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.......

What we've been up to

The boys have been here a week already. I can't believe how time has flown. We have been so busy. I had to work the first 4 days they were here, but we have been making up for lost time.

On my swing day which was Saturday, we decided to go to our favourite swimming hole....Rosewall Creek. I have pictures of Rosewall on my sidebar. What we weren't prepared for was the effects the long winter had on the creek. I gather the creeks water level must have been high and fast as there was lots of erosion...the tree that we use to use to walk along to get to our favourite spot had moved down stream and the path had eroded away. This of course did not discourage us....we found another way and lo and behold we were able to enjoy the creek as always. The boys did manage to venture in....it was mighty cold being fresh mountain run off.....

The water looks calm and shallow in this picture....but not far down stream it moves rather quickly.....I decided to get on the air mattress and see if it would carry me down stream....well my goodness...good thing hubby was to busy saving me our I am sure he would have gotten a few photos...the creek took me down stream a fair ways, and then the current got faster...and it wasn't that easy to maneuver on the mattress hence I ended up floating right into the roots of a huge fallen tree...I was tangled in the trees and in almost freezing temperature waters....I was holding on to a root with one hand and the mattress with the other and trying and shivering at the same time....well hubby came to the rescue once again....oh and of course their were other people watching this whole episode from the path above....but you know....I got back on that thing and did it again....and redirected myself...and I did it....

We had bought the boys water boards(skimmers) the other day so Monday came and that was the day to try them out. The sun was shinning and conditions were perfect to try this new sport. The boys had never tried it but it seems to becoming all the rage...I can remember it when I was a kid..it used to be consider the poor mans surfboard. So off to Rathtrevor we went... the tide can go out for miles...and even when it comes in it is very shallow and hence making it ideal conditions for boarding....youngest son was first to try....there is a lot of falling that goes on while you are just learning....

Then it was eldest sons turn to try....the idea is to throw the board chase after it and then jump on it and see how far you can skim on it.....

Believe me there was a lot of falling going on...but a lot of fun as well....and of course I had to give it a try.....I got up once....did a lot of face planting.....once again there are no photos of me participating....camera was left on the beach so I could go out and be with the boys....

The boys going out for another try.

June was youngest sons birthday, but seeing as we couldn't be there with him to celebrate..we decided to celebrate here. Tuesday was going to be his special day. That meant no chores for the Birthday boy. I put up Birthday banners and balloons...dad went and bought an ice cream cake(we couldn't have asked for anything more perfect as temperatures have been soaring) We made a special dinner and grandma and grandpa came for dinner.

With the temperatures soaring, finding a shady place seemed like a good idea....youngest son and our trusty dog Bert.....

Now doesn't that look yummy.....that's all ice cream...well not all, the piping around the cake is whipping cream...and chocolate chunks...a good time was had by all.

Today youngest son went to his friends place and spent the day....dad went to work...that left eldest son and I to hang out together....and that we did. We decided to go to a place called Little Qualicum Falls....they have swimming holes there and we thought that would be a perfect place to cool off.

We arrived only to be told that swimming was prohibited. DARN! But we decided that we would go walk to the falls and just enjoy the sights. We walked and talked for almost 4 hours, when we found a calm spot in the water we stopped to cool off.

And here is my trusty walking companion.......

So there you have it our week in review. I hope you have enjoyed it.....cheers all and hope life is treating you all well!!!!

Happy Friday....

Well as I mentioned in my previous post, the boys arrived the other day. It was such a happy moment greeting them at the airport. Smiles and hugs were abundant. Once we had gathered their belongings we made our trip home. As I mentioned it was a long day for all of us....the boys were a bit done in.....their dad couldn't help but take a few pictures of this rare moment when they were both actually quiet......

There's something about looking at your children sleeping...there is something so angelic about it don't you think? We arrived home just before 3pm, all exhausted...we headed for our beds for a good nap.

On another note......our resident woodpeckers are back.....we have a few very large Pileated woodpeckers but they are very camera shy.....but here is one small woodpecker who seemed to enjoy having his picture taken....

Then of course we have the resident deer....they are beautiful animals aren't they?

Well there you have it....hope you all have a fantastic day....off to work I must go...cheers all!

Happy 4th of July......

To all my American Blogging friends I want to wish you a wonderful Happy 4th of July.....my you enjoy your day...be safe and be happy.....Cheers to you all!!!

Well tomorrow is going to be a very happy day for us. As most of my American blogging friends will be celebrating 4th of July, our boys will be arriving and we couldn't be happier.

We will have to get an early start. The alarm will be set for 0315 we have to catch a 0500 ferry to the mainland in order to be at the airport for the boys arrival at 0830. We haven't seen them since Spring break and then we only had them for 5 days...so this is going to be great. They will be with us for 5 weeks...again not long enough but we will take what we can get. The boys themselves will have a long day up early to catch their flight which leaves Toronto at 0630 with the time change and all they will be getting here almost the same time they left....well not exactly but there is 3 hrs time difference. Once they arrive we will high tail it back to the ferry. We tried to make a reservation for the trip back but reservations are full....ouch...who would have thought on a Wednesday....mind you it is the summer. Anyhow, hubby has tied in a little business while we will be on the mainland. Picking up two slabs of granite for a job he is doing. Don't mind making the stop but what that means is that we will be over height on the ferry and that is where it gets tricky....we could end up waiting a ferry trip or two....I hope not....but I am preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Who would have thought preparing for a 14 year old and 12 year old would be so much work. I am exhausted from all the housework I did....funny thing...I know they won't notice or give a hoot....but I do. I busied myself with cleaning out cupboards making room for them to store their clothes which then always leads to me trying to dispose of things...of course the dust gets to me so I have one huge sneezing fit....I vacuum the windowsills, the bookshelf....dust the headboards and lamps.....and speaking of which...I bought myself two new stand up reading lamps....one for my bedroom.....well wouldn't you know it...I had already cleaned and dusted and vacuumed my room when I decided to put the lamp together.....of course the lamp is packed in a large amount of Styrofoam. You ever worked with Styrofoam.....it breaks flies everywhere and I mean everywhere and when it decides to land it sticks to whatever it lands on....even my cheek....oh it was a bit funny....anyhow, I got the lamp together and set up...re vacuumed my room...and made my way downstairs for more cleaning.....dear god does it ever end. I mean it's not as though I don't clean...I do....but I am always amazed at the dust accumulation and the dog hair....I dust and vacuum almost daily...but it never ceases to amaze me....anyhow it's done.

Now what's for dinner.....I don't know.... the thought of preparing dinner leads me to another task....I bought some wonderful strawberries the other day they are scrumtious but there are a lot of them.... I need to use them up...so I made a lovely fruit salad...but I still have strawberries left...so I decided to clean them and freeze them....when I get a chance I will make some rhubarb and strawberry jam and or pie...yum.

Cheers all!

My boys.....

Random things about me......

My friend Shelby tagged me for this meme.....I am suppose to tell you 8 random things about me.....now are there 8 things.......let me think....

1. I really need my skim milk latte with cinnamon sprinkles in the morning...and even if I am on a diet I need my piece of toast to go along with it....

2. I always wanted to sing opera.....I love the duet with Sarah Brighton and Andre Bocelli singing...."time to say goodbye" I close my eyes and sing imaging myself up on the stage singing.

3. I like things that make me push my personal envelope....like public speaking or singing.....difficult to do ...but when I have done it I have felt so proud of myself.

4. I am trying to let my grey come in. I have always dyed my hair and have kept it short...but with my last hair cut I noticed that there is a lot of grey in there...and well I just wonder what I would look like without Clairol #365......

5. I love to dance....I mean really love to dance.....when I was in high school I did an aptitude test to find out what were some of the things I would be best suited for as a career...it told me amongst other things that I should be a choreographer.....I wish I had followed that.....

6. I am terrified of failure. So much so that rather than failing I just don't do...which is really a shame because I know that has held me back from doing a lot of things in my life.

7. I am outspoken and stand by my principles sometimes to my detriment. My husband has this saying about me when I talk to him about an injustice I have seen or experienced he says to me....."don't you feel a letter coming on"....meaning that I have a reputation that when I get mad about something I write letters to the local paper or the Member of Parliament or local politician...can't help it I just do.....

8. I am terrified of dogs even though I have one. When I was younger I was attacked by a dog...it jumped on top off me and pushed me over right in the middle of a street, I was laying on the ground with this dog on top of me...thank goodness for some kind strangers who got it off of me....that had lasting effects on me so much so that it has curtailed where I go for runs. There are a lot of dogs where I live.

So there you have it....8 random things about me. I am not going to tag anyone...but if you like to play please do and just let me know you did so I can come and check out what you have to say....

There is one other thing.....I really want to learn how to add headers, change font and improve the width of my sidebar and do some of the funky stuff a lot of you do...but I have read and reread the instructions...and this thick brain of mine just doesn't get it....I spent hours yesterday learning how to upload from Picassa and editing...it was very painful....just wish there was an easier way.....I learn much easier through demonstration rather than the written word.....So there are 9 random things about me.....

A little while ago I participated in a Scavenger hunt, called Lithia Scavenger Hunt.We had to gather 7 items and mail the package to a person who was randomly picked by the organizer of the hunt. The 7 items were:

1. Wind movement item

2. Something blue or blue in it.

3. Your local sale ads paper.

4. Some triangle shape or 3 sided

5. Flower stickers

6. A rock

7. A frame picture taken from close by your're home areas looking toward the south.

Then once it has been dertermined it is we exchange with we gather the items on the list mail it to them and once it arrives we share.It just so happens that I got the organizer of the hunt that would be

Peppylady and here is what I got....

You know what I found neat about this.... I love the ad flyer, there were two things in there that you would never see advertised in a Canadian flyer.....you know what it was.....guess..........ok, I will tell you.....Liquor and Guns. You see we don't sell liquor in our grocery stores you have to go to a government store or government agent to get liquor....and although you might see the odd ad for let's say Jim's gun shop...you would never see guns adverstised. The wind ornament I have already put up and the tea towel will be put to use very soon.....thank you Dora aka Peppylady for the lovely items.....cheers....

By the Light of the Silvery Moon.......

The other evening while I was laying in bed I noticed how bright the night sky was. I looked out the window and saw the moon. It shown so brightly through my window that it was like having a night light on. It was such a photographic moment. Hubby got out the camera and these are just a few of the shots he was able to get......

A picture says a thousand words....and I know what songs and poems come to my mind when I look at these photos...does anything come to mind for you?

Cheers all, and have a great day!!