My 45th - Chaster Hall, Gibsons, BC

Barbie's Shower...

What a lovely evening! Only a week until the wedding. Send all your good weather energy...

Another weekend on the Coast...

It was a jam-packed weekend...again! Friday night our good friend, Doug, flew over from Nanaimo and we made our now regular jaunt down to Smitty's Oyster Bar for a delectable feast. Saturday, Barb made her way over to be part of the live radio event happening down at the Lane. I got interviewed live twice on the radio which was great promo for Bodacious - there was also fantastic live music by Verna Chan and her crew. George and Doug headed out on the boat for a 3 hour tour.
It was really hot and we were all pretty much done, so we headed down to the newly licensed Black Bean coffee shop for some cold coronas and snacks with new and old friends. So much fun, sitting outside on a hot summer day looking at the ocean view.
Saturday's dinner was at home - our now infamous maui rib tacos with homemade guacamole. So yummy - if I do say so myself! ...and then the badminton challenge was on. Always good for a laugh - especially when the boys try to get the birdie off the roof ("we used to do this in university!")!
Sunday we breakfasted at Molly's Reach, and headed down to veg at our beach for awhile. Barb had to get back to the city earlier and Doug flew home to Nanaimo in the later afternoon. This weekend - we'll be driving Big Momma in the Sea Cavalcade parade.
Now, when am I supposed to get the housework done???
Check out my facebook page for more pix since every time I try to download pictures here, my computer crashes. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Bean...about a month ago

he's quite a bit bigger now. pretty cute, huh?

weekend update...

Success! Both staff bbq's went really well and I think all who came enjoyed themselves - and didn't leave hungry:) The weather cooperated for both events - whew!

Here are the beautiful Bodacious ladies in Barb's flowery backyard...

and the gift bags...

G's staff bbq in our backyard...

enjoying our new swing...

An amazing rose from our garden...I wish I could scratch and sniff the beautiful scent for you!

my backyard patio...it's coming along and my strawberries are almost ready to eat...

A couple of our friends stayed the night so there was some extended partying into the evening, fantastic breakfast of leftovers and then off to the beach for the afternoon.

All's quiet now and I'm sitting in my backyard watching all the birds enjoy whatever they can find on the grass and a cruise ship slowly going by.
Another pic of our living room colour...

How was your weekend?
Oh, and remind me to tell you how much I love badminton! Ummm...I guess I just did.

home from huatulco - a link to my pix

hey! long time no see:) here's a link to my flickr pix from our recent trip to Hualtulco, Mexico. hope you enjoy them. it was an awesome trip. i'll write more soon...

Finally...this is what I've been waiting for!

Sunday, Sunday...Sitting outside on the back patio in the sunshine,

with friends,

and a beer,

and some bbq'd wings,

and some Bob Marley,

YESSSSSS!

Today, I put my hummingbird feeder up after a hummingbird whizzed noisily past my head while I was out thinking about where to plant my new bulbs. Can't wait to watch them feed! OH! OH! OH! - I just watched one land and have a sip! Yay.

Today's been a catch up day. Had guests all weekend again which was great so today is back to the reality of emptying the laundry basket, dishwasher, recycling...and getting some more vitamin d in the back yard. Our uber-gardener neighbour stopped by last week with a big bag full of coffee grounds (thanks Starbucks!) to add to our flower beds. Apparently it's very good for the soil so that was another project I crossed off my to-do list today. http://www.sustainableenterprises.com/Business/coffeefert.htm

Oh yeah, I also caulked around the windows on the outside of the house. Am I handy, or what?!?

George is on his way home and the sun is still shining. Maybe it will be warm enough to dine outside this evening? Or is that pushing it:)? Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.

xo

Oh yeah, we also had the ceremonial planting of our lilac tree this weekend. I LOVE lilacs!

sunny monday!

Just playing around today - trying to give my blog a new look/sound without so much stuff! Thanks to Danielle at whitehottruth for the song!

I was getting frustrated at not being able to utilize the whole page.
Had a great and once again, mellow, weekend. Picked up a couple of treats on friday for g's valentine. Got an amaryllis plant that's just about to bloom (i'm quite fascinated with bulbs at the moment) and a dragonfly decoration for our garden with a glow-in-the-dark marble/orb-thing that we'll put in front of our bedroom window once we put some plants out there.
Had a sweet Saturday - drove to Davis Bay (our new weekend morning stop) to get coffees/teas and snacks and then meandered around Sechelt and checked out the shops. Our welcome wagon lady gave us a bunch of coupons for free stuff so we ended up going to Casey's Country Gardens for our free 2" plant (i chose an ivy) and picked up a beautiful bromeliad plant called "guzmania torch". Apparently easy to care for which works for me!

Headed to Smitty's Oyster Bar as mentioned in my earlier post and had some yummy food and drinks and then a mellow night at home.
Yesterday was so beautiful here so we decided to get some projects done around the house - not a chore to hang out here at all! Washed the car (dirty, dirty, dirty!), cleaned the gutters (i held the ladder:) and tried to convince ourselves that it was warm enough for a picnic on our back patio. Didn't last too long but it provided great anticipation of things to come - backyard bbqs, croquet, bocce parties, shared with friends and family.
Two weekends in a row we've been on our own and now we're ready for company again. I believe we're starting to get booked up so...if you're planning on coming, give me a call. Barb and Brandy on Wednesday, Karin on Friday and the Manuel crew for the weekend. Woo hoo!

What do you think?

I think my versions of these dishes turned out pretty good!

Breakfast - baked french toast with blueberries and peaches with bacon. Visiting friends... on the walk down to our beach...
our beach...

Fantastic weekend (even with the fog). Lots of good visits - some touring - some eating - some laughing - some sunshine! Yay!
It cleared beautifully today and we finally got to see our view! How was your weekend?

Plans for the weekend...

Farmers' Market Salad w/ Spiced Goat Cheese Rounds

We have our lovely friends, Karin and Franz joining us for dinner tonight and since she's a vegetarian (does like seafood), I was scrambling for a menu that will impress. (They always make the most amazing meals for us!) This recipe is a bit out of season but I think it will work beautifully and looks pretty, too. Hope I can do it justice. I will try to remember to take pix of my own so you can compare. I think I will also make Shrimp Sandwiches with Tarragon-Caper Mayonnaise.
Both recipes are from http://www.bonappetite.com/
The sun is starting to clear up the fog here in Gibsons and I think it's going to be a beautiful day! I've been listening to the fog horns all morning. I love that mournful sound. G. and I are playing around with how the commuting will best work for us. We've decided that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will go into the city together on the first ferry (6:30am). He will make other arrangements for the days that I will work from home. This morning I drove him to the first ferry and his co-worker (hi Barb!!!) picked him up on the other side. Seemed to work ok and I got to get a couple more hours sleep after I dropped him off. It will take some time to get used to the early mornings but usually, once I'm up, it's all good. Seeing the sunshine today helps a LOT!
We're hoping to have a few more visitors this weekend - I'm really loving the idea of people coming over from the city and discovering this new place with us. Weird thing??? After living in apartments, condos, or in the city where people don't tend to have driveways, it's very strange when someone pulls up in your yard. You know immediately that they're coming to you. So far it's been the old owner, the meter reader, the cable guy and the realtor. Must get dressed now, just in case:) Waiting for a call from Welcome Wagon!!!

New Home in Gibsons and New Year's Eve Revelry

thanks to our loverly friends, Kathleen ("cinderella") and Alexandra who came over to Gibsons with us on New Years Eve day loaded up with yummy food (you can see our very fancy improvised dining room table) and painting supplies (including painting socks!), we managed to prep and paint four rooms, have some silly fun and begin our transition into our new home! If you look closely at some of these pix (click on the photo to see it larger), you can see before and after colours, a couple of mr. napkin heads, a jazz split!? and a very snowy yard. So far our new home is feeling pretty welcoming. Only 3 more sleeps until the big moving day! Pray for no more snow!!!
Happy New Year to you.

Merry Wishes!

Well...I couldn't not write anything for Christmas. I've been a bit preoccupied and also left my computer charger in Victoria so no pix as I'm using G's work computer. (at the time we thought we'd be back there within a coupla days so it wasn't a biggie) But...We're pretty much snowed in here on Walden Street. It sure is beautiful. I believe this is a record snowfall - most snow E.V.E.R.!!! The day has been filled with shoveling, pushing cars out of the snow, visiting neighbours, packing up the kitchen of all non-essentials and now - waiting for the roasting chicken and sweet potatoes to be ready so we can eat.
I feel very blessed in my life - good food, good friends, warm home, a life filled with love! I wish all good things for you and yours as we end this year and begin a new one. Merry Christmas, warmest wishes, my friends!

Making TV and Making Merry

Georges' Barb and her hubby Al We spent about 3 hours yesterday morning filming at the store for a CBC program called Living Vancouver (I tried to post their link but it's not working at the moment). It will be a 3 1/2 minute segment to run in the second week of January. Barb, Bonnie and I modeled our clothes, and we got to talk a lot about our philosphy, loving your body, celebrating your curves, etc. I think it went extremely well. Funny how exhausting that can be. The "being on" and trying to say the right thing in the right way. At least they have plenty of material to work with. It's always nice when the reporters or media people 'get' our concept and help us get it across in the right way. Fun!
Last night was G's annual staff Christmas party at the Sequoia Grill in Stanley Park. Beautiful setting, fun night - too much wine! Will I ever learn? I think G. and I were feeling particularly celebratory with the new house and all!
Today was an all day pj day - movies, blog surfing, hanging out with my G. Also nice. Hope you're all having a great weekend! More pix here...

G. in his utilikilt!