We wish you a Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Brian and I would like to say a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our family and friends. We hope you have warm and happy times with your loved ones - and even maybe with those "not so loved". Christmas seems to conjure up some interesting feelings in us all - and different for everyone. It can be a sad time as we remember those no longer with us. I love the season and feel it's a great time to make extra effort to catch up with people we care about but don't seem to connect with often enough; or just do something nice for someone...because it feels nice. I always think the New Year is a great time to renew our attitude to life - not just with "Resolutions" but thinking about the future in general and how we can approach it in a more positive way - despite any hardships and challenges of the past.  Okay, Ginnie, get down from the soapbox! Sorry. I meant to just say Happy New Year after Merry Christmas but got a bit carried away.

This is my last post until the New Year. We ended up leaving for Christmas in Alberta a week early as Brian's mum is very ill and he wanted to get to Ontario as quickly as possible to see her. We caught the first ferry off the island at 6.30am last Saturday - no pretty pictures as it was dark most of the way over. The first day's drive from Vancouver through the mountains as far as Golden was wonderful - roads mostly dry and not too much traffic. We drove a bit further than planned as the weather was so good so we thought we would "make hay". There had been very recent snowfalls in a few areas and the views were picture postcard perfect...see below. It was certainly different to the summer version of the Rocky Mountains.

*My apologies to all Canadians as I'm sure you will find these photos very ho hum and wonder what the fuss is all about - but I know Aussies find all this snow and ice fascinating. Oh yes, and please remember all photos taken from moving vehicle so not totally perfect. This first lot are between Vancouver and Golden - on the "good" travelling day.

It was certainly a Winter Wonderland.

We got up on the Sunday morning to find snow on the car...yuk. But, it did justify the purchase the week prior of a cadillac snow brush. The second day's driving was pretty horrid - the roads were much more snowy and icy and more traffic. Photos below are from Golden to Banff.

Zelda was not impressed!

Out the front of the motel - Ginnie was not impressed!

Sunrise in the mountains - very ethereal.

Just outside Lake Louise.

Despite the awful driving conditions, we made such good time we stopped in Banff for lunch and a bit of shopping. It wasn't too cold and so very pleasant to walk the streets - it was even snowing while we were there...very romantic. As we drove on into Calgary, the driving conditions worsened (saw a few cars in the ditch) and it kept snowing. We stopped at Brian's brother Trevor's to leave Brian for a visit and wait for his flight to Ontario at midnight. I headed off alone out to Okotoks which is about 30 minutes south of Calgary to spend a few days with my former sister in law Mary and husband Al. This was my first winter driving experience in 5 years - the streets in Calgary were terrible with lots of snow and slush. The highway wasn't much better. Mary lives about 20 km out of Okotoks along a country road. That road had a lot of snow and hadn't been plowed so that was a bit scary - it was just starting to get dark and it was hard to see where the sides of the road were. Finally made it there safe and sound.

Road from Banff to Calgary.

We were happy to make it safely this far.

Brian looks thrilled doesn't he?

The first day on the farm, I "helped" Mary with her chores. It was pretty cold (around -11 C) so we bundled up and went out to the barn. One of the horses (she has a dozen or so) had been quite sick and wasn't expected to live. As it turned out, she died as we watched her - very sad. Mary needed straw for the chicken shed so off we went into High River - about 10km away. It was so beautiful with all of the fresh snow in the fields along the way and on the trees in the town.

Early morning view of the Rocky Mountains from Mary's kitchen. 

The farmyard.

And again... 

And, sunset over the Rockies.

The chickens don't like the snow.  

The horses don't seem to mind.

And cats always seem to find a comfortable spot - the chook is
happy to have escaped from his cold henhouse into the warm barn.

Once back home and inside, I bugged Mary to get all of her Christmas decorations out so we could Chrismafy her house. She has the hugest collection of the most beautiful Christmas ornaments I have ever seen. We did two trees and they look gorgeous and there were still untapped boxes of ornaments.

Mary's beautiful Victorian themed tree.

Woke up the next day to the news that my stepfather John in Australia had died. He hadn't recovered after a recent operation so that was very sad news just before Christmas.

The week has passed really quickly with more farm activities, shopping, etc. Not sure when I'll be heading up to Edmonton - Brian is still unsure when he can leave Ontario. His being able to spend time with his mum at the moment is so wonderful. She is not doing well and we pray for improvement. Brian will either fly back to Calgary for a visit with Mary and Al and then we'll drive up to Edmonton together or he'll head directly to Edmonton and I'll drive up to meet him there. Time will tell.

Next week will be spent in Edmonton visiting with our children, doing last minute (hey, who am I kidding - doing ALL) of my Christmas shopping, and some pre-Christmas social activities and then, of course, enjoying all of the hustle and bustle that is Christmas Day.

It feels quite strange to be back in Alberta and going out and about in the snow - when I think about it, it feels quite normal and that worries me! Calgary tends to be a bit "warmer" than Edmonton so I'm just happy that the temperatures are quite bearable. I don't think Edmonton is too bad at the moment either so let's keep fingers crossed that it stays that way until we are able to make our escape back to the mild conditions on Vancouver Island.

For a "feel good" few minutes,be sure to click on this link to watch the charity Giant Teddy Bear toss at a hockey game in Vancouver recently. It's amazing. You can fast forward to the action part if you don't want to listen to all of the preliminaries.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOiQBUqTnhc&feature=youtu.be

...and a Happy New Year!

The silly season is in full swing.

Well, Christmas has finally come to our house with all trees trimmed, decorations placed, Christmas quilts hung, etc. etc. All looks lovely - likely there won't be many people other than Brian and I to enjoy it but that's okay - it's helped to get us in the mood. Not much shopping done as yet but I guess the panic will set in soon.

I made these in Australia - we are short on wall
space, hence the creative hanging spot.

Our timing to enter Nanaimo's social life has been fortuitous. Get a few meetings/games in and, voila!, there is an invitation to a Christmas function! Very clever I'd say.

We went to the Newcomers group Drinks & Appies last week which we enjoyed thoroughly. And then our neighbours two doors down invited us over last weekend for afternoon drinks. We were heading home from there and they reminded us to remember to watch the Yacht Club's Christmas Carols Cruise on the bay that night. We had not even heard of it so were very lucky they had mentioned it. About 7pm, 30 or so yachts and boats came cruising slowly around the bay - ended up doing a U-turn right in front of our house so we really got a good look. It was quite lovely as they were all decorated and were playing Christmas Carols. It wasn't too cold so we took jackets, lap quilts and wine outside and happily sat for an hour or more watching the show! Very nice. My photos aren't great unfortunately but you get the idea.

One day last week we drove out to Ladysmith to pick up Heidi's quilt from the quilt shop (sorry, still can't show a photo yet) - on the way back we called into a store called Buckerfields which I was curious to see. As we went into the store, there were lots of people milling around with their pets - some with Santa hats etc. We asked what was going on and discovered it was "Have your pet photographed with Santa" day. Of course we had to go and watch for a bit. Very cute.

You can't see but behind this very cute monster was
a puppy version - you can just see the top of his hat.
I think they are Newfoundland (Newfie's) dogs
(*Megan, you would love them as they are HUUUGE!)

"When's my turn?" (in whiny voice of course)

Yes, one family brought four Chihuahuas! As you can
see, Santa was pretty excited.

This is the Star Quilt I made and sent off to Brian's mum for Christmas - she has received it now so I can show it to you. I think its timing was good as she had a pretty rough week and this hopefully was a little pick me up for her.

I have also finished quilting and binding the Christmas trees quilt which I showed you before - here it is in its finished form - I think it's really cute. Problem is I have nowhere to hang it.

And I've also finished this one begun earlier this year - feeling very virtuous at the moment. That's likely it for projects until after Christmas.

Yesterday I enjoyed a full turkey Christmas dinner at my daytime quilt group - the Material Girls. Lots of food and lots of fun. We had some interesting "games" organized, including strip poker. Once I realized it involved strips of fabric and not clothing, I reassessed the outfit I had chosen to wear - I was so much more comfortable in just one layer of clothes rather than the five I had planned for! The ladies went all out with decorations, gifts, etc. We played the leftie/righty game with gifts which made me feel right at home as we had done that at my last Central Coast Tourism Christmas party. The little stockings and tree shaped napkins below were all made by one lady over a period of about two days. She made 18 of them - each appliquéd with a different design and then also sewed on beads, etc. as well! They were very cute. Oh yes, and if that wasn't enough, she also made some chocolate bark candy to include in each one. Quite an amazing effort.

Some of the lovely Material Girls.

Brian's hockey continues to go well and he is thoroughly enjoying the camaraderie of the guys. They had a mini tournament last week which meant two games in a morning - very trying for his muscles but he held up well. Yesterday he scored his first goal (breakaway) so there's no holding him back now! His group is very inclusive and have again phoned to have him go and watch the local hockey team play Friday night.

I went with Brian today to Parksville to watch him play. The guys on his team are mostly over 75 - some over 80 and one is 88! Isn't that incredible. I am so impressed. I took my camera to get proof that Brian was actually playing hockey and this is the result. The quality isn't the best because, as you can imagine, at the incredibly high speed they are skating, it's difficult to get a good shot.

Keep your eye on No. 4

Killer Thompson

After hockey, we drove up to Courtney (another 45 mins or so north) for lunch and then a spot of shopping. I think I mentioned in a previous blog how lovely their main street is and that the shops had all beautifully decorated their windows for Christmas. Well, I got a few photos today to share. Sorry about the reflections.

So far, we have two more Christmas functions next week; plus declined one for this Saturday. Our realtor and his girlfriend are coming for lunch on Sunday which should be fun. We also have a New Year's Eve party lined up, provided we get back from Alberta in time. So, the social life is good. January will be hard to take after all of this fun. Frankly, I'm not sure how I am going to find the time to go back to work!