Sunny Day

According to the weather on Sunday, this whole week was to be rainy and cold. We weren't worried as there is always something to do in Victoria.

Sunday night we had a lovely dinner with Tony and Diane at Smugglers Cove, a pub near Cadboro Bay. The dining area is upstairs although there was one big table on the main floor. It was 'game night' so many Vancouver Canucks fans had their eyes glued to the TVs.

We arrived first so chose one of the two reserved tables and began with a pint of Driftwood Farmhand Ale. I had wanted Crooked Coast Amber Ale but they were out of that variety. I didn't like Farmhand at all so Glen drank mine (he said it was very hoppy) while I ordered a Philips Blue Buck, another local brew.

Tony and Diane recommended the pot pies so they ordered two steak and mushroom ones while Glen had steak and kidney. I could smell the kidneys so that was a good sign and Glen declared it as good as my stew. I had portobello mushroom ravioli which was delicious. The portions are huge so bring your appetite if you choose to dine there.

Monday, we hoped to play golf but woke to pouring rain. Glen had a few papers to review so I made a spaghetti sauce and did a laundry. After lunch I suggested we go to the driving range. Little did we know that half of Victoria would be there. Victorians take their Easter weekend seriously and Easter Monday is part of that holiday. We had learned this the previous day when our local mall was closed so I guess we should have anticipated the driving range would be busy. We lucked out, though, and found two stalls together. Part of the problem of having two sets of golf clubs (one here and one in Calgary) is that you must adapt to each set and that takes a bit of time. Practise on the driving range really does help.

After our session hitting balls, we headed around Mt. Doug to have coffee with Diane and Tony. He loaned us a cable to hook up my laptop to the stereo so we could listen to our music since I'd forgotten our iPod. This will also meant that any device (including Glen's phone) can play through our speakers.

Today dawned sunny so we were off to play another round at Mt. Doug. This time we didn't have to wait to tee off and could again play as a couple. Our driving range practise payed off as we both hit beautiful shots off the tee box. I actually bogied the first hole which set the stage for me. On the second hole, I hit the ball onto the green -- a first. The third hole has a long straight fairway and I hammered the ball 150 yards (the blue smudge on the above picture is the 150 yd marker). Since no one was behind us, I could snap of photo to prove I'd done so. Little did I know on the 4th hole, I'd hit at least 165 yards but then I struggled with my fairway shots to pooch that hole.

Glen did well and his putting and reading the green was spot on. I ended up beating him but only by 4 points so we were pretty even. I think that's what I'm taking away from our play this week. It is a game we can enjoy together in the fresh air.

I didn't want to waste such a lovely afternoon inside so we walked down Fort Street to a watch repair shop I had spotted on Saturday. I had brought Glen's old Mickey Mouse watch to use here since the lady who changed the battery in my Birks watch destroyed it. She tried to fix it to no avail so at the last moment, I had to find another watch to wear. The guy at J & J Jewellry & Gifts replaced the battery and I bought a new strap so it doesn't look so tattered. Must say it is nice to have the time on my wrist again. The only problem was the guy didn't take credit cards so we had to pool together what little money we had to pay the bill.