Home Stay

Things are going fairly well here in RMH. I have gotten used to being here by myself.  I did have some company last week.  Vicky came out for a couple of days.  It was really great to see her and to have lots of time to visit with her.  Grady was also visiting at the same time, Tim and Court took Kane to Edmonton to see the Dinosaurs, then dropped him off at Barb and Dana's for the weekend.  The next night T&C went to Calgary for a concert so Grady just stayed here and hung out with me and Mrs. Vicky.  We went over to the shop and had a delicious lunch there, while Grady played, then downtown and to Henry's where I bought Grady a new pair of shoes, he looks pretty cute in them.  After that we walked over to the museum, I had not been there in  long time and enjoyed a lot, Vicky said she did too, and Grady slept the whole time we were there.  

Had a bit of an issue with the water heater here, it sprung a leak, Tim came over yesterday and replaced so all is well.  I also have a cold, but I went to bed for a couple of days and now all that is left is some sniffles.

Looking forward to spending sometime in Edmonton, catching up with friends and doing some touristy stuff there, then onto San Diego.  Hope T&G don't get too comfortable here without me, and decide they don't want me anymore.

Road trip part two

We are in Tofino enjoying our visit with Will and being so far west. As everyone who has been here has said, his place is very nice. Right in the centre in town and such a great house. We are quite comfortable in the upstairs suite.

We enjoyed our time in Nanaimo. We took a little ferry over to Newcastle Island in the harbour and went for a long walk around the island. It was just beautiful. I am in terrible shape though. I am determined to get out walking regularly when we get home. We went for tea at Dick and Jo's then out for supper with friends who used to live in Rocky. It was good to see them. Craig is the financial guy at a sawmill and he invited us to stop by for a plant tour. We might do that on our way back, we like industrial things. On our last morning we walked around the harbour and had a look at the museum. It's pretty good. Then on to that twisty road to Tofino. It must be quite an adventure in the summer sharing the road with motor homes and boats.

Will arranged a bear watching tour for us with his friend Mike (who would not let us pay). We came across a bear ambling out of the trees and followed her for a long way as she made her way along the shore turning over stones and eating barnacles off fallen trees. We were quite close but she did not even seem to notice. I would have been quite happy with just a boat ride so seeing the bear was a real bonus.

Geoff and Will went to the Legion for a couple of hours yesterday but I stayed here and knitted.

Road trip

We are on the second leg of our trip. We had a great visit in Kelowna, a bonus was that Allison was there so we got to visit with her too. We didn't do too much. For some reason I am just so tired. The good thing is that if all you want to at Mom's is sit around, she is fine with that. We did go to a winery for lunch on Saturday. It was a beautiful location and the meal was good. Even though you could feel our server inwardly rolling her eyes as she described the wine and food in that pretentious foodie way. We ate so much lunch that no one wanted supper that night.

Geoff was not as lazy as me, he installed some outside lights for Mom and fixed L&R's broken kitchen light.

We are now in Nainamo at a nice bed and breakfast. I booked it a couple of weeks ago, kind of forgetting a couple of B&B drawbacks: you have to get down for breakfast at a set time, and the owners usually want to chat. But it is good here. The bed is extra comfortable.

We went over to visit Dick and Jo today. They have a really nice place and of course are easy to visit with. After lunch they took us for a drive around Nanaimo so we now have an idea of how it is laid out.

Went for supper last night and got chatting with our server, who it turns out knows the Northcotts, Tim's (and previously Daphne's) former next door neighbours. He played ball with Chad and Dustin.

All By Myself

T&G have left for their roadtrip, so I am alone in the house.  It feels a bit weird.  I have seen qjuite a bit of the boys since I got home, which has been lovely.  Courtney was going flat out getting Pigtails ready for opening, so I tried to help with childcare where I could.  I say I but really T&G were also doing the same, however this post is about me! 

Once again a lovely visit with Mom and the Wensinks.  September is a good time to visit, warm in the day and cool at night.  The week went by very quickly.

This weekend is the first S&B for the season, I will be happy to hear what everyone has been up to since we last met.  I am renting a car, and staying overnight at a downtown hotel on Saturday.  Sunday I will go to S&B and then drive home that night.  Vicky is coming for a visit the next weekend, and I am also looking after Grady one night, then Kane and Grady the next night, should be fun.  Grady is just walking everywhere and thanks to Kane I am starting to know all the Transformers and Rescuebots. 

On the 4th of October I am going to Edmonton to cat/apt sit for Allison for the month.  I had a call from Kay and I am going to Deanna's for Thanksgiving as well as one night going for supper with the store ladies, be good to catch up with them too.  I hope to see pictures from Nate and Lauren's wedding.

T&G went to see Valdy at Grandview Stage last Friday, what a good time.  Supper was salmon and I had Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert.  Valdy was great, a real entertainer, lots of stories and music, just about perfect.  He also encouraged people to singalong, which I always enjoy.

wine

We went to a winery for lunch today, then to art walk, where I bought a print and Jude bought a painting. It felt like an upper crust weekend!
Had a code orange at work at end of August, which is mass casualties, due to bus crash on the Coquihalla. I was late
leaving work that day, and thought oh dang. But didn't feel I could pretend I hadn't heard it. Jana is away, so I had to kind of organize etc. All went well. It was a group of people from USA, Canada, and China. We got 22 injured people at KGH none on our floor, but we had to help clear out emergency.
The staff all pitched in. Jana has been on vacation for 3weeks,so I am lookin forward to having her back, where I can give the running of things back to her.
Have been taking it easy this week and just visiting with Jude.
Laura (niece) and her boyfriend  James were here we did some hikes around here fintry,Bear Creek and the trestles. Drove them back to Vancouver, so they could catch their flight back to Ontario on the Monday.
Finally got my proposal into ethics. No doubt they will have a list of things they want changed, but at least it was submitted! Was waiting for a letter from a unit manager, supporting recruitment from her unit.
Looking forward to seeing T&G, and Al soon.

Trigger alert - Baba post

A warning to those who may not find my grandsons as delightful as I do.

They were over for a visit on Monday while Tom and Courtney went to pick some stuff for the shop. Grady has taken a few steps but he really took off that day. He just looks so little walking.

It seems as if Kane has suddenly realized he can express his thoughts out loud so you never know what he will come up with next. I heard him in the toy room (aka Grace's room) playing with cars. He would stop one and say, "Double double, please. Thank you."

At supper time Grady was in his high chair yelling and refusing to eat. Kane got down from the table, went over and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle" to him. And it calmed Grady down.

Kane found a wine bottle stopper with a round top on it. He took it to the living room and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle" into it as of it was a microphone, and after the applause had died down, gave it to Jude to have a turn. They had quite a concert going for a while.

When it's time for them to leave, Kane always says, "Will you walk home with me, Baba?" And I always do.