Rick Mercer in town!

Lind kindly invited us Miki, Mary Lois, Lee (who refused to be in the pic) and I to a presentation at the Victoria Conference Centre last week, which included a great dinner, a presentation about an investment opportunity, and THEN - the keynote speaker/entertainer was RICK MERCER!!



This is not a great pic, but suffice to say he was fabulous! Funny, smart, sarcastic and very pro Canada, of course.....or is that anti American...???No, not really, but if you have ever seen his clips of Talking to Americans, they do make it pretty easy sometimes...:-)

Thanks, Lind (and Rick) for a great evening!!!

Birthday on the mountain

Autumn, a friend who both Helen and I worked with, made the fabulous gourmet birthday cake for Rick. Here she is with son Sebastian, who was shy, sweet, and about 10 minutes after this pic was taken was sound asleep on Mum's lap.


The other baby in attendance was Cash, a 2 month old Great White Pyrannese (sp?) who was having a moment with Dad Jake.



Little (??) Cash saying good morning!




Cash and senior Misty enjoying some time on the deck this morning. Cash will be over 150 pounds when fully grown, but is a very sweet gentle soul.

The Big 6-0!!!

Dear Rick did the deed on Saturday, with family and friends wishing him well at their lovely new home in Metchosin.




The food was amazing - thanks for the great barbequing, Tim, and the great salads, Helen.



Then there was this amazing cake made by Autumn, baker extraordinaire!!!!!



Rick enjoyed all his prezzies, gift certificates and tributes from family and friends.

on vacation

Saturday Miki and I walked along the Galloping Goose and stopped to have a lovely lunch at a seaside cafe.



Next door was an organic bakery, so we picked up bread for Sheila and Anne and Rick and Helen.

Packing fun

Well, yes, we are missing our little Chiik, who is having too much fun at Auntie Maggie and Ingrid's in Parksville while we are in Victoria for the week.......





But yesterday we went to friend Linda's house to help her pack up for the big move to Saltspring Island. Also helping was friend Zelly, and her two wonderful dogs Gus (big!) and Netty (small). We got lots done, and Linda's dog Sophie was also there to supervise......





Dropped Zelly, Gus and Netty off at the ferry after we finished packing, as they live on Saltspring too. Linda moves on Monday, so all this stressful craziness will be over soon, poor lamb.

Working again....sigh!

So I have succombed to the lure of work in Victoria again.....but just for a week this time. This is where my office is, on the Gorge waterway. Not too shabby. Lots of great little bistros and restaurants to service mostly govt workers. Nice office, great people, so it will be fun for a week.








The best part is being able to walk to and from work - 20 minutes along the waterway. First over the Galloping Goose tressle bridge, along with lots of walkers and cyclists.


Then along a waterside pathway to within a block and a half of the house. Sweet!



Views of the water, boats moored and lots of waterfront residences added to the sunny walk home. We have a separate suite in which to stay, great space, and even cats to cuddle with....nice! Bridgett is holding the fort in Parksville with the Girls.

Cats and dogs

Chiik has gone to his soon to be new home for a week. Tippy (who hates cameras, as you can see) is a 17 year old rescue terrier who is mostly blind and somewhat deaf, so didn't necessarily see Chiik so close by when they both went for a walk around our yard last night.


Chiik did some hissing, but mostly was pretty cool, no doubt sensing that Tippy is not much of a threat. We dropped him off at Ingrid and Maggie's this morning with all his toys and goodies and will get him back in a week when we return to Parksville.



So here we are in Victoria, staying at Sheila and Anne's, who have 2 amazing cats they brought back from Thailand. They are very used to walking on their harnesses, as you can see - get this, Dax and Sitges!!!!!



We all walked a couple of blocks in total and then home again. These are big, soft, friendly cats, with personality plus!