Back home to Snow...Whahhh

We flew into Calgary to -28* weather on Wednesday morning at 2:00 am. Our, saviour, Lorraine was waiting there since 11:30 TO PICK US UP! Thank goodness she brought our winter coats and boots! It was BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR cold! We had a drink and chatted,then fell to sleep for a few hours...and headed out by 9:00am or so. Luckily, the roads weren't too terrible and it was snowing in a few spots, but the car held the road and we kept on a moving and caught the ferry at 5:20. Just a reminder, that if you are at Creston, you need at least one hour and fifteen minutes to make it ot the ferry at Crawford Bay. Longer, if it is summer and there is lots of trailers on the road.
My little doggy was adopted by Deb and Ashley. Apparently, Silk only missed me for one day, then turned filkle and became Deb's dog. She was pretty excited when I returned, tho. I was happy to see her again, myself.
I worked the next morning and Friday, and thus, it is only today that I am beginning to feel human...caught up on a ton of laundry and went for a walk with my new Nordic walking sticks... Now these are a humdinger...takes the pressure right off your knees and makes you feel like you could walk ten times farther than ever before. I am going to try walking to help me lose that sack of sugar I am packing on my belly. I'm not so good at not eating, so exercise will have to be the way to get the deed done. My first effort today was encouraging. I'll keep you posted.
So back to the trip...It was phenomenal! We had such a wonderful time...the heat was good , the food was great,the hospitality and entertainment second to none, and the people were fabulously friendly. The resort was spic and span and best of all, you felt very safe and secure. I'll load up a web albumn with about a hundred photos. First I want to label them. So that should be done tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, I need to hit the shower, and then go pick up the cat post at Lindas'. She and Ed were kind enough to look after Annette's cat, and we have the feline back, but the post wouldn't fit in Emil's car...so...see you later...




The reindeer are buried and Frosty can't be seen

More snow than we have ever had

The chefs did a carving demo witht he fruits and veggies and the maids showed their folding abilities with the towels...

Emil getting his morning hug from Bossy Boots


"The Creator"

Adios Amigos

Its been a slice...looks like the plane is on time. We are heding out to frio frio...-29 in Calgary...-6* at home...brrr. We just went for a swim and are onto our last rum...See you all soon. we should be home late tomorrow night. Love yas

hot hot hot

Hey gang... The internet died for quite a few days but it seems to be back and slightly speedier. I can say that if anyone is looking for a terrific getaway, this would be one place to choose. The online write-ups don't do it justice, that is for sure... Today I went on a fabulous Catamaran tour...right down the coast to Susua Bay and there we got into the water with our bread in hand to feed the fish...they were every colour and shape and would come right to your hand! Quite amazing. We snorkeld for as long as we wanted, then returned to the boat which was at least 60 feet long... and there we had an amzing lunch waiting for us...oh yes, and some rum and cokes too.! The workers on board kept us amused with games...like the men had to see who did the best canon ball off the ship! ..For a 40 of Brugal rum...the best! It was a Canadadian that won! Emil chose to do these Mega truck rides instead and he hasn't returned. They tour up into the mountains and let you ride horses. They end up at the beach as well, so he will have a sore butt and will be ready for shade, I am sure! . The food has been awesome...Cookouts by the pool...great PAellas, Chinese food, Mango daiquiris...you name it... This is an awesome place. We try to do aerobics and go to the gym each day...before the swim up bar! Time to log off...We'll talk to you all when I return home... It is so hot now,we are like little hot-dogs!...Thank goodness for the UV shirt Sonia gave me...It saved my skin on the catamaran today, but my beak is a little rudolfy~ Love ya all...and wish everyone was here...It would be an awesome placve to have a family reunion... a family had 17 come down and said it was the time of their life!

"The Creator"

Saturday

Well, I tried to log onto my shaw account...some 80 messages there and only got to the first twenty before the Internet failed...so anyone can try to email me at Shaw, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to get to it...if I do, I can do a reply,so send a short mesage then \I'll have your email address to reply to . We did the city tour yesterday...everything froma ride on a funicular...a gondola, to a visit to a fort and an Amber museum...then to the jewellery factory. Everthing was out of this world expensive...150.00 bucks for a pendant! Later we hit a beach at Sosua with hundreds of vendors all flogging the same stuff... had a giant beer under an umbrella and wated for the rain shower to pass. Emil's highlite of the day was going to the rum factory...Yum yum! Hope all is well, I miss everyone and wished that you were all here for the big party they had today...dancing by the pool, folowed by a fresh huge huge pan of fresh cooked Paella ANd sangria to drink...really hevenly. I did areobic s in the pool twice . The instructor is named Chocolat...and is just that colour!


The Creator"

We're Here! Riu Mambo

Okay,the flight was long, but we made it just fine and arrived into the hotel after dark. The three hotels,are just a stone's throw apart,and I'd say that ours is the newest addition. Our room is on the ground floor with two big beds pushed together to make a jumbo king sized bed! terrific... The reviews don't do it justice! The whole complex is beautiful and the food has such a great selection,that I don't think we'll become bored. Even late last night, we dined on fresh fish topped with yummy salsa and had these tiny empanadas that were delicious. This morning, we were so bagged that we slept till 9:00 Dominican time. It is four hours ahead of BC. Time. Today,Emil and I said we were in Heaven..so if we don't return, don't worry a fig about us. We have booked a tour to the city of Peurta Plata for Friday, and it includes the Amber museum and a gondola ride to the top of a mountain, plus the historical sites of the city and a visit to the Rum factory where they make Brugal rum, Dominican's best. We walked right up to that gazebo on the point today and took fifty pics...so beautiful... I guess a wedding is going to happen there on Saturday. Half the people coming to this resort were here for the wedding!
Ok...signing off...Love ya all...wish everyone was here...You'd all love it... oh yes, we watched an amzing Magic Show last night...two rabbits were turned into two doves on the opposite side of the room...Crazy...



"The Creator"

Bye bye Blogreaders...

Just a little fairwell note before I turn in... No, it isn't the end of the dying blog, but just a hiatus while the big guy and I take a little retirement trip to the Dominican republic. We fly out of Calgary on Tuesday morning and shant return till its nearly February! Whahoo... I'll try to post the odd post on my blog while I am gone, as I understand they have an Internet room...whee! Mostly I'll be planted under a PAlapas hut or on a beach soaking up the heat without the rays...and sipping on a CO-co Loco. It will be tough, but someone has to do it... Adios Amigos. I sure hope my Coffee Break spanish comes in handy! so, hold off on the emails and jokes and the facebook pokes and booze and so on...cause I can't answer you till way later ...like next month. Thanks for your consideration...and sorry about the unfinished Scrabulous games...
Have a good couple of weks, and I'll raise my glass to salute all of you who aren't there with us! Just wait till I win that darn Publishers Clearing house five grand a week!
Love you all... Buenes Notche!


"The Creator"

Aussie Pin Shop

Aussie Pin Shop
If you are looking for commemorative pins for any occasion...eg from Rugby pins to the Seven Wonders of the world pins, and Olympic pins...they are all here... just click on the title, Aussie Pin Shop, here or in the Title.

"The Creator"

Dinner with Derrick and Barb...

Derrick and Barb...

Little Motorized Jamie

Ethan and Jami having fun on Morgan's snow mountain...they even dug a tunnel under it!

Here was our nice dinenr at Joyce's...a week or two ago now.

No tiempo these days for writing a thing on my bloggy. Seems like evcery day is a busy day. Mostly it has been snowing out to beat the band, and when it isn't snowing, it is freezing or raining... sort of like winter at it's Max! First it was the New years Party...seems like a decade ago, but really only a week plus a day. Then on Thursday. Joyce had us up for a grand pork roast dinner that was delicious! Derrick and BArb werfe there with the kids and we had to have our laughs as litlte Ethan and Jamie ran from one end of the house to the other! No wonder Barb is signing them up for marathons! Too funny, and they are as cute as can be with their big dimples.
Thursday passed and then it was Friday, our 39th wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? I remember Emil and Gerry coming up to the house in Stanley's car to pick me up for Emil's date... that was a looooong time ago! Our date on friday night wasn't quite as heated, but we did go out to McQues, up in Balfour, for a lovely prime rib dinner...Yum, yum! We toasted each other over a bottle of Merlot and ate and came home and drank tea!
Saturday, I worked and extra shift and came home half tired and nearly ready to crawl into bed! Emil was snoozing after an afternoon with Ashley ( guy neighbour) and a bottle or two of wine ,while they watched Canada Juniors once again take the World cup! Way to go Canada!
Emil's not one to sleep his life away and miss a good Poker game, so we were off to Pete and Elli's for Texas Hold'em. One table of about eight of us played Poker and the other four, played Sequence, a card chip game played on a board. I must say , the cards were slow in coming, but finaally, I made a few great flush hands and started to win gobs of chips. Soon we down to three, and the big and little blinds were in ten and five thousand ( big spenders here!)

Well, I gambled that Pete was bluffing and despite having a pair of Kings, Pete took the hand and most of my money with a flush! Boooooo-hoooooooo! That left Pete and Bill and the two of them battled it out...Pete with a ton of chips, and Bill with a handful. In the end and after many "all-Ins", Pete won, and bill came in second. I was third to last to lose , but thought I did well against seasoned players like Deb and Ashley, and Elli and Emil! It was a great evening of entertainment for five bucks!

Needless to day, by the time Sunday rolled around, we were both feeling the 39 years and were running on empty. I caught up on bed changing and laundry and then I began to pack my suitcase! Yeppers, by this time next week we'll sitting in a nice swim up bar sipping a cool Coco-loco and wondering how we lived without summer's heat all of these past four months! Did I mention that Emil booked us his retirement trip to the Dominican Republic? It is a resort called Riu Mambo and sits between two other Riu resorts in the BAy of Mamion, in the Dominican, north of Porta Plata. We have the option to eat at the other two resorts for breakfasts and lunches, so we will have a little variety. I am so looking forward to it, that I went out and Malwarted tonight and picked up some new white tea shirts, and a cute fancy multi-coloured lace trimmed top and black light weight crop pants... yeah yeah, I know I 'll be cooking, but the a la carte restaurants are formal and the men have to wear long pants. I can't say I have any of those mini sun dresses to look sexy in! Yipee...One more Week!

Oh yes, yesterday, Lynn popped into work to visit me and we had a cup of tea between customers. She looked divine in her cute little black quilted jacket...and she brought me yummy pizzelle treats... yum. After an hour of interruptions, she headed back to Trail. In the meantime, Carolyne invited me out to her birthday dinner with her and the kids top All Seasons cafe in the back alley one street up from Baker. I must say the service was rather slow, but hte food was delicious. I had a Boulabeise with mussles, prawns, a white fish, and scallops and two slices of french bread toasted and topped with a wonderful aioli sauce that was to die for.
Her kids were cute and Tibo got up and recited the entire poem of Sam Magee by Robert Service! Here it is read on a video from You tube...worth listening to!

Meanwhile, Emil got word that his best friend in the whole world, John was in a life death situation in the hospital in Prince George after an anurism burst and he went into cardiac arrest. Emil was a little more at ease tonight,w hen he learned that John, altho not able to speak, was trying to write something. He was confused and is just coming out of a drug induced coma. He is still listed as Critical, but seems to have made it past the very critical stage. His odds look better today, than the fifty fifty odds of yesterday. So say a prayer everyone for our dear friend and lets hope that by fishing season, him and Emil can go back at it to catch the big one!

Holy mackeral...makes you want to go on that vacation today! Have a good one... It will be a sketchy blog until I return at the end of January, but if I get a chance, I'll write a few lines from the land of the sun. Oh yes, we fly out of Calgary, next Tuesday. My neighbour, Deb , is looking after Silky, and our freind, Linda is taking Annette's cat...thank-goodness for lovely friends... like angels they come into your lives... I hope they don't go out of our lives AFTER looking after my babies! I trimmed Silky this morning and clipped her toenails and now just have to bath her... Maybe I ought to bath the cat as well!...Adios Amigos...



"The Creator"

Multi-Sport Adventures in the Galapagos Islands with ROAM - Rivers, Oceans and Mountains

Multi-Sport Adventures in the Galapagos Islands with ROAM - Rivers, Oceans and Mountains:
A friend was explaining her upcoming trip to the Galapagos islands with her neighbour( from Balfour) as their tour guide. You fly to Quito, then hop aboard a catamaran and do the islands of this great archipelago, where wildlife abounds like no where else on earth. Once off the catamaran, you tour by seakayak, by horseback, by hiking, and by snorkling to see tons of bird and fish species, not to mention great tortoises... All sounds beautifully organized. Sounds like a dream trip for the adventursome who love the beauty of crystal clear waters where you can observe manta rays and sharks, and who are stoked by the thought of seeing a gurgling live volcano... Read the iteniery and let me know if you need a nanny to accompany you on your trip!
I thought Correna and Joe might like the details of this trip...

Creator"

KnowledgeNews :: Signup

KnowledgeNews :: Signup
If your brain is hangering for a little more knowledge about everyday news, or history , or what makes the world tick, then it is worth signing up for a free trial of Knowledge News. After receiving it for the trial period, and having many more free updates, I finally decided to subscribe for life at $24.00 per year. This has been their best offer. I've already downloaded three ebooks, with science info in one, an Almanac in another and the other is a history lesson of the middle east... The upcoming issues of Knowledge news will go indepth into the USA election...not that we don't see enough of it on tv...but perhaps it will be easier to digest.

"The Creator"

Look a likes... Some generations apart...

Emil's mom, Annie, on her wedding day

Annette, on New Year's Eve...

"The Creator"

Happy New Years! Happy Polar Bear Dip

So it looks like Ed is doing his dipping in the hot-tub, but that was AFTER he ran into the lake and did his Polar Bear Plunge!

Marching down to the lake...Ed is leading

Ok, no matter what I did, I couldn't right side this photo..
Sorry,,just lay your head on its side...



Ed...running back and freezing...

Ed drying his feet so he can put his boots back on...


Happy New Year's !

Doing the countdown

Dancing up a storm

The Goils!


Happy New Year and Happy Retirement Emil!

Christmas all over

Kaleigh and Maddie with their new jammies and their Xmas hats from granny


Brotherly love with Shayne and Nadine...you'll have to turn your heads for these ones!

And guess who got two crockpots? Someone drew Nadine's name 2 times... and what did poor Dick get?

Cute Abbi with little Nolan


"The Creator"

Three Tomatoes...

You know you are a tomatoe if.....


"The Creator"

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Santa was good to us again this year...amazing, since Emil was so naughty..ha-ha!

A cute gift pack from Ronda and John , with tea and chocolates and honey and a cute mug with funny cool kitty cat images on it... Thank-you so much...and the tea is delicious too... Now if I could only find my tea-ball.

The girls sent us a brand new DVD player ...Yipppee...Now to get it all hooked up. Our other one has been on and off Fritzy for years... Now for the big flat screen, some time.

Wayne,enjoying Yummy turkey dinner... It was sooooo good... It has been a while since I've had a decent turkey and mashed potatoe and gravy dinner. Yes, we had the turnips and brussels as well!
It was a good night last night with the kids and grandkids all on speaker phone as we all opened up our very cool stocking stuffer gifts. Lots of gadgets and tools and mini LCD lights to keep all the dark places lit up... I think I have about ten now! You can set them up to turn on, when a drawer is opened, such as in the bathroom, at night. It works, but only on optimum situations... I've broken one light,and burned out two others, because they must not have actually turned off when the drawer was closed... Then I tried one in my bedroom drawer,and it kept falling down. I see that the new models in my stocking ,work on a better principal... like a light switch... I'll try them out and give you a report. The cutest things I got were these two little mini baker pans... like miniature heavy duty casseroles...bigger than a muffin... but not too deep. I'll have to invent a mini desert or meal for them...Sonia suggested the seafood bake that I usually bake in the shells......Sounds like a plan... Thank-you everyone for all the neat items!

The most interesting gift was a Weather Stick from John and Ronda... This looks like a twig with part of the mother tree still attached at the base of the twig. This gets hung up outside,where one can see it from a window. If it bends upward, the weather will be dry,and if it bends downwards, then expect rain...I'll post a pic when we get it hung up... I thought it was going to be a weather rock... You know, the old rock hangs from a piece of bailing twine attached to a post and that is your weather indicator. If it is moving back and forth, it is windy outside. If it is wet, then it is raining out. If it is white, then it has snowed. If it is dry and not moving, then expect a fair day!
Good night all. I am off to see the clan at Lynn's tomorrow... Lets hope for an unsnowy day.


"The Creator"

Twas the Night before Christmas...

Emil opens a little package from his stocking, only to discover a tiny tool that has him somewhat bewildered....

He was smiling when he opened this from Sonia... a container to hold the weights for his future downrigger.

Wayne, Emil's buddy,came over from Cranbrook on Christmas eve to spend Christmas with us... It has been fun

This is the beautiful platter of goodies that Annie baked and gave me for a Christms gift... so kind of her. Annie works with us every Christmas at the store... Ok...those are chocolate biscotti in the right hand corner, and macaroons on chocolate in the left hand corner, and those triangular pieces are to die for...a citrus flavour that says "MORE Please!"
Yum yum...

"The Creator"

Baby Nolan Gets Christened

Baby Nolan

Joyce and Georgia at Lynn's






Look at those Peepers!




Note her cool Virginia Shoes! Nothing says it better than red and black!



Nadine and Dick and baby Nolan

Mom and Baby



Awwee He's so tiny...
I didn't make it to the Christening, on Sunday, but Joyce said it was all very nice and it was fun to play with little Georgia... She is getting cuter by the day. looks like it turned out just right, and I didn't see the little man crying his head off... thats goo...He'll be a toughy!


"The Creator"

Nick and Anne

Sad to say, that I heard today that Nick passed away after another stroke. This is a photo I took when they came out to visit a month or so ago. That was so nice that we had a little visit. He will be missed by Anne, the most , then his family and everyone else that knew him. He always had a kind and thoughtful word to say whenever he spoke, and he always welcomed everyone like long lost friends. I hope he rests peacefully now in a heavenly place that welcomes him with the kindness he deserves . He will be missed. I'm so sorry to hear this sad news.


"The Creator"

:: rogerebert.com :: Commentary :: The year's ten best filmsand other shenanigans (xhtml)

:: rogerebert.com :: Commentary :: The year's ten best films<br>and other shenanigans (xhtml)
A review of 2007's best movies...

"The Creator"

MAYBELLINE - MAKE UP STUDIO

MAYBELLINE - MAKE UP STUDIO
Join the MAybeline club, then upload your own photo, and start having fun with trying on the MAybeline pallet of colours to see how they look on your eyes, and mouth and skin... HAve fun...burn up some more time on the computer...

"The Creator"