project for the day was to waterproof the deck on the utility shed. So I pulled everything off it and applied a coat of water sealant. Seemed to work like a charm, but it was going to need a few few days to dry properly.I think it turned out pretty well.

The deck, all properly water sealed.

I met Bradley down at Wild One for dinner, and then headed back to the property for another relaxing evening with a fire.

Saturday night as the sun went down.

Our tent at night.

Sunday my ferry was fairly late, so I had lots of time to get through a few more projects. I had bought a couple of wood racks and assembled them to put behind the shed. After putting them together, I moved a couple of existing wood piles to fill them up.

Project #2 complete!

My third and final project was to start working through the thistles with the weed eater. I had just had a proper blade added to it, and so it was time to start hacking it down.

After working for most of the day, Bradley and I rode up to Dionisio to go for a swim. It was a hot day, a tough ride but the water on the inside part of the island was frigid! While I got in, I certainly didn’t stay in for long. Sadly, it’s a tough ride back as well so I really needed the swim at that point.

After that, it was time to pack up and get ready for the trip home. I headed to the ferry and called it a productive weekend.