September 5, 2012

Okay, Okay ... time to catch up again.
Where to begin ... Well I guess by saying Welcome Fall!  We didn't have a great summer ... not a lot of rain, but cold and only a few days of really nice hot weather.  It was sweater day for most of the summer.

Lets start with Olivia ... look how she has grown ... Here she is in her first "school" uniform and her first day in Kindergarten.

Look to see some really exciting Disney Cruise photos soon.  Olivia and i leave for our cruise NEXT MONDAY!  I will be leaving for Vancouver on Saturday and picking Olivia and Steve up at the airport late on Sunday.  We board the ship around noon on Monday.  :-)

 OOps .. This is the first day ... Notice the change of Uniform.  They have two kinds.  One is this cute little blue jumper and the other are there shorts with shirt and the school crest.

I guess these modern kids will all need computers for school now!

A FEW WEEKS AGO .. I went to the first annual Pet Palooza in Victoria.  Hundreds of little (and big) dogs wandering around (on leash of course).  Some of the cooling off in the kids type plastic swimming pools and other doing tricks and doing the course ... over, under, through various objects.  Ben Kersens Wonder Dogs performed ... lots and lots of kiosks for pet lovers/owners/owners wanna bes etc.
I had a great time meeting lots of doggies!

 These were cute little bags for sale with all the different kinds of doggies

I guess this guy had enough kyaking for the day.  This is just on the street outside of Pet Palooza stands down at the ocean on Dallas Road.

Catching Up .. June 20, 2012

Here are some fabulous pictures from my 5 days with Olivia here in Victoria!  What fun we had ...

 We went through a lot of bird seed ... feeding ducks (baby ducks too), Canada Geese and Swans

 The Dinasaur Exhibit was fabulous ... we also went to the Imax Dinasaur show ... then went to the museum where we visited old town, hands on gold mining, toured a ship similar to one that Cpt. Vancouver would have sailed on etc. etc.

The "babies" at the petting zoo are getting pretty big!  This one is trying to eat the flower from Olivia's shirt!

And then of course we had to bake!

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Rock climbing in the park

 The horse is "Molly"  A great buggy ride through James Bay area ...

Riding her scooter through Beacon Hill Partk

And the beautiful white swans ....

Monkey Trees

Wednesday, May 23 ... I have never been fond of Monkey Trees.  They seem so out of place and unbalanced somehow.  BUT ... I saw a Monkey Tree today that I had to stop and take a picture of.  Not only was it beautifully shaped, but it has flowers.  I have never seen a Monkey Tree in bloom.  They appear to grow out of the tips of the spikes, like a cactus.  Amazing!

Can you make out the yellow blossoms on this tree.  Even the shape of this tree looks more like a pine Christmas Tree than a Monkey Tree in Bloom!

Time to catch up! May 20, 2012

Where to begin!
Let's start with Pink Snow!  When we finally got spring this year ... the Japanese Cherry Blossom Trees were spectacular until the first big March wind storm ..... and we had pink snow for a couple of days!

Now comes my favourite time of year!  It stays light for so long ... and gets warmer and warmer.  This pictures was taken last night at 9:45 p.m.

Did I miss telling you what a great Birthday I had??  Look at these fabulous flowers from my favourite daughter!  There is little "Sugar" ... one of the great little doggies I dog sit.

And then along came Mothers Day!  Great to hear from both kids!  And another fabulous flower arrangement from Sherri

BUT ..... The best treat of all was a package from Greyhound Bus Depot on Friday!!!!  New Quits!
These are fabulous ... so I had to re-arrange everything here so I could display them properly.  Three of the quilts I have you won't see here because they are on the beds .....  But take a look at these .fabulous quits all done by Sherri!..

 This quilt has "no name".  I've had it for a long time now hangs proudly in my living room ...

 This is one of my new ones ... "Circles of Light" sitting quietly on the rocking chair ...

 And this has beautiful flowers .... my heart melts everytime I walk by it .......

and this one is an older one but one of my favourites is hanging now in the second bedromm.

This past week-end has been full of things to do ... The Pro Rodeo at Luxton Fair, the Celtic Highland Games, The big Island Parade tomorrow and lots and  lots of biking and walking ...
and now I look forward to having Olivia with me for a week starting on June 8th!  Getting ready for her I have starting getting out her toys and of course one of her very favourite stories ... Little Red Riding Hood which she loves to have read to her while she points out all of the characters on this next fabulous quilt from Sherri ...

Sunday, August 29
Yikes ... almost a month with no news .... Well, Mike has gone to Halifax for two months so that will free up a lot of my time.  I'll try and do better with sending news.
Today was great!  Dorothy and I finished the T.C. 10 km walk in 87 minutes!  My best time was 83 minutes, but I did that on my own.  It's always a little slower with someone else.

We were feeling so good that we practically ran the last km.  (trotted ... but certainly faster than walking!)

April 1, 2012

Broadway Spectacular

Well there goes another week!  Still not much sign of spring around here.  A day here and there is all ... and even with that, it is not very warm yet!

Managed to get in three really good walks this week (10 km coming up at the end of April!).  I got my bike serviced as well, and now it's ready to hit the road ... just waiting on some decent weather.

Saturday night Mike & I went to see the Victoria Symphony Orchestra playing for students at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, do a Broadway Spectacular with hit songs from some of the most famous Broadway shows.  It was really well done.  Sunday I met some of the "girls" and we went to see "Mirror Mirror" with Julia Roberts.  It was cuteish!

March 27, 2012

What a week-end!  I don't know how any of it could have gotten any better.
1.  Starting with Friday.  My birthday ... so I took the day off.  It happened to be the best day, weather-wise - so far all year.  Brilliant sunshine and perfect weather to be outside.  I had coffee with Joan (her birthday too), then with my friend Zana.  Then I met Mike for lunch.  Mike & I then went for an 11 km walk!  Once done ... we put my bike into his truck and took it to the bike shop for its spring tune up.  Time to get on the road with my bike!
When I arrived home ... look what was waiting for me ...

Thank You Sherri ... these are beautiful

 I finished the evening off with a play at UVic with Zana and her daughter.  We saw a modern day version of Hamlet.
2.  I was dog sitting for the last week.  I drove Cloey home on my way to the ferry.  Taking the ferry to Vancouver for Dorothy's 60th birthday party!

What a treat to have her for the whole week

Dorothy picked me up in Tsawwassen ... with the top down on her convertible!  She thought we were going out for dinner with friends, instead, we had a surprise birthday party for her.  Sorry ... I forgot my camera and will have to wait until I get sent some from those who remembered!

However, here is a picture of her office early Monday morning!  These are some of the same decorations from the party!  So Carol was a busy bee on Sunday, after hosting the Saturday night party, she went to the office on Sunday to decorate!.

3.  Sunday ... glorious relaxing day. Happy Birthday Dorothy!   We went for a long two hour walk along the Fraser River.  There is a fabulous walk way down there now.  Cook a terrific Halibut dinner, played some cards and had some wine to toast once again our Birthdays.  We have been doing this together for over 30 years now!

4.  Monday ... YUP!  I took that day off too.  Took the ferry home.  Had a lazy day, just some shopping and unpacking.  Picked up my bike.  Yeah!.

Sunday, March 18, 2010

Yikes!  It's been a long time since I've updated this blog.  It's been a busy two weeks.
I cut the lawn!  And at least some crocuses are up ... a few flowing Japanese trees downtown and some daffodils ... but spring is really late!  I hope this is a good indication that it will be a long, dry, hot summer!

 You can see the nice cutting job!  The grass is soooo green and long!

Crocusses look a little sad there all by themselves .....

Today was my first long walk getting ready for the 10 k in April.  I walked 5 k up the the Starbucks in langford, then took a little longer 6.5 k walk back.  All along the Galloping Goose.

This is one of my favourite parts of the trail

And of course, in case I didn't mention it to you this week ... one of my favourite doggies is with me this week.  this is Cloey ...

what a cutie!  She is almost 11 years old .. Part Terrier and part Shitzu

Last bit of news ... I had a lovely dinner with Kate & Christ last night.  Kate is the girl at work in accounting who is pregnant with her first child, in June.  Her parents live in Salmon Arm but they can't afford to make the trip down for the birth and Chris' parents are both deceased, so I am stepping in as the "grandmother" (at Kate's request) to help out and be with her as much as I can.  She has a midwife and would like to try and have the baby at home.

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Wow! Almost Spring!   I'll post some nice spring pictures next week-end after I cut the lawn!
What a week ... where did it go?
Lynn & I went out for dinner, I had lunch out with a client and a breakfast meeting with Lois/Barry.  I only gained 1.7 pounds!!!  Oh well ... hard core dieting this week!
Saturday night Zana and I went to a UVic play.  Eurydice

If you recall, this is from Greek Mythology The Greek Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It's about the hero Orpheus who tries to say his love Eurydice from the underworld.  (she is bitten by a snake on her wedding day and dies.  He goes to the underworld and is allowed to bring her back if she follows him all the way back to earth.  There is one condition.  He cannot turn around and look at her until they enter earth again or she will die again for good. In his anxiety he turns around to look at her just before she steps over the threshold and she vanished forever.
Anyway ... this was a modern adaptation.  It was quite well done.  fabulous stage setting and costumes.
Today I went for a long walk and now am getting dressed for the Oscars.  "the Iron lady".  Zana and I went to one of the local theatres (they have a huge costume ares where one can rent just about any costume possible.  I got a wig and some pearls.  Zana is going as a "flapper" from the 20's.  This should be fun.  Pictures next week if possible .....

The Baja Peninsula/Valentines Day/Carmen etc.

This is right outside of our condo in San Jose del Cabo.  What a fabulous week we had.  Two of the days were cloudy so it saved us from "burning to a crisp".  Dorothy, Doug (her brother) and her mother and I all shared a 2 bedroom condo.  It was inexpensive and a fabulous holiday.  We were about three blocks from the beach and seven blocks from Starbucks!!

 This part of Cabo is basically desert.  This is our desert garden.  On the left you can't see from here, but that is a golf course.

This is our patio.  That's Dorothy in the door, standing in the kitchen

Doug barbeque ... of course Dorothy has to have her Say!

 The only cloudy day ... and I took the camera to the beach!   This beach is approximately 7-8 km long .. all sand.  No rocks, no shells ... just soft lovely sand.  Can't swim here though because of the undercurrents.  This is on the Sea of Cortez

 Always secluded.  It is such a wide and long beach ... The resort hotels are quite a ways back and they heave little areas of beach for guests where most of them seem to stay!

More horses.  

VALENTINES DAY:

What at treat!  I was really spoiled.  A dozen long stemmed roses and a 7 course gourmet meal in one of Victoria's finest restaurants "The Mark" in the Grand Pacific Hotel.

CARMEN

The operat .... Last night!  Beautiful.  One of my favourite Opera's

Sunday, January 22

Well,  I hope we have just finished our three days of winter!  Much better now ... today was really windy tho.  We were getting something like 100 km per hour winds.  Fabulous walk down at the ocean on Dallas Road with humungous waves and sea spray.  (had salty lips for a long time afterwards!).
Those of you who know my niece Dawn, know that she doesn`t like getting her picture taken ... so this is about the best I can do to show you that she is here for about 10 days.  she is taking a course call Tai Yoga Massage (level 2). She is hoping to get her certificate this next week!
Have a good week!

                                                              She`s Here!!

                                                     Yeah ... Snow`s gone!

                        Looking down the street .... doesn`t this look better than a couple of days ago

Snow Flurries

This is what snow flurries look like in Victoria

Of course the city shut down and we are having a "snow day".  I was supposed to pick Dawn up at the Airport but she is going to be taking a cab in ....

Looking down the street

Next door

Yup ... broken shovel!!  good thing there was another one

Back yard

I guess you can't really tell how deep this is!  The reports said we would get up to 20 cm.