Another summer has come and gone, and we find ourselves back in the UAE a bit before we were ready, to be quite honest! We were able to spend a good amount of time with family, including with Jim and Cathy, who picked us up at the airport and drove us back first to their home and then on to the cottage the next day.

This summer, we tried to stay as close to the cottage as possible. This meant having guests come down …

… and having as many fires as we could.

… at the bunkie on the ocean …

… and up at the cottage …

… and back down at the bunkie …

… with friends …

… and sometimes just by ourselves.

We did get out a few times as well. I did my annual boys trip …

… before heading to Brother Jim’s place for a small family gathering with Barb and friends.

in the 3 season room.

and in the dining room.

We squeezed in a trip to Keji. That will be my next post.

We also went off to see Linda …

… and I popped over to PEI to do the family weekend.

But, as they say, there is no place like your own home and that is where we want to be.

There is nothing better than driving down the last stretch of room to the cottage.

I am not much of a handyman, and actively avoid such work, but our old tapas bar was failing, so I took a few hours to screw together a new bar …

… and then gave it a test run.

I also spent a bit of time just hanging around …

 

… and shooting the s***.

We also took stock of the land and tried to capture what it looked like in 2024.

Scattered throughout the trip, we kept inviting the neighbours over …

… to enjoy some time on the deck …

… and stay in the bunkie.

After a few last fires …

… and a few last glasses,

It was time to make like the birds.