Sunday July 17th to Saturday July 23rd 2022

Sunday morning and we awoke to rainy July morning, and while much of the continent is under extreme heat, we here on Vancouver Island are hoping to reach a high of 20C (68F) today. Mr. Sam has gotten his appetite back, but we are only able to let him have soft food for a few more days, obviously this is not a real hardship for Mr. Sam as the soft food was always his main treat. We decided that no more pain killer shots for Sam, as he seems to making a great recovery from his surgery on Thursday, Miss Laurie is working in the store today, and because of the rain and being a big departure day, she most likely will not be busy, and there is another problem with the POS (point of sale) equipment which has been creating issues for people using credit or debit card and in todays society no one has cash. Of course we have an ATM but it comes with a $5 sur charge on every transaction plus your regular bank charges.

So Mister Sam and I are just hanging out in the coach today, he is wanting to get out to the Clam, but its too rainy today. Although I did fire up the barbeque and cook up a number of items four pork chops, two pounds of breakfast sausage, and of course a hot dog for lunch. Because of working on opposite shifts it is easier to just reheat items for dinner, and when your heating the grill anyway it just makes sense to cook a number of items at the same time. Miss Laurie started some pasta sauce in the slow cooker before she started her shift, as it is cool and damp today it will make for a great dinner tonight.

With these afternoon shifts of mine we have been having dinner at seven o’clock, that time seems to be working out good at this point, I just take a half hour break in between projects, which breaks up my seven hour shift nicely. I still have not perfected the whole napping thing as well as either Mister Sam or Miss Laurie, but I should get three days off this week, so I have a number of things that I need to accomplish on my time off. This afternoons shift was another quiet one, with me spending most of the shift working on projects in the shop in between my lock up procedure and security checks, and I’m back in the coach a few minuets after 11:00, and listen to an audiobook till midnight, at this point I should be safe to hit the hay.

Monday morning and our life is almost back to normal in the coach, Mister Sam is falling back into his routine, although he is still struggling with the feeding arrangements, as he is still on soft food, so his regular food needs to be soaked before being dispensed, this time allotment for soaking is not sitting well with Sam, he has always been able to snack on his hard food when ever he wanted (grazing we called it) so now he is only able to eat as we allow. Miss Laurie is in the office today, again another long day with no break, it seem the only people that get lunch breaks are a select few, I’m sure that there are labour laws against this type of treatment but this is just a short term summer job so not really worth siring things up.

The sky is still overcast but at least its not raining today, and with Mister Sam is wanting to be outside big time, and although I will have to mop some rain water off the Clam floor, I think he will get his wish today, so I will load up the bird feeders and get the floor mopped up and move my blog typing to the Clam. The reality is I’m still working on last weeks blog, and I’m finding for the first time in my life I’m starting to loose track of what day it is, so me putting the day on the different paragraphs in these blogs is more for my convenience than anything else. I have one more afternoon shift today before my three days off, I have been making great progress on the Harry Potter series as I’m on book five now, and while I’m not looking for physical tasks today, I have not heard back from the body shop yet, so today I’m going to call the insurance adjuster to light a fire under some ones butt.

I did sneak down to the river today because as I was finishing last weeks blog, it was lacking a decent photo as the feature picture, and as much as I may seem to be complaining way too much, I have to emphasize this is a beautiful park and is in a beautiful area, and nothing the management does will ever change that, and to just sit by the river for a few minuets today seemed to make the whole stay a little better. And as I get back to the coach and I’m opening the Clam, I notice Mister Sam pacing on the coach’s dash. Still not real warm but I’m in shorts with a thermal shirt as we move into the Clam. The internet is crap today, all RV park internet is crap, so its just comes down to different levels of crap and todays level is some of the worst crap, so I have lost a few paragraphs of the blog because I was not able to save it to the cloud, but after recreating them I have to start doing a manual save after each addition, as it seems to be during the autosave that the issue shows up.

By noon Mister Sam who has been getting real tuna for his lunch is now pacing looking to get back into the coach for his lunch, but as soon as the tuna has been devoured it’s back to the Clam. My insurance adjuster is not in the office today, so I leave a message and send a follow up email, as we look to to the winter we may have a big adventure coming together for this November, so I need to get the toad fixed up before we head south.

The afternoon seemed to fly by, with Mister Sam chasing the birds from window to window watching all the birds at the feeders, and while he gets so excited then just a couple minuets later he is curled up on Laurie’s chair with his eyes closed. This is my last shift for the week and I’m really not looking forward to it, the park is quiet so there are no security issues, and all the maintenance tasks seem to involve painting right now, not one of my favorite tasks, but I will fill an evening best I can doing whatever I have to.

Tuesday and it’s my day off, Miss Laurie has another full day in the office, and I’m in the coach battling with the internet, to get some more information on the new tow-bar we are going to use to tow the toad this fall, the original was damaged in the accident so needs to be replaced anyway and I want to move to what is called a non-binding style. and that term just refers to how it attaches the toad to the coach. The original bar appears to be around nine hundred dollars, and the upgraded one is around one thousand, so no big deal to get the added benefit of the non-binding style.

As I have just suddenly realize that it’s almost noon and I’m still working on the blog, but worse yet I’m still in my PJs, Mister Sam has just wondered by and had a big stretch after his extended morning nap. But now he is wanting to get outside to the Clam and I need to get up and get moving as well. So I just throw on a pair of shorts and that thermal shirt and Sam and I move outside, I’m trying to clean-up the toad, from our time back at LHR it is still covered with droppings from the trees and then add to that the oil bath it received from the blown hydraulic hose on the coach in Washington State it is in serious need of a major clean up, so today will be a washing it and then I will start on the the tree sap and I learnt today that neither mineral spirits nor turpentine work for the tree sap removal.

As Miss Laurie gets done her shift we settle into the Clam for a quiet warm rest before dinner, its taco Tuesday and after catching up on the news we catch up on some YouTube videos, one of our regular watches (Nomadic Fanatic) is doing a blog everyday for the month of July, so we have been getting a real view into his life as opposed to the normal highly edited one, and The Wynn’s have just moved off of their sail boat after six years, so lots of things to get caught up on. And then almost amazingly it is ten o’clock and time for bed.

Wednesday morning and I’m up at 4:45, but had been awake for some time tossing and turning so I just decided to get up. I have been working on a number of blogs over the last month or so. and decided to take the time to finish one and add to a few others. Mister Sam has spent some time on my lap as I continue to peck away on the keyboard, which has been a welcome return to a past normal that I enjoyed most of the winter and has changed because of the afternoon shift hours.

Thursday and we have a trip to Nanaimo scheduled this afternoon, I have an appointment to get my eyes tested this afternoon, similar to back in Ontario, getting an appointment for any medical issue has become a major challenge, but a cancellation at the Costco has made one available, so with any kind of luck I will have some new glasses in early August, I had tried to get some glasses in the States but no one would fill my prescription as it was over two years old, and getting an eye test in the States was not easy either. And we are planning on catching a viewing of “Top Gun Maverick” while in Nanaimo, a movie that we have been waiting to hit the theaters for years now.

The morning was spent kicked back relaxing and as we prepare to head out to Nanaimo, I have heard back from our insurance adjuster, the body shop has not sent her any information yet, somehow I’m not surprised it seems to be an island thing, but she is going to call them and try to get things rolling. And as I’m working on this blog it is very obvious that I do need new glasses as I’m starting to struggle to get the type face big enough on the screen to see the punctuation. We decide to have lunch and head out as Miss Laurie wants to do a little shopping before my appointment.

Walmart, then Costco and I settle in for my eye examination, while Miss Laurie scouts out some deals. I’m not sure whether they will put drops in my eyes to dilate my pupils so I grabbed my clip-on sunglasses, luckily they don’t have to and all went well, I had my most recent pair of glasses with me as well as the second last prescription that I have been wearing for the last number of months. And while my eyes checked out good, with no old fart issues like cataracts or the like, but my prescription has changed, which at least makes me feel better about paying the $160 for the examination. Miss Laurie has been picking out glasses that she likes, so I try on a couple of pair and pick some steel frame glasses that come with a clip-on, I always purchase transition lenses but they don’t work worth a damn when driving, so $499 later I’m 10 to 14 days from being able to see again.

Top Gun Maverick did not disappoint, and I was surprised to see the theater pretty much full after having been released so long ago, but the theaters of today with the power recliners, and the great sound, made it a very enjoyable experience. We picked a 6:20 showing so that it would still be reasonably light for the trip home, and it was. Tim Horton’s has been advertising a peanut butter cheesecake filled donut, not a choice I would pick, but Miss Laurie thought it sounded pretty good so we stopped in Ladysmith to pick up a couple, but apparently to no ones surprise the advertisement was very misleading as Miss Laurie was very disappointed, imagine that someone being disappointed with Tim Horton’s, how unCanadian. But not hard for me to believe, right from their burnt tasting coffee to the mass produced factory donuts, that are re-baked, I’m afraid they have been faltering for years but people still go there, as at one time they were a Canadian company but know its owned by who know.

Friday and we both are back to the grind today, Miss Laurie is working in the gardens for the day and I have the dayshift today that will be made up of opening the clubhouse and pool, followed by the cleaning of campsites, to compete my morning. As I expect to have the expectation there will be a priority project to fill my afternoon, but we will see how that works out after lunch.

So it’s after lunch now and my project this afternoon is to replace a power post on site #37, the original post was a four by six wood post that I think was just being held together by the thickness of the years of green paint. The new post will be two lengths landscaping ties screwed together, making a wide enough post to hold the large electrical panel with a hydro (electric) meter mounded on top on one side and the water supply on the other. the thinking was that the pressure treated ties will stand up to the wet conditions better than painted wood. While not a nice task, it is one that I have become quite adept at since my arrival at the park, and after I finished this task I was left to keep my self busy for the last hour of my shift.

And I did so preparing for my next afternoon task, which would be switching batteries from a golf cart to the Gem car that is in the work shop and has not operated for some time. But with the recent purchase of some battery operated golf carts, now we have enough batteries to test the theory that the Gem just needs new batteries.

Saturday and today is Miss Laurie’s Birthday! And she gets to work in the gardens today, most likely not her first choice as how to spend her birthday, but a better choice than a shift in either the store or the office. I on the other hand now switch to the afternoon shift today, so there will be no taking Laurie out for a birthday dinner today. I’m working on the blog before using the weed wacker to trim the grass and weeds our site, and Mister Sam and I moved to the Clam, I loaded up the feeders to keep Mister Sam occupied, and then grabbed a sweatshirt as we settled into the Clam, July 23rd and I’m sitting outside wearing shorts and a sweatshirt, the clouds are breaking up but it is not nearly as warm as the weather people were suggesting.

Miss Laurie stopped for lunch at noon and as we look ahead to next week it appears that summer may finally show up after all, in fact there is talk of heat warnings into next week. There has already be a fire ban on any fire other than a campfire and the size of the campfire can be no larger than half a meter (20 inches) high and half a meter in size, so now I need a tape measure to check the size of campfires? Miss Laurie ventured back to the gardens and I was preparing for the start of my shift, and I’m heading out as Laurie returns.

Today’s shift will consist of working on the electric GEM car, which is a battery operated vehicle that uses 6 batteries to operate. This is a regular weekend so I’m not expecting any major issues, but there had been a campsite in the group camping area that the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) had to be escorted out of the park, that kind of action normally spreads through the park like wildfire, but apparently not everyone had heard. I had a group near the pool that felt it necessary to climb over the fence for a dip after the pool had closed, now possibly there could have been cocktails involved, but they had jumped out of the pool right in front of their site, so when I stopped at their site I suggested a quick shower could be a good area, since I had just added twenty cups of chemical into the pool and could cause some irritation on tender skin areas … then there was a party group that I needed to visit four times, and eventually had to be evicted a day before the end of their reservation.

So much for a quiet Saturday evening, I did not get a lot accomplished beyond answering complaint calls, and I’m thinking next weekend the long weekend could be a lot of fun! Oh yea the last piece of a annoyance today was that the crappy internet providers system had a total melt down failure, so another summer weekend with a nightmare for the staff created by the internet provider.

Just a week late! And no photos!

Blog 431

Day 1754

Chemainus is a community in the Chemainus Valley on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Founded as an unincorporated logging town in 1858, Chemainus is now famous for its 53 outdoor murals.

Within the Municipality of North Cowichan, no other community boasts as long a history and perhaps as strong an identity as Chemainus. The around 4000 Chemainus residents describe their community as friendly, proud of their history and small town character, where people of all ages and backgrounds are respected. Residents enjoy outdoor recreational opportunities while having regard for the environment, and value a variety of employment opportunities.

Chemainus History

Chemainus, on Vancouver Island’s east shore, is a little town snuggled in between a mountain range and the ocean, isolated with a river cutting it off from the south and a major highway to the north. A town that was born of the hands of labourers, with its only industry failing, Chemainus showed the world its true spirit and determination, and was to achieve fame through the hands of artists.

Such is the condensed recent history of “The Little Town that Did.”© Mining, fishing and forestry were the original industries that gave work to many Chinese who worked in “bull gangs” struggling to move huge lumber planks to the ships in the late 1800’s, and who arrived to work on the trans Canada Railroad later. Japanese, and later, east Indians blended their cultures with Scots and Germans looking for riches in the mines and staying to work in the forests and on fishing boats. And the beautiful Cowichan Valley has been the home of The Original First Nations peoples and their ancestors for countless generations, whose history and lives have been interwoven since those first white settlers came to the area.

When the lands’ natural resources failed to provide all the necessities of life, a new vision for the future evolved with the inventive people of Chemainus. That vision was to encompass the idea of giant outdoor wall murals in a revitalization strategy. This vision has earned Chemainus worldwide fame as a memorable tourist venue. Such is the incredible story of “The Little Town That Did”©, and the “magic” it has created for all who come here.

SCOTCHTOWN HISTORY

Robert Robertson, his wife Janet and sons James and Thomas emigrated from Scotland in 1907. Robert worked in various BC locations, before the family arrived in Chemainus in 1912. Robert worked for the E&N a job he held for 25 years. In 1914 Robert purchased 9 acres of land from Mrs. Charles Bradbury, with the dream of having a chicken farm. The land was a heavily wooded wedge-shaped tract between the old Nanaimo Trail and the old Chemainus Highway. The farm was referred to as ‘Little Scotland”.

In 1918, wind fanned some burning slash, and a wildfire, swept through the area and cleared the land. As the chicken farm didn’t seem to be a successful venture, Mr. Robertson subdivided his property into residential lots, but kept his own home there and started raising honeybees. The first lot was sold to James McKay, (probably who McKay Street was named for). By 1936, there were 19 lots on the original 9 acres. The subdivision was commonly known as Scotch Town.(According to Water Over the Wheel, this appellation was never a very popular one.) Street names came along later and reflected the names of some of the early residents (McKay, Maxwell and of course Robertson)

MACMILLAN-WATERWHEEL PARK:
THEN AND NOW

The area we know today as Waterwheel Park was part of the grounds of the mill manager’s house. The house, built in 1891, was located in the ‘lumber yard’ about where the statue of HR Macmillan stands today. A long tree- lined driveway came off of Mill Street across from St Michael’s Church. The ‘lumber yard’ extended from Mill Street to Cedar Street, down Cedar to Oak and almost down to the water, and was enclosed by a high wooden fence. There was a gate at Mill Street and one on Cedar Street. There were also 2’x2’ openings in the fence, convenient shortcuts for the kids. Inside the fence were piles of lumber, stacked so vehicles could get in to load and unload. Downtown Chemainus was not developed until after WWII, the first buildings to go up after the fence came down were the Johannsen block and the theatre. The manger’s house was torn down in 1952.

When I talk to people who grew up here in the 30’s and 40’s, they always mention the Easter Egg hunt. The manager at the time, Mr. Humbird used to have an Easter Egg hunt on Easter Sunday morning for the children whose parents were associated with the mill. There was one condition; the children had to attend Sunday school before the hunt. The eggs were hidden in the area below the museum.

There were also tennis courts on the grounds, situated about where the Waterwheel is today. The dance to celebrate VL&Mco. 50th anniversary was held on the tennis courts.

The cenotaph was erected in 1920-21 between the Anglican church and the courthouse, and proved to be a bit of a traffic hazard in that location. It now resides in the park. The present Waterwheel is a replica of the original that powered the early mills. This wheel and the first phase of the park were constructed as part of the 1967 Canadian Centennial celebrations.

The new children’s playground area provides our future with entertainment from our past. Children can play in the tall ship, ride the skids and paddle the big canoe, limited only by imagination.

The park contains many of the trees indigenous to Vancouver Island. Some of the trees that have been topped have some of our local wildlife visiting in them.

Abbot’s trail

Charlie Abbot came to Chemainus sometime in the 1970’s and wandered into the forest surrounding the town where he lived until the time of his death in 1989 aged 87 years. Under the the maples and firs of the forest Charlie made a garden covering many acres. Although old and bent with years, he moved rocks and slabs of stone of all sizes, planted wild flowers, made pathways and steps, creating a little paradise of tranquility for all to share. In 1988, a year before his death Charlie whom all knew as the Hermit was honoured by the Pacific Rim Artisans Village who guaranteed him official sanctuary and made him the first resident artist of the Artisan Village.

Chemainus Murals

Like many resource based communities, and communities that are reliant on a single major employer, its future would always be dependent on the fluctuating successes of both employer and environmental resources. British Columbia was in a recession in 1981 as resource revenues fell and affected communities large and small. Chemainus represented the typical mill town whose very existence was a result of the mill itself.

With an impending threat of possible closure of the town’s major employer, Chemainus was faced with that very real possibility of becoming the next ghost town. The fact that the town was off the main highway made it more vulnerable.

Under then BC government of Bill Van der Zalm, community initiative grants were being developed to aid towns in revitalization projects. Our then Mayor, Graham Bruce, was young, enthusiastic and forward-thinking. He presented the concept to the community and they in turn rallied to oversee what was to be the first community to complete a revitalization, and also to become a world-famous example of how even a small town can create substantial change for survival.

The Chemainus Murals have inspired communities throughout the world to explore their roots, to beautify their towns, and instill pride. Using the Chemainus model, some communities have used the mural concept to develop their own revitalization for stronger economic development.