Words of wisdom ...

... from a friend of Tom's grandson:

Good things happen when you say YES!

Up, up, and away!

Tom and I flew to Sechelt this afternoon in a Cessna 172.  There were four of us including the pilot  in this tiny plane (think Austin Mini with a propeller and wings ...).  It was a great 40 minute trip, dodging in and out of the clouds.  We even saw a circular rainbow!

Check out the life jackets!  

Christmas tomorrow with Sue, Dave, Laura and Chris.

Goodbye, old friend

It started so simply:  the occasional cappuccino after a dinner out.  Then I was introduced to chai lattes - iced in summer!  Then there were the frappuccinos ...  And now the caramel vanilla lattes from the coffee shop next door to the office.  Sorry, old friend, it's time to say goodbye ... 

 

HEY there, handsome!  How about a caramel macchiato?

Hair analysis

My hairdresser told me last week that cutting my hair was a challenge:  I have strong growth patterns, a scar, two crowns, and lots of hair.

How's that as a metaphor for life!

Metamorphosis

Here's how a real West Coast Girl dresses for work:

A $3 scarf from The Patch, a "premium recycled and vintage clothing" (read second-hand) store.

A cotton sweater.

A chenille skirt from The Velvet Crease, a "designer label consignment" (read second-hand, again) store.  A steal at $35, though I had to pay extra to get it shortened.

Black tights!  (Footnote:  I bought tights with no waistband - for obvious reasons - but discovered that a waistband actually serves a purpose - it keeps the tights from falling down!  Need to buy a different style ...)

Low-heeled shoes, complete with orthotics. 

Lotus Land

With sincere apologies to my eastern Canada family and friends, I must report that some of our spring bulbs are poking their little shoots above the ground.  Now, this is not to say that we won't have cooler temperatures still, and maybe even snow, but, boy, it sure does make the winter seem shorter to see this glimmer of spring already.  Oh, living in Victoria is THE BEST!

Cauliflower cheese soup

I have to write an exam on Thursday night.  It must be 30 years since I have been so afflicted, and I'm finding that age doesn't make studying any easier.

Travel agents sell travel insurance.  In order to sell travel insurance in BC, you have to be licensed.  And in order to be licensed - you got it - you have to write an exam.  So here I am, sitting in my comfy chair, study manual open on my lap, highlighter and pen in hand, eyes heavy.

I think I'll make soup for lunch!

Did you know that, while 84% of Canadians believe that buying travel insurance is worth the cost, only 60% actually buy it?

Cut up the cauliflower and onions ...

In BC, payment for hospital charges can be a maximum payout of $75 per day for out of province coverage.

Mash the cauliflower, add the milk mixture and the cheese ...
 
Coverage will most likely be excluded if the insured is injured while committing a criminal act.

Soup is simmering ...

Agents must comply with the professional standards and regulations set by the Financial Institutions Commission.

Lunch time!  Mmmmm ...

Client: 48 years old vacationing in California
Condition: Heart attack
Hospitalized: 10 days

Premium: $200 CAD Bundled package

Cost to client who purchased insurance: 0
Cost to client who did not purchase insurance: $87,000 US

Hmmmm, what should I make for dinner ...

Building bridges

For the past three years I have been volunteering with an organization called Bridges for Women in their mentorship program <http://bridgesforwomen.ca/bridges-for-women-career-mentoring/>.  We 'mentors' are matched with women whose lives are in transition to help support them through the process.  Though ostensibly career mentoring, the relationship is way more than that.  In travelling this path with my four matches, I have learned so much from them - about friendship, generosity, caring, faith, hard work, and courage.  I've also learned where to find the best carrot cake in Victoria <https://www.facebook.com/PureVanillaBakery>; received an invitation to visit Peru, an original Chinese calligraphy, and an introduction to 'Life of Pi'; had a whole lot of fun; and made four great friends. 

Takes one to know one

Had a problem with our computers this week.  While I can handle most of the routine stuff, replacing the router and setting up the home network on computers with different versions of Windows is very much outside my comfort zone.  Enter Ben, our most recent go-to computer guy.  Ben, bless his heart, said that it wouldn't take more than 10 minutes to set up the router, and since he was billing us for an hour anyway, would use the extra time to sort out the wires under the desk.  He confessed to being somewhat compulsive on the issue.  Not that I would know anything about that ...

Ben's wiring job

My kitchen cupboard

Monster in the bathtub

How did one, single, solitary earwig find its way into my shower this morning?  There it was, wandering malevolently along the top of the tiles near the shower head.  And where did it go in that short space of time I took my eyes off it to reach for the shower to flush it down the drain?  Shudder ...

I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair

Don't you just love that first shower after a haircut?

... getting rid of those little snip-its of hair that seem to find their way into the most extraordinary places
... washing out the goop the hairdresser insists on using
... getting back that "clean" smell

5 great things about being home

• Turning on the shower without first putting on your glasses
• The wine comes in boxes, not glasses
• Knowing the channel numbers on the TV
• Picking out today's clothes from the closet and the drawers
• Tom's fried egg sandwiches

Oh, baby, baby

Tom got a chance to meet little Hudson this weekend ... and was as charmed by him as the rest of us have been!  Allison and John and Grandma Pat took us on a long walk today on Prince's Island in Calgary, where we all made goo-goo faces at Hudson, then out for dinner where we entertained the other guests at the Spaghetti Factory.

Home tomorrow, and the end of this chapter of our adventure.  Stay tuned ...

Heaven

Tom says that there's a Jean in his version of heaven.  Jean says that there's a Jacquie in hers.  Who's in yours?

Over the river and through the woods

From Maple Street in Uxbridge, to Zephyr, to Old Shilo Road, to Frog Street; on to Egypt where Jean used to live and go to school; then to Stoney Batter Road where Jim used to live; past Virginia where Jim went to school; then Virginia Beach to Sibbald's Point on Lake Simcoe where Stephen Leacock is buried ... oh, I forgot, we went to Jersey, too ... a tour of the world in place names. 

Next stop Oshawa

On VIA Train #57 bound for Oshawa and our friends, Jean and Jim, in Uxbridge.

Thank you, friends ...

Goodbye to Napanee ...

Thanks, MM&K for a great Thanksgiving dinner and fun visits.  Hope that Strawberry Shortcake hat works out for Molly. 

Thanks, Joyce, for friendship, dinners, drives everywhere, watching the throne speech, using your washer and dryer. 

Thanks, Rick and Fran for  walks, dinners, beer, especially the grapefruit one.  Hope to see you in Victoria soon.

Thanks Eunice, for a great place to stay, fabulous breakfasts, and nice chats.

Thanks LAFCS gang, Bill and Barbara, and Ina, for the chance to remember all those good times.

Thanks, Napanee, we have great memories of our 25 years there.

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Reunions

Met some of the old LAFACS gang +2 at the Waterfront Pub yesterday - Rick, Bob, Brian, Jo, Chris, Anne, Michelle, plus Bill and Barbara from Picton.  What a wonderful group they are!  It was a fun-filled lunch, with lots of laughter, memories, and poking fun.  Did you know that Bill considers that he has been travelling when he has to go to Kingston?  The Waterfront Pub is a great location.

Then we visited our old neighbour, Ina, whom Tom calls the Mother Theresa of Napanee.  Ina used to look after our house and  cats while we were travelling, and us on our return.  She's a great gal, just back from a sortie to Las Vegas, if you can imagine!

Then dinner with Mimi at Gibsons on the main drag.  Always a great visit!

Blue skies, smiling at me

The Chinook salmon are spawning in the Napanee River.  Add the great blue heron, the seagulls and the Canada geese, and we might even be in Victoria!  Tom, Joyce and I walked the Springside Park Trail on another wonderful fall day.

Here's a test for you ...  Can you find the jumping salmon and the heron in the picture of the stair-step falls?

Cheers!

... or not

Just when it seems that this wonderful fall weather can't last, along comes another fabulous day.  We spent most of the day with Rick, Fran and Rick II, sitting in their backyard, watching Rick first smoke, then barbeque, ribs, while Fran made gnocchi and Rick II provided entertainment.  Rick I and Rick II can't agree on the proper way to uncork wine, though ...

Summer's end

We had Thanksgiving dinner with Mimi, Kevin and Molly yesterday at Beaver Lake.  We are thankful that Molly is healing from her cycling accident.  We are thankful that we are able to travel to visit our families, even though they are far away.  We are thankful that we live in this wonderful country of Canada.  And we are thankful that there are turkeys.

It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood

Pat and Jim say that we always bring good weather when we visit.  If that's the case, we outdid ourselves today!  Jim and Pat drove us, on what has become our October pilgrimage, over the Ottawa River to Quebec to visit cousins in Shawville.  The weather was truly spectacular, warm and sunny, and the leaves were beautiful.  Fall in this part of the country is the best!

Sisters and brothers

Arrived in Braeside yesterday to spend a few days with Pat and Jim.  And what fun we have with them!  We laugh, and sing, and drink martinis; we talk over each other; we persuade Tom to play the piano so we can sing some more; we catch up on the minutiae of daily life; we argue about which is the best Beatles song; we eat great food and junk food with equal enthusiasm.  But mostly we laugh!

In praise of Montreal bagels

I had forgotten that bagels tasted this way - sweet and chewy and oh, so good!  After years of eating grocery store wannabes, I had a real Montreal bagel, with butter and cream cheese, for breakfast this morning.  Mmmm mmmm!

McGill revisited

Walked up to McGill today and saw ...

- the Montreal Diocesan Theological College, where Tom lived while at McGill
- 506 Pine, where Tom and Hilda (and, later, baby Sue) lived when they were first married
- the Arts Building, where I learned how to play bridge ...

Beloeil

Took the commuter train from Montreal to Beloeil to visit my mum and, as it turns out, my brother, Ian, who surprised us by dropping in.  There was a wind warning for the Richelieu on Monday night/Tuesday morning, and Tom said that it was a good thing we ate all that food on the cruise - it stopped us from blowing away on the walk from the train station to Mum's house.  Tom got a chance to see all the improvements Mum has made in the last few years - the gazebo, the front walk, the new living room furniture and drapes - and then had his favourite St Hubert BBQ for dinner!  Nice day.

On dry land

Arrived in Montreal yesterday afternoon after 10 days asea.  Found the chair in the hotel room rocked a bit. :-)  Had a great visit with Tom's grandson, Chris, last evening, who is currently living and working in Montreal.  Nice young man!

Chris tell us that, if we want people to comment on the blog, we have to ask a question.  So, how do you like the blog so far?  Is it better than getting emails?

Bonjour

Today we arrived in Quebec City, one of our favourite places.  Having been here many times before, we just disembarked from the ship and wandered through the old city on our own.  It is truly a beautiful place.

The weather started out fairly cloudy and cool, but then the sun appeared and things warmed up a bit.  There was an interesting contrast in passengers up on the Lido deck - a fellow in a swimsuit, still wet from a dip in the pool, and a couple wrapped up in their fleece jackets, reading in the sun.  In the St Lawrence River, we can see the ferries between Quebec City and Levis, sailboats, container ships, and two guys on jet skis (only in Quebec?).

Well, the cruise is winding down and tomorrow we board VIA Rail for Montreal and the beginning of the rest of our adventure.  We are almost packed ... though nowhere near as efficiently as we were on the way out.  One more dinner, one more show ...

Thar she blows!

We are having a very blustery day today, our first and only sea day this cruise. Outside our patio doors, the waves are white-capped.  It must be a regular occurrence in this area, because I can see wind turbines on the shore.  

It was a spectacularly lovely fall day yesterday in Charlottetown.  We didn't join the hoards of people at Green Gables but, instead, visited Tom's old friends, Ernie and Marie MacDonald.  Tom and Ernie worked together in Montreal some 50 years ago, and the afternoon was full of memories and laughter.

Around the world in seven days

Tonight was Italian Night in the dining room.  So our Thai waiter, Thanawut, told us to call him Luigi.  :-)   Meanwhile, our Hungarian assistant waiter, Peter (Pietro?), is teaching us Hungarian to impress the South African head waiter, Johan, whose fiancee, Sylvia, is also Hungarian.  We now know "Good evening" - "Jo estet" and "Good morning" - "Jo reggelt".  Johan then sent us to tell Sylvia, who works the Passenger Services desk, "Chokolom, Sziszi!"  Which means something like, "I kiss your hand, Sylvia!"  Confused yet?  Our steward(ess), Mae, is Philippino, and we had Scottish oatcakes in Sydney NS this morning.  Whew!