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!

Errington Farmers Market

Saturday mornings is the Errington Farmers Market, held at the Community Park, which in itself is very beautiful, with great walking paths through the forest.

Loads of stalls with organic everything, fresh produce, baked goods, crafts, wood furniture, etc - all good things from the countryside.

There had to be as many dogs as people, all duly on their leashes and behaving beautifully.

Locals built this amazing stage where these 3 entertained the crowd all day. It is an amazing structure, beautifully crafted, and the music was great.

Fun on Stanford Avenue!

Every year Oceanside hosts Show and Shine, a huge antique car show, and the first event of the weekend is a Shine at the local A & W, followed by the entire group cruising by our house on Stanford. We take our lawn chairs, as do all the neighbours, sit at the side of the road with our wine, and wave to all the drivers.




These are amazing vehicles, spit and polished to a fine gleam, with very happy owners proudly beaming behind the wheels.

Cars, trucks, vintage motorcycles and even an antique firetruck went by.

It is a fun event every year, and next year Ter and Lar will be joining us!!!!!

back to Nanaimo

View of Nanaimo harbour from the water. Some of Nanaimo areas are kind of spotty, but the north end and the waterfront areas are just gorgeous.

Heading back into the harbour - lots of boats, large and small, and float planes everywhere. This is where grand daughter Amber flew in when she came from Vancouver one time.

This fabulous Mexican restuarant is new in the harbour - we will be back, as they guarantee the BEST margaritas (of course, they won't compare with Valorie's.....).

And this floating Fish and Chip place is new too - we have lots to come back to see and do another day.

Dinghy Dock Pub

This is the ferry that took us to Protection Island - a very scenic 10 minute ride from the Nanaimo harbour.

The Island has 400 permanent residents, but being small, only about 40 cars, while most of the residents use golf carts! No stores on Protection, just the pub, a marina and gas pumps, as lots of residents have boats and everyone goes to Nanaimo to shop and do business.

The pub floats on the water and has amazing views all round. There are lots of music events held there, and it is huge, so can accommodate large groups.

We had amazing fish and chips and tempura shrimp.......yummy! The couple behind us were from San Diego and were newlyweds!! If you look closely, you can see a tiny stuffed bride and groom on their table, which they proudly carried everywhere with them! Congratulations!

Nanaimo fun

Today we went with Maggie and Ingrid to the weekly market at the Nanaimo waterfront. An amazing array of foods, crafts, plants, and great people

It was a lovely sunny day and the harbour was bustling with activity.

The Nanaimo waterfront is really wonderful - a seawalk begins downtown and goes for miles along the water, through parks and has restaurants, coffee shops and great views.

Then we waited in the floating waiting room to take the little ferry to Protection Island for lunch at the Dinghy Dock Pub!