Columbia Pictures

Remembering Columbia Icefield

Now that it's frosty here I keep thinking of when we visited Columbia Icefield in September when it snowed! Such an amazing place. When we were driven right up into the glacier the snow was several feet deep but it was sunny with blue skies. Really pretty.

The Sunshine Coast

And so we spent our last few days idling away on the Sunshine Coast. The place that we stayed was fan-tas-tic! Beach Hideaway was just what we needed to recover from all the fun we had. We looked out on the ocean, enjoyed a BBQ, met up with some friends at their home in the forest, swam in the sea, pottered on the deserted beach, relaxed in the hot tub and visited Halfmoon Bay and on the last night we took a little evening boat trip around Sechelt Inlet and watched the lights of Sandy Hook where our friends' house is.
A perfect holiday....I cannot wait to get back there.

Vancouver

The trolley bus tour, the ferry stop across False Creek ( we stopped at Granville Island and had a quick lunch and a browse)
The steam clock in Gastown and the totem poles in Stanley Park.

More traveling pics....

An Inuit man on Whistler Mountain, Calgary Structures, a stop at Emerald Lake,
Afternoon Tea at Lake Louise in the Fairmont Chateau.

Back to earth....

We had the most amazing trip. Absolutely loved it.
Vancouver Island, Butchart Gardens, the murals at Chemainus, nanaimo, the ferry rides across the beautiful stretches of island-filled waters, Whistler, the Rockies, Calgary, and back on the Rocky Mountaineer trip where we visited Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise before our 2-day train trip back to Vancouver. One more night in the city and then up to the Sunshine Coast which was bliss, peaceful, ocean-side, swimming and relaxing.

Crafts in Canada

When we go to Vancouver (TOMORROW!!!!) one of the things that we are going to is a craft afternoon for Meal a Day fund and so people donate items for the sale. I haven't been very organised in making things but I have made a lavender heart and hope to make a few more. Also this afternoon when I've run all my errands I'll make a few cards to take along too.

The little orange cat from along the road....

I'll REALLY miss him when we move. He comes into our house every morning and tries to persuade me to feed him with something and then saunters through and basks in the sun in the conservatory. His family are out all day so he just potters about in the street and in their garden and then comes in to us for some fuss.

Smartie Cake

Nev and Jean invited us to a BBQ last week. It was fun & relaxed. Nev and Mike cooked outside, Jean and Wyn chatted about filming inside the bird box, the cat played in the garden, Auntie Wyn tried on Jean's new crocs and we had yummy smartie cake!!

Flowers

I've been delighted to receive 2 gifts of flowers at church 2 weeks running. The first was from Shona and the second from David - I'd been admiring them this week as they had fresh lavender in them so I've really enjoyed having them at home.

Just for fun....

You Belong in Paris

You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris. You're the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Sunday Lunch

Yesterday started well, we went to church and I was given a beautiful bouquet of flowers that had been on display plus someone very kindly had bought me a Canada book from a charity shop. Afterwards we had been invited out for lunch to celebrate a Golden Wedding Anniversary. (50 years!!!) They are a lovely couple and we see quite a lot of them.
The meal was lovely, champers to start and then melon & sorbet followed by chicken with new potatoes and a good selection of veg cooked to perfection with a triumph of a chocolate mousse to finish.
Our nieces enjoyed huge ice cream sundaes. Then we sampled cake and listened to amusing speeches. It was a very nice afternoon. Thank you and congratulations B&F!

This weekend

Friday afternoon and Saturday we were painting the hall, stairs and landing at the rental house - what a joy that was! I also cleaned a lot and Mike painted a window. Then we cut down a really jaggy bush in the garden and I cut back the weeping willow tree which had just grown like crazy. As a reward (and to keep my promise to Mary!) we treated ourselves to fish and chips on Saturday night. They are from our favourite place - an award winning take away - we limit ourselves to just going on a rare occasion. Anyway, they were totally yummy, we ate them in the garden with some help from the neighbour's cat who sat underneath the table in the shade.
We did go for a walk around 10pm and I did a very, very short run just to get my heartbeat up!

Visit to Sunny Shropshire

So we had a flying visit last weekend to Shropshire to stay over night with our friends. Arrived early Saturday evening - had delicious chicken casserole on Saturday night, went to church with them, visited the plant centre in Roden, had beef from Chatsworth on Sunday for dinner and got back around 10.30pm. It was lovely, like a mini-break and good to catch up with them as we hadn't managed to get together since January.

The Kilberry Inn

We had another fantastic meal at The Kilberry Inn (thanks, Abi!) - the service was exceptional, as always, and the wine recommendation spot on.
Mike had a feta cheese starter while I had fresh herrings in Arran mustard - was fabby! Then we both had beef in ale with mash and roast veg. Mike managed a pudding but I gave up at that point and had coffee and a homemade truffle.
These are the views we had of the sunset on the way home.

We went to Inveraray Highland Games as I had a stall there. Watching the guys toss the caber was strangely mesmerizing! Such a weird "sport"?! but fun to look at.

Arran - just a day trip

We had a trip across on the ferry Claonaig to Lochranza, stopped at the distillery, went round the north side of the island, had lunch in Lamlash, walked along Hamilton Terrace and around the church (good curtain/fabric shop opened next to it) and then to Brodick for a wander along before heading back to the mainland and Tarbert for fish and chips in the cafe and back to the house.