GREEN ACRES IS THE PLACE FOR US...

2010-08-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm posting on a different site now so try this address and hopefully it will work for you.

web.me.com/susanbrass/Finisterra_Acres

JUST A FEW QUICK WORDS

2010-02-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

It's been soooo long since I've a post but it's because Blogger takes such a terribly long time to upload photos. So I'm just going to do a quick update and look for a new blog site. I'm leaning towards a website with an attached blog...so stay tunedI love this picture of Ceara, she is just so beautiful and a wonderful mom. Seriously you wouldn't want to cross her and mess with her baby. For that matter they all protect little Fin, alpacas included (okay not the goats).

Simon thinks he's her dad and she does look just like him but no, his 'you know whats' are in a landfill somewhere. The male that escaped and jumped Ceara has the same colouring as Fin and so does Ceara's sire so it makes sense.
This little critter is amazing and we absolutely love her! Who knew that we, of all people, would be into raising llamas. And we love our alpacas but if we'd known how cool llamas are we'd only have them. Wonderful animals. I love to walk them on the beach.
So as of 3 weeks ago Ceara and Fin are now ours and who knows what will happen in the future. There is just so much potential with where we live and what we could do if we put our minds to it. But considering it's just me learning to handle these guys we'll just have to see what happens.

Fin is only a month old in this picture, she's much bigger and MUCH stronger now. I tried to towel her off yesterday and let's just say, "She won." She spends a lot of her day harassing all the other animals in the field. Her favorite pastime is to wait until one of the alpacas lay down and then either jump over or on them. It's really funny.

Christmas came & went, a quiet one this year. Jamie, Johnny & Sullivan came up on the 26th and other than that we didn't do too much. It was nice though.
My little Sullivan

This is my new farm vehicle, Pearle. I've wanted a truck for as long as I can remember because I'm always gardening and lugging stuff around. Now we have the acreage I'm hauling straw and hay as well so this just made sense.

We needed bark mulch to put down in the chicken coop which was becoming nothing but mud due to all the rain. I went to Home Depot and it was $6.00 for a bag, I went to the log sort and they filled the entire box (full size) for $5.00 tax in! Very cool. It was also pretty neat putting it in 4 wheel drive and climbing this mountain of mulch. Sunk right up to the floor boards but the guy working the loader kept yelling, "You're fine! It's a Toyota!"
Can't wait to go get a load of top soil!

SOMETHING YOU DON'T SEE EVERYDAY

2009-11-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

So...off I go Friday night to feed the critters, howling wind & rain (imagine that), and I really considered not going as I knew they had lots of hay and were fine but I kicked myself in the butt and sick of being soaking wet I drove up. I opened the gate and walked in, all the goats and alpacas were standing by the barn and casually looked up at me and went back to eating. I was wondering where Simon and our new llama Ceara were and then I noticed them standing together, nuzzling each other on the far side of the field. Then I realized something was wrong with Simon's leg and I immediately panicked thinking he had been hit by a branch and had broken his leg. I started across towards them with my heart in my throat, took about 10 steps when Simon's leg walked away from him! I, being the calm person I am, ran back to my car, damn near took out the gate turning around, roared down the hill, threw open the basement door and screamed, "JIM, PHONE, TOWELS, BABY!!!!" A few more frantic phrases and back up the hill, phoning Darcee on the way. She came running up, I picked up this little one and with Darcee hanging on to my sleeve (which still cracks me up) and Momma literally walking on my heels we put them in a stall, closed the gate and proceeded to try and dry off the babe and warm her up. Jim showed up with more towels and nurse Darcee and I did a really good job. It was absolutely overwelming, so totally unexpected. I still haven't had a good sleep since she has shown up because the weather is still just so bad with no end in sight.One hour old

The evening continued. Rose, who actually owns the mom knows all about alpacas & llamas but apparently not about them being pregnant as she was as surprised as we were. We only have had Ceara for 3 weeks and we can keep her if we want to. I thought she would be good company for Simon and she truly is, he is a different animal since she has shown up and he is so good with the little one, not to mention they look a lot alike. I think he's telling the others that he's the dad. The truth is that one of Rose's studs got out some 360 days ago and had his way with Ceara. Now the decision needs to be made if we want to keep them or not...hmmm...farm status...18 hours old

36 hours old, first time out of the stall Beautiful Ceara and her little unnamed baby girl, I just wish all the grandkids could see her.
Now, back up the hill to put her in out of the newest damn storm.

NEVER RAINS BUT IT POURS

2009-11-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

And pours and pours and pours. Good old November, it really can be ghastly!! It didn't start out too bad. Everything and everyone was well, we even got a new llama by the name if Sierra (the spelling was quickly changed to Ceara), she is actually a buddy for our one llama Simon and if we like her we can keep her. Turns out she is really sweet and after a few rather tense days Simon has really fallen for her.
Now back to the weather, I honestly don't think I've seen rain like it and the winds are insane as well. A friend even had an alpaca killed by a falling tree.Luckily for us the winds never came at a really high tide but regardless we did not fair well. I was happily bragging on Sunday that I had a sewing room again after many years and couldn't wait to get started on a few Christmas items on Monday. Went to Fabricland, went singing into my craft room and splash, splash, splash...not nice! Turned out that our perimeter drains were completely blocked by roots, what a mess. It's only one room but everything had to come out. We had to tear out the underlay and then try to get the carpet dry. It's pretty dry now but it doesn't smell very good so we may end up having to replace it. And the rains are still coming and there is another gale blowing at I type. We were hoping that they had it fixed and all looked well for a couple of days but it's seeping back in again so....so I actually don't know what we do next. There are so many people flooded out in the valley that you can't find anyone to snake the drains until at least mid December so I guess we just pray for some dry weather...unfortunately that is no where in sight... Pictures to follow

You know you're officially a farmer when...

2009-11-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

Spooky Simon

Jim's fire, notice the spots of diesel...he'd make a crappy boyscout.

Sue's fire.
In Jim's words, "Crap! You can see it from outspace!"

You know you're officially a farmer when #1 You pee in a stall rather than walk down to the house #2 You spend 4 hours burning brush in your field and love it and #3 You are so excited when you realize you can actually burn alpaca poop and straw.......oh how my life has changed

ONE HAPPY DOG

2009-10-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

THANKSGIVING 2009

2009-10-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Not a very warm weekend but fun none the less. Sullivan lasted on the swing with Aunty Pat for about 5 minutes and then fell fast asleep.

Laughing with mom

Walking the boys

Not a big fan of the tractor, I had fun though

The infamous 'kid quad'...I'm sure this is Kyle's fault

Finally found a helmet

Apparently Chopper is a big fan of the stroller, who knew?

Sitting around the campfire with Dad

2009-10-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO OUR BEAUTIFUL LITTLE EVELYN

THREE YEAR OLD WITH CAMERA

2009-09-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

I just found these pictures and it cracked me up. I miss you Luke!! This is what happens when you have to wait for Linds to get her Starbucks fix, you give your grandson your camera.

Crap! We're Up to 35!!!

2009-09-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

So the population of the 'Brass Ark Farm' has gone from 20 something to a whopping 35 (including the farmer & his wife). It went up by four chickens (that will lay blue eggs), down by 1 old girl literally tipping over (hope I go that way. Well not with my poor old feet wrapped around a perch and falling into chicken sh-- but you know what I mean). Then there was the one that Casey killed (the other one survived just didn't lay an egg for a week or so). Then we got four more Rhode Island Reds and now we have a kitten that someone dropped off. Darce & Chris were kind enough to keep her until all our company left but now we have the little demon. She is not a cat I would ever have picked out but Jim loves her and she is pretty cute with the sharpest freakin' claws I have ever seen. I bought a beautiful soft pink button down shirt 2 days ago, wore it yesterday and everbody kept saying how nice it looked and then I came home and picked up the kitten... Everything was fine and then for no apparent reason she decided she needed to leave. I didn't want her to fall but she was having none of that. So she ripped my shirt in four places and me about the same. Now this wasn't a flimsy shirt but a no-iron heavy cotton shirt! Then I looked at the scratching posts! Shredded! I figure she will probably kill us in our sleep...

So, now I would like to introduce you to 'GRACIE'
Not named after me but because the 'neighbours' (love you guys by the way) pointed out that now we have, Will, Jack & Grace...Oz is really pissed off that we now call him Karen...Oh, I forgot to mention that I love the little critter but I'm scared to get attached in case Brenna does her in...it'sso relaxing around here watching the 80 lb dog stalk the 1 lb kitten...getting better though, I think

OFF TO CHINA

2009-09-07T19:10:00.001-07:00

So here is my new post and I have to begin it with, "JAMIE, JOHNNY, SULLIVAN & HEATHER!!! IF YOU DARE THINK YOU ARE MOVING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY THEN THINK AGAIN!!! I HATE IT!!! Well, I guess if you move to Hawaii that would be okay but that's about it!"
We said goodbye, see you in a few months... to Lindsay, Kyle, Luke and Evelyn today. They are on their way to their new posting in China. Wow! Now we have grandbabies in China and Taiwan, so far away.It was such a good visit other than a few of the gang having the 24 hour stomach bug. Evelyn is amazing for all her 10 months. Walking well, saying quite a few words and generally being tough as nails. And I guess she has to be living with her big brother.I had so much fun with Luke this time. The last time I saw him was Christmas and now he is out of diapers and he speaks so well. He just cracks me up. We collected shells, rocks, sticks and eggs and despite what his father says we built fences not a cemetery. Both the kids loved the girls, those would be all the chickens. At first Luke was a little unsure but pretty quickly he was right in there feeding and checking for eggs. I have to say more than anything else though with Luke I was most impressed when he said, "Please may I leave the table?" I love good manners, well done Linds and Kyle. The other thing that really impressed me is how strong he is, especially when you don't get a warning of the upcoming pillow fight and he darn near knocks your head off your shoulders. The good thing is my chiropractor put my neck back in line today. Loves this little tractor Aunty Heather bought him.

Both kids were a lot overwelmed by the dogs, especially Brenna who runs around the yard at about 80 mph and flattens anything she hits. Brenna had learned from Graham that little hands come out and feed you anything they happen to be eating at the time and she drove poor little Evelyn crazy. Luke caught on pretty quickly and learned to head to higher ground if he was eating something really good.
Looking for bugs for the girls with Mom

Aunty Heather was also here for a few days. It was great fun having Luke wake her up every morning. It was a wonderful visit and I hope the kids, even the big kids, enjoyed it too.
I miss them all so much already and can't wait to go to see them in their new home plus then I get to see Dann, Jenn & Drai!!!World's Best chocolate truck, he was so worried his dad was going to want a bite.

I love this. This is Luke listening to his Grandma & Grandpa singing the Margenau happy birthday song all the way from Hawaii. And it certainly must have been better than the Comox version because he hid his head for that one. Too funny!

GREAT WEEKEND (AGAIN)

2009-08-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Phoning Mommy on the baby monitor and telling her all about his weekend on the farm. Hilarious!!

"The chickens are over there Mom and there are 10 hens and 4 chicks..."

"Nana keeps hugging me and kissing me and she's driving me nuts!! And Brenna keeps stealing my animal crackers!""Grandpa John taught me how to say, "No Brenna! She still stole my cookies."

"I'm way out here all by myself and the signal might be getting weak. Mom, Mom..."

"Crap! I think those freakin' chickens are following me..."

"These are the girls Mom and I ate two of their eggs for breakfast. I miss you Mommy."

NOT CUT OUT TO BE A FARMER

2009-08-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

(Uncle Bob & the Girls)

I was raised by wonderful parents who totally lived off the land. Wonderful gardens and fantastic berries. But seriously I don't think there is a family photo from 1899 to about 1965 that doesn't have a dead critter or 12 in it. I think it was on my first real date that I had a 'beef' steak. The thing is that I always hated it. I hated the deer hanging in the garage, the grouse, the pheasants, the ducks, I understood it and still do but it's just not my thing. I am a total suck for animals, small, large, furry, feathered, doesn't matter, anyway it was a bad night.
We have (at the moment)10 hens and 4 female chicks, 3 hours ago we had 11 hens and I am ridiculously attached to them. They are dumb as posts but they are friendly and they trust you. They trust you to feed them and water them and protect them and they give you great eggs in return. They also trust dogs because Will & Brenna are wonderful with them. Tonight I let them down. Even as one of my new 'girls' came running to me I didn't think Marty's Casey would hurt her but in a blink of an eye he grabbed her and ran. I pried his mouth open and she died in my arms and then he got another and she will probably die tonight.
It was horrible and all I can think about is how bad it will be if, not if but when more die, the alpacas or Simon... I love these damn critters so much too much.

I must have been adopted...

Another Great Day

2009-08-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun day for the boys and Cinnamon, we finally got the driveway gated off so they can go out there and get the last remaining grass in the yard. It's been terribly dry and we've been feeding hay all summer.

I have to admit I'm getting ridiculously fond of these critters.

My Simon who has decided that no one or two or three (in today's case) is going to catch him.

Darcee taught Cinnamon this so she thinks she's taller...

My buddy Alpaca Rose

My other buddy, who I adore, Ryan. He's so good with the alpacas.

Lovin' the green grass

Heading for Darcee and Chris' orchard

Jimmy's New Toy

2009-08-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

So everyone knows we sold Ceara II and then we sold the tender and then we bought this...
and she really is a beauty.

This is the first time we saw the boat, yesterday, at M&P Mercury in Burnaby. The cute guy on the ground is Chris the salesman. He's a happy boy as things have been quite slow this year. The boat is last years model but new. It is a 19' Montauk, 2' longer and 2' wider than our other Whaler. Totally different hull with a much 'softer' ride. More seats, downriggers, live tank, swim ladder, bimini and a cd player, she's very nice and I think Jim is in love once again.

Sorry but I just had to put this picture in. His face tells it all...

So on the ferry ride home we lost the 'old man of the sea' and this is where we found him. Sitting in his Whaler listening to Rod Stewart. Who, by the way, we had seen live the night before and he was absolutely AMAZING!!
Here are a few other pictures.
Can't wait to get it in the water and see if it actually fits in our slip and hopefully he doesn't scare the crap out of me like he has in the past and I may actually start to like boating again.

July 24th, 2009 Glacier Tour for Pat's Birthday

2009-07-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

What a Blast!!

A few months back Jim & I were at a 'Centennial of Flight' dinner/auction at the base and at the end of it all Jim announced that he had bought a flight for two, in a float plane, over the Comox Glacier for my sister Pat and myself for her birthday. For any on you who know my sister she is absolutely amazing and I adore her AND this is something she has wanted to do her entire life. Today we did it and it was truly amazing. I had been over the glacier before in a Buffalo with Randy & Pearl but to see Pat so excited made my day or year or more. And the best part was that there was such a low tide (a minus tide actually) that we couldn't take off from the river so because of that, and the fact that we were his last flight that day, he landed up in the mountains on Osh(something) lake and gave us about a 1/2 hour to wander about. So it ended up our one flight was 2 hours!! Can't beat that especially when Jim got it for less than the price for one person. Gotta like that! So here are a few shots but they aren't great because the window was really scratched. I have a few others with my slr but it was just easier to use my G10.

crevasses, this picture doesn't do them justice

ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

2009-07-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

There really are no words for this picture other than the man absolutely cracks me up. He and Darcee were the first ones in this year, Darcee being the FIRST one in. I chickened out not because of cold water but at the thought of this big, old body being seen in a bathing suit, I still had fun though. The weather is great and the tides are perfect this week so I will more than likely be in tomorrow.

And we aren't the only ones that are hot, our poor old alpacas and Simon are just cooking. We got them a bigger wading pool today and that made a few of them happy. Wally and Diego are happy with the sprinkler but I can't leave it on because we're on a well. I let them get soaked and then they just hang around the pool.

Don't they just have the strangest feet? This is Scooby's, he lays right down in the pool, unfortunately he's like a sponge so you fill it a lot.

This was Chris and Darcee's idea of a seaweed wrap, much cheaper than the spa.

I adore these guys

Brenna and Casey have more fun than any of us.

Cold water...

2009-07-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 14TH MONTH BIRTHDAY SULLIVAN TURNER WRIGHT
Hope you have fun in Toronto!!

SHARON, KERRI & GRAHAM'S VISIT

2009-06-28T21:38:00.001-07:00

Kerri shamed me into finally getting this post done by beating me with hers but atleast it's finally done. We had a great visit with them and Graham was absolutely amazing. Almost always happy and smiling. Will was apparently a big hit, as well as the fountain. Oh and spagetti was also a big hit! I love the meat stuffed up his nostril, too funny. Brenna thought it was pretty good too.

Spagetti on the deck

Graham loved the little pool

The new game of 'Climb the Labrador', Will is just such a good dog

Fountain time, Sullivan loves it too

Kerri is now the queen of our neighborhood game 'Cruiseship', I was half expecting her to come up the stairs in the middle of the night and scream CRUISESHIP just to one up me again!

2009-05-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm just going to do a few over a few days once I find all the pictures. The shots on this entry are of Danny, Jenny & Drai's trip to Comox. It was wonderful but way to short. We had a lot of laughs and I shed a lot of tears when they left, well that's not entirely true cause I started crying about 2 days before they actually left. Little Drai is absolutely adorable and his parents are pretty damn great too, I miss them all so much.

Danny & Aidan

"Come on Sullivan, get up and come play with me!"

"The new kid wants my truck!"

"Wait til next time, I'll get your truck!"

Droopy DrawersDrools Vern

"Wait until I get out of this thing..."

Bad Grandma Pooh (or is that poo?)

Explaining tides to Aunty Jenny

Danny loves his Aunty Pat

Lord of the Flies

My boys

"Damn that dog is funny."

Uncle Jim is pretty cool

THE NEW PATIO

2009-04-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

Jim apparently hated the stepping stones he put down last year so decided to change things and change he did...

I have to admit it really is quite lovely

GREAT EASTER WEEKEND

2009-04-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

Easter Weekend was just so much fun. We had Heather, Jamie, Johnny, Sullivan & Coop plus Eden, Stu & Connor and as you can see by the pictures there were a few others around as well. We had really nice weather other than Sunday morning, had great food and a lot of laughs.

Sully and his tree which is almost in leaf. Personally I think I need to get him a more 'masculine' tree. I will have to work on that. This one suited his personality when he was a week old but definitely not now.

Heather brought her Wii and even managed to get her dad to do the bowling. That thing is quite the hit which you will see by a few of the other pictures.

Eather Bunny Jamie

Eather Bunny Eden

Eather Bunny Sullivan

Pouty the Eather Bunny
(Jamie said," Make this face.")

Heather, Taylor (Darcee's niece-in-law or something like that) and Eden dancing to the Wii

Heather and Taylor singing their hearts out

Christopher wearing Darcee's Easter wreath and dancing to the Wii

Feeding Sullivan to the alpacas
I still have more pictures to add but it was a really a fun weekend and it's a good thing it's over because the pup is still in heat and we now have a broken water line, somewhere, and no water. So as Heather said, the reason Danny can't come out happened for a reason and she was right because we are now using the neighbors toilets and showers and we can't even imagine how much it's going to cost to fix because we have no idea where the break is.
Ain't life great? Certainly gives you your ups and downs. The good news is I am married to the most amazing man in the world. I am having panic attacks and he just says, "Susan, we will get through it, just don't flush the toilet..."

One in and one out...

2009-04-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

As you can see I was not kidding about Luke being out of diapers and Brenna being in. What a nightmare!! After spending about $60 on varying types of doggy diapers that didn't fit we ended up putting her in the largest toddler diapers we could find which was great unless she sat down in which case they would pop open and she would happily walk out of them. Or when no one was looking she would absolutely destroy them. I wish I had taken pictures of our bedroom...kind of looked like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Seriously I had no idea how bad it would be to have a dog in heat! Oh my god! Of course it's great to have her outside but you never know when a male dog might come wandering by so you are on watch constantly.

Yesterday Jim was in Vancouver for a meeting and Doc and Diane were here and it's a good thing they were, I was almost in melt down. Brenna had torn her diaper off, spread it everywhere, jumped on the bed, blood everywhere, ran down the stairs....blood everywhere...it was awful. I went downstairs to get something and the phone rang, at which time Jack the cat started to puke and puke and puke...Shortly there after whilst cleaning this up I realized that while I was out Brenna ate one of my only comfortable 'fancy' shoes. Put this together with trying to paint the hay shed and realizing that as fast as I'm putting the paint on the goats are licking it off...there were a couple of other moments but thanks to Diane I ended up laughing (maybe a little too much...) but all was well. It's a good thing I've got Simon though to keep me together, I can't believe how attached I'm getting to that goofy llama.

Don & Av came over to sit around the fire this afternoon and it was just so nice to be outside and warm. When they left I grabbed a ride up to feed the critters and Av came in to meet the gang. I gave her a handful of treats and they all became her best friends. Then after I fed the goats and alpacas I handed her a brush and held the grain bucket for Mr Simon. He was an absolute gentleman and she got to brush him all over. You almost had to smack the smile off her face, made my day. My boy is quite the charmer. (thanks Heather)

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY...

2009-04-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

Now seriously is it just my husband or are most of them like this? When we bought this place almost a year ago there was one room that was really rather sketchy. I'm sure the teenagers that lived here previously had something to do with it but it was pretty bad. I liked the colour at first because it didn't throw a lot of glare when you were trying to check out pictures but it just smelled dusty and dirty. I tried to wash the walls but everything just smeared around and the paint marked with every stroke. So I knew that I would paint it but just wasn't sure when I'd get around to it.

Now this is a room on the bottom floor and I figured from day one that I would just use it as my craft room and the kitty litter box room but we seem to have someone staying in it every once in a while so I really thought I should get it done sooner than later.

These photos are from when we were looking at the house. Anywho 2 weeks ago I painted it and it is one big room. Took me 3 days. After the first day I was surprised when Jim came home from work that he didn't smell the paint but he had a cold and all was well. Then I thought well this is good, I'll be able to get it all painted and set up before he notices and then he will be in for a nice surprise.
Now there is no reason for Jim to ever go into this room unless he is looking after the cats and has to clean the litter boxes so I figured I was safe. But no. That Sunday I came in to find him showing the room to a friend, Roy Juthans.
I was waiting for the "Sue, the room looks amazing, thank you..." but nothing.
I knew I was going to Victoria for 4 days and that he would have to check the litter boxes so I asked a few friends to see if he said anything but again nothing.
He even showed the house to Bill Toews and still said nothing...needless to say I was starting to feel just a tad bad about the whole thing.

Now seriously how do you miss this change!!

It just baffles me...
Personally I think the raven is freaking amazing... gotta love Wall Tattoos

A NEW POST!!! WHOOHOO!

2009-03-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful few days in Victoria last week with the kids and Brenna. I stayed at Heather's and it was great. There is a no pet policy but Heather got that waived and all was great until Brenna went into heat (nice), needless to say, I came home a day early.

So Luke is out of diapers and Brenna is in, poor girl.
Our vet said there is a strong connection with ligament and hip problems in dogs that are spayed or neutered too young so he felt we would be fine not doing the 'deed' until she was at least 10 months, WRONG, she is only eight months! The mess is bad enough but there is an 'intact' male (don't you love that phrase? Good line to use in a bar..."So are you an 'intact' male?" or the one that I like, " Wanna feed my alpaca?" It beats the old "Do you want to see my etchings?"
Wow, I really digressed...so there is an male dog who is allowed to wander the beach as he sees fit so I am expecting a visit any day. I wouldn't mind breeding her next heat but not this one and to a Duck Toller... that would just be sad.Other than all that I had a great time. I went to John Benson's Celebration of Life with the kids. I didn't really know John but I loved the way he wanted to say goodbye, put on a party with your favorite band playing good tunes, and I thank Gay (his wife) for inviting me. It was so nice and I would have loved to have spent more time dancing but I ended up in Norm & Sue's room with Sullivan and Sue. Sully was fast asleep and I just had a really nice time with Sue. I can see why my family & Norm love her. So while Sue and I talked about everything under the sun Jamie and her dad danced (and drank)the night away downstairs. Pretty damn cool.
So the rest of this post is pictures & I love you Sull even if you did give me your cold. The thing is you never even get cranky and I'm miserable!
Thanks again to Aunty Heather for the accomodations.

Gotta love laughing babies!

BATH TIMEfor everyone

On another note all the grand-trees are doing great! Sully's leaves are ready to burst out and Luke's spruce is growing as fast as he is. Evelyn's and Draidan's are going to be gorgeous too.

Sully's Butterfly Maple

Luke's Blue Spruce

Drai's Blue Spruce

Evelyn's Weeping Spruce

THIS ONE'S FOR MARY LOUISE

2009-02-24T08:07:00.001-08:00

So I say to him...

2009-02-24T06:35:00.000-08:00

"I know I hate having my picture taken but would please take mine so people will know that I actually did go to Mexico." Let's just say it took a while...

Cacti Mundo

2009-02-22T12:22:00.001-08:00

Cacti Mundo is a unique botanical garden with the most important collection of cacti in México, including species never exhibited publicly until now. Cacti and succulents from the entire world have been assembled in an artful circular fashion around a soothing central fountain. The facility is also a haven for numerous endangered species close to extinction in their natural habitats. By Sabrina Lear - Article from Los Cabos Magazine

Cacti Mundo or Cactus World is a spot I've wanted to check out for couple of years now and it was well worth the trip. It's located on the road into San Jose del Cabo and is all of 30 pesos to get in. It's probably not the place to go if you aren't into plants and certainly not the place to go if you have any sight or mobility issues. If fact I saw this poor old man pushing his wife in a wheelchair and she was so nasty it must have been killing him not to let go of her on one of the hills! Anyway, it was very well done and you just really watched your step. It's not like Canada where the Safety Nazis would have had glass walls in front of everything.And what would a cactus garden be without Mickey!

Gotta Love a Holiday

2009-02-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

So, I'm sure all of you know that we love Zippers. We have been going to this restaurant on the beach since I think about 2003 or 4. The place is owned by Tony, otherwise known as Big Tony. Big Tony isn't very big any more but he is still a very cool man and we feel like we are at home when we go to his establishment. The cat is his and she is so sweet.
As Darcee knows Sue loves a tabby. Oh get over it!! I know! It could be a purple rat and Sue would love it. Regardless, we love the crew at Zippers.

This picture is just a reflection in the pool tonight. I didn't bring my usual camera stuff so I'm playing with a little point and shoot (which actually is quite amazing)

This is our buddy Doc and Tony's sister Sylvia at Zippers

Now this I haven't seen before. We were sitting having lunch and people were staring at something just on the water's edge. So all I have to say now is, "Don't eat the calamari!" Seriously who knows how long it was on the beach!

And this is why my duaghter is the way she is. I am seriously like a crow! if it's shiney I'm there. And, apparently, I'm not the only one. Myself and this young fellow had a good laugh about it. He doesn't remember me, and rightfully so, but we had the same conversation last year. So! Can pick out which one I'm wearing...

more to follow...we have another 8 days

WE MADE IT TO THE BEACH!

2009-01-30T12:06:00.000-08:00

Heather and Paula were here last weekend and we actually managed to walk Beaver, Carlos and Bob down to the water. There were a few nervous moments but it went really well. I just have to learn to catch them and then walk two at a time. Like that's going to happen.

Heathery loves them so much.

Paula and Ryan are just naturals with these guys. The jury is still out on me.

A new meaning to 'Ryan & Bob'

And the proverbial ' Spit Happens'!
This wasn't aimed at any humans, Scooby & Bob decided to have a spit-off over me.
It was so funny.

2009-01-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

Aunty Jamie , check out the hair

2009-01-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

It's been an absolutely terrifying few days. Our little Draidan gave everyone quite a scare but is doing much better. Jenny has absolutely amazed me, she is one tough lady, I'm so proud of her. She is home now and they are having to travel from one side of the city to the other to see their boy and trust me after that hellish delivery the last thing you want to do is be bounced around in a cab! Dann sounds so much better, he was is so madly love with his wife and son and they both managed to scare the crap out of him.
Anyway, he's a picture of our family's newest addition. Isn't he just absolutely adorable!!! I love you so much Draidan!

FINALLY!!!

2009-01-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

We just heard at 7:00 a.m. that Draidan Soul Usher (I love his name) was born, I believe around 10:20 pm, Taiwan time, so about 6:20 a.m. our time . I don't have many details yet because the doctor was talking to Danny while he was talking to me and then Dann made his way back in with Jenny and she was calling for him and just sounded beyond exhausted, so we said goodbye.
I sounds like it was an absolutely horrendous 35 hour labour that ended with the baby being born unresponsive and blue. They did CPR and thankfully they are saying all vitals are good now. I will be really happy to hear from him later and hopefully everyone gets some rest. As Jamie would say, "I'll keep you posted" plus I'm sure Danny will post when he gets a minute.
I can't wait to see pictures of him!!! Welcome little Draidan, we love you so much!!!
Oh and apparently they are never having another...Jenny's words

WAITING FOR BABY BOY USHER...

2009-01-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

We are still waiting for Dann and Jenny's little fellow to arrive but so far nothing. I am going to kick my little boy's butt when I next see him though because he wrote a phoney blog complete with picture, saying the baby had arrived and it had happened so fast he didn't have time to phone...he is sooooo his father's son and sister's brother!! It was really a cute baby though but as Gramma Sue pointed out he will probably be born on the next full moon and I think he will probably look like this...

Snowfall #2

2008-12-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

So we bought this house with a huge, long, steep, driveway but it really never snows much on the Island...
We already have a foot and are expecting 40 cm in the next 24 hours and then another big dump on the 23rd. And cold!! We're packing water to the alpacas and goats and even the chickens. We bought a trough heater to keep the water thawed but the taps are frozen solid. And seriously, the best purchase has been the snow plow. I don't know if it will handle tonight's load but here's hoping. So far it's fun for Jim but if this keeps up I think the novelty is going to wear off pretty quick. I think he's hoping his son-in-laws will come and take over. That's if everyone can get here.

This is the view from the beach.

I don't have ducks but I'm keeping all my critters in a row

Anyone for a bonfire?

This is doing the hill with the first little bit and it did great. It also did really well with the extra foot but as Jim was saying it's getting narrower and narrower and pretty soon we will have to ride bicycles to get up and down.

I have to admit, it is pretty.

and we don't have chains...

2008-12-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

THE BRASS ARK

2008-11-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

Well, we've had our new additions for over a week now and it's going pretty well. Not something I would have wished for but it's getting better. For those who read this and don't know how this came about it all started with a phone call from daughter Heather who was heart broken. She has raised these critters, plus a few more that we didn't take, for the last 3 years where she works but the owners decided that they didn't want them any more. Just like that.
Get rid of them. Need I say anymore...?
So our little acreage now has 2 dogs, 2 cats, 9 chickens, 3 goats, 6 alpacas, 1 llama and a few goldfish (just for color). And yes it's nuts. The good news is no one has any nuts (except Jim but I digress). Myself & Jim know absolutely nothing about alpacas and llamas and actually we know nothing about chickens or goats either but we're getting there. About the only thing I do know is chicken poop (see, I can be polite) sticks to everything, goats poop everywhere and whoever said that alpacas & llamas poop in one spot has never raised alpacas and llamas!

Feeding time.
This is when I lock the goats away and walk out into the middle of these guys with
my heart in my throat, the bucket of grain on my head and just wait to get kicked.
So far so good but I know it's coming! Oh the bucket isn't over my head but on my head to keep them out of it until I can scoop it into their buckets.

Carlos, isn't that the cutest little face?

Hello, my name is Diego

What the hell are you?!
(Cinnamon & Bucky meet Wally for the 1st time)

The Beaver

Wally

The slightly insane goats checking out what the herd showed up in.

Simon, the very sweet llama, who, just for the record, scares the crap out of me!

Scooby Doo, horrible kicker but he's getting to be my favorite

The entire gang,
except the goats who were hiding in the barn at this point

Sweet, shy Bob

Anyway I'll keep you posted. It's been either raining or heavy fog other than two days since they showed up. I now own gum boots...ah what a life!!! I'm lovin' it!

THE END OF BEING MAYOR

2008-11-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

I guess I should be sad but really you would have to slap the smile off my face, NO MORE MR & MRS MAYOR!!! Actually in a lot of ways we are probably going to miss it. We've met some amazing people and gained some life long friends along the way, in particular Randy and Pearle Price (I love you Kitty) and Richard & Jennifer Kannigan. But, I have to say, I can't wait to watch the Build, Bail & Sail from the Whaler not the Mayor's Luncheon.
It's only 6:30 as I type this and the polls close at 8:00. There are only a few that either of us could honestly say would be good on council or as mayor and I do worry for our beautiful little town. The funny thing is that we can't even vote in Comox because we're now in the regional district. I give it 3 years and I bet that you know who won't be able to stand what's happening out here and will run for that. In the meantime though maybe we can get some travel in and see our grandkids.
On another note I wasn't going to blog until next weekend when the newcomers arrive but I thought I would give those who don't know 'all' a heads up. Next Friday...we do...officially...become farmers! No we aren't getting cows and no I'm not getting my horse, we're getting!!!!! 6 alpacas and a llama (a guard llama, seriously). Now, I know a lot about horses, I now know a fair bit about goats (they are slightly insane, at least mine is), I seem to have very happy chickens (seems if you feed them a little BC Bud you get double yolks) (oh come on, I'm kidding, we have so many freakin' animals who could afford it!!!) But (and mine is getting bigger by the hour) I know nothing about alpacas and llamas. You see this is Heather's fault. Who could possibly say no to a crying Heather? Certainly not her dad or I. It's a long story but we are really excited about being able to help her and her herd out. And sorry Heather but they are our herd unless you are in the Valley.

We are on a learning curve like you wouldn't believe. Our vet couldn't stop laughing. We spent time today buying feed bags, confirming who sold the feed etc. I went with Darcee and a friend to a lady's place who had 2 alpacas and a llama last week. They, or these at least, weren't the prettiest animals I've ever been around. They were filthy dirty, bad teeth, bad feet, one kicked, one was deaf...okay they were all damn cute, well except for that. Hard to believe that's where your cashmere sweaters come from, eh?I thought this was a sheep but apparently it's an angora goat, talk about a face only
a mother could love.

This is a llama and he has the most horrible teeth and feet I've ever seen on an animal. I could be wrong because I know NOTHING but it kinda looked like a case of neglect because I do know that both the feet and the teeth trimmed and filed.

The really good thing was that they do indeedy poop in only one spot. See that's the other thing about becoming a 54 year old farmer, you learn that chicken poop sticks to everything, goats poop and pee on everything and alpacas poop in one place. See there's that learning curve. So stay tuned, I have a feeling the next post is going to be interesting. I'm taking bets that my slightly retarded goat can take the guard llama...crap that vet is going to be a wealthy man...This is the kicking alpaca with an attitude which knowing that they are such gentle animals makes me think he's been abused, not by her but whomever had her previouslyAnd this is little Blue Eyes whom I would love to have, she is terribly shy but so cute!! She is also totally deaf which apparently is a trait in alpacas with blue eyes, who would have known!
Man, I can't wait til Friday!!!!!

Gotta Love Those Surfer Shorts

2008-11-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

Jamie and Heather took Sullivan swimming yesterday and I just had to look back
at our Hawaii pictures with Luke. We really need to win a lottery so we all go there once
Dan and Jen's little one is born.
Anyway I thought these were cute.

2008-10-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's Halloween!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted!!!
There's a new baby girl since I last posted, amazing!! I can't wait to meet little Evelyn.
Aren't they a beautiful family?Oh and how life changes with a puppy in the house. Turn your back on her for a second and she's eating a shoe or a table leg or a cat or, in the case of the photo, a chicken. But today she's sitting quietly at my feet while I type this. That should last for about 5 minutes. As usual I'm sitting here waiting for some kind of tradesman to show up. It's now 10:15
and he was supposed to be here by 8:00. Seriously what is it about electricians?!!!

So our first Hallow's Eve in the new place, our plan was to have a big fire and to set off fireworks (which are downstairs) but it's pouring and blowing and just not nice. Could be worse though, it could be snow. I guess we'll just have to bug the neighbors to sit by their lovely fireplace and drink blueberry teas (Darcee makes the world's best). Lord knows there
won't be any kids around to hand out candy to.

As for the 'farm' everything is great. We've done all we can afford to do for this year and really the only other thing Jim really wants to do next year is put in a generator for outages. We recently added a shed up top in the field to store hay & grain and we are waiting for BC Hydro to come and hook up power to the stalls. It looks pretty blah but just wait until the spring when I paint it and barn red & white! We are also waiting on a gate. We're concerned that Brenna may chase a deer up the top and head out on to the road.
Don't worry it's not too high so the deer can still jump it.
Today we're just having a light put on the back deck so you can at least see your hand in front of your face out there. Damn it's dark!! Oh, the electrician just phoned (sounds like he's 12) and he's lost...hmmmThe fall colours on the bank have been amazing.

We still haven't had a good storm to see how well our new rocks do but it sure looks nice. The grass came up beautifully and I think it's going to look amazing next summer. The other thing I did was finally plant a tree for Luke but unfortunately he wasn't there to help. It's over by the coop and it is so pretty. I think with it being so blue it should look really nice next to Sullivan's butterfly maple. I have another tree for Evelyn but I'm not sure where I want it yet.Also since the last post we had a visit from Jamie, Johnny, Sullivan, Cooper, Heather and Sara.Sullivan is seriously the best baby I've ever seen. Brenda sold me this 'Exersaucer' that was her grandsons and Sully just loved it. Gotta love 'almost free' second hand toys!

Jamie was supposed to stay an extra few days but Eden decided that she'd had enough of the pregnancy stuff and went into labour 2 weeks early. She had a gorgeous little boy, Connor! It was hilarious from this end because Lindsay who was overdue went into labour the same night. She managed to deliver Evelyn at home (on purpose) in 2 HOURS!!
So here a few photos of the weekend.Damn, he's cute!!!Okay, that's just spookyThe evil twins"I'm gonna wash that grey right out of my hair..."Don't ask...there was alcohol and a suitcase of Barbies...
Okay, I'm bored, bye

OUCH!!!

2008-10-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

So the saga of the left foot continued today, I had to go into the hospital and have the pins removed. In hind sight it should probably have been 'had a pin' removed but too late now. When they removed the joint last year they put in two pins (and a wire) to hold the two bone ends together so they could fuse. The pins are supposed to stay put but apparently one had a mind of it's own and started to move and this Sunday it actually broke through the skin on the top of my foot, an amazingly long way from where it was actually inserted last November. Needless to say it's been damned uncomfortable for quite a while.
The foot has never been right and shortly after having it done my doctor retired so I had a new fellow, fresh out of school taking over for him. Really nice guy but he needs to learn not to say things like, "I can't seem to find it" or " I really don't want to make a bigger incision" or when I said, "Maybe that one should stay where it is" and he says " I hate to lose at anything" and then about a half hour later and much uncomfortable 'digging' he says, " I probably should have left that one in..." Dah, it was more than likely holding my foot together! So I guess we'll have to see what it brings once the swelling and bruising is done. I'm really scared that it isn't fused and it will all start over again.
I just want to thank Darcee so much for coming with me, I watched most of the surgeries on both feet and thought this would be nothing but this little procedure was really uncomfortable and if she hadn't put a cold cloth on my head I'm pretty sure I would have been sick. Love you Darce and thanks for everything including driving me there, making me laugh, getting my pills, getting Brenna's pumpkin (not to carve), walking all the dogs (making me laugh again), feeding the goats...oh, and thinking to bring the pins home so I could take a picture of them!

HEEEEERE'S BRENNA

2008-09-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

First night. You honestly couldn't find a better dog than Will.

" I love my new home!"

Love at first sight

I have no idea what I'm looking at.

What a beauty.

Here's our newest addition and she is a beauty.
Unfortunately she has kennel cough or at least I hope that's all it is but she is pretty damn cute and getting crazier every day and I'm sure she's grown an inch in the last 4 days.
She arrived last Friday evening on a WestJet flight from Winnipeg.
Nine weeks old and scared to death. She's probably like me cause every time I fly anywhere I get a cold. She is seriously just so cute. Pees everywhere but we're working on it.
I just want her to stop coughing as it's really sad to watch. The breeder was just sick about it and offered to pay for the vet bills or take her back (like that's going to happen) but we will just keep our fingers crossed and hope she's not a lemon because we already love her so much.Morning with the neighbors.Stella putting on her, "I'm actually a wolf , face."" I'm just so happy."Little Miss Brenna -10 weeks old

DARCEE'S NEW GOAT, CINNAMON

2008-09-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

"Okay Bucky, what the hell is that? And what are those pointy things on it's head?!!"

"Oh My God!!! It climbs!!!"

"I love you Cinnamon and please don't poke my eyes out."

"Crap your goats are huge!!!"
This is the lady who gave Darcee the goat. She was crying, the goat was crying, Darcee & I were crying...the poor little thing is 4 1/2 years old and never been away from her mother or this lady but the mom is sick and is being put down and she wanted Cinnamon to be with other goats.
Cinnamon ran up the field crying it's heart out chasing her car when she left.
Just not a happy moment. This just proves that we will always be buying meat not raising it.

ISN'T SHE GORGEOUS?

2008-09-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

This is our new baby girl!!
Let's face it, someone had to produce a girl so we
went for an adoption cause I'm old....
She's eight weeks in this photo and will be here in 8 days but who's counting.

Labour Day Weekend 2008

2008-09-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

"Hi, I'm Sullivan and I just wanted to tell all of you about the weekend we just spent at Nana & Grandpa's, personally I think they are all nuts!! My bunny, on the other hand, is wonderful!"

"This is me with my Grandpa Jim, who would never hold me but Nana plunked me on his lap.
So far so good..."
"That's my dad & Grandpa John playing bocci. Looks a little serious but Mya was
there to keep them in line." "Even Kyle got to play but I am just too little."" Gosh I'm cute.""Then the food began with Grandpa at the Q.""Kyle loves corn."

"I love Stella's dog 'spa'!"

"We had breakfast with the neighbors and boy can Uncle Chris cook!
Uncle Kyle & Uncle Danny would have loved it!!!
My Nana wished that all her kids were here. Uncle Danny & Aunty Jenny. Aunty Heather and Aunty Lindsay & Uncle Kyle & Luke. She says maybe next year we can all get together and meet my two new cousins.""I'm not quite sure what Mommy is doing to Daddy but it looked like fun.""Aunty Darcee thought it would be funny if everyone showed up wearing the same shorts to see what Grandpa Jim would say, he never noticed...I find that rather scary.""It was such a fun weekend even the pups were worn out.""So Mommy read me a book and I went to sleep."
The End

RIPRAP BABY...IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RIPRAP

2008-09-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

So I think I left off last time talking about the 'riprap' (I'm sure a man gave it that name). Well, I don't know if you remember but if you go back on the blog to....I think last November, maybe January...hmmm...there are pictures of Chris and Darcee's place after a big storm and there might even be one of this place but regardless, it was a hell of a storm on a really high tide and it wasn't pretty. So after living at the beach on Beach we decided to do what we did there (only for a much bigger buck...we are soooo broke, seems it cost quite a 'tad' more than we were quoted) and have rocks brought in to beef up the yard so we don't loose any more of it. Anyway they did a beautiful job and here are a few pictures. I really thought it would be much more of a mess, only thing now is some raking and a lot of grass seed...Seriously! The whole house shook when they dropped these rocks and I don't even know how many trips they made...well, apparently, a few thousand dollars more than expected...but I digress...The fellow (John) running this machine could have picked up a toothpick with it, amazing!!!

Luke would have loved this so much!!!We had these 3 rocks placed here and then Jim got 3 solar spot lights to shine on them at night and they look so cool! They actually look like icebergs.
And final inspection. It really does look great from the yard, rather awful from the beach but once a storm comes in that will change. At this point we are really happy but we haven't really seen what our Mother Nature has in store for us out here ...we'll keep you posted

Time for a New Post

2008-08-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

Nothing too new since the last post, I'm waiting until after the 'Weekend Rowdies' are here and then I will do another post. I'm so excited about seeing Sullivan that I bet I've watched the videos of him on Jamie's blog a hundred times! It's been a month since he was here last.

As for the house we've got our new deck and door out back in and we love it. I've been trying to get the stain on the deck but the weather has been so awful that I've only been able to get one coat on the rails and nothing on the actual deck. And not only is the weather wet but it's darn cold! I'm sure glad Jamie and John got married last year or I'd be freaking out.We're almost done with everything we wanted to get accomplished for this year. Including handrails on all the stairways and even getting Terason Gas to clear off the bank so boats could see the no anchor sign at the top. It looks pretty good too.The only thing left is the riprap that is being put along the water side this week to help protect us from the storms. It's going to be a huge job and I wish Luke could be here to see them do it as it's going to involve some big machinery. The sad thing is that if could have done it two weeks ago it wouldn't have wrecked the yard too badly but now it's been raining it's going to be a mud hole. Should be fun with a new pup running through it!

Speaking of which... this is her at four weeks, not a very good picture but better than nothing.I love the way she is already laying with her front feet crossed like Brandy and Karma.
I'm hoping they will send that toy of hers with her on the plane to keep her company. It's going to be a pretty scarey venture for the little girl.

Oh, and if any of you are wondering...the damn cat is still hiding under the bed. I drag him out once or twice a day and he purrs and rubs and rolls and then runs back under the bed. To put it mildly I really don't think he's too bright... guess the eyes should have been a clue.
(quit laughing Kyle)

JULY ON THE HOMESTEAD

2008-08-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

Boy, there just isn't any time to post in the summer. The only reason I'm actually in is because the weather is changing this evening and it's a little cold. That's not the real reason though, the real reason is there is another SPCA rescue hiding under the bed down here so I'm trying to keep 'Herbert' company. He is totally freaked out so I think it's going to take a while unlike Mitzy who settled right in and then died 3 weeks later....let's hope this goes a tad better. Poor old 'Herbert' is a result of a break up and I guess no one could decide who gets the cat. Duh!!

So back to July and a little bit of August, what a great time. We had Terry Sears here, we had Linds, Kyle and the adorable Mr. Luke, plus Siobian and Juliette and we just had Johhny, James and Sullivan for the August long weekend (still haven't recovered from that one yet) Kyle & Danny you soooooo should have been here.) But it's true what they say, "It's all fun and games until someone loses a finger." I'm sure someone said that, right John?

The pool table finally started to get used with a few games between Terry and Jim. Jim beat the old boy so I know that Terry will be back to kick some .... hopefully he will bring Brenda and we can sit back, drink wine and make jokes.
Then Lindsay, Kyle and Luke came for a week and it was just so good. They even chose to stay in the carriage house (that still sounds so 'stuffy' to me) which was great. I think they enjoyed it. The best part is that the baby monitor works from there to the house or to the beach fire.And I'm really not sure who liked the little John Deere more, Kyle or Luke.We also totally lucked out and got to go up in the gliders, one of the perks of Jim being mayor. It was mine and Jim's 2nd time and Kyle's first. Lindsay couldn't go because she's pregnant and no one else was home but if you ever get a chance, do it! It's very cool.'
This is my tow plane and below that is the amazing view.Could be wrong but I think Kyle liked it.
You would have to smack the smile off his face.

Siobian & Juliette were here only one night. It was great to see her and her little girl is absolutely adorable. I don't know if Luke thought she was so cute but I think he only clobbered her once just to see if she was as easy to get along with as Will. She is.Kyle was fantastic, he did so much work around here for me. He and Luke lugged a ton of rocks off the beach and even placed them around the garden for me. Then he borrowed Chris' chainsaw and bucked up a couple of trees in the pasture that we'd had fell and to top it off he even moved the manure pile! There was other stuff he did as well but I have to stop or it will just go to his head. For me the best part was really getting to know Kyle and for those of you who don't know... he is really entertaining when he's into the scotch... Thanks again for everything Kyle.

It truly was a great week. Lindsay is an amazing mom and looks absolutely incredible, I admire you so much. And Luke, what a character, can't wait to see him again. He just cracks me up. I've even got Pat & Ryan saying, "Look! It's a wee-a wee-a!!"And of course boys will be boys

Then came last weekend, Comox Days, OH MY GOD!!! I so wish all you kids could have been here. I laughed so much, especially once Jamie discovered Marty was ticklish. Heather E was supposed to be here but ended up working many long days so didn't make it and we missed her soooo much. I don't even know how many times Jamie and I said, "I wish Heather was here!"
It was seriously just so much fun. Bocci, pool, ridiculously cute grandson... And of course, the ridiculously cute neighbors Chris and Marcee ( the sweet, little Darcee had apparently left for a couple of days).
It was like everyone turned 12. Even to the point where we were hiding outside trying to scare the crap out of whomever happened to be coming by. Which in hind sight is rather dumb cause some of us are old and could probably die of a jammer on the lawn.
And of course John dug another hole in the incredibly hard lawn so I could plant another tree, then he headed off to split the wood that Kyle bucked up and the rest is history.
I love my son-in-laws. Jamers loves the horses.

Monday was of course the parade, the mayors luncheon and the Ceremony of the Flags. Our last parade!!!! Yes!!!! Our last mayors luncheon! Yes! Ceremony of the Flags I love so I will continue to go. And then everyone left and it was sad. Quiet, but sad. Oh, apparently Sullivan found the Mayors Luncheon rather boring.And what's a blog without a cruiseship photo

Taking a Few Shots

2008-07-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been awhile and this won't be much of an update but I did manage to get out the other evening and then today I actually took the day off to go take pictures. Didn't get anything I like but I did have a really good time. My photography buddy, Ola, is just a hoot. So here are a couple of shots and I will have a good update soon as Linds, Kyle and Luke are coming tomorrow. I wish all the rest of the kids were coming but as I know well, life just gets too busy. I have to admit though that I am missing Sullivan! Hopefully I can head down there next Thursday or Friday. Especially considering Jamie won't send me a new picture and I haven't seen them in over 3 weeks!!!
Holy Crap~~I love it here

BAD YEAR FOR PETS

2008-07-03T07:59:00.001-07:00

Kona Girl, 16 years old. She'd been a stray that showed up about a week after I moved back here. She was a good old girl that Jm always called the 'welfare cat' or as Jamie referred to her 'Smelly Cat' but she really was sweet and she had a good life.

JD Boy, 5 years old and oh how we loved this guy, still can't go there...

And my tough boy Calvin, my little Cally, 14 years old. I miss you so much.
I told Jim I was getting another dog and he didn't believe me.
He was the best little boating dog going and an even better kayaker. You drove us nuts but you were so much fun.

And now my poor little Mitzy. Only had her 3 weeks but had already fallen for her when I saw her little face at the SPCA. She was fine but went into complete liver failure. Could have been a plant that she got into, no one will ever know but it just broke my heart.
No more pets for awhile... it's just too hard. My old ticker can't take it.

IT'S SUMMER BABY!!!!

2008-07-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well what a wonderful weekend. Jamie and John and Sully. Lots of John's family and friends and even our 10th anniversary which was celebrated at Henry Bay on Sea Lure with our best buddies. Couldn't get any better other than it would have been a blast to have all the rest of you kids here. Oh well, maybe some day we can get everyone here together on a great summer day. We're looking so forward to Kyle, Linds and Luke coming out soon but I got disappointing news tonight that Danny can't make it. I can understand though, it so expensive and it would be better to save the money and come out with Jen and the baby later.

This time last year I was in a cast and in total panic mode over the wedding...
now there's a baby at their feet, life is good.Cute little gaffer isn't he? I miss him when he leaves...there's always a lingering baby powder smell, could be the package of Pampers but I would like to think it's just our little Sully.

You gotta love these young bucks out looking for chicks on the beach.
Guys eh? They're always the same.

Yay Mya!!!! First one in at our house.

There are some great rocks out front so Jamie, Mya, Kyle and Sue (John's mom) headed out.

Kyle decided it was just too hard on his little feet.

Marty and Chris decided it would be good night for a swim but the water
was stirred up with the wind and it was just a tad cold...

Marty did it though and Chris and Darcee donned their wet suits and made it out a little later

There aren't a lot of birds or waterfowl around here compared to the old place but check this guy out. He preened and preened for about an hour and then stood like this for probably another 1/2 hour drying his wings.

The view from our bedroom window last night, great way to end a great weekend.

A Man and his Land

2008-06-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, you have to admit that's pretty cool.

Jim, Dad, Grandpa...walking through the field with his dog and, of course, the goats.

We, or I guess, I, have been trying to 'sack out' my goat Mocha. Basically what that is is getting him used to being handled. Being used to having people touch his sides, his legs and his feet. Well, he ain't havin' any of it!!! He loves his back scratched and his head rubbed and that's about it. Should be interesting when the farrier comes cause Decaf Mocha is a big ass goat!This would be his @#$#@$ off look...and I did...

On another note this would be one of the many flowers I took from the old place.
Perty, ain't it?
Now my old girls don't lay a lot but when they do and that's about 1 - 3 eggs a day, they are huge!!! I took 2 to make scrambled eggs this morning and could have fed 3 people! Seriously, God, screwed up because it should have been the hens that crowed, not the rooster! Any woman who can pass that deserves to crow!!!
We are having trouble with critters trying to eat the old girls though. If it's not the eagles, it's the mink and if it's not the mink it's the raccoons. Turns into quite a game though. Cracks me up. My how our lives have changes! Lately it's been figuring out how to keep the ravens out. They steal the eggs! They actually land on the fence, drop down into the pen and just walk right into the hen house. We have a mom & dad and 3 young. The adults take the eggs no problem but for a while the youngsters weren't gentle enough and would break the eggs but now they've got it down to a science. Luckily for me Doc and Diane were here and Di said to try putting up a piece of netting in the doorway so the girls could get into lay but the ravens might be afraid to go in because they wouldn't be able to fly out. Worked like a charm.

2008-06-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

There's a new post coming to a computer near you...maybe

THE FARM

2008-06-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

I've heard a rumor that Danny Usher doesn't like chickens. Well, let me tell you, my chickens are cool. They are much like myself (especially one). They have no more eggs, they're a little spacey and one seriously limps when she gets up in the a.m. And, did any of you know that chickens can jump? They can't fly but they can jump and for God's sake don't go into the pen in flip flops and painted toe nails...it's just not good (ask Darcee). The worst part is, yes, I love those old girls and no one is making stew out of them.

Then there are the goats, they are so much fun. This is mine, he's Mocha and quite big. A mix of a bunch of goats (I know so much).

And this is Bucky (with a B) and he is Darcee's. Apparently Darce got a little more goat than I did, which I mentioned a while back. Uncle Bob made a platform for them with two ramps and they just love it. The game is to get up there, rear up and then try to knock the other goat or person off, too funny. I will try to get pictures when I get a sec.

Oh, and this is a rainbowAnd this is Mitzy. I got her today from the SPCA and she is sitting, paddling away on my lap as I type this. She is twelve years old and someone gave her up. Her back was so matted that they had to shave her so she has a reverse mohawk. She had a large tumour under her neck that turned out to be another matt that had gone inside like an ingrown hair. And then there are her poor little ears. This is a result of unattended ear mites. Just heart breaking and hopefully not 'bank' breaking. She had been an inside cat and she is just so sweet. I'll give it a week or so before I introduce her to Oz but hopefully they will get along.
We, or I, had a very scarey incident today. Darcee had warned me that neighbors down the way have a cat killing dog and I was so worried that Oz would get out because he has absolutely no fear of anything being an inside cat. What I didn't know was the dog hates other dogs too. I was painting the coop (the coop, too funny...) and someone comes walking down the beach and Will runs to the edge of the property and barks hoping someone will pet him or better yet, a dog will play with him and the next thing I know this bloody dog attacks him. And I mean ATTACK. Will is so gentle and so fearful and this thing has him by the throat and is just ripping at him. Will is yelping or for a better word, screaming. The young women walking the two dogs has no control. I ran from the pen yelling and the attack dog took off into Chris and Darcee's yard. Will just ran to me and shook and hugged against my legs, he was so scared. He wasn't torn but he so sore and so nervous to go outside. It just really pisses me off. The girl was saying, "I'm so sorry. He hates other dogs." Well, put him on a bloody leash!!! Anyway, kind of a crappy way to get welcomed to the neighborhood but I'm phoning tomorrow and they either keep it on a leash and out of peoples yards or I'm reporting them.

Yes, a New Post!!!

2008-06-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

Since the last post we've been to Ottawa and Quebec City and then back to continue moving in and it's all been amazing. We could only fit in 2 days with Luke, Kyle and Linds but it was wonderful. The parents look fantastic and that little boy is just incredible. I do now really know why we have our babies in our 20's and early 30's...2 days with Luke and I was exhausted AND he wasn't feeling well! I can't imagine what he's like when he's 100%! Just kidding but he really does NEVER stop unless it's nap time. He is so cute though and such a ham, I just loved being with him.

We had the most amazing rooms on this trip. We stayed at the Fairmont's in both cities but we didn't get into the one in Ottawa until 1:00 am and we were beat. Jim had upgrade coupons that he'd mentioned and I heard the girl at the desk say we've given you a lovely 'suite'...We headed up and Jim said, "Well, it won't be much because it's only on the 2nd floor." We walk up to our door and there is a sign that says 'Prime Minister's Suite' and we both go, "Yeh, right." We open the door and I started to laugh. The damn place was almost as big as the old house! Full dining room, full kitchen, living room, huge bedroom, writing room (seriously), and on and on. The coolest refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen. It was really something. And sooooo old. It wasn't until the next day that I realized that all the amazing doors and stonework were actually plastic. Looked great though. The funniest part was it was 2 days later that we found a 2nd bathroom!
The kitchen was really so old. There was a door for the maids to come in and prepare dinner or whatever. There was a dumb-waiter...it must be such a great place for a wedding or reception. Very well done. We both loved it. We were only in it to sleep but what the heck.So on to Quebec City and another awesome room at the Hotel Frontenac...
This time we got the Alfred Hitchcock Room Very cool. Up in one of the turrets, 4 very, tiny, little windows that had sheers on that didn't pull back. So, you could always find our room from the outside...we were the one with the curtains tied in a knot. Why? Because the views were absolutely stunning!! We had a great time and would go back in a heart beat.And of course, you gotta love the guy trying to make a few extra bucks.
This fellow was very good. He played every day and we could even hear him from our room which was so nice. There must have been another reason that he was still on the streets as he was truly very talented.

WE'RE IN!!!

2008-05-25T22:08:00.001-07:00

Well we're finally here and neither one of us thought we would love it this much. We've only been here a week and we've done far too much but what the heck. Tomorrow we head to Ottawa and then Quebec City so we wanted to get as much done as possible and you seriously have no idea what we've accomplished. We're not only down to a couple of boxes but we've cleaned up gardens, filled our pots and oak barrels, built a huge new bed for all the plants I took from the other house, played with the goats, cleaned the chicken coop, had a shower for Sullivan, had tons of company...Oh My God we're tired!!!! So this is a quick little entry and some pictures for Danny, the first I took just after I got off the phone from talking to him tonight.
The cruise ships are aplenty this time of year. They really do look quite magnificent at night.

Our main floor living/dining room

The 'toy' arrives and apparently has to be driven to the neighbors cause it gets lonely at home...

The home of my 'old girls'. I couldn't just let the previous owners stew them and they lay a few HUGE eggs every day. Unfortunately, we have only five now as the eagles are rather hungry too

Darlene with Bucky and Mocha. Mocha is mine and Bucky is Darcee's. Darcee ended up with 'more' goat than me because they both supposed to be neutered but apparently Bucky still has a few attachments and is also rather gay...
Put it this way...don't anyone bend over in the goat pen without keeping a sharp eye open

This is without any filters, Photoshop or anything else, this was the true colours of the ocean and sky on Friday night. Pretty cool, eh?

And then there is the new little munchkin in our growing family. This is his first time with a soother and it's a definite hit. He's so tiny though it covers most of his beautiful little face.

One very proud Papa

And a very proud Mama

And as always a huge, huge thank you to Heather who stayed home with Jamie and Johnny's very damaged cat so they could come up here and be with us and John's family. Thank you as always Heathery, we love you to pieces.

Aunty Heathery

2008-05-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is to the other person who has just helped so much and is such a sweetheart.
Here's to Aunty Heather!!!
Thank you so much for the room & board to start with. Thank you for being there for Jamie & Johnny and thank you for being the best Aunty ever to Sullivan. Now we know why Luke loves his Aunty Heather, she is another natural when it comes to babies, they are crazy about her. Actually we're all crazy about her!
Anywho, I love you to pieces Heathery, see you soon.

Gotta Go Home...so sad...

2008-05-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

I came here eight days ago and tomorrow I have to go home because of the move but every time I think about it I start to cry. Oh my God I love this little boy!!!! I can't wait until all of you meet him. Especially Luke cause he will see what he's got to look forward to...

It's certainly been quite a week, I've seen my little girl in unbelievable pain, I've seen my little girl give birth, I've seen my little girl develop the biggest hooters I've ever seen, hmmmm, basically I've seen more of my little girl than I've seen in 28 years (a lot more than I cared to see but what the heck). And it's been amazing. She makes me so proud, she is just a natural mom. So comfortable with Sully, it does make me feel better about leaving. The thing is Sully isn't even a week old and he's already changed so much, I can't imagine not seeing him for a couple of weeks. Hopefully they put lots of pictures up constantly so we can see his little face. Thanks goodness for the internet, eh? Lord knows we drive Kyle and Linds crazy whining about MORE PICTURES. Imagine how bad it will be for Danny and Jenny in Taiwan! I'll be so annoying!!!Sullivan Wright - 4 days old

Daddy reading to Sully

MOTHER'S DAY 008

2008-05-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Uta the midwife giving Sullivan his first talk
about being a good boy for his mom.

Well it's definitely been an amazing few days! Jamie and Johnny are doing wonderful and Sully, of course, is just beyond words. He is so good so far and is giving his mom time to rest. Mind you it's hard to make her go lay down as all she wants to do is hold him and stare at him (and rightfully so). You know my sister told me that I wouldn't believe the feelings of seeing that grandbaby for the first time. That it was different again from the first time you see your own child and she was so right. It's a different love, not stronger but so powerful and you know that even though you aren't that strong, young, twenty something year old mom, you could kick some serious butt if anyone messes with that little boy. I can't wait to take him for his first walk through Beacon Hill Park.
Yesterday was a crazy day as all Johnny's family came for a visit, so including myself there were 7 extra people in the house. I was really concerned and probably a pain in the butt because I didn't think Jamie should have to deal with that considering her and Sully hadn't even been home a day and she came home just 12 hours after he was born but it all went quite well with Mom & babe hiding out in the nursery. The family were all great and really respectful of how tired everyone was. I was just quite concerned about the fact that Johnny's little niece was quite ill. She never went near the babe but I went around disinfecting things after they left.
S0, and you will love this, I'm sitting at Jamie's last night and Uncle Danny phones to congratulate his little sister (it was Mother's Day in Tainan), then he wants to talk to his mom and he announces to me that Jenny is pregnant!!! Too cool! She was scared to tell him because he was planning on coming home this summer and looking for work and she would prefer to have the baby in Tainan but Dann was absolutely thrilled. And it worked out so well. He had given up his teaching position and had found a replacement but then he got a phone call and the fellow backed out so Dann walked right back into his job. All is good!!! Now we'll have babies in Taiwan, babies in China and babies in Canada. I've made Heather promise that she has to marry a vet and live in Victoria to keep her mom and me happy.
I will post some pictures later but my camera is at Jamie's, have a great day and Happy Mother's Day to all you Mother's who might read this.

BABY!!!

2008-05-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

A beautiful day to be born, May 8th, 2008

I would like you to meet Sullivan Turner Wright who arrived into the world last night, May 8th, just before 11:00 pm. Mom and babe are doing just wonderful or atleast they were when Heather and I left the hospital at 1:00. I think Jamie is going to be pretty sore but she was a trooper. It was a long one and I found out that I really am old (damn near killed me). Johnny was amazing with his girl and presenting her with a diamond and emerald ring mid-labour saved him from the "Why did you do this to me you @#$%@!@!" syndrome (clever boy that one). Anyway, I will write more at a later date. Heather and I have balloons and flowers and cute baby stuff to buy!!! Maybe I'll go get him a baby goat...Oh don't panic Brass, it was a joke!!!HERE'S YOUR BABY JAMIE!

STILL NO LITTLE WATZIT!

2008-05-05T09:40:00.001-07:00

The due date has come and gone and James is now a week + overdue without even a twinge so I've decided to hit the road and head down there and take her jogging, trampolining (is that a word?) and anything else I can think of. But let's face it, babies come when they are darn good and ready and the fact that Nana & Grandpa are moving in 10 days doesn't even come into play. My plan is I will get there this afternoon, labor will start at 4:00, baby will be here by say 11:00 and I will come home next Tuesday...holy crap! Oh well, crazy times.
The weekend was spent around the house and the yard. I got the gardens all weeded and edged and Jim got the patio all power washed and the bbq ready to go. I was getting kinda of sad but that was put quickly to rest when a half dozen cars showed up in the cul de sac and the drugs and fowl language got going. We think it's going to be one of the bad summers down here. Hopefully they don't find our new beach! You really wonder where these kids parents are.
Saturday was a fun one too, we went to Darcee and Chris' for dinner with the guy we bought the house from. Chris and he managed to get WELL into the wine, most entertaining, and I think Darcee now has 6 chickens and we have 2 goats. Go figure...could have been just the wine talking though. Hope not, I'd love to have their goats and I've already got 6 new chickens ordered!

Jim and Marty got out on Ceara for the club sail past yesterday. The old boat looks pretty good from a distance. If we ever get some nice weather Marty is going to get started working on her again and then I will start the wood. That is if I can drag myself away from the new place.

So, I'm off. Thank you so much to my wonderful husband for taking care of everything at home. I know it's going to be a nightmare with Cally.
I love you Jimbo.

See you soon Grandpa

2008-04-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby...WE WANT THE BABY. Sorry everyone he/she isn't here yet I'm just excited.

A Victoria Weekend

2008-04-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were at Jim's last AVICC meeting (Annual Vancouver Island & Coastal Communities) in Langford at Bear Mountain, otherwise known as Bare Mountain. Our accommodations were beautiful but as I said to Jim Saturday morning when we woke up, " I've never been at a hotel where I don't want to look out the window." And he said he felt the same. We were expecting a hotel on a golf course...not. Everywhere you look is development. Cranes, condos, houses, devastation, very sad. They just don't know when to quit.

So from there we were off to Victoria to see Jamie and Johnny's new house. It is soooo cute!! But they have done so much work in a very short time (like a week). John must be so tired I don't even know how he's functioning. Jamie did as much as she could which turned out to be way too much. We ended up calling the mid-wife and she basically was told she is to do nothing! "If you feel like you 'have' to do something, then walk out in the backyard and sit in a lawn chair. That's it!" Too funny. I have fallen in love with Uta, the midwife. A very cool lady.
Seriously, their house is great. It has a ' Johnny & Jamie got married' feeling about it. (that one is for the adorable April who sang it at the wedding) Our little Watzit is going to have a great first home.After the weekend Jim had his other eye surgery and it went really well. He is so pleased and he really is quite cute without his glasses. Having to spend the weekend wearing his old glasses with only one lens was fun for me too. Watching the very young, very gorgeous, Bear Mountain waitresses try to be polite and not mention that the guy ordering 2 double rum & coke, had only one lens in his glasses was most enjoyable...
Back to packing...

or maybe Tierra Bella...hmmm

2008-04-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

I remember hearing many years ago that moving from one's home is highly stressful, apparently whoever said that was a very smart person. I think it would have been better if we'd moved up the date but we're on 'baby watch' and I seriously can't begin to tell you how excited I am about that!!

The house, this house, is in such a mess. Boxes everywhere and we're just starting. We've got Heather and Paula coming up to board for Mt Washington's last weekend this season and then we are heading down to Victoria next weekend for meetings and Jim's next eye surgery and then we're packing up everything we don't need. Speaking of eye surgery I just can't get used to him without glasses. He looks great and is loving it.

I've been digging up and dividing as many plants as I can. Have even got a willow started off of Jamie's tree but I'm getting worried that they won't be doing well by the time we get out there in the middle of May. Should be interesting, we move in on the 16th and I have to get 40 plants in the ground before we leave for Ottawa and Quebec City on the 30th...fuuunnn! You'd think the people would let us take the plants out there but they won't let us move a thing in until we "SHOW THEM THE MONEY". Nice couple...

So I decided this morning that I had to finish a few projects that I had started. One was to repair this cute little garden thingy that Pam Smith's mom Fay made me a million years ago. Fay is probably the most talented female I have ever met. She can do anything. I remember one day Jamie came home and said, "Pam's mom is busy putting in new carpeting." Fay was actually laying it and kicking it in...such a cool lady. The next was to repaint this wonderful fairy that I have had in the garden for years. She is still a little worse for wear but came out pretty good. And the other was to finish the crib quilt that I started before Easter and hadn't gotten back to. Now that one was interesting. I used to sew everything! All my clothes, tons of my kids clothes, stuffed animals, Christmas stuff, drapes...and then I went back to work, my life changed and the next thing you know I hadn't sewn in almost 20 years! You would think it would be like riding a bike but it took me a few minutes to remember how to load the bobbin. But I did it, made a ton of mistakes but just love it. I can't wait to get to the new house so I can have a room that I can get back to doing all my crafts in again. Sewing on the dining room table just doesn't cut it.
Now we're in April, little Watzit is due on the 27th and Jamie and Johnny are great. Linds and baby are doing well. Luke is the cutest little boy ever and Dann is coming home in June! Life is good.

GREEN ACRES IS THE PLACE FOR US...

2008-03-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

We're starting to get excited!! We went and looked at stuff for the new place today. Things like generators, fireplaces, tractors...We must seriously look and sound like such a couple of city slickers, it just cracks me up! I'm standing looking at this little tractor and all I can think about is how cute it would look with flowers painted on the side (now you know where Jamie gets it). Our questions are like, "Does it come with a drink holder?", rather than, "The HP is only 18, would we be better off to get the 24?" And then comments like," Oooh, look the seat swivelllls!" And as for the generator the poor fellow might as well have been talking to Will. Too funny.
You kids are too young to know the tv show Green Acres but it is truly Jim and I. We're having so much fun. Mind you 2 months today we will be moving and hopefully we are still speaking to each other! It will be stressful and sad and exciting and really tiring!
There has been so many good times in this house. Christmas', birthday parties, graduations and just a great place to be. Jamie and Johnny's wedding was by far the best but life is full of changes.
The good news is we will both be so happy to get away from the cul de sac, it is getting horrible! We used to get maybe 3 cars a day, last Saturday morning there must have been 30. That doesn't sound like much to most people but when you aren't used to it, it drives you nuts. It would be fine if it was just nice people out for a drive but it's usually a bunch of idiots. As I type this there are two very high young men out on the beach with someones golf clubs, hitting rocks, TOWARDS THE HOUSE! And yesterday there were two people in a truck and the woman was so out of it that she was just rocking and hitting her head into her hands, nice...the guy was just sitting in a cloud of BC Bud listening to tunes. I think a lot of it is that the valley has grown so much and people are just now finding out about the beach access here and it is just getting really busy.

So anyway, this is going to be our new tractor , pretty close anyway. We were going John Deere but have heard good things about Kubota and the price is right. Isn't it cute!!!!?

We will still need to get a weed whacker and few of these little fellows but we're on our way!!!

They are just so darn cute!!!

And then there will be the chickens. Now I thought this would be a really good idea. You know, fresh eggs, about 6 birds and, apparently, everybody and their dog wants to buy eggs from us, but, and don't laugh, I haven't actually come clean about the fact that I am terrified of chickens...
it's a long story...

HOLA. COMO ESTA?

2008-03-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

Beunos dias! Que tal? Yup, that's about the extent of my Spanish except for dos cervasa por favor & donde esta banos. We're home and Jim would still be there if he didn't have to work. We had a great time, actually, a fantastic time other than we both got pneumonia (nice, eh?).
We even got a trip to a Mexican medical clinic which was an...experience. But a few hundred dollars later off we went with our (this was the doctors words) 'doggy bag of drugs' and we are on the mend (I hope).

We started off having to spend the first 2 nights in an all inclusive down the beach from where we usually stay because some people had the nerve not to get out of our condo. Imagine, people not wanting to give up the last 2 days of their holiday to let us in! So anyway, we checked into the El Presidente. They give us a room on the bottom floor by the pools and party area and I was not impressed at all. The room was musty and smelled like chlorine from the pools but I figured oh well, it's an old place and it's only 2 nights. Jim heads off to get some ice and I'm standing in the room and notice this loud humming noise. I turned off the air conditioning, still humming. Turn off the lights, still humming. Jim comes back and we decide it's going to drive us crazy so off he goes to the front desk to complain. He comes back , says he's checked out another room and we are moving. This room is away from the pools etc and is on the estuary side which I love. Cool. Off Jim goes back to the other room to claim the ice he's gotten. I'm standing in the room and what do I hear? Humming?? Crap!! We decide what the hell, we'll just put up with it. I go outside and about 5 minutes later I hear Jim yell, "I found it!!" Okay, the moral of this story is this. Man not travel with battery operated toothbrush in suitcase. Laugh, oh my God! The best part was when Jim told me that the girl at the desk didn't understand what he was saying so he's describing the room and humming and pointing to the ceiling. I bet she was thinking she had one loopy gringo in front of her.
Two days later we are headed to our home away from home, we just love this place. Mykonos, a big white Greek style place right on the beach. It's just so comfortable, Jim has already said we're heading back next year if all is well with the world. He might have to drag me kicking and screaming away from the new place though.We had quite a few friends down there this year so we had some great laughs and some great meals! We went to a place called Morgans in downtown San Jose and it was just amazing! We sat on the top floor, all open air. Stars above you, beautiful live music below you. A fireplace burning...oh and the best martini I've had in a year! And finally a meal without refried beans!! I was truly in heaven. I tell you, that's the one thing about the Baja, you have to go a long way to get a meal that doesn't taste like dirt. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it is an acquired taste.
Now driving down there is also quite the experience. I admire Jim for doing it, it is truly terrifying. Should have seen the look on our faces when we turned the wrong way on a one way and looked up to see large truck with the back filled with Federalies, with very large guns, shaking their heads at us. We figured we were in serious trouble but they slowly drove out into the street, stopped the traffic for us and let us back up and turn around. Whew!!! Apparently they are trying to improve their image with the tourists. Worked for me.
We did a couple of day trips this year, and luckily lived to tell about it. We drove up to Todos Santos, home of the Hotel California. Had a wonderful Italian meal there. Todos Santos is a real artsy place but Jim hated the road so bad that we didn't hang around long, he just wanted to get back and get it over with. The other trip we took was out to Los Barilles. It's up the east side and is known for wind. It was beautiful and the road wasn't quite as bad as the other. And it truly was a wind surfer's paradise!
And now we're home and getting ready to start packing for the big move! I took my sister out to Darcee & Chris' yesterday so she could see the house from the beach. She thought it was beautiful but kept saying, "I will never see you when you get way out here." She has said this a few times so I didn't say a thing. Drove back to her place, got about 4 red lights. Stopped the car and said, "Pat, that took exactly 13 minutes door to door." That's exactly 3 minutes longer than from here to her place. She was happy. Also didn't hurt when she realized that she goes to Anderton Nursery all the time which is 2 minutes away from the house, and she goes to the Apple Orchard all summer and that is about 1 minute away from the house AND there is a new nursery right next door to us. Couldn't be any better, well it could if we could win a lottery.

And, of course, we're on baby watch!!! Less than 2 months to go, I can't wait!!! We phoned Jamie while we were away and she kept laughing and saying, "You really should phone Lindsay..." So we did, and found out number 3 is showing up in October!!! As my father said to me when I told him I was pregnant with Danny, "I'm going to be up to my ass in grandkids!"

My God Things Can Change Quickly

2008-02-06T16:03:00.000-08:00

So we went from, "Damn the house didn't sell!", to "Oh my God the house sold, what were we thinking!" But I guess everything happens for a reason and what's life without a little excitement and sheer terror. We are now a day away from knowing if we just got ourselves into debt for 5 acres of waterfront, so seriously, "OH MY GOD!!!" If the deal does go through we will take possession at 5 pm on May 16th. Let's hope little Watzit doesn't decide to hang around on the inside for 2 extra weeks or Darcee will have to move everything by herself!

We are also two days away from heading away for three weeks which wouldn't be happening if all this had happened a month ago but it's good because Jim really needs a break. He will be such a happy camper once he's not mayor any more. As for me I'm just hoping the gale and storm force winds that we've been having disappear before we get on a plane. It's funny the more I fly the more I get nervous and never used to be the least bit nervous.
Other than that, Tanja left yesterday for a new family and we thoroughly enjoyed having her here. A nice kid and no trouble. I think she was probably bored stupid with us but what the heck she had a roof over her head for 6 weeks. Do you know she never walked out in the back yard even once and the only day she came out on the beach I asked her to walk the dog with me. Very odd. The other weird thing was we told her she could phone home any time she wanted as we have a great overseas plan and she never called once! Strange...
Old Cally is still hanging in. His head is tilted to the right and he can't hear or see much but he still loves to eat and he still loves to walk, you just have to guide him a lot and lift him over logs. I hate to leave him but hopefully he will still be alive and kicking when we get back. The little guy just isn't ready to tip over yet. Actually that is a really poor choice of words as tips over a lot...
Anyway, next post will be post Mexico!!! That's it for now! Adios

COLD FOR HERE

2008-01-29T17:19:00.000-08:00

Well, Jim and I are certainly ready for our trip to Mexico. It seems like it's been winter for about 2 years, other than the August long weekend and Jamie and John's wedding. I can't wait!!! Zipper's Bar on the beach, HERE WE COME!!! We have to go there cause it's the best food in town, well, probably not but it's on the beach, not in town or in some hotel and the staff is great. But it's not just that we're going away, but we have so many different friends there this year! Doc and Diane are there (wouldn't go without them) but also Kathleen & Harold Leighton and Bill & Wendy Sherwood, all members of our yacht club so it should be a hoot. Harold and Kathleen are even staying at the same place as us so that should be fun.
It's going to be a little different this time because we're staying for 3 weeks (3 weeks!!!! no I'm not the least bit excited) but we couldn't get our place for the first 2 nights so we're staying down the beach at an all inclusive and it's right on the estuary, so my camera and I are going for a walk or ten, the birds are usually amazing there. Oh and definitely a little warmer than this poor little devil that was sitting on our fence. The only bad thing about the trip is leaving Calvin cause as most of you know the vet thinks he has a brain tumor and he tends to fall over a lot (Calvin not the the vet, teehee) .
The other news is that we've had Tanja, a Rotary Exchange student from Finland living here since Dec. 29th. Unfortunately she has to go to another family on the Feb. 5th cause we're leaving shortly thereafter but I've sure enjoyed having her here. She is just so sweet! It's taken 3 weeks to get her talking but now all is good. Her and I have some great laughs. Today her & I and Marg& Avril went down to the Kingfisher Spa for a day of fun. I have never done that before and neither had Tanja and it was so much FUN!! Tanja and I couldn't get 'treatments' until an hour and fifteen after Marg and Av so we just swam and swam and used the steam sauna and swam and swam. It was great! The only thing missing was Jamie, Heather and Lindsay (my fish).
Then Tan had a manicure and I had a pedicure. The best part was the estetician (I'm sure that isn't how you sell it) didn't scream when she saw my poor old scarred up feet. Okay, the other best part was that we stole Jim's 2 gift certificates that he'd been given by other dentists at Christmas!!!
I have to say though, to see the look on Tanja's face when we came out just absolutely made my day. She had a ball and she keeps staring at her nails and smiling, so cute! I am really going to miss her and I have to thank Heather and Paula for taking her boarding she loved that too.
Oh and let's face it Mexico is great, Tanja is great but WE'RE HAVIN' A BABY!!!! Okay, not us us but I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to get home, get to Victoria and drive Jamie and John crazy!!! Hey, let's face it being a grandma is the BEST!!

James Dean (JD) June 30, 2002 - December 22,2007

2008-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

Here's to the World's Best Cat
I miss you with all my heart Little Jade

The Year in Review

2008-01-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

Most of 2007 was pretty good. Mexico in February, Jamaica in March, Hawaii in April with Danny as a surprise (God, I loved that!!). Right foot fixed in June, wedding in September so everyone was home and then the announcement about little baby Whazit coming in April, absolutely fantastic!!! Then Nov. 28th I got my other foot done so I'm hoping that it will be as good as the first, no sure about that yet. Now looking back I shouldn't be the least bit sad but I am and I just need a good kick in the pants. I got really bummed because we couldn't sell the house, I had this dream of being able to have the whole family home and not to have anyone stay in a hotel (not that you guys get to all be home very often). Of having the grandkids being able to play out front without getting run over by some stupid teenager coming down the road at 80 mph. And then there were the chickens...Oh well, at least it was a fun pipe dream. I think Jim & I were both absolutely blown away that our house didn't sell but it's an old house and a lot of money. The good news is we really like it here and I love the ducks and the glacier.The worst part of 2007 was yet to come though. It started with losing our old cat Kona in October, sad but she'd had a good and long life with us. She'd been a stray that ran into my place about a week after I moved back to the valley so she was pushing 17. Not too long after that as you all know JD, our beautiful ragdoll cat, got terribly ill but he managed to pull himself through it along with a lot of help from our vet (and Jim's money). He was good for about a month and then he got sick again and he never made it. We tried everything but ended up bringing him home and few days later, Dec. 22nd, had the vet come in and put him down. I don't think I have ever been so upset. Even as I write this I am crying again. I just miss him so terribly much and so does Jim. He was just such a buddy.
So Christmas was a sad one and a lonely one but it all perked up when Jamie and Johnny showed up on the 26th complete with 'Baby Bump' and then Heathery arrived on the 27th. I hated to see everyone leave. We have inherited a new daughter though. Well, not really, but we do have a very sweet Rotary Exchange student living with us until Feb. 7th. Tania is 18 and is from Hamina, Finland. She is terribly quiet which after living with Danny and Jamie is really hard to get used to. Jamie was kind enough to tell her that the house was haunted and that her little sister was murdered in the bedroom she is staying in. Jamie you are such a brat and I love your guts!!!And now it's 2008, we are looking forward to 3 weeks in San Jose del Cabo in February and we are anxiously awaiting little Watzit. We've got plans for a few renos in the living room this summer and a lot of scraping and painting on that old boat. Lord knows we didn't get one thing done last year to the old girl.

So Happy New Year everyone, let it be healthy and safe.

MY GRANDBABY & MY CHRISTMAS ELVES

2007-12-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

Isn't this amazing!!! Look Luke!! Your cousin!!
Let's hope that you and he/she are sleeping through the night next Christmas.

Thank you Auntie Heather for bringing the ultrasound pictures and thank you and Paula for helping decorate the tree. It really is pretty even though we seem to have lost a box of decorations.
James, Heathery even went looking for your favorite ornament, had a laugh about what you'd last written on it and hung it carefully on the tree for you. Very cool. We love you to pieces Heathery. We're kinda partial to that Paula person too...
LOOK! AN ANGEL

Heather I promise to have the stags up by the time you're back.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

2007-12-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

For any of you who read this blog you will remember that at the end of June I had my right 'great' toe fused due to arthritis. Well, last Wednesday (Nov. 28th) they did the other foot and I tell you if this surgery had been the first surgery I wouldn't have had the guts to get this one done. Sooooo painful it's been unbelievable. But it's all on the mend now and I have great pills, they must be as I've tried to phone Darcee twice on the remote. A couple of months and it should be perfect!!! And I'm being good and not posting any pictures cause apparently some of you (Don) have really weak stomachs. I watched the whole procedure though and it was amazing what they do and any guy would be proud to have all the power tools that Dr. Hill has.

Look! A mayor who shovels!!!

Needless to say Christmas will be a little quiet around here as I can't be up too much for awhile but we'll still have a great time. This weekend we ended up with a huge dump of snow that sure put you in the hohoho mood.

I love you JD

It was so pretty but it warmed up so fast that it is completely gone in the yard except where it was piled up from shoveling. It killed me not to go out and play in it. I can remember the days where I pulled Jamie up and down the street on her new snowboard...Now I'm sitting here anxiously waiting for her and Heather to post the new ultrasound pictures of our new grandbaby so be sure to check the link out tomorrow and see little baby Whatzit. They have chosen not to find out the sex and it makes it even more exciting. Jim said, "Well, you better start buying yellow." Yeah right, I've been buying yellow for weeks!

VICTORIA IN NOVEMBER

2007-11-23T08:33:00.001-08:00

Ah, traveling with a smoker. You know sometimes this view can be just a little scary!

He did make a new friend though.

We stayed at the Fairmont Empress and it was all right but I doubt that we would stay there again. Who knew though that they would come with dance lesson.
Hey Macarena!!

I proved to Heather that I really am quite stupid! No Dancing with the Stars for me.
So much fun though.

Now this was the weird part of the room, a giant faux fireplace. The girls loved it though and the mantle was amazing. It probably had been an actual fireplace years ago.

This is the 'birthin' the baby' face. I believe we saw it on Linds a few times.
Anyway, if was a fun trip and so good to see James & Johnny & Heather but the best part was hearing little 'Wazits' heart beat!!

Whew!! First Big Storm of the Season!

2007-11-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

And what a whopper! Just short of a 16' high tide and I thought we were going to lose the lighthouse light in the backyard, if not by a wave then by a log but the winds peaked and the tide peaked and then everything began to calm down. Jim and I were worried about Chris and Darcee's addition so we tried to get out there about 8:30 to give them a hand but got to the end of street and that was it. Kirk's beautiful old Ponderosa Pine was covering the entire road. We finally did get out there about 2 hours later and what a mess. The addition was fine though, they just ended up with a couple of trees down and a whole lot of drift wood all over the lawn. And what got me most was the rocks that pushed up as well. As we all threw logs and rocks back into the ocean their neighbor (the one that lives in our house) came whipping down his driveway in his BIG tractor and cleaned up his yard in about 5 minutes. There was serious envy going on. It's probably a good thing that we didn't get that house cause Jimbo would have to have had one and I can't imagine the damage he could do...

Anyway the sun came out and all was well and the next storm is supposed to hit tonight. Lower tides and lower winds though. Good thing cause they still don't have all the power back on in the valley.

The other good news (so far) is that JD is home from the pet hospital. He's been one sick kitty and he still has a long way to go. He went into complete kidney failure and we have no idea why. Could be food but then Oz eats the same thing and appears fine. We're still having trouble getting JD to eat but he's really picky and he's not liking the vet food so we're going to try something else today or it's back to force feeding. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. He is now the most expensive animal we've ever had!!!
We sure love him though.

So that's it for now and guess what it's not a bird!! Cute little guy, eh?

Burning Darcee & Chris' House

2007-11-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we didn't exactly burn the whole house just parts of it! What fun! Actually it was just the bits and pieces left over from their on-going reno. It was a good thing too cause it was damn cold out!

The renovations are going to be amazing. The very, large fireplace is sitting there, the roof is on and the windows will be in soon. It's going to be so beautiful.

Other than that we haven't been up to much of anything. I've been trying to get out and take some photos and I've even got an exhibition going on right now (too funny, I always get talked into something I don't want to do). Oh well, it's over next Saturday.

This fellow killed one of my little robbins, sad but I guess he has to eat too.

And Jamie & Johnny Got Married & now...

2007-10-25T16:15:00.001-07:00

our infant is about 2.91 inches (7.4cm) and weighs around 0.81 ounce (23gm) - This is about the same weight as 4 quarters.

If you could peek in again you may spot your baby as he begins to practice inhaling and exhaling movements

Eyes and ears continue to move and develop

Baby's neck is getting longer, and the chin no longer is resting on his chest

Her hands are becoming more functional - Your baby may find it comforting to start playing with her fist.

At this point all nourishment is received from the placenta

On your next doctor visit you should be able to hear heartbeat with a Doppler by now - (Don't worry though if you can't, the heartbeat can be confirmed through U/S). Your baby's heartbeat is much rapider than your own and may remind you of the race towards birth that he is running!

Oh My God!!! Could I be any more excited. That's not really their little fetus 'Pam' but there might be a real picture on their 'Bun in the Oven' blog tonight thanks to Auntie Heather. So now we're really wishing we'd gotten our other house but if nothing else at family gatherings
we'll keep the Port Augusta Motel in business.

Yup, I'm really happy and this baby will be only 3 hours away!!! Well, that is until they move here and Nana can spoil her rotten!!! Just kidding, I'll spoil all of them rotten!
Hmmm, now we just need to get Uncle Danny & Auntie Jenny here. I'll have to keep working on that. Mind you the jade markets are amazing in Tainan!! Jamie would go crazy!

More Summer Fun

2007-10-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Dan, we headed out on Ceara a few days after the wedding and Chris and Darcee showed up with their SeaDoos. It was so cool seeing Dan and Kyle just step off the swim grid onto them and then roar around the boat. Scott would have loved it!

We couldn't talk Linds into letting Luke go for a ride so Kyle decided just to eat the baby.

We also couldn't talk Jenny into taking one out (me either for that matter) but the boys sure seemed to have fun.

One thing Jenny does like though is cats. Don't you love the way Oz is almost bigger than her?
Jenny, you are so cute!

After Linds, Kyle and Luke left we decided to check out Mt. Washington and take the chair up to the top and walk back down (good thing Dan has a good sense of direction or we'd still be up there). It was great though and a gorgeous day.

Behind them you're looking at Georgia Strait and the Coastal Mountain Range.

And, of course, you have to have a picture of a Whisky Jack if you're going to be up the mountain.

Poor Aunty Pat is still limping. We were so worried about Jenny and she beat us down.

Good times...

5 days in Vancouver is enough!

2007-09-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

THE NEW CONFERENCE CENTRE

Home again, home again, jiggety jig, or something like that. We just spent the week in Vancouver and although it was fun we really like being home in our little old house on the water. We've pretty much given up on the whole moving thing and it might be a little sad but we decided we'd just do a few much needed renos here and stay put. The first being new windows and new wallpaper in the living room. Jim doesn't know about the wallpaper but considering it's falling off the walls it might just be about time (probably wasn't much of a selling feature). We're going to put the same Vera De windows in that we put in the kitchen and family room so it should look gorgeous. We also just ordered new carpeting for Danny & Jamie's old rooms. I can just hear them saying, "It's about BLOODY time!!" And then the stairs and railings (which are, apparently illegal). We can't have all the little grandchildren falling onto their pretty little heads. It's all rather exciting, not as exciting as tractors and goats and having Darcee and Chris next door but it's all good...
Now there's going to be some photos (imagine that) and some aren't very good but it's all Kyle's fault (I sooooo love you Kyle). Anyway I digress, Kyle was looking at the internet (another surprise) and informed me Canon had a new SLR camera out. Now I have a beautiful camera but oh this new one!!! And the amazing thing is it's cheaper than my old one was plus I didn't need any lens just the body. I had no intentions of getting it but turns out the dental clinic needed a good camera, in fact I was just there taking pictures of some gentleman's teeth. So Jim and I are walking down the street and he pops into London Drugs and buys the new one for me and the office gets the old one. Very cool!! A win/win, other than the fact he might never see me again. It is so incredible Kyle, you would love it! The sensor cleaner is amazing !
So here are a few pictures from the first 24 hours. I love the one of Jim.

Such fun! Unfortunately the weather is absolutely terrible this weekend so I can't get out but hopefully the rains will quit soon and I can get out shooting. We had amazing winds yesterday and it's still blowing so we're heading down to see if the old boat is still floating. We've got some people interested in her so would kind of suck if it was on the bottom..
Then it's cleanup time for the yard. What a mess, the wind and rain has flattened everything. It's all good though as the gardens hung in for the wedding and that's all that mattered.

Family, Weddings and More

2007-09-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

Jamie & her bridesmaids arrived on the Wednesday before the wedding, Kyle, Linds & Luke and Danny & Jenny arrived on the Friday.
It started with a rehearsal party/dinner here Friday night for around 35 or so and carried on from there. We had the most incredible weather for that week, so lucky considering it clouded over yesterday and is pouring today and poured the entire weekend before. Jim cooked 50 or so burgers and Johnny's sister & mom provided all the salads. It was great and the yard looked amazing all lit up.
Then came Saturday & oh what a day!! And oh what a beautiful bride. I know I'm rather prejudice but really she seriously knocked my socks off and her dad.This is her just as she was getting ready. Wait til you see the dress.This is over-exposed but this is the arbour we had made for the wedding. Unfortunately you can't see the gorgeous butterflies that Aunty Pat bought to decorate it. It really did look stunning.
We had over 100 guests and it wasn't crowded at all. Jim & I were so pleased with everything.
So the rest of this post is pictures, enjoy...

I will post again tomorrow and get in some family pictures but my family is getting a little tired of me playing on the computer...On second thought I might just give up Blogger and just do Facebook, so much easier!!!

Wedding is coming fast...

2007-08-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

We are now in full force wedding mode and with the way the weather has been we (okay, I) am in full force panic mode as Fall is definitely in the air. This week we confirmed the food, confirmed the 'tent or tents' rental, I found a dress (hopefully there aren't 10 others as it was Sears and really cheap, oops, really inexpensive, and managed to accomplish a few other things as well. Sure nice to have my foot working.

Other than the wedding, we are still hoping to move but no takers on the house yet but it's only been a week and a half. I'm still not holding my breath though. We are still playing with the idea of moving though, it's kind of like a ' Green Acres' moment if any of you who are old enough might remember that show. Jim has been actively checking out small tractors etc on line so Chris showed him how his little mower worked. Notice Darcee hiding behind a tree. Also notice the warm weather clothes she has on in August...

Now this is Lukes

Two shoes at last!!!

2007-08-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today I got the O.K. to get rid of my cast/boot. YES!!! All is good, only somehow my doc never noticed the weird looking toe next to the one he operated on and when I got up this morning it was bending over my middle toe (such pretty feet I have). So I showed him and he sort of blew me off and then he came back and said, " Hmmm, looks like we'll have to do a little surgery here too." Great! All I can say is no one is touching either foot until after the wedding! I have to say though, the new fused big toe is absolutely amazing! I can't wait to get the other one done!

So as for the house...we listed this one Friday and if it sells we are moving to Anderton Rd. N. It's really exciting but it sure makes for an extremely busy time between trying to keep the house clean and trying to get ready for the wedding. Oh well, what's to be will be.

Now, onto the weekend!! She Who Cannot Be Named was here. And so were John & Sarah (one of Jamers 4 bridesmaids. Then we got a phone call and Heather and her buddy Jeff showed up as well. It was so much fun. We had a meal to die for, cooked by his worship, on Sunday night and had our sketchy almost new neighbours, Darcee & Chris over, as well as John's step-mom Marnie. Lots of laughs, 3 wet dogs (no, we didn't eat them), ahi tuna, steak, chicken...what can I say...gotta love Nautical Day Weekend.

It was just a wonderful weekend. We even took everyone to see the new house from Chris & Darcee's yard and I think we may even have Jamie convinced that it would be an amazing place to bring the grand-kids, or maybe not cause she says she will be staying at Darcee's just to hang out in her closet...
We finished the weekend sitting out on Sea Lure at anchor in Comox Bay, watching the fire works. Unfortunately John and Jamie had headed home but what a great way to end the weekend, with Heather and Jeff and a few good friends.
Next stop!!! September 8th! The big wedding day... so much to do!!!!!

THE BRIDE AND GROOM

2007-07-23T21:05:00.001-07:00

For starters we want to wish John a very happy and belated birthday. Hope you had a wonderful day!! Secondly we want to wish Lindsay and Kyle a very happy anniversary. You are an amazing couple and we hope you have a wonderful, happy, healthy and exciting life together!!

So not too much new around here, I got fed up and decided to ignore the 'no driving until 07Aug rule' and got in the car when Jim was at Rotary last week to see if it was okay. No problem. I slammed on the breaks and it was all good. I couldn't drive too far as the foot gets a little tired but it's so good. I can't wait to get the other one done.

We are starting to get more prepared for the wedding. James (the fellow that did our kitchen) installed another arbour under the willow for Jamie & John to stand under for the ceremony. It looks so nice! We are both really pleased.

Unfortunately the weather has been so bad that the gardens just got flattened this weekend. I managed to get out today and start dead heading and hopefully I can get things back looking beautiful again. Certainly is not a good summer, sure hope it smartens up by wedding day!!!

Now here are a couple of pictures that some of you have been asking for regarding the house that we have been looking at. We thought that we were through with it but it might still be a go (might). We both really love the place and it is just such a nice place for the family and grandkids to come to in the future. Lots of land and lots of space. Would be an amazing place for any of you to come and spend a nice relaxing time. There is even a 'carriage house', otherwise known as a self contained suite over the separate garage. It's very nice and the best thing is that if it doesn't work it's no big deal cause we love it here (other than the cul de sac). It would also make Jamie very happy if it didn't work but I think she would be amazed how much she would like the other place.

Oops, gotta go, something just came up. I'll try and post more tomorrow.

Been Awhile...

2007-07-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well Hi There! You would think that considering I'm basically stuck here until at least the 7th of August that I would post more often but there's really not too much happening. The good news was Jamie came Saturday night or rather 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning and then Heather arrived Sunday evening so they kept me entertained and gave me something to write about.

Yesterday Pat & Ryan came over for while and the girls kept Ryan in stitches the entire time he was here. Pat had to practically drag him out of here.Then the tide came in...

It was so great to hear the two of them out there goofing around. Mind you there was the moment that I realized they were quickly heading for the other side of the bay but they made it back safe and sound.
Lots of fun and I hated to see them go but hopefully they will be back for the August long weekend and maybe by then I can join them out there.
As for the foot it's coming along but I'm getting totally fed up with hobbling about! I can't get down the beach because it's uneven and I'm not allowed (or do I want) to put any weight on the front of my foot. I'm also not allowed to drive just in case I have to slam on the breaks or bump it etc., etc., so I wander about the yard with the dogs staring at me, such fun. Oh well, if nothing else the flowers look amazing!

This little piggy went to market...

2007-06-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Finally one foot done! Friday morning 11:45 - be there. At 9:00 a nurse called from the OR and said, "Susan, can you come right now?" Well, considering you could throw a rock and hit the hospital we were they right away and I was in the OR by 10:00 (rather rattled but there).

The idea was to put on a tourniquet, freeze the foot and do it with me awake but for some reason it wouldn't freeze so this very good looking young fellow said to take a couple of deep breaths and I woke up at 11:45. Too easy!! Hope they do that for the second one!That isn't my foot but apparently it's the same surgery. I told Jim that they were using a knife and fork but...I was quickly corrected...I thought it was funny.

The whole procedure so far has just been so much better than I was told it would be by the hospital. I was told 6-8 weeks no weight bearing but Dr. Hill said I can put my heel down now, hurts like hell but I can do it. I do have to keep it up as much as possible for 10 days or so but that's not bad. I have crutches but no cast, just a sandal-like boot with a thick, solid sole. Very easy to cover with a bag and have a shower. Gotta like that.That's my bear, Dakota, who was waiting in my hospital room for me.
Jim is so sweet!

Today they had a nurse come over and change out the bandages and it looks great. No pins sticking out just screws on the inside. I haven't been staying on top of the pain though, old school habits die hard. She says toughing out the pain just delays the heeling so we'll see how it goes. Trouble is all that stuff just messes up my stomach.

The Great Unveiling!!

Not bad eh? The man does good work!

It's a little shorter with the joint gone but it sure looks better than I expected.
So that's it for this little piggy.
Jim is taking excellent care of me too. I should be able to do pretty much everything in a few days except walk the dogs and drive so that should get him out of vacuum duty. And as Dann reminded me, if I have any problems I'll just call a 'toe' truck...

Another weekend done

2007-06-17T21:56:00.001-07:00

Those are the luminaries placed for the loved ones that have passed from cancer. Each is a decorated bag, lit at dusk and circling the track. Extremely moving! Even more so when the pipers did a lap and then stopped and played Amazing Grace. Not a dry eye to be found.
If you look closely at the picture you will see that we weren't walking alone and what's even more amazing is they are walking a different direction from the participants...
Pat & I made it until midnight and then headed home. We hated to go but we were both so sore that it was time. I thought if I wore both feet out it would be pretty hard to get around after Friday. Which, by the way is coming fast!

Thanks so much everyone who donated, I appreciate it so much!!!
That's my brother Mike, my sister Pat and brother Jim.

That was a good start to a great weekend. Yesterday was my 53rd birthday and it was a fun day. Did absolutely nothing! Then went out for dinner and after that joined a bunch of folks from Calgary Power Squadron at the yacht club. Lots of fun.
Today we had the second leg of the Van Isle 360 sailing race finish up in Comox. They didn't have much wind but they still made it in fairly early. We spent some time on the committee boat and I got a few pictures. Jim roared around in the Whaler and that's about it.

Gotta love those tough weekends!

We're officially swingers!!!

2007-06-11T21:02:00.001-07:00

I've always wanted a swing and my plan was to go to Canadian Tire and get one of their swings but then we were driving back from Campbell River and stopped in at Gran'Dad's Swings. Just a fellow working out of his shop making swings, lawn furniture etc. and they are beautiful! So we now have a swing and it is so great! I love it. Even old Kona and I had a swing this afternoon.

We had a crazy weekend! It was the first annual 'Comox Valley Shellfish Festival'!! I don't care if I see another oyster in a long, long time! It was fun though. It all started Friday night with a gala at Filberg Park complete with a meal of different courses of seafood. As most of you know I'm not a big lover of seafood but being with the mayor and sitting with the Minister of Agriculture (including the shellfish industries) and his wife and two staffers I figured I'd better give it a try and it was pleasantly and surprisingly very good! I was a little concerned when the first course was geoduck (pronounced gooey duck). Two pieces raw, two pieces cooked, the raw was the best but it's not something I'd order. Next, tuna, great, then scallops (almost raw), pretty good and then oysters. Little tiny oysters done on the bbq on the half shell, good. Then we left because it was 10:30 and there were still 3 courses to go.
Saturday was at Fanny Bay oysters where they bbq'd guess what? Oysters! Then Sunday Jim opened the Shellfish Festival in Marina Park where there were serving OYSTERS! It all went really well though and they had a good turnout once the sun actually came out.
Here's few pictures of the Native dancers. I've seen quite a few but these men and women were wonderful.This is Andy Everson, I think he did one of your pictures Linds & Kyle.

This girl was so pretty and she seemed to almost float.
Notice our 'Cultural Capital of Canada' banners, not bad eh?

And this is the great Grizzly.
And below is a group of 8 guys from all over the world that sail together once a year some where in the world. This year they chartered a 50' Beneteau out of Vancouver and are heading to Desolation. Unfortunately we have had insane winds the last couple of weeks and they tore two sails on the way up Lambert Channel. The good news was they ended up tying up in front of Ceara and curiosity got the best of us so Jim asked them over. So much fun!! They've been doing these trips for quite a few years now, call themselves the Phat Boys, complete with a clothing line, up and coming website and a book that is done after each trip. They have done Croatia, Newfoundland, Ireland...the list goes on.
Hopefully they have a great trip. We wish them the best and we got a free book!

Our Grandson...

2007-06-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

Isn't he just the cutest kid you've ever seen?

Hmmmmm? Wonder where the pictures went....Oh right, we don't have any new pictures...

SO, I THOUGHT I'D GO FOR THIS LOOK...

2007-06-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

No Kyle that isn't what my foot looks like now but it is better working than the ones I do have. Maybe I'll take a picture in and see what the surgeon can do. You know I could actually take pictures FROM the willow with those babies!!! Bet I could make it to the top in seconds!

So if anyone has missed us it's because we were in Calgary for the FCM (Mayor stuff) since last Thursday. We had a pretty good time, gorgeous weather with only one thunder storm on our last evening. I only did one 'companions' tour but I had a great time and met some really nice people. I did what is called 'behind the scenes' at the Calgary Zoo. I'm not into zoos but it was great. Our behind the scene animals were grizzly bears and it was pretty amazing. I honestly can't imagine having one of them come at you, they are huge!! And they are beautiful. We were allowed in behind to see them up close and personal but there was a very strong wire fence in between us and them. Their keeper was a very interesting guy and I think everyone enjoyed the talk. There were 3 grizzlies, this young fellow was by far the largest.
I thought this little guy below was pretty cute too.
And then there were these too...a face only a mother could love It was a lot of fun and I was really glad I went. A friend of mine, Chris, had told me that it was an amazing zoo and if you get a chance to see it it's well worth it. Other than that I didn't do too much. Saw the city a bit and shopped a bit. Jim was pretty busy the entire time but I think he found it a worthwhile trip.A year ago we were all in Thailand for Jenny and Danny's wedding.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

GARDEN IN PROGRESS

2007-05-28T21:20:00.001-07:00

So here's a few pictures of the yard to date. I love it so much without the hot-tub and gazebo. There is so much room now, enough for a wedding!!

Another new addition out there is the flag pole, it's really a nice touch. I love the sound of the flag in the wind. And we have four beautiful big pots, I was going to get blue but we both really liked the green and are now glad we made that choice.

Now it's just keeping everything growing until September 8th!