Heading North Across the Line…

I’m taking my sweet cheese spread in it’s mold wrapped in cheesecloth to Lepp Farm Market for a cooking demonstration tonight. I will take it out and present it ready to serve with Lovella’s Paska. I have my cross, X & B to press onto the cheese. This is a traditional Russian Easter Treat so it has the Cross to symbolize Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday and the X and B are the first letters in Christ Arose or Christ is Risen in Russian, Христос Воскрес! We love to celebrate the Resurrection! The Mennonite Girls Can Cook are putting on the cooking demo tonight. It will be my first experience doing this. I hope I don’t drop anything…

I’ll be gone all day Thursday and into Friday. See you on the weekend!

 

Dallas Road ~ Victoria, B.C.

 

Meanwhile, back to our Sister weekend in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Pondside gave me the great suggestion of walking along Dallas Road. We started out on Sunday morning after another fabulous breakfast at the Beaconsfield Inn and headed for Ross Bay Cemetery which happens to be on Dallas Road. Lana and I love old cemeteries and this one did not disappoint. My post with many photos from the cemetery will come on another day. Today here are the beautiful views along Dallas Road which we walked on our way back to the Beaconsfield Inn where Pondside would pick us up for our driving tour of Victoria. That post is coming later, also.

Victoria, BC Dallas Road area is an ideal spot for a walk, marine sightseeing, picnics and in the winter the area is a popular gathering spot for storm watching. The mostly paved waterfront walk way follows the coastline all the way to the back door of Beacon Hill Park and continues far beyond leading to sandy beaches.

Flying proof we were in Canada!

There are so many great views in Victoria. My sisters and I appreciated being shown and directed to things we would have never seen on our own.

This week is a full busy week. Today I’ll be in the kitchen for a good chunk of the day. Tomorrow I’ll be on the road. How’s your week going?

 

Locks of Love…

Today Katie and I sent her 12 inches of hair safely packaged and addressed to Locks of Love in Florida. While we were at the post office we also stocked up on special boxes to mail overseas along with customs forms. When the postal worker found out Katie is married to a Marine she handed her a miniature pocket flag prepared by the American Legion saying that they are proud of his service and they are praying for him and thanking him for defending our country and our freedom. When we notify them of his overseas address they will mail him and his unit these little flags with the messages to them. We were touched by this thoughtfulness.

I mowed the rest of our lawn today and I am pooped and sitting on the couch for the rest of the night. After watching the weather report for the next few days I’m glad to have had the chance to get the lawn mowed before we have several more days of rain.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods…

 

Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria

Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Diocese of British Columbia of the Anglican Church of Canada. This structure is the third Christ Church built. The wooden structure built of 1872 became inadequate for the size of the congregation. In 1891, through an international design competition, architect J.C.M. Keith of Victoria was commissioned to design a larger and more enduring edifice. He produced a design in 13th century gothic style, inspired by Durham Cathedral in England.

Winston Churchill visited the sight on September 9, 1929 and helped to lay a stone in the North Tower. There is a inscription there today recording this event.

We really enjoyed seeing and taking photographs of this grand cathedral. Reminded me of some of the cathedrals we visited in Great Britain.

This is a busy week for me here at this old house. Dear is having some muscle issues in in right leg which makes walking difficult for him. He’s using a cane. Since the weather has improved the lawn needs mowing and weeds need pulling and my weed-whacker partner can’t help with these tasks. I’m traveling to Canada on Thursday for a cooking demonstration at Lepp Family Farms and will be spending the night and traveling back home on Friday. All this to say if you don’t hear from me or see comments left on your blogs you’ll know why…

Hope your week is going well.

 

Weekend Fun!

On Friday night we had our good friends over for a meal. Dave, Jody, Bob, and Jan have been our friends since before we moved to Washington in 1988. Jody, Jan and I were walking buddies for years before Dear’s job took us back to California. Now that we are back we have some catching up to do. When the 6 of us went on a walking tour of Great Britain back in May of 2006 we were on a quest to find the best Sticky Toffee Pudding in Britain. If the pudding was on the menu we’d order one serving with 6 spoons. On Friday night we each had our own serving. Good times, good friends, good memories. Um yes, this blogger was so busy enjoying her friends she didn’t take photos of the food…

This sticky toffee pudding was one we shared in York in 2006.

On Saturday the fun continued when Josh and Laura picked me up for an afternoon Sounders game. Winning was especially rewarding! Note: If you take a little one to sporting events where the crowd noise gets exceptionally loud like Sounders games these little ear protectors are a must! Isn’t little Oliver adorable!?

I’ve been having fun in Picasa using my photos as backgrounds for my mosaics. I’m linking up at Mary’s Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. I’m behind since Friday getting around to blogs but I’ll try to get around soon.

 

At the Feet of Jesus ~ Hymn

 

Jesus Said + I Am Come That They Might Have Life

At the Feet of Jesus

At the feet of Jesus,
Listening to His word;
Learning wisdom’s lesson
From her loving Lord;
Mary, led by heav’nly grace,
Chose the meek disciple’s place.
At the feet of Jesus
Is the place for me,
There a humble learner
Would I choose to be.

At the feet of Jesus,
Pouring perfume rare,
Mary did her Savior
For the grave prepare;
And, from love the good work done,
She her Lord’s approval won.
At the feet of Jesus
Is the place for me,
There, in sweetest service
Would I ever be.

At the feet of Jesus,
In that morning hour,
Loving hearts, receiving
Resurrection power,
Haste with joy to preach the word;
Christ is risen, praise the Lord!
At the feet of Jesus,
Risen now for me,
I shall sing His praises
Through eternity.

Words: Philip P. Bliss, 1876

FFF ~ Sisters and Friends…

Time to look back and pick favorites from the past week. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in. Last Friday I missed FFF because my sisters and I were on a getaway to the beautiful city of Victoria on Vancouver Island in Canada. My favorites this week are all about that weekend trip.
Walking, Talking, Eating, and Sight Seeing were 4 of my 5 favorites. My last favorite was getting to meet a wonderful bloggy friend who lives on the island. Pondside met up with us at our Bed and Breakfast Inn and gave us a wonderful tour of her city. I’ll post more about our Pondside tour in a later post. This last photo is of Pondside and me at Hatley Castle.
This wonderful meeting fulfills #44 of my 60 Things to do in my 60th year! Thanks for being part of my 60th year celebration Pondside. I appreciate you!
Looking forward to seeing what you have all been up to this week and what blessings have come your way…

Craigdarroch Castle or…

…heigh-ho, heigh-ho, It’s off to walk we go. On Saturday morning after a lovely breakfast we set out for our day of walking. First stop would be Craigdarroch Castle.

 

We saw things along the way that we felt were worth of some space on our memory cards.

 

Craigdarroch Castle was built between 1887-1890 for Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish immigrant who made his fortune from Vancouver Island coal. This Victorian mansion, built on a hill overlooking the City of Victoria announced to the world that Robert Dunsmuir was the richest and most important man in Western Canada. Craigdarroch means “rocky, oak place” in Gaelic.

I took this photo looking up the stairwell to the 4th floor. The interior oak panelling was pre-fabricated including the stairs, doors, window frames, and 2182 panels. They were shipped from Chicago to Victoria in five railcars in the summer of 1890 and installed in the house.

The castle has one of North America’s finest collection of Victorian residential stained and leaded glass windows.

This was the breakfast room for the family. After touring all 4 floors we headed out on foot again.

Our 2nd destination was a bust so we headed for the Oak Bay area of Victoria and found the Penny Farthing to rest our feet and get some refreshment before our 3rd destination of the day.

 

We are finally getting some sunshine today. Woohoo!

 

Food Glorious Food!

Warning: This Post could make you hungry!

On our sister weekend we enjoyed lots of good food. Our first night in town we walked to Pescatores for dinner which was a little over a mile round trip.

We enjoyed some wonderful fish dishes and steak. I had Pescatores King Halibut ~
Blackened queen charlotte halibut topped with king crab and citrus hollandaise. It’s the middle photo in the collage. It was mouth watering good to the last drop. I also decided to try a Beaufort Oyster just because. Vera had the Sooke Trout stuffed with Brie and crab, Kathy had the Cedar Plank Roasted Salmon and Lana had the Filet Mignon. Our dessert was Banana Foster ~
Fried with brown sugar, butter and rum over sweet crepes. Served a la mode. We shared it amongst the 4 of us.

 

Do you remember this song from the musical Oliver?

Food, glorious food!
Hot sausage and mustard!
While we’re in the mood —
Cold jelly and custard!
Pease pudding and saveloy!
What next is the question?
Rich gentlemen have it, boys —
In-di-gestion!

Food, glorious food!
We’re anxious to try it.
Three banquets a day —
Our favourite diet!

Just picture a great big steak —
Fried, roasted or stewed.
Oh, food,
Wonderful food,
Marvellous food,
Glorious food.

This is just part of the song sung while the boys had to put up with more Gruel. We on the other hand didn’t have any Gruel on this trip. Our breakfasts at the Inn were a gourmet delight.

Todd was an excellent chef.

On Saturday we walked many miles around town and ended up for an afternoon tea in the Oak Bay area of Victoria. It was a wonderful authentic English High Tea that was recommended to us by Pondside who lives on Vancouver Island. She graciously made our reservations for us including instructions not to be seated in the middle of the restaurant. We had a delightful experience at the White Heather Tea Room and would recommend it to you. Later I will post about meeting Pondside on Sunday and what a wonderful day we had together.

As if we hadn’t had enough food we stopped in a nice grocers and bought some salami, avocado and veggies to have later in the evening in our room with some fresh bread we bought at a bakery across from the grocers. If you’ve never had a picnic in a hotel room you should give it a try…

Hope your days are going well this week. I’m yearning a bit for some sunshine…

 

Home Away From Home…

The Beaconsfield Inn Victoria, B.C.

We were very happy with the Beaconsfield. It is a Registered Heritage Property — circa 1905. I loved the wonderful rich wood architecture.

Built at the turn of the century to be a gracious Edwardian home, The Beaconsfield Inn retains many of the historic elements that evoke all the character, warmth and hospitality associated with by-gone eras.

 

The Beaconsfield was commissioned in 1905 by R. P. Rithet, a local financial baron, MLA and Victoria Mayor (1885) for his daughter Gertrude, and designed by Samuel McClure, one of Victoria’s most notable architects.

Named after a luxurious London Hotel frequented by King Edward VII in pre-World War I England, the Beaconsfield Inn turns the clock back to a gentler time.

We reserved the Gatekeepers room because it would accommodate the 4 of us comfortably.

The common room where we could enjoy coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and sherry in the evening was a great room to relax. There were fresh baked cookies every night, too.

This next photo is a peek into the breakfast room. I’ll share a food post on another day.

I would gladly return to this Inn if I get a chance to re-visit Victoria.