My last day with my girls....

Yesterday was my last day visiting my girls in Courtenay... we went out to the park and took some pics which turned out wonderful.. I love spending time with Shaya and Rylie...

My little Shaya was very sad to see me leaving this morning and it tugs at my heart to see her crying like she was... but I feel really good in that she has established many little friends in the 'hood and enjoys her time with them so much.. Rylie... nothing seems to bother her too much.. she's a tuff little character...

Life is Good

Time for a change....

My little Ford Ranger has started to give me a bit of grief.  With 78 thousand KM on the odometer in 2 years, I was finding that the expensive repairs were starting to appear.

I've been visiting with Jill and the kids for over a week and since there are gaps in my "to do" list, I've been filling them with little things like.... taking new vehicles for test drives for instance.

Little did I know that I'd be sooooooo easy to get talked into trading the Ranger off on a sweet little Nissan Frontier... My girls like it too.

Life is Good.

A funny thing happened on the way to the compost...

Soooo... it all started out with a little trip out back to take the compost out to the bin.  I'm not sure why but I was in a bit of a hurry.. actually running along with the bags of debris.

The compost bin was lying on it's side and there was a hole in the pile of refuse..  I never really thought much of it as I ran towards the bin to deposit the load I was carrying...

I never actually got sprayed... the pic above just shows what could have happened if I weren't the elite athlete that I am...

This huge skunk emerged from the bin just as I was leaning over to toss in my bag.  I had a short time to react and I automatically flung myself to the right and held up the bag as a shield to protect me from getting sprayed by my friend....

I woke up from my reverie at about the same time that my head and right knee hit the floor.  Pulled myself back into bed feeling a little silly!

Gawd... I haven't had an over active dream like that since the ewe kicked at me and I flew out of bed and hit the wall trying to avoid it's flying hooves - but I digress...  that was another time and I still feel a bit "sheepish" about that one as well.

A guy could get hurt doing this!  My neck actually feels a little stiff this morning but other than that, I'm none the worse for wear...

Life is Good.

Feeling the Heat...

I've been hearing rumors that I've been kinda slack on updating this blog... like I've got nothing better to do aye?

Well, I made it to Courtenay the other day and my grandkids are as beautiful as ever... and I've been golfing the past couple of days.. played Sunnydale a couple of days ago.. shot a 94 but it's a fairly easy course.  Yesterday I played Storey Creek in Campbell River.  It's a tough little track and my 104 flattered my actual play.

The weather has been pretty hot.. around +30C the past few days.  I decided to stay overnight last nite in Campbell River.. love that town and if Jewels and I ever decide to settle in Canada.. this might be our place.

I have to decide on my travels for the next while.. was going to head home to Duluth starting out on monday but now it looks like I'll be here a while longer as our UV reflective EZ street will be on the stove on the 26th.

Love this area.. miss my baby....

Life is Good.

Fort Rodd Armory and the Fisgard Lighthouse...

Soaked up a bit of history today with a stroll through the Fort Rodd Hill and Armory which was some kind of strategic base that protected Victoria and the harbour since  the 1800's representing the British Empire and Canada. It was manned until after WW2.. the BIG one and is now a National Historic Site.

By the looks of the gate above, I'd say that the defenders of the harbour were serious about keeping the invaders from scaling the gate - at least enough incentive to give it some second thought.  The wild animals below are in abundance in the area and the gates keep them from attacking as well.

The Fisgard Lighthouse was built in the mid 1800's and was the first lighthouse built on Canada's West Coast. The photo below that is the Esquimalt lagoon which is just west of the lighthouse.

A pretty area.. nice day... Life is Good.

A rainy day today...

So, I have time to sit at Serious Coffee and sip on my Americano while I plug into the internet.

Well, lo and behold I stumbled onto Facebook and some photos that my baby girl Jill posted from her recent trip to Inuvik... and ya know what... they are WONDERFUL!!!!!   So, I'll share some of them here.....

A photo of the midnight sun over the Mackenzie river... and a shot of the Dempster Highway which I feel is the most beautiful drive in Canada (although I haven't been to Newfie Land yet).

This one was taken in Edmonton where Uncle Jesse met the gang for a quick visit when they had a layover on the way north... nice photo!

This one brings a tear to my eyes... Jill and the kids with her biological family taken in Ft McPherson, NWT.  Jill, her sister Maribeth, her mom Diane, and although I don't know the names, Jills Grand Mother and her great Grand Parents... along with Maribeth's two children... love this pic!

Jill and the girls in a 5 generation photo...

Jill with her sister Maribeth, her brother Jason, and her sister Rebecca along with the Great Grand Parents...

The Great Grand Parents... I'll correct this later because I'm not sure but I believe the Gwitchen name for them (like Amma and Afi) is Ji-Ji and Jou-Jou.. What character in these photos...

The last one.. Jill's mom Diane with her husband Mike...

Life is Good...

Deja Vue...

Methinks that if one was to go back onto this blog and peek at the posts from a couple of summer's ago...

Well, what I'm thinking is that we would see duplicates of the above photos from the trip Jewels and I took west then... but what is a visit to the Queen's city if it doesn't includes photos of the harbour with it's lovely big boats.. the Parliament buildings, and of course, the classic Empress Hotel...

Life is Good.