Mother's day is always a wonderful time and a weekend that I often share with my son's birthday. This though I must say was one of the best! My sister was able to come over for the weekend and my daughter from Comox and family came down. We were all together and made the most of it. It was busy but it was great!
In the morning we went to the downtown market and shopped for a bit. Checking out all the booths and seeing what creations local people have made. Lots of vegetables and baking for sure.
We then nabbed my Mom and went and hiked up to the flower preserve on Mount Tzhouhalem. It was great to have four generations out hiking. The flowers were out in bloom and the views were awesome as always.
The grandkids did a great job of hiking along and staying on the trails.
Following the hike and lunch my sister along with my two daughters and myself headed off to a winery where we enjoyed a wonderful bottle of wine as we sat outdoors enjoying the views and the sunny weather. It was fun for the four of us to hang out, share stories and lots of laughs. I must confess though that I did most of the talking as usual.
Afterwards we drove to a Chinese food restaurant where the rest of the family met us and we celebrated my son's 30th birthday! It was great to all be together. Later I babysat while the young adult kids went out and checked out a local brewery.
Sunday was another good day we shared in a nice lunch out on my patio. It's about the only place we all fit these days. There were 16 of us there! We certainly are a growing family and I'm thankful that we all get along so well.
Being all together was so special and I think it was one of the best Mother's day weekends I have ever had. I felt so blessed to have all the littles there along with my sister and my parents. Life is so short so these times that we all spend together are very precious. So much to be thankful for.
It was a wonderful Easter weekend! This year I skipped the Good Friday hike to the cross with the church and went out and celebrated my five year old grandsons birthday. I have wonderful memories of standing at the cross and receiving a phone call that my daughter in law had gone into labour! A day later my Grandson arrived and my life forever was once again changed. So this Good Friday, I went out and we had gifts, candles and muffins. It is always so important for me to share some part of their actual birthday day with each of them.
So after the little celebration I hiked to the cross with a friend and enjoyed having some very quiet moments up near the cross as most people had been and gone.
As we were home and having dinner, my phone rang and it was my daughter in law...she was in labour three weeks early! It was just like it was five years ago except now they live in town and not on the mainland.
Within a few hours their youngest son, the two year old was dropped off for the duration and their five year old son would join us in the morning. They would stay with me while we waited the new ones arrival.
We had a great day on Saturday, celebrated Easter dinner with all the family and continued to wait. Come Easter morning we all gathered together to share in breakfast and the annual Nana's Easter egg hunt.
I think I have more fun that they do but they seem to enjoy finding the eggs that are the same colour as their basket. We then headed off to the park where the five littles, played on the playground and we waited some more. Finally we got the call, son number three had arrived! My son grew up with two sisters and always begged for me to have another baby so that he could have a younger brother. Now that he has three sons I feel his wish has been granted, maybe not the way he had planned it but still, he loves his boys with all his heart.
Little Roman arrived in this world on Easter morning, a true Easter blessing for all of us. The timing was perfect and I was able to have five days with the two older brothers before they all went home and began their life,now as a family of five.
I am so thrilled to be the Nana to six littles! What could be more rewarding than that in life! They are all so unique and special in their own little ways and they are all so very dear to my heart. One can't help but wonder what gifts they will each bring to this world, what life will offer them. I hope only the best for them all.
Wow! It's the middle of April and I haven't blogged since January! It's not that I haven't been out exploring nature, it's that time seems to slip by and life is so very full. It's all good stuff but I know one needs to make the most of each day and not let the days and weeks roll into months because if one does then the year is gone before you know it.
It was a snowy winter here and it definitely limited my time outdoors. However I did manage to enjoy two snowshoe adventures up in Strathcona Park. The first was a full day of exploring all the trails there in the park. It was so beautiful and peaceful and the quietness of the snow covered forest was very refreshing.
The second was a three hour trip out with my daughter and granddaughter. We snowshoed out to Battleship Lake. The funny part was that for some silly reason I felt the lake would be there in it's usual colour forgetting that it would be frozen over and covered in deep snow.
So we all ventured out with care while the snow lay on the ground, mainly hiking up to the cross - a trail we all know well. I also did a small hike up in Ladysmith and we ventured down the local railway line to nab a few caches.
AND of course a lot of my time was spent up in Comox walking the beach at Point Holmes while I visited with my Comox family. It really have been three very full months with lots of smaller little adventures in local parks.
Thankfully this past month the snow has disappeared and I've been able to spend a bit more time outdoors but sadly not near enough.
Life and schedules seem to quickly fill up my calendar so I am just thankful for the small things in life such as sunsets and picnic dinners on mountain tops ;)
And then there are of course these little ones. They are dear to my heart and time spent with them is so much more important than adventures. What is best is that spring is now here and with the snow off the trails I will be able to have these little ones join me on some fun adventures. They grow up so fast I need to make the most of the young years while they love to be outdoors exploring with Nana.
Here we are again! The first day of a new year so of course I planned a hike to start the year off in a good way. Five of us hiked the ridge of Mount Tzouhalem from Genoa Bay to the cross and down to the waiting car at the trail head on Maple Bay side. It was 15 kms with about 450 m of elevation. A great workout!
The trail was in pretty good shape considering the huge windstorm that struck our valley the week before Christmas . There were a few downed trees but mostly it was okay.
I often struggle with new years day and so as I hiked along I was thinking about it all. People always say we should make resolutions. This year we will lose weight, exercise more, be kinder, get a new job, do some amazing adventure. Now I am ok with making a bucket list of adventures and making some plans for the year of what things I would like to do but I am not so sure about the others.
So many people struggle for years with who they are, what they look like and yet we are all created beings, each unique. I am who I am and you are who you are. There are people who cannot accept themselves the way they are and continually feel bad about themselves. It's so sad that they cannot love themselves for the person they have become and here we are on January 1st telling them to be better, be more compassionate, to be more physically fit. We are told in order to grow and become a better person we need to change and strive for new goals.
I just don't know what a person is to do. Of course we always want to live life as compassionate, kind people. We all want to be that "good" person. Yet how can we love ourselves for the person we are if we are always feeling we need to be better than we are now. Life is so short and as my friend always reminds me "life can turn on a dime" so shouldn't we just enjoy it and make the most out of every moment rather than waste time worrying about always being better?
It was a great day and a great hike. Did I make any new year's resolutions? No this year I haven't. I am who I am. It has taken me a long time and a lot of work to accept that I am not always the best I can be, that I continually fail at always being compassionate and kind but I know I am a good person. I will do my best at being a compassionate person and being kind to others but I am not going to set goals about it all.
Did I make any plans for some new adventures? Well of course I did because what would life be if I couldn't get out on the trails and connect with creation and all of its brokenness and loveliness.
The life of the forest is full of wonderful living creations - some of them massive,
some of them tiny, some of them broken by life's storms but they all live together, each of them bringing their own gifts to the world just like us.
None of us are perfect and I feel it is more important to accept who we are, to love ourselves as we were created, than to spend another year trying to constantly be something better than we are. It could leave us feeling as empty as this bench. Happy New Year! May you have many adventures.
I spent Saturday hiking in Strathcona Park with my hiking pal. We decided to head out and see how far we could get in a couple of hours and then head back. Our goal was Croteau Lake or Kwai Lake if time allowed. Being November we knew it would be cold but we had not anticipated it being 0 degrees at the parking lot.
Heading out through Paradise Meadows I was surprised to find the boardwalks icy. It was very slow going and I was looking forward to reaching the trail head that heads out to Lake McKenzie and be on solid ground. I was a little disappointed that the fall colours had pretty much disappeared but it was fun to see the ponds covered over in ice.
We hiked along just enjoying ourselves, nabbing the odd cache on the way. It really was very slow going because even once we were off the boardwalks the rocks in many places were also iced over and very slippery.
The views however were worth it and so was the silence. It felt like we were out there on our own, even the birds seemed to be asleep! I love hiking out into the woods on trails that are not over populated.
The peacefulness and quietness of the forest is so restful. Sure it can be a bit scary at times not knowing what wild animals are out there with you but one just has to be at ease and hope for the best. We passed three lakes before stopping for lunch on an outcropping of rock.
Then we headed off to Croteau lake. The highlight of the trip was when we arrived at the lake and I looked up into the mountains and I had a clear view of Mount Albert Edward. I had hiked up there last year and there it was in the far distance covered in snow. It gave me a great sense of accomplishment to know that I had been up there on that peak.
I do not feel I always have to reach great heights in hiking but I do love to hike to new places and I love being able to look around me and take note of which hills I have climbed and which ones are still on the list. Sometimes I just need that reminder that I can do this, I can get out there and really connect with nature and explore new places even if it means stepping out of my comfort zone. A few years ago my daughter painted me a large picture of our island and as I hike new trails or climb new mountains she adds them to the picture. It`s a visual of the places I have been, it inspires me to keep hiking and reminds me of all I have accomplished.
Croteau Lake was beautiful in itself. I was so impressed with the group campsite they have set up there complete with a yurt. Maybe someday I can take the kids but now it was time to turn back and head for home looping around Lake McKenzie.
We felt there would be less boardwalk on that trail and there was, however it was just as slippery if not more so and very sloped. We were forced to walk along side it in many places. The trails were now busy with people all of us warning each other of the slippery boardwalks ahead.
Five hours 14.5 kms made for a very good enjoyable day. It will be the last adventure up there for this year. I will not be able to hike there now til spring when the snow has melted but who knows maybe I will get up there snowshoeing! One must always have hope.
It was the most beautiful week last week. After a frustrating week of learning to be patient it finally happened. My little granddaughter Aria arrived on the 24th. As my Dad has always reminded...all good things come to those who wait. Well waiting isn't my thing but she certainly was worth the wait. Aria is so beautiful but then what baby isn't.
The three weeks I spent with my daughter and her husband will always be a time that I cherished. Being there to welcome her daughter into the world was a gift they gave to me that I will never forget.
Life is so very precious and being there to see a baby take it's first breath and make her first sounds just fills a persons heart to overflowing. Creation is so wonderful and the creation of a little human is just so amazing and totally puts one in awe.
This whole world of ours is full of amazing things all part of creation. From the plants that somehow manage to grow on rocks or dry ground, to the baby animals that come from their mother's wombs, it is all just so fascinating.
New life and the way it is all created and the way it all survives and the deep feelings it brings out in people, it is just beyond words. So little Aria, welcome to our family. I pray that you will always feel the love that surrounds you created you and that you take that love deep into your heart.
My youngest daughter is expecting her first child this month and as she lives two hours from home I have come to be with her while she waits so that I'm here for the delivery. I came a week before her due date because I didn't want to be driving up here in the middle of the night and none of our families babies have been late.
It's the first time in at least ten years that we have spent this much time together and what a wonderful gift it is for me. Each day I walk their dog down at the beach and we do a few chores around the house. Each day we hope that the baby will arrive.
Now that a week has gone by we are both ready for this baby to be here. We've ran out of chores, we've done all the shopping, we've completed three jigsaw puzzles and now we wait.
Waiting is something I'm not good at and neither is my daughter. We are both people who plan our lives in great detail - days, weeks and months in advance.
So here we are dealing with something that is totally out of our control. We are doing our best to make the most of this precious time together and just relax and let nature do what it will. It's a struggle for sure and yet it's such a good thing to practise. Letting go of all of our schedules, all of our worries and plans and just making the most of each day.
We've taken a few short walks on the beach and even gone "hiking" through Seal Bay park nabbing a few caches on our way. Just being out in nature has refreshed us and renewed our spirits.
Life is full of times of waiting but what is most important is to make the most of it. Don't waste it, don't let it frustrate you, just enjoy it. Find the positive in each moment and it will make the wait so much easier.
This waiting time with my daughter is really a gift and once the baby arrives we will never have this "just us" time again so I'm hanging onto each moment. I still would like this baby to arrive very soon as I know I have to return to my work life soon but I'm still very thankful for being able to share this time with her. It's a lesson in patience for me, it's a lesson in letting go but mostly a time to treasure.
