June was Peony season and it did not disappoint this year: 

It was also a month of spotting Pelicans!

We celebrated our sister Pam's birthday:

Chris and Pam *so cute*.

We worked on the basement pub. I bought these beautiful 100 year old Scottish chairs for a song last year. The wood work is stunning, but the seats were outdated and not very comfortable so we reupholstered them. 

So many staples!


We had a little "work-bee" and Stacey dressed accordingly. Voila, they fit the pub perfectly now!

And June, with all the light! This was taken from our back deck past 11 at night.

Chris' birthday was in July and I surprised him with lots of fun things for our downstairs pub including a gift from Alberta Rye - a tin to hang up and glasses with an etching, wishing him a Happy Birthday:

Then we went for dinner with some friends ~

Afterwards, we came back to our place where Pam gave Chris 5 live butterflies for each decade that he's been alive. We released them into the yard, it was such a thoughtful gesture!

That was a gorgeous night too! Look at this photo Pam took when they were leaving!

I did a little tiptoeing through the... err... roses in July :)

My sweet Aunts came up for their annual visit. My Aunt Pat brought Chris a singing wall bass for the pub. 

We had a Sip and See to meet our newest family member, Mac (my neice's baby):

We spent a lot of time in the yard tending to the flowers and enjoying puzzles:

  

I also had a long overdue ensuite renovation this summer, which started in July and didn't finish until September (you know how those things go). I think it was worth it in the end. Here's the before and afters in succession:

In August I went on a fascinating mushroom walk and learnt about the healing powers of many native mushrooms. Did you know that there is a mushroom called Chaga, grown here and is nicknamed, "The King of Mushrooms" because of it's antioxident powers and ability to lower blood pressure? Mushrooms are so cool!

Chris and I enjoyed a few plays at my favourite festival, the Fringe, including this super quirky puppet show: 

We also got all fancied up for our friends' wedding: 

September reminded me of colder weather ahead so I spent as much time outside, soaking in the season of busy birds and fall foilage:

We had another annual Chili cook-off, which was a lot of fun, even though I didn't win. ;) 

And Chris and I went to our first play of the season at the Citadel, A Street Car Named Desire, with dinner first at Bernadette's, an Indigenous wine bar with sharing plates (delicious!)

Here's a real street car (though not sure what it's named) that we enjoyed cruising around in last week:

It's hard to believe that it's October already! Thanks for following along. Hope you are well and staying cozy.