A Thousand Wordsworth

Take a tour of Gastown.

2011-11-06T21:26:00.000-08:00

This is Canada Place. If you take a cruise to Vancouver, your ship will dock along side "the sails" as they are referred to by locals.

Once you leave the cruise ship terminal, the first sites you will see are those of Gastown,
an historic area of down town Vancouver.

This area is full of old time charm and character, With well maintained, old brick buildings, and colourful facades. Streets trimmed with wrought iron barriers.

Mature trees line this street. Even the street lights are victorian style.

All this old time treasure is just steps from the towering buildings of modern day Vancouver. The "space-ship" on top of Harbor Center is actually a revolving restaurant that affords fabulous views of the lower mainland.

Right beside the cruise ship terminal is the train station. This is the hub for the West Coast Express train, ALRT, and Seabus. Convenient access to transportation to other parts of Vancouver and the lower mainland.

Red brick with white plaster trims and embellishments on the outside. The inside of the train station is a really gorgeous old architecture. The detail in here is so pretty.

The arches, coved ceiling, and marble floors will have your head on a swivel.

In Gastown, you will find an abundance of giftshops, where you can stock up on all your Canadiana bling. Get all your souvenir shopping done here. Then enjoy a meal in one of the many wonderful restaurants and cafes.

Cannon Beach, Oregon.

2011-09-13T19:29:00.004-07:00

LOOKING FOR THE HAYSTACK

A gorgeous, warm misty morning on Cannon Beach.

A band of fog hung over the beach, enveloping the view of the ocean and the famous Haystack Rock .
Crashing waves could be heard but not seen. Shadowy people could be barely seen, like ghosts on the sand.
We were told that the rock was a leisurely mile long stroll southward along the beach.

If you did not know that this gigantic rock was out there, lurking in the fog, you would completely miss it.
As we got closer, we could make out a dark shadow on fog. At first I wasn't sure if I was just imagining I could see it , by wishful thinking.
There was something mystical about this pilgrimage to the rock.
Then suddenly, it jumped out right in front of us by a combination of the fog lifting and our closer proximity

Then, we could also see out to sea, finally able to see the crashing waves that moments before could only be heard.

All around it were smaller rocks, making a great place to view tidal pools.

Long Beach, Washington State, USA

2011-09-10T00:50:00.014-07:00

EXHILARATION!

The wind blowing

The surf pounding

My heart beating

Feeling so alive!!!!!

The one wet day on this trip. It wasn't actually rainy so much as very misty. There was such dense moisture in the air, that it would bead up on surfaces, leaving everything feeling wet.

It was so very windy that the flags were flying straight out and the sand was blowing along the beach. Earlier that week there had been a Kite Festival here. I can see why that would be a successful event in these parts with the unrelenting wind.

The town of Long Beach is a nice little touristy village. With brightly coloured shops filled with touristy souvenirs. This was a kite and wind sock shop. We ate a fabulous lunch of Fish n Chips made with rockfish which was delicious. Washed that down with the most incredible fresh chowder I have ever tasted.

On the beach and dunes we ended up having to bundle up as the wind got so strong and was blowing sea spray on us.
We saw pelicans huddling on the sand.

Cars were permitted to drive on the beach. Something that I have never seen where I live.
I wonder how often they get stuck?

The Sitka Spruce Burl Trail

2011-09-07T22:51:00.006-07:00

We have recently returned from our trip down the coast of Washington and Oregon, USA. We left the Vancouver area, headed south of the boarder down the I-5 as far as Tacoma. After crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, we went north on hwy 16 to begin our drive around the Olympic Peninsula.

Our first glimpse of the open Pacific Ocean. No more Juan de Fuca. No more islands to block the view or tame the waves. What a wonderous experience to smell that fresh ocean air and hear those crashing waves! But this location was too high up on the cliffs to even attempt accessing the beach from here!

A short distance to the South, we pulled over again to walk to the beach. A short hike through the Sitka Spruce Burl Trail to Third Beach. I have never seen burls this big! They are thought to be a benign sort of tumor. The cause is not truly known, but is thought to be triggered by something wafting up from the sea on the wind. Perhaps a virus?Once they get too heavy, the burls sometimes fall off, or if they develop on a limb, it will sometimes cause the branch to drop off.
After a short walk, the trail ended at a gorgeous, misty beach!
A bit of a magic forest, if I do say so!

ADELE

2011-08-13T21:08:00.006-07:00

On Tuesday night we saw Adele in Vancouver at the Orpheum. What an amazing show. Originally scheduled for May 31st, but postponed to now, due to her having lost her voice. During that time, her popularity here has skyrocketed. When I first got the tickets in spring, many people I mentioned Adele to, had not heard of her. By the time we were going to the concert, she had become the talk of the town!

Her performance was incredible. Every song was as good or better than the CD.
'Remember Me' brought me to tears, she dedicated it to Amy Winehouse, who went to the same school as her.

The set was lovely with an oriental rug and old fashioned lampshades giving an air of comfy homeyness.

Lyle Robertson, the pianist played beautifully. The whole band was awesome. The only thing I could say surprised me though was that Adele did not introduce the members of the band. Maybe just nerves?
Between songs, her chit chat was so funny, Adele could be a stand up comedian if she ever got tired of singing.

The Orpheum is a gorgeous theater.
With a European style of pained ceilings, alcoves and archways. It really was perfectly suited to Adele's voice. Being her just added to the over all magic of the evening!

An amazing venue. At the rate Adele's success is growing, she will likely be performing in arenas on her next tour.
When she comes back to Vancouver, I'll be first in line for tickets!

Market Day

2011-08-12T10:28:00.007-07:00

Yesterday, Keith and I went into Vancouver to one of our favorite shopping places: Granville Island Public Market. Under the Granville Street Bridge. It is such an interesting place. Once, an industrial area. It has warehouses and former factories that have been remodeled into shops, art galleries, theaters, a church restaurants and market. There is even the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

It makes a fabulous backdrop for photography. Our good friends Len and Carla had their wedding reception down here many years ago.
There are also little old shops that are still as quaint as the day they were built. Some house photographers studios, art and craft suppliers. I know my Grandfather used to shop here for his matts and paints when he was alive.

The market is always brimming with every fresh food imaginable. The seafood section is a bit pongy though!

Fresh fudge made right before your eyes. Congratulations to Keith who resisted buying fudge for the first time in my memory!

Granville Island is on False Creek. Vancouver Yacht Club is right across the water and the inlet is filled with boats of all kinds moored all along the creek. False Creek is not actually a creek but an inlet of the ocean extending up from English Bay.
The city of Vancouver began redeveloping this entire area
in 1986, following Expo 86, if i remember correctly. Prior to that, none of these apartment towers were here. Now the entire false creek is lined with beautiful residential buildings. What a wonderful area to live. A bicycle ride distance to any where downtown, the beach, Stanley Park and this shopping area! It has a real sense of community. The Island also has a canoe club, tennis courts and children's playgrounds and sprinkler-water parks in the summer.

We enjoyed a lunch of curry, honey mustard chicken. I had Yam and spinach salad with mine, and Keith had red potato salad with his. Sooo yummy. We ate it out on the dock which surrounds the market. There is always a talented musician giving a live performance at any time of day. Buskers are interview, trialed and if accepted, they have scheduled time slots. The are several performers throughout the island at any given time. So the atmosphere of fun and relaxation permeates the entire place.

I know I have posted about outings to this place before, and I probably will again. I never get tired of it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Back Yard Bliss

2011-08-09T16:04:00.002-07:00

Summer has finally arrived. It took us two months to get the pool finished. The ugly hole is now an azure oasis. But with the bad weather, we couldn't have used it any sooner. We have never had to wait until August to be swimming. Usually by end of May we start jumping in and making a big splash.

Last night we had some friends over and had a nice BBQ dinner and a swim. Today we are back to clouds! Blagh! One thing though, the cool weather has made for fabulous window boxes. They haven't been drying out to badly. Only watering them every few days!

I love the shed that Keith's dad made for us. The window boxes finish it off perfectly.

Lazy Day

2011-07-18T14:09:00.006-07:00

On Saturday our nieces, Lexie and Tasha were performing in the Gilbert and Sullivan performance of Pirates of Penzance. It was a youth musical put on at the ACT theater. The girls really seemed to enjoy the stage and we enjoyed the show. They all did a wonderful job. Unfortunately we were not permitted to take photos so I have borrowed this picture from the TIMES paper. Lexie is 2nd from the right in brown. Tasha was not in this photo.

See article CLICK here

On Friday, we had an afternoon out at White Rock.

When it is raining here in Maple Ridge, it is quite often dry or even sunny out there. It was fairly overcast most of the day but the sun did come out for a couple of hours. We lay on the beach snoozin and reading.

There were lots of people out crabbing and fishing from the wharf. There were millions of tiny fish under the pier, the water was silver with them all.

I go back to work soon, after a 6 week recovery. I am disappointed in the dreadful weather we have had over my little reprieve. Watch it get sweltering hot the minute I get back to work!!!!

Family, to have or not.

2011-06-13T09:08:00.006-07:00

Life is like a bowl of cherries, but comes along with the pits.

I just read a very sad blog written by A woman with four siblings. For one reason or another she has made a concious decision to exclude her siblings from her family life.
The author of the post has made a recent choice to exclude one of her sisters from her life because she didnt show up to the authors childs preschool graduation. She had told the children she would be at the celebration but then failed to show up. The author said her children were so upset at their aunty not being there. So to avoid having her children dissapointed again she would just not ever have her involved with the children in the future.

I know we sometimes expect the people in our lives to have certain standards and morals. We can be truley dissapointed when important people in our lives fail to live up to our expectations of how they should adequetly fulfull their roles in our families lives.

But is it right to exclude them from our lives because we feel our children should not be exposed to a less than perfect family. Isnt it a better example to our children to love our family members, in spite of their shortcomings?

I can understand that alot of negativity can come with some of these relationships. But in my mind, kids learn more from seeing a family struggle to accept eachother inspite of flaws, than to dismiss a family member if they cant be perfect.

I have people in our family that have caused grief at times and I know, I have been difficult to love at times myself. Sure, it may be easy to say "to hell with them" and walk away from that relationship for good.

I have lost love ones where I had no control over the matter. Death comes and takes them from you, painful, but beyond your control.

But to lose a loved one by choice?

Just to walk away from someone because they can be difficult to be with?

Ive been in that situation a couple of times, and when the option to walk away was considered, it was so heartbreaking that I just couldnt do it.

No matter how trying the people in our lives can be, they are our flesh and blood. The pain that is there sometimes is better than the alternative...

Loss by choice...

calm by exclusion...

a life free of conflict but empty of any sort of real resolution.

In my experience, the rewards gained by struggling though issues brings a greater love and peace than just walking away.

This is just my opinion.

The BEFORE Picture!

2011-06-12T20:43:00.003-07:00

This is Paradise?

We are in the process of giving our pool a face lift.

Its a built in pool, with a soft concrete bottom and aluminium sides. Usually it is all covered with a pretty blue vinyl liner.

We decided to replace the liner this year, as the old one really couldn't be eeked through another summer with any guarantee of it not self destructing on the hottest day of August.

So digging way, way deep down into Keith's pockets, we drag out the several thousand buck needed for the new fitting! Then we had the rainiest spring on record which put the installation behind, as the installers needed a good stretch of reasonable weather to to it. No Problem, we were in to hurry. That was April!

Then they said probably will be good to go in by the May long weekend. We said no problem. We were going to be away that week but would call when we got back. That was three weeks ago!

They called a week later and said "OK, start draining your pool, well be there this week. So it was drained... then they didn't come by for another week.

The trick to these aluminium sides is, they are kept in place by the force of the pool water. So when they finally get here to remove the old liner, one of the side walls had partially buckled in!

So now they had to dig out some of the concrete pool deck, take out the backfill and put a huge steel brace across the pool to get the walls back in place and repair it. That was on Thursday. Haven't seen or heard from these guys since then. Last week I was told they would be filling the pool by Friday. Well its Sunday and that didn't happen. On Thursday they said, well be filling the pool on Monday. Well I'm not holding my breath.

I am looking forward to showing you the AFTER PICTURES in a few days!

Where to sit?

2011-06-07T22:58:00.003-07:00

It's a hard life when your most difficult afternoon task is finding an optimum place to lounge!

Hard work for the queen of the neighbourhood. Its a cats life!

These pictures were all taken within a couple of hours of each other.

Our model is Tabby, our 14 year old catIn the end, it seemed she just wanted to be near me. Wherever I was working, she would find a spot nearby.

Birthday Cake

2011-06-05T20:05:00.002-07:00

My sister Carol is so talented. She makes cakes and this is what she made me for my birthday yesterday! That lily is sculpted from icing and painted with food colouring! I thought it was real!

Not only are her cakes gorgeous, thay actually taste amazing. Often these fancy cakes are all show, but not hers. She had called earlier to wish me happy birthday and was sorry she would not be able to pop by as she had to work. The next thing I knew, she was at the door. SURPRIZE!!! She made be a beautiful card with a lovely poem that she wrote for me. I am so lucky to have her in my life.

RV Holiday

2011-05-25T18:14:00.015-07:00

I am shocked that I haven't posted for so long...Blame it on the Vancouver Canucks. Ive been somewhat preoccupied with the success of our local hockey club. All the games have been televised and I have watched most of them! That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. Our weather has been absolutely deplorable, so I have been glad of our boys going forward into the playoffs and giving me something to focus on during those long rainy evenings!
To bring you up to date...We purchased a 17 year old motor home last November. In spite of the poor weather, we have got away on a couple of weekends. One time in April we camped with snow on the ground (just a dusting) but we loved it.
This past week we had several days away at Lake Chelan in Washington State USA. It is a six hour drive from our home. And no snow this trip! Except for going over the mountains to get there and back.

We took our bikes.

We bought badminton racquets. Or Shuttlecock, as Grandad calls it. Heidi managed to get us all taking a turn rallying the birdie. Grandma quite impressed us with her overhead swing!

We were camping with both my parents and also my Aunty Gail and Uncle Larry. Gail is actually a cousin something removed, but I have always called her Aunty. Here they are beside their lovely camper.

We all contributed to meals and clean ups. Cooking and eating every meal outdoors was marvelous! Even dishes was fun, right Heidi?

The day we arrived was cool and chilly. But the next day it was sunny and the temperature was up in the 80s, we all got a bit of a sunburn the first sunny day. We just aren't used to this kind of sun! It was lovely for the entire week!
We all took a stack of books. And we spent a few hours each day kicking back in camp chairs reading. My dad
in the shade, wearing the hat that he just got in Africa.

Where the lake narrowed to a river and the water was so gorgeous. Glacial green and clear as a bell! This shady spot was in the town of Chelan. A beautifully maintained old town, with rolling hills all the way around it. Heidi wore her Canuck T-shirt and got a lot of cheers as many of the visitors in the town were also from British Columbia. There were a couple of Canuck conference final games while we were there. We were roughing it so much that we watched it on a 10" tv screen. That's living rough!!! We were very glad of the cable hook ups. The only person on the campground who wasn't enjoying the hockey atmosphere was my Dad , who, sadly for him, is not a hockey fan! There were so many BCers there that all the cheering was for the Canucks. Sad for the Americans not to be supporting the Californian team which we have since knocked out of the playoffs!
This carving of a bear was begging to have his picture taken with my two teddy bears.

We went into the US Post Office to get stamps and noticed these marvelous old Post Office Boxes.
The drive home was good, with clear weather most of the way. The only snow was at the side of the road while going through Stephens Pass at an altitude of 4065 ft. As you can see here, the base of the snow pack here was almost as high as this car. At one point we had a seven mile steep decent, where we had the RV transmission in low gear and never touched the brake the whole 7 miles. This rig has us really well impressed. Can't wait for the next trip.

Crecent Beach

2011-02-21T17:58:00.008-08:00

How would you like this view from your front window?

Sea front dream home property. If you have a spare $1,200,000. Laborador not included.

Cottages on the beach.
OHH, This one is nice. If anyone would like to buy it for me, I wouldnt say no!

The seagulls and crows enjoying the feast of tidal goodies.
The weathered old pier at the west end of the beach.

The sign back there says NO SWIMMING strong currents. What better spot for a Swim Club?

Soaked up the sunshine, fresh air and the peaceful vibe. Sooo nice.

That was last weekend....Today, it's snowing!

Weekend in a Flash!

2011-01-22T22:52:00.008-08:00

It was a gray and gloomy weekend. But British Columbians never let a bit of damp stop them from getting out.

FRIDAY

We had a little bit of snow.

We took a drive up the Sea to Sky highway up to Squamish.

By mid afternoon, the snow was melting, and everything got misty.

SATURDAY

Keiths Hockey team had a game. They were leading 5-2 in the final period. Then the visitors came on strong to tie the game and put it to overtime.

After we lost, our guys shake hands and congratulate the winners.

SUNDAY

The gloom persisted into today, but at least the rain held off.

We were able to get out for a visit to Keiths brothers where we had a short walk through the woods to the beach.

There were pocketfulls of pretty shells, pebbles and smooth glass in all sorts of colours to be collected.
Our little neice has a sharp eye for beachcombing.

Immediately upon arrival at home, sorting and cataloging of various treasures took place even before the coat came off.

Then... time to put up the final decorations for big sisters 11th birthday party with the "Movie Theater" theme. Dad and Uncle Keith were carfully supervised in the manufacturing of the cinema curtains.

This cinema has a concession stand with fresh buttered popcorn.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

Sweet things

2011-01-16T18:59:00.004-08:00

Saturday, we went to Grandville Island Public Market in Vancouver.

In the Market, there were so many sweets and yummy fruits for sale.

After lunch, we were overwhelmed chosing a treat.

I picked the sweetest thing, and brought home this yummy thing.

Doesnt he look tastey?

Canucks win Again

2011-01-07T23:17:00.005-08:00

Thank you to the Ridge Meadows Spartans pee wee C3. They had a raffle for Canucks tickets. Keith works with Dino and Scott, both dads of boys on the Spartans. He bought a few tickets and was the lucky winner!

So tonight we were at Rogers Arena for the Canucks 4th game against the Edmonton Oilers this season. We have beat them every game so far this year.

It is amazing to see these superstars so close! Our tickets were in the 9th row! Almost right behind the Canuck bench.

Cory Schnieder was in net tonight.
Luongo was very supportive of the 2nd goalie and during a goal review was leaning over the bench chatting to Cory who came to the bench while Henrick chatted with the ref at center ice.

We won 6-1!!! Canucks are in first place in the whole NHL. This is our 20th game without a regulation loss!

Ryan Kessler Got a hat Trick!

As you can see, Keith did not throw his hat to the ice! Those things are pricey!

Bed time now. Got to work at 7am tomorrow. On the bright side, »I will be home for their back to back game with the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow.

Thanks again Spartans!

Marina del Reichenbach

2011-01-06T13:39:00.007-08:00

New years eve was a gorgeous clear , crisp day. We popped out to the dyke to catch the sunset. This is Northland Marina, just north east of the Pitt River Bridge at the end of Reichenbach road.

No sooner had we stepped onto the dyke that we spotted a hawk perched on a stump eating a fish.

Besides boats, there are also a few old boathouses and cabins all reflected in the rivers mirror suface. A backdrop of the surrounding mountains makes this a picture perfect place.
As the sun begins to go down, it washes everything in a golden glow.

My long time friend, with her incredible smile,that has always given me a glow just to be with her.

What a lovely end to the last day of the year.

I am posting this almost a week later. Our weather turned to grey and wet for the last three days. So I look at these pictures and look forward to clear skies returning soon. On the plus side, we did not get the snow that had been predicted this week.

Christmas at our house.

2010-12-31T11:38:00.004-08:00

Happy Christmas to all of you. I hope everyone had as nice a timeas we did. We are so blessed in so many ways, but having such a huge and wonderful family is the blessing I am most thankful for.

My daughter preparing her gingerbreadmen.

We had a lovely Christmas here. It was our turn to have Keiths side of the family to dinner. We had 22 people for dinner and a couple more came later for dessert.

My son sits back looking contentedly full! Dec 25th was also his 23rd birthday.

My neice and her dad test the 'spoon sticks to the nose" theory.

For the past three years, we have swapped photo album pages instead of gifts. Here my sisters in law look at some of this years contributions.

My brother in Law plays with his children.

Many happy returns to all.

Iona Park

2010-12-31T11:12:00.007-08:00

Yesterday we took my Mum to Vancouver Airport. She is going to be visiting family in England and Scotland for a few weeks.

After we dropped her at the airport, we went walking at Iona Park which is right by the airport. Vancouver airport and this park are right on the ocean, surrounded by water and mountains. Very pretty.

Heidi has twisted her ankle, so she sat on a log while Dad and I explored the beach.

Our beaches tend to get a lot of timber debris washing up on shore. The larger logs make great places to sit and enjoy the view.

Out at the end of the spit there is a little beachcomber company that piles up the lumber and then chips it up and ships it out for other uses. The barges are full of wood chips. Dad stands by the sign whose warning he ignored. Fortunately there was no machinery at work due to the holidays, I guess.

Heidi sits on a log with Coaco, my dads dog. The sign behind her says No Dogs. But like their owner, they dont read signs! Perhaps they dont want the waterfowl disturbing? The dogs were really good though, and stayed close by.

Looking out over the water towards Vancouver Airport. You can see an airport tower on the far left. It has been cold and clear for a few days. Notice that the ocean is starting to ice over, near the shore. This is a fairly sheltered area as it is in an inlet. So no big waves to break it up.

From here we stopped back at the airport along the runway and watched Mums plane take off. It shot off the end of the runway up over the ocean and then banked north towards the mountains. A lovely day for flying.

HAPPY NEW YEARS

Cooling off

2010-11-21T12:31:00.006-08:00

What a difference a few days can make in the weather.
Nov. 2nd we drove into Vancouver. The sun was gleaming off the glass and making mirror images of other buildings nearby.

This is downtown Vancouver, approaching from the Eastside. Th's shot shows some of the older buildings.

We ended up on English Bay, right on the ocean. We walked along, wearing only light sweaters.
The sun was warm and there was no wind. The trees were gorgeous in their fall colours. All along the beach was packed with people enjoying the day.

You will notice the logs on the beach. These often wash up on the shores, and the city lines them up on the sand. They make wonderful seats and windbreaks

This family was having a picnic, and the children even paddled in the water barefoot.

The ships in the distance are waiting to come into port. In the photo above with Keith, there is a peninsula on his left, that is Stanley Park. The port is on the other side of that on Burrard Inlet.

The mild weather lasted until a sew days ago. My lilac tree is actually full of big fat green buds, I guess it thought it was spring.
This picture was taken yesterday evening from the warmth of my kitchen. The Golden Ears , featuring Mt. Blanchard, was glowing gold, then became pink in the evening sun We have suddenly turned quite cold. And have been treated to our first dusting of snow. We are forecast to receive a fair bit more this week , with temperatures getting well below 0.

So there you have it folks, my first blog in a really long time.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2010-07-03T16:07:00.009-07:00

This woman is most definitely crazy.
My sister Cathy, ready to embark on a journey to the old country. Emigrating back to England, single-Handed. Loaded with six enormous sports bags, and a nice assortment of carry on bags, car seats and just enough recklessness to do this with two small, boisterous children, unassisted!
Even the man at the baggage check has a headache from just thinking about it.

'The Spirit of Haida Gwaii' Sculpted by local artist Bill Reid is on display at the airport. This piece of art depicts some of our local wildlife.

Here some of the local wildlife is spotted in full fledged 7 year old boyness.

Both children were put on reins as Cathy did not see how else she would keep check on them both once she was through security without our help. Her destination, Heathrow, is extremely busy and she did not want to chance loosing one of them.

Her cautiousness got her rude remarks from one young lady at the airport, who had the nerve to tell her she was cruel to leash her children. I can't repeat here what response Cathy gave her. She was already stressed out at the thought of what she was undertaking. And to have unneeded criticism at her efforts was not met with grace.

Keith met us after work, mucky and covered in coal. His help with the baggage was very welcome though and he was glad for a little more time to spend with Cathy and the kids.

On the observation level, the sun bouncing off the ocean was almost blinding. How do those pilots do it? Raybans, I suppose.

Matthew has a moment of quiet reflection. No doubt plotting ways to keep Mummy entertained once trapped in the plane for 10 hours!

More wildlife. Its a Mountie Moose!
Nobody can say this airport is short of security.

A Mountie Bear. Looking quite arresting in his red serge.

This Killer Whale must have been on his day off or maybe just working Plain Clothes!

This little moose, just looked sad and wanted a hug.

After hugs all around, they were off through the security gate. The little ones pulling their own little bags.

We waved and blew kisses.

Then we wiped our tears as we turned away to go our own way.

Matthews Birthday Party

2010-07-01T16:27:00.005-07:00

Matthew checks out his birthday cake, made for him by Aunty Carol. Featuring Rubber Duckies made from white chocolate.

He was sung Happy Birthday to. See video clip. He really seemed to enjoy that, however his little sister looked a bit put out not to be center stage herself!

Sheila and Cathy are twins. They pose here with their kiddies.All the cousins except my kids as they were not here at the time.

My sisters, from left to right. Sheila, Cathy, Carol and Me.

Chalk drawing on the patio.
Sheilas kids were brave enough to get in the pool, do notice that Sheila is wearing a coat. We have not had such a dreadful start to summer as long as I can remember.

ATV

2010-06-29T12:33:00.002-07:00

Heidi and her girlfriend

love to go ATVing.

Her friend Stephanie sent these pictures. I am glad they wear their helmets, but I still cant say I like her out there doing this!

Visitors.

2010-06-17T14:34:00.005-07:00

On Tuesday we were invaded by this lovely little family!

My youngest sister and her entourage have come to stay with us for a few weeks.

They are moving back to England, and are spending some time here vefore Cathy and the children go,
James, my Brother in Law, will be leaving this friday to nail down a job, he already a few leads and interviews. He will also be finalizing the purchase of their new home in the south of England.

They are all so photogenic. I am having a great time getting lots of pictures. These were all taken at a couple of our local parks.

http://pameladanz.com

2010-06-15T15:40:00.004-07:00

Why am I grinning? Feeling just a bit chuffed at the moment.

A couple of weeks ago I was approached by a local realtor who was looking for some phography of Maple Ridge to enhance her website. She happened across my blog in her internet search and asked me if she could use some of my images! Now the web site is up and running. You can view it at this link. All the photos at the top of the web page are mine. Fame and fortune are lurking on the horizon yet! http://pameladanz.com/index.html

The Beautiful Game

2010-06-10T12:59:00.004-07:00

With the world cup starting soon, and Canada dismally absent, I will be rooting for England, the country of my birth. I don't claim to be in the know on anything to do with the teams and players. But I do enjoy watching when it comes down to a big tournament like this.
So our first game is against the USA. Which will be fun to watch, being that they are our geographic neighbours. Out of curiosity, I looked up the USA roster and there are only FOUR(4) American team players listed. The rest of the USA world cup team are mostly English! one player even from Bolton Wanderers, my home town team. So am I really that far off when I say it looks like Team England will be virtually playing against itself? Currently Canada only has one team in the Major League Soccer, that's Toronto. However, as of March 2011, Vancouver Whitecaps will be reborn into the MLS. So is there a chance we can send a Canadian team to the world cup in 2014?
For Canadians, CBC will have full coverage of the World Cup. England faces USA on June 12 at 1130 local time.

USA ROSTER
Coach: Bob Bradley
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton/England), Tim Howard (Everton/England)
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes/France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover/Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford/England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start/Norway), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan/Italy), Jonathan Spector (West Ham/England)
Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers/Scotland), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach/Germany), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham/England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers/Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus/Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton/England), Jose Torres (Pachuca/Mexico)
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull/England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca/Mexico)

ENGLAND ROSTER
Coach: Fabio Capello
Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham), Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Defenders: Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)
Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), James Milner (Aston Villa), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Gareth Barry (Manchester City)
Strikers: Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham

Shedy Stuff

2010-05-21T22:46:00.009-07:00

We have been busy little beavers, working on a few improvement projects in our garden. One of them being a new shed. Keith has acquired quite the collection of "junk"/"treasure", depending on how you look at it. Not too pretty, is it? It has accumulated on our patio and has become a full blown eyesore! Hence...the shed!! I will admit though, that the clematis looks fantastic!!

Taking up the old diving board and pool cover roller. (With the help of the dog). The black tarp is the winter cover. It keeps the water clean over winter. It blocks out light so algae cant grow. Keith's Dad was a big help. With Keith being so busy these days, we asked Dad to give us a hand. Dad pre-fabricated the base and walls at his place. Keith then brought them to our place in the utility trailer. Then they assembled it here.

In one day, we had the base and four walls up. Of course the men in the neighbouring homes had to inspect it too. When Keith was up on the roof, I recited the verse from the Bible in Proverbs that goes "It is better for a man to live on the corner of the roof, than to dwell in a home with a nagging wife". They all had a good laugh at that. You dont think they could have overheard me nattering at him occasionally?

The view from inside, looking towards our house. Here comes a little helper! Young Nick came by for an inspection and gave it a thumbs up!
The second day, the roof went on, including facing boards and the windows went in. Heidi and I tar-papered it and painted the trim.

I must admit, I was more than a little nervous to see dad on the ladder at the deep end of the pool. He is in his late seventies, he can't swim and the water is only about 10 degrees c. But I worried needlessly as he was as nimble as a man half his age. I had to include this shot to show off our mountains!

So, at the end of day two, we just have the shingles and gutters to put on, and a few finishing touches.

Don't they deserve to look so proud of themselves? Dad was especially pleased with his craftsman style door. In the morning, I start sorting out the junk pile! Ill post the finished product soon, along with pictures of our other projects. The fun never ends!

Garden of Gethsemane

2010-05-17T07:58:00.004-07:00

On May 2nd, we took a drive out to Surrey and had a little walk around the Garden of Gethsemane Cemetery. It is a beautiful park like, place of rest, and in spite of the rain, was a lovely place to go. This is Kaylas place of rest and it was two years since she passed. I dont need to go here to feel close to her, but it is something I felt drawn to do.

Here some of the living residents patrol the grounds with their young. They probably live here as there is a nice pond in the park and a marsh area abuts onto the rear of the gardens.

It was spring Clean up week. So the graves had been cleared of old potted or artificial plants. And most of the graves had fresh new flowers on them. This section is the Chinese memorial. You may think I am morbid, but I actually like visiting cemeteries. I find them so peaceful and enjoy the reflective mood that comes over me there. I always leave with peace in my heart and a renewed appreciation for the people I have loved my life.

A Magical Mothers Day

2010-05-10T09:58:00.014-07:00

I trust all my lady friends and families had a nice Mothers Day. Although for many it can be a poignant day, for those missing a mother or child who has passed on.

Hopefully you will have enough happy memories to have made the day as sweet as possible. I am thinking especially of Kayla's Mom and also of our Friend and his six children who lost their mother a few months ago.

I have seen many an elderly lady or gent moved to tears on mothers day upon hearing the Flower Talk recited by a young boy in Demolay. So it is a special day of remembrance and appreciation.

I had a lovely Mothers Day. Heidi gave me the gift of a tour in the nearby forest in all its spring time glory.

This is Harry Hooge Park, just a two minute walk from the house. It is behind the local Elementary school. It is a fair size park that is a forested ravine with a small fish bearing creek at the bottom.

The creek eventually empties into the south Alouette River. There are occasional black bears that wander up the ravine, causing the schoolchildren to have to stay in at playtime. We have also seen deer and coyotes. But they all stayed out of sight Today. The wildlife only like to show themselves when I don't have a camera handy!

It has some formal type, easy paths that are open and surrounded my lawns and other well kept paths through the trees.

Some trails though are only accessible at this time of year, especially to the less adventurous types, such as myself.

One of my favorite plants in here is the ferns. They grow here by the hundreds and are so big and lush, I almost expect to see fairies sitting upon the fronds! Just a magical place.

Oh! But what do I see here? A wee fairy perched upon the root of a cedar tree!

During the rainy weather, these steep dirt paths are treacherously slippery. In the the height of summer, the undergrowth and brambles become too dense to get through.

Heidi wanted me to see the masses of wild flowers. We saw buttercups, bleeding hearts, Lady's mantle, forget me nots, some gorgeous fungi.

She also showed be the "butterfly" leaves and several nurse trees.

Nurse trees are fallen trees or rotten stumps that support a seedling such as this baby cedar tree.

Thank you Heidi for this wonderful gift. She also made me a fabulous breakfast and gave me a beautiful peice of driftwood >sculpture" for the garden. David called from Powell River to say hello and Andrew dropped in with a coffee and a gift card for Timmies Coffee Shop!

Have a good week everyone.

Signs that you are in Maple Ridge

2010-04-28T11:50:00.005-07:00

I took a little drive along 128th ave back in February, everything is a lot greener now!. This street is just six blocks south of where I live.

I thought you may enjoy some of the signs posted along the roadside.

This used to be a fairly quiet road, bordered by large acreages and farms. In recent years, it has seen a steady increase in the amount of traffic.

The neighbourhood got together and made these signs in a campaign to slow down traffic and make the road a safer place again.

Some of the signs , of course have been put here by the municipality. This is a common one all over Maple Ridge, also known as Horse Capital of Canada.

I love the rooster in this one!

Deer, horses, cyclists, pedestrians, bears and children, and even buses.....but what about us cows?

Birthdays Galore!

2010-04-27T10:51:00.008-07:00

This weekend, my side of the family got together to celebrate my moms 65th. This is the first time in four and a half years, that all six of us (my parents and all four of us sisters) have been together. Three of us live in Maple Ridge, so we get together alot. Cathy on the left, lives about 400 km away, next door to my parents. Recently, she sold her business, so now she is free to come to visit. The sad news is, she and her husbands and two kids have decided to move back to England. We will miss them, but as my dad is happy to point out... That means some free accomodations when we go to England! He's always looking on the bright side!

My youngest nephew, Matty really loved Grandmas birthday cake, as pink and yellow are his favorite colours! He was good help to grandma in extinguishing the candles.

Here, all the grandchildren that were present, pose for a group shot. Three of them were not here so, its not a complete picture. Andrew in the center with the dog on his knee, is the oldest cousin, at 22 and Emma who is not in this shot, is four, and is the youngest of my parents nine grand kids. This was taken in our downstairs room. The pictures on the wall were painted by my grandfather. Two are copies of Casson watercolours. When he was learning the trade he would copy works he admired, untill he got the knack. The portrait, is of Andrew at about three years old.

We have had a few birthdays this month. A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the birthdays of four men from Keiths side of the family. His dad, Harvey, in the center wearing a brown shirt is 77. Keiths brother in the red stripes is 39, and the two boys standing behind Dad, wearing gray, are our nephews Paul, 16 and Troy,17, who all have their special days within a few days of eachother.

My sister Carol, made both these cakes. The one for the men is a dartboard. I thought that was a great idea. With both Keith and I coming from families with four siblings, It sure makes for lots of family!

Apart from birthdays, we have been busy in our spare time, working on our yard, trying to get it nice for the summmer. We have added a large patio in the back, where it was always muddy. We have started sprucing up the front garden, and we are also putting in another shed, as I am tired of Keiths car parts and spare tires cluttering things up. Ill post some photos when we are done.

Have a great week. Thanks for stopping by.

Lexie Performs

2010-04-22T02:40:00.004-07:00

Last night Lexie performed this song at the schools fundraiser. Raising money for the grade seven grad party. Lexie is only in grade six, but our other niece Tasha will be graduating from grade 7 this year. She has been taking singing lessons for a few weeks and they are really polishing her voice. Sorry about the camera shake, no, there was no earthquake! I promised her I would get this posted tonight so she can have her Mom see it. So mom, what do you think?

My apologies for being so scarce lately. Alls well, just busy busy busy! Also kept at peek internet frustration levels with our net connection issues. But we have been too busy to look into it properly.

Will try to do some updates soon. Untill then, enjoy. If the video doesnt work, you can go to you tube to see it by clicking this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdp25aMaC18

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Flash Mob Dancing in The Streets

2010-02-21T21:23:00.005-08:00

All over town, spontaneous outbursts of Oh Canada can be heard being sung by the crowd. We joined into a singing of our anthem at Robson Square during a medal ceremony that was shown live on a big outdoor screen. Its such an emotional feeling. Great pride in being Canadian.

I came across this on You Tube. Looks like a wonderful time and really gives a true sense of the atmosphere on the streets of Vancouver every night since the Olympics started.

This is called a Flash Mob. It was organized by a group called "Imagine 1 day", a group promoting quality, primary education be supplied to every child in Ethiopia by the year 2020.

Apparently, organizers put this out on line, with online choreography that people could practice at home. They were hoping that they may get about 200 people turn out for the street dance. They got a turn out of approximately 3000!

The idea is, that if we can pull together to to make such a performance so easily, then there are other ways that we can impact the world through fun.

I wish I had known about it, I would have been dancing in the streets myself.

Sky Watch Friday

2010-02-19T09:34:00.006-08:00

Click on this button for other contributions to Sky Friday.

A Window Too High.

See the previous post for more details on the story behind this sculpture.

ABC - Wednesday - E

2010-02-16T17:46:00.016-08:00

E is for ETERNAL REST.

Today I was in New Westminster EXPLORING.

I came across this cemetery that I was ENTIRELY unaware of, until today!

This is the Woodlands Memorial Garden. The cemetery of over 3000 souls who had died while in the care of Woodlands and ESSONDALE Insane Asylums. It was opened in 2007. Most of the people memorialized here, died between 1928 to the 1950's.

I think it is a beautiful memorial, that gives dignity to these people in death, that EVADED them in life. Prior to this redevelopment project, most people weren't even aware that a cemetery existed in what seemed like an overgrown meadow. It was only rediscovered when a group of people trying to research it interviewed some former Woodlands Residents, who knew of it. Most of the grave markers were found stacked in a shed and others were found in a nearby ravine. You can read more about it by clicking on this bold print to link to the landscape Architect's site.

Mounted on these monuments and walls are the original hand cast grave markers. The black granite slabs on the monuments have the names of the dead who's markers were destroyed or missing.

This plaque shows that even as early as 1878, someone felt that the Asylum was a dreadful place.

Now they are memorialized in a peaceful garden, filled with the heady fragrance of spring heather.

This sculpture is called 'Window Too High" and represents the windows that were placed so high in the walls, that the residents would have had difficulty seeing through them.

Click here for a link to a

VIDEO OF THE OPENING DEDICATION. In it, there is a moving performance by a former Woodlands resident.

Seeing the special people amongst the crowd, brought a tear to my eye to see the huge smile on his face at the end of his heartfelt song. Today they are able to be contributing members of society insted of shunned and hidden away out of the public eye.

For other contributions to ABC wednesday click on the button at the top of this page.

ABC Wednesday - D

2010-02-14T21:36:00.005-08:00

I know it is a few DAYS since it was Wednesday. With all the DRAMA of the Olympics, I was DISTRACTED from posting on time . Sorry for the DELAY!

My family has been busy DIGGING. When our DISTRICT is DELUGED with rain, the DRAINS in our neighbourhood are not large enough DIAMETER, so the pipes back up and we get water coming up around the foundation of the house. Usually we manage the excess water with a pump and have been able to redirect it to avoid DAMAGE to the home. But this past summer, we weren't so lucky and it came up the DRAIN DOWNSTAIRS and DAMAGED the flooring. We had industrial fans and DEHUMIDIFIERS going for two weeks to make sure we got all the DAMPNESS DRIED out of the DRYWALL.

On the four streets adjacent to ours, over a DOZEN homes were flooded on the same DAY. Since the city seems DETERMINED to
DENY any responsibility, we DECIDED make some changes on the property that should keep the place DRY from now on.
It was DIRTY work. Keith and the kids DUG out a huge area around our patio and filled it with gravel. Aren't they DEARS? I would have helped them, but someone had to take the photographs! Hey you! What are you leanin' on that shovel for? Ya look like a city worker!
They worked really hard. Raining the whole time. They filled the trash cans and then used the DOLLY to take it to the trailer. With the DIRT being so wet, they were so heavy. The trailer held 12 cans. and they did 4 loads! 48 of DIRT then 48 of gravel! Plus an hours DRIVE between loads to DROP off the DIRT at DADS friends place for his garden.

Aren't I lucky to have such great kids? They were genuinely willing to help their DAD. We must have DONE something right. Hows that for an awesome Valentines DAY gift? I got chocolates too!

For more ABC Wednesday, click on the button at the top of this post.

Olympic 2010 Vancouver

2010-02-13T00:08:00.006-08:00

Today was the opening ceremonies for the winter Olympics in Vancouver. The air in the Lower Mainland today was electric with the spirit of the games. The enthusiasm was tangible. Such an incredible energy to be part of it. The day started with the tragic news of an accident which took the life of a young Georgian athlete who was killed on a training run on the Luge track. Very sad news indeed. Allthough his loss did overshadow the day, Vancouver did find consolation in the Olympic spirit however, and the overall feeling was of pride and celebration.

Unfortunately, Keith had to work. So Heidi and I headed to Vancouver on the sky train without him. There was a sea of people dressed in red to show patriotism to Canada. also many in the Olympic colours of ice blue and lime green, colours that represent the water and the trees of BC.

On the streets of Vancouver, there was a party atmosphere. I am so glad we went down to be part of it. We could have stayed home and watched it from the comfort of our warm couch, but it doesn't compare to being there amongst the crowd.

The Olympic flame has made its way across Canada over the past few months. Today it traced its way throughout the Downtown area of Vancouver. The streets were lined with enthusiastic onlookers. Many carrying Canada flags tied to hockey sticks! Preceding the Olympic torch runner, was this group of flag wavers on a Zamboni Machine.

When the runner turned the corner and came into view, the crowd went wild and a robust cheer went up. Here, the runner, in the white uniform, carries the flame and gives the cheering crown the "thumbs up" gesture! The final destination for the torch was BC Place Stadium, where the opening ceremonies were held. It can be seen at the background, through that next traffic light. The white dome on the stadium, blends into the clouds and doesn't show up well in this photo. But click on the photo to enlarge it and look closely and you can see two people standing on the roof!

Everywhere you looked, there were maple leafs and Canada flags. This was probably the largest one!

The stadium seats 60,000 people. But many people weren't able to get seats in there. Anticipating this, the organizers set up "Live Sites". Places where they had large screens playing the ceremonies. This way, we were able to be part of the crowd to enjoy the festivities amongst other Canadians and many visitors from other countries. The crowd cheered and sang along, as though they were right inside the stadium. It was amazing!!!!!!! The ceremonies were stunning and I was thrilled by the beauty of the show. We stood shivering in the rain and wind, but I would not have missed it for the world. Several times through the day I found myself with a tear in my eyes and my heart filled with pride. As I type this, I am watching the ceremony rerun on tv at 1:25 am! I think I will be able to watch it again and again!

GO CANADA GO.

Opening Day Again?

2010-02-08T19:40:00.003-08:00

We met Andrew at the boat launch. Once again the sun is shining. Just in time for him to go home after he spent two nights in the gloom and rain.

I am just glad he is safe. I cant help worrying about him when he goes off into the woods. He likes camping in minimalist style. Not at a nice safe campsite, but right in the forest. Amongst nature in all its splendor!

Crossing the Golden Ears Bridge this afternoon, it was practically deserted!

I could have walked down the center of the bridge unchallenged by traffic, just as we did on opening day.

50th

2010-02-07T20:06:00.009-08:00

Yesterday, we dropped Andrew off at the lake. He is spending a couple of nights camping and canoeing. It was gorgeous when we dropped him off. Clear and sunny. By night fall it was cloudy and drizzling. He will be enjoying the challenge of being "Survivor Man".
I worry about him being up there with the hungry bears and mountain lions. Not to mention whatever crazy woodsmen may be running around up there. His greatest danger is probably, exposure to the elements. There is just a dusting of snow on the higher hills. But even in summer, the nights by this lake can be cool and damp.
While he is playing in the forest, he missed his uncles 50th Birthday. No wonder Don is smiling, this cake was amazing!
Don is married to Keith's sister, Donna. They have two great kids.

Dons family was there. His mom, 2 sisters and 2 brothers.
We took this opportunity to get some family pictures. This is Keith's Mom and Dad. Brother Norm, Sister Donna and conspicuously absent is the baby of the family, Mike. He had to work today.

We all had to take a second look at dad today as he showed up with his mustache darkened! There were more than one comment about a close resemblance to a certain German Dictator! He thought it made him look younger. By the end of the evening, he had decided to go back to being gray!
There they are, the whole St.Cyr gang. Well most of them.

Happy Birthday Don.

Happy Birthday Dave

2010-02-04T21:04:00.005-08:00

This little fella has a birthday today! Dressed up for a New Years Eve wedding just over a year ago.

Whatever happened to the good old days? The house is eerily quiet without the boys having their band jams here.

Its hard to believe that my littlest baby boy is all of a sudden 21! Can you belive he used to be a clingy mommas boy!

ABC Wednesday - C

2010-02-03T18:11:00.006-08:00

Chrome and Crimson in Canada .
For more ABC Wednesday entries, click the following link. http://www.abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/

Bare sole

2010-01-29T16:43:00.009-08:00

While at the beach this week, we saw quite a few preschool aged children. Some out with parents , others with Grandparents. And others, well sadly for this child, it was difficult to tell who she was with.

At first, we just thought she was with this young family. I wasn't really paying attention. I just thought she made a cute photo in her bright pink sweater and bare feet. Although the air was mild and sunny, reaching 12c, the water and wet sand were still cold enough to make bare feet ache in a few seconds. But when she turned and began walking back along the beach, the family I had assumed she was with, didn't join her or react.

It became apparent at this point that she had wandered away from her family. She was looking around in an obvious effort to spot her people. She seemed calm and unconcerned. She passed us and about a 100 yards further, came up onto the grass where she eventually approached an older woman, perhaps her Grandmother, who looked frantic as she pushed a stroller with a small boy sat in it. Grandma was so upset that she began shouting at the top of her lungs telling her off for not staying near by. All the little girl said was "I came back to get my shoes".
This beach is between a busy train track and an ocean, not the safest place for such a small child to run freely. Not to mention all the people, you just never know when there are perverts and weirdos around! No wonder the Grandma was beside herself. She could hardly chase after her on the sand with a baby in the stroller. This little girl seemed quite taken back by her grandmas upset state. They just don't realize how easily they can come into trouble. Having had a couple of panic attacks when my own little ones wandered off briefly, I can certainly relate to Grandmas consternation! They were probably only separated for 15 minutes at the most. But we all know how quickly things can happen, and it must have seemed like an eternity to her Grandma.
Have your little ones ever given you this kind of fright?

Skywatch

2010-01-29T14:10:00.003-08:00

Sunset on the sea at White Rock,B.C. Just south of Vancouver..

To view more skies around the world, click on the SKYWATCH button above.

ABC Wednesday - B

2010-01-27T12:04:00.003-08:00

Boy feeding the birds at a beach in British Columbia. To view more contributions to ABC Wednesday please click on this link http://www.abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/

Date Day

2010-01-26T19:22:00.007-08:00

"That would be a Rio Tinto train, full of coal, headed to one of our terminals." Yes, even when he is away from work, he cant help but inspect a passing train. At least there aren't any freighters visible on the water here, or they would be up for analysis too. You can take the cargo surveyor out of the terminal but you cant take him out of the man! I guess it is no different than me mentally diagnosing people that we pass!
It's been ages since we had a DATE.
A day out with just the two of us. I find We need to have these time outs, away from everything, in order to reconnect.
The holidays were so full of family, visitors and parties, which is wonderful. We realize how blessed we are to have such a huge close family and so many awesome friends.

Sometimes though, we just need time to be alone. to get back to being 'us'. When we woke up to a beautiful sunny day, we snuck off to White Rock for our date.

There is a mystical feeling to this place. No matter what the weather, the light here is always amazing.

Combine that magical light with the musical sounds of the sea, the lapping of the waves, the cry of the gulls, and you have a little piece of heaven.

Along the pier, there are water valves, for fires I suppose. This pier once burned down years ago. It is a gorgeous promenade and is a well known feature of this community.

Its hard to tell where the sea ends and the sky starts. The peninsula on the left is Washington State, in the USA. The border is just minutes away from here.

Keith is currently on his two week stint as supervisor. A job which he can do a lot of the work from home, thanks to computers, cell phone and fax machines. So although we had escaped the house, he still had to answer the phone when he got calls from work. But I get to see more of him than when he does his two weeks on sight. Whenever he got a call, I just busied myself taking pictures.

We spent hours on the beach, and rounded the day off with dinner at Keith's favorite Greek Restaurant, right on the beach. We wont wait so long for our next day out. We really enjoyed ourselves. I cant wait for another day like this.

This is what it's all about!

2010-01-24T01:52:00.011-08:00

This is what makes it all worth while. An opportunity for us to spend an evening as a family and with friends having a great time in good company.

Not the most enthusiastic Macarena Men you will have seen! A young man does have to maintain ones cool image you know. Click to watch this clip!

Tonight, my nieces, Lexie and Jocelyn were installed into their new positions in their girls group, Jobs Daughters.

The installation of officers is held twice a year. After installation, the real fun starts. It is always a family event. Its so nice to see all ages, from tiny tots to Great Grandparents all together having fun.

Part of the excitement is the dressing up and the dance. We got Lexie a new dress for Christmas. It is her first full formal gown. She really looked like a proper young lady tonight. Her brothers were both along for the fun as well.

Lexie is so tall now at about 5'5", so you can imagine how tall these brothers of hers are now! They grow almost as quickly as their HAIR!

Jocelyn was proudly wearing the poncho that her Grandma knit her for Christmas. Here, she shows off glow in the dark jewelery.

Lexie was very excited about dancing.

Slightly more enthusiastic than her brothers, on the floor she shows off some of her moves! She was a couple of feet above the ground here in a full out jump! Did I say something about a proper young lady? Once the music started, she left and this crazy dancin' chic showed up in her place!

Of in a quieter corner, more serious discussion ensues...."Anyone know how the Canucks did in tonights game?"

Actually, we wasted the Chicago Blackhawks...5-1. WoooHooo!

ABC Wednesday - A

2010-01-20T08:34:00.004-08:00

Alezandro the Abstract Artiste. We met this fellow on our summer holiday in Old Quebec City. We bought one of his colourful pieces which now hangs in our home as a momento of our time there.

See more ABC Wednesday entrees by clicking on this link http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/2010/01/abc-round-6.html

My World Tuesday.

2010-01-18T23:46:00.005-08:00

The past two days have been slightly wet. But for the most part, the past week has looked like this. Misty, wet and muddy! Yuck! No matter how horrible the conditions, the dog is always game for an outing!
With the winter Olympics only a month away, we are hoping it cools down enough for some fresh snow in the mountains.
My World is featured on Tuesdays and is hosted by http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/ Where you can go to see other contributors from all over the world.

Macro Monday

2010-01-18T00:01:00.003-08:00

Its been a real long time since I did a Macro Monday Photo. This was taken in the summer.

I thought I would start getting back into some of the photo theme days again, as a way to get my lazy but out with my camera more often. Obviously by using an old picture for today's submission, I am defeating the purpose! But hey, I just thought this up .

So next is ABC Wednesday. A new round is starting this week, so it makes a good time to get back at it. Hmm now to think of a subject beginning with A!!! Hopefully it wont be a shot of an ARREST! Referring to my last post. Yes they are still out there! OK, time for me to get to bed.

Cops

2010-01-17T23:22:00.003-08:00

Are we under surveillance? There has been a police cruiser parked in front of our house for a few hours. The officer is sat in there with his head lights on. At first I was thinking "Oh my God, He's come to tell me that my husband has been in an accident". Even with that thought in mind, I ran around and straightened up a bit, picked up the shredded dog toy, hung up the coat that was slung over the banister, moved a couple of mugs off the coffee table. If a policeman is gonna come in, I want the place looking presentable.
The doorbell rang, the dog started barking and all the kids came to the hall, while I opened the door. No one was there. The officer was still in his car. They all started laughing at me. Heidi had just rung the back door bell to get us all going.
Then Keith called home to say hi, so I knew he wasn't laying dead on some highway after all! So then what could that police car be doing there?
Jokingly I asked the kids "OK. Who's been up to no good today? You may as well confess, coz the fuzz is here for you now!"
Then Andrew was getting really nervous. He and a buddy went canoing up in the provincial park today. While there, he tested how sharp his axe was by felling a small tree. (Tree huggers not to worry, its a dense forest). He knows it is illegal to cut down trees in the park, but how could they know, nobody else was around at the time the offence was committed! I told him that must be it, they had come for him and did he have any last requests for dinner, before he get hauled off to serve his life sentence.
But still no knock at the door. Then we started watching a movie. Our TV is mounted on the wall. When the curtains are open, the screen is easily seen from outside. So, we provided the coppers with some entertainment anyways. Half way through the film was a bit of a smutty scene. I said "Oh my God, Now the cops are going to think we are watching a porno! We were splitting our sides laughing at the thought. Heidi said, we should shut the curtains. But I said No, that would look too obvious, then we'd really be in trouble. When the movie started it said 18+ and Troy's not 18 yet. Ill be charged with degradation of a minor, and they will haul Troy off to live in a foster home.
About four hours later, Andrews curiosity got the better of him and he went out to the car. "Oh my God, He's not gone out to confess has he?!!!"
He came in and they told him not to worry, it was not anything to do with our household and there was no eminent danger.
So then speculation began about which one of our neighbours could be mixed up in something bad.
Part of me says, we'll be safer sleeping tonight with the RCMP parked at our door. But the nosy side of me will be straining for sounds. Hopefully there won't be any gunshots or car chases in the middle of the night. Keith is on night shift. Hopefully they wont jump him when he gets home all blackened with coal.!!

Birthday Bowl

2010-01-16T23:12:00.012-08:00

This gorgrous cake was specially made for the birthday of one of our little neices.
Her party was held at the bowling alley. Don't you love those high stylin shoes?

After the shoes were laced up, the fun began.

It was ten pin bowling, and those huge bowling balls pose a daunting challenge for the older girls.

But they managed to knock down more than a few pins.

Some had quite good form before they plonked that ball down on the lane!

However, the little sister of our birthday girl needed a hand from Dad to even pick up that big ball.

With his assistance, she got that ball down the lane.

She was quite proud of her performance.

Happy Birthday Young lady!

Girls Day Out

2010-01-10T17:06:00.003-08:00

Today I took my neices Lexie and Natasha on a girls day out. Jocelyn couldnt make it due to other commitments. She missed out on a really fun day!

First we stopped at Timmies for a snack. The girls had matching snacks to go with their matching hoodies!
Then we got together with some of our Jobie friends to make a scrapbook of all the previous terms events.

On our way home we stopped at the side of the road to take photos of this small lake at sunset.

Do these girls look cold? I'll say!

Do they look happy?

Family Portrait

2010-01-08T11:55:00.005-08:00

Belatedly, here is the photo I wanted to post for Christmas and new years.
You know, one of those "From our Family to yours" type of things?
Heidi David
Andrew Keith Me
Binzen

I haven't had a professional family portrait done since Heidi was about 6 months old. That one was done at K Mart where you got 80 prints for $14. I don't like The stiff and posed quality of studio portraits.
So, here we are, stiff and posed in our own backyard.
It is so hard to get everyone together at the same time. We planned this day, then David was suffering with the flu, but he still joined in with his 102 temperature. I had already raked the leaves, so I scattered a few around the chairs for that autumn look! I wanted to have that red tree in the background. I had the camera on a tripod with the timer set. So for the six pictures I took, I was running back and forth to my seat! Also, because I didn't want my glasses on for the photo, I couldn't see how the pictures were turning out! Nor did I notice the wrong ISO. I had it set to 400 on a bright day! That's why our faces are so white! And my hair too! Actually, after this was taken, I made up my mind to put some colour in my hair! The best looking one of the bunch was the dog! He always makes a good photo!
In spite of the gimped up photographer, I love how it turned out and have an 8x10 on the wall!

Lees Last Day

2010-01-07T13:23:00.006-08:00

Yesterday was Lees last full day here.
We went out for a nice stroll in Golden Ears Park, a short drive from home. Here are a few pictures.

Here we are at the park gate for the must have touristy snap!
This next photo is for may dad AKA Outhouse Capital of Canada, to add to his vast collection of Outhouses!
It was a mild day with the sunshine, but still a snapp of cool in the air. We were all bundled in sweaters and gloves, however Lee was fine in a tshirt. Shes a little heater machine!
With all the snow in Great Britain, she is even wondering if she will get home today. Her flight is already delayed four hours. At least when she does arrive to a foot of snow, she wont need to worry about feeling too cold!

2009-12-28T13:16:00.003-08:00

Hello,

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas time. We had a wonderful few days in this family.

My sisters came over a few days ago to do some work on our photo scrapbooks, which we are giving each other for Christmas this year. Carol brought over a belated birthday cake for Heidi. Everyone got sick around Heidi's birthday with that H1N1 so we cancelled Heidi's birthday party. Heidi refused to have any other sort of cake other than one made by her Auntie, who makes amazing cakes! Wouldn't you agree!

Christmas eve we went to the Carol service with Donna, Keith's sister and we had nine kids with us! They all enjoyed the service, then came back to our place for a nice assortment of goodies. With the tree lights on and candles burning, it felt really festive in our home.

Christmas day, started early with Heidi bouncing into our bed announcing that it was time to rise and shine! She may be 19, but shes still a little girl at heart. Besides, she loves Christmas shopping and really enjoys giving us her well thought out gifts! Here I am on the couch, trying to wake up!

She really spoiled everyone! In the afternoon, we had Carol and her family over and also Keith's brother Norm and his kids here for a wonderful ham dinner.

Norm's kids played together with Heidi and Andrew, and had lots of fun trying out Troys new skateboard. Nick got a new bike, but doesn't feel safe yet to ride it as his arm is still in a cast. They got these lovely presents from their Great Aunty Margaret. She also gave Lexie a generous voucher towards a wonderful 3 night stay at the Kelowna Lakeside Grand Hotel with the Jobie's, which she is really looking forward to. We will be wanting to see Aunt Margaret in the new year.

On Boxing day, we went over to Keith Brother, Mike's place for the family get together and a fabulous turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I cant believe I forgot to take my camera! So you will have to take my word for it when I tell you that their home is probably the most gorgeously decorated house in town. Angela sure has the magic touch. It felt so Christmassy. They will be celebrating their 15th anniversary on New Years Eve and Mike has surprised her with tickets for a trip to Hawaii to celebrate.

The weather has been cool and clear, with a heavy overnight fog, which freezes into a very thick frost. So things have been feeling wintry and sparkly through the day. It is supposed to warm us later this week.

My Dad sent us this photo of

my Mum and himself with Cousin Lee, my Aunty Gail and Uncle Larry standing in front of the sign at their city limits. "Oliver wine capital of Canada". They will all be arriving in the new year for my side of the family's Christmas get together. Mum, I love your new coat! Also, our son David and his gal Hillary will be joining us then. They have been with her family in Powell River for the past week. So it ain't over yet.

This afternoon I head back to work for the first of three days. Then off again for four! I took the 26th and 27th as Vacation time. It sure made Christmas so nice to be off work. Keith was off as of Christmas day, but was exhausted as he had worked 10 days straight with some 10 hour shifts in there too. They had booked off a lot of guys with Christmas vacation and he got stuck covering for them. He can take it easier now for a couple of weeks.

She's Here!

2009-11-27T15:59:00.002-08:00

Well its been quite a week.
Tuesday we were shocked to find out that a very dear friend of ours passed away suddenly. Carla was the wife of a childhood friend of ours, Len, Who was the Best Man at our wedding. Actually Keith was also their Best Man. Her passing leaves six young children motherless. What a tragedy. We are still waiting for results of the autopsy to find out WHY? As far as we knew she was perfectly healthy. This loss really puts my other little worries into perspective.
Then the next day, My washer went on the fritz. I had put in a load, then an hour later when I went down to put in the next load I got a nasty surprise. Unfortunately, the stupid thing had continued to fill and overflow all over that end of the basement. basement. It took me six hours to shop vac up all that water. We had to rip out the laminate flooring in Keiths "MAN ROOM" and also he had to cut out the bottom couple of inches of drywall all around. Fortunately his treadmill is on feet so it was okay. So now we have to pay for new flooring and we are getting a new washer. Guess we can consider that our early Christmas presents! But you know, after what happened the day before to Len and Carla, I was'nt even phased by this, Its just a set back but not worth getting upset about. At least we have eachother and thats all that really matters.
On to happier news....
Cousin Lee arrived from Scotland on Wednesday. She will be here for a few weeks. It is the first Christmas since her mom passed away. I am glad she decided to come over to be with us instead of being alone over the holidays. Thankfully my Dad had come down that day so he was able to pick her up from the airport while I finished sucking up the flood waters!
Yesterday we went for a toodle at the river. It was a beautiful misty afternoon. But the sun was out making the forest so magical. It sure was stinky though with the few remaining Salmon washed up on the banks. The water was running high and fast, but had receded a bit since a week ago. Leaving 3 foot long, spawning salmon sometimes 20 feet or more from the waters edge! Watch your step!

We will Remember them

2009-11-11T12:47:00.004-08:00

We went to the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Here I share a few images of the day.

Fallen

2009-11-05T20:14:00.002-08:00

Its been an interesting couple of days to say the least.

Dreadful news out of Texas today about the mass shooting at a US military base. So many people killed and injured so senselessly. What an awful needless tragedy! My heart goes out to the families of those affected and all at the base.

On Tuesday, Our nephew Nick fell off a trampoline and badly broke his left arm. Luckily he's a righty. He had to go in for reconstructive surgery Wednesday. They kept him overnight and he got to come home today. Poor little guy.

Also on Tuesday, Heidi was riding her bike in town, and was hit by a truck coming out of a driveway. Fortunately she wasn't hurt at all. But the driver never gave her his info and of course a kid on their own isn't going to know to ask for that. He didn't even offer to call somebody to come for her. She thankfully seems to be just fine.

We are having a huge storm tonight. Amazingly we still have power. The lights flickered a few times and Heidi and I ran around lighting candles, which so far haven't been needed! We did however, loose the cable TV. We were halfway into the first period of the hockey game when the signal cut out. It is still not back on now, three hours later. I looked online and at least we beat Minnesota 5-2 . Todays wind has ripped down the last of the leaves on our Maple. With our tree so bear, it looks like winter is here.

A Day At The Fair

2009-11-03T19:19:00.009-08:00

Isn't that a pretty September sky? Yes that's right, September! So it took me long enough to post them, eh?

The fairgrounds in Vancouver Is Called the Pacific National Exhibition or as the locals call it...the PNE .There are shows, free concerts, dogshows, childrens venues and farm animal s on display.

The girls gave us lots of goofy faces every time I tried to get a photo, so here, Heidi is all gums. Stephanie is all neck muscles? Both very flattering portraits!!!!

We timed our day at the PNE to coincide with the Johnny Reid concert that was held on the grounds.

Johnny is one of our favorite country artists and he put on a fabulous show at the Global Ampitheater. If you look closely, you can see the moon rising above the stage. He performed some of our favorite songs, including DANCE WITH ME which has a beautiful violin solo and the very poignant THANK YOU. (Click on the bold letters to view that song.)

One of the biggest highlights of the fair has to be PLAYLAND, the amusement park. It features one of the oldest wooden rollercoasters in the world. From up on top of the ferris wheel, the view of Vancouver Harbour is stunning. from the water the eye is drawn up to the ski lights of Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour.

Here Keith looks over one of the shipping terminals where he works.

The grand finale was the beautiful pyrotechnics show of fireworks. Do you have anything like this near you.

Toilet trouble.

2009-11-02T13:50:00.003-08:00

The weekend before last, keith took the kids for a very rainy couple of nights camping. He got home on Sunday and after stowing the camping gear decided(with my persuasion) that his workbench needed reorganizing. No sooner had we taken everything off the shelves, that the incident occured. The upstairs toilet started to leak! I am so glad I am married to a handy guy. Can you think how much it would have cost to get a plumber in on a Sunday evening!!!??

Anyway, he got it taken care of. It was the wax seal, needed replacing, which is weird because the toilet is solid with no rocking at all. I had two bathrooms to disinfect, as the leak went through the floor down the walls of the downstairs bathroom! Yuck! Poor Keith, why do these things seem to happen when you are already tired. We finished with the bathrooms and then put everything back on the workbech shelves nice and organized and finally got to bed after one in the morning.

My dad has been here all week. He dropped my Mum off at the airport on Thursday morning, and will be here until he picks her up on Friday this week. Here are a few pictures of our walk on the dike on the 31st. What a nice day it was.

Two Daves and Llary, thats Binzen in the distance. The red in the feild is blueberry bushes. They go such vivid colours in the fall.

The Eve of All Hallows Eve

2009-10-30T23:45:00.008-07:00

It's a dark and stormy night here in Maple Ridge, on the eve of All Hallows. The wind howls round the eaves and the puddles aren't shallow! (Ok, Im not a poet).

The Pumpkins were polished and washed of their muck.Dave saw the task at hand, exclaiming, "OH SHUCK!
To heck with small knives and wee cutters you fools.What this job requires is ye olde POWER TOOLS!"

With earnest concentration, this Birthday gal drew, a face that when carved and completed , might just say meow.
Disembowling the gourd of its putrid insides,
Caused this boy some queasiness and attracted some flies!
We picked out the seeds, which we will wash and will toast. To offer tommorrow to all hungry ghosts!
What fun they did have carving Jack o Lanterns. And were careful enough to not need interns.
The entire event was overseen by young LLary, The carvers and cutters, made sure not to tary!

Lit up by their candles on the front porch they sits,
To scare away all of the evil Spirits!

The month so far!

2009-10-15T16:27:00.005-07:00

Keith's brother, Mike and his family have recently moved to a wonderful home close to the beach. Possibly an area we would like to go to when we are ready to downsize. Then we have a week of visiting and over this weekend , had 11 people sleeping at our house! Only two were shortstay. And I wonder why I was thinking we should downsize. More about that later though. Back to our visit with the beach bums.

We took Nick and Lexie out to see their cousins at the new place. We had a nice walk to the beach where, with help from Nick, the girls found a few new additions for their ``Beach Glass`` collection.

With the new bridge, it is only a 40 minute drive to their place. Before the Golden Ears bridge, it was near a 90 minute trip!

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving day, with just Keith's brother Norm and his three kids for dinner. Also the little boy from next door. Then Keith`s Mom and Dad, Sister Donna and her kids, came by for dessert. Heidi had made homemade pumpkin pies and lemon almond cookies with cream filling! SOoooo yummy!!!

Then, this past weekend, we celebrated my Dad`s 65th birthday. Mum and Dad spent a few days here and we had a party on Sunday. My sister Carol made him an incredible cake decorated with a space theme, which of course is one of his favorite topics.

It was also my younger twin Sisters, Sheila and Cathy`s birthdays. Cathy couldn't be here, so Sheila got all these cupcakes just for herself!!!

Carol is so talented with anything she puts her mind to. She is trying to get into cake-making as a side line. I think she will do well once word gets out how nice her cakes are.

After cake and presents, the kids got out Pictionary and had a great time playing together.

On a more serious note, a dear friend of mine is recovering from surgery. We were friends from way back in grade 5. Sometimes it takes something to shake us up to remember how much we love someone and to remember to make more time for each other.

Our Daughters best friend lost her Grandad this week. We were at the service today. Heidi has spent all week with Stephanie, for comfort and to help with arrangements. They are such close friends and their relationship reminds me very much of the one I have with my afore mentioned dear friend.

Back to work tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wisdom

2009-10-08T10:37:00.005-07:00

She is recovered now, but it was not pleasant. Heidi had her wisdom teeth removed, all four at once. She had to have it done at an oral sugeons. Her cheeks were so swollen and she was on a liquid diet for almost a week. I must say, she lookes adorable in the ice pack! When she started feeling better she got mad, as she realized she forgot to ask for her extracted teeth! Had she had the job done at out regular dentist, it would have been automatically covered by our dental insurance. But the specialist wants money up front and then we submit the bill to our insurance for compensation. I mad a big mistake not getting at least one of our children to become a dentist! We had to pay $1833. !!!!! Its good to know we get it back, but what about families who cant get that kind of money??? All hail the old Master*Card!

Ive been off work all week. I had a bad cold which has turned into a bad dry cough that kept me awale all last night. Well actually, I was okay untill 2.30 am. But Keith was so tired that he snored none stop. At 230 I finally went to sleep on the couch and thats when the cough decided to keep me company for the rest of the night!

The cat had yet another visit to the vets for an absess. Luckily we cleared it with just antibiotics and hot compresses. This is the third such event in as many months. We have tried keeping him in, but he cries and cries until I just cant stand it. So we are just keeping him in after dinnertime for the night. The thing is, he is a wimp. The cat that picks on him, comes onto our property and bullies him while he cowers and doesnt even try to defend himself.

On a possitive note... I got accepted into a four day education workshop for work. There were only 30 seats in the entire health region and I had to apply for the spot. That will be in November, should be good!

Did I mention that our house was flooded in August? The same week, David and his GF suite flooded also. Ours was just water but they were swamped with sewage back up! So they evacuated into our house. His room right now is a maze of stacked Rubbermaid totes. Finally, lastweek, Our basement was fully restored. We ended up having to replace the flooring. This all happened because the drains could not handle the ammount of rainfall we got one evening. It was enough to blast the one tonne grate off the end of the culvert and shoot it eight feet away!

By the way, did I mention that Heidi got her learners licence? She is doing really well! But they cant take their road test untill one year has passed. When I was learning, you only needed two weeks practice!
Andrew has started attending a youth church program. Of course he has an ulterior motive... There is a girl there that he likes! She is a long time friend, so its nice that they are back in touch. She is studying to be a missionary, so I hope he doesnt get any funny ideas! It would be just like him to go off to Somalia or somewhere to help solve the worlds problems!

Happy Birthday Dad.

2009-09-15T12:06:00.003-07:00

Today is my dad's 65th birthday.

This is dad and myself on the beach at Blackpool, which is near were we used to live in Lancashire, England. I was only a couple weeks old. He was an aging 20 years old.

If you wanted to send him wishes, go to his blog at Outhouse Capital of Canada. We will be having a party next time he comes to visit.

Never too young!

2009-09-13T13:11:00.009-07:00

On Saturday afternoon Keith was tinkering with the truck, which happens to be the same model that both the boys drive. Before you know it, they all were leaning under the hood.

There is something magical and bonding when a man is teaching a skill to his sons. By doing so, he is sending the unspoken message that says, “You are worthy of my time and attention. Lets be men together.”

Children are never too young to help out in one way or another. In this photo, Andrew is not quite a year and he loved to sweep even though he was still in his walking frame! Too often I have come across families where the children are shielded from chores and hard work.
Some parents seem to believe that childhood is all about playing with toys and just “enjoying being a kid”. I feel sorry for those kids. They may be happy go lucky kids, but what age do you suddenly start to try and teach them some life skills? Whether it be house work such as sweeping or dishes or something more exciting such as building on a new porch roof or a deck around the pool.
If you don’t teach them to help out in what little way they can as small tikes, doesn’t it come as a shock to them when suddenly they are expected to start helping out at say 12 years old?
By helping with jobs around the house they learned many skills that will they carry with them and use throughout their lives.

They have learned a good work ethic and to this day are always willing to lend a hand.

Although it doesn't show in this picture of David, they actually really enjoyed this work and had a strong sense of pride and accomplishment.

Spoon

2009-09-07T12:00:00.010-07:00

I can't believe it has been a month since my last post.
When we retuned home from our cross Canada vacation there was a parcel waiting for us from Herman. He had seen in one of our holiday posts, that we had visited Banff, in the Rockies. Seeing that reminded him of an old story. I would like him to tell the story, as it is his to tell. But in brief, His Grandmother in Holland, was given this spoon from Banff by a Canadian soldier at the end of the war. That was almost 65 yers ago!
She in turn left the spoon to her beloved grandson Herman. After reading about our visit to Banff, Herman sent the spoon to Keith and I to enjoy. We were both deeply touched to be sent something so precious. I know that for myself, how dearly I cherish the items that I have that once belonged to my grandmother. Such a wonderful story to accompany this spoon. I wonder if that young soldier is still alive?

Thank you Herman for this generous gift. Such a special momento of our holiday and of your friendship!

Old Montreal

2009-08-05T17:58:00.005-07:00

It is gorgeous here.
Walking through the old part of the city of Montreal, you could almost imagine you are in Europe.
Horse drawn carriages trot tourists through town. They make a pretty accent but I always feel sorry for these poor animals to have their hooves clatter on hard pavement all day.

Recognize this place? Even fast food is housed in glory. But who would eat at this place when there are so many wonderful cafes at such good prices? Maybe the ones with children who don't wish to try anything different?

Jacques Cartier Place was a pedestrian only area filled with cafes, terraces, entertainers and artists. Off the plaza is a street called Rue du Artistes where we bought a really interesting painting to take home.
There are many people out on all the streets here. The metro system is very good. Also there are bike rental stands all over the city. You can pay $5.00 for the day and pick up and drop off bikes at many locations through out the day , up to 26 times a day.

There are several hundred churches in Montreal. Many of them Cathedrals and Basilicas. Such magnificent architecture. There seemed to be soup kitchens and shelters in some of them.

The shops in Old Montreal looked very quaint on the outside, but most of them sold the same standard Canadiana souvenirs. This little plaza was selling original handmade jewelry, which was nice. It made me think of my sister who is making beautiful jewelry back home.

On the north of our hotel was St Josephs Basilica on Mount Royale. We hope to explore this place more when we get back from Quebec.

This smoking fountain is in the financial district. If you come here in the evening you will see fire come through the water too. However, we (I), like to be back to the hotel before dark.

Next stop Quebec City!

Happy 100th Birthday

2009-08-04T19:28:00.010-07:00

Hailing from Esterhazy in Saskatchewan. One of those "blink and you miss it" towns.
The main event of this past weekend was Keiths family reunion. Here are the few of us who came out from B.C. to celebrate the 100th birthday party of Great Auntie Jessie. Here are Keiths mom and her twin Valerie, and their older siblings Stewart and Margaret, also twins. These are the children of Aunty Jessie's husbands brother Alfred (Keiths grandfather). Got that? and of course some of us younger family here too. In all there were almost 200 family gathered here. This lady is amazing. She was out all weekend at all the reunion festivities.
This was taken at her birthday tea. On either side of her are her younger sisters. Both well into their nineties. Of course my two little nieces in behind her.

At her birthday dance, she even got up and did a couple of dances. Lexi and Natasha looked like young ladies in their dresses. Posing here with Keiths cousin Amy.

The MC/DJ was great and he got every one up on the floor. He didnt forget to make it fun for the kids too. This little cousin danced with Aunties 100 Balloon.
This handsome fella saved the last dance for me!

The jive was a lot of fun!

Lexi and Natasha had a great time dancing.

Wide Open Spaces

2009-08-03T18:32:00.005-07:00

This is a wildlife overpass. A safe place for animals to cross the trans Canada Highway as it heads towards Canmore Alberta. There is a high fence all along the roadside to deter them from running over the road. If you look closely, you will see the overpass is covered in grass and trees. No cars allowed.

After a few days in the magnificent Rocky Mountains, we headed east into a whole different world.

Onto the open Canadian Prairies. "The Breadbasket of the World". Wheat fields as far as the eye can see for hundreds of miles. Here a cargo train heads south.

This is the most beautiful place I have ever been. It is impossible to capture in photos, the vastness of the plains. It is so quiet out there. Just the sound of grasshoppers, birds, and the wind! Sorry this video colour is not quite right.

Next stop...Family Reunion.

Rocky Mountain High

2009-07-30T06:29:00.018-07:00

Keith perches on a boulder at Lake Louise . I still cant get over the blue of the water here.

Lake Louise boat shack. We should have brought our own canoe. They were renting these out for $40 an hour!!!!
The weather there is very changeable. It can be hot and sunny one minute then pouring down and chilly a moment later. Which makes for wonderful rainbows!

The dining room at the Lake Louise Chateau. Enormous arched windows framed the view of the lake and glacier.. Our budget didn't allow for a meal in here though. We ate our breakfast at the Husky gas station restaurant at the bottom of the road, which still had a nice view of the glacier.
This area is well known for grizzly sightings. As this sign says, it is against the law to hike in this area in groups of less than four. Being that we were only two, we made sure to stay close to other hikers. We did not see a grizzly bear though! If you really want to see bears, go visit my friend Deanna who lives in Port Coquitlam, just a 20 minute drive from my house. She sees bears all the time near her place. Black bears.

Holiday in Banff

2009-07-29T00:07:00.005-07:00

This is Lake Moraine, near where we stayed in Banff Alberta. The water really is this blue. It has run right off the glaciers.
Our first day, we saw a baby moose in the woods. Awww. We decided it did'nt like having its photo taken when it started stomping its foot!!!

Chairs on a patio made from tree branches!

The air is so fresh. you can almost taste the oxygen! I think breathing was my favorite pastime here!

Glacial run off combined with a short burst of rain made for a raise in the lakes water level. Here at the mouth of the creek where it joins the lake. Some of the cleanest water in the world!

Patched up

2009-07-13T20:37:00.005-07:00

Dad, as you may know, fell off a ladder and broke his arm quite badly a couple of weeks ago. The break went right up into the shoulder joint. He had to wait ten days for reconstructive surgery as it took that long for the swelling to go down enough.

He lost 10 lbs in those few days as he was feeling nauseated most days. Dad always gets queasy when he has suffered any sort of trauma.

Anyway they were able to patch him up, a bit like Humpty Dumpty, really! With a few pins and plates he is back together again. Fortunately they did not have to resort to a joint replacement afterall. Once he was patched up he started to feel much better.

Ill be going up to see him again this weekend with my sister and some of the kids. Nothing like a pile of family dropping in to cheer you up eh?

YOU CAN READ HIS OWN ACCOUNT OF THINGS AT HIS BLOG BY CLICKING ON THIS BOLD PRINT.

Other than that, we have had it pretty quiet around here lately.

I work nights now for a couple of shifts, then im off for four days which will be nice.

A couple of days ago we had news that My ex sister in Law, Addie was in a car accident. She had been medicated for some dental work and was probably too groggy to drive, but did anyways. And she blacked out and ran into a pole. Shes badly bruised up , but fortunately, no other injuries. She puts her lack of serious injury down to her guardian angel Kayla watching over her. She is supposed to be coming out soon to BC from Alberta to visit her kids, Troy, Nick and Lexi who live here in Maple Ridge with their dad. Hopefully she will get here soon, as they are all looking forward to seeing their Mom.

I had beter get a bit of rest before I run off to work for the night.

Have a great week!

Morning Mist

2009-07-09T11:58:00.006-07:00

This is the sun this morning.

Foggy friends.

Woken up at 0620 by a son whose alarm clock had let him down. Now too late to catch the bus, was begging me for a ride.
With a slight groan I rolled out of bed and drove the little fella off to work.

Thankfully, traffic was light. If I had stayed in bed, I would have missed the beautiful early morning mist. By 0900 it had burned off to a nice sunny morning.

June Birthdays

2009-07-04T21:52:00.006-07:00

We had a barbeque today to celebrate the June birthdays on my side of the family. My Sister, Carol and I have always celebrated our birthdays together as we are only 1 year and 20 days apart.

Carol is getting into cake decorating and made me this beautiful cake that she topped with her hand made cala lilies and tiny daisies. It was so pretty that I did'nt even want to cut it. Carols Daughter Jenny also made beautifully decorated cupcakes.

My other sister Sheila and Hubby Jay came over too with their little Brood. Sheila also brought cakes! So we had lots and lots of cake!

Carol brought her little dog Mollie. She had us all in stitches. When her ball landed near my naked lady statue, she started growling and barking at her! Every time the ball went near it she would start again! Keith took all these pictures, but he did'nt take any of the kids, but take my words they were there!

I am so lucky to have my sisters both live so nearby. I have one other sister, Catherine, actually, Sheila's twin. She lives up in the Okanagen next door to our parents. I will be seeing Them all tomorrow as I plan on popping in on them. Dad Has his reconstructive surgery on Monday so I thought I would go spend a couple of days up there playing nursie to him. Give my mom a hand too.

Thanks for stopping in!

Mayberry Revisited

2009-07-02T11:15:00.007-07:00

A belated Happy Canada Day to all you Kin-adians. July 1st was (123rd Nope Ive been corrected,It is actually) our 142nd birthday of THIS AMAZING COUNTRY.
Sad news this week.
My Dad, Dave, of OUTHOUSE CAPITAL OF CANADA is Out of Order. He tumbled off a ladder, not from high up, but far enough to badly break his arm. Apparently the bone is fractured right up in to the joint also damaging the rotator cuff. He is waiting for surgery, where they will either pin and plate him or give him a complete shoulder joint replacement. Needless to say he will be out of commission for quite some time. He is so upset. Not so much because he is hurt, but the timing of it. He was due to go to China in a couple of weeks for the observation of the next TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. He has been planning this for months and now its all dashed! Now he will have to get over it and focus on healing. He can maybe plan to take in the eclipse that occurs near Easter Island next year instead. Please pop by and give him some cheer!

Last night I worked the night shift. On My way home the sun was making the whole world around me sparkle with golden light. I had to stop and take a few pictures along the way.

There are two new signs at the Memorial Peace Park entrances with fountains incorporated into them. The back drops are a heavy textured glass, designed to the silhouette of our local mountains. I think there will be more than a few hot feet being dipped in that nice cool water in the coming weeks.

The sprinklers were still in action watering the gardens. The droplets catching the morning sun.

The flower beds around the bandstand are all the picture of perfection right now. I love the tree on the left in this shot. Its shadow extends the curve of the trunk.

The hanging baskets around town add a vibrant splash of colour. You can never have too much colour! This pair brighten up the expanse of green glass tower which houses our municiple building and various offices.

Seen here with the Golden Ears Mountains in the background.

Paving the way to the ACT (Arts Club Theatre)
Outside the sunny 227th street building. I love this bright place, looks like somewhere in New Orleans.

Thanks for popping by.

I hope you have a great day.

Day for Dads.

2009-06-23T00:00:00.006-07:00

This is a picture that I took a couple of years ago. Keiths dad was here helping our son David to craft a sturdy, new back gate for our yard.
Here Dads steadying hand guides young David as he drills holes for the hinges. I love photos of hands. I really feel this shot conveys so much. Anyways, I printed this up and made a Fathers Day card for Keiths dad with it. Keith wrote a few nice things inside the card. Well his dad was just delighted.

Fabulous Fleet of 4Runners. All the men in our household drive these beasts. Actually, the youngest man doesnt take his driving test for a couple of months yet. But once he passes he will be ready to hit the road in his own wheels.

This was the breakfast that Keith was woken up to on Fathers day. Home baked cinnamon rolls, bacon , eggs and fresh fruits served on a tray in bed! Heidi loves her dad. She is a vegetarian and usually refuses to prepare any sort of meat. I cant show you the picture of Dad enjoying his breakfast as he was topless and that may be to riskee for the likes of this blogs readers!

Golden Ears Bridge

2009-06-19T00:14:00.005-07:00

Sunday, June 14, 2009
Golden Ears Bridge Opening Ceremonies.

Video at the end of this post of the un"official ribon cutting".

This was a day our family has been waiting for for years.
My Dad, of Outhouse Capital of Canada fame, is a bridge collector. Here he is at the temporary outhouses on the new bridge deck.
He is fascinated by bridges. Wherever he travels in the world, he works bridge sightseeing into his itinerary and he photographs them. (He also collects Total Eclipses of the sun, but thats another post all together!). We have all been on standby to support him on this day.
This silly grin was plastered on his face all day in spite of the crowds and heat. I can guarantee you that he was the happiest man on the bridge that day, which is saying something, as there were an estimated 60,000 people there that day!
There was a fly over. See the planes? It was an incredible experience to walk down the center of a six lane bridge, knowing I will most likely never do so again. We were making history , so I was told!
It is a beautiful work of engineering, and will make a huge difference to commuters and the traffic in our area.

He brought his own ribbon and scissors and had us help him "officially" open the bridge with his own ribbon cutting ceremony before the premier could do it. He actually drew a crowd of onlookers who all had a good chuckle!

For Penny.

2009-06-08T00:43:00.003-07:00

I finnally got around to visit Penny. I have not been keeping up with my blog reading as much as i'd like. Today I finally got to her site "Calm Blue Ocean" to learn that her dear Mother passed away on May 25th.
I am having difficulty leaving comments right now, I dont know if it is a bleep in the system or if its my computer? So try as I might I havent been able to leave her any kind word.
So Penny, I just want to tell you how sorry I am for your loss. She looks like an amazing woman. She must have been, to raise such a lovely daughter as she did in you. You are right, she will always be in your heart.
Sending you my deepest sympathy and friendship.

New Dresses

2009-06-07T01:01:00.005-07:00

Looking resplendent in their new outfits, Lexie and Tasha pose on our front lawn.

What lovely young ladies thay are growing into. Then we picked up my sister and Jocelyn and headed off to the dance. All three girls had a great time and we do it all again next weekend.

Butterflies and memories.

2009-06-06T13:28:00.006-07:00

A week ago, my neices Lexie and Jocelyn, both were initiated into Jobies. Here they are cutting their cake. My other niece Tasha has also been doing the fun things, but has not been allowed to "join" officially as it is too much of a schedule comflict with soccer etc. They have been doing some fun things with the group including a camping trip. Now they are official.

Thats my sister Sheila on the right beside jocelyn.Yesterday we went out shopping and I got Lexie and Tasha new dresses and shoes and purses. I found a shop here in town that sells gorgeous dresses for $10 and under!!! I dont know how he can afford to sell at that price but I m not complaining. Tonight they are going to a dance and will be the belles of the ball. They are so excited.

I just cant believe how fast Lexie is growing up. Her sister would have been so proud. She has become quite the young lady! Ill post phot0s soon of the dance tonight.

~ Nick's 14th Birthday ~

Surprize party at Grandmas house. Here he is on the seat of honor with Grandma at his side.

We had a wonderful feast and family time to gether. Nick went home with a bulging wallet. At 14, they seem to appreciate cash in a card better than anything I could pick out for him. True to form, the next time I saw him, he was sporting new duds. Plus I paid for him to go to the movies with His friend and Heidi.

This is an excerpt from Kaylas Care Page, written by her mom. This details some of a memorial which she attended, along with 25 other families who have lost a child to cancer recently. I was so moved by her experience that I wanted to share it with people who knew or knew of of Kayla.
'May 31st/09...marked a beautiful day for the families who have lost their children to cancer! We celebrated, "A Time to Remember" at the Devonian Botanical gardens! We were all given a special flower that represented our child plus a floating rose petal flower that lit up...and while the sun was shining and the music was playing...we placed our flowers in the water and watched them float! A very special miracle happened during that moment. My dear Kayla showed me just how much she missed me and loved me by sending a beautiful butterfly to sit on the sleeve of my sweater! I didn't notice it, until my dear friend...mentioned that the butterfly had been sitting on my arm for approximately, 10 minutes! I went to look at it...and it just fluttered it's wings...and than flew away! I smiled...and knew it was from my precious Kayla! It brought tears of joy to my eyes...and I thanked her!'
We have been seeing a lot of beautiful butterflies here lately. Now every time I see one it makes me think that Kayla is looking in on us.

Balancing Act.

2009-05-15T19:59:00.004-07:00

On a recent afternoon in White Rock, we came across this "Inushuk artist".

He was creating his masterpieces from the rocks along the train tracks.

They are so fascinating. How the weight of the stone seems to counter the expected tumble is so impressive.

I have never tried it myself, I wonder if it takes some skill and practice? I really enjoyed watching him work.

In other less interesting matters...our back yard is almost ready for the lazy days of summer. We had the pool guy come by today to do a little nip and tuck on our antique pool liner. Its starting to show its age these days. But with today's work, we should be able to eek out another year or two's use. These days it is more nieces and nephews using the pool than us or our children. We have had alot of good times and pool parties, so it has well earned retirement when the time comes. Once it packs it in completely, we will just fill the hole with dirt and maybe just get a hot tub. and room for a veggie patch. I do like to sit by the water though, even when its still too cool to swim, it is a nice colour and the reflection gives me a sense of peace. Laughing to myself just now, I am siting poolside with my laptop as I write this.... With Davids heavy Metal band practice booming from the house... What Peace? you may well ask! They are rehearsing for a show tomorrow. Ahh there... they are stopping for a break to order pizza. Now its peaceful. I can hear the birds singing their evening praises.

Good night birds.... Good night Bloggers!

Everyday Miracles

2009-05-14T22:24:00.004-07:00

Our garden is really starting to wake up now. I snapped these photos this morning. This clematis grows right by my front doorstep. It is a very old established plant and never fails to give me pleasure, year after year.

We had a nice get together with Keith's Uncle and Aunt/Godmother today for lunch. I hadn't seen them for a year, so we had lots of catching up to do. Lots of laughs and reminiscing done before lunch was through. I took my camera along intending to get some photos of them but got so wrapped up chatting that I forgot to take my camera out of my bag!!!

Ladies Mantle filled with evidence of last nights rain. Also known as Fairies Cup. These things are just some of the everyday miracles that bring a steady stream of beauty to our world. Which reminds me of this beautiful Sarah McLauchlan song.

2009-05-11T21:20:00.002-07:00

This little fella was in our swimming pool, when I uncovered it yesterday.

"DONT EAT ME!!!!!!!!!!

No way, just hoping if I kiss you you will turn into a prince. The kids took him in a bucket to the forest and set him free by the creek.

Front steps? Glad they aren't mine. But then again, they do come down onto the beach front where these gorgeous tulips are growing.

Bunk beds. Binzen and Sasha catch a few zzzzzzs.

I hope you all enjoyed your Mothers Day. My day started with breakfast in bed. Heidi seved home made blueberry pancakes. She got me a Paul Potts CD. It is awesome and I have played it over a few times already. He is the fella that won the first "Britain's Got Talent". I spent all day in the yard playing in the dirt, which always makes the dog happy. He loves to be out there but only if he has company.
Sad news for Vancouver tonight. The Canucks lost tonight which puts them out of the playoffs. On the plus side, now I will have my house work caught up again instead of watching a game for 3 hours every other day. Truth be told though, I would rather have a filthy house, if it meant hockey in June.

Beach Baby

2009-05-09T01:01:00.003-07:00

Beach weather on Saturday drew us out to White Rock, BC.

Keith had business out that way so I went along for the ride and I am glad I had the camera with me.

I love catching shots of little children at play.

This young man was a camera magnet in his bight red hood.

He looks so little against the enormity of the Pacific Ocean.