Back Home Again

I just returned from a week long visit in Alberta to see my mom. It was a very special birthday and so I traveled to celebrate it with her. I also wanted to help with some of those things that are hard for a single senior to do - I helped her buy some clothes for winter, bought her a floor lamp so she could read in her favourite chair, took her to Costco, went to the garden centre plus several other locations. I also fixed her computer, helped her with her phone and iPad and did some gardening. All those little jobs that help her out. Instead of taking a cab I was there to drive her around. She said several times how much she'd miss me and the car. Too bad I couldn't hire her a driver like "Driving Miss Daisy".

And now I'm home and life resumes as normal for both of us. Unfortunately for me, I have a lot of housework and office work to catch up on, but I'm that's just how it'll be.

I had the perfect weather while I was there, it even got up over 30 degrees a couple of times, meanwhile back home there was lots of rain. It's nice to escape the rain because that's what happens for most of the days between September and April in Vancouver!

It's a beautiful sunny day here, and Jp surprised me by having window screens installed while I was away. It's so nice this time of year to be able to open a window and let the fresh air in. Yes I did have the windows open without screens but then we had a moth problem that not only threatens our clothes but all the wool this knitter has in the house. And if you recall, I already had one whole skein of baby alpaca destroyed. That's when I became too scared to open the windows. So today, I am enjoying this perfect fall day with a fresh breeze and trying to catch up on a few personal things today before I try to catch up at work the rest of this week.

How have you been?

Things from Portland

Here are some of the items Jp brought back for me from his trip to Portland, Oregon (I still can't believe it's only a 5 hour drive from Vancouver-always thought it was farther):

1) This book bag from the well-known and very large Powell's Books:

He said he would've needed about 4 days in that store - which is pretty crazy when most people can do Disneyland in three!

2) Fabulously delicious coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

We did not save any of this, we drank it while it was fresh and tasty and boy howdy was it good! Holler Mountain was the coffee we had, roasted only 4 days prior.

3) He told me this was a Honey Badger, but I know it's a Wolverine:

If you're not familiar with a Honey Badger, then you must watch this informative video:

And just as a point of curiousity, when I googled "Wolverine" the majority of the searches turned up Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and hardly anything for the actually animal. My how things change over time don't they? 

4) And see this cast iron skillet? It's actually only 2 inches across

 - it's a spoon rest, isn't it cute?

It's actually from Cabela's which is in Washington state. Just seeing if you're still with me. 

5) And then a whole bunch of treats  - like Chex Mix because we don't have as many flavours here as there are available in the US and big bags of chips for cheap!

The same goes for Baked Beans, and peanut butter: 

Leatherman Tools are for the dogs!

Okay, they aren't really. But last week Jp and the kid went down to Portland and took a tour of the Leatherman factory. They treated the boys really nicely and even gave us the sweetest toy for Eco. Yes in our house, even the dog has a Leatherman tool!

I actually don't want her to play with it too much because I wanted to keep it, but alas, one cannot keep everything. Besides it has a great squeaker and dogs are like kids - they can have a bucket full of old toys, but they like the new ones the best!

Look at her little ears flapping as she runs:

And here she is, flying through the air: 

Do you see the world?

When I was a kid, we didn't have the devices available today and so when my parents had to travel somewhere in the care we just stared out the windows. We nicknamed my dad "Old Eagle Eye" because he was always the first one to spot a deer or elk or bird so we'd have our eyes stuck on the road (and beyond) hoping to see something before he did. As we got older and moved from the wild North to the Vancouver area we looked out the window to see where we were going to and became very familiar with the streets. Each of us kids are great navigators and know the area extremely well. Our skills have also translated well when travelling as I can't tell you how many times I landed in a town, got into a rental car and arrived at my destination with relative ease (some preliminary research was done in advance of course). Nowadays I am amazed at the number of people who've spend many years here, but don't know their way around, and rely heavily on their GPS device. 

But that's not what  wanted to talk about. I was curious about your opinion of vacations - when I go somewhere new, I still like to look out the window and see all that I can see. It's a new place, I want to drink it all in. But if you've been in the car with a 90's or 2000's kid they are glued to their phone or game and never look out the window. In fact half the time they have no idea where they are, and when quizzed, they have absolutely no idea where they are. Sometimes they're only a few miles from their home. When I've asked them was city/town/municipality they are in, they couldn't even name that. 

A friend of mine just returned from a tropical vacation and mentioned several co-travellers sat by the pool or on the beach and read a book. And that's what tweaked my brain - when you travel would you just want to sit there and read? I know you can't walk and explore everyday  and I too have sat on the beach and read (and people watched) but when I like to go away I like to see as much of it as I can. I want to take walks or excursions and see as much as I can. And I'd much rather sit and look at the ocean because I'm not going to see that view again for a while. I don't want to sit by a pool because I can sit by a pool at home. I'm not criticizing others, it's just my different opinion. And I'm curious to hear what others think.

So. How do you like to travel? Are you a beach sitter or an explorer? Do you vacation to see the world or to get a break from it? 

Where have I been?

I've been to the mountain and back.

Last week I was away on business in meetings at Bear Mountain Golf Resort. Wowza, is it ever a beautiful place, and the weather could not have co-operated any better. What a tourism commercial. We had people from Western Canada and Ontario at the meeting and I think everyone wanted to return (or move) to Vancouver Island!

Travel-wise it was fantastic. For those of us on the Vancouver side, we have to take a ferry to the island which is about an hour and 45 minutes. That too was wonderful. And the ferries have much improved. They used to be so 'functional' but now they are quite well designed breaking up the sitting areas making them smaller to reduce the noise levels. And landcapes and ocean were superb - and that's coming from a personal who's seen it many times and lives here! British Columbia is a gorgeous place to be.

The craziest part is no one golfed! The events co-ordinator booked a whale watching expedition instead. The thinking was that everyone could be together and mingle since we are all so spread out across the country and you'd only get groups of 4 doing that for golf - but still, two beautifully designed golf courses at your door and no one from our group stepped on the greens. I did see licence plates in the parking lot from Colorado and California though - I bet they had a good trip up here too. If you eve come to Vancouver, you must plan a trip over to Victoria. I'm sure you will be glad you did. (No I do not work for the tourism board)

The weather this spring and summer has been stupendous and I am over the moon. Being a summer baby I just love the sun and hot weather, however, being an adult I no longer get to lay about for hours on end just being outside. Maybe that's why I appreciate it so much.

Friday night Jp and I walked out of the house to go to the grocery store and then realized we forgot our bags (they don't give bags anymore in many stores to reduce the waste and damage to the environment - do they do that where you are too?) so we turned around and headed back into the house. Just then we heard a crash and I see a pile of boxes I had in my office covering the floor. Poor Eco was under my desk, probably not sure what to make of it. First thing we did is call her to make sure she wasn't scared and that she could get out.

Although I'm not happy about the mess, I'm so glad that I was there when it happened. First because I wouldn't want Eco to be hurt by it, and two because if it had happened while I was away I might have felt that Jp was somehow responsible.

The bad news is that my weekend plans were changed as I dealt with this issue. Oh sure I could've just thrown the boxes back together and restacked them, but I decided I'd better deal with them since they were a mess and so I cleaned out my bookshelves and other areas as well. Day 3, almost done! I'm sad that I'm missing the sun, but so glad that the visual clutter won't be clogging up my brain.

How are things going for you? I must catch up in the next couple of days!

Returning home

Today I will be flying home from  a week long visit with family in Alberta. It's been an animal filled week with several dogs, two skunks and lots of deer. Although it's been colder than what I am used to and even snowed a couple of times, it's been sunnier and brighter than a week of Vancouver rain and so I am grateful for that.

I hope my flights aren't delayed as I would like to be home tonight. Jp didn't walk Eco at all this week but tells me they played frisbee with her, so that would give her some exercise and outdoor time.

My mom provide a nice place to stay and I appreciate the many yummy meals planned just for me. It wasn't without drama but I'm not going to dwell on the events and just look forward to one last morning and afternoon before I return to my little house and family. Hope you had a good week, I hope to catch up on your blogs this week as well.

Sedona Sunsets

The project that I had been rushing to make has arrived and now I can show it to you:

I made these socks for my mom and wanted to include them in her Christmas present box and wanted her to be able to wear them right away (so I didn't wrap them). I am pleased to say that her presents arrived yesterday and she loves the socks. I took a risk because orange isn't my mom's colour, but since there were bits of beige and purple and turquoise in them I hoped she would like them. Besides the colours are to commemorate her recent trip to Scottsdale, AZ and so perhaps every time she looks at her Sedona Sunset Socks she can think of that happy trip. These socks were specially made for her, and I knit them a bit looser so they would fit nicely around her legs and loose on the feet and be easy to put on and take off.

Check out this photo that I borrowed from this site:

See the oranges and purples and
turquoise in there? Similar colours, no? 

It's nice when something you've made is well received. My mom frequently tells me how much she enjoys my homemade socks and so I am happy to make them for her. Jp on the other hand tells me he never wants me to knit for him so I won't. 

Miniatur Wunderland

Okay, mind is officially blown - after yesterday's post about the train-wrecks of life, you must watch this most amazing and inspiring clip - sent in by my brother:

This is most definitely on my Goals list!!!

While the sun's shining

I'm still here - it's just the sun came out and we took a little trip and it's summer and I don't want to be on a computer especially after I've been on one all day for work - I want to be outside in the sun and in the garden. Unlike the boys in my house who keep saying it's too hot outside and stay indoors in the air conditioning... I hope you're doing well, I'll stop by as soon as I can.

Anything I've missed?

Back Home

If you've wondered why I haven't posted, it's because I just returned from a week long business trip to Toronto and there was barely any time to even get on to my personal computer. Every morning someone would pick me up at the hotel and take me to to office and at the end of the day we'd go out for a group dinner and then someone would drop me off at the hotel, I'd make a quick phone call home and then I'd go to bed and  start the cycle all over again the next day.

This was actually a bit of a rough trip. I didn't really want to go and did not have a very good flight over. Then my hotel wasn't so great either and even had to change rooms. The next day they booked me into a different hotel and things went better but still I didn't want to be away from jP or my sweet little Eco, and I knew that more and more work was piling up all week with me being gone.

However on my last night (last night) they took me on a bit of a tour of the Distillery District(if you like history check out this place)  - with drinks at the the Mill Street Brew Pub (I recommend trying the organic beer and actually the coffee beer would be very nice at the right time and in the right place) , we drove through the Financial District and Chinatown and saw where Breakfast Television is filmed and MuchMusic, and a several other areas. We also drove through Harbourfront and Liberty Village where we had settled for dinner at Mildred's Temple Kitchen. The food there was exquisite but the best part was the cookie box at the end of the meal - you get a very yummy peanut butter cookie, a delicious chocolate chip cookie and a scrumptious date bar.

Well now it's all over and I'm back home and everything turns to normal, right? Now I'm adjusting to the time zone and will be getting some sleep.