What a Trip!

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth...just been on an incredible journey.  Flew down to Sydney, Australia where we stayed for 4 days, boarded a cruise ship and sailed the South Pacific and visited some islands, then to Honolulu, Victoria and on to Vancouver.  Unfortunately when we got to Vancouver I couldn't talk....think my voice didn't want the vacation to end.  I also ended up with a really bad cold so had a hard time getting things done.  Finally got the pictures into the computer so I will post an overview of our trip over the next few days.

Tenacious Bush

When we moved here we were told by the previous owners that there had been 3 bushes in the front of the house but they got a disease and looked ugly so they poisoned them and cut them down...but this one decided it wasn't going to be done away with so easily.  It was growing but hadn't bloomed until this year.  The first bloom was at the back of the bush so I clipped it off and put it in a martini glass on the counter...looks so pretty!!!  There's lots of buds on the bush so looking forward to seeing it in full  bloom.

Challenging Day

The wind woke me up at 4am.  The touch lamp on the dresser came on...must have been a blip in the power, so I got up and turned it off.  Back to bed but the wind kept blowing and I could hear something banging so got up.  Power went on and off a few times then at 6am it went off completely...not to worry...we've got a gas stove and candles, and furthermore it was breaking daylight, so I put blankets on top of the freezers and ice packs in the fridge...we're set for awhile!!!.

8am...the plumbers showed up to install a new hot water tank, and yes they had flashlights and there was enough light coming through the windows, so they were able to work, but...they had to turn off the water and the gas, so here we are...no power, no water and no gas....and the house behind us had their lights on!!!!

It all worked out fine, even if it was a bit disconcerting!  By 11am or so we had power, a new hot water tank, water turned on and gas too....life as it should be!!

Chinese New Year at Alpha

We've been running the ALPHA course on Monday evenings at our church since mid January.  ALPHA is a course explaining the Christian religion.  We start the evening with dinner, then a video or speaker and then we discuss the material.  It's been my pleasure to work with 2 other ladies and some volunteers to provide a lovely meal for our guests.  Last Monday was Chinese New Years so our menu was mandarin chicken, rice, oriental salad and for dessert I made some lotus flowers, filled them with trail mix and put them on a plate with a mandarin orange and a fortune cookie.  I was pleasantly surprized at how lovely they looked and tasted!!!  Lots of rave reviews about the whole dinner!

Super Bowl Sunday

We started the day by going to church.  Our youth Pastor announced that a 2 year old girl whose family attends the church next door to us went missing yesterday and after much searching they found her in a nearby pond, took her to hospital but couldn't save her.  We all formed small groups and prayed for the family and church family.... a pretty sad way to start Sunday worship!!!

This afternoon our daughter and son-in-law, and our second daughter, son-in-law and 4 grandkids came over.  We put the TV on downstairs and the TV on upstairs to watch the super bowl.  We put a bunch of appies into the oven and filled the kitchen island with all kinds of food to be nibbled on while watching the game.  After the game I put out a bunch of desserts and everyone ate more.  The phone rang and our friends D & G were in the neighbourhood so I invited them over for appies and dessert.

Very sad day, but also a delightful day to be gathered with family and friends!

Harley

The Ladies Care Group I go to decided to have a pot luck luncheon before we quit for the Christmas Holidays and that each of us should buy a nice mug and we would play a game and do a gift exchange.  Everyone would end up with a mug and we'd leave them at the church so we could use them every time our group meets.  Last Thursday one mug was missing...Harley couldn't be found!!!  Who absconded with him???  His owner was beside herself with worry!!!

At last...Harley was found!!!

First Earthquake in our new house

Dec. 29 about 11:40pm B and I were having a drink and in a pretty heavy discussion when the house shook like a big tree had fallen close by or a couple of big trucks had collided  nearby or a plane crashed at a nearby airport....dishes rattled, then I realized it was an earthquake!  4.9 earthquake centered not far from Victoria, British Columbia.  When we lived in Queensborough, earthquakes always felt more "rolling" like a wave...this was more of a THUD, followed by a bit of shaking....so, quite a different feeling.  Scared the heck out of us!!!  Went outside to check things out...the stars were so clear and bright....just beautiful and everything seemed so peaceful.  Now we hear that there was an earthquake near San Bernardino, California a couple hours earlier...still waiting for more updates.