Retirement Living at Oceanview

Pickles, Ducks and other Goodies

nancy — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:52:15 +0000

Monday morning. The sun is shining again after a couple of days of rain. The lawns are becoming green instead of that awlful brown and I know they are saying a big thank you for the long drink of water. The flowers are a bit ragged making it hard to find enough for our dining room table. Oh well, we can always put a bowl of vegetables or fruit on the table.

Our wild ducks are starting to come back to the pond. Last year, you may remember we had over 60. It’s such a warm fuzzy feeling each year when the first two ducks appear on the pond. They return in small groups and this morning we counted 8. We have started to feed them but their a bit skiddish and they fly off. They”ll get the hang of it eventually though and like last year and the years before, waddle up to the house for their fool. The residents love to sit in the blue room and try to count them. They move so fast it’s almost impossible but they sure try.

Our cookie lady Pat, brought over some homemade pickles this last week. Actually it was a jar of pickled vegetables she pickedfrom our garden. What a treat, cauliflower, peppers, cucumbers, onions and zucchini. They won’t last long and she has already started another batch. We had some for lunch last week and I can actually say, everyone cleaned their plate. That doesn’t happen too often so a big thanks to Pat.

Speaking of good food, Kaydene one of our nightshift people, decided to bake one night – two coconut cream pies, a chocolate and a yellow cake, and two banana breads. That ought to satisfy anyone’s sweet tooth for a while. Even mine!

Have a good week folks!

Blanching

nancy — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:01:27 +0000

The beans are blanched for about 2 or 3 minutes then quickly cooled under running water or ice. After I blanch string beans, I quickly saute them in olive oil and garlic, add some fresh ground sea salt and pepper. Yummy!

Vegetables Attack Oceanview!

nancy — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:47:02 +0000

Oceanview has been under attack this last week. The vegetables are coming into the kitchen by the bucket full. String beans, lettuce, Swiss chard, even onions. This last week some of our ladies sat themselves down at the dining room table and tackled about four pounds of string beans. It was a sight! Parts of beans were flying all over the place, across the table and onto the floor. The ladies were having a race to see who could get the most finished. One lady was snapping off both ends with her fingers, another was using a cutting board and knife, ( that’s my favourite way) and another was just taking the stings off both ends. The rest of the woman were sitting at the table watching and cheering the contestants on. The beans are now safely confined into baggies in the freezer and waiting for winter. Today it’s the corn. Yep – we are having a real old fashioned corn husking event. You’re all welcome to come and help out!!

Fun Times

nancy — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:43:09 +0000

Camp Qwanoes, a Christian Leadership camp here is Crofton, have started their annual visits to Oceanview. We always look forward to this time of year when about 10 to 15 young people descend on us. What fun it is. The kids, ages between 13 and 15 arrive just after lunch and split up into groups, some going to the garden, others taking residents for walks or playing games, and some others in the kitchen baking chocolate chip cookies. At 3:00 everyone meets in the dining room for tea and the famous hot out of the oven cookies. What a fun time it is! Lots of laughing and smiles all around.

WELCOME BACK CAMP QWANOES!

Sunday Brunch Anyone?

nancy — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:53:56 +0000

Sunday brunch here at Oceanview has become a must do for family and friends of our residents, but no one came this Sunday. And what a shame it was. Krista, the day staff, really out did herself. Stewart’s neice, Trudy, brought a big basket of blueberries for us so Krista made blueberry pancakes from scratch then to top them off she made the most delicious blueberry syrup. The pancakes with the warm blueberry syrup were served with her famous scrambled eggs, good breakfast sausages, and hash browns, (of course the potatoes are from our garden). What a feast it was and what a shame- one of the first Sunday’s we didn’t have company. Actually it worked out ok because there was more for the rest of us. I would suggest though that next week you get your reservations in early. Who knows what delights awaits us then.

Remember Java?

nancy — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:11:20 +0000

I was helping Becky, our early morning day shift lady, cook breakfast this morning when Nora came to join the group already at the table. “Nancy”, she said, “do you remember the song Java, Java, Java?” I said I did but I couldn’t remember the words. Nora started to sing that old jazz tune with such gusto, fingers snapping in rhythm, even moving her hips in the chair. I tried to join in but I was laughing so hard I just couldn’t. The other ladies sitting at the breakfast table all started laughing. Becky appeared on the seen wondering what all the laughing was about and when she saw Nora ‘dancing’ in her chair she went over and hugged her. What a great way to start the day, and of course laughing is great for the digestion. After the deer fisco the morning, Nora got the day back on track.

Not a Good Morning

nancy — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:41:07 +0000

This morning when I arrived at The Oceanview, I was greeted with a note from Kaydene, our lady on night shift. At first light this morning she had looked out the kitchen window and a movement in the vegetable garden caught her eye. Our vegetables were under attact. They took all the strawberries, most of the broccoli, and even took the spinach that Ricus has just planted yesterday. Two days ago, Pat, the lady who brings us cookies and other goodies, spent her morning putting boards up along one side of the fence to prevent such intruders, but they managed to get in anyway. Kaydene ran out to the garden opened the gate and the invaders jumped over the fence like it wasn’t there. The deer discovered our garden last week when the gate was accidentally left open and they have been cleaning it out ever since. They have even eaten the fig leafs off the tree. It’s funny, yesterday I was talking about the cute fawns trying to get food out of the bird feeder and today we are declaring war on them.

It’s man against the beasts and our survival depends on us winning. I’ll keep you posted. . .

A good Morning

nancy — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:55:05 +0000

Yesterday the residents were sitting at the breakfast table ejoying hot out of the oven scones and homemade berry jam when all of a sudden one of the ladies shouted, “look, look out the window”. We all turned to where she was looking and there standing at the bird feeder trying to reach it were two spotted fawns. They were trying to stand on their tip toes to reach the feeder but couldn’t quite figure it out and were tipping over. What a sight. Of course mama was standing guard. They must have seen us as we were moving closer to the window because all of a sudden they looked up and started running back to the forest. What a great way to start the morning.

Our Thanks to Bouma Meats

nancy — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:28:52 +0000

The niece of one of our residents went to Ladysmith to the butcher shop and brought back a whole bag of chicken backs and necks for free and the biggest bag of beef bones complete with lots of meat for under 5 dollars.

Previous to this, we had been using pre-prepared soup bases. Now that is no longer the case. Many thanks to Paul and Owen of Bouma Meats in Ladysmith for supplying beef and chicken bones for our homemade soup stock.

No more packaged stuff for Oceanview! Add this fact to the vegetables and fruits grown in our community gardens and we can safely claim to have the healthiest food possible for all our residents!

Community Garden Opening and Party

nancy — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:50:09 +0000

Foxglove community Gardens

What a wonderful day that was! May 29th, the rain held off, there was lots of food, entertainment, multicultural displays and lots of laughter. Tom Walker, the mayor of North Cowichan was there as well as Councillor Sharon Jackson from the City of Duncan. Lots of neighbours dropped in to say hello, too.

Our residents enjoyed the excitement, too. This was made possible by a partnership with Cowichan Green Community, a wonderful organization that promotes local foods and food security in the Cowichan Valley.

To them we give our heartfelt thanks as well as to everyone who showed up and made it such a wonderful day!