Halloween Party

We had a fun party at CJ and Joan's, who as usual were wonderful hosts. There were some great costumes, Glen and Leah won first as the eight ball and cue ball with chalk heads, Adele, best woman as the Devil. Barb and Chuck came as bottles of Crown Royal and Chayla and Rick were East Indian.

Happy Halloween

We've had so much fun getting together with many friends before we head out. We had dinner and cards with 8 from the pool crowd, brunch with T and D, pizza with the condo girls, dinner and pumpkin carving with Chris and Julie and the kids. It's nearly Halloween and the stores are decorated too, including the policeman in front of the 'cop shop'..

YVR and Haida Gwaii

We went to Vancouver International Airport to pick Chuck and Karen up and I really enjoyed looking around. The airport has a Trust which purchases and displays artwork. My favourite is the huge carving of green jade, Spirit of Haida Gwaii, The Green Canoe, by the Haida artist Bill Reid. It is intricately carved 360 degrees around. In the Arrivals area there are 2 large wooden figures of a man and woman which used to be in front of villages on the beach as Welcome Figures. The windows behind are made of shades of blue glass in a wave pattern.
The new Sky Train station and the cars, are seen in the distance, getting ready for the 2010 Olympics.

Cute sights

It's so much fun to chuckle over some of the sights you see when you're on the road. The truck in front of us was being towed by the tractor and says "I'm TOWED where to go".
Once we came out of the Ocean Park Pizza and cracked up when we saw the 3 cycles together.

Old Friends

We were out at Abbotsford at 8:45 this morning to get new all season tires. They only had 13 in stock and there weren't any in Newton so we needed to beat the rush. They're lined up these days because everybody is getting snow tires installed.
Our next thing was meeting Dave and Thadene for brunch. Ron's been friends with Dave since grade school.

Going South

Well it's almost that time. The birds fly past, going north every morning which we can't understand. We're busy with all the detail of bills, phones, mail and visiting friends so we can head out Nov. 1. We had a great visit with Tom and Millie today, old friends from the 80's and 'Eagle' days and tried their Wii with a pool game. We would certainlny need practice. Counting the days until we go.

New West

We had a wonderful visit and dinner with my sister Marg and Brad at Mel and Audrey's new condo in New West Saturday. Their condo is on the 23rd floor facing north and east with views on 3 sides, from the airport to Simon Fraser University to Port Mann Bridge and Mt. Baker, absolutely wonderful. I could have moved right in.
I dropped Ron at Crib Sunday and explored New West while I waited. I took a picture of The Crescent, the hill that used to be in front of St. Ann's Academy where I attended high school. We girls used to eat our lunchs' sitting on the crest of the hill overlooking the Pattula Bridge. I can't believe the many brick roads like the one going up the hill to St. Peter's Church are the original brick that were used building it back in the 1980-'s? I love the old houses in the Queens Historic District. They have curved walls, stained glass windows and large verandas. It's a town full of history and lovely to see.

Wedding Anniversaries

We celebrated our 26th anniversary today with a lovely steak dinner at the Keg. Not bad for the 2nd time around. Just can't believe where the time has gone!!! We had a nice get together with Chuck and Karen Sunday as we recalled their wedding with Ron as the best man 18 years ago on Oct 20. They're jetting to Hawaii to celebrate this year.

Realty world gals

On the way home from Gibsons today, Ron dropped me off at Donahs and we had a get together with our co-workers from our Realty World Real Estate office during the 80's. Donah, the hostess with the mostest, had her lovely townhouse decorated for Halloween and it was delightful. We all brought something and of course, it was delicious. We were going to show our travel pictures but we were too busy talking and had a great time.

Wildlife in the Neighborhood

On Friday a bear was seen walking down the road in front of the house. None of my methods are acceptable, where I threw my kids out of the house in the morning and said go play. Here you have to a search for bear and deer before leaving the steps. Today, what was in the yard? - 10' from the door - a deposit of some chewed up apples from the back end of the bear, a foot in diameter, beside the watering can. That's the enclosed garden beside the house that the girls and I planted and we're still eating out of it.
We went off to the park and had fun in the sun and the local deer walked through the yard. They are so pretty to see.

Thanksgiving

We went over to Gibsons today to celebrate Thanksgiving with James' family. Everyone brought food, the turkey was delicious and we were so busy chatting, the only picture I took was of the endive and beet salad with it's walnut oil, balsamic vinegar dressing and Roquefort. Everything was delicious of course and the centerpiece flowers in a pumpkin made fall seem festive.

And the Bride Wore Red

We went to Carly and Chris' wedding today and it was wonderful. They incorporated some Chinese culture into the activities. Our beautiful bride wore red shoes to symbolize good luck. The minister wore a red stole with a Chinese dragon and letters on it. We had our fortune cookies in a 'bento' box. We had a wonderful time with family and friends and it was very nice meeting Chris' family.

Mosaic Puzzle

This American flag is a mosaic puzzle we did up at the clubhouse. It is composed of over 3600 individual photos to form the picture of the flag, which you can see if you double click on it. You didn't have a clue which piece went into which! It took us 2 months to complete. I find it very interesting and a good brain exercise. Most RV parks have jig saw puzzles on the go.

New Westminster Quay

While Ron was playing crib at the Royal City Towers today, I browsed through Antique stores down on Front Street. That area is looking a bit run down but the main street has been nicely updated and seems very vibrant. I sat in the sun enjoying the traffic on the river and the dock.
The Royal City Star boat used to be a Casino: that has now been moved to a new premise on Annicis Island but the old paddlewheeler is still here. There is a small building in front of it which houses a river level measure gauge, quite interesting. In the flood of 1848, the water was up to todays dock level. There is the worlds largest Tin Soldier and a 'Roundhouse Tug' moved here from the Expo 1986 site, now a children's playhouse.

Fall Weather

I got home from Gibsons Monday in time to go to our condo AGMeeting and visited with the girls afterward.
We had some rain and it's feeling like fall so it was good for housework, washing, chores, car insurance, etc.
I was stopped at a red light behind this ambulance and if you look very closely, you'll see that someone had put a bandaid on it in the upper left side, just above the blue numbers. You can click to enlarge.