This Could be a Joke but...

I want to thank Megan Bostic http://meganbostic.blogspot.com/ for nominating me for Kreativ Blogger Award. This is an honor. It's a way for bloggers to show other bloggers their appreciation and to promote each other.

Apparently there are a few rules that go along with getting this award.

1. Place the logo on the blog.
2. Link to the person who nominated the blog for this award.
3. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
4. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
5. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
6. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Here are 7 things you might find interesting about me.

1. I'm fairly good at public speaking but don't do it much anymore.
2. I was in all the drama competitions when I was in school--wanted to be an actress.
3. Physical education was the only course I ever failed and I still hate exercise.
4. I also hate talking on the phone. Avoid it like the plague. That's why I love e-mail but so far I don't text or tweet
5. I love the ocean and can't be away from it for too long.
6. I love red wine and wine tasting holidays.
7. I once shook hands with Britain's Prince Harry. He was still a little boy at the time.


I am working on my nominations for Kreativ Blogger:

Eye Surgery This Week

Had a small eye surgery on Friday. Things are looking pretty blurry right now so will "tell all" next week. Nothing serious--just a nip tuck thing. Well, they do say "vanity, thy name is woman." Guess they are right.

America On Guard for Thee

A dangerous looking pair.

I may at some time have mentioned that the Canadian U.S. border lies eight miles directly south of where I live, on what they call the Coast Meridian Road. It’s about a half hour drive for us so we often opt for a day in the “States.” There’s a lot to do in beautiful Washington State and Bellingham is only fifty miles down the highway. We like to go shopping, eat a nice lunch or dinner by the sea, or even just to fill up with good American gasoline that is always cheaper than ours. (Although we have the most available oil of any country in the world right now—but go figure.)

Even though that crossing directly south of us is the easiest to access we don’t usual take it. It’s the major entry point on Interstate 5 between the two countries and the line-ups can be horrendous. So the other day—a beautiful end-of-August day—we decided we wanted to look at the shops in Bellingham’s Bellis Fair Mall and have an excellent seafood dinner down by Bellingham Bay. We started out early to drive inland to the crossing at Lyndon, Washington which takes us through lovely farming country on either side of the border—a much less crowded route.

It was a Monday and surprisingly the line-ups were huge even way out there in the “sticks?” So it took us over an hour to get up to one of the Inspection Stations. Our passports were ready, we answered the usual questions about where were we off to and how long would we be in the States. But, imagine our surprise and dismay when the officer said, “I want you to drive into the bay over there for an inspection. Someone will go through your car so it will take some time. You’ll get your passports back when you’re finished.”

Now we are seniors and our faces will attest to over three score and some years of living and our fair share of sunshine. My husband is greying and I have silver white hair. We really don’t look all that suspicious nor do we look like we could be a threat to anyone. But those border guards are big and brawny and they carry guns, so you don’t really want to mess with them. And the sign says that if you disobey there can be a $250,000 fine and up to ten years in jail. We’re not even sure we have ten years left.

We meekly pulled into the bay and with some trepidation, entered the building. Again there are line-ups so the wait until an inspector came to talk to us took quite awhile. I imagine that, if you are carrying anything suspicious in your car, you would begin to sweat. In fact, the fellow in front of us looked very worried and when questioned admitted he had been arrested before. “Right here at the border,” he confessed.

I’m not the most patient person in the world and am apt to voice my feelings in a fairly loud voice about supposed injustices. Looking at the counter and watching some Hispanic people being fingered printed, I said to my husband in a loud whisper, “I’m absolutely NOT going to be fingered printed.”

Pointing again at the signs about jail, he motioned me to “hush up.” I know the look.

Finally our turn came. The inspector was Hispanic himself and gave me a reassuring smile. “This is just a random check, ma’m,” he comforted me. “You don’t have to worry. Have either of you ever been arrested?” Fortunately we never have been; we weren’t carrying guns or marijuana—neither of us has ever smoked a joint actually—and we didn’t even have any liquor in the trunk. We were totally clean. I don’t know if they were disappointed or not. After a thorough search of the car, they handed back our passports and we were soon again on our way south. Still time for window shopping and an early dinner at Bellingham’s beautiful harbour.

But I can tell all you American’s out there. Those border guards are doing their job. You are definitely safe from an invasion by Canadian senior citizens.

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

Hi there followers:

I owe you an apology. I have been exceedingly lazy these last few weeks during our British Columbia heat wave and, on top of that, somehow I got myself involved with Authonomy.

Authonomy is, as those writer's among you know, the website put up by Harper Collins for new writers to showcase their work. For some time now, I've heard a few of my colleagues on Facebook talking about it and finally gave in to it's allure. So I have seven chapters of my book, "The Huguenot's Destiny" posted there now and, in order to keep it moving up the chart, you have to keep reading and commenting on other writer's books constantly. Then they return the favour. As one of my very observant and intelligent F/B friends tells us, it's mostly about "patting each other on the back."

Even though I'm beginning to understand the game, I did have a couple of very nice comments which I'm taking at face value. One, because he is a member of the modern-day Huguenot Church and he wants to read the entire book. (Which is not a religious book, by the way.) Another was by a New York magazine editor and his comments sounded genuine enough.

Unfortunately, no sooner did my book start climbing up the ladder, than the whole website went down. I also have a habit of "killing" most of the forum threads I have ventured on to. I really should put up a warning label.

So that's mostly what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks. But I will be carrying on with my travelblog on my trip to the Okanagan and particularly my visit to my old hometown of Summerland in a couple of weeks. Please stay tuned. And in the meantime, welcome to summer in my small garden.

Vernon - Center of Northern Okanagan Valley

British Columbia is burning. There are 500 fires throughout the province at the moment. It has been so hot and dry everywhere for two months now, with record setting temperatures in many areas including Vancouver.

Sadly in spite of the pleas of the RCMP, we still see many places where people have unthinkingly thrown their cigarette butts out of the window of their car. One can’t help but wonder if their consciences will bother them when they see the weeping families standing in front of their burnt out homes.
Link: Terrace Mountain fire forces 2,500 to flee

The Okanagan Valley is one of the places where there is still a large, uncontrolled fire burning on the north west side of the lake, but nevertheless, it’s a beautiful spot to visit; so this week I’ll continue with my travel blog of the north Okanagan.


Vernon is the largest city in the North Okanagan Regional District and is the northern entry point for the valley. Coming from eastern Canada via the Trans Canada Highway #3, one turns south on Highway 97 at either Sicamous or Salmon Arm. Ideally nestled between the beautiful Swan, Kalamalka, and Okanagan lakes it is the oldest community in British Columbia's interior.
Our sightseeing in Vernon began with a step back in time to the late 1800s at the historic O'Keefe Ranch, founded in 1867 by Cornelius O'Keefe when he and his partner, Thomas Greenhow drove cattle from Oregon to the north end of Okanagan Lake.

At that time, huge cattle ranches occupied the valley, and ranch headquarters were self-contained settlements. By the turn of the century, O'Keefe and his partner owned 20,000 acres of prime land, and were driving cattle north to sell to the hungry miners in the gold fields. The property is still a working ranch and you can spend a good afternoon touring the outbuilding as well as the beautifully preserved Victorian home. It’s a great spot where kids and adults alike can experience the history and adventure of pioneer days. I’ve included a couple of pictures.
(If you go: The ranch is open daily 9am to 5 pm, May through Thanksgiving.)

The other interesting spot in Vernon we took time to visit on this trip was Okanagan Opal Inc., which is the first company in Canada to produce and market "Canadian" precious opal gemstones. You can visit the shop to see a wonderful variety of opal gemstones, available in many different settings, styles and colours or you can also arrange a trip to their actual mine site to dig your own opals!
View Dig Your Own Opals for more information.

(Next time we head south to the Central Okanagan Valley where we visit my old hometown of Summerland)

Inside of O'Keefe Ranch General Store


Always did like a cowboy

Library of beautiful O'Keefe Victoria home

A Visit to the Okanagan Valley of B.C.

Right: Okanagan Lake
Left: Coquihalla Pass

Centre: Merrit Valley

Just got back from a week in British Columbia’s hot spot—the Okanagan Valley (pronounced Ohk-a-NAH-gan). The Okanagan is the closest thing Canada has to a desert. It is actually a part of the great desert basin that extends north from Mexico and the United States. Near the south Okanagan city of Osooyos, there is a portion set aside as a desert refuge complete with tumbleweed and rattlesnakes.

So the Okanagan is very warm and very arid and, unfortunately, subject to summer wildfires when the forests are tinder dry. Three separate fires started the day after we left (looks suspicious I know but neither of us smoke). Happily, they are now under control and there were only about 9 houses lost although 15,000 people were evacuated for safety reasons.

Hot and dry as the climate is, with the help of irrigation the whole valley has been turned into a delightful region of vineyards and orchards. And with a chain of lakes stretching from the city of Vernon in the north to the U.S. border and beyond, it is a summer holiday paradise.

There’s an easy way to get to B.C.’s interior and that’s over Highway 3 which, even though it climbs to over 4,000 ft. at the Coquihalla Pass, is a four lane highway with speed limits over 100 kms. per hour. This extends all the way from our Fraser Valley to Kamloops or Kelowna making the trip an easy four hour drive. It’s scenic but not as exciting as the Trans Canada highway route that takes you through the Fraser Canyon and the tourist spot known as Hell’s Gate. We’ll visit Hell’s Gate next month but for the next couple of weeks come with me as we visit to the fabulous Okanagan Valley.

Perhaps the thing that long, narrow Okanagan Lake is most famous for is the prehistoric monster that people believe live there, named Ogopogo. There are records of sightings of this serpent-like creature even before the white man came to settle. Have to admit I've never seen him but here's a link to a little more information in case you do get to visit this unique area. If you happen to get a picture of your particular sighting it's worth some money, so make sure you try.

Link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogopogo

Next week: we visit Vernon at the head of Okanagan Lake

Summer Arrives in the Fraser Valley

“Summertime and the living is easy; fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high”. So says the old Gershwin brother’s song. But life does seem easier in the summer, everyone is a little more casual and carefree and generally people feel better.

In summer something nomadic in my makeup takes over and it becomes almost obligatory that I take to the road. Fortunately for me, my husband is somewhat of the same mind and so, when the weather is warm and sunny, we often set forth on one of our explorations of the beautiful area in which we reside.

Living in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley there is ample opportunity for delightful one-day getaways. We are located in the southwest corner of B.C. bordered on the north by the coast mountain range, on the east by the Cascade Range and on the west by the Strait of Georgia and Vancouver Island. Following the 49th parallel the U.S. border cuts across the south of this whole area. In general the term, the Fraser Valley refers to that stretch of land surrounding the river downstream from the town of Hope to the ocean on the west and the U.S. border on the south.

As you can imagine there are many delightful places to explore within a day’s drive; everything from the large metropolis of Vancouver to quiet and charming seaside villages like White Rock.
Later this summer I’ll also take you on a circle tour that follows the famous sea-to-sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler; then travels through the coast mountain range on the Duffy Lake road to Lillooet; ending up in the beautiful and famous Okanagan Valley with its long, clear lake and grapevine covered hills; before driving the four lane highway over the Coquihalla Pass back to Vancouver.

But for today let’s head south to the border and the charming village of White Rock. Here one can dine “al fresco” in a great variety of restaurants overlooking the peaceful waters of Semiahmoo Bay; stroll along the two mile promenade beside the ocean; or swim at nearby Crescent Beach. With the sun on your backs and the smell of ocean in your nostrils, it’s all good.

If you’re driving in from the U.S.A. on Highway 5 take the first cut-off after the border. It’s a roundabout so keep to the left of the circle until you reach 8th Avenue going west. Follow it down the hill where it becomes Marine Drive. The next couple of miles are where all the action is. There’s lots of pay parking so be sure to stop to walk out on the long pier and take a look at the big, white rock that gives the town its name. It’s painted now, but even when it was first discovered, it was a beautiful, white granite rock. If it’s a sunny day you can’t miss Mount Baker with its beautiful snow covered peak as a striking background to this hillside village. The whole scene is all very reminiscent of France’s Cote d’Azur. I think, to just relax and have a nice meal, it’s one of the nicest spots on the entire west coast. Here’s a link to a live web cam: www.aacb.com/cams/rockcamlrg.htm. Enjoy.

Now that summer’s truly here, my blogs are apt to be a little spasmodic as I travel around in search of material. Bear with me and I’ll see you soon.