Christmas Greeting

Merry Christmas from the two of us to all of you!

Class Project

I have almost completed the first course in my Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning course. My latest project was to do some digital storytelling and the result is my first YouTube posting

Snow in the Valley

Running in November

Got out on my first run since my half marathon in Kelowna and the eye operation. Felt really good and the weather was beautiful.

The tree farm in the second picture is preparing for a snowy winter by putting out the orange snow fence. Do they know something I don't?

The time is changing and so are the leaves

Happy Halloween!

First attempt at a kiss

A little hangover from Peru

While in Peru in August 2009 (check earlier posts for info on the trip) my retina detached. After many, many, many operations I think I just had my last. Today I had a cataract removed from my right eye. Here's hoping for a good eye future.

It's pumpkin time

40th Wedding Anniversary

And they said it wouldn't last. Ha! We may have been too young to know better (18 and 21) but somehow it worked.

Pictures

This is 19km into the run with 2km to go and I'm still smiling.

The guy in the red with the pink ears is my 2:30 Pace Bunny.

Finished the half!

It was a perfect day for a run! I beat my last half marathon time by 20 minutes. Missed my target time by 5 minutes but I'm super happy with the improvement I made since Run for Water in May.

We started the run at 745am and saw a rainbow over Okanagan Lake. I ran with the 2:30 group, which is the time we wanted to finish in. We were led by a Pace Bunny who kept us running at the necessary pace and told us when there were walk breaks. We were following the Running Room program of 10 and 1. We ran for 10min and walked for 1 min. I kept up with the group until about the 14km point but was only 5 minutes behind.

I will post pictures tomorrow. I haven't yet seen the pictures Dave took. Hope there are some good ones.

The crowds kept us fueled. Jen held a sign "Go Mom. We love you." A couple of my favourites were "Run like you stole something" and "If it was easy, I'd be running too".

Running on Sunday

This week's assignments are in and I am packing the car for Kelowna where I will run 21km on Sunday.

Last long run

Did my last long run today.

Guess I'm ready for the half marathon on October 9.

First week of grad school

No pictures,but I am happy to announce that I completed my first week of school, handed in all of my assignments, and am ready for more.

I'm a Graduate Student

I've added graduate student to my description. I'm taking a Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning. So, right now I am a teacher, a graduate student, a grandmother of a 6 month old, the mother of two and a wife who will be soon be celebrating 40 years of marriage with her husband. Oh yah, and I'm training for a half marathon. Life is good!

New outdoor rooms

We were lucky enough to be given a patio cover and are enjoying our two new rooms.

Gotta love those Rose of Sharon plants blooming in September.

How to pick blackberries

1. Wear clothing you do not care about. Blackberries stain.

2. Bring pruning shears to clip your way into the centre and carefully discard the prickly remnants

3. Don't pick berries along a roadway. We call those "diesel berries" and don't pick berries that are low. Think of male dogs lifting their legs and contaminating the berries.

5. Enjoy! Maybe make a blackberry and peach cobbler.

Stew, the rooster, strikes again!

This guy just doesn't get it! I feed him, clean up after him, and am the only one who cares, but apparently he has it in for me.



He attacked again and scratched my foot. I defended myself with the egg basket, which had two eggs in it. One of the eggs broke so I picked it up and threw it at him catching him squarely on the head. You will notice in the first picture that he is a bit wet in front and in the second picture he is complaining.




I do not have the best pitching arm, but this time I had a purpose. Take that Stew!!!

Little horse sighting

I had a very warm 16k run today and saw a cute little horse and buggy. The joys of running. You never know what you'll find along the way.

Finding teapots on Teapot Hill

This is only my second trip up Teapot Hill. Does everyone know about all the teapots on Teapot Hill and why didn't they tell me about it? I found 5 teapots placed on stumps and a signpost on my way up the 2.5km hill.





I am half way through my half marathon training and Teapot Hill has been my hill training spot of choice. Better than hill repeats!

The rooster has a name

The rooster was a gift from the neighbours. Little did we know that he had a knack for sneak attacking. If I could find him a home he would be gone. I don't kill anything on the property but he doesn't know that, so his name is now Stewart or Stew for short. Be very careful Stewart!!

Garden Tour

My garden this year has

a sea of zucchini,







apples by the bushel,









a fountain of phlox,








punctuated by the sweet smell of sweet peas in the air.

Teapot Hill Hike

Three adults, one child and 1 dog hiked Teapot Hill near Cultus Lake. Rated as "easy" we gained 250 m in elevation on our 5km round trip hike.

A fellow hiker was looking at this phantom orchid and told us about it. We would have walked right past it without her help. Almost totally white, it is an elusive and unique orchid that has been elevated to the status of threatened species in Canada. What a find!

What not to do.

Take 1 bike, add a hill with rocks, apply too much pressure to the front brakes and get off the bike over the front handle bars.

Just playing around

On our last day in Kaslo we went to the Vollie (Kasloese for volunteer) party and just played around.