Watch out for Bears! Alaskan Adventures...

Some really good advice!

Very Mysterious...

On a sunny Saturday on October 17, Vince and I drove out of Prince Rupert along highway 16 (the only highway out of here) and found ourselves within the true north, strong and free, rugged wilderness just outside the city limits. After an hour drive we went down a service road for about 20 minutes and left our car behind and set out in our rubber boots. We hiked up, up and up to get to one of our favourite isolated lakes. Silence, peacefulness, no signs of human activity. Once there we searched out the old hidden canoe tied up in the trees and paddled to the end of the lake and landed on a sandbar. It was there that we discovered something quite mysterious. Watch the video below to find out what....

Haida Gwaii

a tree reaches out its hand, strange fingers bathed in light

a ship lays still

here's to the island

an old boat is quiet with many secrets

Spending my birthday Sept 6, on Haida Gwaii was a dream come true. So much beauty and stillness in northern Canada. Words cannot describe. One morning, we found ouselves in a little bakery called Moon over Naikoon, running on solar energy in the middle of an old growth forest. Later we walked in the fabled golden spruce trail and saw trees over 500 years old. We ate a lunch in another little cafe and read Life magazines from the 60's. We hiked to the Pesuta shipwreck and saw the rivers teeming with salmon along the way. We gazed out towards Alaska at Tow Hill and pondered our smallness on North Beach.

That's Some Zucchini!!

The highlight of our garden endeavours this year was our zucchini! Grown outside in our lovely Prince Rupert summer weather. It supplied us all summer and into the fall! Here is one of our biggies! Too bad we didn't have that ruler when we came across the Sasquatch print!!

Renos, Renos, Renos - a new bathroom

before... After...

We set to work or should I say Vince set to work at renovating our old and only bathroom and creating a great new bathroom to fit in with our heritage home. We decided to do this suddenly when our neighbors told us that they would be away for a month and could we house sit for them. Perfect, because we appreciated going over there to shower and do other bathroom related things when our bathroom was out of order. I have the before and after pictures here. I picked the paint colour - pea pod - and the mirror and lights and other accessories. Vince did all the work himself. Plumbing the new toilet and sink, putting in the new floor and all the electrical and the carpentry of the arched ceiling and built in cabinet. Super hero!

Getting Married is Fun

It was a fun and exciting wedding weekend for us on June 20, 2009. The Keremeos Grist Mill was a wonderful location to seal our vows with a kiss. The Gold Dust Pub was where people made new friends and reconnected with the old. The Mascot Mine Tour took us to new heights and the reception at the Hitching Post was a 'hoot' with great food and visiting! Thanks again to all our guests and we are glad you had fun too!

Welcome to our Wedding! Hedley - June 20, 2009

Vince and I are getting hitched in Hedley. Why Hedley? In the summer of 2007 we hiked the Cathedral Lakes Park in the area and hung out at the Ashnola River, visited an orchard in Keremeos, did the Mascot Mine Tour and ate at the Hitching Post. We fell in love with the place and each other! Sappy - huh?

To use this site you just need to keep scrolling down and absorbing all the info and then click on the older posts link at the bottom for more. Enjoy!

June 19 - 2pm Mascot Mine Tour - Hedley

This tour is over four hours long and the sights are amazing! There are LOTS of stairs, however. To book your tour call toll free (they are normally closed on that Friday but are opening to do the tour for our group - so mention you are there for the wedding) : 1-888-799-8733 or 250-292-8733 or email info@mascotmine.com. The cost is $37.00 for Adults. Youth, Seniors and Students $29.00.

http://www.mascotmine.com/

June 19 - 8pm Social - Gold Dust Pub -Invite Only

Get to know each other at the Gold Dust Pub in historic Hedley. Perhaps those bikers will come again?! Appetizers are on us! Drinks on you! Sorry, but since it is a pub - no kids at this event! Limited space so by invite only.

Gold Dust Pub: http://www.golddusthedleypub.com/index.html

June 20 - 11 am Ceremony - Keremeos Grist Mill

The Keremeos Grist Mill was opened by Barrington Price on August 21, 1877. The water-powered mill was significant because Keremeos residents would no longer have to travel the 170 miles to Colville to get flour. Today, the Keremeos Grist Mill has been converted to an exciting and informative historical site.

The above photos were taken in the fall. The grounds are not paved and so high heels may be difficult to walk around in. Also, if you feel you may need to sit for the brief ceremony please bring a chair as there will only be one line of chairs available for Vince's Grandpa, our parents and immediate family. Camp chairs would be easy enough to bring. Shortly after the ceremony there will be refreshments, visiting and fun.

Stuff to Do between the Ceremony & Dinner

Marlene our marriage commissioner is one busy lady and has two other weddings that day so she could only fit us in at 11am. I am sure you will find interesting things to do for the afternoon. Check out the Historic 1908 Red Bridge on the Similkameen River, tour an orchard and working farm at the Parson's Farm Market, hike, bike, horseback ride, or see the Hedley Museum. Have a nap at Bromley Rock. For more local attractions check out this:
http://www.oldtowerfarm.com/attractions.htm
and this: http://keremeos.org
or try these:

Petting Zoo Farm:

http://www.farmerjohnspettingzoo.com/

Hedley Museum

http://www.hedleybc.ca/

Crowsnest Vineyard

http://www.crowsnestvineyards.com/

Forbidden Fruit Winery

http://www.forbiddenfruitwines.com/index.html

June 20 - 6pm Hitching Post, Hedley - Invite Only

The Hitching Post Restaurant building was one of the first permanent structures in Hedley. It was built by L.W. Shatford and opened in May of 1903 as a one story building. The second floor was used as a Masonic dance hall. Old Timers tell tales of dancing until 4 am and knocking all the glassware off the store shelves below despite the 8” x 8” posts used to stabilize it. Looking forward to breaking glasses with you in June! Ha, ha!

The buidling has had a variety of different uses including being a restaurant and in 2004, a local chef and his entrepreneur/ archaeologist wife purchased the building and the business and are continuing the tradition of the Hitching Post as a ‘destination restaurant’.

June 21 - Picnic at Bromley Rock

We'll see you Sunday morning around 11am at Bromley Rock Provincial Park for a picnic. Please bring a blanket or chair to sit in and your preferred picnic food. It is a beautiful spot on the Similkameen River. Perhaps you might want to go tubing down the river that day - but the water may still be too cold!

GIFTS?

Please feel free to donate to our RAISE THE ROOF fund for our house. No leaks...yet!

The Snowy Holidays

We had a wonderful snowy holiday. we snowshoed and cross country skiied everyday! One day we went up to Rainbow Summit and got some amazing views! Another day we skiied into a lake and were in a winter hideaway.

New Year's Eve Adventure

We set out at 9:30pm on December 31, 2008 to drive to a point where we could snowshoe in to Diana lake from the highway and share some food and drink together at the stroke of midnight!

we were walking in a winter wonderland. there were tracks in the snow from various animals. we had our headlamps and we snowshoed along the narrow path and admired the curved branches of the trees from the weight of the snow. it was very silent. every once in a while we would all turn out our headlamps to be awed by the stars.

fondue feast

we set up our swiss fondue made of gruyere and emmenthal cheeses with nutmeg, lemon juice and pepper with a white wine base! YUMMY! we dipped french bread, pears and apples! we toasted with champagne and ate chocolate!

stars are us

after our fondue feast we gazed at the stars. they were stunning - milions of stars in the sky -we had never seen the sky like that! we then began our journey back. Happy New Year!