These are the days of our lives. Our posts are intended to record and convey the experiences we are so lucky to be enjoying. The photos will hopefully make up where the posts fall short. As with all things, expect little and you may be pleasantly surprised!!



Tuesday, December 15, 2009

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....




We have found the endless supply of Christmas decorations here, and have been told to decorate at will.

Christmas trees have started to appear for sale, and the berries are ripening on their branches making the neighbourhood look festive.



Angus has decided to wear his 'festive' outfit when he goes out for a walk.




We went to the local Mall to source the best tree. There are farms for the more traditional local lumberjacks where you go off into a forest armed with an axe and a picnic, and find your perfect tree and then chop it down.

We found it hard enough standing them straight to look at them!



Our perfect tree.


The chappy put it in our big truck for us and we took it home. After a day to let his branches relax we decorated up and think he looks beautiful.




We put up a few decorations around the house and with the log fire burning
it was feeling very Christmassy.



One by one the houses in the street have begun to turn on their lights.






Then the snow put in an appearance just to finish off the scene.



We made a snowman, but by morning he had melted. Angus was a bit scared of him, and didn't mind that he had gone!

He got to eat his nose!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Bethlehem Walk

This is an annual event held by the Parksville Fellowship Baptist Church. It has become an annual ritual for the locals. It is a labour of love for the 400 plus volunteers.

We waited in line in the pouring snow with a choir singing " O Little Town of Bethlehem", truly magical.

We were directed through, a small group at a time, by a centurion into a room where we were told to make sure we had paid our taxes! We then listened to a couple of chaps chatting about

Christmas and what it meant to them.

We were led through to a manger with calves asleep in the straw, to see Mary and Joseph

and baby Jesus. Mary told us why they were there and what had happened since the birth of Jesus. She said 'Jesus' was 5 months old and teething at the moment! The children in our group were invited to come closer and have a look at the baby and ask any questions.

'Jesus' loved the attention and started to gurgle at them. Worryingly, Tracy did get a bit broody at this point. Unless there is another 'immaculate conception' it ain't gonna happen!




The centurions then ushered us through to another room where we heard from a very Jewish shepherd and his grand-daughter about what had happened to them that night. They had all their sheep around them, eating the straw. There was a donkey munching away on some hay.

We were then at the start of a marketplace. There were many stalls with signs, some in Hebrew.




They were advertising exotic wares and services including a blacksmith, jewelry, used carts and an apothecary.










There was the smell of baking bread at the Dead Sea Rolls stall, we were given olives and a young girl was crushing grapes with her bare feet and offering us wine.... we passed on that!

All the artisans were carrying out their craft for us to watch, the stall holders were calling out promoting their wares, I was asked by the cage makers if I would like one to put my slave in!

Sadly they were not fast workers and I feared it would be Easter before they had made one big enough for my slave!

At the end of the market place, like Mr Ben, we were shown through a door by a Jewish lady and we found ourselves in a big hall with fairy lights and Christmas trees.

A choir was singing carols and there was even a camel wandering around!

We were shown to a table and brought hot chocolate and cookies, a welcome relief as we had got

quite cold in Bethlehem.

We sang along to the carols until we had thawed out, had a chat with another couple sat at our table and then made our way back out into the snow.

We marvelled at the ability the Canadians seem to have at making everything they do quality. Admission was by donation to a food bank. The effort and attention to detail was amazing.

We got home through the snow, and as if it was possible, feeling even more christmassy.





Sunday, December 13, 2009

Afternoon Tea, Harbour Seals, SPCA stint, and Cookie Packing!!

Last Sunday (after a day of baking on Saturday!), we invited some of our new friends to the house for Afternoon Tea.
The freshly baked scones, strawberry jam and cream went down well with copious quantities of tea! We spent a very pleasant few hours getting to know everyone, talking about families, friends, holidays and more. Our guests brought gifts of wine, table decorations, and home made cookies! A good time was had by all.

On Monday we took the dog, Angus for a run along the beach, Qualicum Beach which is a stone's throw from the house.
We walked the length of the beach and noticed some harbour seals, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbor_Seal out in the water, they followed us until we got to the end of the stretch that we walk with Angus.

As we went to put Angus on his lead, we disturbed a young seal, well camouflaged amongst the pebbles and sand - not sure who was more startled us or him! Anyhow, he was fine and made his way back in to the water, we watched him reunite with a couple of larger seals we assumed were Mum & Dad.

It was great to see the seals bobbing about in the water, some of them lying on their backs and enjoying the morning sunshine but we felt especially priviliged when we encountered the young seal up close and personal. Special.

Tuesday 8th December and our second session at the SPCA volunteering with the cats. We also had a "Buddy Up" session with an experienced dog volunteer so that we can cover someone who will be away on holiday from 8th January until end March. We walked a couple of dogs with Janet, the volunteer, and she also showed us how to get the dogs out and back in to their kennels. It was an icy cold day but we were all wrapped up so didn't feel too cold when out walking the dogs - back in the cat adoption room(s) we shed our many layers and spent a couple of hours grooming, playing and petting the cats that are awaiting new homes.

Thursday 10th December saw us make an early start as we headed out to the local United Church where we had volunteered to help with wrapping homemade cookies which are then delivered to various members of the community. Della was expert at bow making/tying and I just about managed to get the trays of biscuits into the Glad Wrap without spilling any(!) so between the two of us we did quite well!! We had a good laugh and also got to eat some goodies and enjoy some warm apple cider too!!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Christmas Magic - Lights & Music in the Garden



Milner Gardens & Woodland
www.milnergardens.org

The annual Christmas festival of lights is held at Milner Gardens, which was the summer home of Veronica Milner. We were treated to over 2 miles of festive lights, Christmas displays, live music, refreshments, story telling, Santa Claus and the Teddy Bear Cottage.

We arrived after dark, at about 6.30pm and went under an archway of lights which lit our way in the pitch dark, through the trees and the grounds.



It was very magical and as we looked up through the tall pine trees surrounding us, we could see a sky full of stars.

We first came across the Gardener's cottage, a small wooden building which had been filled with teddies for the children to look at. There was a raffle to guess how many teddies were in the room.


The path led down through the forest to the summer house, where minstrels were playing and singing yule tide songs. We could see them through the windows of the house, before we went in



The house was a modest size and laid out with lots of historical artifacts belonging to the past owners, Apparently even Princess Diana visited at one time! One of the rooms was being used as a tea shop, there was a gift shop and a room where children were being read a story.



We sat and listened to the singers for a while enjoying the warm house.



We walked around the outside of the house and could hear the ocean, which the property fronts.



The temperature was very cold, and after the warmth of the house, it felt even colder, so we carried on along the lighted patch in search of Santa's grotto. We did eventually find him covered in a heap of children, all awaiting their turn to tell him what they wished for Christmas.



We didn't wait to make our wish, for one thing his knees didn't look strong enough for us! We walked on through the trees, listening to the little ones getting very excited as the made their way through the lights to the magic kingdom.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Trip to Ships Point - Fanny Bay



We met Shirley and Roy for a second time, this time with much better weather. It was cold but clear and sunny, the mountains and water being shown to their best effect.

We met at our usual haunt for a spot of lunch, and this time we could look out of the windows and have a lovely view across the water to the snowy capped mountains of the distant mainland.

We had Angus with us this time and after lunch we went on to Ships Point where Shirley and Roy have a holiday cottage.



The cottage is just off of the beach, so we took the dog along the shore for a walk and to make the most of the sunshine. It was very cold though, there was ice forming on the shoreline



We had a good walk along with Roy while Shirley made a cup of tea. We were able to hear seals barking out in the bay, but couldn't see them.



Roy told us all about the area, as we were walking along, but soon the cold got the better of us and we headed back indoors for a hot cup of tea.

We spent a lovely afternoon chatting and hearing about new places to visit, and all too soon had to make our way back home.

On our way we passed through Fanny Bay, just as the sun was beginning to set. The colour of the sky was soft pink, and the water a soft baby blue. We found a spot to sit in the car and watch until the light failed and we had to head home to get warm









Spectacular. Our photos do not do it justice.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Volunteering with SPCA - Cats Shelter



Today was our first day as proper volunteers at the SPCA Parksville-Qualicum branch.

Our shift started at 12 noon. We arrived at the centre and said hello to the regular staff on the front desk.

We headed for the Volunteer room where we put on our overalls and completed the signing in sheet.

We had a hand over with Lesley, a volunteer who had come in a couple of hours before us.

We checked the notice board to see which cats had already been out in the day room.

It soon became apparent that most of the cats wanted to be out and playing, and as only 3 are allowed at any one time in the play room, it is a constant juggle to play with the ones out, make sure they all get along together, placate the ones still in their cages awaiting their turn.

That was the easy part.... We then had to put the 3 that were out in the play room, back into their cages. Of course they knew this was going to happen and did not want to be caught, so they used all their repertoire of escape and avoiding skills that they knew.

We did manage it in the end though, and got three more cats that got along together out to have a stretch of their legs.

Their behaviour was much the same, they would have a tentative sniff around, all light footed and low to the ground. Then, when they felt relaxed they would start to play with all the toys that are in the room. Depending on their character, this took varying amounts of time for each individual cat.

Some of the cats were in an overflow room, so had to be wrapped in a towel so that they could be carried along the corridor to the play room. This was just a precaution in case they spooked and got loose in the building.

There were some really cute kittens there which are up for adoption in the next few weeks. Mainly though there are older cats. They are all really sweet, and have their own characters.

Max, a black short haired cat was quite shy to start with in the play room, he came out of his shell after a little while and started to play with the toys.

Garfunkel is a beautiful grey and white striped cat, such a handsome young man. He is a stray. He was exploring as soon as he got into the play room, he was fearless, jumping from one obstacle to the next.

Coco a beautiful black and tan tabby cat was quite happy to sit on the seat beside me whilst I brushed her.

Our 2 hours went very quickly, and before we knew it, the next set of volunteers were arriving.

We did a hand over with them, just giving them a brief summary of what we had done, and letting them know the names of the cats that were currently in the play room, so when they put them back, they would go into the correct cages.

It was harder than we thought. It is very hard to ignore cries for attention, and even harder to see the souls that didn't want to come out from under their hidyhole. We would have loved to have taken the ones that had been in the shelter for 6 months, just to give them a normal home.

Hopefully they will all be found homes in due course. It is always the kittens that seem to be adopted first.

We have put our names down for next week. We hope there will have been some adoptions
between now and then.

Walks, walks and more walks!!

Sunday morning 22nd November and after a week of rain and wind we took advantage of some drier weather to walk Angus down at the local beach - we all enjoyed the fresh air and the stiff breeze certainly blew away some of the cobwebs!
The following week saw yet more torrential rain and some gale-force winds but there were also some dry moments of which we took full advantage!

Tuesday 24th November we headed out to Nanoose Bay to meet a couple who had expressed an interest in using our house and pet sitting services but, as we were already committed to the "sit" here we were unable to help them out this time - however, they still wanted to meet us and we joined them at their lovely home in Nanoose Bay for mid-morning coffee and lots of home-made cakes!! We spent a very pleasant couple of hours chatting and getting to know each other - we hope that we will all have the chance to get together again before we return to the UK next Spring.

Wednesday 25th November and we had an early start as Angus had to have a routine blood test at the vets - luckily this was one of the sunnier mornings and after his trip to the vet we took him through the local park/forest where he bounded very energetically through the tall fir trees and played excitedly with lots of other dogs enjoying their morning constitutional.
We also had our orientation session at lunchtime today with the cat volunteer co-ordinator - this was a little shorter than the time spent on the dogs but everything seems straight forward and we signed up for our first proper session on Tuesday 1 Dec!

Thursday 26th November was an indoor day with persistent and heavy rain all day - still, we managed to catch up on emails and the business website enhancements so the time was certainly not wasted.

Friday 27th November and the sun shone brightly! There was a cold breeze but that didn't stop us venturing out and we headed for Craig Bay which is not far from the house - a lovely sweeping bay, clear blue waters and the shoreline edged with huge fir trees. There had been a lot of rain all week and at the higher altitudes this had fallen as snow - the peaks in the distance across the Georgia Strait looked magnificent. We walked the length of the bay, played ball with Angus and admired the views - it was great to be out and getting some much needed vitamin D!!!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Knox United Church Soul Choir Concert



Our neighbour Cathy is in a local church Soul choir, so we went along to their annual Concert.

The church is modern, welcoming and warm, and we were warned to get there early as it is always well attended. We took advice and arrived early and were amazed at the number of people already waiting to go in.

We did not have to wait long for the entertainment to commence. We were captivated by a local youth choir which sang a selection of carols, accompanied by a young pianist with outstanding talent.

After their selection came the main attraction. We were slightly taken aback, as although the clue should have been in the title, we were not expecting so much Soul in the soul choir! There was a great deal of audience participation encouraged, and we all got up to clap and sing along to some of the numbers, much to Tracy's acute embarrassment. She was well out of her comfort zone.

Nevertheless we enjoyed the programme and were pleased to support our neighbour and new friend.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Grandmothers to Grandmothers Christmas Extravaganza


Today we helped at the Christmas Extravaganza. Where every ones hard work and effort making the crafts and things to sell is paid off. The hand made items were of such high quality. There were some beautiful items on display.

The event is held over two days, Friday and Saturday, and is held in the lovely home of a local
resident. The house overlooks the Parksville bay.

Checkout Girls!

Because of our banking experience we were put on checkout duty!! Our cover was blown almost immediately when we dealt with our first customer. We were unable to identify any of the coinage without really peering at it. We learnt new terms for Canadian coins such as Twonies (2dollars) Loonies (1dollar) dimes (10cents) and quarters(25cents). We did eventually pick it up, Della stuck to the wrapping and left Tracy to work out the money!


We helped on the Saturday afternoon, it was very well supported and people spent a great deal for the good cause. There was a choir singing on the balcony above which was a great introduction to
the festive season.




Everyone involved had put a great deal of effort into the planning and running of the annual event and the event raised over $10,000.
Jan selling those priceless angels!

Della was very pleased to see the angels that she had made being bought for $7 ! By the end of the two days they had all been sold.

For more information on the charity click the link below
http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/grandmothers.htm

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)



Whilst out walking Angus at one of the local parks (which are delightful not least because there are trails that go on for ever through some of the most beautiful pine forests), we noticed a poster asking for volunteers at the local SPCA.



Given that we are time-rich and we are fortunate enough to be based here for another 4 months we decided to commit some of our free time to this worthy cause.

We were required to attend an Orientation session on Saturday (21/09), and at this session we met some others who were also up for volunteering along with the staff who run the shelter and some other volunteer workers.

Owing to the recent success of the centre's adoption programme there are currently only 2 dogs at the shelter. A delightful Norwegian Elk hound called Richard(!) and a sweet labrador collie cross called Dakota. There are also a number of cats who need rehoming.

Our Orientation session involved familiarisation with the centre and the various buildings, location of treats, leads, towels, poo bags etc and a general Q & A session - it was very informative and we are looking forward to our first stint which we hope will be some time next week when we will have an introductory lesson with a "buddy" or seasoned volunteer.

Our Orientation session concentrating on the cats is scheduled for tomorrow (25/09) - watch this space for more news and updates!!

www.spca.bc.ca

www.spca.bc.ca/branches/parksville-qualicum-beach/