R & R

Maggie, Ingrid and I went off to Nanaimo and area to do some exploring. First we went to the Labyrinth on the mountain.

We all did our walks, sorted out our issues and left feeling refreshed and peaceful.

Next stop was Westwood Lake, which has a wonderful walking path around it as well. Motor free, it would be a lovely place to swim in the summer, with lots of nice picnic areas and swimming docks.

It was a nice sunny day so we enjoyed sitting on the beach and soaking up the sun.

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.