Serendipity!

You know how, in life, when you're on the right track, things just flow? It seems moving to Gibsons is one of those things. Things have been just falling into place quite naturally and sometimes quite surprisingly. For example...We had learned that there would be quite a long wait to get our sailboat over here as all of the marinas are full up and there are wait lists. We had decided that we were going to bring our boat over to Secret Cove (the only place that had a spot available. very pretty BUT is over 40 minutes drive away) and wait there to get in closer to town. Last weekend we went to Gibsons Marina to see if they would even take our name on the waitlist (they'd refused before Christmas) and they did but assured us that we would not get in this year. The next day, the woman that I'd spoken to called to say a spot had just come available at another marina - only 10 minutes away from our house! We can move over as early as March 1st! Now we just have to wait for a calm day. Only one example - but one that increases our quality of life in a huge way! Yay:) Happy Friday to you!

Evita is in the house...

We have a new permanent resident in the house. She belongs here (lived here long before we did) and I think she's quite beautiful! When we first looked at the house with our realtor, I noticed this beautiful lady hanging over the bed in the master bedroom. I had commented to the owner that I thought she was quite beautiful so...when Irma (the woman who loved this house before us) came to pick up her mail the other day, she said that she'd like us to have her. (Her husband had given it to her 40 years ago and she said now we should have it for 40 years.) We've just given her pride of place in the front entrance. What do you think? It's a mass produced copy of the original and the artists' name is Jose Puyet. Can't seem to find out much else about her but will keep trying.

Wednesday on the Coast...

I love this pic so much, I'm posting it again - just bigger:)
It's a "work from home" day today. G. has his command central set up on the kitchen table - I think he's been up for hours, had a shower, already gone through a pot of coffee, had a conference call and is clicking away on his computer. I'm in the living room in my pj's (or pretty vintage peignoir set:), catching up on everyone's blogs and facebook, eating toast. I actually saw some sun when I first got up but the fog has settled in again. Our days in the city have been working pretty well so far - I just have to get used to the 5am start.
Since we still have our rental home in Vancouver until the end of the month, we've been putting off doing the final clearing/cleaning that needs doing. You know that bit? It's just crap left but it's your crap and needs to be dealt with? Can't I just move forward and let someone else deal with that? The landlord has been in there painting and putting in new carpet so as far as cleaning goes, I don't think I'll have to do much. The fact that he's had 3 weeks to work on the place on our dime makes me feel a little less guilty for not getting in there to finish up sooner. The next tenants will also benefit in a big way!
It looks like my mom and stepdad are going to come for a visit this weekend. I'm thinking I might put up a calendar to keep track of all these visits. Fun!
Oh...big congrats to Barbie and Superman for setting their wedding date. September 12, 2009 - her and George's birthdays. Very exciting! I can't wait...

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!!!

A New Link...

I've just signed up on Daryn Kagan's site and will be writing on my page there as well as here. My intention is to focus on having an 'attitude of gratitude' for those posts. Check it out if you like...http://darynkagan.ning.com/

We're Here! Woot woot!

Well...I think I'm finally ready to get back to my new normal! Cable's set-up, internet is set-up, my bed is made and feelin' pretty comfy - what more could I possibly need? I took a coupla pix of some of the finished rooms so you can all have a peek. I stayed home today to wait for the cable guy so had a whole day to putter by myself in the new digs. I kept having to give my head a shake. Is this really mine (ours)? I feel so blessed and lucky! Hope you are all drying out from that crazy rain storm - we had a few more inches to deal with in the basement when I went back to the old house yesterday. Won't miss that one little bit:)
Oh yeah, for those of you who were wondering where we were going to sleep on that final night at the house? We borrowed some blow-up mattresses and slept on the floor. Not too romantic or exciting:) The move went extremely seamlessly tho'. We and the movers caught the first ferry over (7:20am) and we were unloaded and they were gone by 9:30! Sweet...
Then we had the whole weekend to get sorted. Sunday, we finally had time (and the road was clear of snow) to check out the pathway down to the beach. It was a pretty nice 15 minute walk to a beautiful stretch of beach through a lovely forested area! I whistled the whole time to warn any curious bears or other such wild beings that I was happy and friendly so no need to bother with me. The walk back up the hill was not quite as pleasant as the way down (not much breath left for whistling:) but it will be my new challenge to get my cardio back in shape. I can't wait to explore more of this amazing place!

Lots more boxes to sort but so far, very happy.

Well...Here we go!

We noticed our basement had started flooding at about 9 o'clock last night. It wasn't a huge surprise - this is about the 4th time we've had water down there since we moved in 3 1/2 years ago and with the weather we've been having, all the ingredients were there. Just before that discovery, we had a call from our movers asking us if we could load Thursday (today!) instead of Friday morning!!! It actually makes sense so that we're good to go first thing Friday and don't have to worry about connecting ferries, etc. But...that meant some scrambling to get the packing done, things taken apart, plans for where to sleep (still not sure about that one), etc.

Once we noticed the flooding and starting wet-vac-ing it up, we decided that it needed to be attended to about every 2 hours. I did the 9/11/1 shifts and G. set his alarm to do the rest. So now it's almost 8 am and I'm exhausted (of course I woke up with G. each time his alarm went off), have a huge day ahead of me and have no idea where I'm sleeping tonight:)

The good news???...I'm moving into my new house tomorrow and this flooding will soon be a distant memory! I can't wait to see how our furniture fits in with the colours we chose for the walls. Gibsons, here we come! Happy Day to you.

Blue Christmas 2008 on Walden Street!

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.