East Coast, West Coast

In a few years hubby and I will be moving and retiring to the East Coast, to the gorgeous island of Prince Edward Island..We are restoring an old farmhouse which involves a lot of work but it's a labour of love, my husband might call it something else, he has to do most of the hard labour.

I asked my step-son who joined us on the island this year to dig up some of my plants here in Muskoka.  He and my husband then transported them in wash tubs out to the island..my husband filled the tubs with earth that had broken down from our black plastic composter..I received a funny email from my sister-in-law on the island this weekend, her and her husband keep our grass cut while we are not there..They have been very busy with work on their own property so our grass had gotten quite long before they had time to cut it. So Caron had quite the surprise awaiting her..

Caron informed me I had tomatoes growing, small cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes in a flower bed... some of which she picked and will return to pick more once they ripen..she couldn't believe I'm not even there and we have vegetables growing on our property..as soon as I thought back to my transported plants in the tubs I realized what had happened. It was seeds from the soil in our composter as I have the same thing happen here, tomatoes plants pop up all over my garden and flower beds, even window boxes. Just like the dill plant, once planted it reseeds for years and years. As does my strawberry spinach plant if you leave one alone.

So I was very pleased to know Caron will enjoy tomatoes from our yard that we didn't plan on, a little bonus for all their hard work on our behalf. Her and her husband keep a good eye on our place when we aren't there and oversee the people we hire to put in new windows or do other jobs for us.

Caron and her husband Frank, Jim's brother will also be joining us a week from today for a wedding we are attending in Victoria, British Columbia. My husband's son is getting married outside on the grounds of Victoria University. It will be like going home for my husband as he lived many years in Vancouver B.C. in his early twenties. So he was able to visit Victoria a few times. For me, it will be a brand new experience as I've never been to any of the provinces out West.

We have a rehearsal supper to attend Friday night, the wedding on September 15th and then the rest of the week is ours to explore as we like. I will also be celebrating my birthday out there this year. I know the week will speed by and we won't get to see nearly all we'd like but I know several garden tours are on the agenda. My step-son is an arborist and also very interested in gardens so he has arranged one tour for me he said to Bushart Gardens. He has just returned from working for 6 weeks in London, England in different venues, doing tree work even at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House...It will be exciting to see his hundreds of photos from England, especially as he was there during the Olympics.

My hubby Jim and I are recovering from bad summer colds, which don't seem to want to leave us but we hope we are 100% well by the time we leave. We have had to discourage visits from our granddaughter which has been very disappointing just another reason we want to be well..the spare room bed is totally covered with clothes to be sorted and packed for the wedding... its just a bit harder when we don't know what the weather will be like..as I look at weather reports for Victoria this week, the weather seems quite warm with cooler evenings. Let's hope that continues.

To be honest I'm not looking forward to the five hour plane ride out and back but once we take off I tend to relax and the landing is my favorite part! I find the flight from here to P.E.I. just about perfect, not too long with a nice small airport at the other end. I always feel I could get lost at the airport in Toronto, it overwhelms me..Well I'd better be off and get the ironing board out, brush the cobwebs off it, as I use it about twice a year! Try and resist packing everything I own and remind myself, we only needs clothes for a week not six months..I have a reputation for overpacking so I challenge myself to pare back...of course if I cut back on my husbands clothes I can take more of mine!