Forgot to post these pics (July 27, 2016)

Here are some pics of Livi and me at the water park down the street.

Gorgeous Livi in the pool

Aunty Sue and Livi at the water park

Mermaid Livi in the pool

Zakki and Jon, when we came back and
Zakki was just waking up from his nap

Arriving in Winnipeg (July 25, 26, 27, 28)

July 25 and 26
These two days were spent traveling to Winnipeg and arriving, late. My mom came to get me from the airport, and lo and behold, I actually got my luggage.....yay. Mom and I went to her place and had a quick bite to eat. Then we sat and chatted for a long wonderful while then went to bed. It was really nice to see her and reconnect.

Mom and I got up fairly early, had breakfast and coffee, and hung out. Mom is still feeling a bit shabby because of her lip therapy. We laid low for the day, played Scrabble and chatted. It was really nice. Then I got ready and left for my brother's place. I was excited to see the kids, Amanda and Jon. I arrived to some excited little ones and wonderful relatives. I was so happy to see the family and so honoured that the kids actually like spending time with me, and are excited. I am so lucky and know how much this means. Kids don't lie and I really feel their love, as I do, Amanda and Jon's. They always openly invite me into their home, eventhough I'm sure it turns everything upside down. They are so generous to open tbeir home to me, every time.

July 27
Today I woke up with the kids, Livi joining me in bed at 7 am.......excellent.....yay. We played Shopkins, chatted, cuddled and just had a fantastic time. The rest of the day we spent getting ready for Gaga's (my mom's) birthday picnic in the park. We did potato salad, cole slaw, burgers, and chocolate cake with home made strawberry jam in between, and lemon, cream cheese icing. In between, Livi and I went to the nearby water park and wading pool, while the cakes cooled and Zakki napped. We invite our cousins, Jim Campbell, and John McGregor, to join us, in addition to Livi, Zakk, Amanda, Jon, me, Ralph and mom. It was awesome, and we all had a great time celebrating Gaga's birthday.

Birthday girl and Livi

Ralph and the birthday girl

Ralph, Eleanor, Sue, Amanda, and Jon

Sue and Zakki

Our family birthday group

Zakki is totally soaked

Livi and Zakk playing in the water

Great shot of my wonderful bro....love you!!!!

July 28
Today Livi wasn't feeeling great. She felt a little under the weather and was sniffly and low energy. That suited me ok, because we spent a quiet day hanging out, watching videos, and napping. That's something I never do, and felt quite decadent doing today.....lol. Later on, we ate a yummy dinner of chicken breasts, cut up on salad, and a yummy dressing. Then we went out in the car to take a look at a set of golf clubs. Before we were to see the clubs, we visitied Dukie, Jon's long time friend. He was surprised and happy to see us. We stayed and visited him for a while, then made our way home. The place that we were to go to see the golf clubs, didn't call before we left there, so I'll have to make another time to go and see them. No big deal, we had a really great time.

Photo of Zakki, taken by Livi

Photo of Aunty Sue, taken by Livi

Photo of Sue and Dukie, taken by Livi

Last Day in Gibsons (July 24, 2016)

Today we got up early, I showered, had coffee and ate breakfast because we were meeting Jan's friend for golf this morning. It was a great day for golf, not too hot, but just beautiful. My game took a little while to come together, but after the fourth hole, did start to get better. We golfed with two ladies that Jan knew, who we golfed with before. They are really nice and the game was awesome. We sat after the game and had a drink and a basket of fries, which were awesome. Here's a pic of me in the club ladies area, relaxing and taking a photo with a prop there.

Me at the golf club

Then we came home, I washed my clubs, and repacked my suitcase. Then we just hung out, waited until it was Happy Hour, had a drink, then made dinner. Jan made an awesome dinner of pork chops made in the Griddler, some sauerkraut perogies, and I made some asparagus. Dinner was delicious and we ate in great health!

Tonight's dinner.......so yummy!

Then we just sat around and chatted, watched some TV, and enjoyed our last supper, and evening. It was a fantastic day and I had a really great time. I love hanging out here. We will get up in good time tomorrow, catch the 10:50 ferry over to Horshoe Bay, and meet Suzy and Mike for lunch. Then they will drive me to the airport and I'll catch my plane to Winnipeg. I will be so sad to leave Jan and Gibsons, but happy to see the family in Winnipeg.

Thanks for reading this everyone. I'm glad you're enjoying the blog.
Next blog, from Winnipeg.
Bye Jan, bye Gibsons. It's been such a relaxing and calming time here.

Saling on Saturday (July 23, 2016)

July 23
Today we got up and left fairly early. There was an estate sale that Jan heard about, in Sechelt. This place goes into people's houses and clears everything out. Then they sell if off and give the people half of whatever they get. A good deal if you have a house full of stuff, and no energy or manpower to help you get rid of stuff. Anyway, we went to check out what they had. It was really cool, and some of the stuff they had ranged from tools, to bikes, to furniture, art, kitchen stuff and a lot more. I bought a really cool pair of teak birds, flying, that were in fantastic shape. I'm going to give them to a gal I work with who loves birds.

Then we went to a garage sale, but nothing grabbed us. We went to a Thrift Store in Sechelt that was having a cosutme jewelry sale, and I got a nice watch, that actually fit me, a feather hat from the 30's and a piece of jewelry that Wendy and I can take apart and use the beads from, to embelish our glass jewelry. Later we walked through the farmers market and then headed back to Gibson's. It was a gorgeous day outside and super lovely to walk along, looking at things in the stores and stalls.

A friend in the neighbour's yard

Jan calls them Bambi when they're
in someone else's yard, and venison
when they're eating her flowers....lol.

A vendor at the Farmer's Market had
a friend in her scarf, keeping warm

New growth on the Monkey Tree

A Monkey Tree

I got one pair of my glasses on our way home, but the sunglasses had to have the lenses ordered, so I won't get them until later this week, or next. I was really pleased with the regular glasses and they fit well, and look sharp.

Our last stop was to another estate sale that some old time friends of dad and Jan's were having. Well, actually it was their two daughters having the sale, as both of the parents had passes away, and they are selling their house in Gibsons. Lynn and Kathie Krismanson were surprised to see me, as we haven't seen each other in over 20 years or more. They didn't look much different, just older. It was cool to see them and have a bit of a chat. We bought a few things that they were getting rid of and then came home.

We hung out, then made some dinner which was amazing, as usual. Jan used up the leftover liver from the other night, some chicken that we didn't eat last night at Nine and Dine, plus some more of the greens that her friend brought from the garden. She stir fried this, with some asparagus and added Fig flavoured balsamic vinegar. To die for!!!!!!!!

Delicious dinner of leftovers......yeah right!

Later in the evening, we watched the fireworks from Jan's balcony, marking the beginning of Sea Cavalcade, a local festival in Gibsons. The display was really quite beautiful and lasted over 20 minutes. Not bad for a small town. The kids next door were watching from their balcony too, and kept saying, 'More fireworks' everytime there was a break. It was really cute. A nice way to end a fantastic day.

Tomorrow we are golfing with Jan's friend at 9 am, so that will be amazing. My last golf game for this visit, how sad. It's been so much fun being here with Jan, connecting, hanging out, laughing and eating. I will miss her when I leave on Monday, but will definitely be back. She can't get rid of me that easily........lol.

Nine and Dine and Glasses (July 22, 2016)

July 22
Today was an interesting and spontaneous day. We got up, had coffee and breakfast, and hung out for a while. The slow mornings are so nice. They are so incredibly opposite to my regular life where I get up at 5:30, shower, do my makeup and hair, pick out my clothes, get dressed and leave to arrive at work before 7:30. I like this pace MUCH bettter.

Jan asked if I wanted to walk with her up to the bank. I did want to join her and stretch my legs. It was a gorgeous day out, a bit overcast, but still warm and lovely. We walked through the woods to get to the upper street where the bank was. As you can see, it's fantastic and the path truly magical.

Walking through the woods

Magical path leading to happiness

Then I asked Jan if she'd mind stopping in at the Eye Deal optical shop that we'd dropped into a few days ago. I have two small scratches on my sunglasses, right in my line of vision. I thought perhaps they could buff the scratches out, but apparently, they can't because of the film and colour of the lenses. In any case, this place had the largest and funkiest selection of frames that I've ever seen. The other day I tried on some frames just for fun, the other day, but then started thinking that I haven't gotten new glasses on my school insurance for several years. This optical shop had a special on which included free frames, a free eye test, and on site lab for many prescriptions. Jan and I picked out several frames to choose between, which took quite a while. They have so many choices, and many small frames which is great for me because they are usually so large on my face. I settled on two different frames, one for a new pair of sunglasses, and the other, for a new pair of regular distance glasses. Jan found the regular frames which looked very cool and totally different from any of my other glasses, and I found the frames for the sunglasses which reminded me of a swanky European movie star. Here they are. They have dots on them because they are still being made, and the optometrist had to put the dots to identify where my pupils are. I'm happy with the choices and it was totally on the spur of the moment. I'll be very glad to have sunglasses without scratches!

Sunglasses frame

Front view

Regular glasses frame side view

We walked home after that and had a bit of lunch, conscious of the time, as we needed to be at the golf course by 3:30. We were registered to play in the club's Nine and Dine, which happens on Fridays. It's a great deal, you get a cart, nine holes of golf, and a gourmet dinner for $27. That is incredible, and their chef is really good. We met a friend of Jan's that we golfed with earlier this week, and she joined us for our round. It was great to be out, and the weather at that time of day is perfect. I didn't do too badly and my golf is coming along each time we go out. Our dinner was fantastic and we had a really nice time chatting with one another, eating the great food, and finishing off the week. I'm getting sad to know it's soon time to move along.

Lime and rosemary chicken

Salad to begin

Nels, the chef, and me

Me and my salad

Days Fly When You're Having Fun (July 20, 21, 2016)

July 20
Today we got up, had coffee and breakfast and watched the news. The US election is getting really crazy. Scary and crazy I'd have to say. It's hard to imagine Trump as the president, but the way it looks, there's as good a chance as any that he might indeed become president. Yikes!

After breakfast we just hung about chatting, reading, playing video games and the like. I bought some white shoe polish and cleaned up my golf shoes and runners which now look incredibly new again. I was sure that by making my golf shoes look so spiffy, that my game would improve....lol. I'm not so sure that was true, but it might have helped a tiny bit. It was a little bit cool outside until mid afternoon, at which time we decided to go for a walk to the grocery store to get a few things and stretch our legs. By the time we got to the store, both of us were hot and sweaty as the weather here turns on a dime and it had become really sunny and quite hot. It was a nice walk though, looking at the houses and gardens with the mountains and ocean just below us. We stopped in at the mall to take a look at a little shop that sold coffee and had a lot of art and jewelry that was really quite lovely. One artists work stood out to me. There were about four paintings by this artist. I didn't take a photo but they were reflections in water of boats and rocks which were beautiful.

We picked up our groceries and walked home, just in time for Happy Hour. It was still nice out so we sat out on the balcony, listening to the fountain and birds, sipping our drinks and enjoying the yard. Jan's yard is so peaceful and calm. I really like it. We sat out there for a while, then decided to cook dinner. Jan had already prepared some wild rice. I spotted it in her cupboard and asked if we could have it, so she made it for dinner. So sweet, and it was delicious! We also had halibut burgers and asparagus with Blood Orange flavoured vinegar over them. Amazing dinner and lovely day.

July 21
This morning we got up early had our coffee and breakfast and made a quick sandwich to take with us. We were meeting another lady for golf today. It was another lovely day, actually quite hot to say the least. Great for golf though. We teed off at 9:06 and had a great game. There was no one behind us which means that you don't feel rushed because they are waiting for you to clear the way so they can shoot. The people in front of us were moving at a good pace which meant that we didn't have to wait to shoot because they were in range of getting hit. It was perfect and this kind of situation enables you to stay focused on your game and not lose momentum because you're waiting.

The lady that we played with was super nice, and a really good golfer. I am always a bit nervous when we start off with someone new because I am still a beginner and often goof up my shots. I am aware that someone who is a good golfer might become frustrated or upset because of this. She was so sweet and very encouraging. My golf is getting a bit better each time I go out, and I don't think I am slowing the group down anymore. I'm getting quite a lot of good shots in, which makes it so much more fun to do. I love golfing. It's so beautiful to be amongst the trees and flowers and the exercise and sport of it are a perfect fit for me.

On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store to get something to cook for dinner. Jan asked me what I felt like eating and I said, 'liver'. I don't know why, but for some reason, this sounded so good and I was suddenly excited to have it. So we bought some liver, bacon and a large onion to make for dinner. Jan's friend also brought us more beets and greens from her garden because we raved so much about the last bunch, that she brought more. We cooked up everything and sat down to a fantastic meal. Jan did the liver in a light flour coating with salt and pepper and cooked it to a delicious medium rare point. The dinner was so excellent, that I had a second piece of liver. Jan didn't have the onions with her meal, as they bother her stomach to eat them. I enjoyed the whole onion quite happily!

Sorry I don't have other photos for you on this entry, but I do have the wonderful dinner. Feast your eyes on this. Tomorrow we are going golfing later in the day. Something they call Nine and Dine which means that you get a cart to golf with, nine holes, and a dinner afterward. I'll be sure to take some photos then. Love you all.

Most fantstic dinner!

Poking Around Gibsons (July 19, 2016)

Today we didn't play golf as the weather was supposed to be rainy. As well, we played three days in a row, and the old bones needed a break.....lol. It didn't end up raining today and was really quite lovely. The temperatures have been between 18-23 with a lovely breeze and intermittant sunshine. Not bad at all.

This morning we got up slowly, had coffee, breakfast and chatted, then got our acts together to go for a little adventure. Jan needed to pick something up at the bank, so that was our first stop. Then we went over to the nearby mall to see if the eye glass place could buff out a small scratch in my sunglasses. It isn't too bad, but is, of course, right in my line of vision. Though tiny, it's still noticeable so I thought maybe it could be buffed out. Unfortunately it can't be, so instead we had a nice chat with the guy who runs/owns the place who is from Scarborough, Toronto. He was really sweet and interesting. I tried on a whole bunch of cool frames that they had, just for fun. There were some really funky styles that I liked. I'll have to go glasses shopping at Pacific Mall when I get home. It's about time for some new shades.

After that we drove down to the waterfront and took a stroll to look in the shops and galleries. It's really pleasant down there and people are super laid back and friendly. I laughed at a sign outside one of the women's clothing shops that we looked in. Totally cool, and most appropriated.

Sign outside the clothing shop

We walked around down by the pier and saw some gorgeous boats. There are a couple of permanent houses down at the marina that are super interesting. One of the houses is three barges put together. The people who live there have the most beautiful gardens on their barges. It's a magical place to see and I'm sure, to live in. We wandered around there for a while, looking in some art shops, and little clothing shops. The view is fantastic and really highlights the beauty of this area.

Me looking over the bridge

Waterfront steps from main street

Marina

House at the marina

Garden barge from the bridge

Me in front of garden barge

Garden barge

We came across one boat that was a fresh seafood shop, complete with sign and local pussycat. We decided to go for some lunch first, then come back so we didn't have to carry the mussels around, getting hot. We decided to walk over to a nice Chinese restaurant that overlooked the bay. They have lunch specials that come with soup, noodles, dumplings, an egg roll and the entree of your choice. There is so much food for $8 each, and we ended up taking home a container each. It was a totally enjoyable lunch and the food was really good.

Me at the Chinese restaurant

After lunch, we walked back to the seafood boat. Apparently the pussycat looked a bit scraggly because he had fallen into the water yesterday, and hadn't finished licking the salt out of his coat. He didn't seem unhappy, just a little ratty looking. He turned out to be the lady who owned the seafood shop's cat. I wanted to make coconut and curry mussels for dinner tonight, and was so excited to say to the 'guy' who had the shop that we were looking for a man with mussels. I laughed when the person who came out to help us, was a woman, so I told her that since she was a woman, we were looking for a woman with mussels. She laughed and was really friendly. She gave us two pounds of the biggest Honey mussels I've ever seen. She said they were very good and that she had just gotten them in today. We took our mussels and headed home.

Cool shot under the dock

The Seafood Shop

Looking out from the bridge

Once home we got entranced by an auction site that Jan showed me. We watched as the most beautiful and very expensive jewellery went up for auction, and how the bidding worked and the prices that the items went for. We looked up paintings, sculpture and many other things. It was really neat. I wanted to bid on this cool ring that was a moonstone surrounded by emeralds and diamonds. I later found out that if the item doesn't go for a minimum price, it is not sold, so my $30 bid wasn't taken.....lol. Fun to play though.

Dinner was amazing, guess what we had?

Shame on you........we had delicious curry coconut milk mussels, and noodles. Incredible taste!

Dinner and pear cider

Close up of dinner