Category: Family

Categories
Exploring Vancouver Island Family Life during Covid 19 Sophia StarFish Medical Winter Snow

White Christmas on Vancouver Island! Winter Wonderland–Snow to StarFish 2021

“I’m dreaming of a White Christmas“…The lyrics incite such a romantic vision of a Winter Wonderland. It truly is magical when snow arrives for Christmas…

Winter Wonderland in our backyard…Merry Christmas 2021 from Vancouver Island, Canada.

After shoveling snow several times a day for over a week straight (Thanks hon!); and being basically snowed in during the entire time my 88 year old mother and son, Alexander, were visiting over Christmas; I must confess visions of sun and warm beaches have been slipping into my thoughts lately!

Shoveling snow every day since snow arrived! Dec 2021

However, it is with gratitude, I embrace the beautiful snowy scenes and Winter Wonderland our family experienced during 2021 Christmas.

In preparation of the Festive Season, we attended a George Canyon Christmas concert, set out the nutcracker collection, decorated the tree, and Sophia our cat set out to explore after the first snowfall.

Getting into the Holiday Mood–George Canyon, Nutcrackers, Tree, Sophia and Snow!

Gifts were created and shared. From Santa on a motorcycle playing “Born to be Wild” to homemade pumpkin pies for each of our neighbors. I even managed to get my hair cut and styled!

Getting ready for Christmas Festivities…

My husband and I headed up for a day of downhill skiing at Mount Washington prior to the influx of participation when school breaks for the Holidays.

Downhill Skiing at Mt Washington, Dec. 2021 (weekday).

By December 22nd my 88 year old mom and son, Alexander, arrived at our home on Vancouver Island. Alexander had spent the previous week in Toronto working at the StarFish Medical office in Toronto. Luckily his Covid test was negative after returning back to our province, so he was able to join us at Christmas. Sadly, his long time girlfriend, Benz, remains in Thailand due to Covid global restrictions. We all really miss her optimistic ways and quick smiles! Sophia, our rescue cat was thrilled to have Alexander home!

Beautiful Benz in Thailand and Sophia loving Alexander’s gentle touch.

When Alexander arrived my modest, reserved son quietly informed us that he had just received an award at his work place. We were all so proud when we learned that Alexander had been selected to receive the StarFish Medical “Reach For the Stars” award.

My son, Alexander, was selected to receive the StarFish Medical “Reach for the Stars” 2021 award with Scott Phillips (Founder and C.E.O. of StarFish Medical.)

His grandad (Alex) would have certainly been beaming with pride! Alexander is the 3rd generation of exceptional Engineers. My dad whom Alexander is named after, was a Marine and Machine Engineer. His Uncle Mark was an Electrical Engineer. Alexander is a Design and Manufacturing Engineer. All three generations are incredible divergent thinkers, innovative problem solvers, and hard working leaders in their fields. Alexander is very humble, but he is allowing his proud mom to share this recent recognition. I am so proud of you hon!

https://starfishmedical.com/news/starfish-honours-for-innovation-and-contributions/

So how do you entertain when snow is steadily increasing outside day by day?

Daily measurement of snow on the back deck table….The last photo reached 48 cm or 19 1/2 inches!!!

Well….The 4 of us (mainly Alexander) worked together to complete a 1,000 piece puzzle entitled “Wish you were here” sent by a lovely friend in Burns Lake. Thanks Wendy! Our one outing in the snow was Alexander’s gift to his nana. Mom selected a movie she would like to see and we all attended “West Side Story” together! It was mom’s first time attending a movie theatre in years and she was thrilled watching from recliner chairs!

Christmas activities–puzzles and movies!

Eating….Meal planning was done ahead of time. Here are a few of the meals we shared together.

Sharing meals together….Enjoying extra treats over the Holidays.

Christmas is not quite the same without small children present and our day was pretty quiet with only 4 family members present together. Covid times have changed our celebrations, but we embraced our time and had fun together!

Highlights from Christmas 2021

The Fifth member of our home is our rescue cat, Sophia. Although she loves to spend time outdoors….We discovered that Sophia is not fond of deep snow and temperatures below 0! She is curious and likes to check in with us (especially me), but during a Winter Wonderland experience she is happy to hang indoors!

Sophia our Turquoise shell cat prefers indoors….but likes to follow me when the snow is under 30 cm.

It is a lot of hard physical work keeping snow under control–including keeping the vehicles accessible and driveways/paths cleared. But sometimes…..you just need to have a bit of fun and make snow angels!

Mark and Alexander demonstrate how to create Snow Angels! Dec 2021

Sophia demonstrated how to create paths in the snow and play with the snow. She was not successful creating snowballs….but she tried hard!

Sophia (rescue cat) tries to make snowballs….

We definitely had a “White Christmas” this year and as we approach the New Year of 2022, I can say honestly that we will have a “White New Year” too!

Yes. We had a “White Christmas” 2021

The snow seems to be very content resting here and weather forecasts do not indicate that it will be disappearing in the near future. So….Here are some highlights showing the beauty of a Winter Wonderland in our city.

Scenes around our cul de sac during our December 2021 Winter Wonderland.

Alexander assists nana through the path in the snow to my husband’s truck. Mark drove her up the cul de sac hill to get into the vehicle which would be taking her back home up island.

Alexander assists his nana through the snow. Mark checks out an icicle!

Christmas is over for 2021….The Winter Wonderland remains in our city on Vancouver Island.

Happy New Year 2022!!!! From our home to yours!

2020 and 2021 have had their challenges with Covid global pandemic lockdowns. A new year is inspiring and offers new opportunities and hope. Happy New Year 2022! From Canada to your home!

Keep Safe and Keep Optimistic. Cheers. S

Categories
Exploring Outdoors Family Motorcycles

Motorcycle Mommas (and Poppas)

Let me introduce my mom, Patti. Mom is 88 years young and still gets up during the night to watch tennis. She can name most NHL Hockey teams and list how they are placing in the hockey league. Mom interacts with friends and family using social media. She likes to stay up to date with global news and loves the Olympics. Her only conflict is whether to cheer for Australia or Canada.

My mom, Patti is 88 years old.

Patti travelled the globe quite extensively when she was in her 20’s. She is a social butterfly, assists with the Woman’s Auxiliary, and attends the local Senior’s Center where she lives on Vancouver Island. Her name, Patricia, couldn’t be better suited for her as she was born on St. Patrick’s Day!

Mom and I on St Patrick’s Day

Patti caught Scarlet Fever when she was a child and had to fight to build her leg strength again. As a crucial part of her recovery, her mother enrolled her in multiple types of Dance where she eventually made quite a name for herself as both a Dancer and Dance Teacher. Patti became an Elementary School teacher in Tasmania when she was still a teen. She also had an extensive Dancing school and tells fascinating stories about riding in the milk truck overnight travelling between her Studio and School when she was under 18 years of age!

Patti pushing her wheelchair at the Cancer Survivor lap of Relay for Life

In her 60’s Patti had additional physical challenges which led to the closure of her Dancing School and once again, she had to learn to walk. This did not stop my mom. We can all learn from her tenacity!

So, when Patti got up to dance at my brother’s Surprise 60th party…. I wasn’t surprised at all. “Shake your Booty” mom!

https://videopress.com/v/8s2EMdoD?resizeToParent=true&preloadContent=metadata
Show them how to Boogie Patti and Angela!

The following day my brother got out 3 motorcycles and offered rides on the back of his cruiser.

Checking out motorcycles

I responded with a jubilant, “Yes Please! I would love to ride on the back!” Then mom started working to convince Marilyn to also ride the motorcycle with my brother driving. I did not expect mom to participate in this activity. But….

Hmmm? Maybe I don’t really want to ride the motorcycle?

Marilyn agreed to ride after mom insisted she was going to try too. (Thanks for also sharing photos Marilyn and Mark.) So we helped my 88 year old mom get ready for her first motorcycle ride.

You can do this mom!

Here is a video of my mom riding on the back of my brother’s motorcycle. My Motorcycle Momma!

Patti on her first Motorcycle Ride

Begona and her BFF’s returned from their day shopping. Mark shot some baskets with lovely neighbors. We celebrated one final dinner together as tomorrow we would depart from northern B.C. and return home avoiding highway routes effected by provincial wildfires or mudslides.

Fun August visit together

Here are some Motorcycle Mommas and Poppas highlights… Please click the video to check them out!

Thanks for the hospitality Mark and Begona and love to all our wonderful friends up north. This blog post is dedicated to our amazing mom, Patti! Your style, and youthful social playfulness at age 88 is a hard act to follow. You inspire me.

Categories
Birthday Family Life during Covid 19

Surprise Bro! My brother’s surprise 60th/Retirement Celebration in B.C.

During early August 2021, British Columbia experienced a loosening in Covid restrictions resulting from over 80% of our provincial population (aged 12 +) having received one or both of the Covid vaccines. This offered the perfect window of time to co-plan a 60th Birthday/Retirement surprise celebration for my brother, Mark.

The date, time, and location were determined for this outdoor event up in northern B.C.

Mark’s beautiful partner, Begona, and I started the planning committee. So many caring people ended up being involved and assisting with the surprise celebration. My brother is truly blessed and clearly well loved by so many!

My beautiful family

This blog post is dedicated to my incredible and talented brother Mark, his partner, Begona; our 88 year old mom Patti who made the long trip; and all the beautiful people who were part of this amazing day.

There was certainly boundless amounts of enthusiasm, happiness, and love experienced on August 14th in Mark’s backyard in northern B.C.! To protect identities, I will not be using people’s surnames. Special thanks to my husband Mark, Marilyn, and Blanca for contributing photos or video clips shared in this post.

After months of initial planning, communication, and redirection based on Covid updates, the final days played out something like this.

Begona, Blanca, and Angela were quick to assist and have fun!

My husband Mark, mom (Patti), and I travelled by ferry and vehicle departing August 10th from Port Hardy up to Prince Rupert then headed East. (A blog post of our trip through areas of B.C. will follow this post). Other dear friends flew north from the lower mainland (Vancouver area).

Mark was thrilled to see school BFF Alex and his lovely wife Marilyn who also flew in for the event!

On August 14th, three of Mark’s neighbors took him out golfing for over 4 hours.

The night before….

While he was away the yard was transformed by family, friends, and incredible neighbors!

Setting up the yard… Some worked inside on photos … Some organized food preparation…

There were display tables with highlights and awards from his career with B.C. Hydro…

Also a myriad of highlights from Mark’s childhood, family, and hobbies.

Family displays

In spite of a sampling of rain and a few gusts of wind, the outdoor event was a huge surprise and success. This video shows some of the highlights from Mark’s arrival and the speeches prior to the BBQ, cake and activities time.

https://videopress.com/v/UjJO8ke3?resizeToParent=true&preloadContent=metadata
Mark’s surprise celebration!

Special thanks to Kathy, Chad, Charlotte, Lennie, Doug, and Marie for sending emails to share with Mark. Thanks to Kate, Bill, Andi, Blanca, and my wonderful hubby Mark for reading these messages. I read your message of love Lennie! Thanks to Harry for reading touching email messages from Mark’s adult children in Ontario. Special thanks to Alex and Tom for the personal, and often humorous, stories about Mark!

The speeches were personal, informative, touching, inspiring, and sometimes comical, but the final presentation was the most emotional.

I had located an ancient cassette tape from the mid 1980’s of our precious Dad (Alex) singing one of his favorite travelling songs. Growing up in isolated northern Vancouver Island meant that each family trip or journey in the car was lengthy. Dad started singing when we departed from our home and Dad, Mom, Mark, and I sang nearly non-stop each entire journey! We lost our Dad in 2007 and we miss him from the depths of our souls.

I knew Dad would be so proud to hear all these touching stories and tributes about Mark. My husband and I created a CD for Mark including songs Mark sang in grade 8, a couple of my classical conservatory piano numbers, and our Dad singing.

Upon hearing Dad’s melodic, beautiful voice singing one of our favorite travelling songs from our childhood Mark, mom, and I all were overcome with the deepest emotion and intense need to bond together. It was extremely personal, so I will only share a snippet of this family experience.

https://videopress.com/v/6Ci3HTAi?resizeToParent=true&preloadContent=metadata
Dad’s travelling song…

This is for you Dad with love forever and always.

I relinquished the MC role as Mark and Begona shared their thanks and appreciation. It was time to eat, socialize and prepare for more upcoming surprises!

Rain? What rain?
Bring on the food!

Matt, Andi, and their gorgeous daughters had created a surprise for Mark! Since they were toddlers Mark had an endless stash of Kinder-surprise eggs as a treat for them. They decided to create a Kinder-Surprise piñata for his enjoyment! Here are a few pictures… there are more in the next video…

Kinder-Surprise piñata!

Next was the incredible trick cake created by Sierra. We were all in shock and awe as 60 photos were pulled out of the center of the cake!!! Very cool Sierra!

Sierra’s amazing Photo Surprise Carrot Cake!

While the DJ played his tunes we took turns relaxing, dancing, and visiting. However there was one other special item needing attention….

Last month my handsome nephew Shelby and his beautiful bride Kiersten were married in Blind River, Ontario.

Due to covid restrictions and Patti’s health my husband Mark, mom, and I were unable to attend the wedding. Shelby’s wish was that he dance with his nana to the song “Knock 3 Times” by Tony Orlando and Dawn.

https://videopress.com/v/PmqXx4t1?resizeToParent=true&preloadContent=metadata
Knock 3 Times — This is dedicated to you Shelby! Starring nana aged 88 years!

So…. In honor of Shelby, his dad (my brother) Mark and his 88 year old nana (Patti) danced “Knock 3 Times” together. This is for you Shelby!

There were so many beautiful moments to capture from this wonderful event! Thanks to all who attended my brother, Mark’s, surprise 60th birthday/Retirement party. This next video covers some more of the fun from the piñata to hanging out in Marks garage!

https://videopress.com/v/HkfNdhBe?resizeToParent=true&preloadContent=metadata
More fun from Mark’s party!

This blog post adventure is dedicated to my one and only brother. 🥰 Love you Mark! Begona… You’re a charismatic, loving, and charming future sister! Thanks for the memories!

The next post will be about our travels around British Columbia during August. Cheers. Keep safe!

Categories
Before Covid 19 Family Winter Festivities

Memories–The Last Christmas before Covid

As lockdowns continue, I reflect with joy and happy memories of family and freedom during our last Christmas/Festive Season prior to Covid 19. Presenting December 2019 on Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada.

Celebrating a beautiful meal with immediate family…

The restaurant in Nanaimo was called “The Modern Cafe”… the delicious entrees were far from “Cafe” fair.

Alexander recommends the house burger too!

Back at the house….My mom presented us with a stunning, colorful quilt which our rescue kitten Sophia instantly proceeded to check out!

Sophia checks out the new quilt

On December 24th we relaxed around the house and played with our kitten Sophia. Tomorrow family would be arriving!

Christmas Eve with immediate family

Sophia (7 months old) is always involved in all activities… and much loved 😽. Our kitten suffers from PTSD from her unknown history before her mother and litter were discovered in the forest. She can be extremely wary and anxious in many settings… but she is content and happy with the 4 of us.

Sophia receives tons of love 💕

We were not blessed with the joy of young children zealous to commence festivities on Christmas morning this year…but we had fun activities planned and more family arriving from other areas of B.C.

Christmas morning fun!

Two trips were anticipated to pick up family members who were crossing by B.C Ferries from the mainland of B.C. to Nanaimo. The first 2 visitors arriving are coming from Prince George — my brother Mark and lovely Begona. Mark’s sister, Ingrid, is also arriving later from Vancouver.

Nothing is quite as wonderful as having family together at Christmas 🥰

Here are a few highlights from our last Christmas and Boxing Day prior to Covid 19. May this happy video bring smiles and memories of times when masks were not necessary and there were no physical spacing limits to worry about.

From our home to yours we wish you peace, happiness, beautiful memories, and optimistic hope of future family Christmas times again soon….

Memories from Family Christmas before Covid
Categories
Before Covid 19 Canadian Animals Cats Family

Memories–Life before Covid 19. Canadian Nature and Family.

Reflections of December 2019. Our life was so free and hugs were plentiful. Family and friends could gather and interact without masks or 2 meter distancing. This blog post is dedicated to memories of that time and optimistic hope and appreciation for our future …

Our Rescue kitten Sophia learning to trust and love— especially Alexander’s touch.

My son Alexander, and our rescue kitten Sophia, truly bonded while my husband and I were relaxing and exploring around Playa del Carmen, Mexico. I’m so thankful that Alexander decided to return home to Canada prior to the global pandemic after living/working in Bangkok for 6 years as a senior Design Engineer at Western Digital. There is something magical about mother/son reunion hugs!

My son and I (modelling his birthday gift from Thailand).

I am retired after spending 35 years educating students. My husband, Mark, is semi retired. Yet, we are always busy learning and exploring new ideas or commencing new projects. One of our most time consuming projects is home renovation!

Our newly updated kitchen and living area space is such an improvement on the previous version. Although my talented husband completed the majority of the renovations, it was lovely to sit back and have our backsplash completed by a tiling specialist just before Christmas!

Installing kitchen backsplash tiles!

Next…. we removed the protective plastic off the stainless steel appliances! It’s tougher than it looks lol

Exposing the stainless steel

While kitchen renovations kept us occupied indoors, what was happening outdoors near our home?

The Canadian animals on Vancouver Island are busy in the autumn and early winter. Black tailed deer are regular visitors around our yards consuming lots of leaves and plant life while their coats thicken in preparation for upcoming colder temperatures and snow.

Black tailed fawn with winter coat

We have reached a truce with the deer…The backyard is off limits and “deer fenced” to protect our flowers, vegetables, and shrubs. The front yard is open ‘game’ to our nibbly, cute visitors. Does and fawns regularly visit, but bucks are less common in the residential areas. Sophia is fascinated by the deer and often watches or sometimes approaches the fawns as they feed.

Deer and raccoons are common here. Beavers, elk, and black bears are viewed occasionally if you are lucky. But when the cougars come out of the forests and roam freely, we are fascinated–yet greatly concerned.

Cougar with 3 kits on Vancouver Island–December 2019

Cougar attacks on people are rare, but can occur if nature’s balance is upset, or a cougar is sick or starving. This cougar (with 3 kits) was photographed by a friend in a nearby community in December.

How does our rescue kitten, Sophia, react to all the action inside and outdoors? With definite mixed emotion….

I’ll just be cute and allow Alexander to stroke me…

That’s enough! Time to climb some trees and chase some deer!

Next, it’s time to string popcorn, decorate the tree together while listening to festive music and drinking eggnog, and enjoy the festivities leading up to Christmas.

December events

Time to enjoy family (mom is arriving soon) and good friends. Our art isn’t up yet on the walls, but we are so excited to socialize with those we care deeply about.

We’re ready!

How lovely it was to socialize with friends we haven’t been able to visit now for nearly 1 1/2 years. How grateful we will feel when once again we can share meals together in our homes.

Even Sophia approves!

This blog post was a mixture of memories and events from December 2019. The next post will be memories and fun from the last festive season before the global pandemic. Stay tuned. It’s coming soon!