Linda's Chatty Blog

VALENTINE'S DAY 2012

2012-02-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a special Valentine's tea party at my friend Loretta's House...I often refer to her as Martha Stewart of the North as she has such a flair for creating beautiful, visually stimulating, delicious tasting, tea parties. She always has her home decorated for whichever holiday we are celebrating and she decorates with such flair. Saturday was no exception, from the banner on the front doorstep to the fancy decorated table setting and Valentine tree, everything was perfect. This time Loretta challenged our friend Isabelle and I to each make two dresses for our bleuette dolls and we would have a dress exchange. The dresses we each received in return are just gorgeous. Loretta had her gifts packaged in very special Valentine's day suitcases that will be perfect to store Bleuette's Valentine dresses from year to year! Isabelle knitted us each a doll cape as well as the dresses she gave and I was tickled as they are so cute and I don't knit at all!!

Yum, look at all the goodies! The things above were bought at the store but Loretta had baked the most delicious heart shaped Cherry Scones which we topped with Devon Creme from England...oh my they were decadent!!!

Our party girls!

OK, now here is something I just bet you don't see everyday!! Loretta has a Valentine tree and it is so cute! Sitting under the tree is Chatty Cathy and Helena, Loretta's Bleuette doll that was made by Sylvia. She is such a cute doll! She was the one Loretta picked to wear the outfit I had made for the dress exchange.

This is Yvette Marie, the Bleuette who came to live at Loretta's and started it all...lol..prior to her arrival neither Isabelle nor I collected Bleuette's. Yvette Marie is wearing a dress I made last year when we had another dress exchange.

Our hostess had a craft planned for us to do...so we giggled and glued and finally ended up with the prettiest Valentine wreaths made out of Lacy paper doilies and hearts. Aren't they cute?

Here is the Valentine table setting. Isn't it pretty? I am on the left, Leona is at the far end of the table and Isabelle is on the right.

The Valentine table with Loretta now seated at the end! On the tray close to the front of the picture is the Cherry Scones...Loretta has promised to share the recipe because they are so good!

Now isn't this the cutest presentation? My Valentine dress Loretta made and then placed in a Valentine theme little suitcase with a lace doilies and hearts and buttons. So sweet!

The girls socializing, they love it when we get together too! The girl on the far right arrived just in time for tea, I picked her up at the post office on Friday. She is a 251 mold made by the fabulous doll artist Candy Anderson, the Doll Lady. She does such beautiful work.

The table from another angle.

OK, now I am sure she isn't going to like the picture but I just had to include it because Leona is not a doll collector despite the fact we have been working on her for years...she does seem to enjoy being with us or maybe she just tolerates her sister and her doll crazy friends...lol...but as you can see by the picture below...I think she is weakening...she is holding Madeline and fussing with her cape...we will convert her yet!

This lovely dress in front of Robinette the resin bleuette from the Ruby Red Galleria is the dress that Isabelle made for each of us. Isn't it pretty? It is so difficult to find patterns in small scale suitable for bleuette. I think we all did pretty well this time! I will try and post a picture soon of the dresses I received on the dolls because they look so cute in them! I just have to get dolls and camera all in the same place to take one! Thanks for a fabulous tea party Loretta!

WHO...WHO...

2012-01-18T01:57:00.000-08:00

In December we experienced so much rain we almost needed to build an Ark and the temperatures were unseasonably warmer than usual. Alas that has now changed but one night late last month my son came home from work and called me to come outside as something was perched on the electrical wires outside our sundeck...or maybe rain deck at that time! I have never seen an owl in our neighborhood before and I don't think I had ever seen one this close before! He sat on that wire in the torrential rain for the longest time.

Unfortunately January is bringing us frigid cold temperatures, the weatherman on the news says this is the coldest we will have been in many years over the next few days. With the wind chill factor, they say we could be at -20 C. tonight and we have had that dreaded "S" word come down a few times...it feels like we have moved to the Arctic! That song "Baby It's Cold Outside" keeps going through my head!

CHRISTMAS AT THE BAY

2011-11-21T00:02:00.000-08:00

After Loretta and I left Hycroft on Thursday, we took the bus back to The Bay which is a big Canadian department store. We had a lovely lunch and then we browsed through their Christmas section. It was much smaller than in years past but they had a lot of darling things for sale.

Tartan teddy bears, they are so cute!

OK..now only in Canada would you find this as a display in the Christmas decoration section...lol

Pom Pom tree garland, it was very interesting looking!

I think Loretta found what she wants for Christmas!

CHRISTMAS AT HYCROFT MANOR

2011-11-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

On Thursday my friend Loretta and I made our annual Christmas visit to Hycroft which is run by the University Women's Club. It is an old mansion, the McRae Mansion and it sits just off Granville Street in Vancouver. I heard people talking that the man who wrote "In Flanders's Fields" was a cousin of the original owners. Every year for one weekend the house is open to the public (at a price) and they decorate and invite vendors in to sell their wares. We found the prices much higher this year and we were actually in and out quite quickly as most of the stuff being sold was jewelery or scarfs and we weren't interested in either so we looked at the decorations and then headed back to The Bay where we enjoyed a lovely lunch. We used to lunch at Hycroft however they changed caterers and moved the lunch area into a tiny, cramped corner and it wasn't nearly as inviting as it was in 2009 before they changed caterers, in 2009 when we went they sold hot lunches and had plates of Christmas goodies for sale and you could sit and enjoy a hot cup of tea with a plate of goodies. That was such fun! When I viewed the photo below, I noticed the lady in the back ground in capri's...oh my....it was freezing outside and actually was snowing heavily when I drove home...

I just found a really neat blog that has pictures of Hycroft Manor then and now and tells some of the history of the mansion so I will add the link for those who might be interested, I thought it was pretty interesting! http://www.miss604.com/2010/11/vancouver-history-hycroft.html

The entrance to the house

one of the many trees they had decorated

Aren't these flowers gorgeous? They had many arrangements in the rooms and all were gorgeous and the flowers are real!

This is a sideboard at the side of the dining room. The theme was white and copper and there were a lot of owls in the decor.

What a pretty little table and table setting! This was in a room off of the dining room.

This was near the entrance to the living room where a pianist was playing seasonal songs.

They had a spectacular Christmas village set up with a little train going all around.

If you look closely, this tree from the dining room where the theme was white and copper is decorated with owls!

Various things for sale in the Christmas shop.

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a Santa!

The theme this year seemed to be Moose and RCMP and one of each was featured outside the entrance door to the house.

Fascinator hats are making a come back with Princess Kate sporting them now and then, this booth was selling quite an assortment of them.

SAMPLICIOUS

2011-11-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

I have been a member of the Smart Canucks Community for quite some time www.smartcancucks.ca and there are a lot of members on the lookout for those fabulous deals out there that aren't advertised in many places. I check in on their website regularly to see if there are any deals as I love a good deal. Recently someone posted one of those deals that kind of sounded too good to be true but as it was from Kraft Canada, a number of us, actually a ton of us decided to give it a try. It was for a Samplicious package and we just had to pay shipping which was about 9.99 plus tax if I remember correctly. This morning this lovely box awaited me when I got up!!!

Many packages of all the latest new products by Trident Gum, two new flavors of Chips Ahoy cookies, 2 boxes of new flavors of Triscuit crackers, Mac and Cheese and coupons for FREE aMooza cheese twists, FREE Philadelphia cream cheese and FREE Kraft refrigerated salad dressing. An addition of Kraft's What's Cooking magazine was also in the box and there is a coupon for a buy one get one free aMooza cheese twists. Thanks Kraft Canada, we are going to enjoy trying these fabulous new products!

2011-11-11T00:12:00.000-08:00

Remembrance Day

from the website: http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Inspiration for “In Flanders Fields”

Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, 1st Brigade Canadian Field Artillery. ⁽¹⁾

During the early days of the Second Battle of Ypres a young Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2^nd May, 1915 in the gun positions near Ypres. An exploding German artillery shell landed near him. He was serving in the same Canadian artillery unit as a friend of his, the Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Major John McCrae.
As the brigade doctor, John McCrae was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis because the chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.
For the story behind the inspiration for “In Flanders Fields”, see our page at:
Inspiration for In Flanders Fields

2011-11-10T00:14:00.000-08:00

A few of my vinyl kids got dressed for the upcoming holiday season last weekend. We figured we would get a bit of a head start seeings as they wore St Paddy's Day clothes from March until October:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN - THE VIRTUAL PARTY!

2011-10-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

The first picture is one someone sent on to me and I tracked down the location and it is in Woodstock, I love all the lite up pumpkins!

We are joining in A Fanciful Twists Virtual Halloween Party! This is the first year I have attended and it sounds like a lot of fun!
http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/a_fanciful_twist/2011/09/halloween-festivities-an-invitation.html

My Chatty Cathy's celebrate every year, Since my kids are all grown up now, I compensate and dress up the dolls these days!

Katie Effanbee is trying to tell Chatty there is someone or something behind her!

This photo was taken at my friend Loretta's house last Halloween, Loretta always has her house done up so pretty for the holidays. My bleuette Madeline also came for tea.

One of our local stores is selling all kinds of neat witches and things to celebrate the occasion.

My little Bleuette Emmy hopes everyone has a Happy Halloween and we both would like you to visit Vanessa and get the links for all the other participants in this virtual Halloween Party! Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment and I will try and get to everyone else's blogs to see what you have in store for this lovely virtual party!
http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/a_fanciful_twist/2011/09/halloween-festivities-an-invitation.html

Please help yourself to a seasonal cupcake as you leave!

THE POST SCRIPT

2011-10-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

Now I know I said that one more post would do it for my summer series however....after the convention banquet was over...not terribly late....we raced to our rooms, got changed, made it back to the street just as a bus to the park arrived, got on that bus and I bet we were in that park 20 minutes after we left the ballroom....Robert had spent the evening there while we were at the banquet so Loretta phoned him and told him we were on our way back...we just couldn't not go...my name is Linda and I am a Disneyaholic...

finally a ride that didn't break down or have to be evacuated!

Goodby Walt, goodby Mickey!

The clock on Main Street says the park is now closed

Goodbye Disneyland, till we meet again!

Goodbye convention, it was the trip of a lifetime!

Goodbye Anaheim Hilton, we had a wonderful time...wish we could have spent more time in those fabulous pools!

DISNEYLAND, OUR LAST DAY...THIS TRIP!!!

2011-10-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

On Friday, the last day of the convention, we decided to use our last pass to Disneyland, we had three day passes and it was so hard to fit them in, who would have guessed.... We started very early in the day so there wouldn't be line ups and we wanted to have Breakfast at the Riverbelle Terrace which is another place we enjoy eating at.

We had some issues with rides this trip, one night we did the Jungle River boat ride...backwards in the dark...some kind of "incident" had happened. They gave us fast passes when we eventually were able to get off. We used one to go on Snow White early this particular morning...we were a few seconds into the ride and the ride stopped, the lights came on and eventually they walked us out. When we got outside, the area was surrounded by security and roped off and there were sniffer dogs entering the one ride. An entire section had been shut down. Of course being Disney you will never know what happened but they were looking for something and once again we were taken off a ride before it was completed!!

our favorite breakfast at the Riverbelle Terrace.

I took my fast pass from the earlier ride evacuation and crossed to Disney's California Adventure where I did the single rider option and went on Soaring over California which is one of my favorite rides and then I went hunting for the new Ariel ride. As we were on a tight schedule due to the banquet at convention, I used the fast pass and rode the Ariel ride so I could tell my granddaughter what it is like as Ariel has always been her favorite princess. In pubic she feels she is too old for princesses at the ripe old age of seven however in private she still loves them.

Coming next summer is the new Cars ride, California Adventure Park is coming into it's own with many great new rides and attractions

These things are in the area "It's a Bugs Life" which is a very cute area for the smaller crowd.

Even the flowers in this area are different than the run of the mill ones you see in other areas, these ones were pretty neat looking in person.

now you might think this was goodbye Disneyland but tune in tomorrow....

THE FINAL HURRAH...THE BANQUET

2011-10-16T00:10:00.000-07:00

Friday evening the convention wrapped up with a banquet for all the members who had bought a full registration to the convention. The pictures below were taken at UFDC Anual convention in Anaheim in July 2011.

Robinette arrived in our room before the banquet with her Maman and she had a gift, a lovely party hat that her Maman had found in the salesroom and then later she had run into the lady who sold it to her in the elevator and she gave her a leftover one and told her she could give it to her friend. We were so happy to have the pretty pink party hat and just at the right time as we were wearing our new party dresses for the banquet!

Aren't we just picture perfect for a banquet?

Robinette models her hat while she looks through the darling Disney bag that Tante Christine had given to each of us at the table. Alas there were lots of gifts but no one had told Maman or Tante Loretta to bring gifts so they weren't prepared at all.

Loretta, Marie, Mary and their girls.

We sat at table 98. The tiny little doll on the Christmas centerpiece is Andre, he is the companion doll to the one we received at the banquet and was for sale sperately. Pay close attention to the centerpiece because there is a surprise at the end!

Marianna is admring the centerpiece while AnneLise's pretty model in her blue ribbon dress shows us all the tiny beads her Maman sewed onto her outfit.

The first course arrived, we weren't too very sure what it was but it sure tasted good!

Between courses we played and met all the other Bleuettes at the party.

This very beautiful dress is another of the creations sold at Sylvie Bravots booth at the Rowbear sale. She has a website if anyone wants to look at her lovely things.

The main course arrived. It was very good.

Group picture!

The final course arrived and it was very fancy!

We are so excited because everyone at each table received a number and then the MC at the front announced which number they drew and if you had that number you won the centerpiece and got to take it home and oh my, my Maman won it!!! Luckily it was able to be taken apart and stored in the box below for transport and I helped Maman put it back together when we got home. Isn't it cute?

The doll given out at the banquet for all the members attending was a big surprise and not unveiled until the night of the banquet. She is named Aimee by Darlene Lane and she is about 5 inches tall, see her picture below, she is darling.

Marie and my Maman and Marianna and I

Loretta and Ann

Marie and Loretta and Marianna and Robinette

And that was our trip to our first ever convention of any kind, we had such a good time and had no idea we would be so busy all the time but gosh it was fun....Maman has one more post to do to wrap up the summer vacation series, our last day at Disneyland.

VARIOUS UFDC CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS

2011-10-15T00:05:00.000-07:00

Most of the photos in the post are from the UFDC Convention in Anaheim in July 2011.

The last day of the Rowbear doll show and of course we had to make a final trek back

Loretta purchased one of these beautiful vinyl dolls that were on sale for a really good price.

Ummm....shopping???

This lovely lady is Carol Hanson and she makes beautiful dolls, The one in my hands came home with me. She had beautiful 18 inch Daisy dolls with the prettiest faces but we didn't have room for larger dolls to come home with us at this point.

This very sweet lady is named Jennie Sykes and she is from Wisconsin and she too makes gorgeous dolls. I went and visited this doll every time I was in the sales room and when she was still there on the last day, I figured it must mean she was waiting for me.

Marie and Mary joined us for dinner one night at the Overlander Stage Restaurant at the Sheraton Park hotel, we really enjoy this restaurant when we visit Anaheim.

One night there was a Publisher's Preview night and many of the magazine sales people and book sellers were there to take orders and give out samples of their publications in some cases. Samy Odin signed the book I bought that he wrote. It is a beautiful book.

Our bleuettes were invited to a PJ party in Claire's room one night. Yvette Marie arrived with her suitcase with her jammies inside.

The girls spent some time bonding and playing cards and giggling a lot. Ginny joined in as well.

Loretta brought along her brand new Bambinos to show everyone. They were made by Dawn's dolls and are just adorable.

Gael picked up her winning exhibits and brought them to the salesroom because it was closing for the final time and in the picture below...20 minutes after closing...are the Bleuette Sewing group members buying their last bits of fabrics and trims from one of the European sellers.

Melissa, AnneLise, Gael and Loretta

MY BABY AND HIS BABIES....

2011-10-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

This is my son James and his children Dakotah 7, Jaime 4, and Kalani 21 months.

BLEUETTE GROUP MEETING UFDC ANAHEIM

2011-10-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

One evening there was a gathering for all of the Bleuette collectors. Agnes Sura hosted and gave a presentation. All photos below were taken at UFDC Annual Convention in Anaheim in July 2011

Agnes, Gael and Admiral Claire

Gael and Nicki admniring Loretta's new Jumeau that she bought from Sylvie Bravot of France

Me, Gael and AnneLise

Christine and Loretta

Nicki

Nicki's beautiful little Premiere Bleuette named Virginie

Cindy, Vickie and Loretta

Ann and her sweet little Bleuette dressed as Minnie Mouse

Ann, AnneLise, Nicki and Gael

Admiral Claire doing her best Admiral pose

Admiral Claire and I

Marie and her sweet little blue Marianna...if you look closely her little Bleu is dressed similar to herself and she said her granddaughter also has a similar matching outfit..too cute!

Loretta and Claire

More Minnie Mouse Bleuettes

COMPETITIVE EXHIBITS LES CELEBRATIONS DES POUPEES

2011-10-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

This post is going to highlight some of the fabulous items that were entered into the competitive exhibits. We stood in line and received a time to take pictures of these special exhibits. Photos were taken at the UFDC Annual Convention in Anaheim in July of 2011. These were some of my favorite entries.

I had that Barbie babysitter outfit when I was young and I think the baby from it is still around here somewhere.

So many Shirley Temple dolls!

The Snow White Paper doll set was entered by Gael of the Bleuette sewing group and she won a blue ribbon!

These two sets of paper dolls were also entered by Gael and they are of her Admiral Claire and her wardrobe. Gael has made many if not all of these outfits for Admiral Claire in cloth. Gael won another blue ribbon for this entry.

This gorgeous blue ribbon winner was entered by AnneLise of the bleuette sewing group! There are thousands of tiny beads hand sewn onto the outfit. AnneLise sells her own special patterns she has drafted herself on Ebay under the seller name of Londonberries. Check her out if you sew in Bleuette scale, her patterns are fabulous.

This Simon and Halbig doll didn't photograph as beautiful as she is in person. She just captivated me and for some reason reminds me of a Maypole dancer.

Exhibit Rooms UFDC Anaheim

2011-10-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

Besides the Christmas room, there were other rooms with yet more gorgeous dolls and exhibits. The photos below were taken in another of the exhibit rooms at the UFDC Annual Convention in Anaheim July 2011

UFDC EXHIBIT ROOM

2011-10-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

At the convention there were rooms set up as special exhibit rooms and then there was a huge ballroom that was competitive exhibits. You were permitted to wander in and out of the exhibit rooms at various times but photography was not allowed in either room. In order to take pictures, you had to line up at a specified time and then times were handed out for you to go into the various exhibit rooms and take pictures. The first set of photos is from the Christmas Exhibit Room...it was fabulous...and as per UFDC policy, the photos below were taken at the UFDC Anaheim July 2011 at the annual convention.

“Les Célébrations des Poupées” THE UFDC CONVENTION ANAHEIM

2011-10-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

Photos taken at the convention are to be labelled as taken at the UFDC Annual Convention 2011 in Anaheim, California. Most of the photos in this post are from the convention.

Each year the convention receives donations from various corporations, doll clubs and other venues and these are raffled off to earn funds to keep the UFDC running and give them capital to operate on. This year there were more than 400 fabulous donations, it took 3 big rooms for all the displays of donations to be set up in. They sold raffle tickets outside and you would go around the rooms and put tickets in bins to try and win things. The bin in the first picture is the donation bin to win the prize in the second picture...which was donated by one of the yahoo groups I belong too, The Bleuette Sewing group. Candy Anderson is a fabulous doll artist and made the bleuette doll in the photo and many members of the bleuette sewing group run by Martha Nichols made and donated clothing, furniture, shoes and toys to go with the dolls. Isn't she pretty? Alas I didn't win her or any of the prizes although I bought tons of tickets. A funny story though, we found a big bunch of tickets and they had initials but no names on them. The owner had the second part of the tickets but had dropped the tickets that they meant to put in the bins. I was in a quandary what on earth to do with the tickets, there were so many volunteers, I was afraid if I turned them into someone they might get set aside and the owner not check with them and not get his or her entries in. Finally I went around the various rooms and put tickets in bins so at least their tickets would be entered for something. After the draws were done, when I went to check if any of mine had won (not) I checked the lists to see if the mystery ticket owner with only initials on their tickets had won anything from the tickets I had put into bins...well imagine my surprise when I talked to one of the workers at a side table and he said my mystery person had won three items and he had them set aside while she went to retrieve the ticket stubs from her room! I bet she was one surprised conventioneer to find out that she had won three times with the tickets she thought she had lost!

The convention had a Christmas theme, hence the silver Christmas tree and revolving light wheel (we had one of these trees and light wheels when I was a child!)

This is Gael and Admiral Claire, her little resin Bleuette who leads us all through summer camp and many misadventures every summer, It was so nice to meet the infamous Admiral Claire in person and of course wonderful to finally meet her creative Maman Gael.

This is me and Susan Sircus who writes doll books and patterns.

This is Agnes Sura, a lovely lady who is quite the authority on Bleuette and gave several lectures and a meet and greet for Bleuette fans. She is also a member of the Bleuette Sewing Club.

This is Gael and Admiral Claire meeting Agnes.

This is Samy Odin, famous author, from the Musée de la poupée de Paris. He is also now the Region 16 director for the UFDC which is the region I belong to.

The display above and below are from Samy Odin's booth in the salesroom at the UFDC convention

Marie from the BSC invited all the members of the Bleuette Sewing Club to Happy hour in her room where we got to chat and meet one another and show off our dolls to each other as most of us had only seen pictures of these dolls prior. It was such fun!

Vickie at the back, then me, Mary in front, Laurie in back then Gael in front, Nicki, Marie and AnneLise and Ann in front.

Vickie, Loretta, Laurie, Mary, Gael, Nicki, Marie, AnneLise and Ann

The girls of the Bleuette Sewing Club.

Everyone is admiring the contents of Admiral Claire's trunk that she had packed to go to camp.

Ann accompanied us out to dinner one evening, Here were are on the Anaheim Transit bus on our way to the restaurant. We ate at Mimi's.

As we had to go back into the park to get a bus back to the hotel, we made a stop back in Downtown Disney where Loretta, Robert and I bought hoodies because we were freezing...

Would you believe Best Buy has vending machines in Downtown Disney and even at the airport?

OUT AND ABOUT AROUND DISNEYLAND PART 3

2011-10-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

Loretta buying that lovely strawberry shortcake in the last set of pictures...

We travelled up and down Main Street on several of the transportation options offered...very fun!

One of the park photographers took the above picture for us. He was much better at my camera settings than I am!

The Disneyland band with Mickey Mouse performed on Main Street.

Loretta phoned ahead and got us reservations for the Blue Bayou restaurant, it is hard to get reservations there if you don't make them in advance. It is the restaurant located on the Bayou in the darkness where the boats from Pirates of the Caribbean come past. Lots of atmosphere in this restaurant and the food is delicious!

This is the Disneyland version of the Reuben sandwich, it looks rather different but is fabulous to eat!
Below is the menu for the Gibson Girl/Carnation ice cream parlor, another of our favorite stops!

This smiling face between Loretta and I is Ms Cholong of the Rubyred Galleria in Hong Kong. They sell fabulous resin dolls and doll clothing, wigs, supplies and all kinds of wonderful things!

I am on the left, then Loretta, Ms. Cholong and Judy from the Doll Peddlar store in Arkansas, she is one of the US distributors for the Rubyred Galleria.

Ms Cholong is signing my magazine featured an article on her and the Rubyred Galleria.

UFDC CONVENTION & DISNEYLAND PART II

2011-10-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone is a kid again applies big time in Disneyland and on day two of our fabulous trip we hit the park using day one of our 3 day passes. The pictures didn't go in in order and I am getting tired of trying to move then into the right positions so will just work with how they inserted.

This photo is from later in the day and should be at the bottom...but pretty anyhow!

The tea cup ride at dark, the thought of spinning wildly round and round in these didn't appeal to us so we just took pictures!

Everyday in the park there are dozens of photographers running around with fabulous cameras taking pictures of guests having fun. All those thousands and thousands of photos are then sent to Florida if you can believe it and they are edited and using the best photos of the day taken by the photographers they make up a montage and each night they do a show with lights and things on the facade of it's a small world and they use the best photos of the day in their nightly show. Well, we were sitting on a wall watching the show when all of a sudden we were part of the show, the photographer had taken a photo of Loretta and I and both of our Bleuette dolls in their Minnie Mouse ears and we thought we must be seeing things as the picture they took was in the show!! I have a copy of that photo as of course we had to go and buy it as we were famous for a brief little interlude...we were quite thrilled to have been included.

This strawberry delicacy is offered for dessert in the Plaza Restaurant, Loretta and Robert shared one following dinner

This is taken in front of the main gates. Loretta heard a rumor that these gates are going to be done away with soon so we wanted pictures to remember what was

The pictures are out of order but we took our little Bleuettes in their Minnie Mouse dresses into the park and took many, many photos of them. Not too sure what the other guests thought but we did have a lot of folks wondering what we were doing. After many years of toting various dolls around for photo shoots for our various doll groups to enjoy, we are getting fairly good at tuning out the folks who tend to gawk and wonder what we are doing...lol

We had lunch in Critter Country at the Hungry Bear and I couldn't resist buying this to share. It was very sweet and very cute, they come up with the cutest deserts in the park.

Here is my Madeline in front of the rivers of America with the canoes behind her.

In New Orleans we were fortunate to run into one of the jazz musicians who graciously allowed us to take a photo with him and he gave us both Mardi Gras beads.

This is our traditional photo, each time we come we take a picture on these stairs in New Orleans Square. It is such a pretty backdrop and in a quiet out of the way place.

At the end of Main Street there was a vendor felling fancy ice cream bars. Madeline just had to get her photo taken in this pretty location.

This photo is in the concourse between the two parks, the pink flowering tree was just gorgeous!

These are the Anaheim transportation system (ART) shuttle buses that run you all over the resort. I believe the passes are currently 4 dollars a day for unlimited trips to wherever they go...the trick is that you have to go to the park on one and then transfer to another one going to the location you are trying to get to so it gets a bit tricky but quite a clever system.

Madeline and Yvette Marie pose in front of a flower display that matches their dresses!

The Tiki Room and show has become another of our traditions when we come to Disneyland...in the days when it was invented it was very state of the art, of course now it isn't considered so but the animatronics always amuse us and we love the show.

Dole whips are another of our favorite treats in the park and here Loretta is enjoying hers while waiting for the show to begin...yes the show is cheesy...lol...but still funny....

Here Madeline is waiting for her very first Dole whip...she loved it...

And here, at the end of a very busy day, Madeline finally got her Mickey Mouse ears and a new Minnie Mouse stuffed toy. What a fun day!

YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO HAVE A HAPPY CHILDHOOD

2011-10-07T01:52:00.000-07:00

Way back in winter, ladies on one of my doll groups starting humming about the UFDC convention. I had no idea what UFDC was...how can that be...I have collected dolls for so many years and had never heard of this organization. One of the ladies kindly explained it is the United Federation of Doll Clubs and they have an annual convention. the 2011 convention was being held....oh no it couldn't be...in one of my most favorite places to visit, Anaheim, California. Apparently the last time they held it here was 17 years ago!! Usually it is more towards the East Coast. Soooo....I joined the UFDC and crossed my fingers that this might be a do able thing. The membership comes with lovely magazines that arrive in your mail box quarterly.

Early in April my friend and doll buddy Loretta suggested we go to the convention, it might be our only chance to ever go to one. So we started doing some online checking and found an incredible deal with Alaska air (which is also our favorite airlines to fly to that area). So we booked. The next month my Mom had a stroke, my little dog died, life was awfully hard all of a sudden and I thought for sure I wasn't going to be going on this trip of a lifetime. The months passed, the social worker at the hospital told me I needed to take my trip and that my Mom would be fine while I was gone so I did get on that plane...but right until the last moment I was sure I was going to be cancelling.

The picture above is of my little Bellette Madeline who came on the trip with me, she was the first Bleuette doll I bought and she remains my favorite girl. She came out of her carrier on the plane as Loretta had brought a little treat along for her, a tiny doll size rolling suitcase with pencil crayons just her size, it was a wonderful way to begin our journey.

This is my room at the Anaheim Hilton, it was lovely with a view of Disneyland and the pool and I even had a microwave and fridge in my room. I could have lived in this particular room forever!!!!

Robert and Loretta and if you look closely or click on the picture and enlarge, you will see Yvette Marie, Loretta's bluette alongside of them. We arrived in town a bit earlier than the convention was scheduled to start but then found out that the Rowbear Doll show was being held just a short ways across the parking lot at the Sheraton Park Hotel where we have stayed in the past. We had no idea what this would be like but headed there to check it out. WOW...is all I can say....this was the doll show to end all doll shows....two rooms of vendors and an entire hallway. Dolls and doll stuff everywhere your eyes could see....

This little doll in a presentation box was complete with miniature accessories and was one of many similar displayed. If you enlarge the picture you might be able to see the tiny goodies she would come with if you purchased her.

This is the parking lot on the way to the Rowbear show. There was still a Jacaranda tree blooming it's gorgeous purple blooms in the background.

A funny thing happened while I was strolling around the showroom. I heard an announcement on the PA system and it sounded like my name. But it couldn't be, no one knew I was here. So I continued strolling....and heard the name again and decided it had to be me so I went out to the registration desk to see if it was. I won a door prize...I was so surprised...in the picture above I am holding my door prize, it was a little Madame Alexander doll and a great way to start the fabulous week ahead of us!

On our doll groups we often hear talk of all the famous folks out there in dolly land, authors, artists and experts on the dolls we love. We had no idea that this week we would be meeting a lot of people we had only heard of before. In the picture above is Sylvie Bravot, a lovely lady who owns the Bravot Company in France and she and her daughter had flown in with their merchandise to sell in a booth at this show. Her doll clothes are exquisite, her doll wigs fabulous and then there were her dolls...sigh...the one in front in the white and blue sailor suit stole my heart but I never did buy her. Enlarge the picture and you can see how beautiful her dolls are.

I had to sneak this photo in as it is of my favorite palm tree and impatience flower garden at the Sheraton Park hotel.

My little door prize Madame Alexander posed amongst the flowers.

Here is Loretta perusing Sylvie Bravots sales booth. She eventually succumbed to the lure of the fabulous dolls and went home with a lovely Jumeau doll. But she held strong right till the last day!!

These were a couple more little Bleuettes we saw for sale, the dark haired one has a very unique look to her and we both thought she was lovely.

I am not sure what this little cutie is but gosh she was cute, there was just so much cute everywhere you looked. We went day after day and I don't think we even made it all the way through.

We were on a mission that first night, we heard that The Doll Peddlar of Arkansas had a booth at the rowbear show and we wanted to buy resin dolls. We located them in the far back corner and met Judy from the Doll Peddlar and Ms Cholong from Ruby Red Galleria in Hong Kong, the company that makes the resin Bleuettes. So we did not come home empty handed (far from it actually...lol) I bought the basic Bleuette as I already have the one in the fancy dress and Loretta fell in love with the Bastille Day Bleuette and bought her. She is now known as Robinette. The picture above is a picture at the end of day one I believe. I will have to do this in sections as it was a very full week....and I have hundreds of pictures.... thanks for visiting and I will try and get the next instalment up soon!

ROAD TRIP - DESTINATION AMERICAN GIRL!!!

2011-10-06T02:09:00.000-07:00

In July a new store opened in Lynnwood, Washington. My girlfriend and I were very excited as we had been to this store in LA on a couple of vacation trips to that area. We thought it would be kind of neat to now experience it through the eyes of a child and as Dakotah my granddaughter is now 7 and the perfect age for this type of store, we talked about taking her when we went. On the last weekend in September my girlfriend Loretta's husband Robert offered to take us all on a road trip to visit the new AMERICAN GIRL store just outside of Seattle. The weather forecast was pretty grim all week and much to our amazement, when we set off at shortly after 7 am on Friday morning it wasn't raining...bonus! We got through the Douglas border crossing very quickly and were on our way!

Above is Dakotah buckled into her car seat, car seats are the law in Canada until the children are about 9 years old. Our first stop we decided would be Joanne's fabric store, much of our fabric stores have vanished and it is always nice to browse the fabrics at Joanne's. We were a bit early and the store wasn't opened yet so we stopped at Starbucks and Missy D had their version of an egg McMuffin and promptly lost one of her baby teeth....the picture below shows her holding it. Uncle Robert patiently showed her his phone which has GPS on it and assured her that the tooth fairy would be able to find us using the GPS...very important stuff to a seven year old!!

Joanne's finally opened and we spent some time checking out the Halloween isles, great fun!

Auntie Retta was suddenly scared...lololol...spiders and noises and scary masks...

And then we arrived at the store. It was huge, we weren't expecting something of this size as it is a "Bistro" store. But it surprised us by it's size. Everything is laid out on one floor so it is easy to get around and keep track of everything and everyone. I had a very sore knee which for some reason was making me rather slow getting around and Uncle Robert volunteered to be Dakotah's shadow as she darted from here to there all over the store (thank you Robert...)

A/G is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year and above are the mini dolls they have put out to commemorate the special year. We had considered them....until we got near the 18 inch girls and that idea flew out the window...

A/G introduced two new girls to their product line this summer and both are gorgeous with stunning clothing. I think the Marie Grace one is also a new face mold. It was very hard to leave her in the store as she is so cute.

Dakotah bounced from display to display, it is a doll lovers paradise....she didn't know what she liked the best. I told her I would buy her a doll of her very own as part of her Christmas present...and then began the hunt for the perfect doll for her. So many choices...she finally decided on one of the girls of today rather than a historical because she loves to do their hair. She loved Marie Grace but she had an intricate braid across the back of her hair and Dakotah didn't think if she got her she would ever want to take it out and she really wants to do the hair so we found one that she can do that.

This was her final choice, I think it is #35.

Here Dakotah and Auntie Retta examine the dolls, Auntie Retta has the best "eye" for picking out dolls and having them be perfect without a wonky eye or bald spot or something!

Kaya's camp especially the log fire really fascinated Dakotah

And here is our very patient and kind driver/kid chaser/luggage helper/ and all around good guy, Robert who never got to browse the mall or get his coffee as he stayed and helped us out while we were in the store.

Dakotah and her new doll, her very first American Girl

We went out to dinner and of course the dolls had to come too!

This is the display booth they had set up for Kanani, American Girl of the year whose story line takes place in Hawaii. We took along the Royal City Record newspaper as they have a section they often post travel photos in if you take their paper along. I submitted the photo but so far it hasn't been printed.

To our absolute amazement, as we drove down to Lynnwood the temperatures soared upward and not only did we not have the predicted rain but by the time we arrived it was in the 80's and balmy tropical breezes were blowing. We heard it was a tropical front from Hawaii that had come in and it sure felt like we were in Hawaii or someplace other than the Pacific North West land of rain and wind...lol The Best Western Alderwood where we stayed kindly let Dakotah take a dip in the pool...I say kindly because I am sure the pool is probably closed for the season by the end of September and there were painters working in the area however they were very sweet and let her have a swim.

Our first day at the store was Friday and it was very quiet because it was a school day. Dakotah luckily was enjoying a professional development day and her school was closed, timing is everything. Being the store was quiet we got to see everything and do everything, Dakotah and Uncle Robert had a blast with this door...it revolved and they went round and round...the next day at the store was so busy you couldn't do anything remotely close to that....

I had Dakotah try on the Kanani dress as she is part Polynesian much like Kanani the girl of the year...in truth I wanted to check out their sizing because at some point I would like to get her this dress, she looked so sweet in it....

Thanks for taking us Auntie Retta and Uncle Robert!!! It was another fabulous trip and treat of an outing!

FABULOUS TEA AND VISIT WITH DOLLY FRIENDS

2011-09-21T00:48:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday my friend Loretta (aka Martha Stewart of the North) whom I originally met through the Internet when we both were collecting Chatty Cathy dolls had a tea. Through the years our doll collecting has morphed into "other" collections as well as our beloved Chatty's. Along the way we met another doll collector named Isabelle and she has come along with us into our new doll passion, Bleuette dolls. Last Thursday Loretta hosted us both for a Bleuette tea. As some of our Bleuette dolls are at camp on the good ship Amitie (a fun project hosted by Gael from the Bleuette sewing group on Yahoo groups), we took the opportunity to pose a few pictures so our little campers can earn their badges for their uniforms. No...we are not insane....not even close, we have just discovered that you are never too old to have a fabulous childhood and while we did have them when young, us empty nesters (well sort of...) are going back to times of old where life was slower paced and dolls were synonymous with fun times. With the Internet, we are able to access a ton of other avid collectors and we have formed online families and friends with similar passions/obsessions(?). It is such fun, if you have a hobby and would like to share, check out Yahoo groups because I just bet you will find many others, even thousands of others who share your passion for collecting and would love to come out and play with you. Thanks Loretta for hosting another fabulous event! These soiree's just get better and better!

I haven't blogged for quite some time but I had an interesting summer and will try to post a few posts regarding what I did on my summer vacation...a little hint...we joined the United Federation of Doll Clubs earlier this year and they held their annual convention in a place that was close for us to get to and also happens to be a place dear to our hearts, Anaheim California, home of Mickey, Minnie, and this year home to thousands of dolls collectors and sales people from all over the world...I will post pictures soon of that once in a lifetime event.

COUPONS AND ME!

2011-09-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Walmart is having their yearly Anniversary sale and strangely enough I haven't been near the place....today I had to spend time at my Mom's waiting for the fire alarms to be tested by the strata and I figured it was a good time to clear out the junk pile otherwise known as "my purse". I ran across several great coupons that correspond with what Walmart has on sale but as I was at the other end of town, I piled up "stacks" of coupons and took Walmart's ad over to London Drugs to price match. I price matched the Tide and the Lady Speed Stick, London Drugs had the Pantene on sale and it was a bonus bottle! I presented my ad and my stacks of coupons (love London Drugs who allows you to stack coupons as long as the coupon UPC's are different numbers) my final total for all of the above including the 12% HST tax was $5.05. I came home very pleased with myself!

BUGS AND CRITTERS OF ALL SORTS

2011-07-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

I read and enjoy Dawn Meehan's blog and her new column on Babble, the link is here

http://blogs.babble.com/babble-voices/because-im-the-mom/2011/07/10/drinking-driving-and-the-dmv/

I really enjoy her humor, today's column has some things I had forgotten about having lived in a tropical local for 7.5 years, she has recently relocated her family to Florida and her paragraph " Of course, it was raining by the time it was my turn because it rains every stinking day in Florida. The heat, the rain, the cockroaches, lizards, frogs, and locusts of biblical proportions have me convinced I’ve actually moved to the Amazonian rainforest and not the theme park capital of the world. Anyway, after two hours, I left with nothing."
brought back some memories of when I first moved to Hawaii, her words made me laugh as I remember the foot long cockroaches that flew around at night and dive bombed in to attack....this west coaster wasn't used to bugs that size and aggressive ones at that. Then there were a couple of instances I had forgotten about until Dawns post jogged my memory, one was with a praying mantis, I went outside to do the laundry, or attempted too...on the other side of the screen door was this huge and I do mean huge bug...looking at me with big bug eyes...and not moving. I threw stuff at him and quickly shut the screen door as I didn't know if he flew, hopped or charged. He just batted his big bug eyes at me...so I resorted to whatever was under the sink, I sprayed him with Windex, he didn't move, Fantastic spray, still wasn't leaving, spray starch...he just batted his big bug eyes at me...nothing phased this bug.(of course for some reason we had nothing like Raid around) In the end he won, I didn't do the wash that day (and yes, our washer and drier were outside in that mostly sunny locale but under an awning. My preying Mantis was more brownish and much larger than this one and he had big antennae coming out of the top of his head but you get the idea, picture credit is displayed on the picture.

Now on another occasion I came home late one night and when I came through the gate I could see a critter in front of the front door....the area was undercover, well lit (thank goodness) and "it" looked like a rock. As I approached slowly on tip toes it moved and let me tell you so did I. People kept telling me about these "buffo toads". They said be very careful they can kill your dogs with some kind of poison they spray...well just my luck I had to meet up with one in the wee small hours in the dark....first I tried scaring it...scared myself more than it and no it didn't move. Then I tried going back out the gate and getting rocks and throwing them at it...still he wasn't going anywhere and we had a standoff, I had no way into the house without going over him and that just wasn't happening. Eventually he hopped off into the night but I spent the next few months wondering where exactly did he hop too....(photo credit displayed on photo)

Then there was the time I discovered a bunny living in my yard. Well, what harm can a bunny do...right? Well this one was devouring all the vegetation in the yard. Our yard was completely fenced. Actually I think it was safer than Fort Knox's as the fencing was concrete block and at least seven feet tall. The big mystery was how did it get in the fully enclosed yard. Anyways, I ended up getting a trap from animal control and eventually I caught the bunny and took it to animal control to be relocated.

On yet another occasion I went out to hang laundry on the clothesline and something moved...it was a big chameleon sunning itself on my clothesline...sheesh it never ended....and then there were the odd bird noises I heard all day and night, mostly night when I was there alone....turned out they were being made by gecko's....who knew....but the gecko's I were familiar with as I had seen them in hotels in the past, if they come into your room it is said to be good luck...or at least that is what the hotel staff says, probably so you don't spazz out on them when you find them in your room...lol So these were the down sides to living in a place that is often referred to as paradise...but luckily in Hawaii we had no snakes...many years ago they brought in mongoose to rid them of snakes so now there are no snakes....millions of mongoose but no snakes...and luckily no mongoose ever found their way into my yard. Thanks for joining me in my trip down memory lane and please visit Dawn's blog when you have a minute, she is really funny and you won't be sorry you did. Her link for her blog is

http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/
or just go ahead and visit her at Babble and see her column there!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

2011-07-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 144TH BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!

We spent today enjoying the holiday at Burnaby Village Museum where large crowds gathered to enjoy a BBQ, celebration cakes and a very fun time. We met up with Robert and Loretta and spent some time eating lunch and visiting. Dakotah and I stayed at the park until after closing. It was her first visit and she can't wait to go back and see more on a quieter day. The museum is celebrating it's 40th birthday and has free admission this year, so we will be going back in the near future!

Loretta, Me and Dakotah

Dakotah and I

A cake artist at work piping on the cream frosting...num...strawberries and blueberries are the decorations.

We ran across an old outhouse and Dakotah had to try it out...pretend style!

Lunch, delicious bbq'd hot dogs for Dakotah and I Loretta and Robert enjoyed sandwiches they brought as they didn't want to fill up to much as they were going out to dinner.
Below are the wonderful decorated cupcakes Loretta brought and shared with us...they were a wonderful treat!

Dakotah in front of the large tables holding the Canada Day cakes

The RCMP all decked out in their red serge uniforms.
Below is the line up for the cake, by the time we came back it had more than doubled and was up and down the hill and snaked all over.

Dakotah held this really large sword which is real but not sharp and called a "practise sword"

Dakotah was very interested in how people got water from wells.

The goods in the bakery window look wonderful but they are faux!

More line ups for cake!

Dakotah and some of the other children rolled down this grassy hill to the side of the cake line up, it helped pass the time and rolling down hills never goes out of style for children it seems!

I think this car is from 1928, someone ran by and knocked over the sign with the details on it so not positive on the year.

Oh my, what a treat this was, cotton candy flavored ice cream! She said it was sooo good!

We ran across this interesting cow complete with a cow bell on our way to the gate at closing, a fun time was had by all, Happy Birthday Canada!

Vancouver 2011 Stanley Cup Riots, SHAME on those involved....

2011-06-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

The Vancouver you are currently seeing on CNN and The View and various other shows and programs is not the Vancouver we know and love. Punks, lots of booze and anarchists are what caused the riot here last night. The hockey fans themselves are not to blame from what I have seen on the local news coverage….and that is NOT normal behavior in these parts…sure we all would have loved to win that Stanley Cup but sheesh, it is just a game, Boston played better and they won fair and square and surely their win was not something to spark such serious civil disobedience and to destroy the livelihood of so many businesses etc. (50 something businesses were affected, 17 cars torched) I felt even worse for the merchants who had their property looted and destroyed when I heard that insurance does not cover civil disobedience so the 1 million dollars that the local drug store is out is their problem and the same with all the other merchants, a lot who are struggling in an uncertain economy. However, thanks to Facebook, about 13,000 people showed up with buckets, shovels, garbage bags and gloves etc to help clean up this morning….normal citizens, law abiding ones, all pitched in with the city employees, the business merchants etc to clean up the mess….I feel so bad for the city, for the victims of this crime, and I feel bad for both hockey teams who must be feeling awful about all of this.

Shame, shame on all those people involved in this humiliating display broadcast around the world. What were you thinking??? Do you Think??? Are you going to be our legacy when we are gone? It is a GAME, people, do you not really think that the players feel bad enough watching their dream go up in smoke when almost having it in their hands? My goodness, they did the best they could and I am quite sure they wanted that cup even more than we did, they worked hard all year to get into a position to play for the cup, for that they should be congratulated and instead you erupt into such a disgusting and disgraceful display of civil disobedience. Shame, shame on the hooligans and thugs who did all this damage.

Kudos to our home team, the Vancouver Canucks, Kudos to Boston on their win and their fabulous goalie Tim Thomas who played spectacular games. My deepest sympathy to the merchants, the police from various vicinities who had to put their own life's and safety on the line, to the firefighters who were also out there despite the danger to themselves, to the hospitals who treated casualties many of whom I would have thought twice about helping as they were the makers of their own destiny's, and many thanks to all the volunteers who turned out to help rebuild what was destroyed and try and show the world the "normal" Vancouverites....

And with hockey draft season just around the corner, Go Canucks Go...hold your heads high and hopefully next year will be your year!!

Pictures of this terrible display can be seen at the link below from the Globe and Mail, if you are local and recognize any of the faces, please call the Vancouver Police tip line, these people need to be punished

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/photos-of-vancouver-rioting/article2062983/?from=2063729

SAYING GOODBYE....

2011-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

RIP Emily November 19, 2000 - May 21, 2011

May was an awful month in our family. On May 17th my Mom (above with Emily) was admitted to hospital for low blood pressure, I was with her at the hospital until late in the evening. The next morning I was woken by her doctor calling my cell phone to tell me she had had a stroke.....

We spent the next few days at her bedside not knowing if she would make it or not and if she did what would the damage be. Her speech was severely impaired but she seemed to be able to move OK. Her speech is still not good but she is ambulatory and is now in a rehab facility and the doctors, nurses and therapists are working with her to try and recover some of what the stroke caused her to lose. Hopefully she will continue to recover and get well.

Meanwhile little Emily hadn't been feeling well that week and I took her to the Vet on Friday expecting her to have a stomach upset and need antibiotics. Well, he felt around and said her spleen was enlarged. He took xrays and blood work and he could see the spleen was very swollen and she also had a bladder stone. The poor little girl had to be suffering but she did it in silence which the vet assistant said is common as dogs don't like to upset their owners. She never complained of anything hurting but was off her food and every now and then would upchuck bile. Then she would be fine for a day or two.
So the Vet said depending on the blood work, he would like to remove the spleen, he felt there was probably a tumor there but he wouldn't know what kind until he opened her. He felt her odds were very good at a complete recovery. Saturday morning he called me and said he wanted to do surgery in the afternoon, the tests were back and he still felt she would be OK with the surgery. So I dropped her off and he said he would call when he had completed her. At about 2:10 in the afternoon my other dog Max, who is Emily's biological brother sat up straight on the couch and put his head right back. When the phone ran a couple of minutes later I just knew it was bad.

The Vet did the surgery, got the spleen out (there was a tumor but not as big as I had expected) and there was a bladder stone. I saw both later in the day. He said the operation was a success but as he was closing her little heart gave out. The Vet's assistant said he made a valiant effort to try and revive her but she was gone. I was and I remain heartbroken about my little Buddie's passing. She was my little shadow, she followed me everywhere and never let me out of her sight and at night her bed is on the floor beside my bed. I am the last one to bed around here and she always stayed with me and kept me company. I really miss her a lot. I had her cremated and I brought her home. The crematorium took a cast of her paw print and that is the plaque at the back right of the photo. Her ashes are in the urn. Very sad times.

Here Emily is in happier times.
And with the odd looking Santa below she is on the right front with her brother Max behind her and our other dog Molly on the left.

THE END OF AN ERA...TOO BIG TO BE A PRINCESS ANYMORE......

2011-06-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

It is with great sadness that I report the "Little Princess" has grown up...peer pressure etc has her not wanting to wear anything Princess related anymore...it just isn't cool at the ripe old age of seven. However, she still loves the Disney Store and hadn't yet been to ours that recently reopened. The other night while one of the Stanley Cup hockey games was on, she and I hit the mall as most everyone else in the province was in front of the TV or watching hockey somewhere. The quietness of the evening allowed her to explore the entire store and ooh and aah over all the lovely things, without the risk of anyone she goes to school with or plays with seeing her. You can see in her eyes she wishes she was little again. The longer we were in the store the more fun she was having. When we came home she put on her favorite Ariel T-shirt and pj bottoms and crawled into bed...you see even if you are too big for Princesses in public, at home under the cover of darkness, Princess clothing brings sweet dreams!

CONNAUGHT HEIGHTS SCHOOL CARNIVAL

2011-06-07T01:22:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night June 2, Connaught Heights neighborhood school held their annual carnival. It was a huge success thanks to the organizing skills and hard work of Nicci and James and a small handful of volunteers. Thanks goes out to our local Best Buy who not only sent some of their employees up to help man the different games stations, but they also sent the wonderful Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean look a like...gosh he was realistic! The kids all had a wonderful time and money was raised to support the schools PAC which funds things like field trips, May Day outfits for the school representatives and buys equipment the school needs to function efficiently and make the children's school experience a better thing! I am sure you can tell by the bottom of the kids pants in the pictures it poured rain for the entire day and evening....and like Murphy's Law dictates, the sun has been shining every since....Spring arrived to the West Coast finally on Friday!!! Would have been nice had it come a day earlier but.....

THE STANLEY CUP!!!

2011-05-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

For the first time in 17 years the Vancouver Canucks are in the final round for the Stanley Cup! Hockey mania is at work in our city, the excitment is palpable, the final round of the playoffs starts Wednesday at 5 pm Pacific daylight savings time and it is safe to say that most of the residents of our city will be in front of their TV's for it. Tickets to the event are a horrific price if you can even find some. The Canucks will face off against the Boston Bruins. My little Bleuette Madeline is dressed in her team jersey and is anxiously awaiting the big game and hopes that the Canucks will bring Lord Stanley's cup home to Canada. Go Canucks Go!!

Here is a little story that appeared on Yahoo News:

Just over a year ago, Vancouver erupted in celebration when Canada beat the United States for the gold medal in the men's ice hockey competition at the Winter Olympics.

It was great source of pride for British Columbia to play host to the victory for the hockey-mad country, but now the city of Vancouver has the chance to celebrate winning its own coveted prize.

The Vancouver Canucks face off on Wednesday against the Boston Bruins in the opening game for the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup championship.

The Canucks have never won the Stanley Cup in their 40 years in the NHL, and have only made it to the final round twice before. The last time was 17 years ago.

But the Canucks have emerged as a real contender in recent years, slowly adding players to fill lineup gaps. They finished the regular season with the NHL's best record and the Olympics could be an omen.

On the two previous occassions Canada hosted an Olympics, the host city won the Stanley Cup the next year.

In 1976, the Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, and in 1977 the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. In 1988, the Winter Olympics were held in Calgary. Sure enough, in 1989, the Calggary Flames with the Stanley Cup.

"It's been a long time coming," coach Alain Vignault said after Vancouver beat San Jose to win the Western Conference title.

COUPON SHOPPING

2011-05-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the awesome couponers and tips provided by very savy shoppers on the Canadian website "Smart Canucks" I headed out today to see how I could do. I have been collecting these coupons for a few weeks via Procter and Gamble, Websavers and newspaper inserts. Not everything in the pictures had a coupon for it but it was on sale. First I headed to London Drugs who allows coupon stacking and I managed to find two 3.00 coupons for the Pantene if I bought two of them and as it was on sale for 3.99 that meant each was .99. I had a buy 2 get 2 free Ceaser dog food, also on sale for .79 so I bought 4 tins for 1.58. I had 2 - 50 cent coupons for Herbal Essence shampoo so at the sale price I paid .99.

Next I headed to Walmart to try out their new coupon policy...not all there are aware but never fear, I had it printed out in my purse and produced it for the supervisor. The Dempster baguettes retailed at 3.87, I had a coupon so they were free, the Glade Sense and Spray was on sale for 6.00 but I had a coupon and it was free also, the Ziplock bags were 1.48 each but I had coupons for 4.00 off of each 2 purchases so the over amount was applied to my total (new policy) making the bags free and change left over, the ice cream was 5.67 but I had a cereal coupon for 5.00 so that was .67, The Pringles chips are on special if you buy 2, they are 3.00 but I had coupons for .50 for each tin making them 1.00 each, the Olay wipes are 2.00 but I had a coupon for 5.00 so the over amount was applied to the cart. I price matched the Herbal Essence at Walmart as London Drugs didn't have the kind I am very fond of and again I used .50 cent coupons so it was 1.50. The cereal is on sale for 2.97 but wait, there is a coupon on it to get free Activia yoghurt....the Teryaki marinade had a 3.00 off coupon if I bought 2 zip locks so the total on that was .57. The total for everything you see in the picture is 27.00 and that includes the 12% sales tax that applied to the precoupon prices of everything. I am very happy with my morning!

APRIL BIRTHDAYS

2011-04-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

This month we celebrated two special birthdays, my Mom turned 85 and my little niece Ana who was born 83 years after Mom celebrated her second birthday on the same day. Mom had a great birthday, Ana's family took her out to her very favorite restaurant to celebrate the dual birthdays and we took Mom out to her other favorite restaurant to celebrate her big day. Happy Birthday Mom and Ana!

DO DOGS GET SAD????

2011-04-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

Do dogs get SAD (seasonal affective disorder)? Our Molly is now 11 years old and has always been very lean. She really never cared about food before. She would eat a bit and walk off and didn't care if one of the other dogs ate it or not. For the last few months she has been eating her way through her food, then cleaning up anything any of the other dogs left. She stands in the kitchen and cries for food and now instead of being our lean girl, she is our "plus sized" model. I was reading about SAD the other day and found one of the symptoms of it is constant eating and wanting to eat....so now I am wondering if dogs get it as well as humans. Someone told me today that they keep track of our rainfall and most years we hit 20 inches (no metric figures for us older ones raised with inches and feet) around the end of our local fair called the PNE in August. This year apparently and according to this person I spoke with, we hit 18 inches the day before yesterday....prior to the torrential rain storm that moved through last night and the snow that fell today (yes, snow in April...sheesh). I guess we must just about be at the 20 inches that we normally have at the end of August. It is no wonder that so many of us, dogs maybe included are suffering from SAD this year. We only had 3 days in March where no rain fell. I hope this stretch of many months with no sunshine ends soon.....meanwhile Molly has gained so much that she no longer fits her collar...I have never heard of a full grown dog outgrowing their collar.....

THE DISNEY STORE REOPENS!!!!!!!

2011-04-06T17:02:00.000-07:00

In January of 2010 our beloved Disney store closed it's doors and moved out of our province. It was quite distressing to self professed Disney addicts like myself. The Disney store is the highlight of my trips to Metrotown Center in Burnaby. With great sadness I bid them farewell.

A couple of months ago I noticed the signs go up and store fronts boarded up and pictures of Mickey Mouse appeared...oh my, excitement, our beloved store was returning!! And in a great new location almost right underneath the food court so very central!

A couple of nights ago my friend Loretta emailed me and asked if I wanted to meet at the mall at 7 am today for the opening, She also is a Disney addict. Anyhow, I couldn't quite see standing in a line up for 3 hours waiting for the store to open and I told her I would probably go up about 8:30 as that seemed like a better time to me....she replied that she would come about 9:15 and would look for me in line. I really wasn't expecting a crowd...boy was I wrong....when I arrived there were people everywhere. My first hint was why were so many parking places in the massive parking lot already full when the mall doesn't open until 10 am?? I should have figured that one out. Oh my gosh, it was like opening time in Disneyland Park, crowds everywhere!

There were cameras and news stations filming the opening, and they had some sort of opening ceremonies but I missed quite a bit of it BECAUSE....the store opened EARLY!!!! Now why on earth didn't their banners all over the mall say early opening?? We asked a cast member who advised us that a new store was also opening in Ontario today and they wanted to open both stores at the same time and do news feeds of both openings at the same time on the big screens TV's they had all over the place. So they compromised and Ontario opened late and our store opened early.

I got into line and was amazed when the line started moving and they were letting us into the store and it wasn't even 9 am. I hadn't yet met up with Loretta and had to continue with the flow of people, the line up extended into the parking lot of the mall.They were giving everyone in line Mickey Ears to wear.

When I got into the store, I noticed a number of people being handed very fancy special shopping bags.... I used to be very independent and try and figure everything out for myself however as I age in this fast moving technical world I have discovered if you snooze you lose so I asked a cast member...she told me she thought they were media packages, I pointed out the people who had them looked like Mom's and Dad's and not media types and I asked her to check. She went and got her supervisor Melissa...who turned out to be all of what Disney should be...wonderful. Melissa told me that the members of a place called Four Square were sent this offer and if they signed up and made it to the store fast, they would get the promo offer. She kindly explained what Four Square is (sort of) and we managed to download the app onto my phone, fill out the forms needed and find the offer and thanks to her kindness and help, I received one of the 25 promo bags they were offering! I was number 19 of 25 according to the Four Square site. I was so excited...but wait, it gets better....I thought I was just receiving the bag and I was very happy to receive it.... I finally connected with my friend Loretta who had come after I was in the store and couldn't face the line up. She had gone upstairs to sit down so I joined her upstairs and while I was sitting there I discovered my bag wasn't just a bag....it had goodies in it!!! The first thing I unpacked was a stuffed Mickey Mouse, then I unpacked Mickey ears, I had received some in the store as well....I kept looking and there was a lovely Mickey Mouse hard cover journal, next out of the wonderful bag was a lovely little book about the Disney store and then I noticed I had a piece of paper in my hand as well and when I turned it over I discovered they had given me a 25.00 gift certificate to the Disney store...oh my what a wonderful bag full of goodies!!! Pictures of the goodie bag and contents are in the photos below.

This is one of the murals/facings on the outside of the store.

Here they are at the media center filming all the excitement.

The man and woman with the blonde hair were the "host and hostess" of this event.

More of the camera folks.

Once in the store I saw this lovely display of Ariel things. There are tons of interactive things for kids to do in this new store. The little ones all seemed to be having a great time coloring and getting stickers and looking into magic mirrors and crawling under displays that are actually set up for them to crawl through!

It doesn't show up in the photo but on the branches and leaves of the trees there are some kind of screen with Disney favorites princess's on them like TV screens...kind of like Fantasmic does in Disneyland. I am not technical so have no idea what it is or how it works but it was pretty cool to look at!

This is the line up a couple of hours after they has opened, it extends out the doors behind all those people and into the parking lot.

Just like at the Disney Parks, they had a "designated" stroller area for parents to park their strollers, it was just way too crowded inside for a lot of strollers.

Loretta and Mickey outside the store.

Me and Mickey and I'm even wearing my Mickey ears...once a kid always a kid...lol

The Goodie bag....awesome!! Thanks Four Square and thanks Disney Store, this was way more than I had even imagined it would be!

The next events scheduled are Minnie Masquerade Friday April 8 at 4:30 and 6:00, Saturday April 9 at 11:00 am and 12:30 Pm and these will be in advance of a special TV show being broadcast on April 11 on the Disney Channel.

The official grand opening is April 16 and will feature Mickey and Minnie and a free gift will be given to the first 500 guests to arrive. It starts at 10 am (and they tell us this time will NOT change...) and then 12 - 4 there will be a meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie.

The Disney Store is opening with a big bang! I Love it and I am so happy to have them back!

THE STORY OF THE "SUPER SIZED" PERIGEE MOON

2011-03-20T02:25:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – While tonight’s Perigee Moon for March 19, 2011 is called a “Supermoon”, NASA tells news that the “super” in the word Supermoon refers to the rare beauty and illusion that the Moon will create this evening. At first glance, tonight’s full Moon may not have a proportional difference than any other night. But as NASA explains to news, when tonight’s full Moon is observed behind foreground objects like trees and foliage, it will appear “supersized” and brighter.

How big will tonight’s Moon appear? NASA predicts that this evening the full Moon may appear as much as fourteen percent larger than on average. And while the Moon may appear substantial supersized tonight, NASA explains it’s all an illusion. Tonight’s illusion is the result of the Moon’s orbit passing closer to the Earth.
But here rests the irony.
As NASA explains to news, tonight’s full Moon may appear fourteen percent larger but it is not that much closer to the Earth than on average. As NASA adds, “the moon may seem bigger although the difference in its distance from Earth is only a few percent at such times.”
There is more to be excited about tonight’s Moon besides it enlarged appearance. It will appear also thirty percent brighter that a normal full Moon. The last time this happened was March 1993. And yet, tonight’s Moon tonight is only fifty thousand kilometers closer to the Earth to create this spectacle.

But you should be alarmed about the Moon’s closer proximity to the Earth tonight? No, says NASA. They explain the Earth already has enough “internal energy.” “The Earth has stored a tremendous amount of internal energy within its thin outer shell or crust” explains NASA to news, adding “the small differences in the tidal forces exerted by the moon (and sun) are not enough to fundamentally overcome the much larger forces within the planet due to convection (and other aspects of the internal energy balance that drives plate tectonics).”

If full Moons are not to your liking, meteor showers are just around the corner. Lyrids arrives on the evening of April 21, peaking after midnight. Eta Aquarids will light up the sky with an impressive meteor show on May 5 in the early evening. Perseids drops in a full moon the evening of August 13. A partial lunar eclipse lit up the sky on June 26. Another partial can be seen in just days from now on June 4, 2011.

So while tonight’s “perigee moon” may appear as the biggest and brightest full moon in almost 20 years, there is always something exciting to capture in the sky.

(photo is mine however the article is from Lalate)

BLOG WINNER

2011-03-20T01:54:00.000-07:00

Hubby drew the names for the blog contest a few minutes ago, Marlene was the winner!!! Marlene can choose if she would like the cards or the mascot change purse and let me know and I will get her prize out to her this week. Thanks to everyone who left a comment and read my blog post! Jeannie came in second so which ever prize is not chosen I will send on to Jeannie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAIME...200th post, first ever blog prize for comments!

2011-03-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe Jaime is turning four...it seems like just yesterday he was born!! Happy Birthday Jaime!

I JUST DISCOVERED THIS IS MY 200TH POST AS WELL AS JAIME'S BIRTHDAY SO I WILL HAVE MY FIRST EVER BLOG GIVE-A-WAY, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND I WILL DRAW A NAME ON SATURDAY FOR EITHER A DECK OF CARDS FROM THE VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPICS OR A DARLING MASCOT CHANGE PURSE FROM THE 2010 OLYMPIC GAMES IN VANCOUVER, WINNERS CHOICE OF WHICH THEY WANT!

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

2011-03-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

On Friday March 13th, 1981 we were married in Honolulu, Hawaii. My brother and my best friend Sally signed our wedding certificate as the witness's. A reception followed at my Mom's home in Wailupe Circle. The time has sure sped by. Friday the 13th was my favorite Gramma's favorite day and 13 was her lucky number. When she died, I took over her favorite day and number. The table where the wedding cake is in the first picture was decorated with a huge plumeria lei which we strung by hand ourselves from the flowers from the trees in my Mom's back yard. I miss the heavenly smell of the plumeria's. We wore leis of Vanda Orchids and Pikake flowers in traditional Hawaiian style.

FINALLY A THRIFT STORE SCORE!!!

2011-03-12T00:44:00.000-08:00

Since becoming a ~~rabid~~ avid doll collector in about 2002, I have been scouring thrift stores, swap meets, yard sales and anywhere else that I might find vintage treasure. As the years have wound down, I have pretty much given up on yard sales, swap meets etc as I never find anything there. And mornings and I are not terribly compatible nor is tramping out in the rain and coming back empty handed. I still have a trap line of thrift stores I haunt from time to time. I am a Chatty Cathy ~~addict~~ collector who really should form a 12 step program for fellow addicts....and myself... however I still enjoy it so I still collect it. Lately I have been downsizing. I have a long, long ways to go with that project. Anyways, to get back to the subject, I went out to the bank and library today and with gas being 131.5 cents a liter here in my area, I like to try and combine a lot of trips into one to save gas. So I did my errands and then did my thrift store rounds. At one I found a bunch of vintage dolls in a bin. Most of them I recognized as I owned a few like them when I was young. After carefully looking at them and deciding I do not need any more vintage addictions, I decided to check out the doll clothes they usually have in another section. I spotted a bag of clothes....be still my heart, there was a blue dress in the bag and it looked an awful lot like one I have been trying to obtain for years for Chatty Cathy. I quickly grabbed the bag and started turning it over and over (they are sealed) oh my, I saw a yellow dress and a familiar rosebud pattern...no doubt about it, this bag is coming home with me. I looked over my shoulder and noted a couple of other women in about my age group eyeing up me and my bag which made me cling even tighter to it....I wandered around the store and waited awhile longer to see if they brought out any more toys or dolls but alas, no success there. And now...drum roll please, I will reveal the contents of my treasure bag that I paid for and hurried out to my car and locked the doors and opened....it was even better than I thought....and my very first find of Chatty Cathy stuff in a thrift store.

I couldn't help but wonder who the little girl was who played with this stuff so many years ago is, I have never had quite this same feeling for anything I bought on Ebay but finding stuff by myself that was not in anyone's collection had me wondering what happened to the little girl, why is all her stuff now in a thrift store after so many years ............................one of those things I will never have an answer for I guess. Thanks for viewing my blog, the dolls at the top of the blog are Chatty Cathy dolls and the ones on each side are wearing dresses I made for them and the one in the middle is wearing a lovely ensemble from Build a Bear that I altered a bit so it would fit her!

FREEBIE FRIDAY

2011-02-25T14:09:00.000-08:00

For the first time that I have ever seen, one of our local stores is offering doubling on coupons for Friday and Saturday only so last night I went through my coupons, printed out the probiotic vitamin one from the website and this is what I bought....for a grand total of 5.00....not quite free however I got 31.99 off in coupons today so I am very happy!

FREE AND ALMOST FREE, A GOOD SHOPPING WEEK!

2011-02-24T16:02:00.000-08:00

Those who know me know my favorite word when shopping is "free". In Canada we have a little something called "the scanning code of practise". If an item scans at a price other than the marked or labeled price, the first 10.00 of the product price is free. If the item is under 10.00 the item is free, if it is over 10.00 you get 10.00 off....I love the scanning code of practise but you have to be on your toes because most places will not give it unless you insist despite the signage on their tills etc. Wal-Mart is a place with frequent price errors and they will fight you every inch of the way to get out of allowing you to use the scanning code of practise (Queensborough Wal-Mart specifically), Well I was in Wal-Mart yesterday and the bacon scanned wrong..4.42 and the shelf marking was 3.97. After much back and forth and their clerk saying this wasn't the product etc, I finally went and got the shelf tag that clearly said Maple Leaf sliced bacon on it. The supervisor was going to correct the price and then I pointed out the big notice on their counter stating the scan of practise rules. She begrudgingly put it through as free. It is a bit of a hassle but worth it in the end. So...free bacon.... I should note here that not all stores are members of the scanning code of practise and it is a voluntary agency so the stores do not have to belong if they choose not too. Safeway, London Drugs, IGA, Shoppers Drug Mart, Costco and Wal-Mart are some of the stores that honor it. For a full list you would have to use Google and it will come up.

Now, as bad as Wal-Mart is at trying to argue you out of the code, Safeway is probably the best store around for knowing the rules and using them properly without any fight, argument etc. I love Safeway for this reason. Today I bought this meat for the carnivores in this house. Note the original price is over 30.00 but they have a sale! It was supposed to be 18.82 when you use your Safeway club card. Around here any time is grill time even if the temperature outdoors is in the minus degrees. I used the self check out and noted the club card price that came off was only a dollar something so I asked the lady who supervises the self checkouts for help. She made several phone calls to the meat department and talked to the customer service counter and then arrived back and said "I am only charging you 8.82 for this as it scanned wrong"...oh my big score. Now I hadn't even thought about the scanning code of practise for some reason in this case so having her automatically take off 10.00 from the sticker price was awesome, thank you Safeway, this is why I love to shop with you!

One more interesting thing I found out at Safeway today is that in the meat department, on top of the counter where their butcher shop is, they have an assortment of spices and marinades, teryaki, steak sauce, all kinds of really great stuff and it is FREE....you just have to ask a clerk and they will package up whatever you want from their selection....they will even put your meat in a marinade for you....that is pretty cool!! I came home with teryaki marinade and powered steak spice.....can't wait to try them out!

OK, now the item below was not free however it was close. Multibionta is a new vitamin out and it contains probiotics. It contains a complete multi vitamin and essential minerals as well. Recently I was invited to join a BZZZZ campaign to try these vitamins out. I haven't received my free ones from BZZZZ yet but ran across a coupon online for 10.00 off on these vitamins and they sound so intriguing I decided to buy a package. Safeway had them on sale for 11. 49 if you use your club card so using the 10.00 off coupon I bought them for about 1.49....not quite free but pretty darned close! I have heard some really good things about them so am looking forward to seeing if they are as good as they sound! I will do another post for BZZZ agent in the near future when the product arrives from them! If you are interested in becoming a BZZZ agent and receiving invitations to receive and review products, go and join up, they are a leading word of mouth company and the products they send out are great! http://www.bzzagent.com/

DAKOTAH'S BIRTHDAY

2011-02-16T00:22:00.000-08:00

On Feb. 6 Dakotah turned 7...gosh the time has gone by quickly....she is so tall and is missing so many teeth now. She had two birthday parties this year because her birthday fell on Superbowl Sunday. On that day a family birthday was had at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Langley. Then this past Sunday she had her party with her friends and they all had a great time. Happy Birthday Dakotah!

Can you tell she is mortified? The waitresses singing Happy Birthday was not something she was happy to have happen!

Jaime and the cake, their Mom spent most of the night before making this lovely cake for her.

The birthday girl herself.

Some of the family

some of the kids at the children's party

Jaime at the cookie making station

One of the crafts they made was this guitar, the theme was rock stars. We helped the kids glue the strings on them with the glue gun but they choose the colors of string and decorated the rest how they wanted. Jaime loved his!

This is one of Dakotah's oldest and dearest friends. She has known her since she was about 2. We met Ani and her mom at a playschool group and her mom and I used to sit side by side and hold the girls on our knees and do crafts with them. It was great fun. Despite the fact they go to different schools and live in different areas, they have a very strong bond still. Baby Kalani and his favorite activity(the balloons) is in the foreground.

This was a store bought cake, there just was not enough time to organize and gather everything needed for the party for her mother to do another homemade one. this one was good too! Everyone had a lovely time and next it will be time for Jaime's, it has been hard for him to have to wait through Kalani's and now Dakotah's birthday, his turn next!

THE OLYMPICS ONE YEAR LATER.....

2011-02-11T23:31:00.000-08:00

February 12 marks the one year anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Many events are planned downtown Vancouver to celebrate the anniversary, however the monsoon like rains we have been having all winter are back again so it may be a damp party. Tonight we were at the mall and in The Bay which was the official store for all things Olympic during the games and although the design has been changed slightly, they are still selling some of the best sellers. I don't like the new red mittens as much as the official Olympic ones however they are still being sold and donating funds to Canadian Athletes so it is for a good cause. The little one laying accross the shelf below is my grandson, he couldn't resist the shelf, it was just his size!

KALANI'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

2011-01-18T00:11:00.000-08:00

On January 9, 2011 Kalani turned one! Here are a few photos of his big day.

A CHRISTMAS LUNCH

2010-12-16T00:32:00.000-08:00

We had the great pleasure today of spending time with my niece Ana and her Mom and Gramma today. We hadn't seen her for quite awhile and she has really grown and we were so happy to find she is such a sweet little angel girl, so well behaved and so nice. Truly a joy to spend time with. My Mom, below was also just thrilled to be able to spend time with Ana. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon! And the "I love You" Ana said as she was bundled up to leave was such a sweet way to end a precious afternoon! We love you too, princess!

AT LONG LAST, SPRING HAS ARRIVED!

2010-11-04T00:48:00.000-07:00

This is actually pretty funny but I think spring finally arrived on the West coast! We have been having some nice stretches of awesome weather lately and today I was sure spring was here as it was actually warm outside! We are using these last bits of nice weather to hurry and get things done outside. Our new stairs in front now have 3 coats of stain on them, the side of our house that tends to be a mud pit all winter as the grass won't grow there is now a concrete jungle and I love it. And now I have spent two days painting outside...I can't believe I am painting outdoors in November and the paint is actually drying within a couple of hours and set by sunset. I would be truly happy if our weather stayed like this forever but I hear we are going to normal November weather at midnight Thursday so my outdoor fun is coming to an end. My rhododendron is blooming too but I can't find the pictures right now. Have a nice week and thanks for visiting my blog.

GOODBYE TO THE SUMMER OF 2010!

2010-10-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been brought to my attention that I am not blogging lately....not sure what excuse to use...didn't feel like it maybe? So, to rectify and catch up, I will post a few pictures of a summer that just seem to have zipped by. I can't believe it is almost Halloween! Above is Myself, Leona and Loretta at our summer bbq.

If you come to our house, expect to work!! Just kidding...Loretta and Leona had professed a desire to use power tools so Pepa showed them how and let them learn how to work with power tools. Loretta loves that saw!

Leona under the palm tree..almost looks like she is having a holiday somewhere exotic instead of the back yard of my home on the west coast...

Helping to put the rails on the stair railing....our deck is finally complete! Yeahhhhh.....

The tables for dinner....and in the background, my Mother's Day Clock gift which I adore.

Pepa showing Leona how to use the tools.

The chef is cooking! Num...

Meanwhile at a table of their own some little Bleuette Scouts are anxiously awaiting dinner for themselves, Yvette Marie and Zoe brought their table and picnic basket to share with Madeline.

Madeline received a new sister from Hong Kong, She was very excited until she found out she has to share all her stuff with her....just kidding, she is a good sister.

August was a fun month as our little Bleuettes went to Admiral Scout camp that was organized by Admiral Claire and Tante Gael. A fun time was had by all and I will do a special post of this event one day soon...the month flew by doing camp stuff...what fun! Here Madeline shows off her uniform and badges...we now have badges the right size and need to get them cut out and put on properly!

Signaling the end to summer is always the Fair at the PNE...it means summer is nearly gone and back to school is around the corner. This year the Fair was turning 100 years old...WOW! The Province newspaper asked for submissions of your memories of the fair and I submitted two stories and was surprised when they published them both! I forgot and didn't buy the paper for the supplement however I was able to view them online on their website.

Got mini donuts??? This little llama at the local fair reacted every time anyone wiggled a mini donut bag...she had obviously sampled them at some point before..... She was very entertaining

my friend the cow at the fair.

Pepa found a new friend too...

We made a couple of trips to one of our favorite places, The Harrison Hot Springs resort. It was lovely!

The view across the lake. The weather wasn't great but the hot spring pools were awesome!

Lying in this pool at night is really relaxing. The sky is so dark you can see all the stars and constellations in the sky.

Some of the flowers around Harrison!

two of the three white dogs...one is busy checking out something else.

I took my mom out to Swiss Chalet...dinner was very good but she lives for dessert! Hence the smile on her face!

So tired she fell asleep in her dish...getting old is the pits, isn't it? I can relate...although so far I haven't fallen asleep on my dishes...

some of the flowers in my garden. They are still thriving!

My fuchsia tree did so well this year....it is a beautiful sight to behold.

My rhododendron thinks it is spring...it is blooming now in October.

My son has been doing a lot of crabbing this summer. He brought this home for his Dad the other day. I am allergic to seafood but both of them enjoy it

And that is all for now...thanks for stopping by and I will try to post more often....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES

2010-08-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

It seems like yesterday but then it also seems like a lifetime ago and I guess in reality it was a lifetime ago that my sweet baby James was born. He had such a lovely disposition and he was my "sunny" child. He could always make anyone smile and had a way of making you laugh even when he had just done something he should be punished for. He carried this sunny personality into school and his friends thought he was a very funny guy. He was always a ray of sunshine when he was a child. Happy Birthday James, I hope it is wonderful and the year ahead brings you happiness and laughter.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

2010-07-01T00:18:00.001-07:00

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

THIS WEEKS HAUL OF FREEBIES

2010-06-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

Despite the spin the local spin doctors put on the state of the economy, those of us trying to live day to day realize most of it is just that...spin. The economy is in tough shape, prices keep going up, taxes keep going up, the next one hitting us is on Canada Day July 1st, the dreaded HST which has to be the most hurtful one yet. It isn't even clear what this tax will be charged on but it sounds like pretty much everything. Oh, and I would suggest you fill up your car's gas tank as apparently that is going up also but on my travels today, the gas companies seem to have put it up already ahead of the holiday.....(I believe this hike has something to do with a carbon tax)

Lately one of my most favorite word's in the English language has become "free". I have always been a couponer and more and more people are joining this trend as it become more difficult to get by. For many years it was possible to get coupons for free things in the USA and rebates from manufacturers making things free or almost free but in Canada free was a rare thing and the value on coupons was usually very low. In the last little while there has been a new trend towards Canadian manufacturers handing out coupons for free things. some of the great websites to find these deals are save.ca, Life Made Delicious and my favorite haunt Smart Canucks where you can find a ton of offers that are out there all in one visit to one site. Another great tool for finding "free" stuff is Facebook. Now in picture one you can see the great stuff I have redeemed on in the last week. My Mom also gets the coupons and passes on the ones she doesn't use so that is why there are two of some things. In this group there are free potato's from the "Little Potato Company", shaving razors from Proglide, Proctor and Gamble and this weeks exchange program at London Drugs. The Cheerios and React 5 gum (delicious by the way) are from Facebook, the first aid kit is a freebie coupon from Johnson and Johnson and included the tax...sweet...Kashi sent out little boxes of cereal to try, and Pillsbury has a coupon for a free product that has been available for awhile now.My mom gave me hers which will make my son very happy! Veet sent me a sample of their product in the mail to try. And the 5.00 Subway gift cards came from Lay's Chip trip program. Not shown because if hasn't yet arrived is a 20.00 gift card from Sport Chek which I bought with points collected on icoke. It takes a bit of work gathering all this stuff but the redemption and savings to our family grocery budget makes it very worthwhile. The Melitta coffee came from a promo that company is running where if you refer a friend, they will send you a coupon for a free bag of their World Harvest Fair Trade certified coffee, but hurry, that one expires June 30th! Oh, and another added bonus was that the free Cheerios have a code on them to order free magazines, so Canadian Living and Style at Home, 3 issues of each, will soon be heading my way!

Now below the Airwick Freshener were not quite free but very close at 97 cents a package. This was another awesome freebie I received in the form of coupons. Had I tired a little harder and payed a bit more attention, I could probably have found it on sale somewhere and gotten it totally free but for .97, I am not complaining! I saw it retail at a couple of locations for 12.99 and 19.99 so 97 cents was a great deal IMHO! Now everyone go out and find those offers!! You can spend the money you save on something fun to do!

Same time last year...

2010-06-12T00:45:00.000-07:00

Last year at this time, we were heading off to the happiest place on earth to celebrate my friend Loretta's last year in the fourth decade of her life. This year she turns the BIG 50....and we are all celebrating but not at such an exotic location. Here are a few photos of last years celebrations.... can you guess where we were? Pay attention to her birthday apron...it is the big hint!

The first stop on the whirlwind day was American Girl Place in The Grove in LA where we browsed dolly heaven and then ate at the cafe...Loretta's desert was served with a birthday candle and you can see she and her little companion are enthralled with it!

Next stop was the park as it was Celebration year and the Park gave Loretta a gift card equivalent to a one day admission in the park to shop...she had a lot of fun buying presents for herself! We had dinner at the Plaza Restaurant in the park. We had tried to book the Blue Bayou for dinner but alas, reservations are hard to get there and we had to put that excursion off for a day until they could fit us in. (it was worth the wait, though!!) The pin on her top is one proclaiming she is celebrating her birthday at Disneyland! They just think of all the little things that make events and occasions special!

And here are the signs and decorations up around the park proclaiming it the celebration year! I don't think we can top this day this year but we will try and have fun anyhow...after all how many times do you turn the golden age of 50? Once in a lifetime if you are lucky and fortunate to have made it this far! Happy Birthday my friend, may the next 50 years treat you as well as the first half a century!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!

2010-06-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

28 years ago right now I was a basket case about to go under anaesthetic for a c-section to deliver my first child. The years have gone so quickly and Ben is now a man whom we are very proud of. Happy Birthday Ben! And here is a few photos of his arrival into the world at Kaiser Hospital in Honolulu.

this one was in the operating room once he had been checked by the pediatricians.

This one was as we were being released from the hospital...they don't waste any time getting the bed ready for the next patient, the bed had already been stripped here and they were standing by ready to make it up...lolThis one should be up a bit further as it was shortly after he was born, I had to lay flat for 12 hours to avoid a spinal headache from the anaesthetic and this is when they finally brought him to me.

Day 4, we were released, he is drinking glucose water as that is what they gave them in those days.

HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY PINK SATURDAY!!

2010-05-29T01:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Second Birthday to Pink Saturday and to Bev at How Sweet the Sound for hosting the event these last two years. As usual I forgot to reply but managed to find a few pink pictures to post in honor of the event! Happy Pink Day Ladies and Gentlemen!

I found this adorable pink suitcase and Hawaiian dolly at a thrift store last week and couldn't resist it....

This rose isn't technically pink but my Granddaughter picked it for me and therefore it is special and belongs here!

Our local park is just ablaze with rhododendrons in full magnificent colors. These pink ones were my personal favorites.Happy Pink day everyone and Happy Birthday to Beverly and her fantastic idea for such a fun event!

2010-05-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

I was checking around and found the picture of Tom and Jerry and I from the story I mentioned a couple of posts down...once again it is a picture of a picture so the quality isn't great

Old Pictures

2010-05-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am in the middle of a big project...my son who hasn't lived here for years, has all his "stuff" still here and as we are running out of room around here, it is time for him to take it or dispose of it or something.....so I began in a room that has me amazed at how much stuff he had stuffed away in there...while bagging, boxing etc, I ran across a few old pictures.
The first photo is me as a flower girl. I was the youngest girl on my Dad's side of the family and was a flower girl a remarkable three time in about a year and a half. I am not sure of the year of this photo but I must have been seven or eight as my "big" teeth are in. My cousin Sandi got married to Phil. Sadly both have since passed away. My Mom is on the far right and I am the flower girl!

The next photo is of our backyard when we lived in Hawaii. If you look really close, I am floating around that pool. And the bottom photo is of our breakfast nook at my Mom's house in Hawaii. Once again I am taking pictures of pictures so the quality isn't all that great!

2010-05-17T00:13:00.000-07:00

This has been one of those awful weeks, where bad things happen to good people, stuff that was supposed to happen didn't, and whatever could go wrong, did. So I wasn't terribly surprised when we drove to the beach today to find the train was going through and we couldn't get across the tracks to actually get to the beach. And of course it had to be the longest train ever...

While we were waiting for the never ending train to go past, I turned around and took a few pictures. The brick colored building is Coney Island fish and chips. I think they have the best fish and chips anywhere but I admit to being slightly biased as I have been eating here since I could barely walk. I remember sitting on stools at the counter and it was one of the few times I was allowed to have soda pop and I always asked for the pink Creme Soda. Yum.

To the left of Coney Island is Moby Dick fish and chips...many would argue they have the best fish and chips anywhere...and the line ups outside there most days might indicate this as well...but for me it is Coney Island. I have history with that place...it was there long before Moby Dick's was around. Granted it didn't always look like this as it once burned down and was rebuilt but it is still Coney Island.

To the left of Moby Dicks used to be a corner store called "Red and White" but it has been gone for many years and I see the building was recently renovated and a new restaurant is there. And beside this restaurant is this hill.....I was standing across the street and up on higher ground when I took this picture but that is a big and winding hill across the street. When I was a little girl, I lived in a house at the top of this hill and down the lane way a few steps. It was actually a summer house but when I was about 4, we sold our house in the city and were moving to a new house but it was under construction so we had to move into the beach house for several months. There was a set of little boy twins my age down the lane named Tom and Jerry (long before that ice cream bearing the same name was around). That summer we were like triplets and played together every day...outside...in those days it was relatively safe to let your kids go outside to play and you knew they would show up when it was time to eat. We never went far but we found all kinds of fascinating things to do...catching caterpillars, butterflies, picking flowers (I remember bright multi colored nasturtiums and orange California poppies as being my favorites then) and walking through the blacktop the city had just paved the road out front with...black top when it is warm feels really nice on tiny bare feet and toes...I never wore shoes when I was little and still don't like them. And we liked to squish snails with our bare feet...that habit has not moved into adulthood with me.... That summer was so much fun and I hated when it ended as we moved into our new house and I started kindergarten. My birthday is at the end of the year so I started school at the tender age of 4.

Here is White Rock today, the tide was way out and the puddles close to shore were nice and warm!

The daffodils are now gone and in their place are these pretty flowers. We had a nice time today and it was a nice break.

MOTHER'S DAY 2010

2010-05-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

M-O-T-H-E-R
"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,
"A word that means the world to me. by Howard Johnson

Happy Mother's Day...to all Mommie's, Gramma's, Auntie's.....I hope everyone had as lovely a day as we did!

THE 'BZZZZZ' REPORT, NABOB COFFEE AND PALMOLIVE DISH SOAP

2010-05-02T00:19:00.000-07:00

My name is Linda and I am a BZZZZZZ Agent...really truly....I know a lot of you are laughing and saying "she's WHAT"??? What kind of agent??? Well I am a Bzzz agent, and I have been for quite sometime now. Bzzz is a leading company that focus's on spreading product info by word of mouth. You to can become a Bzz agent and participate in various campaigns if you go here and sign up
http://www.bzzagent.com/

I have been included in two recent fabulous campaigns that I am going to talk about today. First I was sent this lovely bottle of Palmolive Aroma Sensations dish soap. Now I have to be very honest here and say that the scent they sent me is fresh green apple and much as I love apples, I have an aversion to anything apple flavored, be it shampoo, room freshener or....drum roll...dish soap. So it took me a few days to try this out. I finally bit the bullet so to speak and liberally poured it into my sink and turned on the hot water fully prepared to gag. And was pleasantly surprised. The apple is not over powering and has a very pleasant smell! Once over that initial hurdle I tried it out on my dishes and have found it is excellent. It cleans the greasiest pans and dishes with no residue left, it bubbles up like no other dish soap I have used in recent times and a tiny bit goes a long ways!! I give this product a two thumbs up! It is great and I would not only recommend it but I would buy it again and even in green apple scent. I quite like it!!

My next product received is Nabob coffee. They sent me two tins. One is Breakfast and one is Full City Metropolis. Nabob coffee is rainforest certified and belongs to the Rainforest Alliance. The contents of each tin have more than 60% rainforest certified coffee beans! Even the canister it comes in is made from 100% recycled material! This is a wonderful company doing their part to ensure the planet is in good shape for the next generation! The coffee itself is great and we would highly recommend either choice. Full City Metropolis is their darkest roasted coffee with a full bodied robust flavor, perfect for even the most picky coffee drinker in your midst! And a great wake up coffee to get you going in the morning! The Breakfast coffee is a lighter bodied coffee with bright citrus notes and great if you don't want that strong and heavier type of coffee... so there was something for every taste in this wonderful Bzz kit. Both coffees smell great perking! Thanks for letting us try these great products and you can bet we will be heading to the store to stock up on more! Two thumbs up for Nabob too!

Thursday at the mall

2010-05-01T23:51:00.001-07:00

Thursday Loretta and I met at Metrotown mall for lunch and a few hours of stimulating conversation. Time always goes by way too quickly when we meet up. Charmin Chatty Cathy came along with me to the mall because she talks and Loretta hadn't heard one talk before. It was kind of hard to hear her in the food court as it turns out it is a pretty noisy place but she got the idea. So we had lunch at Manchu Wok and then wandered into Build a Bear as it is one of the few "fun" places left in the mall and I had a coupon burning a hole in my pocket to use there. We visited several stores while shopping and then I had to go as I had to pick up my fur balls at the groomer. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon! We should do it more often.

Turn Around...

2010-05-01T00:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Loretta over at the House of Houben did a post earlier this week about how fast kids grow up...go and have a look over at the House of Houben to see her son and nephew from stroller to grown men...it makes you think about how short our time on earth really is and how fast it goes by. I remembered a song I saw performed on TV many years ago and so had to go looking for it to post in her comment section. Of course one thing led to another and thoughts of time passing made me go around taking pictures of my little dear heart as she is growing up way to fast also. I changed computers along the way and haven't quite gotten the hang of posting pictures from CD's so the picture quality isn't good...I got creative and took pictures of the pictures hanging on my walls, the last one is her school picture this year which I do not have a hard copy of but took a picture of it when I saw it as I thought it was so cute. Well, in any case, here is the song that has been going through my head since seeing Loretta's inspiring post:

TURN AROUND
Written by: Harry Belafonte, Alan Greene & Malvina Reynolds

Where are you going
My little one, little one
Where are you going
My baby, my own

Turn around and you’re two
Turn around and you’re four
Turn around and you’re a young girl
Going out of the door

Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you’re a young girl
Going out of the door

Where are you going
My little one, little one
Little pigtails and petticoats
Where have they gone

Turn around and you’re tiny
Turn around and you’re grown
Turn around and you’re a young wife
With babes of your own

Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you’re a young wife
With babes of your own

Where have they gone
My little ones, little ones
Where have they gone
My babies, my own

Turn around and they’re young
Turn around and they’re old
Turn around and they’re gone
And we’ve no one to hold

Turn around, turn around
Turn around and they’re gone
And we’ve no one to hold

Where are you going
My baby, my own

THE WORLD GETS STRANGER ALL THE TIME...

2010-04-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

I am guessing a few of you are wondering what on earth my title has to do with all the pretty flowers below it...well let me tell you a story....My husband is a stone mason and work is slow due to the recession and economic woes, that contrary to what the local politicians are pedaling, has not gone anywhere in our area for folks who are in construction or the trade industries. So back to my story, hubby got a call to do an estimate in a place he wouldn't normally consider as it is a long ways travelling to and from our home each day but as work is scarce, he went to do it and invited me along for the ride. On our way home, we ran across a Costco that we have never visited before and could see they also had an outdoor garden center at this location. I have never been to a Costco with an outdoor garden center so we went in to eat at the snack bar there and for me to have a look around. While we were eating our lunch, folks were going by with lots of pretty flowers and plants in their carts. I spied one lady with a banana plant in her cart and I know the plant well as we grew them when we lived in Hawaii many years ago. Then I spotted a lady go by with bougainvillea in her cart...another tropical memory for me as we grew this also.....so the draw to go visit the garden center became even more intense.

After my lunch, I found the entry point and went out to the garden center and saw all these gorgeous plants. Everywhere I looked were pretty flowers and bushes. Our weather hasn't been great of late but seeing all these lovely things took me back to memories of long ago and how pretty it will soon be if the weather cooperates. I walked all the way to the back of the garden center and finally found the banana trees...I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures to show my Mom at some point. When we lived in Hawaii, my Mom's Uncle brought us 3 apple banana plants from the University of Hawaii. My Mom planted them and babied them and next thing we knew, we had fresh bananas. What my Uncle forgot to mention was that after bearing fruit, you cut down the tree...but while the tree is growing, it is throwing off shoots for more trees....as many or more than 7 shoots for 7 more trees from each one. I am sure you know where I am going with this...before long my Mom's adventure in banana growing became a plantation of bananas....they spread and the entire back of our property was full of bananas. We gave away bag after bag of bananas to friends and neighbors. Finally the yard man had to start pulling out the new tree shoots as our little plantation was threatening to take over the neighbors yards as well as our own...lol So when I saw these trees, I just had to take a picture for old time sake. Then I wandered to the back and took some pictures of the gorgeous bougainvillea. In so many pretty colors. I was totally enjoying myself and having a nice time when this woman's voice boomed "YOU can't take pictures in the store"....I jumped and was startled as I had been deeply immersed in my own little world... so I asked her to repeat it...and she again said "You can't take pictures in the store" I had my blank face on by then and managed to say...."but I am not in the store"....to which she replied "well you can't take pictures in the store or out of the store in the garden center"....I explained I just wanted a picture of the banana trees and she just kind of said "No" and wobbled off in her three inch heals while brushing her long, sculpted mane from her face....sheesh.... There was another customer standing there, an older European lady judging by her accent and she looked at me and I looked at her and she said "When we immigrated many years ago, no one cared where you took pictures".....that about sums it up...who would believe some big shot supervisor in Costco could make such a big deal out of nothing??? Pictures of a few flowers...big deal...the world had gone totally nuts. I might have gone back to buy some of these plants one day as they were beautiful, but I think perhaps I will patronize more friendly garden centers for my plant shopping...and to think I actually pay membership to belong to this store!!

As I was going back to our car, I looked across the street and saw this totally pink car in front of the Home Depot store...the picture doesn't do it justice...it is totally pink...quite pretty for pink fans like me!! I quickly snapped the picture then I speedily put my camera away in my purse in case there were camera police out in the parking lot patrolling Costco's perimeter.....

THE NEVER ENDING DECK PROJECT

2010-04-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

About two years ago, we tore down our deck as it was rotten and needed to be replaced. We framed it and built it ourselves and then had a company in to lay a vinyl floor. It was lovely. However, since then due to one thing or another, we haven't put the railings up. Despite our recent inclement weather, we decided this is the year the deck is going to be finished. So, after many trips to the home improvement store and the lumber yard, we began. We are now 3/4 done. The front is done, the one side is done and the area around the stairs is done. All that remains is one side and the railings down the stairs. It is looking quite lovely! Now if the sun would shine or at least the rain and wind stop, maybe we could get the last side completed but here are pictures of the progress so far!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MOM AND ANA!!

2010-04-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

In 1926 Good Friday was April the second and Easter Sunday was April the fourth. That was also the year both my Mom and Dad were born. My Dad was born on Good Friday and my Mom on Easter Sunday. My Dad has been gone since 1988 but my Mom is still going strong despite many health issues the last few years and she turned 84 years old on April the fourth 2010. Which just happened to be Easter Sunday!! To celebrate we went to brunch at a local hotel and had a lovely meal. Last year my Mom was blessed with a new granddaughter, and she was born on her birthday so this year Ana turned one on April the fourth and we had a joint party! She is such a sweet and joyful baby and we all enjoy being around her so much! Happy Birthday Mom and Ana!

A POST ABOUT NOTHING...OR SOMETHING

2010-04-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

We were truly blessed with a mild winter...it was lovely with very little snow and above freezing temperatures. That being said, the Spring is another story. We have had so much rain, so many wind storms and it is downright chilly outside and very damp. The snow hills that were bare for the Olympics now have in excess of 2 feet of new powder on them, and the mountains have announced they are extending their season longer. Glad someone is happy about this turn of events!! Meanwhile the east in Ontario where they are used to cooler temperatures at this time of year, is basking in hot weather in the upper 20's Celsius. Sure wish they would send it back to me!

All this awful weather got me thinking of warmer times. Recently I bid on (Ebay of course) and received an American Girl robe from the Hilton Hotel. The seller told me they were used as a promotion for folks staying at their hotels and going to the American Girl stores. I am not sure when this was but the robe is pretty darned cute! I just had to put it on Samantha because when I was in California in 2006 and went to the American Girl store for the very first time, I bought Samantha and brought her back to our hotel room at the Anaheim Hilton hotel. Samantha thought she would hang around in her robe and look at photos of our California trip where it was not only warm but downright hot that year!

CANADA AND THE PEACE ARCH

2010-03-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV_041oYDjg

In response to a comment on my last post, re the Peace Arch, I went looking for information. On the night of the opening of the Olympics, I watched NBC not realizing we had live coverage in real time on our local TV station...duh, I can be dumb sometimes:) Well, I saw a video clip done by Tom Brokaw explaining Canada to the US. I seemed to be the only one who did see this clip of the people I know and have been looking for it since then and I managed to find it on someone else's blog tonight and went looking for the source and it turns out it is on Utube. Please view it as it explains Canada/US relations much better than I could ever hope to. Increase the clip to full screen to view it best. Thanks to the lady whose blog I found it on, she is here http://www.taracronica.com/tributes/thank-you-nbc-right-back-atcha

White Rock

2010-03-23T17:26:00.001-07:00

We had an unexpectedly nice day on Sunday so we headed down to White Rock. There are lots of pretty spring flowers blooming!

The tide was out so there was a lot of sand showing. At high tide the water comes way up to the bottom of this picture!

That big white thing in the background is the Peace Arch. It marks the border of Canada and the USA. The gates on the Peace Arch are always open. If they were ever closed, it would mean there is trouble between the two countries. They have been open as long as I have been on earth and hopefully will always be open.

This cheeky scavenger also known as a seagull is waiting for unsuspecting diners to bring their fish and chips to eat on the beach so he can swoop down and try to steal some dinner!

ME and my friend the grizzly bear...as long as he is made of stone, he is my friend! A live one wouldn't be much fun to meet up with!!

These bright and cheery banners are up all over the place and I assume they were put up in recognition of the Olympics. the Paralympics ended the day we were at the beach and from all I have heard in the press, the games were a huge success!!

The train tracks separate the beach from the rest of the town and wouldn't you know it, we were on the other side when I spotted this huge train barrelling down the tracks! We, as well as a lot of others made a run for it and got across before it came so we could go home! It was a lovely day trip! And as we made our way to our car, the rain started to fall!!

"Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘10 Contest".

2010-03-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

The task is to write an entry in 300 words or less to telling of your passions etc as an electrical storm will be wiping out the Internet possibly forever.

I have many passions, I like to sew...for dolls! I didn't have any girl children so I adopted a number of dolls (actually I have quite a family of them but I am not telling how many for fear you might thing I am crazy!) and I like to sew pretty things for them. Of course the styles I sew would probably not interest today's little girls in any case, as I love to make pretty and frilly things! Another passion of mine is to travel. I haven't gotten very far, but have spent many a happy hour...day....week... at Disneyland and I used to live in Hawaii. I also like to read, a lot. My favorite summer activities include worshipping the sun and gardening. If an electrical storm were to wipe out the Internet I would be kind of lost as I have made a lot of wonderful friends in far off places through the Internet. The Internet is a wonderful thing! It brings people together we would otherwise have never known. And it allows me to find all kinds of crazy things people are selling on on line sales sites. Things we just can't live without....potato chips with pictures of everything from Jesus to Jay Leno on them, Kleenex famous stars have wiped their faces with, old toys like smurfs and Care Bears and almost anything else you can think of and many things you never dreamed of!! I also like to take pictures and am in awe of the wonderful invention of digital cameras! Imagine taking as many pictures as you want and not having boxes of blurry, black pictures to go through!! Being able to view and discard the awful stuff is wonderful! So, in a nutshell, that is me!
If you too want to enter this contest, go and check it out at www.blogcontest.mabel.ca

OH CANADA, WE ARE SO PROUD, CANADA TOOK GOLD IN MEN'S HOCKEY!!!

2010-02-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

photo by Jean Levac Canwest of our goalie Roberto Luongo!

Could anything be more exciting than the above? Canada took the gold medal in the hockey game with Team USA!!! The final score was 3 -2 in overtime. Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal! Congratulations Team Canada! The photo above was taken by Shaun Best for the Vancouver Sun newspaper.

It suddenly dawned on me that the cauldron's light will be going out tonight and Dakotah hasn't seen it! So, I decided to take a chance and try and get her to it while the gold medal hockey game was on. We had a very quick trip because, win or lose, the downtown area is going to be a nightmare once the game is over. Half way to downtown, I called Robert, Loretta's hubby to make sure I knew where I was going. Of course I did NOT....I have mentioned before how directionally challenged I am. Luckily he was home and gave me good directions to get out of the Skytrain station at the correct stop. Of course being me, I still had to ask a couple of policemen along the way to find the actual cauldron!!

I believe the hotel these beautiful flowers are in front of is called The Fairmont on Georgia Street. It is a classy hotel with doormen out front!

And here she is in front of the cauldron. I explained to her the torch fire we saw earlier this month is now inside this cauldron. I am not sure she understood but will one day!

Eagle street art.

More changes at the cauldron. The lower chain link fence has now been replaced with Plexiglas. By the time it is time to end, they will have it figured out right!!!

Look how grey the sky is! It looked like rain but this is Vancouver...wait a few minutes and everything changes! The sun is now out and shining brightly!

Don't ask...I have no idea what or who this electronic voiced person is but he was posing for pictures

He is wearing a Canadian Flag as a cape...hard to see in this photo though.

Now this was just way too cool. The Russians and the photographers arrived and voila, a Kodak moment presented itself if you were in the right place! They are taking photos for the next winter games in Sochi in 2014!!

The costumes they were wearing were incredible!! And then they were gone, just like that!

Dakotah signed the guest book at Canada Place which will be preserved forever apparently! She filled the entire form out herself! I was impressed with her skills using the electronic touch keyboard thing....

And here is her submission!

The Olympic rings in the Harbor. I didn't see them last time!

More Fairmont Hotel flowers!

More street art!

These are on the Skytrain. Dakotah doesn't ever remember being on it before although she says Mommy said she was on it and asleep when she was a baby so this was a great adventure for her! Note how empty it is...I bet the line ups are huge now. We rushed to get out of the city before the hockey game ended and the crowds spilled onto the streets!! We made it home in time to see Canada win the gold just before the overtime started!

The daffodils are blooming by our Skytrain station now!

Go Canada Go!

OLYMPIC COLLECTIBLES

2010-02-22T00:35:00.000-08:00

I purchased this cup at Wal-mart but it is an official Olympic cup. Eagle eye Loretta had found one at the Olympic store on a Wednesday prior to the Olympics and when we went down on the Saturday they were all gone!! I am very tenacious and decided they had to be somewhere else and so I checked the Olympic department at Wal-Mart and they had a few! It is the nicest mug I have seen featuring the Olympic mascots and with graphics all around the cup. To the right are Olympic pins. Waaayyy back last summer at our agricultural summer fair called the PNE, there was an Olympic tent set up to encourage us to get pumped the Olympics were coming. The venue was very quiet and very few people were there. They had a few events set up there and if you were successful at shooting or one of the other activities, they gave you an Olympic lottery ticket and a packet containing a pin. I came home with three pins I believe and three winning lottery tickets...they were scratch and win and I think I won about 14.00. Anyways, to complete the set you need five different pins. A few weeks ago local lottery ticket vendors started giving out the pin packets when you buy a certain amount of lottery tickets so hubby has been handing over the pins to me and I finally have a complete five pin set!!

When we were at the torch ceremony locally, Coke was handing out all kinds of freebies. The little coke bottles were issued to commemorate the torch ceremony and bear the torch symbol on it and the Olympic logos as they are an official sponsor. The interesting thing about these cute little bottles is that they are metal and have some sort of cushioned lining in them, I drank mine and will save the bottles. My son says he is never drinking his and keeping them intact. The flags behind were being given out by coke and are some of the nicest free ones I have seen handed out.

One of our athletes, Kristina Groves, won a silver medal at speed skating today to add to her bronze medal last week. She has two more events this week and hopes to win a gold and have a matching set of medals! Go Kristina Go!! In honor of her here is a picture of my Chatty speed skater...so far she hasn't won a medal but don't count her out yet! The Chatty games have yet to begin!!