Travels since 2000

Every now and then we become focused on the past...wondering where our travels have taken us. So...today we sat down and reviewed journals, drawing books and photos to come up with a travel history for the eighteen years of this century...an astounding reminder of our travels.

Since the year 2000...we will have flown to Greece 14 times (including the upcoming trip in September) and visited 27 Greek islands. Our friends Theo and Kalliroi have been our guides for many of the island trips, introducing us to locations that we would not have found by ourselves.

There have been adventures in 18 European countries. During our stay in England we spent time with a long lost stepsister before searching through graveyards in Scotland for family history. Through the Balkan countries we travelled with a group of young friends who were very attentive to the older couple from Canada who were extremely grateful to be included.

We explored Turkey with old friends...sharing hot air balloon rides over Cappadocia and many encounters around the country with friendly carpet salesmen. A later visit to Turkish friends in Istanbul confirmed that their city is one of our favourites!

In Mexico we have explored Puerto Vallarta during 9 visits that included road trips to Sayulita, Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque and Morelia. In the United States we flew to Chicago for a 90th birthday party, appreciated the galleries and museums of Washington DC and the donut delights of Portland, Oregon.

While travelling through the Canadian maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick and Newfoundland we discovered the French islands of St. Pierre and Michelon. Research into our heritage took us to Sherbrooke and Trois Riviere in Quebec and into the parliament buildings in Ottawa. John's grandfather was the Federal MP for BC and the Yukon at the turn of the 20th century and we were able to read some of his comments in the Hansard records. Meanwhile relocation of family members has encouraged two road trips to Saskatchewan and several ferry sailings to Vancouver Island.

All of these travels have been woven with tales of friendships and sharing...encounters with people from around the world that have left a lasting legacy of memories. Why would we stop?

As usual, our feet are starting to feel itchy! 

There are three trips scheduled for the next 12 months. 

Hope to see you along the way!

William Morris

Last week I overheard a quote by William Morris. 

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".

It made me think of collectors 

who overfill their homes

and muddy their minds

with visual clutter.

I love the simplicity of our new home,

the uncluttered spaces,

the few treasures that please us

on the walls and surfaces.

William Morris was a noted British poet, illustrator, textile designer and avowed socialist.

His personal motto was "If I can..."

The nest

I can hear the babies now

a cacophony of chirps

when their parents arrive

with beaks full of food

and deposits of shit

on our windows!

The start of a heat wave

Today is the start of a heat wave that will increase throughout the week ahead.

Our balcony in the morning sun.

LEMON Bakery

This morning we walked through town to LEMON, a new cafe/bakery. It is always more interesting to walk than to drive. We saw shops and eateries that we had not noticed before. One of them, New York Bistro, has an entire sidewalk facade constructed from pieces of metal to reflect the cityscape of New York. On the 20 minute walk we passed auto repair shops, hair dressers, eateries, adult daycare facilities, grocery stores, thrift shops...everything to satisfy the needs of local residents.

LEMON is amazing! This family owned bakery creates all of its baking in-house using 100% butter and local produce. Organic fair trade coffee is available as well as homemade lemonade. Their scones and loaves are "to die for"! The walls are enhanced with local art and artists are encouraged to submit applications for exhibition.

After our decadent breakfast of scones laced with chocolate and delicious coffee/tea we walked back along 56th Avenue and discovered the Hope for Children Thrift Store that contributes directly to the care and education of children in four Mexican orphanages. Unlike most Thrift shops this one had a selection of very nice furniture as well as all the usual items. Fortunately we are not looking to add any furniture to our accumulation!!

Our final stops were at Opus to check the price of paint supplies (ouch!), lottery tickets from Ravinder and stir-fry ingredients from No Frills! It was a perfect morning walk!!

Headphones

Our search for wireless headphones began with our first visit to a Best Buy outlet. Actually the purchase of headphones has been on our to-do list for months...in order to give John access to music and TV every hour of every day!...at his chosen volume!!

During the first visit to Best Buy several weeks ago we were shown a couple of headphones that fit within our budget but we wanted to check other stores. So we dropped into London Drugs where the clerk was engaged in a lengthy phone conversation and oblivious to us and into Walmart where the minimum wage clerk was stacking shelves and lacking info.

Last week we returned to Best Buy and were surprised to learn that our TV probably did not have Bluetooth!...so we would need a "dongle" and Bluetooth wireless headphones if John wanted to use the headphones for the TV and his iPad. Now...we are not exactly tech savvy seniors...so...WTF! What is Bluetooth and where do you find a "dongle"? Our other option was a set of wireless headphones that sit on a stand to recharge and the stand plugs into the back of the TV...maybe...if there is an appropriate outlet in the back of the TV!!! Hmmmh...we said that we would think about the "dongle" and return after a bit of research.

So...yesterday we returned for our third time to Best Buy...to ask a few more questions...and become more confused than ever. As a result we walked out with a set of wireless headphones on a stand that plugs into the back of the TV...not Bluetooth apparently...and only for use with the TV!!

I followed the instructions very carefully, assembling the thing, installing the batteries in the headphones and placing them on the stand which acts as the charger. According to the instructions it should take about 7 hours for the battery pack to charge. At bedtime, 10 hours later, the charger stand was still reading RED, not GREEN...but the headphones showed a green light when turned on. It was too dark to fumble around behind the TV so I waited until this morning to plug the stand into the back of the TV...in the only outlet that seemed appropriate (audio out)...and tried everything that I could think of to make a sound from the TV come through the headphones!...and YES...the TV was on!!!

In frustration, I packed up the entire contents and we headed back to Best Buy for the fourth time to return the headphones and get a "dongle" as well as Bluetooth headphones. Guess what?! You can't return headphones if the package has been opened!!!!!...again WTF!!...but, you can exchange them.
Another clerk took us to find a "dongle"...but they didn't have one that would work with our TV!! He suggested that we take our purchase to the "Geek Squad" in the back of the store and see if they could figure out if the product was faulty. Okay!

The Geek in the Geek Squad was convinced that our purchase was Bluetooth despite the number of times that I told him "NO...IT ISN'T"! Finally, in frustration, he told us "Just exchange it for another one...the same...because this one is faulty." Who was more frustrated by this time?! Back at Customer Service we told the clerk what he had said and she went to get us another one...the same as the one we were returning!! When she returned, ten minutes later...guess what?! There wasn't another one...so, despite company policy, and after too much wasted time, we got A FULL REFUND!...and we are still without wireless headphones!

The kitchen is painted

The kitchen was painted over the weekend!

Many thanks to Kelly, our favourite painter.

Still waiting for our electrician to replace the outlets!