It is as hot as it ever gets around here. Last night was unusually sticky, and sleeping outside was really the only option. Even still, a hot wind came up in the night - a warm Squamish - and provided some air movement, but it wasn't much cooler for the breeze.

We've been doing all kinds of summer things tha last week I've been at home. Swimming and eating at the beach, playing music down on the Pier, picking huckleberries (which are not a great crop this year) and trying to stay cool. It's fantastic. Lots of tourists around but only in the Cove and the trails and forests are surprisingly empty. Fire ban has taken effect, so no more burning in the new fire pit and the water ban is sure to follow soon.

We are transforming the outside of our house, with the new woodshed, which is what I am calling the walling in of the understory of the house. We're going to rip the deck off the front and replace it with a fenced in patio and raised beds for growing food. To make it easier to get to we'll add a set of stairs off the front porch. It's al back of the envelope at the moment, but it will completely change the property.

All around us, property is also being changed. The last remaining uncleared lots on Seven Hills have been sold and logging has started. And across the Channel, there are frequent huge explosions from the crews blasting apart Black Mountain to make the Horseshoe Bay by-pass. There is an atrocious scar there now across Eagleridge, and within a year or so four lanes of traffic will be happily winging their way to Whistler.