Daigen ...

 

 

"When you feel so at peace. 

The world is not expecting. You just be ...💖 

It's breathtaking and beautiful...living.xo"

This picture of Daigen was taken ... 

on December 30, 2016 ...  while they were at Galveston on the beach ...

Love the words that Kendall had written ...

It is so beautiful ... 

 

 

Another Year Older ...

December 1, 2016

 

Today was my special day ... my birthday ...

my morning started with a lovely breakfast ... made by Mike ...

It was snowing ... the trees and ground were blanketed in white ...

Gifts were given to me to open ... also received many cards ... phone calls ... emails ... texts ...

from friends and family ...

Love my gifts from Mike ... a new curling iron for my hair ... chocolate ...

a pair of jeans and two new tops ...

( I had picked out when I went shopping with mom )...

Mom had bought me a new outfit as well ...

A knitted purple top with leggings ... and my favourite ... a package of Liquorice Allsorts ...

All this was done before our guests were arriving today ...

 

Mark and Sandy drove from Castlegar ... to come for a visit ... and deliver my gift in person ...

Sandy had started paintings ... a while back ...

and decided to create one for me for my birthday ...

This painting is her "Tree of Life" ...

Mark and Sandy had lived out here over 25 years ago ...

and now reside in Castlegar ...

Our friendship goes back to our school days ...

back in Sarnia, Ontario ...

We had a lovely evening ... Mike and Mark celebrated my birthday ...

with Mike's famous martini ...

We enjoyed a Halibut dinner ... (my choice) with pan fries and sauted vegetables ...

then Peach Crisp for dessert ...

We spent the evening chatting ... reminiscing of days gone by ... with lots of laughter ...

and visiting with family and friends on FaceTime ...

We couldn't believe how quick the evening went by ...

we talked until the wee hours of the morning ...

 

 

December 2, 2016

 

After a short night's sleep ... we enjoyed having breakfast ...

of fresh fruit ... waffles and freshly brewed coffee ...

Mark and Sandy were heading home this afternoon ...

but before they left ...

we hopped into the truck and drove them around ...

to see how much this area had changed over the last 25 years

Mike and I will plan a trip over to Castlegar ...

sometime in the New Year ... to visit them and their family ...

Thank you to everyone ...

for my Happy Birthday wishes ...!!!

 

Winter Ball ...

November 26, 2016

It was a special evening ...

for Oma and Joe ...

at Joseph Creek's annual Winter Ball ...

They had a lovely candlelight dinner ...

with music playing in the background

...

Then after dinner ... they enjoyed visiting with everyone ...

The band started to play ...

and they danced up a storm ...

Even those in wheelchairs and walkers ...

joined in ... twirling around ...

I was happy to hear ...

that they all had such a lovely evening ...

 

Happy Birthday Oma...

November 24, 2016

We went to pick up Oma and Joe at Joseph Creek Village ... to take them out for dinner ...

All Oma wanted for her birthday ...

was to go have a Prime Rib dinner at Frank's Steak & Schnitzel Haus ...

We were all surprised at the large plate set before her ...

wondering how in the world would she be able to eat all that ... !!!

All of us ended up asking for a take out box ... to take home our leftovers ...

The portions were so large ... that we will all have an extra meal ...

Oma was surprised to have received a piece of Birthday cake ...

and the staff coming over to sing Happy Birthday ...

We had a lovely time being together ...

 

 

 

Watching Curling ...

November 13, 2016

These pictures are of the winners ...

of the curling tournament ...

This Grand Slam of Curling was held in Cranbrook this year ...

The ladies team is from Winnipeg ...

and the men's team was from Sweden ...

Mike and Rocko spent the whole weekend at the curling arena ...

watching all the games ...

in the Round Robin and the playoffs ...

They had a great time ...

I had watched the event on TV ... and saw the two of them in the stands ... the first night ...

I was later informed that they were invited to sit up in one of the boxes ...

for the rest of the games ...

The only game I attended ... was the men's final ...

and grateful to have had a seat in the luxury box ...

It is a totally different experience watching it live ...

as opposed to staying home and watching it on the TV ...

 

 

 

Finally Rolling ...

October 30, 2016

The 32 Ford is finally on the road ...

a labour of love for Ian ... for the love of his life ... Kendall ... !!!

Ian received this 1932 ford that was just parts and far from complete.

He had to travel to trade shows and swap meets to get enough parts to build the car.

Then many parts had to be made, fabricated or modified to assemble the car.

A Mustang V8 engine added and the Hot Rod is on the road.

This is a very difficult project to complete showing Ian's skill as a trade craftsman.

Great job Ian !!!

A Home Concert ...

October 25, 2016

We enjoyed a lovely evening at the Creelman's ...

they were hosting the band "Blue Moon Marquee" ...

They are part of "Home Routes" circuit ...

touring in Western Canada's Fall tour ... they will be entertaining in small towns ...

in homes ... town halls ... Senior Centres etc ...making it a more personal setting ...

These 2 artists are amazing ... so talented ...

and have quite a history ...

The groups that tours this area are known as "Red Square" ...

There are six groups in total travelling to Mayook ...

Visit the website to get more information on all the groups coming thru our area ...

and other groups throughout the country ...

 

 

 

We enjoyed listening to this band so much ... we bought their CD ...

Click here to watch them perform ...

A Note from the Band ...

"Greeting from Blue Moon Marquee. Stemming from the Badlands of the Rocky Mountain prairies, we are a self-styled gypsy blues band. An authentic duo who write and perform original compositions influenced by early blues, swing, and ragtime. A.W. Cardinal, a Metis of Cree heritage, howls with a distinctive thick and smoky vocal while playing a jazz tinged blues guitar. Jasmine Colette, aka Badlands Jass, (has toured and recorded with Bill Bourne, Paul Pigat, Wykham Porteous)is the rhythm section who not only commands the upright bass but also keeps the swing with both feet while singing harmonies. This is a feat many of our world travelling musician friends say they have never seen anywhere else. Now West-Coast based, we have been living all over the world & steadily touring for the last 4 years. We are happy and humbled to say we were the most requested Canadian band for the 2016 International Jazz festivals across Canada,invited to play 9 Jazz festivals across Canada ( Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Regina, Lethbridge, Edmonton, Ottawa, Saskatoon, and Montreal). In June 2016 we started a 40 date CAN tour encompassing 15 festivals and promoting our new full length album "Gypsy Blues".

Some words people have said about our shows and sound:

"Blue Moon Marquee's passionate performances and smouldering onstage chemistry is their trademark, and the way Colette's angelic tones lift A.W.'s beaten down "bukowski-esque" mystique is something that enthralls audiences from the back room bar to the public square." Canadian Music"

 

Enjoying The Day ...

October 5, 2016

Mike & Mark were going to spend most of the day out on the golf course ...

Sandy & I decided to drive up to Invermere ... and so some sight seeing ... and shopping ...

It was a beautiful warm day ...

we ended up stopping at a well known Cafe ... and discovered that they had homemade Gelati ...

We couldn't resist and had to have one ... it was nice to sit outside ...enjoying the sunshine ...

and our treat as well ...

 

We had gotten together again after the guys were finished with there golf game ...

and decided to drive to Radium ...

to a special Bavarian restaurant ... called Citadella ... situated high up on the mountain ...

It was a beautiful place and the food was delicious ...

of course i had to have Schnitzel with spatzle ...

 

Here are a few pictures of the guys with their golf cart ...

I'm not sure what happened ... no other pictures were taken ...

guess they didn't want anyone to see pictures of them golfing ...

We spent another night visiting at Fairmont ... going in the hot tub ...

then heading back to Mark & Sandy's room ...

to play a few games of Eucher ...

A game that seems to be mainly in the eastern provinces ...

It had been a long time since we played this game ...

The next morning ... we had breakfast together before we left for home ...

We had a lovely visit with them ... it was great to get together ...

and we hoped to do this again next year ...

 

 

 

Rafting on the Elk River ...

August 14, 2016

Another beautiful day ... for a fly fishing trip on the Elk River ...

While the guys were waiting for the raft ...

they did do some fishing ...

Once they were on the Elk River ...

Nathan (Chief) ... set the fly rod up for Mike to cast his line into the pool ...

The line hit the water ...

and low and behold a nice size Rainbow trout was caught ...

This was only the beginning of their adventure ...

rafting on the Elk River ...

Floating along ... stopping at some interesting pools ...

Nathan caught a Rainbow Trout ...

It was an exciting trip for them ...

enjoying the ride and fishing ...

All the guys having fun ... floating down the river ...

capturing a selfie photo ... before they headed into the rough waters ...

where they had to hold on for dear life ...

I was told it was quite the experience ...

Mike & Nathan were grateful ...

they had an experienced team ... taking them thru this area ...

Floating on the river ... making their way to the pick up area ...

fishing day complete ...

What a beautiful sight ...

with the full moon ... light reflecting on the water ...

It took the guys about one and half hours ...

to drag the raft out of the water ...

up to the shuttle van and trailer ...

and then drive to where I was waiting to pick them up ...

I was delighted to see them all ...

and the smiles on their faces said it all ...

They had an awesome time ... !!!

I plan to have Nathan (Chief) ... guide another fishing trip again ...

hopefully Ian can join his dad and brother next time ...

Thank you Nathan Kelly for making this a memorable adventure ...

for Mike & Nathan ...

Click here for Nathan's Guiding information ...

 

 

A World of Crystals ...

May 26, 2016

We arrived at a magical place ...

Swarovski Crystal World ...

Entering into the treasure chambers of the Giant of Wattens ...

Inside there was contemporary art ... ancient history ...

It is a venue where you can experience beauty, inspiration and energy from the crystals ...

So many things to see ... and touch ...

We toured thru the shop of all the Crystal jewelry... artwork ... figurines ... and so much more ...

Klaus and Mike had enough of the browsing and ended up at the Crystal Bar ...

enjoying a cold beer while waiting for us ...

The garden of the Giant lets you be enchanted by its radiant beauty ...

The Crystal Clouds hold over 600,000 crystals ...

and in 3 different sizes so that they sparkle even more .... each one set in place by hand ...

The Mirror pool reflects the light of the crystals like stars at night ... even during the day ...

There was a play tower with a climbing wall ...

It was an amazing place ...!!!!

As we were heading back to our vehicle ... we heard music being played ...

A young group of musicians were getting ready to perform inside ...

putting on a small concert playing their Clarinets ...

Loved seeing them in their Traditional outfits ...

Along our way to Eva's for dinner ...

we saw many castles ... old structures ... churches ...

traveling thru Germany crossing the Danube River back into Austria ...

 

 

Keeping Busy ...

April 16 & 17, 2016

It was a busy day ... getting the BBQ ready putting new grates ...

for a special dinner this evening ...

The kids figured they needed to help Grandpa with getting the grill top ...

to the shop to be cleaned ...

but first they wanted a free ride around the deck ...

The grandchildren also helped Grandpa ...

cut and gather up some firewood ...

and start the campfire for our lunch ...

These pictures were taken the day that Nathan and the family were heading home ...

spending some time hunting gophers ...

and just playing in the yard ...

Craig still likes to ride his first bicycle ... although I think he is a little to big for it now ...

 

 

For All Of You ...

 

Have a wonderful day with your loved ones ...

 

A Couple Good Days ...

Another perfect day to load up some more firewood ...

we ended up going to different area ... where there were many pile of wood ...

We also ended up giving our neighbour a hand ...

with splitting and loading up his truck ...

Our load was brought home ... unloaded and piled up to be split another day ...

A beautiful golden sunset to end a perfect day ....

 

February 11, 2016

We enjoyed a lovely evening with family and friends ...

at Joseph Creeks Valentine's Day Buffet dinner ...

There is always so much to choose from ... with a wide selection of appetizers ...

salads ... side dishes and meats ...

The dessert table is one of our favourite tables ...