Another day......

Yesterday was a very long day...it's amazing what you can cram into one day....after my experience of driving the big truck and helping at the old shop and at the property...I and youngest son were ready for some R&R. Youngest son is very fond of the beach and checking out the marine life. So we decided to go to one of local beaches just down the road from us.

We arrived and the tide was still out.....in our brief walk to where we decided to put down our mats we came across a dead seal....nature had taken it's toll on the poor creature....youngest son was fascinated by it....I well let's just say I kept my distance. We wonder along the beach some more and put down our mats. It wasn't long until youngest son brought me some of his treasure to look at....

Within in minutes he had found a handful of sand dollars

It wasn't long after he had gathered these that he was off for another exploration......on the look out for what lay below the sand....

He certainly had a great time digging and exploring....

And what would a visit to the beach be without some beach shots.......

So today is eldest sons Birthday....and it has been another full day for both hubby and I. He didn't get all done that he needed to yesterday, so it was an early start of 0600 today....we were at the old shop loading up the last load...and what a load it was....but we did it...we rushed back and unloaded the trailer as we had to have it back to the rental company by noon...rush rush rush.....I've baked a cake "cookies and cream" got some "heavenly hash" ice cream....hubby is bar-b-queuing a special dinner....and grandma and grandpa are coming over for dessert.....it will be a nice time....eldest son has had a nice day...he has be hanging out with an old friend and gone quadding on the back trails....got stuck and hubby had to rescue them...but it was all good.

So there you have it.....hope you all are having a great day.....cheers!!!

Moving day.....

This past week hubby has been busy moving his shop to the property. It's been a long and hard process but today is the final day, we are all getting a little tired......Working with granite requires the use of big machines...and to move big machines requires a big truck. We rented a flat bed truck with a "Hiab" on it, that's a crane used to move stuff to and from the flat deck.....below are pictures of this process going on.....and guess who got to drive the truck.....you guessed it....yours truly.....

that's grandpa(aka father-in-law) attaching the crane to a slab of granite...

That's the "dust sucker" that's used to try and minimize the dust that is caused when grinding stone....

That's part of the big saw used to cut the stone...it's all dismantled here....that will have to be put back together....

Here's hubby operating the crane....

Look who's driving that big truck.......

There's a lot to be said for working from home....but when you have surroundings like these ...it makes it just that much better.....

Our work isn't over by any means. In actual fact the work is truly only just beginning. It's like starting over, but the nice thing is we already have the hard part of building up a business and acquiring equipment over with.

After today we are planning on taking a break. Maybe get the boat out and getting some fishing in. It's the boys last week with us, and it is eldest sons Bday tomorrow so we will be able to relax and enjoy his day.

Some humour.....

Most of us know someone who is so good at telling jokes. They are so theatrical...they could make giving someone an enema funny. Well I unfortunately am not one of those folks. My husband often asks me if I have a funny bone in my body. I do...it's just I have a difference sense of what is funny. Yesterday he sent me this joke that was sent to him by a friend....he told me I would appreciate it.....well you know what...I did....so I want to share it...please excuse the curse word...but it did make me chuckle.....

A nurse walks into a bank totally exhausted after a 20 hour shift.> >> >Preparing to write a check, she pulls a rectal thermometer out of her purse> >and tries to write with it.> >> >She looks at the flabbergasted teller and without missing a beat she> >says,"Well, that's great.. ..that's really great...> >> >"some asshole's got my pen!"s

No, I have never done that...but gosh after a long shift I could see it happening.....

Have a great day all!!!

Saturday Scavenger Photo Hunt

This weeks theme is "Creative". Wouldn't you say creative is in the eyes of the beholder? Creative could be anything......

Like this Inukshuk made by someone and left on the rivers shore to be enjoyed by visitors.....or

The creativity my youngest daughter used to decorate this cake for her sisters birthday....or

The creativity that hubby and father-in-law demonstrated on Valentine's when they had a quartet come and seranade mother-in-law and I at a function......or

The creativity eldest daughter performed on middle daughter when she did her hair and make up for her graduation........or

The wreath I made at Christmas for my door....or last but not least...

The creativity that my hubby showed when he carved this piece of granite into a heart for me....

So there you have it....creativity to me can be whatever we want it to be.....happy hunting all!!!

Another week in review......

Let me start this post by thanking all of you for your wonderful, kind words of support. I hope my employer is checking up on me and takes the time to read your comments and sees that I do respect people's privacy. Anyhow folks thank you so very for your support.

Now on to some fun. We haven't been as active lately with our outings. Hubby is moving his shop so that is taking up our play time, and the weather has not been very conducive to water sports, but we have found some time to get out and about.

Friday we decided we wanted to go play mini golf at this new place not far from us. I played the best mini golf I have ever played...and darn it all .....hubby still beat me.

Such concentration and style! The gallery goes quiet....shh

After golf it's off to Dairy Queen for Blizzards. As I mentioned the weather has not been that great this past week, but I wanted to encourage the kids to be outdoors. My youngest daughter suggested to the boys that they build a fort...they kinda got into it, but eldest son found he preferred climbing the tree instead. Youngest son not wanting to be outdone by his older brother climbed as well. Youngest son is fearful of heights so for him to get up there was a huge accomplishment....again he is over coming some of his fears. He was so cute. He kept calling out for me..."come see come see where I am....see how far up I am" oh the sense of accomplishment he got from doing that made me beam.

Can you see him peeking out from the tree branches........

Look at that smile......it says a thousand words.....

Youngest son and I had a chat after he did this climb. We had suggested a little while back about trying indoor rock climbing...but youngest said he was to afraid and didn't like heights....so after he climbed the tree I asked him how he felt about rock climbing now....."oh I can do that" was his response.....yippee I say!

Back to tree climbing. Eldest son thought it would be a great idea if he took my camera up the tree and took some photos of the view of our place from his vantage point.

The mountains in the background are known as the coastal mountain range...the body of water is part of the Pacific Ocean.

Well after a busy day of tree climbing nothing could be better than a little R&R. So youngest daughter and I thought it was time to give everyone a facial........
Eldest son doesn't look to impressed....well if you think this is bad.....look at hubby....this picture reminds me of Uncle Fester from the Adam's Family.....what do you think? They were all such good sports.....especially when they knew I would post this on my blog.......

Yesterday, hubby, father-in-law and the boys made a trip to a place called Gold River. They were taking a boat up there for someone to rent to go fishing. Gold River is about a 9o min boat ride from the open Pacific Ocean....it is absolutely breathtaking. They had a very early start yesterday as it takes a couple of hours to get there when one is hauling a boat. Anyhow, at one point of their trip, nature was calling and father in law needed to commune with nature. Unfortunately, whilst father in law was taking in the sights....hubby who was sitting in the truck calls out to his dad "dad you might want to get back in the truck"...."why is that" FIL asks....."well dad, nature just might be getting a little to close to you...." "what" FIL says. "A bear dad....there's a bear just a few feet away" and lo and behold there was Mr. Black bear just sauntering around.....

The photos of the mountains are the Inland Island mountain range....this lake is called Upper Campbell lake.

So there you have it a review of the past week. Hope you have enjoyed it.....

A little of this and that......

My post today is a mix bag of things. I can't believe it's been a week since my sister's wedding, gosh how time flies. It's amazing what can transpire in just a week. Today, I received some unfortunate news. My brother-in-laws mother was just diagnosed with inoperable bowel cancer and has been made palliative. She has been unwell for sometime but it was only just confirmed this week. I think the doctors knew but with the wedding and all they told her to enjoy herself at the wedding and the they would meet and discuss tests etc. after the wedding. I feel so blessed that I was able to spend some time with her at the wedding...we had a lovely chat...I know she was feeling unwell but she was a trooper and made the best of it....My prayers and thoughts go out to her and my sister and brother in law.



On a much happier note.....my dear sister ....the one who just got married will be celebrating a birthday tomorrow....now I am not allowed to say which birthday she will be celebrating and I don't think it really matters ....what matters is that she has a terrific day. Tomorrow she will also have her first treatment of chemo....she has been told that she will only have to undergo 3 weeks of chemo, so that is a blessing.....so here's to you sis....love you bunches and have a terrific Bday!!!!!!




Do you ever wonder sometimes what makes people tick? I mean what are people's motivation for doing or saying things that they do. Sometimes, people just do "Random Acts of Kindness" other times it's people doing and or saying things out of shear spite to hurt someone. Now the random acts of kindness makes you beam and smile, the hurtful things that people do out of spite just makes you want to shake your head and wonder why....why would someone want to do that to another person.

I believe I have been the recipient of such an unkind act. I was called to task about one of my posts. Those who know me, know that I would never intentionally put anyone at risk for something I would write on my blog. Like most of you, blogging provides us with a forum to speak about our day, how we are feeling about things, ask for others thoughts and input on topics, talk about the political environment talk about moral and ethical issues. I blog about my life...things that have an impact on my life. When I moved to my new surroundings the intent of my blog was to share experiences of moving from a big city to a small community this of course included my professional life. Big mistake. It was made blatantly clear to me that I am not to blog about my professional life....I can't go into details primarily as there could be repercussions...I am sure I am under a microscope now. You know there is a part of me that feels flattered that someone would go to such extent to seek out my blog and believe me they would have had to do that as I have changed my address a few times etc....and then make the effort to go and report about it. I don't want to believe that someone could be that cruel and spiteful. You know that saying...what goes around comes around....I believe that....I also feel so very sad and sorry for that person...how lonely they must be, when the only thing they have in their life is to seek out people's blogs and attempt to cause harm. It was suggested to me that if I felt I needed to "debrief" that's a fancy word we use in my field of work when one has experienced something bad at work and needs to talk about it, that I should seek out alternative means for expressing my feeling but for heaven sakes don't write about my day our my feelings on my blog! I have had mixed feelings about even posting on this topic.....I even contemplated shutting down my blog...but I will not....I will not give give the person who reported my post that power over me....I will continue to write and post. I learnt my lesson, enough said. No more posting about work for me. What I find puzzling, is that to my recollection I never used my real name, I certainly never use patients names or even initials, I have never referenced where I work, most members of my family don't even know how to access my blog, so how did my blog mysteriously show up out of the millions of blogs out there by a so called stranger, how did this mystery person connect it all? They truly must be some kind of detective which I highly doubt....my blog is nothing special...I don't have high visitor counts...it's just your average everyday blog written by your average everyday person.....I can only imagine and believe it had to be someone who knew I blogged and had some kind of access to my blog, and like I said had a lot of time on their hands, I am having a very hard time believing it was just average joe public who complained about my blog. So enough said.. I hope this person is satisfied, but most importantly I hope they enjoy reading ALL of my posts....and maybe just maybe learns a few things about life and all the wonderful positive things life has to offer.

Cheers to you all.....

Saturday's Photo Scavenger Hunt

This weeks theme is "Tiny" Being the amateur birder that I am, when I saw the subject for this weeks hunt was to be "Tiny" I immediately thought of my photos I have of the hummingbird I took from my living room window back in May. This is the male "Rufus Hummingbird" They are "Tiny" but boy can they move!

Happy Hunting all!!!

The Wedding

Well here we are the middle of another week. My how time flies. We spent the weekend on the mainland for my sisters wedding. The rain that was forecasted off....however, it would have been nice for a little sprinkling to cool things down a bit. It got very hot and muggy. The wedding ceremony was outside...I felt like the witch from the Wizard of Oz....."I'm melting....". My sister looked so happy and I must say I have never heard so many wonderfully romantic things come out of her hubbies mouth as they did that day. The Justice of the Peace who performed the ceremony was the grooms grade 7 teacher. Small world isn't it. She did a lovely job and made it so personable. My eldest brother(the one who lived with me this past fall/winter) walked my sister down the isle. He wore a tux and he did look rather dapper, so I asked him if he had ever worn one before, he said no...so I said well I guess there is no time like the present....we had a good chuckle.

Everyone in the family helped out with the wedding. My eldest sister was the MC and took control of making sure everything flowed from the set up to the take down. Everyone helped with the decorations....and boy was there a lot to do in that department. My nephew made the wedding cake and I was asked to add my artistic flare by decorating the cake. I chose to use fresh roses and ivy.....it turned out better than I imagined.....hubby didn't get a picture I wish he had as it was something I would use in the future, and my sister in law made my sisters wedding gown. It was a busy couple of days, and everything came together...

Eldest sister and brother
Another sister putting the boutonniere on the groom

The bride being walked down the isle

The happy couple

Hubby, I and our girls

So there you have it our weekend and the wedding. The boys are already asking what their next adventure will be. I have a few cards up my sleeve so I will keep them guessing until I get off of night shifts.

Until next time....cheers!

Another Active day......

With it being so hot these past few days I have gotten up early and ventured out for my run before the heat of the day, this morning I think I left it to late...it was 0745 and I could feel the heat....the other mornings I have been out running by 0700. I know call me crazy...but it's got to be done.

So with being up early, this gives me a head start on the day. I can have laundry on the line and most chores done before the boys even get up. This morning hubby and I went out and bought another lawn mower. I just wanted a cheap one as we have the rider but I like the push mower to get the areas the rider doesn't. Our last one.....well let's say I will pay more attention to what is under the brush in the future. After returning from getting the mower I was off to get my hair cut. My sister is getting married on the weekend and I wanted it cleaned up for the wedding.

Yesterday while we were at Qualicum falls the Park ranger told me about this lookout point that is suppose to be spectacular and on a clear day you can see for miles. Well it sounded like a plan. Going up this road was amazing...some parts I felt like we were almost vertical. We arrive to the spot. It truly was spectacular....if you are afraid of heights it's not the place for you...there is a 940 ft. vertical drop from the look out point and it is not barricaded or anything....definitely not a place for little or people with pacemakers I find out. Yes they have huge telecommunications towers there...and well that powerful microwave is not good on pacemakers....I almost instantly started to feel faint....my head went all woozy...and got sick to my stomach.....hubby almost had to carry me to the car and hightail it out of there. I felt so bad that I spoilt it for the boys....but it was get out of there or send me to the hospital....we left.

I didn't want to call it a day....so we decided to take the boys to the Wildlife Recovery Center. The boys really wanted to see the black bears. The center takes in all animals that have been injured. Most will never be able to leave due to their injuries....eagles unfortunately are abundant here...I think I mentioned in one of my previous posts about the bald eagle that had the prosthetic beak....well we were able to get a great photo of him.....

Isn't that amazing what they can do...they showed the whole process the moulds that they had to make and stages it took to get it to this point....he was very active today....

These two birds are called Australian Black swans....they were originally kept as pets and mistreated.

This beautiful bird is a Peregrine Falcon, he was so active and just begging to be photographed.

This wonderful bird is the Great Horned Owl....brought to the refuge as a result of a wing injury.

Isn't he just gorgeous...this is a Swains Hawk.....amazing bird.

For those of you that know how much I love owls, I just had to share this one with you..this guy is called a Small Eared Owl.

The boys really enjoyed themselves...the bears did eventually come out of their den but there were not any good photo ops. We left the refuge feeling in awe of what we had seen.

From there we decided that we wanted to venture a little further, and find a nice place to cool off. Well what could be nicer than a dip in a wonderful river. So off to Englishman's River. Again that water was a tad on the cool side...but that did not deter us. The rock around there are incredible...lots of slate and hence great skipping stones.....hubby and the boys were on a mission to see you who could make a rock skip the most....I think eldest son won with 8 skips

Some previous visitor to the river had decided to leave an Inukshuk...that just so happens to be the the logo for the 2010 Winter Olympics being held in Vancouver.

The boys finally ventured in....as did I....it was cool...but lots of fun, if you lifted your feet the current would take you down river...

So there you have it...another day in review.......