Hello from Sunny Victoria

Nice trip down in the sunshine with Silky  and made it to the ferry  by 4:45...minimal lineups and right onto the five ferry. Of course, it was only four days after the fairs were hiked back up!  The kids and kidlets were so happy to see me...makes your heart go pitter patter! I am sure that Maddie has grown a full six inches since fall and Kaleigh is slimming out and really looking like a full fledged teenager...I have already inheirited a pair of her runners that she doesn't like... We have the same large sized feet...a little scary...since mine weren't this long at her age, but I think she came upon it honestly! Both girls played the piano for me... and they already sound so professional! Brings me to tears when I hear them! We had a busy Sunday with a birthday party for Maddie's 11th birthday.  Her friends came over and helped decorate the dining room in balloons and fancy tablecloth and placecards...and guess what? Of all the girls here, three were named MAddie! Different spellings, because some were Madisons, but they all get called Maddi in one way or the other. That was pretty cute! The kids all went with their dad and mom down for a go at the climbing wall for  a couple of hours and then followed it up back at the house with pizza  and two flavours of cake...chocolate and yummy lemon.  Sonia and MAddie were the lemon lovers,as was Kaleigh...and myself...Say no more ...a half cake of lemon was  all gone at the end of the party!

While the kids were out climbing, I found some time to work out in Sonia's flower-bed, trimming back some vines and dead heads and will try to get back out this afternoon to do a little more. I now have gardening gloves, thus it will be a little easier on the hands ! Sonia is working, so I did driving to school and will pick up MAddie and then get dinner ready for when Sonia comes home.

Annette is off work today and has a million things to do. I will go with her to drop off some stuff to the Sally Ann and pick up her food basket that she won at a silent auction...Yum... sounds delicious already! The weather is supposed to go back up to 16* ! Yea! I will go back out for more gardening fun!

Hope you are all having a brilliant day!

"The Creator"

Happy Birthday to Madeline!

Happy eleventh birthday Maddie. I love your new haircut! Your mom says you look like her at that age... What do you think? Yep, I think she is on to something there... except that at least you had the good sense to get a new haircut! Love it,and can't wait to see you in five more sleeps! I'll bring your gifty with me... and then we will celebrate!


Sonia at about the same age...


"The Creator"

Weekend Fairwell to Gisele and Mike

I baked a yummy carrot cake with a sugar substitute called Newella...found at Walmart... and the cake turned out delicious...a little crumbly, but otherwise no-one was the wiser that it was sugar free except for the cream cheese icing. Everyone brought an appetizer and so it was an all afternoon of munching and laughing and of course, a bit of refreshments too. Debbie brought a pitcher of Pom Martinis so life was good as we sipped on those... made with Pomagranite juice, fresh squeezed lime, Cointreau, cranberry juice and vodka... yum yum...





Sampling of the martinis with Ashley, moi and Emil

Our neighbours Alyssa and Mike

No shortage of laughs with Ann and Dick. We watched the video of their trip to San Carlos in Mexico on the PAcific coast south of Baja... and it was lovely to see all their month or two of travels and what they saw from pelicans and dolphins to the beautiful Lake Haviseu and the dune buggies in the deserts that we probably passed through near Yuma.


Here is Gisele and Mike with their son Josh. They rented Lynn and Rick's house for 6 months and now they have to head back to Lethbridge and see if they can sell their house before returning to beautiful BC. It is too bad that we only got to know them near the end of their stay here. It turns out that Gisele is the neice of an Aunt of Lucien's . You don't have to go far to find a relative these days aye?

Back to work today after an all too fast week-end...and then it is on to Victoria next week-end! Yipppee...

"The Creator"

Adding Dave!

And last but least of the Dave and Eva Family , is the head of the household...Mr. Dave...Ta---da!!!!! Ta-Da!!!! Nice photo...thanks for sending it along Eva...! Have a great day!
"The Creator"

Kashi - free Granola bars

Kashi is giving away free granola bars... so follow the links to Free Bars and sign up. I couldn't see a security code right away, but apparently if you click in that box and hit enter, the security code will appear... My did, but it took two tries! Give it a try and we will all see if it is fact or fiction!

Kashi - Home






"The Creator"

Congarats to Joyce!

Congratulations Joyce for making the front page and page 2 of the Nelson Daily News yesterday with your excellent and most stunning photo of the Trumpeter Swan...Kudos to you for your great photographic eye!

"The Creator"

Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare & Discount Travel Deals - Fly.com

Travelzoo announced the opening of their new company called Fly.com where it is one stop shopping for any flights you wish to take.The best thing is that they always include flexible dates and airports in the surrounding area. Take a look, next time you are planning a flight somewhere. It is very fast and no nonsense.


Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare & Discount Travel Deals - Fly.com

"The Creator"

Eva's news...and Pics...

Mackenzie had to be a Medieval gal for a school play...what was it again? A Midsummer's Night Dream... or some other Shakespearean
play...All seems too complex for a Mackenzie sized kid! Bravo




Big brother Josh and Kenzie...

Where's Dave??? nice almost a family pic!

And here is the Queen of 46...Happy Yummy Birthday...looks like a carrot cake to me!
Thanks for the great photos...Eva!


"The Creator"

Beautiful Sunday!

Serious snow, but the good news is that half of it melted today! Silky and I walked right down the yard to the beach this morning and never got stuck once! The sun came out and the temps soared to +14* in the sun...making today the real first day of Spring around here!

Now, here are some magnificent photos that Joyce took of the Trumpeter swans that pass through this area at this time of year, almost to the day! Often they are up around our part of the lake, but I only saw them at Four mile. In past years we've had as many as eight or ten. It is worrisome that they have been reduced to four .
Look at this amazing shot! Way to go, Joyce this is a pro pic! I hope the NDN publishes it, because it is certainly a treasure for everyone to appreciate. Nice zoom action...makes me want a new camera!
Nice photos Joyce...thanks for sharing...


"The Creator"

Dinner and Train at Deb and Ashley's

Toasting to good friends with a new Pom Cosmo Martini that Deb invented...Yum!

Deb serving up the sausages with Kristen unaware I was taking a pic!

Ashley with his plate of yummy Greek Dinner!

Now Kristen is all smiles...despite the Canucks doing so bad...

Never can have too many drinks on the go!One is carbonated water!

And the Train game begins!

Ashley checking to see where he can put a tile maybe!

The morning after...note the sunshine!

Even Silky is enjoying it!





"The Creator"

St Paddy's at Finley's Pub

The gals from the Kootenay Kilty band were amazing drummers!


I drink to your health when I'm with you,
I drink to your health when I'm alone,
I drink to your health so often,
I'm starting to worry about my own!


More Irish Toasts:

It is better to spend money like there's no tomorrow
than to spend tonight like there's no money!

That the tap may be open when it rusts!

My friends are the best friends
Loyal,willing and able.
Now let’s get to drinking!
All glasses off the table!

Here's to a long life and a merry one.
A quick death and an easy one.
A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold pint-- and another one!

Here's to a temperance supper,
With water in glasses tall,
And coffee and tea to end with
--And me not there at all!

When money's tight and hard to get,
and your horse is also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt
,a pint of plain is your only man.

Here's to being single...Drinking doubles...And seeing triple!

Here's to women's kisses,
and to whiskey,
amber clear;
Not as sweet as a woman's kiss,
but a darn sight more sincere!



Here is the Kootenay Kilty band as they were arriving

Gord in his special giant Leprachon bow tie!


A certain someone being silly!
All in all we had a fun time joining in the festivities of St. Patrick's day in Nelson... You should all come next year and then we can drink some green beer!

An Irish Pub Joke...

An Irishman, an Englishman and a Scotsman go into a pub. Each orders a pint of Guinness. Just as the bartender hands them over, three flies buzz down and land-- one, two, three-- in each of the pints.
The Englishman looks disgusted, pushes his pint away and demands another... the Scotsman picks out the fly, shrugs, and takes a long swallow.

The Irishman reaches in to the glass, grabs the fly between his fingers and shakes him as hard as he can, shouting 'Spit it out, ya bloody bastard! Spit it out!'



"The Creator"

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Begoshin' and begorrin', it is a St. Paddy's day I'll remember for a long time... First, the Kootenay Kilty Band strolling around town for nearly two hours with the bagpipes sounding and the drums thumping the background beat in familiar Irish tunes, up and down the streets of Nelson. They wound up at Jigsaws ,just standing on the corner and playing. What a lovely way to get into the Irish spirit! After work, I strolled over to Finley's, Nelson's only Irish pub. It was all decked out in Guiness flaggging and the bargirls were prettied up with green adornments in the way of beads or ribbons and one gal had a green wig! It was all very colourful and packed to the hilt. A young Irish band fiddled and sang Irish tunes, while the customers clapped and stomped their feet. I didn't know a soul sitting at any of the tables and every table was taken! Thank goodness that Gord came and in a few minutes, we were chatting it up with two fellows who had an entire table to themselves. The one fellow was from Banff and had a little Irish French, English background and was happy to be part of the festivities. Within minutes, Janice and Emil came in, after their ride from HArrop/Balfour on the bus! Yes, Emil took the bus into Nelson, and the two of them met us at Finleys, So now we had a table of six and the band was getting revved up with more Irish tunes. The Firefighters came with green t-shirts and took donations for Muscular Dystrophy... and here the first impression was that they were the SWAT team coming in to settle the Irish differences!
We ordered a Guiness and some dinner. Gord and Janice both had the Irish stew in a bread bowl... we went for the Natchos and the dry ribs...all very tasty indeed!
Half way through dinner and the first band packed it in and made way for the Kootenay Kilty Band. About 20 of the band members came marching into Finleys, playing the bagpipes and the drums... talk about LOUD! Whew! Janice brought earplugs, but us neophytes were blasted by the bagpipes and drums until we thought we were totally deafened.
Don't get me wrong,the music was great...just hard on the ears in a confined space. Emil and I left by 8:30 or so and called it a night.
Emil's back is still pretty sore from him pulling a muscle or twisting somethingand after sitting in a hard chair for several hours, he was ready for his beddy.
All in all it was a Great St. PAddies night and if I can ever get the pics off my phone, I'll be happy to post a few. We left just before the second band was about to begin... Heady Attire, I think they were called...
so now I am ready for my beddy. I hear Emil snoring already... good night all... I'll get back to the emails tomorrow...sorry bout that! Love all of you!
"The Creator"

Dinner at our house with Janice and Gord!

Janice and Gord came over for dinner last night.. Janice brought a bottle of Banrock bubbly... It was very tasty...not too sweet,not too dry and was a good start to the night!


Emil getting ready to carve the ham...unfortunately, the ham photo didn't turn out, but I decorated it with fresh pineapple and whole cloves that Deb brought me back from Grenada...Yum!...oh yes, I glazed it with a honey glaze...the honey that Sonia brought me back from St. Lucia!




Just before dinner...we had a group hug... Harrop Therapy! ...just joking!

Here is Janice and Gord. We played a mean card game of Golf... and Gord and I won...mainly because we started off with a pat hand. We advanced to Euchre once no-one could memorize their two face down cards! And Happy to say, Gord and I won again... I still have some learning to do in the Euchre department, but it is a heck of a good game to play!

Janice brought a wonderful organic Waldorf salad ...very fresh walnuts, celery, many varities of apple and currents and here is the best part...it had shaved ginger in it for a tangy flavour.

And here is a primer on doing a Pineapple tree... Note that some improvements can be made during the initial cutting of it, in order to even out the spaces.... I didn't want to use a felt pen marker, but in the end, although the cuts looked good from the bottom, I needed a few more "panels" once I got going on it. Oh well, it is a first for me. The one I saw was used to skewer in fresh prawns and a fresh chunk of pineapple on each skewer...to be served at a party. I think the prawns had been coated in Coconut and deep fried first... all very decadent. Here, I have used Strawberries and pineapple chunks on those coloured toothpicks.

Plenty of pineapple pieces. I had enough to do the top of the ham, then fill in the gaps on the pineapple.

I just started adding the skewers randomly and filled in the holes as best as I could,as the toothpicks were about a half inch short.

And here is my finished masterpiece centrepiece.

I served it surrounded by ham slices, scalloped potatoes and aspargus and baby snap peas, and squash which I seasoned with sauteed onion, garlic, and Pataks medium curry..with a dollop of sour cream to blend it all together. It was delicious. Janice brought the yummy Waldorf salad and topped the meal off with Pecan pie.

So all in all , it was a fun night.

Today we picked up Anne and Dick, who have returned from their big winter journey south to Santa Carlos in Mexico, and met with Gisele and Mike , our new neighbours in Lynn and Ricks former house. We had Sunday brunch/lunch at the Dock and Duck in their newly renovated restaurant at the ferry landing. It was good, but not impressive. We'll stick to the BBI in the future! In any case, we had a lot of laughs and that was the best part...just getting together with friends. Unfortunately, just as we are getting to know Gisele and Mike, we will have to say good bye, as they return to Lethbridge to get things in order so that they can move back out to BC permanently maybe next year. Apparently, the home is already rented for April 1st, so we'll now have to get to know the new neighbours all over again!
Our power went out, just when I deemed I was hungry. I ate cold ham on cold toast and now, I am thinking hot food...some of that left over squash! Then I am thinking about making muffins. Chris and Carolyne should be back from their trip when I go to work tomorrow, so Chris will be looking for some baking I am thinking!

"The Creator"

Lovely Sunday...and HAppy Birthday Eva!

Lynn came over for the Hundredth Anniversary of the Nelson United Church and her and Joyce went to the banquet on Saturday night, then the three of us went to church on Sunday.
Here the Ministers are getting ready to put a time capsule into the hole in the wall of the church, behind the alter. Amongst other things, the capsule contained photos of the little children who were there to help lock the box. It will be opened in fifty years, and perhaps one of the children will be there to see it all again. A lovely day in the church, tho the chosen bible verses about circumsion didn't seem to fit the order of the day... Upon thinking about it, maybe it was a reference to the longevity of the deed.!



After church, we took in the Sunday Brunch at the Best Western...Baker Street Inn Restaurant. It was delicious with a wide assortment of entries and deserts. We were all interested in the eggs Bennies and the waffles... Mmm. I was so stuffed, I couldn't eat dinner until 8:00 pm.
I stopped at Ron and Phoebes on the way home and picked up the rocking chair he glued together for us... and then Ted and Syl came over, and it was two beer before I was on my way home! That was nice to get to know them a little better. They just returned from a trip to Disneyland with their grandkids.

And last but not least...look who came to dinner at Mike a and Gisele's while they were away.
There were about three more sho already were heading to greener grass under the trees at back... Poor Lynn B. ( former home owner) would have been dismayed to see them munching back everything in the yard.

And a Big HAppy Birthday to Eva tomorrow... Love you sweety! Have a great Day!



"The Creator"