Tag Archives: Canada

Oh Canada!

Growing up I was immersed in a Russian Community that used cousin, aunt and uncle loosely. We always had more “relatives” then a proper genealogy record would prove. I just inherited 9 girl cousins from Canada. Our cousin connection comes from our love for each other, similar upbringing, blogging, and recipes that our ancestors brought out of Russia and Germany. I will be sharing the wonderful bonding experiences we had during our 3 days together soon.

Here are the Mennonite Girls (MGCC) and I now know first hand they really can cook! Starting in the back, Judy from My Front Porch, Marg from Home Again, Lovella from What Matters Most, Julie from Pearls in A Nutshell, Betty, Me, The Happy Wonderer,  Anneliese from For Everything a Season, Bev from Kaleidoscopes, Kathy, and Charlotte.

Thank you girls for all the good food, laughter, prayers, and fun we had! Till we meet again…

 

Tuesday Afternoon in Vancouver, B.C.

Tuesday, afternoon,

Tuesday, afternoon,
I’m just beginning to see,
Now I’m on my way,
It doesn’t matter to me,
Chasing the clouds away.

Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near,
I’ve got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear
Explain it all with a sigh.

I’m looking at myself, reflections of my mind,
It’s just the kind of day to leave myself behind,
So gently swaying thru the fairy-land of love,
If you’ll just come with me and see the beauty of

Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday, afternoon,
I’m just beginning to see,
Now I’m on my way,
It doesn’t matter to me,
Chasing the clouds away.

Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near,
I’ve got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear
Explain it all with a sigh.

ht: Moody Blues

 

Eating Our Way Through Two Countries!!

My daughter Katie and I set out on a rainy adventure through the top left corner of the U.S.A. to Canada on Tuesday. Just before we got to the border of the U.S.A. and Canada we stopped at the Blackberry House Cafe in Blaine. Friends of ours own the cafe and we wanted to check it out since we were in the neighborhood. What a great spot for some good eats and good coffee. We had a little visit and bought some fresh bread to take home. Make sure you stop by sometime at H street and 3rd!

Here are the owners and our yummy breakfast. Aaron is a pastry chef. Sorry the photo is a little blurry…

They let us across the border after a few questions as to our purpose for visiting the fine country of Canada. We told them we were visiting to go to lunch. They wanted to know where we planned to eat. We said “Stanley Park”. They wanted us to be more specific so we said, “The Teahouse Restaurant in Stanley Park”. That was the right answer so they let us proceed!

 

I think our food choices at the Teahouse Restaurant look like something you’d get served on Top Chef. Don’t let the name of this restaurant fool you. It’s not about the Tea here but it is about some very good food.

After lunch we spent some time at the Aquarium in Stanley Park and then enjoyed seeing some beautiful views under dry skies before we headed back to the Border.

When we got to the border we were asked some more questions to see if we were worthy to re-enter our country. They were concerned about agricultural products. They wanted to know where we ate, too. I’m wondering if the Border Patrol are compiling a book on most frequented eateries in Canada…

 

After all those questions about food we got hungry again and stopped at Taco Lobo in Bellingham. Lovella had given this spot a good review and she was right. We got there at 4:45 and ordered our food and as our food arrived the place filled up to overflowing.

If nothing else you can rest assured if you ever travel with us you won’t be hungry!!

And just for the curious if you have a smooth border crossing you can make it from my house to Vancouver in 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Oh Canada!

Tomorrow is my daughter’s last day off before her last quarter of University starts so since I’m in town we decided to head up to Vancouver B.C.  Sure the forecast says that it will be the coldest rainiest day this week but hey we are adventurers. We’ll don our gortex and sensible shoes and see what we can see through the rain and wind. We’re headed for the Teahouse at Stanley Park for lunch. It’s not your traditional Teahouse so we won’t be having high tea but we will enjoy some good eats.

I apologize for not getting around these days. My time here is short and there seems to be so much more to do here then at the little condo in Southern California. Hope you all are enjoying the first full week of Fall. I’m enjoying being cold! Blessings…

 

Window Views ~ Washington State Ferry

My Window Views this week were all taken on a Washington State Ferry from Anacortes, through the San Juan Islands to Sidney on Vancouver Island, Canada.

Our ride was mostly misty, moisty, foggy…

Another Ferry through the mist…

As we approached Vancouver Island things got brighter.

For more Window Views or to join in the fun click here. Thank you Mary for hosting this event…

More from Butchart!

Welcome to my Outdoor Wednesday brought to you from the land of our lovely neighbors to the North…Canada!!  Please visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer to see more outdoor posts…

I’m thinking this post will also be my Outdoor Wednesday Post but I’m going ahead and posting it now. There are so many wonderful things to see at Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island. Warning: This post has several photos!! I caught some flack for not having any photos of me on this post so I’m adding this one of Dear and I…

If you ever get a chance I would highly recommend a trip to Butchart Gardens!

Butchart Gardens ~ The Sunken Gardens

I have so many photos from Butchart Gardens that I’d like to share so I’m dividing them into a few posts for the different areas of the Gardens. The first area we visited were the Sunken Gardens…

Katie was really intrigued by the Chilean Rhubarb that grows 6-10 feet tall. I zoomed way in to try to capture it. Katie is sure you could float down a river on one of the leaves! :0)

 

You have to work real hard to get a photo without 10 people you don’t know in it at Butchart. It’s a very popular destination and after visiting we can understand why. I’ll show more flowers from other parts of the garden soon.