About Me

June 30, 2013

Lazy Sunday.

No traffic today. 

No line ups. 

No noise.

No hustle & bustle. 

Just serene calm.


The way every village, town, hamlet, city 
should be on a lazy Sunday afternoon!

My guy ....

.... at the sea!


Exploring, relaxing, taking it easy!

The Core.

Smart community. 


They created this great Youth Centre
called "The Core" & it's been an 
amazing success. Kids can drop in to
make friends, do activities together 
& find out about available resources. 

Yeah for Midwives!!

Our kids were born with the help &
support of midwives. 


So happy to see, in my favorite place
on Earth, a practice of 
midwives & alternative medicine.

Sunset #2.

Earlier, the sun began to set. 


But later, the view was incredible!


Check out the start in the second pic!

Art Craft.

We went to visit the Annual
Art Craft at Mahon Hall today. 


For more than 40 years, 
artisans & crafters' have had a 
place to showcase their work.


Just a small sampling of their creations!

Doggy Stop!

Spotted outside the new 
Salt Spring Island Library. 


Four of these placed in the stone
work at the front of the building. 

Love that even the animals
were thought of when they designed
this beautiful new space!

Lovely lunch!

We had a lovely lunch today. 


Comfortable setting.


Good food.


Cool drinks.


And a slumbering cat to round
out the experience!

For reference, in case you're curious, we had one strawberry margarita, one raspberry/lime margarita (I couldn't decide so they mixed them together), one beef dip (for the guy who doesn't eat beef) &  my favorite, cheese stuffed mushrooms, with dill & lemon. Mmmmmmmm!

Sunset.

The sun sets here a lot earlier
than at home. 


Still as beautiful!

Beach Art.

If you look around at the beach,
you can see some amazing art. 


Free.


Ancient.


Intriguing.


Calming.

Toes in the Ocean!

We finally got to put our toes
in the Ocean today.


With temps hovering around 32 degrees
all day, it was nice to have to be
able to cool down naturally.

Hiking Treat.

We went for a hike today, but stopped first to buy homemade ice cream sandwiches from the cafe by the dock. So good, especially because we ate them first, then went for our hike. Keeners, we are.


Verdict on these treats: yum!

Dinner Guest!

Baby deer are all over
the countryside. 


Creeping closer & closer to 
the cottage, checking us out!


Interested but with boundaries.

Our Cottage.

We love staying in our 
cottage by the sea. 


Secluded & comfy with an
incredible ocean view!


Thyme garden, in full bloom.


The veranda: a favorite spot to relax.


Pretty pink wildflowers,
growing everywhere!

Lavender!

My favorite flower is Lavender. I was told years ago that we couldn't grow it in our region but a couple of years ago tried & it worked. Now I have my own little Lavender Patch & harvest the buds each year. 


Lavender is abundant here, growing in the garden, down the road, along the beach path, at the sea. 


I love the deep colors & the fragrant scent. Brings back beautiful childhood memories of my grandmother's soap & her perfume.


This one we have at home,
in the big pots in front of the garage.


Beautiful bushy Lavender!

Sunday Night Chit Chat!

Happy Sunday! Joining in to Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat this week: ****


Reading: The Doula. I started it on our holiday in January & then got so busy when we arrived home, that it's been sitting beside my bed, in a pile of other books I hope to tackle one day. Grabbed it & threw it in my suitcase just before we left home yesterday morning. Looking forward to finishing it here. It's a great book. I just ran out of time!

Listening to: The sounds of nature all around me. There is no traffic here, up on the hill, overlooking the sea. Only the wind, the deer crunching in the woods, the lambs baaaaaing, the rooster crowing & occasionally, we can hear a neighbor across the road, where their are small children laughing or porch doors closing. Peaceful, as I wish life could be all the time! It does make me appreciate our home, where we live in a hamlet that is, for the most part, quiet, compared to the city. 

Watching: The waves in the sea, the trees dancing in the breeze & the sun glistening off the water. There are only a few clouds in the very blue sky & those are creeping across the sky in the west, heading north, fluffy & white. 

Cooking/Baking: We're going to bbq tonight, chicken, with rice & veggies with cheese buns. And Mike's Hard Lemonade, 'cause it's pretty stressful being on holidays .... I'm just saying!

Happy I accomplished this week: I'm one of those Type A personalities that must have a house in order before we go on holidays. I like to come home to a house that is not just clean but everything is back in it's place so that we can relax while we're away but also relax when we get home without having to jump right into work or chaos. This time, I included reorganizing the art studio & our library, two spaces I use for my creative endeavors. When we are on Salt Spring Island, we tend to really let our creativity flow & then come home to continue. Feels good to know I have my two spots in the house set aside just for this, now ready for more work to take place. 

Looking forward to next week: Exploring the island, resting, quilting, shopping, sharing ideas with my dh for a new film project, writing more chapters for the book I started & recovering from my latest bout of nasty, draining pneumonia. 

Thankful for today: The chance to have a holiday break at this time. We were truly ready for a break & need this time to renew our relationship, that sometimes in the busyness of all our projects, gets set aside for later. After reading Carla's blog this week & reflecting on the sudden death of her nephew, spending the time now, instead of later with dh is more than anything, an important task, while I'm thankful I have the chance to do. 

Bonus Question: What was my very first "real" job? I worked for a couple of summers for my dad's real estate office, answering the phone & greeting clients who came in for showings. It was fun, I got to get dressed up, I saved a lot of money & learned some good skills. I also got to see first hand that working in an office setting was not going to be my life path. A safe place to figure that one out!

Busy week behind us, relaxing week ahead of us. Enjoy yours this week!

June 29, 2013

Flowers at the Ferry Terminal.

I love taking pics of flowers. 
These were at the terminal today!









Hope you enjoyed the colors!

Scenes by the Sea!

Mount Maxwell. 


Heading into the bay.


Fulford Harbor.


The dock. 


Home!

Not what we expected.

Because it's a long weekend here in Canada, the ferry to the island was busy today. But it was definitely far from the crowds & congestion we were expecting. We were lucky to arrive early & get on the boat without a wait. Our rental car is the second one on the right side, a silver Cruze. Last time we were here, in January, they gave us a white Cruze. Nice car. Zippy & comfortable. Both times, we were told we'd get a little Ford Fiesta & both times they "upgraded" us to a bigger car, without charge. No complaints!


I love to people watch, especially when we travel. The most interesting people were at the airport with us at 6:45 a.m. this morning. A mix of ages, looks, creeds & of course, destinations. My favorite sight today was the "hippy van" below. Very Salt Spring!


We had a great travel day. Although we could have chosen to travel at any time & tend to avoid summer holiday time & long weekends, we really needed this break now between programs & filming. And dh really wanted to experience Canada Day on SSI after hearing the locals tell us about it when we were here in January. So we braved what we thought would be a hectic day of long lines, crazy temperaments & unbearable weather. But it was quiet, too quiet almost, everyone was friendly & the weather was warm but not scorching hot. Just perfect! Maybe most travelers left yesterday to beat the rush. Whatever it was, we are grateful & happy to be finally here, after months of planning, budgeting & dreaming. Now for 10 days of pure bliss & time to recover & regain our precious energy. 

The Sea!!

We boarded our plane at 8:05 a.m. this morning, traveled backwards through one time zone & arrived in Victoria at 8:40 a.m., picked up our rental car (the only line up we encountered all day) & were on the ferry to Salt Spring Island at 11:30 a.m. 


Sea water, churning from the power of the boat. 


A small boat, trying to out run the big ferry! We saw a number of boats today do this or pass right in front of us. Crazy boat drivers out there on a hot, summer long weekend. 

June 26, 2013

On their way!

Our younger son, beautiful daughter~in~law & sweet baby granddaughter are on their way to their new home by the sea today. 


Last week, we helped them pack up all their worldly possessions into this pod. And then the big truck came to take it away. It should arrive on Friday. They'll arrive at their new place tonight or tomorrow.


Can't wait to visit once they are all settled. Proud of our babies! Growing up & moving forward.