Pierre the Snowfellow

view from our driveway on Saturday morning

Sadie applauding Pierre's completion

Showing him some genuine love

You can't tell it, but he's beaming from ear to ear

The last beach day

Could this have been our last summer day at the beach this year?

We've been on holidays for a week and on Thursday we day-tripped to Hornby Island. These photos were taken at Tribune Bay Beach. On a sunny day, the water is turquoise and the sand is white and you have to be careful not to step on sand dollars as you wade into the sea.

But this day was cloudy and cool. I don't know about where you live, but here on the west coast the unmistakable feeling of Fall has arrived.

Today we galavanted to a local Fall Fair in the country, complete with vintage tractors, fresh fudge and a litter of piglets (mama pig was the size of a loveseat! I was NOT aware they got so big...)

Here are a few things Sadie loved about the fair:

- sitting bareback on 'Jackson', a miniature pony

- sharing a banana nutella crepe with me

- carrying around a pink balloon

Here a few things Sadie did not love about the fair:

- the operator of a merry-go round kiddie ride (who had to stop it to let the screaming child off. that would be Sadie.)

- the neon bracelet all fair-goers were required to wear ("NO! DON'T WANT THAT!!").

- the fact that she was not allowed to sit on "Bessie", a cow with a head the size of a volkswagen.

I think she mostly loved it though....

Weekend Wedding

August is here.....


A show of hands: who can't believe it?
I feel like spear-heading a "Take Back Summer" campaign...


Even so, the month of July ended on a high note - one of my oldest and dearest friends was married.

Saturday morning consisted of primping & pampering, eating pastries and drinking champagne. Saturday afternoon we dressed in our finery, sealed it with a kiss and drank more champagne. Saturday night we toasted and danced and laughed til we cried.

Here are a few photos from the weekend celebration......

One more - Nikki and I back in the day (circa '97):

Kommunity Love

Hi peeps!

Here's some info about an upcoming event that Koo & Poppet is participating in:

What: "NEIGHBOURS FOR CHANGE"

2nd annual Fernwood block party in support of the Roger Colwill Fund for the Environment

Where: corner of Fernwood and Gladstone in Victoria, British Columbia

When: Sunday, July 18th, 2-5 pm

There will be live music, food & drink, games, prizes, and guaranteed fun in the sun (even a dunk tank!)

And tucked away in a little corner will be a table full of bears, bunnies and the usual suspects. Come down and say hello if you live nearby! I will also be offering a giveaway :)

for more info, click here

hope to see you there!

Home, and a weekend anthem

I spent an unforgettable weekend on a boat on Sproat Lake and this evening I'm home to my house, home to my family, home to my life as I know it.

But there was another kind of homecoming this weekend on the lake; in the sun, in the song, in irreplaceable company of women I've known since we were girls.

Moats and boats and waterfalls/

Alley-ways and pay phone calls/

I've been everywhere with you/

We laugh until we think we'll die/

Barefoot on a summer night/

Nothin' new is sweeter than with you/

Ahh home, let me go home/

Home is wherever I'm with you

Home is wherever I'm with you.

Wordless Westcoast Weekend

China Beach, Vancouver Island BC

Then and Now

This is what Friday nights used to look like (circa 2007):

Left to right: Haley, Nicole, Sarah, Whitney, me, Andrea, Roxanne  
         

And here is what they look like now:

At least one of us is in heels!

(And note that wine is a fixture, past and present). Ironically, I think the phrase "Put on your dancing shoes" is more applicable to Friday nights with Sadie.

The only photo missing from this essay is one of Scott and I sleeping on the couch after Miss Fancy Feet has gone to bed :-)

Have a great long weekend everyone!

Vancouver periphery

Last weekend Scott and I sailed the Georgia Strait and spent a quick 24 hours in Vancouver.

It's been two and a half years since we've called this city home.

We had a festive drink with friends R&D at Bacchus, and drove through Stanley Park on a cold and sunny Sunday morning.

And then rode the ferry home, to the island.

See? West coast winters aren't all rain!

Where there is yellow

As I've mentioned in previous posts, we've recently moved up-island, as they say in our little corner of the world. We now live in Shawnigan Lake which is about 45 minutes north of Victoria on Vancouver Island. We've been here for 3 weeks now and are getting to know our new surroundings. Scott and I have lived bits of our lives in both large cities and tiny towns. I really can't say which I prefer....although there are things I miss about each when I'm living in the other. Right this minute I miss live theatre at the Granville Island Stage in Vancouver, preceded by Indian food at Rangoli on 11th ave. And the Stanley Park ghost train! I've heard it's great this year.

But the stillness that surrounds us now is very much welcomed. There are no streetlights or traffic lights, just starry skies at night and mailboxes at the end of the road.

A few weekends ago, we explored scenic little Cowichan Bay (which is where all these photos were taken), a ten minute drive away. Would you believe I've lived on Vancouver Island nearly my entire life and I'd never been to this seaside community until this month? It's a summertime hotspot with an ice cream parlor, artisan cheese shop, art galleries and a maritime museum. 

We went back again last Saturday. The highlight of the trip was a sea otter on the pier. And all the yellow, too.

Sadie, who now speaks in alien tongues, seems to be digging her new neighbourhood as well.

Do you live in the city or the country? By the coast or inland? Mountains, forest, or prairie?

Where does your heart call home?