It's time...

That's right friends... it's time to break out the happy dance.





Here are the first of many photos on our new Canon Rebel XTi and let me just say.. holy wow! I've only taken 25 pictures and I'm just very impressed... so impressed that we got a little crazy over it...





So where have we been? Well out adventuring, of course. We spent a few days in the north Okanagan. We went swimming and Kyle went on his first seadoo ride. We went camping with my Aunti Jenni and got a chance to visit my Uncle from Bermuda and my grandma. We came home and now we've spent some time cleaning up and starting a renovation project. I'll load up more photos and info on our trips (we went to Vancouver too...) shortly.

the smell of raspberries

Tonight we picked raspberries in the backyard - planning to do a little jam making - mmmm yummmers... tonight I was washing them and getting everything ready for tomorrow and I had one of those moments. My grandparents had a good size raspberry bush area in their backyard and we used to sit and eat and help pick for jam making and the smell of the berries as I washed them made me think of my grandma. It was like she was sitting in my kitchen. I think about her pretty often - lots of little things spark a memory; trigger a few minutes of her talking to me or sharing something with me. I also think about what she would say to me when I'm doing things that she took so much pleasure in.

Today was just a great day. It just felt like a real holiday vacation day. I did do some work, but it just felt great to get some of my office cleaned and spend some time with Andrew. We walked to Granvilles for lunch and just sat in the sunshine and enjoy some quiet time together... the smell of the raspberries and a reflection on my grandma just added to my day.

What else? Well we leave for Vernon on Thursday - hooray - and off to a little Martin family reunion. Hooray for vacation time!

tonight

Here I sit - two days into my vacation here is how I'm feeling:

Happy that I don't have to answer a phone tomorrow for someone else
Pleased that I decided to stick with the two weeks off and not cut it short
Tired, we went camping last night at McLeese Lake - it was good fun, and a pretty setting
Mad, because I got burnt on my back and it stings - it is fire truck red in a few spots that didn't get adequate sun screen
Worried, because there is a rash on my leg - not sure what is going on - if I've got some weird patchy burn or if something got on my skin and has caused a rash from my ankle to 7 inches above my knee and all on one side of my leg - you'd think that if it was a burn it would have burned my whole leg and not just in a patch...
Headachy - because I got a little too much sun - but not too bad... not as bad as I've been....
All that and still happy because hooray - I'm on vacation :)

Summer, summer, summer time

one of those things

The other day as I walking around downtown I came up to a blind spot. I could see two young guys kind of in the corner and was thinking - what are they up to. No kidding I get to the corner and he is cocking a gun. The gun was low and I just glanced and kept walking. I looked back over my shoulder to see them joking around with it and made out that it was plastic. It could have been real - certainly at first glance I thought it was real.

So here's the question - do we need play guns? With less people hunting what is the need for guns. Are we, as a society, so afraid of life? Do little boys have to play with guns... is it all about power? I'm sure little boys played with the object that made them powerful before guns... bows and arrows, rocks... but is it necessary to make replica items that can be so easily confused for the real deal.

When it happened, it was surreal. I had one of those second takes of that situation as I kept walking up the street. My general anxiety disorder had a field day with it, but that part of me realized that it wasn't real and has gone on with worrying about everything else.

BNL

As most who visit often will know, I am a lover of the bare naked ladies. Mr. Steven Page - the reason I fell for the ladies - was charged with possession of cocaine today. More than anything else it makes me sad. I love the music the band makes and I'm sad that someone I would so highly regard for his musical ability and the things he has stood up - using his celebrity - is tarnished by possession of cocaine.

I remember Connie (high school buddy) telling me I needed to listen to "this". We listened to Enid and so began a nickname for Connie that I still think of when I think of her. It just so happened that shortly after my initiation to the naked ladies that they toured to Prince George and my amazing band teacher (during a teacher strike) took a bus load of us to my first concert. They were amazing - better than amazing - we memorized songs - we sang along with "million dollars" - it was our anthem. I've followed them ever since and hear them in many places - not just a band that makes albums - they have theme songs to tv shows, cbc introduction music, - they are around me throughout the day - I think of the band every time I listen to "sounds like canada".... they are truly canadian and so tonight after pondering this all day I simply wanted to write that it makes me sad.

I love the naked ladies - they are fabulous and will always be fabulous. He has plead not guilty to the charge and goes to court at the end of August. I hope this is all a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but understand that people do unwise things. It shocked me to read that if convicted there is a maximum sentence of 15 years and minimum charge of 5... that really makes me sad. It also make me wonder what the hell kind of judicial system there is Canada and the US. People die as a result of drinking and driving and the driver gets to walk away in some cases or gets such pathetic charges that it is a joke and they do it again - only to get another charge that is lame and unfair. What are our priorities as human kind? Don't get me wrong - if he is doing drugs and was caught he should be penalized - it is against the law - but the scale of the law is ridiculous.

When I was born
They looked me and said
What a good boy
What a smart boy
What a strong boy

a quick little vent

I don't like - HATE - people who come to clean ventilation systems and think it is cool to smoke beside them while they clean it - COME ON - WHAT THE HELL! Now I have a headache and feel throw-uppy... blah!

Alright... back to work.

Another great trip to Bville

This morning I made the 80 km (ish) trek to Barkerville from Q-town. Now I've been out there a lot and in all those visits I've never made it over to the Cornish Waterwheel. For some reason I had it in my head that it must be in the entrance and that I've just missed it every time. Turns out that I'm just a little (yes, I'm being kind) slow and it is behind the great authentic Chinese restaurant (Lung Duck Tong - no kidding they have the best Chinese food outside of Richmond in British Columbia). Today I was directed to it and managed to get a photo. Hooray.



If you are reading this and don't know where Barkerville is or what it is than you should definitely visit. If you've been - well it's always worth a second visit. A second or twentieth trip may result in some unexpected find... like a giant cornish water wheel... or just a chance to get some yummy bakery sweets or sour dough bread.... mmmm.... sour dough :)


These cute little guys live in Barkerville too - plus a whole herd at Cottonwood House (another historic site on the way to Bville)

Ok - now to lighten the tourism push from your ever loving Cariboo girl.... I went to the washroom at the Lung Duck Tong and found the following....


Yep - a regular bathroom, with what looks to be a little garbage can attached to the wall... upon closer inspection...


That's right a please "put your butts here" sign... I had a little laugh over this because who exactly is smokin' it up in that bathroom... I couldn't help but sing a little "smokin' in the boys room" to myself after this...