Pelee Island pics....

Last week Carina and I took off for Pelee Island, the southernmost inhabited place in Canada... we spent two nights and three days on the island, cycling, walking, reading, chatting and just enjoying some girl time in the midst of wedding preparations for both of us... it was a great vacation - check out the pics below!

Truck going the wrong way???

Our brave and fearless driver...

 It might have been just a bit windy...

 We felt a bit like we were in a prison camp - locked up with a thousand crazy seagulls in a sun-baked parking lot...

 It might also have been very hot and boring...

 Heading into the maw of the ferry... would we ever come out again?

 The lifepreservers - i made sure there was one in view at all times...

We might have done some sunbathing... 

 Our bed and breakfast - the Stonehill...very nice hosts, delicious breakfasts, and good company

 ??????????

 Our room - i'm laying on my bed so you can't see it...but we had great big windows to let in a great cross breeze on a hot hot summer night...

 the lighthouse - does taking the picture in black and white make it older???

 Is this "old" water then???

 reading our books, waiting for the sunset...

 it's going down...slowly... and aawwww, look, with the Jiimaan in view...

 still waiting...

 Nearly gone - i won't post a pic of "gone" cause that's really super boring!

 little porch lights that have totally inspired me...look out value village, here i come!

 Pelee Island Winery - we had a tour here - super great value!

 We took our bikes along - did some biking on Tuesday morning - it was hard to stay below the speed limit though.. Carina's such a speed demon!

 Looks old again - at the ruins of Vin Villa...

 The ruins of Vin Villa - hopefully to be restored in the next few years...

 the oldest winery on the island

 Found this lovely lady on a rock...

 Something else old... don't have a clue what it was...half buried in the sand

 We might have laid on the beach/rocks for a long time - longer than my skin could handle happily...but it was such a gorgeous day and we had the beach all to ourselves!

 Then we had some wine... it was yummy!

 And some ice wine - that was super yummy!

 And we might have left the car keys on the back of the car for about oh... i'd say at least three hours... oops!  But all's well that ends well!

 This car was guarding our car i think.... who does this to a family sedan???

 We toured through the cemetary - there was a cool old pump there!

 The sunset in sepia - not sure why that setting - but it looks pretty!

 Our last morning we went for a hike to the southern most tip of Canada... there were a lot of birds!

Carina bravely waded into the fray and chased them all away! 

 We have arrived!

 Awww...two great friends!  I am so thankful that we could have this trip!

 One half of the partners in crime...

 The tip curls nicely around - that's all she wrote, folks!

 We found one last beach to soak our feet before we had to leave...

The Jiimaan waiting to take us home...

It was a great vacation - relaxing and refreshing - came back with a little bit of colour, a few rocks (umm..ooops, nope, no rocks!) and a lot of memories. I am so thankful for our friendship and pray that the Lord will keep us close for many years to come!!!

Looking around

So yeah, the last few months has kinda been a blur, a happy one for the most part, but still a blur.  And i was looking through my photo files and thinking what would people like to see on here... so i thought i'd post a few random pics to sum up the last little while (which is by no means inclusive of all the fun stuff that's gone on here in the last few months).  If i would start to list things off, i might say that in the last few months, i/we have seen my mother off to Holland twice, planted my gardens (which at the moment look good cause i soaked the life out of them this morning owing to the fact that we don't seem to be in receipt of any type of wetness lately!), watched my grass die in unnaturally hot temperatures, have got my air conditioner on (yep, for the last three days now, oh ye of little faith!), have bought a new bed and dresser, have done dishes maybe three times (okay, maybe more, but it seems that is neglected waaaayyy too often lately), have know that Holland lost miserably in the Euro Cup (didn't even watch most games since it was too sad), have watched fireworks twice, have gone to the beach once, acquired one sunburn, have had bok choy residing in my fridge for the first time ever, have been missing some friends whom i just never seem to see lately (you know who you are and i miss you all! and am desparately trying to make sure that situation is remedied), have done a little babysitting, have been trying to make wedding invitations, got a pedicure with reflective oil spill finish (super cool!), walked to work and back about 10 times, biked to work and back about 6 times, have spent a lot of money, and have been trying desparately to remain cool whilst maintaining a calm and composed manner.... the last one might be a bit of a fail but i'll keep trying... and now for the pics...

I saw the Skylon Tower and we enjoyed a dinner there with Timothy's parents and siblings - the food was yummy, the company great and we had a great evening celebrating their anniversary!!! 

I saw fresh strawberries from my garden...yumm

 I saw my sidewalk in the back being slowly taken over by red amaranthus...it's looking like a jungle!

 I saw rain...do you all remember what that stuff is?  Kinda wet and makes things happy and grow?  Yeah, i even took a picture to prove that we do maybe get it once in a blue moon!

 We spent a ribbeting Friday evening watching this little frog turn into...

 this handsome prince... proving that frogs can turn into princes...Anything can happen here at the Meadows... sounds like a slogan for a fun park, maybe i should get mom to paint a sign for the front porch...

 We watched some guys in red and white pick on some American guys, all in good fun at the battle of Stoney Creek reenactment - it's super fun that there's lots of 1812 stuff going on this year...

I was introduced to a place at the bottom of the Hamilton Cemetary on York Street where i'd like to be buried - i know it doesn't matter to me after i'm gone but it's super peaceful and kinda "lost" and such a beautiful restful spot that it reminds me a bit of what heaven might be like... quiet, green, sunshine

116 days

Well, as my dear mother has suggested, there are less days to go until the big day.  116 to be precise.  Amazing how time just keeps ticking away, we count days until the wedding, others count days until school is done or vacation starts... and i am excited.  Someone at work asked me tonight how things were going and wasn't i just super excited?  And i had to think that perhaps i need to be a mite more bubbly and outwardly pumped... i think that inwardly i smile nonestop... but maybe i need to let that out a bit more freely!  So just know that i am happy and excited to be marrying my dear fellow.  I miss him so much during the week - and with every day that we count down, it's another day that we come closer to the day when we are united as husband and wife.  And all the steps along the way of making decisions about what sheets to buy or how many of this or that to order don't really amount to a hill of beans in the end right?  They are just the little tiny building steps along the road to a wedding which is but a step on the journey of married life for which there needs to be infinitely more preparation.  Hmmm.. sometimes i wonder how our lives will look in a year from now but we leave that in the hands of God who knows our ways and has them planned out before one of us even came to be.  That's comforting in a world of uncertainty!  Praise God!  

131 days...

Yes, it's true.  131 days to go until wedding day.  At times, the days fly by and i'm happy when it's the weekend again, Timothy is here and we can see each other.  At times, the days drag and i'm impatient.  Time to forget both of us living in separate cities and separate places.  Time to eat meals together, talk each evening freely without phones and just spend time puttering around our house together.  We are both looking forward to our married life. 
Realizing of course that there are lots and lots of adjustments, decisions and times of ups and downs to be experienced.  And to be honest, sometimes all the decisions leading up to a wedding day seem so...superfluous but at the same time, they are part of making the day special.  So sometimes i'm torn - is the exact colour of paper really necessary and essential to making things perfect?  No... and that puts things in perspective!   But it is a good exercise going through all the little and big details, making plans and decisions together.  I like making decisions together.  It's much nicer than being on your own - to share your thoughts and ideas, bounce things off one another and work through things and come out on the end joined closer by the experience.  Oh, dear, time to stop since i am waxing a bit deep and ?meaningful. 

So yes, it was 2:10 am

I am trying to find the right colour for my text - something dignified and snobby and i decided that purple was the colour of royalty so that would have to suffice.. A year or more ago, a friend introduced me to Downton Abbey, a new series from Masterpiece Classics and i watched season one with much eagerness and enjoyment - it was about the lives of a very rich family in England just before WWI and the parallel lives of their servants downstairs (i suppose an updated version of Upstairs, Downstairs?).  Anyhow, Season Two was at Costco a few months ago and i eagerly purchased it - and my dear friend Helen indicated that she was also a fan and we agreed to watch it together.  We got together about a month or so ago and watched the first three episodes but then after that, it seemed to be impossible to find a mutually agreeable time to indulge our thirst for class struggle and english mannerisms. 
Well, last night was the night appointed for our reunion and resumption of our viewing pleasure.  So after a dinner of maple chicken (thanks again Lauren and Mrs S!!) and a couple of courses (just to go with the theme of the night!) and a couple of forks (just for appearances - salad and main - couldn't come up with any more utensils), we settled down with some yummy rhubarb crisp.  We watched one episode, then another, and well, by the time we finished with the Christmas episode (which i'm sure was longer than a normal hour), we looked at the clock with some shock to discover that it was 2:10 am... boy, i haven't done a stunt like that in a long, long time... but it was fun.  And our appetites are whetted for next season!  Thanks Helen for a memorable night - go Dame Maggie Smith who definitely gets the best zingers!  She made us laugh quite often!

"Don't be defeatist dear.  It's very middle class!"

"It always happens.  When you give these little people power it goes to their heads like strong drink"

"I'm a woman, Mary.  I can be as contrary as i choose!"

"He's hardly the consummation devoutly to be wished"

Strawberries, fresh strawberries!!!

It's June 1st.  And despite all the heat and dry weather, the birds and the slugs, i managed to pull these beauties out of my little strawberry patch in the back garden.  They were super yummy warm from the sun and looking oh so fresh!  These are the great-grandchildren of a plant that i received from the Tigchelaar's and which has gone on to multiply and seek to take over the corner of my garden with runners galore.  But if there are results like this, i don't mind.  It's gonna take me a while to get enough for jam that's for sure(especially if i keep eating them right away!)  But they are berry, berry good....

For Tom

This picture is for my brother-in-law Tom.  Who seems to think that buying things in bulk is a funny idea - but in reality, many people do things like that.  Look at this person - they are prepared in case of a tornado or hurricane or spaghetti spill - it's the boy scout motto isn't it?  Be prepared!