Thursday, February 10, 2011

Twas the life of leisure

Here is what we did nearly every day...staked out a nice palapas hut and then set up camp for the day and then R&R'd it.
See, I am exhausted just from making a few changes here... My photos wouldn't upload so I am back to thinking that this will be the end of my bloggy. Seems like everyone is on Facebook and it is much easier to upload photos there...
The idea of having a blog anymore has become redundant... however I will be retiring at the end of the month, wnd who knows...I might have time on my hands.
In the meantime, I will sign off and go to bed so I can have some sweet dreams of Punta Cana and how beautiful our vacation was with Lynn and Sonia to help guide us around everything... a very fabulous trip!
"The Creator"

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Happy New Year!!! Happy Anniversary!


This is the cute Maude Lewis Calender that Annette and Shawn gave us. This folk artist is a well known and respected lady who had no formal art training ,but captured the hearts of Nova
Scotians by painting everyday scenes in a colourful style.she died in 1970 and was born in 1905.

Yes, today is our 42 anniversary!!! And never had a fight! Ha-aha-ha!


Our sweet neighbours, Ashley and Deb


Emil and our other neighbour, Francis, hamming it up!



The men against the women to see who can come up with the right answers in a game of Dirty Mind! Not recommended for children!All the answers were straight, but the questions...thats another story!



Watching the ball drop...
Cheers to 2011!!



Happy New Year everyone... Look out it is going to be the year of the Hare!
"The Creator"




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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Hello and Happy New Year!!!

Here it is ,an hour and a half from the very last day of 20-10. Ask me if I thought I'd live to see double digits past 2000 and I would say that I never dreamt it. Now we are heading into twenty eleven and I find that amazing to even let those numbers slide off my tongue... 20-11, 20-11 ....20-11. Seems like it is all in a dream, but here we are, bigger than life making plans for the upcoming year...and it is going to be one of the best since probably 1999!
To wind up 2010, we will have a little games night over at Deb and Ashley's house , with Randy and Francis and with any luck, we will all keep our peepers open long enough to ring in the new year. Then we begin a fresh new year at midnight with loads on the horizon, because it is going to be an awesome year!
I want to stay and chat all night and let you know all of our plans for 2011, but I am fading away as the clock ticks closer to 11:00pm . We have had a heck of a busy week at work and I have been mostly on my own.... our lovely city is filled with visitors who have come home to spend holidays with their parents or grandparents...and every kid in town has come back to their favourite jewellery store, Kolmels.

Now I am pooped but still need to tell you about an important email someone sent me about a phone scam. A caller calls your number then says you have won a trip or prize or a relative is sick or she has something to tell you, then asks you to call her at a number that begins with area code 809, or 284, or 876. The email has been in circulation since 1996, but still bears some important info. It tells you never to dial a number with area code 809.284,or 876 as these are foreign countries that can be dialed without a 011 prefix that is the usual for foreign countries. 809 gets you to the Dominican Republic, while 284 takes you to the British Virgin Islands and 876 is to Jamaica. You can run up quite a tab if you get some long winded prerecorded message.
Always be wary of anyone telling you won something and that you have to call up a certain number or give up credit card info or send a cheque. You can google an area code to find out where its location is.
On the other hand, if you get a call from Canada Safeway telling you that you won the Grand Prize in the Texas Hold'um contest, you better believe it! I know, because last year, I did get that call and guess what? We are finally going to get our prize in a few weeks... to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and best of all, my cousin Lynn and my daughter Sonia are joining us in the fun. See what I mean about 2011!!!! It is going to start off with some fine Tropical weather, great company and 2 weeks to lolly gag on the beach.... I can't wait! .....Now it is time for bed...for real!


"The Creator"

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas

Emil was smiling as he opened Janice's package o' dough ...she paid back all the damages from the time she broke his boat...



Silky loved Co-co's new bowl

Coc-co is barking at his new dish... thats when Silky walked over and helped herself to the treat inside of it!


Bea's smiling at her new kobo e reader... ( Now if I can only stop calling it a KUDO)



"The Creator"
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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Eclipse of the moon

These are pics of the Lunar eclipse taken by Sonia's friend, Dave Merritt, in fort St. John...






It looks like I have them in the reverse order, but enjoy ...they are great photos!
"The Creator"
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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Year of the HAre coming up

Get your little bunny coats all made up...note that these ones are lined with??? bunny fur!!! It is the Year of the Hare in 2011!!!!


Mr. Baily... He is so photogenic...


I scared them away when I came out on the deck... Missy and Maynard last week after the wet snowfall

The bird feeder is supposed to be for the little birds, but the ducks and crows and ravens make their rounds for any feeder crumbs that fall to the deck below.

Have a great Thursday and I suggest shopping early if you are coming into Kolmels today. We have been rather busy, as is the season, but it seems like the menfolk get off work around three and then they descend upon us. Not to worry, still loads of beautiful jewellery in a great range of prices and you can count on great quality that comes with sterling silver or gold from Kolmels !

"The Creator"
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Monday, December 13, 2010

Geminid Meteor Showers

Look up late tonight and part those clouds to see the best meteor shower of the year called the Geminid Meteor Showers...showers of "shooting stars" that do not even come from a meteor... Read all about it at the link above at Spaceweather.com
"The Creator"

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Taking you back a few years

35 years ago we were thumbing through Eaton's last Christmas catalogue, wondering what Santa would bring us.... and 32 years ago on the 11th of December,our mom passed away and ironically we had a big family Christmas that year with everyone except for her... Sad to say but the years have flown by and we have all grown up, as have our children and now their children...all beautiful, smart, and talented and a all families to be proud of. We will miss not having our own family with us this year, but with the likes of Skype and MSN video, we can chat with everyone and be blessed that we are healthy and happy folk...still thinking about the good foods my mom and Emil's mom cooked up every Christmas...and doing our best to duplicate the old flavours and smells that linger in our memories. Today Emil and I made perogies, the other night I made a cherry pie and buttertarts and tortierres... yum yum! Foodies at heart-that came by it honestly...all of us! Sonia is going to make Pytaheh and Annette will be cooking up a turkey for her and Shawn. I will do the same for Emil and I.

Emil and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year, full of good Health, Happiness, and Prosperity. You can thumb back through the archives to see what we were up to last year... and all we can say is that 2011 is going to be just great!

I love you all and have hopes that we all get to visit in 2011!



The fellow's suit is actually a blue brocade.... quit "a'hem" beautiful...hey Sonia and Annette...Didn't Grandma buy that red dress for each of you?


$21.99???? No wonder we couldn't afford those fancy models!!!



And those luxurious black satin sheets...we all craved them didn't we?



Who didn't own one of these cassette decks??? They were the rage...ours could even record... Thats how Emil and I kept in touch when he went to Montreal for two months...around 74







We had Ashley and Deb over for dinner tonight and lets see....did I need my free flowing whatever the hell you call that blue thing to make me at ease... NO, a rum and coke did the trick! Prohobition is over, but apparently not in 1975!


Wrapped up to the neck so the old boy can't get a finger in there...

And the ever so cute raggedy Anne and Andy... ours melted away in the flood of 80 in Victoria...
Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane...

"The Creator"




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Sunday, December 05, 2010

Christmas is here!

The decorations are up as far as they go this year. Mantle is done, top of china cabinet has the bears all arranged and my little clothesline is up to hang the cards on ,above my patio door. The lights are on the railing outside, along with some pine garlands and my giant candle is out in front of the garage... No Inflatable Santa this year, and no deer... so it will be a toned down Christmas without any kids around and me working right till Christmas eve. The good news is that we have the trip planned now for the new year , that I won from Canada Safeway , to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. We will be joined by two surpise guests who will make our first week so exciting... I can't wait. Week two will be our Xmas gift to each other this year.
Have a good week... time for us to eat some dinner... Love ya and leave ya..
Oh yes, cards are nearly done. I will do an online card too as I am trying to cut down with postage being so crazy.




"The Creator"
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Saturday, December 04, 2010

Beautiful Saturday...

If you weren't lazing around in your cave all day, then ypou probably saw it... pure blue sky ( in parts) and best of all...sunshine...It made me revitalized after these past few weekends of snow and more snow! How about you?
I received my much anticipated parcel this past week, a shelving unit from Costco. Did you know that if you order online, the prices INCLUDE shipping charges and from our part of the world, that is better than driving four hours to get to a Costco. Puralator does the deliveries which meant I had to drive to the Gill and Gift in Balfour to pick it up...and it was extremo heavy! It is designed to hold 500pounds per shelf... probably the exact weight I have on each shelf now! See bottom picture for beginning of my filling it up.

A view of the mountains above Redfish Creek,just as the sun was setting

And it was this bright ! Bright and beautiful! Emil and I went for a hot tub this morning before breakfast... nice to soak up the heat and think about our vacation in Punta Cana that will be upcoming...it will be a heatwave when you walk to breakfast in the morning... I can't wait for that!


So now you see the shelves..nicely tucked in to utilize the exixting shelves that were in the closet already... Emil is pretty handy when it comes to figuring these things out. My new arrangement allows me space to keep many of my little appliances and things like my large serving platters and my huge wok.... I am so delighted... It set me into cleaning mode and I went through the kitchen,washing the floor in there and the bathroom, emptying some cabinets and rearranging others. It makes my heart sing to see space in my kitchen cupboards now and to have a place ( that I can see and reach) to store my appliances and big ceramic pieces. Yea! The shelving unit is 72" tall, has four shelves that are 18" x 36" and came with wheels that I opted to exchange for the stabilizing feet.

Also, I ordered a rack that suspends from the ceiling of the basement near my laundry area where I can hang clothes either to dry or on hangers for easy steaming once they are out of the drier. I don't see that going up just yet, but with any luck it will be up before the snow melts.
Now to put up some decorations and get the rest of my cards done.... Have a great weekend...see you next weekend unless something spectacular happens in the meantime ..

"The Creator"
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Sunday, November 28, 2010

More Snow from the Snow Fairy

Yesterday was a snow today and the snow fairy dumped another three inches of it last night...looks gorgeous, but my body isn't too happy with the idea of more shovelling. The temps rose yesterday and the snow turned into concrete...so much so that the snowblower stopped blowing it after I did the driveway..Lets say that I had a few issues and thus I was out there for no less than four hours hacking away at the snowload. I will go earlier today and hope to have it all done before any of it starts to melt. The snowblower can stay in the garage... it is way to heavy for me to maneuver...even tho it doesn't require pushing...I will be happy to have Emil come back and tend to the snow duties... I miss my sweety:-)
other than that, I did half of my Christmas cards last night and hope to finish the rest up today. I tried to whittle my list down to fifty cards this year,so don't feel left out...just read my blog and I will be putting my very funny Xmas card up on header,come December... Why, that is only a few days away. I hung my Christmas wreath and removed my fall decorations fromt he front signpost... might hang a red Xmas ribbon up today instead to try to get into the Christmas spirit this year. It won't be the same without our four girls, but thankfully we have phones and skype and the ability to easily communicate nowadays. Our first Christmas in Quebec was one of the lonliest,despite having friends over for dinner. It is hard to be away from your family, but not as difficult as it used to be in those days without email, easy phone plans and cameras mounted in your computer. I will look forward to a rest after a busy few weeks at work that doesn't end until Christmas eve.
Ok, enough procrastinating...out to the snow shovelling!
Happy winter to everyone!






A little bird came out of the snow on the roof of my feeder this morning...he was fluttering his wings to remove the snow...and made me wonder what the heck he was doing there in the first place...the food is down below!


Do you see that patch of blue? It is coming up in more places between the clouds. i understand that the weather will take a dip in temps tomorrow to -9*







"












The Creator"

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Saturday morning

The smoke bush, below looks pretty with its dollops of snow piled up on the red leaf clusters.
We did get about 4 or 5 inches of snow last night and here I am burning up time on the computer when my real task at hand is to snowblow. I can do it, I can do it I can do it! New snowblower, but Emil kindly left it full of gas and guess what? It has hand warmers!!! I will be testing those out today!





I did see one moment of sunshine peaking thru the clouds, but those are long gone now... Ok have a great Saturday and I will too... tho I can hardly get my nose out of a book that Caro gave me to read called Dragon Bones by Lisa See ..the first of a series of three... so maybe I will be curling up by a warm fire with a hot toddy to read this afternoon... NO! NO! I have Christmas cards to do, Walnuts to Shell and a multitude of other chores... I did a little online Costco shopping and ordered up a nice hanging laundry rack for my new laundry area downstairs when ever it gets completed. Also ordered a commercial shelving unit in chrome that holds 500 pounds per shelf!!!! Have a great weekend.

"The Creator"
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