Off to the Okanagan

What's better than friends with benefits ?

How about friends with cottage .

Once again we have been gifted a week at our friends' cottage in Summerland. and the timing is perfect. After a slow start summer appears to have landed on the west coast with a vengeance and the hot weather means scores of patio diners and late nights with accompanying frustrations. I'm not going to get into the dynamics of doing 350 covers in a restaurant with a kitchen designed to do 150 covers but suffice to say that we all earn our money in the dog days, so the opportunity to slip away for a while is blissful.

Sadly our trip does not coincide with the R's annual stint in Penticton and daughter's BFF is unavailable to join us as she is in horse camp next week so it will just be the three of us, but that's okay. Lots of trips to the beach, maybe some exploring further south in the valley, copious consumption of ice cream and our continuing viewing of the Harry Potter saga will keep us active.

I plan a couple of winery visits but am unlikely to bring much home, the price points on BC wines still don't make sense to me, and I'm hoping the German butcher on highway 97 is still there. Last summer he was talking about closing shop but his organic meats, wild game and house made sausages will be sorely missed if he has, in fact, pulled the plug.

With the cooler summer I'm not sure what will be in season when we arrive, maybe cherries will still be around along with apricots and peaches, regardless there's always lots of fresh fruit on the table along with farm fresh veg and the grill gets used pretty much every night. Grandma and Granddad are in Kelowna so we'll see them a couple of times but mostly it'll just be chill, and that's just fine.