Rathtrevor

Oh my, true love - an arbutus tree, left, and a fir tree on the right. Grew together and support each other through thick and thin! These beauties were seen at Rathtrevor Park when Ingrid and I went for a long walk along the beach and through the forest.

Wish I knew if these were edible....they were beautiful!

Ingrid on the forest path!

Oooooo......that Daf has been busy again. Lookit the nice blue porch. Next summer it will be a nice wood deck on top of the cement, but this will be easy to clean and look at until then.

Fall in Parksville

The trees are changing colour, the air is cooler at night and it is certainly feeling like fall these days.

As soon as it starts hitting single digits at night, we start getting serious about packing for Mexico......

But the colours are lovely, and this is such a beautiful part of the world, so I always feel reluctant to leave family and friends again.....until we get off that big silver bird and feel the heat.....:-)

Michele and I went for coffee in Qualicum Beach and wandered around the shops in the wonderful sun - now it feels like summer again!!!! So great to have dear friends move to Parksville.

Deer and dear...

Early morning at Margo's house in Cedar Hill and 2 young deer came to call.....

No, Margo and Pam, they didn't eat any of your plants, they weren't there long enough. Just a quick run through and then over the fence to the neighbour's yard.

Some day, when we can afford to, we want to buy a small SUV and a Boler sized trailer, which HAS to have a bathroom and sleep 4 (for summer trips with the kids). We found this at Buddy's Toys in Oak Bay where we bought Vanessa's animals, and it will serve as a fun inspiration until we find the real thing....:-)



The cats continue to learn to get along, although Chi'ik still knows how to set Dax off screaming. You would never know it, though to see them sleep together.....! We had a wonderful family dinner at Margo and Pam's this week, and also a nice lunch with Brianna, but sadly I forgot to take out my camera......sigh!

Vanessa is 10!!!

Vanessa turned 10 on Sept. 20 - Wow - where did the time go...??? Happy Birthday, dear heart!

We picked her up after school on Friday, took her shopping (for her favourite thing, Schleich animals), had dinner at Margo and Pam's, where we are house sitting in Victoria and Nessa had great cuddles with Teddy!

Then of course we had to have a hot tub - complete with some of the animals.....!

Cuddles with Miki after the tub.....

And in the morning, before we took her off to German school, she wrapped up in one of Margo's cozy robes and had a moment with her animals....................

sunny Parksville

We took advantage of the nice weather and went for a walk along the beach at Qualicum. We are always comparing our Canadian beaches to the Mexican ones......and the white sand and turquoise sea always wins out. But BC beaches are lovely too, in their own way.

Stopped for a snack at the ice cream place and enjoyed sitting watching the people, the dogs and the scenery.

In Mexico we have wonderful sea birds, like pelicans and frigate birds. Our BC shores are full of seagulls.....and more seagulls...........with occasional eagles and herons.

But mostly seagulls..............

Concert at Milner Gardens

Sunday evening was a special treat. We went to Milner Gardens to listen to the Nanaimo Chamber Orchestra play a 2 hour classical concert. It was a warm but misty day, but the views were lovely and the music was amazing.

The orchestra is a compilation of community folks from all walks of life and played beautifully.

The seating was set up with the weather in mind, so was covered and curved around in front of the orchestra. There were munchies available, coffee, beer, wine....all the comforts of home. At one of the intermissions we moved to the deck of the heritage Milner home and enjoyed the rest of the concert whilst sipping tea and eating home made scones, jam, clotted cream and other sweets.

Busy times

On a cool but sunny day, Janice and I did a tour of our time share at Pacific Shores and then had lunch at the Landing restaurant on the deck.

Thursday night we finally did something we have been promising to do since we retired. We started Tai Chi classes!!! The centre is just 2 blocks from our house, and we so enjoyed our first class. We are going to pack as many classes as possible into the 2 months we have left here, and then practice all winter on the pool deck, in the park, on the beach.....and then come back and pick up classes again next summer.

Sunday was the Paws for a Cause SPCA Walk in Parksville. It was damp and drizzly, but lots of folks turned out with their pups to do the walk and raise much needed funds for our local shelter. Maggie, as chair of the local community branch, took me out for a tour of the shelter and to meet the staff, and I will soon be volunteering as a cat buddy....:-) The trick will be to NOT come home with any more cats.....!



The walk started at the Community Park, went along the boardwalk, and then back to the park for wiener bobbing (for the dogs!!!), agility training, paw painting, and other fun activities.

Beach walk

So, dear friends in Puerto Morelos, this is our beach in Canada, and is looking like fall is here....!

We went for a nice walk on the boardwalk, but it was cool, windy and trying to rain....still very beautiful, however.

Have to work to remember the kids on the beach, all of us sweating in our bathing suits...!

Miki's fall outfit (the sunglasses are just a habit now, sure didn't need them for the sun!!) - can't wait to get back to our shorts and tees in Mexico!!!

Fence magic!

Dear Jason came for the weekend to spray on the Sikken - a serious wood preservative - on our new cedar fence. Nasty stuff, so we were all suited up with masks, respirators, goggles the works!!!!

Mother and son - yes, that is Daf on the left.

Jason and Miki during a break. We sprayed the whole fence once on Saturday and then again on Sunday morning.

And here is our beautiful fence - just in time for the rain today....!!!! Thank you dear Jason - it was a great help to have a pro do this for us.

Sad note

On a very sad note, dear little Tippy, who Maggie rescued years ago, passed on to that great dog run in heaven. A friend in Ontario did this lovely portrait of Tippy, and it sat proudly with us all at the oyster dinner on Friday. We know she is no longer in pain or distress and we will miss her.

Tippy and Chiik never did work it out to be friends, but we are glad that they at least knew each other briefly. Happy trails, dear Tippy.

Champagne and Oyster feast

Friday night we attended a scrumtious dinner at Ingrid and Maggies. Half a dozen superb raw salads, prawns and breaded oysters done on the barby, great company, great evening.

The Chef tasting her wonderful food.

Absoutely wonderful meal.......

Enjoyed with dear friends. Doesn't get any better than that.