Sunday, August 12, 2012

Sand and fire.....

 The annual Sandsculpting Competition was in Parksville again, and Vanessa was here for another week of Riding Camp, so we went down to see this year's amazing shapes......enjoy.......






















































































































































When it got dark, there was a juggling group who delighted the audience with their display of fire....









Nessa met a new friend, Stephanie, while doing their own tumbling and gymnastics on the grass....we all watched the fire show together.















Nessa and Chiik discuss the merits of large floating balloons......











Jutta, Andrew and Jonah came up to pick up Nessa and we all poured over the computer to plan family activities when they all come to Mexico this winter.......!!!!
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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Happy Birthday to Miki!!






There are 2 things Miki really loves.....camping and fishing....so on her special day the first order of business, after latte and roses, was fishing......!
Somewhere out in the netherlands of Spider Lake, there is a woman fishing.....fly fishing.....and filling her soul with the quiet of the lake and the zen of the movement......










Spider Lake is such a pristine place, and despite being a really busy weekend for activities in Parksville and Qualicum Beach, there were not many people there....a bonus.








The fisher returns....exhausted after hauling in all those fish....well, ok, no fish, and she does catch and release anyway.......and has a nap on our picnic bench.










and then, because it is her birthday and she wants to, despite the cool temps and bit of a breeze, she goes in swimming.......












And there she is - swimming in the lake....brrrrr.....and enjoying her Birth Day!!!!










After we got home, she enjoyed the surprise dinner party with friends Terri, Larry, Ingrid and Maggie - shrimp on the barby, rice, corn, salad and marshmallows on the chimichinga for dessert - with a candle, of course!!

And finally, although it was in our backyard with all the amenities of home nearby, we "camped" for the night and had a lovely sleep in the tent!!! Happy Birthday, dear Miki!!!!

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Critters and birthdays......

Chi'ik likes to prowl the deck at the cabin....always on his harness, however....

Dax just gets to roam around, as she can't jump the barrier we made at the stairs....loves that water bucket...

We had an unexpected visitor a few times......check out the railing outside the window.....Chiik and Dax were very curious.............

Yup - a dear young racoon helping himself to the bird suet.....

We wondered why it was disappearing so fast....but all the birds love it too.....woodpeckers, blue jays, stellar jays....and racoons, as it turns out.........

We got to attend our friend Bruce's birthday bash while we were in Victoria - here son Sam does the honours on the barbeque............

Jason arrived that day from Vancouver, so joined the party for a bit before we all headed to the cabin......

Catherine organized an amazing spread of food, and everyone contributed an appy, so it was a feast....

Lots of friends came to celebrate with the family.......

Bruce, the Birthday Boy.......75 years young!!!
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dogs and Sooke visits....

Another fun dog sitting day with Chloe, TG and Molly
"where to now, auntie D......???"
Chloe and Miki set a faster pace that the other two....
OMG - back in the car again....you're not going to throw up again, are you Chi'ik....Chi'ik.....ewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!"
Another lovely stay at Brian and Josh's cabin......
A restful light filled space on the water......
with gorgeous sunsets.......
and Chi'ik is fine once he gets here.......
So this time we got to have dinner with Pam and Margo....
our visits to Victoria is such a great time to spend with dear friends.
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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Sunny Comox.....












After we took in the Shellfish Festival in Comox, we wandered around town taking in the sites - like this condo development with the deck of a boat serving as a patio for one of the condos......
















There was a street hockey tournament under way - how Canadian - 3 separate "rinks" and 6 teams battling for supremacy.......













Then we walked down to Filberg Park, where a driftwood sculpture greeted us.............
















Turn of the century log buildings graced the gorgeous grounds.......
















this gazebo and arbor lay before us..........











A lovely walkway to the beach....and many weddings use the park, for obvious reasons.....










The beach is just beyond the lawns........and there are beautiful gardens and walking paths everywhere......











Maggie's cousin, Jane, was our guide....she comes here often to walk.......












Before you get to the historic house, there is a shed affair that houses a Tea House, overlooking the beach....









and the beach stretches all the way to a spit a little further down the road, which ends in a Sea Cadet site, which used to be a navy base......







This wonderful house, known as Filberg Lodge, was built in 1929, and altho it was closed the day we were there, is home to the Filberg Festival on the August long weekend, an annual event with 4 days of music, artisans and food.......








Really a lovely place, started as a cottage for Robert Filberg and his family and was eventually their permanent home. When he died in 1977, he bequeathed the property to the Vancouver Foundation, to be used in perpetuity as a park.....









the walkway along the beach in one direction.......













and in the other direction.......











then we drove to the spit we could see from the beach, and while on one side it is fairly calm, the open side had big breakers in the wind.........








We collected some nice driftwood pieces for Ingrid and Maggie's garden, and before Ingrid blew away, we piled back in the car and drove home........
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