Marg's Musings

Another Christmas Season

2011-12-14T10:57:00.000-08:00

Hopes and dreams of a romantic winter vacation spent beside a warm swimming pool, under the shade of a beach umbrella have faded to black. We just could not get on the same page concerning location, dates to be away, length of vacation and so on. The ability to make clear decisions quickly appears to be yet another victim of old-timer-disease. Result of our indecision is that I am heading to Florida Feb. 12th, and dear hubby is staying home to mind the cats and his business.

My Christmas decorating is just about done. Tree is up, garland is draped over the mantle, Hallmark village and miniature evergreen coverning the sofa table, and Nativity Scene holding the place of honour atop the family room mantle.

Instead of hanging stockings over the fireplace I hung 4 of my homemade quilted ornaments.

They are years old now, but took so long for me to make that I don't have the heart to get rid of them now.

This morning as I was sitting at my computer the Christmas tree began to shake. The red and gold balls swaying gently too and fro. EARTHQUAKE!! or at the least a tremor was the first thought in my mind. Then common sense kicked in and I realized that there was no tinkling of crystal accompanying the swaying decorations. After a moment they settled down leaving me scratching my head, a mystery indeed. A few minutes later they began bouncing again and this time I noticed 2 white paws perched beside the tree, little black knees flexed, then a wee bounce as Staccato reached up and swatted at the glittering ball closest to the tree bottom. She isn't known for being a very "cat-like" kitty, so catching her in the act of playing with something is a rare treat. I'm glad she's getting into the spirit of Christmas, maybe she's hoping for a stocking this year.

I've had some success with 2 recipes I tried this week, Porc en Croute and Carrot Souffle.

The Porc en Croute recipe I used is Emeril Lagasse's, found on the internet, and the Carrot Souffle is from SimplyRecipes.com. My sister had sent me another carrot souffle recipe which is much sweeter so I didn't use that one. It is from the Piccadilly Buffet in Florida, and tastes more like a dessert than a vegetable dish...simply yummy!

The next new thing to try will be to make my own sushi. Asked my Japanese friend if she could give me a lesson and she broke into gales of laughter, and said she doesn't have a clue how, her mother always made it. So, I'll just have to beg my friend Sharon to show me. Evidently she has all the right equipment, which is the key to success in all things according to my husband.

The more things change.....yada yada yada

2011-01-08T12:58:00.001-08:00

In September 2010 we headed to the UK for our annual re-introduction to life in the fast lane. The grey skies of Vancouver were gearing up for the fall deluge, a good time to leave town.

The flight was great, Air Canada meals suit us just fine, and we both managed to log some zzz's so were in fairly good shape when we landed at Heathrow. No difficulty locating our train (the Heathrow Connect) and were thrilled to see it was 1/2 the cost of the Heathrow Express and took us to Paddington Stn. with only a few stops along the way. Definitely worth it if you have more time than money.

On arriving at Paddington Stn. the high, higher, and highest expectations for a gorgeous fall vacation were quickly and wetly dashed. The city of London was covered in wet grey clouds which threatened to unleash torrents any moment. With much confidence we fired up our Garmin GPS, coded in the hotel address and headed off down the street, patting ourselves on the back for being such tech-savvy senior citizens.

We were booked in at the Blakemore Hyde Park hotel, a "short 10 minute walk" from Paddington Station. What a gem of a location! 15 minutes later, feet began to complain - are you SURE it is a 10 minute walk? - my DH continued to lead on, I dutifully followed.

20 minutes later we began to wonder if we'd taken a wrong turn? or entered the address incorrectly? Dear hubby rechecked the coordinates and we did seem to be on the right trail, but we were both noticing some familiar cross street names as ones we'd crossed 10 minutes before, and again 15 minutes before that? A further 15 minutes along, feet were now screaming and right hip had joined the chorus " Give me a BREAK, this is NOT a 10 minute walk!".

Confusion now amplified by drops of rain found us sprinting for the overhang of a nearby townhome. 20 yards from shelter the heavens unleashed and within steps we were soaked through to our unmentionables. In addition our suitcases were soaked, water had seeped through the zippers and our packed clothing was soaked. Without a doubt one of the heaviest rainfalls I've ever been in. Welcome to the UK!

Once again the GPS was checked, and re-checked and finally !! D. noticed the Settings button which revealed options for mode of travel: Car, Public Transport, or Walking, and it was set for CAR. The Bayswater section of London is a maze of one-way streets, T-stops, dead-end courts...you get the picture. We were being led up and down, around and around, working our way to our hotel in our fictitious vehicle, when on foot we could have simply walked straight through on the sidewalks that connected the one-way streets.

2 Lessons Learned: a little technology is a dangerous thing, and garbage in / garbage out.

Our hotel was in the older section of Bayswater/Hyde Park area, served breakfast in a basement breakfast room every morning, and was a short walk from 2 tube stations and Hyde Park. Great location for soaking up the feel of Victorian London, while being within walking distance of mass rapid transit, the best of both worlds.

A sharp right turn at the hotel entrance and a 2 block walk south will get you to a lovely little pub and a great mediterranean restaurant that was booked solid all but 1 evening during our 5-night stay. This was a small family run restaurant that appeared to be operated by 3 generations, 2 brothers led the kitchen staff, their children cleared tables, poured water and refilled bread baskets, dad, mom and a sister took orders, and Grandpa greeted you at the door with open arms and decided if they could squeeze you in even if you did not have a reservation.

We dined on braised lamb shanks, rice pilaf and a complimentary drink poured by the grandpa whose main job seemed to be making every customer feel like family.

The following day dawned with some improvement and after a busy day of sight seeing we ventured out to dinner at Ristorante Italiano on Queensway. We dined in style on Calamari, Calzones with red onion and Italian Sausage, a bottle of Giaconde Merlot (a lovely dry Red Wine), and of course 1 dessert to share.

London is a fascinating city to spend time in, loads to see and do and many attractions within walking distance. We spent a day in Hyde Park, checking out Kensington Gardens and watching the waterfowl compete for food in the lake.

We took in an evening concert at Royal Albert Hall, directly across Hyde Park from us as the crow flies.

And of course, what would a holiday in London be without a day at the Tower and a visit to St. Pauls.

Up Up and Away

2010-09-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

The more we travel, the less we want to tote along with us. As we age our desire to be seen dressed in some semblance of today's fashion is fast fading away. A good suitcase pack job now consists of the old standards, 1 weeks worth of T-shirts and undies, 2 pair of slacks (one light weight, 1 blue jeans), several pair of black sport socks, 1 nightgown and a warm sweater. If room allows, toss in a 2nd pair of shoes to alternate with the running shoes on our feet.

When we see couples our age in the airport lugging 2 giant cases each, plus various carryons and backpacks, I wonder just what they could possibly be lugging along? For our 5 week holiday last year, we each had 1 suitcase and backpack (1 camera pack, 1 computer pack), plus we brought along another case full of items that Chris had left at home or asked that we bring as they were hard to find in Scotland (like peanut butter).

My theory on vacation packing is driven by the fact that, our daughter aside, we don't know anyone we will be meeting. We will likely never see them again, so why would we want to take a different wardrobe for each day to ensure we aren't seen twice in the same outfit?

Besides packing up, we're trying to get the house into some sort of order for our housesitter. She is a university student who will be preparing for her fall work term, and will be way too busy to have wild parties or anything of that ilk. We are so fortunate to have her move in, and that she loves cats is an A-1 bonus.

My only other accomplishment this month has been in the kitchen. Chris had posted photos of her Chicken Pot Pies, along with the recipe. It sounded so delish that I made some for us one day and it is a definite winner.

We stopped at Vandula Farms market a week ago and I bought 10 lbs of baby beets. We both enjoy pickled beets and they are the easiest thing in the world to make. Nothing gives me a greater sense of accomplishment than seeing a row of jars sitting on the cupboard.

Our trailer didn't sell as we hoped this past week, so unless God performs a miracle in the next 5 days it looks like we will be camping again next summer. Once the warm season is over the trailer sales business drops to near zero. Should the temperatures sky rocket next year like they did this year, we may be very grateful we didn't get our wish. However, we've left the results to God and will go with whatever happens.

We had friends over for dinner last night and had a super duper time, as usual. Tina from down the road, Sharon, Bill and Mary from New Westminster came around 4:30 and we had a terrific time. Mary and her late husband were fishermen when Sharon and her sister were young, so they had many stories to tell of what life was like for families that worked on the water.

For supper I tried a new recipe, OVEN CHICKEN FRICASSE: The original recipe was found on cooks.com but I made a few alterations that suited our tastes better.

10-12 boneless chicken pieces, I used 4 breast halves, skin removed and cut into 3 pieces each, and 8 drumsticks
I also added 1 medium onion, diced in large dice
6 tbsp. butter
6 tbsp. flour
2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 to 2 tbsp. paprika
2 cans condensed mushroom soup
1 c. water
1/2 c. sherry

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan ( a bit larger pan would have worked better as this was pretty full and did sputter over in the oven ). Scatter onions on the bottom of the pan and arrange the chicken pieces on top of them. Using a pastry cutter, mix the butter, flour and spices until crumbly. Spread on top of the chicken. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Whisk together undiluted mushroom soup, water, and sherry. Pour over the chicken. Bake 30 minutes longer, or until tender. Serves 6 with leftovers.

Tomorrow I'll be visiting a lady who recently moved here from Oliver. She was my mom's best friend, and is considered the Aunt that we would have chosen, if my mother had been blessed with having a sister. She is a terrific Scrabble player so I'm looking forward to the visit.

There will not be any blog updates until we get back from vacation, but I look forward to keeping abreast of what's happening at home so make sure you keep YOUR blog current..
Ciao
Marg

Thoughts for the Day

2010-05-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Finally! Rain! The sound of rain falling off the roof onto the deck was the first sound I heard this morning. Power washing the deck in preparation for staining has once again ended our dry spell. It's as much a "sure thing" as forgetting your umbrella at home. If you listened closely you could hear the ground inhale the moisture.

The past 2 weeks of warm, and not so warm, sunny weather has brought the last of spring's flowers out in their finest. The bridal wreath spirea, Siberian Iris, and hybrid lilac are all in bloom.

The last week has been rather hectic in our house. ESL will be winding up next Thursday so Don had to make a video of all the students reading a short presentation to show off their new-found English skills. They have worked very hard in preparation, and the video will be shown at our potluck lunch on Thursday. The potluck lunches are something to behold. You don't realize how many cultures are represented in the Bethany ESL groups until they all try to feed you their favorite foods. Definitely not a diet day!

These are 4 of the 5 students in my Level 1 class this session.

Linda is from mainland China. She currently assists her husband in his accounting firm, but her first love is cooking.

When she first arrived in BC several years ago she took a cooking course at the Vancouver Culinary Institute, then worked as a cook at the UBC Golf Course for two years . Prior to emmigrating to Canada Linda and her husband spent a year in South Africa operating a small hotel.

Gracielle is from Columbia. She and her husband have landed immigrant status. They came to Canada 6 months ago, following two of their 3 children and several grandchildren.

Gracielle had taken several English classes in Columbia but is finding it quite different to be the only person in the classroom who speaks Spanish.

Michelle is a single parent, mother of 2 adult children. Her daughter is a flight attendant with Air Canada based in Toronto, and her son attends University in Burnaby. She is from Seoul, South Korea and is a vibrant Christian. Currently Michelle works in a Japanese restaurant and shares her home and her heart with her son and an adorable pooch named Toto.

This is Grace. She is the youngest of our students at age 23. She is single, and an elementary school teacher from Seoul, South Korea. When she returns to Korea this fall, she plans on teaching English as a Second Language . While she is shy when speaking in class, she has very good English skills. She joined our ESL class to work on her pronounciation and to gain more conversation skill. She has attended many ESL classes during her teacher training, but finds the Bethany group provides her with the interaction that was missing in some of them.

Our summer plans are very laid back this year. We hope to travel a bit in the fall, assuming we find a suitable house sitter, so want to save our pennies for that. While we visited Glasgow and Edinburgh on our last 2 trips to the UK, we have yet to see anymore of Scotland. This time we will recitify that. Plan A is that we will arrive in Edinburgh in advance of our daughter's vacation and visit some castles, a whiskey distillery, and some of those lochs we've been reading about all our lives. Who knows, we might even catch a glimpse of Nessie!

Retreated

2010-04-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

Whoever decided to call them "retreats" obviously never attended one. The sole purpose of going to retreat is to "encounter", so I propose we call our next one the 2nd Annual NABC Women's Encounter. All in favour, email Ruth and see whether she will go along with it.

With expectations high, bags stuffed with nibbles, bible, notebooks, and PJ's, 30 or so women boarded the bus Friday at noon. Rachel had prepared delicious box lunches for us, enabling us to barrel right through to Chilliwack for our next pick up. Now just to set the record straight, the Bethany group were my bet for " most boisterous " group, but those gals from Chilliwack were not letting any grass grow under their feet either.

After a 2nd short stop in Hope to collect the last few ladies, we headed up the Coquihalla Hwy. Just outside of Hope the landscape began to change quite dramatically.

By the time we neared the summit we were in the middle of a real snowstorm. The mountain sides were white and drifted snow formed curls over the edge of the rock formations that edged the highway. What a change from the trees at home. We arrived at Green Bay Bible Camp about 15 minutes ahead of schedule so had time to wander around and check it out before registration and room assignments.

I hardly recognized the place! When we left Westbank in July of 1985 there were vineyards, orchards, and campgrounds surrounding the GBBC. Now, mega dwellings, complete with circular towers on the corners border up against the cedar hedge on the North side of the camp. The South side is not much better, condominium apartment buildings have erupted and all but obliterate any view until you walk right down to the beach and pier.

With registration pack in hand, Tina and I set out to find our room, luckily for us it was the 1st room in the Lodge building, perfect for someone who is as navigationally challenged as I am. A surprise was waiting in our room - no bedding, no towels, no pillow - guess who totally forgot to bring her bedding?

A short walk down the hall with palms outstretched, calling out "Spare Bedding, spare bedding , anyone have some spare bedding?", netted me a king sized sheet from Michelle from Trinity in Kelowna, shown in the pic on the right, and a pillow from Ruth, plus a blanket and towel from the Long Tall Man from Texas who I'm sure has a name but it escapes me at the moment. He's also known as the Camp Director.

Friday evening session we got to meet Donna Carter, the guest speaker. She is truly a gift from God. Her messages were spot-on in meeting the needs of the ladies present. She stretched our thinking and encouraged us as individuals and as churches. After circle prayers we retired for the evening. For me that meant laying quietly in my bed while Tina slept. Just like my Brownie Camp days, I cannot sleep the first night at retreat and judging by the sounds from upstairs and down the hall, I am not the only one.

Saturday afternoon Heidi S. had arranged for several of us to go to the Village at Smith Creek extended care home. The home is built on the land that our home backed onto when we lived in Westbank. We moved to Westbank in December 1975, when it was a rural area of vineyards and orchards, and looked like this. Beautiful !!

The extended care home is one of the Baptist Care Homes, and occupies the area once filled with white wine grapes, seen in the photo, stretching the full width of the picture, from behind the 2 houses in the foreground, all the way back to the 4 white homes in the center of the photo. Our house was the 4th one furthest right.

As volunteers we were to assist the residents of the Village at Smith Creek with their afternoon social activities. What FUN! I met a gentleman who not only shared his ice cream sunday with me, he regaled us with tales of his youth. He played multiple instruments, violin, guitar and piano and also played in an orchestra. Now stricken with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, he was still gracious, welcoming and a real joy to be around. I can only pray that I age as gracefully.

Did I come home rested - NO, did I come home uplifted - YES, will I go again next year ? Definitely!

Snip Snip Snip

2010-04-13T03:45:00.000-07:00

That is the sound of apron strings being cut. Honestly, I thought they were all cut by now, however, my daughter's latest adventure brought more to the surface.

As you see in the photo above, she was born a normal healthy Canadian, who got itchy feet and in 2006 decided to pack her bags and move across the ocean to reside in Scotland.

This past winter a close friend of her's decided that a milestone birthday required a milestone trip, so their group of 4 friends decided to do the Trans Siberian Rail journey from Vladivostok to Moscow. they were to be gone from April 9 to 25th and would keep in contact via the internet as they moved from city to city.

My last contact with her, mere hours before leaving her flat in Edinburgh, was to say she had a 4.5 hour layover in Moscow where she would meet up with her travel companions. She was sure she would have lots of time to seek out a wi-fi spot and drop us a line.

Moscow is a relatively short flight from Edinburgh, via Amsterdam, so I expectantly fired up the computer the next evening ready to read all about the trip. Upon opening my email I saw everything BUT her name. Now the apron strings started to twine around me; had she missed her flight? did the customs folks in Russia take issue with her documents? had the plane never made it...shudder? Motherhood is wonderful but stressful at times.

After fervent prayer I shook off the "what if's" and began packing my bag to head for a ladies retreat in the Okanagan. You will never guess what we talked about - are you ready for this? Drumroll Please ! " Giving up Control " What Divine Hand sent me to the place where I would find peace from God's word and the fellowship of ladies who understood. It was a "God thing", to be sure, not just mere coincidence!

Sunday morning at Green Bay Bible Camp I signed onto the camp computer to find that she was safe and sound in Vladivostok, but her luggage was not. Evidently in the great frozen wastelands of Russia there are not a lot of wi-fi signals drifting around but there is a lonely suitcase with all her clothing in it.

Is it ok to pray for a suitcase? I think so, feel free to join me if you do too.

On the VERGE

2010-03-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

This will go down in history as a year of firsts. My first cruise across the Pacific Ocean, my first visit to Hawaii, my first day as a real senior citizen coming up in September, my first ride on the Eurostar train, my first visit to Belgium to celebrate my 65th birthday, AND the first time Vancouver had hosted the Winter Olymics.

The thought of turning 65 is a bit nerve wracking to say the least. Questions arise "Am I turning into my mother?", "Will you still need me, will you still feed me etc.?", and the biggie, "Should I totally eliminate the grey hair or continue to streak around them?"

My DH and I celebrated our 45th year of wedded bliss in Dec. 2009, but we were unable to get away that month so planned a February cruise from LA to Hawaii to celebrate. Vancouver was going to be filled with millions of Olympics crazed tourists and this seemed to be the perfect time to slink away to warmer climates. On Feb. 14th we flew to LA and boarded the Golden Princess.

Friends from Ontario, Lois and Karen B., agreed to house sit for us and care for our 2 cats as they wanted to experience the 2010 Olympics first hand. They arrived Feb. 10th with all the enthusiasm Vancouver was hoping for, and then some. Karen, shy & quiet by nature, really came out of her shell. If you know Karen you realize this is being said tongue-in-cheek.

The 4 day Pacific crossing from Los Angeles to Hilo, Hawaii on the Golden Princess was a great way to start our vacation. The meals were wonderful, maid service excellent, the pace relaxing and the sunsets in the evening were breathtaking. The most difficult decision we faced during the 4 days at sea was whether to have one or two desserts after dinner.

Hawaii was a surprise, in both a good way and a not-so-good way. The temperature was wonderful, the ocean was turquoise, the whales spectacular, the beaches golden, all this was good. However, I missed visiting the Polynesian Cultural Centre as it was closed, and missed attending a Luau as there was none on the shore excursion list. We also opted to not go to the USS Arizona memorial this trip. This leaves us with a desire for another trip to Honolulu for 1 or 2 weeks. Since neither of us are beach bunnies, staying at a beach resort is not as attractive as being in town, but we would like to be close to a beach for walking in the morning or evening.

We are now back into the normal chaos of our daily routines. ESL classes started the week after we got home, Don's audio business is busier than it ever has been, and our church activities are gearing up for the celebration of Easter.

I've finally accepted the fact that I do not have the time to continue being a facebook farm junkie, and have a real life too. Therefore I closed my 2 farms on Farm Town, my Farmville farm, my Cafe World restaurant and my Zoo. How Facebook will ever manage without me, I don't know. Surprisingly enough, since I shuttered the doors of my games 2 of my friends have done the same. Maybe we should start a 12 step program for Facebook Gamers??

I'm looking forward to this summer as we are expecting visitors, my sister and brother-in-law from Belle River, ON, and my cousin and his wife from North Battleford, SK. Living on the west coast is wonderful, but would be even better if our family lived closer to us. Who knows, some day, maybe, they MIGHT move west too.

Itchy Feet - Hochbaum History Part 1

2009-04-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung and I'm not going travelling. It even hurts to type that statement.

My mother was an immigrant from Wickerau, Russia, which is now part of Ukraine. Her great grandfather, Martin, was originally from East Prussia and had moved to Wickerau at the turn of the century, I'm not aware of the exact date. Martin's son Frederich ran the family farm in Wickerau. My mom was born there, and emigrated to Canada with her family when she was 6 years old and her brother was 2, so the pattern was set, our family has itchy feet. Knowing it is genetic does help explain why the urge to pack up and move hits me every 5 or 6 years.

My great grandparents, Frederich and Maria, had 13 children with my Grandpa Johann being somewhere in the middle of the birthline. As you see in the photo, Maria was a large, strong woman and a true matriarch in every sense of the word. My Grandpa(John)took after her in more than just size. My Grandma, Emma, was in awe of this woman who she shared a house with and who she nursed through breast cancer until her death.

While my grandfather was German he spoke some Russian. Therefore he sat in on the village council meetings and brought the news home to his parents and siblings. In 1928 word got out that all the farms in their area would be communized. When he learned this, Frederich advised his family of 13 children that they should get out of Russia while they could, bad times were coming. Always a man of action, my Grandpa announced to his wife and children that they would move to Canada, the land of opportunity.

Grandma, a faithful young wife with a large extended family living close by, had no desire to go traipsing across Europe and the Atlantic ocean to a place they knew nothing about. Grandpa insisted they had to go quickly to survive and if she didn't want to come, well, he would go alone! Grandpa was very much a "My Way or The Highway" kind of guy. He decided they would head for Edmonton as word had it that the wheat grew tall there and land was FREE for the asking. Grandma waited until the last minute for him to change his mind, but to no avail.

Not wanting to be left behind, Grandma packed their big wicker chest with clothing, household items, seeds, strings of dried bagels and smoked sausages for the journey, and off they went with their 2 yr old son and my mother,then 6 yrs old. They made their way north where they boarded the S.S. Baltonia for England, then boarded the Empress of Australia which sailed to Montreal.By some quirk of fate they only got as far as Wilkie, Saskatchewan. A family from the same part of Russia had moved there several years before and invited them to come for a visit. They did, and went no further.

My Grandpa's brothers and his parents also planned to leave the country as they were going to be evicted from the large family farm. Their farm was mixed, grains and the usual chickens and cows plus they raised horses, the best in the district if one was to believe Grandpa. Since the farm was large and of some value they knew it would be expropriated by the communists. If the family resisted, and the boys were a stubborn bunch,their lives would be in danger.

However, by that fall the borders were closed and none of his 12 remaining family members managed to leave Russia. This picture was taken in 1929, shortly before they were ordered to vacate their home. The family was then split with some brothers and sisters sent to concentration camps, some killed outright, and some just disappeared never to be heard from again. In the early 1950's my Grandma did make contact with a cousin who had been in a Polish camp, escaped and made his way to Canada. He settled in Oliver BC where he worked an orchard, later retiring in Westbank.

My Grandma had some contact with her siblings and of her 5 sisters only 2 were sent to camps. In the 40's she was able to write to them through the Red Cross, and later could write directly. The early letters were full of lines blacked out, every piece of mail was checked by the authorities before it was allowed in. Through all of this my Grandma kept her faith in God and in her husband. She was a true pioneer in every sense of the word.

Home Again

2009-03-02T04:40:00.000-08:00

With my laundry done and half the jetlag from our European vacation dealt with, it was again time to put on my Snowbird suit and fly south to St. Petersburg Florida. The flight in and out of Dallas TX was rocky, but the service was excellent so all things considered I'd fly American Airlines again.

Once again my sister Barb proved to be the "Hostess with the Mostess". My bed was ready with scads of pillows, flavoured coffee served steaming hot when I crawled out of bed each morning and meals fit for a king (or queen in my case). Case in point is the gourmet Eggs Benedict served up with champagne and orange juice on the side. Again I must say THANK YOU to her and Don for their hospitality.

Each year Barb and I do a special Girls Trip and this year it was to the Palatka Bluegrass Festival, held at the Rodeheaver Boys Ranch outside Palatka, Fla.

http://www.rbr.org/
The ranch is a privately run residential home for boys at risk. Here they learn to farm and ranch, belong to the 4-H club and learn to grow up as all children should, in a safe careing environment. One source of income for the ranch is hosting the annual Palatka Bluegrass Festival.

http://www.aandabluegrass.com/Festivals/PalatkaBluegrassFestival.html

A huge covered site provides protection from the elements including both sun and rain on our weekend. Two large screens provide adequate views for folks sitting all the way to the back.

For me one of the highlights is the food. The perfume of the day is a blend of corn dogs, BBQ smoke, cotton candy and roasting slabs of pork, chicken and ribs. Digging into the pulled pork on a bun at lunchtime and a real downhome BBQ chicken dinner at night. This is gourmet dining as only the South can serve up. Dinner is served in the ranch dining hall each night with boys from the residence providing 2nds on your iced tea, table cleanup and smiles.

Now, the reason for being there, the music. The lineup of groups was a dream come true for me. Dailey and Vincent have become our recent favorites and they didn't disappoint. Jamie Dailey proved that he deserved his IBMA male vocalist of the year award once again.

Rhonda Vincent & The Rage told us where to buy the best shoes in Boca Raton and told us why buying Martha White baking products was the only way to go. They also performed two driving sets that kept the audience glued to their seats with toes tapping.

Of course the star of the weekend was Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Ricky is on his way to becoming the Bill Monroe of this generation. Ricky has 2 young artists playing in his band, Cody Kilby and Andy Leftwich. Both these young men were child prodigy's and since their teen's have won awards for their playing. Cudos to Ricky for giving these young men the showcase their talent deserves.

The group most deserving of the title Up-and-comers to Watch is Barry Scott and Second Wind. Their performances here and their CD "In God's Time" will attest tothe talent these boys have. Barry played piano and sang tenor with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for 9 years before setting out on his own. I was simply blown away by the tight harmonies and perfect pitch of the group on their new gospel album, In God's Time. I shamelessly plug this CD as a must buy for lovers of Bluegrass Gospel Music.

Barb discovered that the annual New Brunswickers Picnic would be held at Fort Desoto Beach while I was visiting.Voted the Best Beach in The World 2005, it is a spectacular setting for a fun day. We arrived after the music had started but in time to buy our losing tickets on the gift draws. Sunshine, good downhome fiddle music, a picnic lunch, a walk on the beach topped off with a little nuzzling with your sweetie made it a perfect afternoon.

Any trip to Florida wouldn't be complete without a trip to Gulfport Beach, in my eyes it is the best kept secret in the state. Always loads of parking, the best sand in the Gulf, and never ever crowded.
To view all my photos of this trip, check out my flickr site at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97425354@N00/

New Years Eve (almost) Disaster

2009-02-02T16:46:00.000-08:00

As a special treat on New Years Eve I decided to prepare Beef Bourguignonne a la Barefoot Contessa as I'd received her cookbook as a gift for my birthday. Luckily the flat came with a Le Creuset dutch oven casserole so all I needed was ingredients including a bottle of good red wine.

Finding beef in sufficient quantity to do a full pot of stew is not easy in Edinburgh. Every city block has 2 or 3 small green grocers or Polish deli's but no real grocery stores. Going 4 blocks up the street we found a Scotmid co-op and a Tesco Express. By raiding their meat counters I found 3 packages of beef steak, depleting their stock by a full 50%. Both stores are 75% packaged cooked takeout foods, another 20% is wine, beer and junk food. Does nobody cook in Edinburgh??

Once back in the flat I trim and cube the steaks, slosh them with a good glug of red wine and prepare the veggies for the dish. When everything is ready I open the oven and discover that it is very tiny, totally filthy, and I cannot for the life of me get heat to come out of it.

I turn every dial every which way resulting in a headache but no heat. Getting more frustrated by the minute I retire to the lounge to cool down. With my trusty computer in hand I search the manufacturers webpage for help and SURPRISE, the FAQ section has several letters describing my exact problem. For some strange reason the oven will not operate on the Manual setting, it will only heat if you set it to start / end automatically. Go Figure!

So back to the kitchen, pop the Le Creuset into the oven, set it to auto start in 5 minutes and to cook for 1.5 hours. Set the heat to 250 as indicated in the cookbook and sit back to relax for the hour while dinner simmers.

Chris pops into the kitchen to check things out and calls to me "Mom, why is there smoke coming from the oven?". Sure enough, smoke is pouring out the back of the stove & we rush to pull the casserole out & see what's happened. Every single drop of liquid had evaporated and while it smelled delicious it should only be half done at this point. All of a sudden it dawns on Chris that I'd set the oven to 250 thinking in Farenheit, but UK ovens are all Celsius ! My stew had been simmering at 482 degrees!

We quickly dumped in my glass of wine, added another cup remaining in a bottle on the cupboard and opened another bottle to cover the meat so we could return it to the oven to finish cooking. Miracles do happen, when the full 1.5 hrs cook time had elapsed the meat, while overly brown in color, was done to perfection and was fork tender. We dined in style then turned out the lights and watched the midnight fireworks display on Calton Hill.

All's well that ends well.

"Jet Lag" Lag

2009-01-31T17:01:00.000-08:00

One would think that 2 weeks would be ample time for a body, even a 63 yr old body, to adjust to the 8 hour time change from Europe to Vancouver. Don't kid yourself! For some reason my body seems to be hung over the Atlantic coast time-wise. At some point between 8 & 9 PM each evening my eyes shut and just as quickly they open wide at between 4 and 4:30 AM. I decided to use this to my advantage to live on Florida time as I'll be flying there next Tuesday for 2 weeks.

Europe 2008-2009 was a vacation of a different ilk. For months I made lists of where to go, what to see, what to do, edited and re-edited same, and when it came time to actually go / see / do we changed every thing at the last minute.

The original plan was 2 weeks in Glasgow to celebrate Christmas followed by 1-2 weeks in Sicily basking in the warm winter sunshine followed by a last week in Scotland to take a bus tour of St. Andrews and Fife, and a Distillery and Sterling Castle and a Loch or two.

The Actuality was quite different but flexibility is our middle name. We spent 4 days in Glasgow, 4 in Edinburgh, 4 more in Glasgow, 8 in Edinburgh then 1 glorious week in Lagos Portugal. On our return to Edinburgh the spastic boiler that provides both heat and hot water gave up the ghost, requiring someone (read that as WE the parents) stay and let the plumber into the flat on 2 days, catch the drips from the leaky radiator and generally 'be there' for our child who had started her new job on the fateful day the boiler died. Once the boiler was back in operation we discovered that we had missed the last tours for that week. A built in excuse to come back again next year!

New Years Eve and Hogmanay Celebrations are a BIG deal in Edinburgh. Hogmanay begins Dec. 29th with a torchlight parade from downtown Prince's Street up to Calton Hill. At the head of the parade is a mock wooden Viking ship and a full complement of hairy Vikings to pull it. When it arrives atop Calton Hill there is much playing of bag pipes, roaring of the fierce Vikings who then torch the ship creating a bonfire that can be seen all over the city. When the fire is burning at it's fullest, a display of fireworks is set off that rivals the competition we see over English Bay in the summer.

Lucky for us Chris's flat lounge overlooks Calton Hill so we had a ring side seat for the full show. On New Year's Eve they again set off fireworks, but this year it was not nearly as good as the Hogmanay show. Chris informed us that the torchlight parade was rained out last year so they had 2 yrs worth of fireworks to play with - lucky for us!

Lagos Portugal was gorgeous. A small city within ancient stone walls built on a hillside leading down to the ocean. The beaches are to die for! With temperatures ranging from a low of 9 to high of 14 we were blessed. Remember now, back home in Surrey our house and yard were buried by 2 feet of snow and bone chilling below zero temperatures. Here in Lagos we were within walking distance of the cliffs, beaches, waterfront and oldwalled city.

To be true tourists, before our last day holiday Chris and I lunched on the local specialty, kale & potato soup and grilled sardines. Don declined our offer to come along and chose to walk the waterfront and take photos.

If you have loads of time, check out my vacation photos on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97425354@N00/

991 Things Left to do Before I Die.

2008-12-18T02:15:00.000-08:00

4 years ago my daughter gave me a special book for Christmas. It was titled 1000 Things to Do Before You Die. The book was relegated to the reading room (you may know it as the loo) where I would pore over it daily, dreaming of seeing the world for real rather than from my armchair.

To kickoff my 1000 special places my husband and I went to a convention in Tuscon Arizona the year he retired. We added another week onto the trip and drove north, visiting various National Monument sites and the majestic Grand Canyon.
That was #1 on my list and I was in no way disappointed. I thought to myself, Now I can die happy!

However, the need for another trip started niggling at me.
Born and raised in land-locked Saskatchewan the Mediterranean Sea was the stuff my fairytales were made of; Azure seas, Canals in Venice, White cottages dotting the isles of Greece, walled cities in Croatia, the ruins of Ephesus, the Strait of Messina, the Acropolis in Athens and Trevi Fountain in Rome and on and on.

Thanks to a Princess Cruise dream # 2 was fulfilled in May 2007.

Which takes me to #3, Pompeii, the ruins of a once-great Roman city buried by the ash of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Dreamed about since I first saw articles on it in an old National Geographic issue my parents bought at an estate sale when I was a young child. So, at the end of our cruise we visited the port of Naples and took a guided bus tour to Pompeii. We walked over streets that were built 1000 years before Christ, touched brick walls that housed families like our own, walked through their courtyard gardens, saw outdoor bread ovens and indoor plumbing of designs still used by some cultures today. Now, I thought, I can die happy!

After spending 12 days touring the Mediterranean, it was easy to add #4, a 5 night stay in beautiful Barcelona and not to miss the Louvre, Eifel Tower and Notre Dame in spot #5, 5 nights in Paris I've blogged about our experiences there already so I won't bore you with more gushy descriptions.

We headed back to Glasgow in May. Again thoughts of just 1 more place to see kept coming to mind, Edinburgh Castle, a REAL castle, smacking of Lords and Ladies, Kings and Queens, Turrets and Towers, Granite Walls and Dungeons, Moats and Iron Gates. The stuff a kids dreams are made of! When I was 8 or 9 I spent every Art class drawing princesses with crowns living in high castles, never dreaming I would one day be close enough to actually see one! Surely this trip would satisfy my destiny and I could rest knowing I'd done it all. Off to Edinburgh we went. The castle did not disappoint, it is a foreboding gloomy rock that lords it over the city of Edinburgh, a show of strength and past glory. Now, I thought, with #6 completed I can die happy!

In the fall of 2007 the thought popped into my mind "Wouldn't it be great to take a cruise with my sister this winter"? A few weeks into the New year and off to Florida I flew, cruise ticket in hand. My younger sister and I sailed off into the sunset, actually we went east so should it be "sailed off into the sunrise"? and 8 glorious days with no cooking, no cleaning, no telephones, no kids or grandkids, (dare I say No Husbands) just pure luxury and I could cross #7 off my list. Now I can surely die happy!

Soon summer was here and once again my feet began to itch. Mount Rushmore! Great leaders of our neighbours to the south, etched forever in Granite Mountainside, can't you see it! The image wouldn't leave me. It was meant to be, this must be #8. Some long passionate discussions with my designated driver convinced him that I could never truly die happy unless I could visit Mount Rushmore. We packed our car in June and hit the road, not quite Thelma and Louise but with as much enthusiasm. We were not disappointed, it is breathtaking. There is an evening program that culminates with the mountainside being illuminated and all vetrans in the audience being invited to the stage to be thanked for their service to their country. I cannot tell a lie, my heart burst with pride and I'm not even an American. Now I can die happy!

On Dec. 16, 2008 we again find ourselves in Glasgow visiting our best friend and only child, thinking "This year we can just visit", when I came across a webpage for Holyrood Palace...We didn't get to it last year, we have the time this year, why not just do it, after all, I've always wanted to see a real palace, maybe Prince Charlie will be home and invite us in for tea? So, next week we're heading off to Edinburgh again with Holyrood Palace in our sights, soon to be #9.

Only 991 left to go, then I can die Happy!!

Oregon in April 2008

2008-04-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

A one week hiatus in central Oregon state was like time travelling back to the days of Lone Ranger, Hop-along Cassidy, Roy Rogers etc. The lone pine tree silouetted against the ruddy sunrise and sunsets, cattle moseing along a dusty trail, coyote standing alert in a field of sagebrush and deer looking up at us as we pass by.

The first 2 days were warm and sunny with not even a hint of breeze. Perfect for relaxing on the deck with a hot book and a cool drink. Eagle Crest Resort is NOT a cabin in the woods, more like a luxury hotel with all the amenities one could wish for. We will be forever grateful to our friends for asking us to join them for this trip.

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On the drive down we stopped for lunch in the bustling metropolis of Troutdale, at Shari's, where we chowed down on burgers and Thai chicken salads big enough to feed 2. Did you ever wonder why the extra large servings don't cross the US-Canada border? Another interesting thing I notice is that wait-staff are more cheerful, maybe it's the iced tea. That is the 3rd thing I notice - every restaurant serves perfectly made, unsweetened iced tea, something yet to be perfected in Canada.

Sisters and Bend Oregon were day trips to break up our week

Caribbean Blues

2008-03-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

We've had one of the worst winters in recent years with record snowfall, record rain fall and days of grey skies. Time for a break, warm sunny Florida HERE I COME! Arrived Feb. 27th to warm air, blue skies and sunshine.

The vacation was wonderful, more than wonderful! Florida sunshine, lazy afternoons at the pool,rousing bingo games at night and of course lots of shopping shopping shopping. Thanks to Barb and Don I was able to attend my first ever Pro Baseball game. Toronto Blue Jays lost to Tampa Devil Rays - GO RAYS. Another thing to cross off my list of 1000 things to do before I die.

We drove 2 & 1/2 hrs to Port Canaveral to board the Mariner of the Seas. Close to the cape you are treated to some spectacular scenery. The air was clear enough that from the deck of the ship we could see the space station silo where they build the rockets. Unfortunately my wee camera doesn't have the oompf to show it, but maybe Don can photoshop it when I get home.

Caribbean Blue Water, something we never saw growing up in Saskatchewan, still looks fake to me. Nothing can be that blue naturally! When we got home and downloaded all our photos almost half were water shots. Something I'll have to work on if I'm ever going to become a decent photographer.

Our first day onboard the Mariner was quite a learning experience. With 3114 passengers, and length of 1020 feet it did take some getting used to and we certainly put on the miles as we trekked back and forth trying to find our way to various locations.

On day 3 we discovered that by remembering the phrase "laft aft", and turning left when exiting our cabin, we would end up at the rear of the ship where the buffet and adult hot tub resided. What more could a girl ask for?

My present problem seems to be my inability to focus on the mundane things like dusting, cleaning floors, cooking and doing laundry. Cruising has spoiled me for life. We were warned onboard that this could become a problem and now I believe it.The room steward was crafty and left us animal treats on our bed at night, some were just too cute to dismantle.

Fall Falls

2007-09-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

The first day of fall arrived in a splash, not of color but of rain. The furnace started running, the fireplace thermostat sensed the change in seasons and kicked up flames to head off the chill that was spreading throughout the house. It is getting harder to remember the heat waves of June and July.

Next Monday will be my first day back to work.I'm not looking forward to standing at a bus stop at 6:20 am in the drizzle and wind waiting for the Vancouver Express bus to pull up. However, there will be road closures in New West that will mean 1 lane open over the Queensborough Bridge so I will hunker into my Goretex jacket and be grateful I don't have to take that route.

Football season is in full swing. Between the BC Lions Home Games, which we have tickets for, and the TSN and CBC televised games, which we faithfully watch, our Fall entertainment is well taken care of. My Birthday gift, a Geroy Simon #81 Jersey, brought the Lions luck and they won their last game against Toronto. Tonight they face the Saskatchewan Roughriders so Don and I will sit on opposite sides of the room, cheering for our chosen team, booing the other. Need I say who Don cheers for, Regina born and raised as he was?

Life is short,life is sweet. My sister was critically ill this past week and for several days we were fearful that she might not make it. All Praise to God, she has turned the corner and is on the mend now. It was a sobering time of reflection of my own finite time left here on earth and a time to recommit myself to living my life as Christ commands. On her deathbed our mom emphatically told us to "read your bible", something she did daily and we would be wise to do as well.

Guitars Rock! Don bought a new Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar.
At age 64 he is embarking on his 2nd childhood.(..or is it just living his childhood dream to be a rock star?). He has carefully thought up a multitude of selfless reasons why he should take up this new toy....er, I mean instrument...for the good of all mankind and to be of service to others. Most of the justification is solid enough to buy into and after all, it is Bing Cherry Red, one of my favorite colors. Luckily for me he has earphones and a little red box that allows for silent practice. I wish we had something like that when he bought his banjo.

Wishing you all a merry fall, and some blue skies and sunshine.

Summer Solstice, eh what?

2007-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

The weather network definition reads "Summer Begins with Solstice. Warmer and longer days signal the coming of the summer season. On around June 21st every year locations north of the equator officially start summer. On the Summer Solstice the Sun reaches its highest point in our skies and we get to enjoy the longest daylight hours of the year.

Today I woke up in our trailer in Point Roberts, WA, to grey overcast skies followed by drizzle, followed by heavy rain, more drizzle, etc. do you get the picture? Evidently somebody forgot to let the BC weatherman know that today should be warmer and summerlike. Also, last time I checked all days are still 24 hours long, so I won't get my hopes up for more time in my days than I already have.

To add special sound effects to the drip drip of rain on the canopy, the campground owner is playing with his riding lawnmower, driving back and forth over the grass he just cut yesterday. Boys with their toys !! Although the noise is irritating it is rather funny to see him out there in his little purple raincoat, red ear protectors and eyeguard visor pulling wheelies on the croquet field.

What does one do for excitement when trapped inside a trailer in the rain? Surf the Net, what else. Sometimes it bears fruit...like finding old friends who moved to the USA shortly after we moved to BC from Ontario - or locating my bestest friend in the whole world (from my high school days). It always boggles my mind when someone I'd give up as lost for life shows up in a Google search. Modern technology, ain't it grand.

Today I am a bachelor. My hubby has meetings in town and attractive as 2 days trapped in a trailer with your wife may be, he decided to head home this morning. While there he will schedule delivery of our new dishwasher. The old machine gave up the ghost and started leaking while we were in Europe for 5 weeks. We arrived home to see our new hardwood floor sporting more hills and valleys than Rome. We loved our new flooring - here is a photo taken just after it was installed.

A restoration company will attempt to dehumidify the wood, but I don't see how that could work as the hills are mighty big, and valleys mighty low. The nice insurance adjuster said they would cover replacement if it does not work, so that makes me feel a bit better. She didn't mention what will happen to our premiums after the claim goes through, but some things are best left unsaid until they happen, we can only take so much in at one sitting.

Life sometimes sucks doesn't it? Bad things come in 3's but good things 1 at a time, don't you agree? For Example, just this month 1)Our truck breaks down, $998.00 2) our trailer leaks and rots out a section of the siding $$$$ for sure a big ticket repair and now 3) The new hardwood floor warps and buckles. On the GOOD news side, we did win $67.00 in the lottery - I can hardly contain the joy.

Maybe it is just the 'rainy day' gettin' me down. When the sun shines the world will look better.

God loves me! Now what can possibly not work out for my good knowing I can count on Him.

Hola Readers!

2007-06-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in my ancient roots there must be a touch of Spanish blood as Barcelona touched my soul in many ways. Sounds corny I know, but I can't find other words to explain it. We landed in Girona on a Sunday morning, 10 minutes before the scheduled arrival time, picked up our suitcases, purchased bus tickets into the city and found our seats all with 30 minutes. Ryan Air delivered on their promise again.

The drive to Barcelona was dotted with ancient stone ruins, aquaducts, vineyards, green rolling hills and fields, with the odd country villa where only the rich and famous could reside.

On arriving at Station Nord bus and train depot we had our first real experience with a foreign language. Signs and ticket machines were bi or tri-lingual, Spanish, Catalan and sometimes French. We punched the button that said Placa de Catalanya and boldly fed in Euro coins until tickets came out. Faced with a choice of 2 platforms we stopped a nice young couple to ask for directions. After much animated discussion on which was the right way to go the young man points us towards a tunnel leading to a platform where the machine kept spitting our tickets back out at us. At seeing our obvious confusion, a good Samaratin stopped and with sign language and limited English explained we were on the wrong platform for the ticket we had purchased. Back we go to our starting point and 10 minutes later we boarded the train for Placa de Catalanya stop.

A short ride later we disembark only to discover a maze of exits, none of which indicate the way to Las Ramblas. As panic starts to set in we notice a staffed information booth, so off we go, suitcases in hand. To our dismay none of the attendants spoke English, so with sign language and broken high school French we asked for directions. In response to our gestures and fractured French one gentleman emphatically pointed straight ahead. As I start out in what I think is the right direction he bangs on the glass and waves his arm up and down, pointing again. Don then starts off towards a turnstile, which brings on more banging on the glass. We return to the booth and again, with gestures and questioning looks, ask him to repeat the directions. He now points downward, where to our surprise we see there is a gate attached to the booth.. we point to it....he smiles and nods.....we sheepishly open the gate and proceed down the obvious exit...to our enjoyment all 3 attendants stand up and smiling broadly, give us a rousing round of applause. Nice folks.

A short walk later and we find our daughter leaning up against a building waiting for us. She greets us with a hearty "welcome to Barcelona, I see you made it".

Our apartment was located at #6 Calle Portaferrissa, which literally means "the street of the iron gate". The mouth of the street is the entrance to the old city, holding a great iron gate. The dark narrow streets house an accumulation of shops, restaurants and bars.

Sleep came quickly the first night and we woke Monday morning to the sounds of roosters crowing, monkeys screeching and shopkeepers rolling up their doors to open for business. Overnight a nasty head cold settled in and cramped my style for the next 2 days, but hey, you might as well be sick in an exotic location, right? On Monday morning I did make it as far as the La Boqueria market to pick up sausage, fruit, cheese and bread but had to head back to our apartment and a nap. The next 2 days were spent reading, sleeping and popping cold tablets. By Wednesday I felt almost human and ventured down the 89 stone steps into the world.

My list of MUST SEE sights include the Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera and Casa Battlo designed by Antonio Gaudi, the Barri Gotic medieval ruins from the 14th and 15th century, the Barcelona Cathedral, Roman Ruins and Las Ramblas. 4 days is not long enough to even scratch the surface of what Barcelona has to offer. My list of things I will do next time (see I'm already committed to returning) include the various museums, Parc Guell, the waterfront, Aquarium and Montjuic park.

One thing I did get my fill of is Paella, had it for 3 meals and surprisingly the one I liked best was a seafood concoction described as "Black, with squid ink". I felt very brave trying it.

A Whirl-Whind Whorld Tour

2007-06-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

The grand tour began on April 23, 2007 aboard the Emerald Princess. Twelve days of unprecedented luxury including gourmet meals, maid service, first class entertainment and the most beautiful scenery imaginable.We kicked off the cruise in Venice. We arrived in Trevisio airport around noon April 23rd and took the shuttle to the Port. The ship remained in port overnight and departed the afternoon of April 24th. This allowed just enough time to experience St. Mark's square, walk the side streets to see the quaint shops and cafes and to get our fill of pigeons, also known as rats with wings. I'd actually thought of doing some shopping but after looking at the cute little handbags with their 700 Euro price tags I decided to pass. With the Euro at approximately $1.50 Canadian, it was too rich for my taste.

While this is my 3rd cruise, it was undoubtedly the best by far. The weather being the main factor, closely followed by fabulous shore excursions to the walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Athens Greece was a last minute excursion addition, and one that turned out to be the most enjoyable. Our tour guide was informative, and enthusiastic about her country, sort of reminded me of the Papa in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. She knew her stuff and was generous in her praise and support for all things Greek

A full day was spent on the Island of Santorini. Being afraid of heights BIG TIME, the Santorini bus ride to the top of the island was a real nail-biter. I actually pointed the camera out the window and snapped photos without looking, and miracle of all miracles, some of them are not half bad.
Santorini from the sea, appears to be a snow capped mountain range. As we came closer it was evident that the snow was a multitude of white washed box shaped houses. Flat roofs allow for the collection of rainwater, which drains down into underground cisterns where it is stored for the dry months. Rain is scarce on Santorini and the grape vines have adapted by growing close to the ground in the form of small circular shrubs, not much more than 12 inches in height. A strange sight compared to our Okanagan Vines in British Columbia. The tour included a stop at 'Santo Wines' for a tasting session and nibbles....yummy.

Mykonos, an Island Paradise with turquoise water, white sand beaches and narrow cobblestone streets seeping up into the hillsides.

The next-to-final stop was Naples where we climbed aboard a bus to tour the ruins of Pompeii.On the way we stopped at a cameo factory where the craftsmen / crafters if you want to be politically correct,explained how they carve seashells to make beautiful cameos and ornaments.

While very interesting, I was more taken with the Bougainvillea growing down the wall adjacent to the parking lot. The vibrant colors and tissue like petals were impossible to resist, resulting in taking way too many pictures.

As a child growing up in the prairie hamlet of Hayseed Sask. I could only dream of far-away places, islands in the sun peppered with flat roofed white boxlike houses, and ruins of cities like Pompeii that thrived 2000 years before Christ.

Imagine my surprise when I found out they had indoor plumbing, which I never had until I went away to the big city to attend University in 1963.

Somehow in my pre-trip imagination, I would walk the ancient streets carefree, arthritis free, and pain free. Not So, while young at heart the old body found it a struggle to achieve what my heart desired. Even with frequent rest stops and all the wishful thinking I could muster, I found myself unable to keep up for more than 1/2 a day. After that it was back to the "Swimming Hotel" as our ship was called in Kusadasi, Turkey, for a tall cool drink and a nice long nap.

We disembarked in Rome, checked into our hotel and were thrilled to discover the corner of the Roman Walled City was a mere 2 blocks away. We followed the wall for an hour or so, then hunger called so we backtracked to the hotel. Our hotel clerk recommended a family run restaurant close by for dinner, so off we went. Dinner was interesting as the meat was cooked on a grate over the fireplace at the front of the restaurant, and starters were a "serve yourself" array of wonderful olives, marinated artichokes, asparagus, mussels, calamari, cheeses, and much much more. I could easily have made a meal of it. To end our meal we had Gelato and coffee. As we prepared to leave the owner came over and insisted we have a drink before going, on the house, so who are we to refuse such a gracious offer.

It was fully dark when we left, full and happy. A good night's sleep later it Sunday morning and we were up early for a buffet breakfast on the rooftop terrace then off on a 2 hour walking tour of the walled city of Rome.

In case you are wondering, of course I tossed a coin in the Trevi Fountain - but so far have not won the big lotto prize.

Our tour ended by rejoining our bus for a trip to Vatican city and the crowd-crush in St. Peter's Square for the Pope's Sunday Blessing. Not being Catholic didn't deter us from enjoying the experience of being surrounded by thousands of people from all around the world here for the experience of a lifetime.

Next Stop, and next post, Barcelona

Home is the Hunter, Home from the Hill

2007-06-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

We rolled off the plane at 2:30pm May 21, 2007, world-wise and sleep deprived. After being away for 5 weeks Vancouver has never looked so good. We are late bloomers when it comes to 'real travel', waiting until ages 63 and 61 to cross the big pond, and this did hamper our enjoyment somewhat. Thanks to our daughter's hospitality and Princess Cruise lines we eased into this globe-trotting lifestyle gradually.

Week 1: Glasgow, the centre of our universe now that our only child has emigrated to the land'o'heather, men in skirts, and funny musical instruments. The air moves faster in Glasgow, and always has a hint of damp or promise of damp. The west end, University of Glasgow district, is a step back in time to 4 story walk-up-flats with ancient stone steps, indoor laundry drying facilities hoisted to the ceiling by pulley, and indoor storm doors which indicate that winter winds are not stopped by the outer entrance door. After 24 hours in Glasgow one has an urge to start wearing period clothing as our blue jeans and jumpers seem out of keeping with the surroundings.

Thanks to the hop-on / hop-off bus tours we were able to see most of the 'sights' from the outside and this was enough to make us commit to another trip to cross the threshhold and see what is inside. One stop that we made which is worth a thousand words, but I won't go that far here, is the Kelvingrove Museum.

This is a national treasure, a storehouse of Scottish History, Architecture, Music (from the outstanding pipe organ concerts held at noon), and a fabulous restaurant that serves a Smoked Haddock chowder that is TO DIE FOR !! If I could have done it politely, I would have ordered a 2nd serving but good manners prevailed.

Two days before we left we took a train trip to Edinburgh for a visit to the Castle, and a memorable pub lunch where I bit-the-bullet and ate my first Haggis with Neaps'n'Tatties as a side. When growing up in Saskatchewan this dish was christened "potrots" by my Aunty Mary who came up with the strange foreign sounding name to entice me to eat my veggies.

After spending our week in Glasgow we said farewell to our daughter and hailed a cab for Central Station and the Prestwick Airport and Ryan Air. I must give Ryan Air a plug here, every one of our flights arrived EARLY - now when is the last time a North American airline could make that boast.

But I digress, Onward to Venice via Trevesio. The Trevesio airport is nestled at the foot of the Italian Alps and surrounded by fertile agricultural lands. The wonderful shuttle driver who met us at the airport with his SUV and a smile, greeted us warmly with what turned out to be the bulk of his English language skills " Venice Port? Princessa Dock? Come. From then on our questions were answered with a smile and a shrug. However, the drive was interesting as the road was bordered with magnificent estate homes, gated and walled in most cases but allowing a quick view into the courtyard if traffic slowed down. On returning home I find that this area is home to a number of Italy's multi-millionaires.

The Emerald Princess was waiting for us.

There was no line-up at check-in so we were directed to the Preferred Booking desk and whisked through in minutes. Our first impression "what a monster ship" It is HUGE ! And miracle of miracles, our suitcases were sitting outside our door when we arrived at our room - another first.