Home Sweet Home.

So happy to be home. As much fun as

we had, home will always be my very

favorite place to be. It is our safe place

and where can truly be authentic. Love!

~ Chy

Missing Guests.

 

Covid has been hard. The isolation from

family and friends is the part that I've

hated the most. Now that we can visit

with each other again, it's getting better.

But sadly, our beautiful spare room is

very empty and not likely to have guests

anytime soon. Everyone is taking extra

care and not travelling too far. We are

heading to the West Coast for our son's

wedding but no other plans for us either.

Do you have any travel plans in mind?

~ Chy

Love Cookie.

Dh made cookies the other night. We

have a tradition of buying the large

cookies from "Cookies by George"

at the airport once we're checked in

anytime we are traveling. But with

Covid, no trips to the airport, no big

cookies to buy. When I had a craving

the other night, look what dh made for

me to enjoy! And it was soooo good,

so much that we don't have to travel!

Have an amazing Friday. Namaste.

~ Chy

Streetcar.

Right outside the Farmer's Market

is the vintage Streetcar that takes

passengers from the south side of

the river over to the north side. We

went a couple of years ago and it

was great fun, until the wind picked

up. Then it was just a bit scary! I

would go on again ~ maybe this year.

Carseat Hack.

On one of our rainy days, I stopped at

our local greenhouse and picked up a

few plants that were on sale. Then I

realized the back of my car was too

open for the plants to get home safely.

They would have been tossed around

and likely not survived the ride home.

I should have brought along a little

basket to hold them in place but this

was an impromptu stop on my way

home, so no basket. Then I realized

the solution was hacking the little

guy's carseat! It worked out perfectly.

No wobbles, no plants rolling around.

On the Road.

On Tuesday, we left our beautiful home in the

country to travel to another community in another

province to perform in their annual theatre festival.

It was so hard to leave as we've only been "home"

for a very short 10 days. Can't wait to return. 

For now, we're having a great time! Our cast is

performing really well, the audiences are enjoying

& laughing in all the right places, the food is great,

the weather sunny & hot. Shopping is fun too!

But I can't wait to get home. It's been such a long

journey to get to this place, so leaving was really

difficult on Tuesday. I'm loving we are staying with

family here & having fun, but can't wait to get home!

How is your summer going so far?

Any travel plans in your future?

Craving the Sea!

Hi everyone!

We trek out to Salt Spring Island at least once a year but sometimes more often. This year, with our build and several big community events, we haven't had a chance to visit our "heaven on earth"! We had hoped to move, unpack and then zip out for some r and r. Not sure when we'll slip it in. But boy, am I ever craving the sea right now. A long time friend just moved to the coast and she's posting the most beautiful sunrise and sunset pictures from her new home. I'm so grateful for our Disney trip in April but truly, traveling with a 3.5 year old is not restful, even though we had an incredible time and he was so well behaved! 

Soon, we hope, soon!!

Do you have a favorite spot to visit?

Lucky guy!!

My dh is a lucky guy today. 

He's attending a Teacher's Convention this week ....

.... in the beautiful mountain town of Jasper. 

But I'm not bitter!

Nope, not me ....

Teaching ....

I love to teach classes and workshops. Today was a perfect session, with 25 participants, in a comfortable setting. The participants? Members of a local Muslim community who provide care to families in their sect. The subject? Grief and loss, my passion. They have set up the most incredible program for bereaved families that I wish we could do in the general community. So many people grieve without support and yet the model they have created makes so much sense as they work hard for these families.

The best part of teaching is watching participants "eat up" every message that is presented. They nod, they reflect, they write it all down. It feels so good to empower other with the knowledge we are so comfortable with, that so many find a mystery. But when they enthusiastically participate in the interactive art activities or ask truly intentional questions to understand the material presented is a gift we receive back, in our efforts to give. Win win!

Today was also the anniversary of my formal graduation from Ryerson University in Toronto. I was so determined to graduate on 20.10.2010. Isn't that the neatest date to remember? We had such a good time at my grad, just my guy and me. We turned it into a bit of a holiday for the two of us and my boss surprised us by upgrading our cheap hotel reservations into a suite at the Sutton Place Hotel! Memorable time for sure and so worth all the studying time, writing papers at night after working all day and agonizing over marks. I graduated with honors and am so proud of this accomplishment. Hoping to do more but for now, still enjoying that I completed the first part of my education journey. 

Have a great week!

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.