Giving thanks

In honour of Canadian Thanksgiving and reflecting back on my day, I am thankful and grateful for:

*  this INCREDIBLE weather we have been blessed with for the last two and a half months (please. don't. stop!)

*  wonderful friends to spend time with.  Given we have no immediate family close by, we are blessed with an abundance of amazing people in our lives who open their arms to us and become our second family.

*  the love between our girl and a sweet little boy.  They have always had a special bond despite the miles between us and they always manage to pick up when together again.  Melt my heart.

*  squash.  How can their variety and colour NOT make you smile.

*  my people whose craziness and exuberance always make me laugh.  Goofs, the both of them.  But lovely goofs.

*  traditions, big or small, that we are slowly carving out over the years and making our own.  May our girl be able to look back on them in time and find a joy in her heart from them.

*   my sister who still doesn't give up on me despite my lack of communication for long lengths of time.  Soon, sister, soon!  Yes, it's been the busyness, the shock of September and illness.  But I have been thinking about you a lot and planning to catch up.... soon!

*  you, out there, who still on occasion come stop by this little space.  Thank you for visiting, thank you for the occasional kind word.  You are appreciated.

susan

[this moment]

In the spirit of Soulemama...

 

What Mama doesn't like to see her child with mop in hand? :)

Happy weekending, all!

Films

Some films on the brain today.

Our dear friend Marc is in the post-production phase of his newest documentary called Spinning Green.  I had the opportunity to meet Curtis Stone, the man who is the subject of this film, a couple of summers ago while visiting Marc and his lovely family up in Kelowna.  What Curtis is doing is very inspiring.  Marc is pretty inspiring too.

Took my girl to see this film this evening.  First Position.  This girl of ours is very much in to dance these days.  I wanted her to see this for both inspiration and as a reality check for the amount of hard work and dedication that is required to be 'professional' as this is something she has been pondering recently.  The film gave her a lot to think about and I look forward to conversations about it in the next few days as she processes what she saw.  A very interesting documentary if you have the chance to see it.  Some very amazing young dancers.

Loving these short clips from Kinfolk lately.  So beautiful!

It's been a hectic busy week getting back in to the swing of school and work.  The Papa replaced a sick friend in the Grand Fondo today.  Rode with a buddy from downtown Vancouver to Whistler in about five hours.  He had a great time but is snoring on the couch as I type.  We are pretty proud of him, though, as he didn't train for it and we didn't have to pick him up part way there  :)  I think he is feeling pretty proud of himself too.

Looking forward to a quieter day at home tomorrow.  Need to catch up on some chores at home... laundry, tidying, spending some time in the kitchen feeding my family.

Wishing you all a restful Sunday.  Until next time...

Our last hurrah

In the end, the backpacking trip won out.

We left a little too late on Saturday to make it to destination but en route spent a lovely night in Whistler visiting lovely friends.

Our back country experience looked like this...

Some alpine meadows...

Papa verifying the route with the topographic map and the GPS...

Deciding that this little alpine lake surrounded by peaks was the perfect place to pitch the tent for the night...

Miss M filtering water for cooking and drinking and Papa getting dinner ready...

Tucking the tent in the trees out of the chilly wind...

Dessert... tulsi tea and reconstituted freeze dried Mountain Blackberry Cheesecake.  The 'cheese cake' was not as disgusting as it sounds. Trust me, I was surprised too.

Losing the sun for the night...

A snuggly breakfast by the lake...

Alpine flora...

Love this lone little tree.  It found its place to lay its roots somehow on the cold bare rock cliff.  Nature is profoundly amazing...

A mated pair of ducks fascinated me.  They never came close enough for me to identify them but it amused me to think that this pair had found their own little piece of paradise.  Two little ducks living in an alpine lake, alone, surrounded by the beauty of nature.  How did they find their way here, of all places, what made them stay and where would they go when winter became too harsh for them to stay?

Our little lake fed this little creek...

That ran through this meadow...

Heading down a slope is often harder than climbing up...

I love lichen...

Miss M tested out Papa's pack to see if it really WAS heavier than hers.  I think she decided hers wasn't so bad after all.

It was a lot of prepping and a LONG way to go for one night, but oh so worth it in the end.  I am so glad our little girl can have these experiences.  I love seeing her enthusiasm for these adventures, seeing her stretch her boundaries and comfort levels.  I love watching her learning respect for the beauty of the natural world that surrounds her.

I'm not sure where it will take her in her life.  I guess we never do. But I hope it helps her figure out where she is meant to be in this world.

In the meantime, it was a fun adventure to end our summer... our last hurrah.

Wild visitors

 

 

A few beautiful creatures who popped in for visits in and around our campsite last week.

This weekend, we are still debating a few day backpacking trip in the Coast Mountains or staying home and doing day trips from here as well as getting ready for back to school and work next week.  Undecided. 

Whatever your long weekend plans are, may it be a happy and safe one!

Light play

Images from playing with my camera one evening during our recent camping trip.  When your surroundings are pitch black, the visible light becomes so rich and deep against the black backdrop.  I was curious to see what my camera could pick up.

Image 1:  The blue tent and fire from the neighbouring campsite, our yellow tent with light inside coming from Miss M's headlamp as she was reading in her sleeping bag.

Image 2:  Looking up through the surrounding trees to the stars in the night sky.  Very difficult to see but if you can enlarge the image, it becomes a little clearer.  Far from a great photo but for some reason, I still like it.

Image 3:  Self evident, I suppose. My favorite part of the campfire... when the flames have burned out and you are left with the glowing embers.

It's fun to experiment.  My memory card can sometimes be filled with 'experiments'.  But so long as there are a few that turn out alright, it'll keep me trying.

Happy Thursday!

Creekside

We spent last week camping at Manning Park.  Two minutes of bushwacking behind our campsite brought us to this lovely creek where we spent a good part of the afternoon playing, exploring and relaxing.

Such a lovely spot.  We were excited by our find.  This area offers much magic and we look forward to going back again soon to discover more.