field trip :: Butchart Gardens

We took the ferry over to Vancouver Island to spend New Year's Eve here









Happy New Year!

...

happy canada day!

island style...


jamboree at the north hall


art-battle (local artists gathered, and were given 45 minutes to create a masterpiece.)


flag raising back at the cottage


better than fireworks (although we did see a few across the channel looking over to vancouver!)

goodbye YWG

we have had an amazing time. as always - it is hard to say goodbye.


best part? hard to name one:

watching the girls and my mom together
the RWB performance of The Nutcracker
being with my Aunt, Uncle, cousins and their kids
playing in the snow
midnight mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral
walking around my mom's new neighborhood (my old neighborhood)
meeting Mogli and Stranger
visiting with friends i have known forever

but to top it all was a Christmas with my family (save my nephew in Australia) all together. we are a tiny bunch. but mighty. and my dad - while no longer with us - felt ever present.

and i am very lucky to call these peeps my own.

river skate

down the Assiniboine...





and a hockey game on the river. it doesn't get much more "Canadian Winter" than this.



it was hard work. and cold. but well worth it. e would not give up and did really well on the very uneven ice. k held on tightly to my hand and dreamt of spins and figure-eights. their cheeks were rosy and their legs tired.

walk around the block.

hello winter.

we have headed north for the holidays. home. it has been a very long time, and I am very happy to be back. to share the wonder of a true winter - and the traditions of my childhood - with my family.














* * * * *
i've forgotten to mention i am over at habit again this month. always so very good.

::

Broadlands c.1920

spending the day scanning more photos and making up stories...

crokinole and tea

we celebrated christmas - post stockings and presents and an amazing traditional feast presented on my grandmother's china - with a round of crokinole and tea. i hadn't played since i was a girl. so much fun. truly canadian.




have you played?

::

they made a flag for me to wave.

there are so many things that make me proud to be canadian.

today was one of them.

air

manitoba prairie summer i miss you.

we returned to 100 degrees. in the shade.

summers here are a lot like winters in manitoba i guess. stuck indoors. though it is much more comforting to me to be huddled around the fire rather than sprawled around the fan.

before I forget

Bahamas.

not the one you're thinking of. except maybe you cath as you were there. and maybe you jan. (have you seen him play?)

saw him open for elvis costello. (did i tell you i saw elvis costello. and the imposters. live in winnipeg. whoo hoo. awesome. great opening line-up too: The Lovell Sisters, Amelia Curran, Martha Wainwright, Bahamas.)

good stuff.

i am canadian

and in love with rick mercer.

(don't worry honey... petite gourmand beat me to him.)

thanks petite for the tip!