Springtime in Victoria

Spring Break often means a family trip to Victoria where my parent live. We left late Thursday night to avoid a wind storm forecast for Friday afternoon. We stayed at a motel near the Tsawwassen Ferry.

First thing in the morning we caught the ferry (above is the view from the back of the ferry) and arrived in time to WATCH the storm along Dallas Road in Victoria - the best place for seeing waves. The ferries were cancelled that afternoon due to the high winds.

Here is C being buffeted by the wind.

We stayed in the beautiful hotel we stayed at last time - Oak Bay Beach hotel. This is the view from the dining room. We enjoy the outdoor pool and hot tub that are open late.

Friday night we had dinner at Swiss Chalet. Later the boys and Grandpa played crockinole. Don't know what crockinole is? Here's my explanation. My mom was sufffering with bronchitis so we didn't do many outings.  We did make sure to get some photos taken.

On Saturday afternoon, just the boys, my hubby, and I travelled to the Sooke Regional Potholes park.

The most interesting part of the park was the ruins with elaborate stone work.

At the nearby visitor centre we asked and found out that there was a lodge planned for the area. Construction started but the mortgage fell through and the resort wasn't completed. I think it is a shame that it hasn't been replaced or at least completely demolished. The graffiti isn't very appealing. There is a large fence surrounding the ruins with barbed wire at the top and many signs that say "No Trespassing." We were surprised by how many adults were inside since we only found a small hole that a child could climb through.

Here's a link to some great photos of the ruins. I found this great video (taken by a drone) which gives a fantastic view.



There is a lighthouse at the nearby Sooke Museum and Visitor Centre. It was originally located at Triangle Island which is 29 miles north of the tip of Vancouver Island.

On Sunday morning we had breakast at the Village Restaurant (in Estevan Village) which has become a tradition. We attended my parents' church and were blessed by a fantastic sermon. We caught the 1 pm ferry back to the mainland. There was a killer whale sighting during the ferry ride.

At our customary stop at Tim Horton's (in White Rock) before we cross the border, we ran into an old, old friend of mine (ha ha!) who recently moved to Vancouver - Stephen Robb. He's like a brother to me. His sister was my best friend for many years.

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Spring Blossoms

The cherry blossoms at the University of Washington campus are something that I had long wanted to take in. We hoped to go there on my birthday but that day was rainy and the blossoms weren't completely out. We found some time on Saturday April 1st.

We weren't the only ones there. That's an understatement. The place was packed! The funny thing was that the majority of the people were Indian or Asian.

With so many people there it had the atmosphere of a festival. Lots of people dressed up to take family photos. My son climbed up a tree. Later we saw a sign that said "don't climb the trees." Oops.

We found this beautiful magnolia tree at UW with HUGE blossoms -  the largest I've ever seen.

I took this photo of a tree outside the public library.

Spring is definitely here, at last.

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Spring Mantle 2017

I did a bird theme for this year's mantle. Can you tell? The only new item that I used is the poster in the middle. Everthing else I found in my stash of decor items.

Here's a close up view of the right side:

Left side:

Close up of the poster:

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A Celebration of the big 5 oh.

Please note the tiara I am wearing!

Yes, I celebrated a big milestone birthday last weekend. It is a bit hard to believe. I don't feel 50, that's for sure.

To kick off the celebrating last Friday I went to do one of my favourite things:  antique shopping in Snohomish. On Saturday I got a mani pedi. That evening my hubby and I went out on a double date with some good friends to Chandlers Crabhouse. I had Dungeness Crab.

On Sunday (my actual birthday) the boys, my hubby and I went out for afternoon tea (a birthday tradition) to The Secret Garden Tea Room in Sumner. It is a lovely spot. I had the full spread.

The house is on the National Register of Historic Places. They had lots of fun garden art which I would've photographed but it was pouring rain that day.

Birthday cake!

I received a new camera as my gift. It is mirror less so it is much lighter than my Canon.  I used it today to take photos of cherry blossoms. I'll share those photos later.

My hubby made me a giant birthday card. He wants to put some finishing touches on it before I photograph it.

I'm grateful for the 50 years God has given me so far and I hope to live 50 more!


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