Friday, 16 August 2013
Texas insurance coverage attorney
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Trekking and camping tips
- Map and Compass: I recommend take a map and a compass when you're on the road. This will ensure that safely you will find their way out of the trees of the dense if you missed.
- Granola or a cliff bar: it is also a good idea to bring some granola or a cliff Bar so you have enough power for your hike.
- Sun protection: If you plan to hike, very smart to bring sunscreen and sunglasses. This will prevent any injury if you are being exposed to the sunlight.
- water bottles: this is not a "brainer." Stay hydrated.
- First aid: the kit does not have to be great, but should include some bands, adhesive and disinfectant.
5 ways to spice up your life
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Online Florist hampers
Thursday, 4 July 2013
sponsored reviews
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
A Very Quiet Day Working Around Home
Rain or not, our grass is growing like crazy. I’m having to cut it twice a week right now just to keep it from looking like a hay field. Yesterday, it was time to cut the front lawn. Using my gas push mower, cutting the front and back in one day is a little too much so I’m alternating days between cutting the front and back. That seems to work o.k. for me and it is good exercise for sure. At least the Lawn Boy mower is co-operating and starting up on just 1 or 2 pulls of the cord.
Neither Paulette nor I had anything on the go yesterday so we both spent a quiet day at home just puttering around. In the afternoon, Paulette started up her big quilting machine and finished the ‘5 Monkeys’ Baby Quilt she is making for our Grandson due in June. Carrie, our daughter, is doing well and all settled into her new apartment so now it’s just time to wait. She called last night and she’s beginning to get excited as her due date is now only 4 weeks away!!
Well, Paulette was right again when she said the photo of the water I posted in my blog on Thursday looked like a Monet rather than Lime Jell-o as I thought. The only person to agree with me was Ruth (Five Just Rolling Down The Road) so thanks, Ruth, I need all the help and support I can get around here. What I do know is the animal in the above photo is a deer! No doubt about it. I snapped this shot while driving down to the grocery store yesterday.
I’m not so sure my idea of a quick comment using the G+ Button was a good one. In fact, it just might have been one of my worst ideas in a long while. it turns out that 17 readers used this button rather than leave a comment and as of 7pm last night there were also 17 comments on my blog – so, a tie. That’s not exactly what I had in mind but I’ll see how it goes before I decide to nix it or not and just go back to a regular ‘comment or not’ format.
For our afternoon walk on Thursday, we went to the trail in the Mill Bay Nature Park. The tide in the bay was out so we were able to walk out on the rocky beach for quite a distance. Molly and Rylie really like this as there are all kinds of interesting things for them to see and dig up in the sand.
Have a great Friday, and thanks again for visiting!
A Walk In The Park And A Few Quick B.C. Facts
We dodged the rain showers in the early afternoon when we went for walk in the Mill Bay Nature Park. This was a pretty safe bet for us as most of the trail is sheltered by the big fir trees so even when it rains fairly hard, we still manage to keep fairly dry.
This little park is probably Molly and Rylie’s favourite simply because they’ve been to it so often. Once out of the car, they race for the start of the trail and know exactly where we’re going. They mostly stay to the beaten path although on occasion they’ll wander off on a little adventure but not for long. It’s a safe place to go for a walk as the park is bordered by the ocean on one side and by various neighbourhood homes on the other 3. We’re never worried about encountering any bears or cougars in these parts.
A few days ago, while hiking with Paulette and the muttzo’s in the Glenora section of the Cowichan River Park, we came across a bunch of wild Dogwood Trees that were in full bloom. These are beautiful trees and we’re very lucky to have not only a white Dogwood in our front yard but a Pink Dogwood as well.
Blackberry Cheesecake Cupcakes & Thetis Lake Park
BBQ’d A Whole Chicken & Tags
BBQ’d Our First Roast Beef On Our Weber Baby Q 120
Adding seasonings and a Montreal style steak and roast rub
Weber Digital BBQ Thermometer – gotta have a gizmo right? |
Saturday, 25 May 2013
Bridges Falling Down And A Visitor For The Weekend
It sure was weird and just a little disconcerting to see all the pictures and videos on the news of the bridge collapse in Washington St. yesterday. It felt a bit weird because we’ve crossed over that same bridge on I-5 between Burlington and Mt. Vernon dozens of times over the years. Sure, it took a truck carrying an oversize load that struck an upper span to knock the bridge down but I’d hope most of the bridges we cross are a bit stronger than that!
A bridge on I-5 over the Skagit River collapses
That may not be the case though as I read reports indicating there are as many as 70,000 “structurally deficient bridges across the country." Congress was asked to set aside $50 billion to repair some of these bridges starting with the most urgent ones but instead transportation repair is facing a $1.9 billion cut. I guess all we can do is drive across sketchy looking bridges and hope for the best. I sure hope the Coronado Bridge in San Diego is o.k. – I love that one!!
I spent all of Friday morning working on computer issues as Paulette had gone to Nanaimo with her friends Claire, Sandy and Julie for a Quilt Show. By noon, I’d about had it wracking my brain over a simple yet frustratingly complicated problem with the Feedburner app for a fellow blogger. Just before noon, and after several attempts to get the faulty Feedburner “burning” again, it magically woke up and began to slowly chug away. By late afternoon, all seemed well again. That seemed like a good time to hit the road with Molly and Rylie and go for a hike!
Another reason I wanted to go early was that I didn’t really have any idea when Paulette would be back from Nanaimo. Maggie was coming over for the weekend so she could go to Carrie’s first Baby Shower with Paulette on Saturday. Maggie lives in Vancouver and guess where the Ferry was taking her? Nanaimo. Since Paulette couldn’t hang around with friends until well after dinner, that meant we had to drive up to meet the Ferry so Paulette got 2 trips up-Island in one day!
It started to look like rain by the time I left home with Molly and Rylie so a long hike was not a good idea. I thought I’d drive out to one of the Cowichan River Parks near Skutz Falls as it’s not too far along the trails down to the river. That worked out great as we managed to sneak in an hour of sunshine. We were lucky as on the way home the rain started to pound down in earnest. I was home by 3pm and Paulette pulled up with her friends about 15 minutes later.
Maggie caught the 7:30pm sailing from Vancouver so we left just before 8pm to pick her up in Nanaimo when she arrived at 9. The baby shower for Carrie is in Victoria on Saturday afternoon. Carrie went for another 3-D type ultrasound Friday morning and the baby is doing fine. From what the doctor’s told her the baby is due sometime in the next 2 to 3 weeks.
Have a great Saturday, and thanks again for visiting!
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Shopping For A Baby Crib And Views From Mt. Tolmie
Our main task on Tuesday was to pick up Carrie in Victoria to go shopping for a baby crib. Our first Grandson is due around the second week of June so Paulette and I wanted to make sure he has a nice warm bed to come home to – and a quilt to keep him warm, of course! After checking on-line for crib styles, types and consumer safety reports, we all agreed that Sears had as good a selection as anyone, along with competitive pricing, so that’s where we headed.
Stork Craft Carrara Stages 4-in-1 Crib |
When I first started looking at baby cribs on-line, I was amazed to see how much these units have progressed over the years. It didn’t take us long to realize that one of the conversion type cribs might be a good deal as they can easily be made up into different styles to make them last a few years longer than normal. I’m not much of a shopper – I’m more of a waiter, so when we got to Sears, I left Paulette and Carrie to do the shopping while I took off for an hour with Molly and Rylie.
When I returned an hour later, I was shocked to see Paulette and Carrie already waiting at the front door of Sears. I figured the shopping trip must have been a bust because it’s unheard of for them to actually finish up early. I mean there’s a whole store full of stuff in there! But, I was wrong. They looked at all the cribs, had their Internet notes for asking questions, Carrie picked out the crib she liked and that was it. All done in a flash. I didn’t even have to haul any boxes as Sears will deliver the crib right to Carrie’s door!
That’s Sears in the middle of this photo and downtown Victoria at the top
When I left Paulette and Carrie at Sears, I carried on with Molly and Rylie to drive up to the top of nearby Mt. Tolmie. The viewpoint at the top provides a 360 degree look at the city of Victoria. It was pretty overcast yesterday morning but still clear enough for a great view of downtown Victoria and Juan de Fuca Straits in the background. On a clear day with blue skies, one can see all the way over to Port Angeles in Washington State.
Panoramic view of Victoria, B.C.
The very top of Mt. Tolmie is dedicated as a park with trails winding down the back of the mountain. Molly and Rylie had been stuck in the car for a while so they really appreciated the chance to get out and stretch their legs a bit and do some exploring in a new to them park.
Looking north from Mt. Tolmie to another Victoria landmark – Mt. Douglas
Mt. Tolmie has always been a very special place for our family as my Mother and Father lived on the west slopes, overlooking the city, for over 30 years. We spent countless visits at my parents’ celebrating birthdays, holidays, weddings, parties and all kinds of special and ordinary events and all the time being able to enjoy the spectacular view of the city below us. It is a wonderful spot.
An intriguing pathway in Mt. Tolmie Park – down into the rabbit-hole!
After I picked up Paulette and Carrie we found a Starbucks and had a coffee outside before dropping Carrie off at her condo. Our route home took us right by Thetis Lake Park which is one of our very favourite hiking trails. This was a perfect opportunity to get our daily hike in so we stopped and did the 1 hour loop trail around the lake before heading home. It’s kind of late this evening as I’m writing this (I watched a couple of hockey games on TV) so I’ll save the Thetis Lake hike for tomorrow’s post.
Big sister Lola sharing her bone with little sister Scout
Erin reports from Calgary that little Scout is, so far, a perfect little pup. That’s great news but if I remember correctly, Rylie was a perfect little pup too but grew up to be a holy terror! I’m sure those two will have a great chat this summer!!
Have a great Wednesday, and thanks again for visiting!
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Just ‘Hangin-Out’ With A Few Blogger Friends
The Google+ Hangout yesterday with a group of fellow bloggers was a lot of fun and worked extremely well. It was a learning experience for everyone I’m sure as we had 8 people simultaneously on the video call. Technically, everything worked well except for a couple of microphone ‘muting’ problems and George’s poor WiFi in his park. Also, Janna got bounced out before we even started as her Internet service crashed a few hours before our scheduled hangout session.
From bottom left: Allen D, John H, Nan T, Paul G, Me, Rick M(x2), Sue M
One of the problems with videoconferencing has always been situations where you need the person on the other end to see what’s on your computer screen. In G+ Hangouts, there’s a perfect tool for that! It’s called Screenshare. With just a few clicks, I was able to show exactly what was on my computer screen just as if everyone was in the room looking over my shoulder. An added bonus, of course, was the fact that my face disappeared to be replaced by my Google+ homepage!
Using Screenshare, everyone could see how to create a new G+ Circle
Screenshare was an ideal and simple way for me to show a few of the techniques for creating and managing Circles live on my computer screen. I created a new Circle called the Hangout Group and showed how to send a message in G+ just to that group of 7 people while nobody in any of my other Circles ever gets to see it.
Fictitious Education: Choosing to share only with RV Bloggers Circle
We also spent some time discussing our Google+ Profiles. A lot of folks are rightly concerned about privacy and here is where Google+ really shines. While a Google+ Profile is Public your full name is the only required information that will be displayed on your profile; you are able to edit or remove any other information that you don’t want to share. That includes work history, contact information, personal history, location, education, gender, birthdate or marital status etc.
Thanks to all who participated in yesterday’s Hangout! |
In my blog yesterday, I mentioned that I might record the Hangout Session so that others could watch it either on YouTube or in Google+. After giving that some additional thought, I decided against it as I hadn’t consulted in advance with the other Hangout participants. Since this would be a “live-streaming event” it simply came down to a question of privacy as well as courtesy. To record an event for a live, or even later, broadcast would have to be approved, in advance, by all folks involved in the hangout! That’s my policy and I’m stickin’ to it!
We celebrated Victoria Day by grilling a couple of steaks for dinner
As for future Hangout sessions – I’m all for it, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be about computer topics either. After all, we’re all RV’ers so there must be something we could find to talk about. All we need is a volunteer to light a campfire in front of a computer screen and we’re all set! If anyone has a topic of any kind they’d like to see discussed, let’s hear it and I’m sure we’ll be able to get a crowd of folks to sit around and chat – daytime or an evening!
How about this Weber Q dinner, George (aka Weber Q Man of Blogland?
To celebrate the Victoria Day holiday yesterday, I grilled up a couple of steaks, Paulette wrapped up some new, small potatoes in tin foil and put them on the grill so we enjoyed a great dinner last night. Tomorrow, we’re off to Victoria to pick up Carrie then I’m dropping her and Paulette off at Sears to pick out a baby crib. I'll find some place to walk with Molly and Rylie while the baby crib shopping is on.
Have a great Tuesday, and thanks again for visiting!
Monday, 20 May 2013
Family For Lunch And We Have A New Grand-Dog!
Maggie and her fiancĂ©, Toby, were in Victoria for the weekend so they drove up to have lunch with us yesterday. It was great to get together with Toby again as this was the first time we’ve seen him since last Christmas as well as the first time since he asked Maggie to marry him in March. Paulette made a special lunch and made sure to send “the boy” home with a big bag of Chocolate Chip cookies and another bag of freshly made Scones!
Paulette made sure Toby didn’t go back to Vancouver empty-handed
Maggie and Toby were over to check out venues for their wedding which will take place during the summer of 2014. While it seems a long time away to me, it’s surprising to hear how fast many of the nicer wedding venues are booking up. In fact, a few places are already booked solid for 2014. It looks like Maggie and Toby were able to snag the exact place they wanted for their wedding so Paulette and I are both happy about that. I’m sworn to secrecy for now – or else!!
Panini's for lunch, Scones/Blackberry Jam, strawberry’s/whipped cream
For lunch, Paulette made Panini’s and just to make sure that neither Toby nor Maggie left hungry she baked Scones and added fresh strawberries and whipped cream. It was good and since we had a late lunch that served nicely as our dinner as well. Maggie brought us right up-to-date with all of her wedding plans. I was exhausted just from listening to everything that needs to be done between now and next summer.
Meet ‘Scout’ – our new Grand-Dog |
Erin called us on Face-Time early Sunday morning to introduce us to our new Grand-Dog - her name is Scout and she is a Golden Doodle just 8 weeks old. Scout will be a little sister to Lola – also a beautiful, gentle and very friendly Golden Doodle. We’re sure that Lola will be more than happy to have a little playmate to keep her company during the day.
Looks like Scout is not the least bit intimidated by big sister Lola
We’ll get to meet Scout this summer when Erin and Greg drive out from Calgary for a summer vacation here on Vancouver Island. It should be interesting to have a little pup around with enough energy to keep Rylie busy all day. Thankfully, we’ve got a big fenced backyard for all the dogs to run in and we’ll make sure to take “the pack” on our daily hikes.
I’m really looking forward to the Monday morning Google+ Hangout session with 8 fellow bloggers. It promises to be a lot of fun. So far, I’ve had test video chats with George, Allen and Nan and everything worked just fine. If any of you who are included in this Hangout have any problems connecting just email me right away and I’ll make sure you get on, o.k. I’m hoping to be able to record this session for others who may wish to view it later.
Have a great Monday, and thanks again for visiting!