August 2011

August 31, 2011

This morning, Margo served us a breakfast bread made with oats, which was very tasty and another way to work more oats into your diet. I’m really enjoying all the fresh fruit they eat for breakfast — I want to make more of a habit of that when we get back to London…Spent a half hour catching up the budget, did a load of laundry, then spent the rest of the morning on the wharf. The weather obligingly serving up another lovely day to round off our stay here. Though there’s a bit of an edge to the breeze that wasn’t there on Saturday. You can believe autumn is around the corner…

After lunch on the wharf, we set off for a boat ride. The four adults travelled in the little motorboat, with the girls in the canoe being towed behind. Travelled along quite close to the shore, looking at the different houses and wharves.

Margo and I took the canoe on the return journey. Part of the way back, I noticed that the canoe was filling with water. It either has a bit of a crack in it from where a bear trounced it the other day, or we were riding too low. Either way, I was sitting in a good six inches of water by the time docked at their wharf.

I fed girls early on ham and pea pasta and corn on the cob. That left us free to enjoy Margo’s fab tasting menu in a leisurely fashion, which featured tomato bruschetta, mangospacho, a tasting of three varieties of roast garlic, and a feast of prawns. Aaron handled dessert — a tasting of chocolate bars…;-) Once again, we’ve eaten like kings this visit…

Dining finished, we repaired to the living room to feast our eyes on Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider…

August 30, 2011

After breakfast, we set off for a day trip to Long Beach. Margo went with Adam in our car, while I travelled with Aaron. We hadn’t gone ten miles before encountering a police car looking for speeders. He pulled us over, and proceeded to give Aaron a stern lecture on the dangers of speeding. It didn’t help matters that Aaron was driving without a licence, or that his details didn’t seem to come up when the guy radio’d him in.Aaron was so unfailingly polite and friendly to him, I hoped he might let him off, but he came back to the car with his ticket book in hand. With both the speeding and the failure to produce a licence, the ticket came to … Ouch… But instead of issuing it, the officer scrawled WARNING across it, and let us off. Had a good laugh imagining Margo and Adam burning with curiousity in the other car…

Once we’d paid our admission fee (they charge to visit the park now), we spent an hour hiking a beautiful boardwalk trail to Schooner Beach, a little cove at the north end of Long Beach.

Continued our tradition of lunch at the Wickaninnish. It was mid-afternoon when we arrived, but we were able to eat in the bar area. I ordered an unusual (and yummy) take on a bloody caesar called a Japanese Cowboy — it was made using sake, wasabi,celery, bitters, kelp and sea salt.

For food we went for the bread basket, raw albacore tuna, prawn po’ boy, octopus “wings”, and steamed mussels, all of which were delicious. The girls’ grilled cheese sandwiches and chips we also high end — toasted brioche bread, top quality cheddar, and home fries. Margo’s treat this time, which made it all taste even better…;-)

Spent another hour goofing around on Long Beach, watching surfers, skipping with kelp, looking for shells. Nova had the idea of idea of tracing people’s shadows in the sand, which produced really interesting results…

On the way back, we finally spotted some wildlife — a family of deer grazing on the side of the road, and an adolescent bear who emerged from the trees to consider crossing the road, before changing his mind and heading back again.

We’d also noticed police cars and news vans about all day, which indicated something newsworthy must have happened. Filling up in Ucluelet, I overheard a couple of guys talking about a cougar attack on a toddler the night before. Sure enough, it was all over the news that evening. A family was returning from a picnic at Kennedy Lake when a cougar pounced on the toddler. Fortunately, he survived the attack, but has been taken to Vancouver for surgery.

Made a round of champagne cocktails, before our “lunchy dinner” as the girls would call it… I was honoured to be received by Margo and Aaron’s other cat this evening, who tolerated a short visit from me, and even purred faintly as I stroked her. Apparently, I am only the second person to confirm the existence of this cat, who has been hiding in the sock drawer the whole time we’ve been here. Even the neighbour who feeds them occasionally thinks they have only one cat…

August 29, 2011

It felt very peaceful this morning after the weekend’s festivities. The weather has turned a little cooler, so the lake wasn’t exerting the same pull on the kids. Did a load of laundry after breakfast, and caught up on emails etc.I headed into town with Margo to do some grocery shopping and run a few errands. She signed up for her yoga class, I mailed the girls’ postcards to their school friends, and bought a duffel bag at Walmart. Port Alberni has a vast Walmart, filled to bursting with everything you could possibly want. It’s not the only superstore in town either. How can they sell so much stuff in Port Alberni?

I notice my inner thighs are feeling a bit sore after that jet ski ride — Jim probably has corresponding bruises on his hips…

I made an interesting smoked oyster dip as a warm-up to Margo’s shish kebab dinner. It was based on something we’d tried at the Emily Carr art show. I mashed together smoked oysters, cream cheese, lemon juice, cayenne and green onion. I thought it was delicious, though the texture was a bit gummy…

August 28, 2011

Didn’t feel too bad this morning — aside from my eyes, which received a bit of a smoking sitting round that campfire. In spite of our relatively early night, weren’t the first up… People we’d left roaring with laughter and alcohol round the campfire seven hours earlier, were now sitting on the sundeck, bright-eyed and freshly groomed, sipping coffee and sober as judges…After fruit, coffee and Margo’s delicious breakfast bake (a variation on the fake souffle, with added bacon and peppers) we repaired to the wharf for a morning dip. I finally had a go on the jet-ski as well. According to Jim, you can operate it in two modes: safe mode or sport mode. I don’t know what mode we were in, but we took off like a shot, then picked up speed from there. You wouldn’t need a Thighmaster if you spent much time on the back of a jetski. I was clamped on to the poor guy, and not letting go no matter what… 😉

Next up, an afternoon cruise on Jim and Sue’s cruiser. Their boat’s a double-decker — and we sat up to with Captain Jim, while the others — there were eleven of us — sprawled on the front (I’m sure there’s a nautical term for that part of a boat, but I don’t know it).

Made a leisurely tour of the far arm of the lake, stopping twice for swim breaks, and once for a spot of cliff jumping. Adam surprised me by clambering 30 feet up the slope (higher than most of the people who were doing it) and launching himself off with next to no hesitation.

Although most everyone was around our age, we arethe only ones with young kids. Seems like most of them were practically kids themselves when they started their families. Even 36-year-old Tanya has an 18-year-old daughter…

Back at the wharf, Jim grilled up a batch of hot dogs, while I mixed up a batch of Pimms, which we’d brought Margo and Aaron from the UK. Enjoyed the sight of those rough, tough loggers drinking Pimms.

Nova has been quietly mastering the canoe since the day we arrived. She slipped off after lunch for a little paddle, and was doing pretty well until a stiff afternoon wind made it too difficult for her to paddle back to the wharf. She slowly drifted towards the horizon until Aaron revved up his motorboat and offered her a tow.

Yet another delicious dinner — margaritas on the sundeck, followed by barbequed salmon…

August 27, 2011

Emerged this morning to discover Margo making ‘Margo muffins’ — and using the recipe in the family cookbook! It wasn’t staged for my benefit — it turns out she’s lost the original recipe. Very nice they were too, with sour cream instead of yogurt, and proper bran instead of All Bran.Spent the day hanging out on the wharf — chatting, swimming, boating, drinking… Of course, there were also party preparations going on, though Margo and Aaron were amazingly relaxed given they were hosting an evening for twenty.

Margo cooked up a storm in the morning. Aaron arranged chairs, tables, coolers, wasp traps and firewood. Adam made a run to the liquor store. And I stirred my stumps to blitz up a batch of hummus. I did shell the chickpeas to avoid that gritty texture the girls don’t like…;-)

Besides their boat, Jim and Sue also have a jet-ski and gave the girls rides. Nova loved it. She refused to get off after her first go, so Jim took her out again. They were gone half an hour this time. I was starting to wonder — you can go an awfully long way on that thing in half an hour. Nova eventually returned, with wind tousled hair and a smile a mile wide. Lyra went next — I trust he took it a bit easier for that ride.

The party kicked off about 5pm. It started with a circle of deck chairs on the wharf, with people drinking beer and eating dips. Once the food was served — a beautiful barbequed salmon, pulled pork, and salads — there was a rearrangement into groups of men and women, with the women round the food and picnic table, and the men round the campfire.

Once it started getting dark it seemed a good idea to put the kids to bed. The idea met with resistance of course, but they were both exhausted. I headed back down and joined the campfire set, which was mixed company once again. There were ten hardcores left by this point. Some of the humour was getting pretty crude — “These jokes are not allowed in 99 countries,” Jim quipped. Some of it was pretty funny, and nothing I haven’t heard before…

In fact, it reminded me of a joke I hadn’t thought of in years:

First man: “There’s nothing in Prince George but hookers and hockey players.”
Second man: “My mother comes from Prince George!”
First man: “What position does she play?”

I’d decided not to drink any more, after getting unexpectedly drunk on the Coronas I sank before dinner. Margo reached the same conclusion after toppling sideways out of her chair…;-) She was the first to head off to bed. We were maybe an hour behind her…

August 26, 2011

At bedtime last night, Ron warned about his cat, Pavarotti. Apparently, he’s used to sleeping in the bedroom we’d been given, and we were to ignore him if we heard scratching at the door. 

About 4am we heard a load of scratching, and the yowling for which he’s named. “Ron said just to ignore him,” I said to Adam, before putting a pillow on my head and falling back asleep. This morning I discovered the poor cat had been trapped in with us all night…

Terry made us a cooked breakfast before we set off on the second day of our road trip. We were only ten minutes into the climb to the Penask Summit, when Lyra started complaining of earache. I spent most of the next hour twisted round in my seat, administering useless treatments and advice. “Try to yawn, Lyra!” “It hurts MORE when I yawn!” etc.

Stopped at a pharmacy in Merritt where I stocked up on eardrops, decongestant, gum and so on, to be equipped for further trouble. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t mention her ears for the rest of the journey.

No more stops the rest of the way, though we did hit a slow spot near Abbotsford. There seem to be endless roadworks in BC this summer. Ate a picnic lunch while we waited at Tswassen for the ferry: a Swiss Chalet chicken sandwich, tomatoes, and crisps.

The ferry ride to Nanaimo made a nice change from sitting in the car. Spent lots of time on deck, enjoying the scenery and fresh air. The line where the water from the Fraser meets the Georgia Straight (I’m assuming) was particularly pronounced.

Once we were on the island, we bombed up the new highway, hung a left at Parksville, and were at Sproat Lake within the hour. Found Margo and Aaron’s house with (next to) no trouble…

We aren’t their only guests this weekend — their friends Jim and Sue were staying for the weekend on their boat they’ve moored alongside the dock. There was just time for a swim before cocktails and dinner. We strapped Lyra into their smallest life jacket, which was still too big for her. When she hit the water, it floated up above her head — all you could see was two big eyes and her mop of curls…

August 25, 2011

Set off by 7:15 for our marathon drive to Kelowna. No problems getting out of town — we’ve got this place sussed now. Once you factor the river and ravine into your understanding of the city, and learn which major roads are one-way, it’s a pretty easy place to get around.Stopped in Red Deer for a Timmy’s breakfast — muffins, juice and coffee. Canadian muffins are a lot healthier tasting than their British counterparts, which are basically enormous cupcakes. Also managed to buy a cable for the iPod at the Husky station, which put us back in business podcast wise.

The road was straight as a die to Calgary. Took the Stoney Creek Trail around the city, which avoids the city traffic. I have no love for Calgary — Canada’s own little bit of Texas…

The scenery changed dramatically once we left Calgary behind. We blew off Banff, but stopped for lunch at Lake Louise. Picked up sandwiches in a little mall, then headed out to the hotel. Sat on a bench admiring the view of the lake and glacier while we ate.

Our only other stop was to do a short hike in Glacier National Park. It was called the rock garden walk because it took you round and over some glacial debris. There were little hieroglyphs carved into the rock at intervals, which corresponded to our interpretive leaflet. Even with all that, we managed to lose the path at one point, but soon retraced and sorted ourselves out…

It was slow going from Sicamous onwards, but very pretty driving first along the lake and then through farmland. Arrived at Terry and Ron’s a little after 7pm. They have a nice little place in a retirement community on the east side of town. It’s pretty packed — they’ve recently downsized from a big place, and they’ve inherited all of Terry’s mum’s belongings as well.

Shortly after we’d arrived, Terry took me aside and gave me a few pieces of his mum’s jewellry for the girls — three necklaces each. He also offered me either her pearl choker and bracelet or a charm bracelet with all the charms he’d sent her from his travels. I chose the charm bracelet, as it’s a reminder of both of them…

After a drink — and baths for the girls — we sat down to rotisserie chicken dinners they’d ordered in from Swiss Chalet. The chicken was very nice, and the girls loved the mashed potatoes, but it didn’t seem particularly good value for what you got.

Dad happened to be in town for a trapshoot, so he came round for the evening. It was the first time he’d seen Terry and Ron since they used to take grandpa and grandma round to visit.

Adam kept nodding off, and went to bed not long after dinner. I managed to stay awake until 11pm, when dad left. Terry and Ron had kindly given us their bedrooms, while they slept on the sofas, which was very kind of them…

August 24, 2011

Our last day in Edmonton… While Adam was on yet another work call with the UK, Patty took me to a place called Dots. It’s basically a fashion consignment house, with an eclectic mix of stock. It was like vintage shopping, except everything was new and came in a few different sizes. Bought a couple of dresses, two tops and a cardie.Picked up our hire car from Hertz this afternoon. Feels a little strange to be back in a regular car after two weeks in Pat’s Honda SUV. Brenda from Hertz was very helpful, and very chatty as well. She managed to conduct our transaction pretty efficiently, all the while telling us about her four daughters, family back east in New Brunswick, thoughts on the British accent (and my lack of one)…

Stuffed Pat’s vehicle with sporting equipment once again and headed to Kin Park. Did a mini-tour of the city centre first, where we checked out the City Hall fountain. I think it’s really cool the way they let people wade around in it — the kids thought so too. They all stripped off immediately and waded right in — even Adam on his crutches…

Took a quick peek in the new City Hall building with Patty. “Oh, there’s the mayor!” she said. I assumed she must know him, because she headed straight over and introduced me as a European visitor to the city. He was gracious enough in a world-weary, deadpan sort of way. “Where do you know him from?” I asked Patty afterwards. Turns out she doesn’t…

After a couple of beers at the Kin Park, the men and kids went off for a swim and Patty and I played some tennis. (“Do you know it’s illegal to drink beer in the park?” Cathy asked earnestly the other night, perhaps thinking I was corrupting the Boekers with my European habits. Fat chance of that…;-) )

Ate dinner at the Manor Bistro with this evening with Pat, Patty, Cathy and Dave, while Maya babysat. Sat out on the terrace, and enjoyed the warm evening weather. I was initially wary of the menu, which seemed to be covering too many bases — calamari, ceviche, schnitzel, osso buco, nasi goreng — but everything we ordered was delicious.

We wanted to pay the bill, and knew there would be a tussle when it arrived. Adam deked them out by pre-arranging it with the waitress when he went to the loo. Smooth maneuvre…

August 23, 2011

I have never been to West Edmonton Mall. Nor have I ever wanted to go to West Edmonton Mall. But when in Edmonton… Besides, I had heard about the amazing waterpark, and knew that the girls would absolutely love it.Patty prepared us a packed lunch, and we brought Nick, who knew all the ropes — where to park, which area to leave our stuff in, the order to tackle the slides. I let the other three get on with it, and went around with Lyra. Her sedate slides suited me just fine. Actually, she was most keen on the wave pool, and we spent ages frolicking in the “surf”.

At lunch, I heard all about the excitement I’d been missing… So after eating, I spent some time with Nova, who wanted to show me the big slides. And I mean big — you climb eleven flights of stairs to get to the top of some of them. It’s a bit confusing working out which stairs to take for which slides… A mix-up meant I ended up coming down Nessie’s Revenge, a truly diabolical slide that had me airborne more than once. I plowed into the tank at the bottom at 60 miles an hour, power cleaning my sinuses. My legs were trembling for minutes afterwards…

I left them to it for the last hour, and had a mooch round the mall. I’ve heard so much about it over the years, and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The shops themselves weren’t anything special — it’s all the attractions that set it apart. Sea World, where I saw an amazing sea lion show, the full-size ice rink, the pirate ship, the pedalo lake. Apparently there is also a huge soft play area that I didn’t manage to find. Bought myself another teeshirt in Old Navy. I’m not even washing this one until I get home…

Drove out to St Albert for dinner with Drew and Andy. I’m not sure if St Albert is it’s own town, or if it’s a suburb of Edmonton, but it’s the kind of place that looks like it didn’t exist ten years ago.

Found their house without much trouble, in a little enclave of streets that all began with the letter O. Don’t think I’ve come across that before… They have a nice place, but it seemed strange to think of Drew living there. I suppose I still think of him as a boy in some ways, which is ridiculous, given he’s a 32-year-old man and a father. Maybe because it underlines how many years I have under my own belt…;-)

Dinner was barbequed hamburgers, salads and Buds. Baby Colton was as adorable as ever, but our girls were on poor form. Probably tired out from all that watersliding…

We were back at Pat and Patty’s by 9:30 for the second night in a row. These Canadian dinner parties — you’d be lucky to have been served your main course in London by 9:30pm…;-)

August 22, 2011

In the last few months, I’ve reestablished contact with an old swimming friend of mine called Kevin Devito. Kevin is a few years older than me, and swam for the Quesnel Seals. Given the age gap, I can’t say we were really friends, but he was always very nice to me. I suppose I had a bit of a crush on him…At any rate, I hadn’t spoken to him for thirty years until this spring when we exchanged a few emails. He’s now a university lecturer at the U of A — his subject is wetlands ecology. I called him up this morning, and we arranged to go round for a lunchtime visit.

He’s looking very good for his fifty years, especially when he told us about the recent health scare he’s had. It turns out he has a congenital heart defect that had gone undetected until two years ago. He’s still recovering from the valve replacement that probably saved his life.

He’s obviously been investing a lot of time and energy in growing vegetables — his backyard was an absolute jungle of courgettes, pumpkins and marrows of every variety. There were beans trained up the trees, sunflowers reaching as high as the sundeck, tomatoes, lettuces, peas… He’s even reclaimed some ground in the back alley to plant his vegetables…

Spent a couple of hours visiting with him and his English wife Jill, talking about our swimming days. Such an unlikely connection to have happened, and just at the time we were going to visit Edmonton. Life works in curly ways…;-)

Turns out Adam has broken a bone in his foot, and will have to wear a cast for the next six weeks. At least it’s an air cast — the kind you strap on then pump up — which means he can take it off to shower and sleep. His dad is less than sympathetic. Apparently this is the third time he has broken a bone running down the stairs…

Went round to dinner at Cathy and Dave’s. As it was another lovely evening, we ate in the garden — grilled chicken with a watermelon-feta salad, and a delicious cake for dessert. (Although the girls didn’t say so, I’m sure it was better than ANY cake I’ve ever made…)

Afterwards, we went for a tour of the heritage house they are renovating. Their current house is cute, but with only two bedrooms, it is pretty cosy. This place is enormous — over 3000 square feet, not counting the basement. Maya is going to have her own bedroom, bathroom AND office. Cathy is going to have a flower arranging room. “Are you going to start a flower arranging business?” I asked. “Oh, no,” she said, surprised… If you’ve got the space, why not, I guess?

August 21, 2011

Pat took me on a mototcycle tour of Edmonton before breakfast. It must be 25 years since I last rode on the back of his motorcycle, but it felt like last week. I did spend a lot of time on that bike — and a few other bikes besides. As my friend Peter used to say, ‘chicks dig bikes’…;-)Before returning home, we swung by Kin Park and staked out a prime picnic table by taping a plastic tablecloth to it. Such a Boeker move… Made it back for the cooked breakfast Patty was serving up.

Took a good while to load the car with the necessary coolers, provisions, balls, racquets, towels, soccer nets… We had far more kit for a day in the park, than we’ve taken for a whole month’s holiday. In fact, the car was so full it made sense for three people to ride bikes to the park while the rest of us drove.

The park was heaving by the time we arrived, but out “reserved” table was waiting for us. Unloaded all our gear, cracked a few beers, then got busy having a fun afternoon in the park. There was a splash park the girls could run around in, and two playgrounds to choose between. Nick organised little football matches, and Patty and I went for a long bike ride by the river.

There was an open-air swimming pool as well, but it was such a hot day that it was filled to capacity. Not the sort of thing to deter a Boeker… Patty noticed that swimmers were issued with wristbands that allowed them to move back and forth between splash park and pool. She discreetly fished around in the nearest garbage can and found discarded wristbands for the kids to wear…

At dinner time, we fired up the barbeque and cooked hotdogs and hamburgers. Cathy and Dave had arrived by this time with yet more food. Stayed until 9pm, when the mosquitos were starting to bite. Pat, Patty and Adam rode the bikes home this time, and I drove the kids in the car, with Cathy along as navigator…

August 20, 2011

Set off by 9am for our drive to Edmonton. The road to Jasper is so pretty, and that highway is always quiet. Got a great view of Mt Robson, with next to no cloud on top. Amazing to think that Greg, Ed, and little David and Wade hiked half way to the top. Can’t see that happening again…;-)

My eyes have been giving me a lot of grief the whole time we’ve been out here. Everything just seems too bright. Maybe it’s just the contrast to the UK gloom, but I’ve been wearing sunglasses constantly. I’m really not keen on driving either, as it pains me to look at one thing for too long…

Stopped in Jasper for lunch. Chose a hotel restaurant on the main street, which looked promising. Reuben sandwich for me, club sandwich for Adam, ubiquitous chicken nuggets for the kids. Did a bit of shopping afterwards in one of the outdoorware stores. New water bottles for the three girls in the family, and a do-rag for Adam to protect his bald head from sun burn.

Saw some mountain sheep on the road out of the park, which was a treat. Still haven’t seen a bear. Adam has terrible luck seeing bears — wherever we go, there has either been an amazing bear sighting just before we arrive, or just after we leave…

There was a double-lane, divided highway running nearly all the way from Jasper to Edmonton. Hard to see why, as it was practically empty… Straight as a die as well — we could have roared along it, but we’d been cautioned about the exorbitant speeding fines.

We made made good time to Edmonton, but I hadn’t factored in the time change. I had Pat and Patty’s address, and we managed to navigate our way eventually, in spite of the one-way streets and numerous dead-ends…

Their new house is lovely — recently built, but in a style that is sympathetic to the older houses on the street. We hadn’t been there five minutes when Adam Jr stumbled coming down the stairs and injured his foot. Cathy and Dave were just arriving for dinner, and Dave accompanied Patty to the clinic to have his foot examined.

When they returned an hour later, we sat down to eat the Jamaican feast that Patty had prepared: jerk chicken, rice and pigeon peas, mango salsa, and salad. Everything was delicious, as was the crumble that Cathy brought. “It’s WAY better than your crumble, mum,” Nova generously informed me, and Lyra agreed wholeheartedly. Cheers, girls…;-)

August 19, 2011

Wade and Gale have convinced us to stay another day… We’re happy to spend more time with them, and it saved the hassle of booking Jasper accommodation yesterday. Saved us some money too…After breakfast, Ed headed off to Likely for his reunion. He’s not coming to England for Christmas this year, as Wade’s keen for him to spend it in Prince George. The current plan is for him to come in March instead.

Headed out to Forests for the World and made the short hike to Shane Lake. Some pretty sobering bear warnings posted at the start of the path. I don’t know if bears have got worse, or the information has got better, but I don’t remember giving much thought to bears when I was growing up here…

Ate a picnic lunch, knocked back with a bottle of white wine. Spent the afternoon on the dock. The kids were entertained by a couple of guys who were fly fishing. One in particular was landing fish after fish. He would remove the hook and release them if possible, and gave each of the kids a turn at putting a fish back.

When we got back, Gale put together a quick dinner of prawns and potatoes. Got the kids down a bit earlier than usual, then did a final load of laundry. In spite of my best efforts, I seem to be shrinking all of our clothes. I expect I’m gaining weight as well, which isn’t a great combination.

Spent an hour in their hot tub before calling it a night. It’s pretty nice sitting out there under the stars, with the steam rising off the water. Wade says they hot tub throughout the winter, in swimsuit and tuque. Makes me think of those Japanese snow monkeys sitting in Hokkaido hot springs…

August 18, 2011

A bit hungover, in spite of sensibly sticking to white wine and drinking water all evening…:-6An observation: the houses in Wade’s subdivision all have these enormous double garages, with wide, smooth driveways leading up to them. In a climate like Prince George has, it makes sense to drive your car straight into the house before you get out. But it has the effect of making it look like the house belongs to the car, and the small amount of visible house that isn’t garage is likely there to provide additional services and support to the car.

I’m also struck by the number of drive-throughs there are — drive-through food outlets, banks, dry cleaners, beer stores… Why don’t these people just get out of their bloody cars, walk a few steps and have an eye-to-eye interaction?

Managed an outing to the local park in the afternoon. The kids were all on bikes, and it was pretty sweet to see them all cycling along together. Wade’s kids are certainly more comfortable on their bikes than ours are, but then they don’t get much opportunity for cycling in London. Nova struggled in particular — the brakes were different to what she’s used to, and it made her nervous…

We threw a football around while the kids had a go on the play equipment, then we headed to Tim Hortons for a fix before heading home again…

Headed over to Greg and Wendy’s for a visit in the afternoon. They were having a drink and watching the football, so we joined them in that. Ate some of their pizza dinner as well, before headign back to Wade’s for some of Ed’s clam chowder.

Watched Avatar in the evening. I haven’t had any desire to see it, but Adam is keen on that sort of thing. The special effects were marvellous, but I found it difficult to care very much about the plight of these imaginary blue people. But actually, that’s probably a failure of the script…

August 17, 2011

David and Denise headed off after breakfast. They need to be back in Regina by the weekend for the house movers. Texted to say that Kael was sick again by Purden Lake. It seems that this is a new experience for them — welcome to our world…;-)Went by the pharmacy to pick up some antihistamines for Lyra, whose mosquito bites continue to torment her. Carried on to Carolyn McGhee’s for lunch. Both Rachel and Jane were there are well, which was nice. She made a delicious pea soup with hot cheese bread, and what she called “jumble berry” cake for dessert.

Did a bit of shopping on the way back to the Hart — dishcloth wool from Michaels; travel pillows from Jysk; a computer sleeve from Radio Shack; yoga pants from Costco. Bumped into Wade and Liam stocking up on chips and candy for his store while I was there…

Amazing hail storm this afternoon — some of the stones were the size of cherries, and were dinging off the barbeque so hard I felt obliged to dash outdoors and cover the barbeque.

Went to the McLaughlin’s for dinner. John had planned to make us halibut and chips in the industrial fish frier he has recently installed on his deck, but the uncertain weather put a stop to that. He hasn’t built a cover over it yet, and didn’t want to get water in his oil in the event of rain.

Instead, there was a delicious rack of lamb, salad, asparagus and potatoes. Geraldine Speed’s name came up for the second time today — turns out Jackie went to high school with her, where she was famous for the shortness of her skirts. Jane McGhee knows her from nursing at the hospital, and Carolyn has discussed a house painting contract with her. The woman seems to be the lynchpin of the whole town…

August 16, 2011

Adam was up early once again for a phone meeting with the UK. He’s done that a few times already this holiday, and it seems to work quite well. Ed was up uncharactistically early as well — and off to meet someone called Geraldine Speed at Tim Hortons. She’s a former student of his from Likely, where he taught in his 20s. She’s encouraging him to attend the Likely school reunion this weekend. I thought he might be the guest of honour, but apparently the 97-year-old cook is going to be there as well.Arranged with David and Den to do split shift visits to Earls. They visited first while we looked after the gang, and when they returned we headed off with Ed. Ordered a blended mojito on Denise’s recommendation, which turned out to be a delicious sort of mint-vodka slushie.

For lunch, I ordered a Caesar salad. I was tempted by the chicken wings (you never see chicken wings in the UK), but a pound of wings sounded like too much of a good thing.

Met Glen Reinhart for coffee at his local Tim Hortons. His life seems to be carrying on nicely — he’s still working at Esther’s Inn and socialising with his friend Kelly. It turned out to be only Adam, Den and Lyra. David was travelling in with the big girls and his boys when Kael got car sick. They had to abort the mission and return home to clean him up…

August 15, 2011

Still feeling a bit unsettled, stomachwise… Fruit and coffee probably wasn’t the wisest breakfast choice, but didn’t feel like eating anything else…Wade and Gale were both working today, so Dave, Den, Adam and I took all the cousins to Fort George Park for a play and a picnic. There was a woman there doing face painting, so we indulged them with that as well. No small feat keeping track of seven kids in a busy playground, but we stayed until the rain chased us out.

Dave was keen on having a malt, so we headed up to the Pine Centre. Pickle Pete’s is no more, but there is a still small concession selling malts. Don’t know where the Prince George love affair with the malt comes from, but apparently it is one of the few places you can still get one.

“What is a malt, anyway?” Nova asked. After a bit of thought it occurred to me that it is basically Ovaltine flavoured ice cream. With that in mind, I may try to make some when we’re back in the UK.

After $35 worth of malts had been dispatched, Dave and Den took the smaller kids home, while we did a lap of the Pine Centre with Nova and Ceinwen. Nova bought a little handbag like her big cousin’s, Adam bought a new hoodie, and we treated both girls to cool teeshirts.

It was my turn to cook this evening. I’d decided on curry, and after surveying the stock at the Overwaitea ended up with a mixed Indian-Thai menu. John and Jackie dropped by for a visit, which was great. Everyone but me was feeling pretty subdued — turned out they really went for it after I’d gone to bed. I hadn’t even realised that the finished the evening well after midnight in the hot tub…

August 14, 2011

Lyra was up again in the night, crying about her itching bites. I read up on it, and apparently lots of people suffer a severe reaction to mosquito bites. I’m already doing most of the things they recommend: ibuprofen, antihistamines, anti-itch cream, cool showers… Her knee has finally gone down, but now she has one on her foot, which has swollen so much it was impossible to squeeze her Croc on.Drew and Andy came round for a visit with little Colton. I think it’s the first time that dad has seen his first great grandchild. Colton obligingly did his laps, smiling photogenically for the endless photographs. What a little star!

Went to the Parkwood Mall with Den, Ceinwen and Nova to see the final Harry Potter movie. Great stuff, and much more exciting that last one, which frankly, contained far too much camping. It was in 3D — normally, I give 3D a miss as I don’t find it adds anything to the experience, but this was pretty good.

Eggs and toast for dinner, which is a good option when you have a lot of people to cater for. My stomach is upset, so I didn’t eat much, and decided to give the drinking a miss as well.

Which mean I wasn’t in the right state to participate fully into the lively after-dinner conversation. “You guys sure like to argue,” Denise commented. I’d say it’s more that we like to debate, not that we’d win any debating awards for the quality of our arguments. The discussion ranged from the Canucks, rioting, the intervention in Afghanistan, security cameras, and Facebook.

The only point I got emotionally engaged was when Wade said that he’d get Gale to send Facebook friend invites to anyone he was considering hiring so he could see what their personal life was like. It surprised me that people would accept friend invites from complete strangers, but apparently they do. If a potential employer tried that on with me, I would be outraged… Eventually left them to it, and headed down to bed…

August 13, 2011

Wickedly hungover from too much red wine… It didn’t help that poor Lyra slept badly — we were both up with more than once. She is having a massive reaction to mosquito bites. Yesterday, her knee swelled up like a tomato after a single bite, and it’s still hot and sore. It was the itching that was driving her crazy in the night…Rallied enough to take the kids swimming in the afternoon. Prince George has a lovely 50m swimming pool now that we make a point of visiting whenever we’re in town. There is a massive play pool with waves and a river that kept the kids happy for hours.

It was interesting to discover how much more Lyra looks like Kael when her hair is wet. She invested loads of effort in her swimming, back and forth between us endlessly. She’s starting to do a sort of underwater breaststroke as well — underwater aside from her squidgy little bottom that bobs along on the surface while she swims.

Gale had a nice spaghetti dinner waiting for us when we returned. Everyone was feeling pretty tired — we got the kids down early, and watched Intolerable Cruelty before calling it a night.

August 12, 2011

Happy 60th birthday, Greg! Called and left a birthday message first thing, hoping to arrange a visit but never heard back. We soon got sucked into the logistics of catering and organising such a large group. Nothing happens in a hurry when there are fourteen people to consider, especially when half of them are kids.It’s really sweet to see the cousins playing together. Nova and Ceinwen have picked up where they left off — although Ceinwen’s growth spurt has her towering a foot over Nova, they still seem to have lots in common. Liam and Kael have paired up, Lyra and Isobel are sounding each other out, and baby Devlin is pretty much surgically attached to Denise.

After lunch, we headed over to Greg’s with a bottle of wine and a birthday card. Everyone seemed a bit subdued — it turns out they’ve had some bad news about their dog Morse. He has an untreatable tumour, and only a few months to live, which is very sad. Andy returned with baby Colton just before we had to leave, which was an added bonus, as the girls were very eager to meet their newest cousin. What a little charmer he is, lapping up all the cuddles and attention, gurgling and grinning toothlessly!

Wade served barbequed steak for dinner, with what he calls his “pickle” — a mixture of avocado, tomato, vinegar, garlic and spices. We were sitting around drinking wine when Paul Carmichael showed up with his family.

Turned into a late one. I headed out on the deck to see if the Perseid meteor shower was happening, and ended up falling asleep, with my head lolling over the back of my deck chair. Someone took advantage of my drunken state and snapped photos of me in a ridiculous pink wig. Family, gotta love ’em…;-)

August 11, 2011

Woke at 7am, when Adam went off to the lobby to take a work call. Hung about with the girls watching telly in bed until he returned. A Lucy Maud Montgomery story called “Emily of New Moon” that is being serialised, which they’ve seen a couple of times now.There was a buffet breakfast on offer — Adam and the girls went for that, while I ordered poached eggs and rye toast. The main attraction was a large, cast iron waffle maker, which Adam was very taken with. It hissed and steamed for two minutes before producing an enormous, crispy, golden waffle.

I was tempted by the waffle as well, until I saw that it had over 900 calories. Calories on menus a good idea — it certainly influenced my decision. Price is an useful criterion, but if I knew calories as well I’d have three criteria to decide on. Turns out the resort I chose doubles as a fat farm — there is a corridor off the lobby lined with before-and-after photos of guests who had lost impressive amounts of weight during their stays.

Checked out of our room, then spent the rest of the day making use of the facilities — the games room and swimming pool in the morning, followed by a quick restaurant lunch (small Caesar salad – 350 calories).

In the afternoon the girls went to Kids Kamp to ride horses, while Adam and I went on the afternoon hike. The two other guests who joined in were both on weight loss programmes — the one from NY had spent almost a month (and lost a pound a day), the one from Toronto was just starting her week.

It was late afternoon by the time we started our journey north through Cariboo country. I loved the way everything felt so familiar — like coming home. Nova started vomiting around McLeice Lake, and kept at it ’til Hixon…

Pulled up in front of Wade’s new house about 9:15. David, Denise and crew had pulled in a couple of hours earlier, and everyone was in the kitchen eating chicken wings. Cousins everywhere… it was quite a sight…

Wade had worked out a way for his house to sleep fourteen. We were on a futon in the office, Nova and Lyra on a wrestling mat on the rec room floor, Ceinwen on the rec room sofa, Kael on Liam’s floor, and the 3Ds (Dave, Den, Devlin) in a motorhome outside. It was the return of the Empress “Hotel”…

August 10, 2011

Spent the morning getting organised to leave. Managed a quick run round the lagoon as well — with the jet lag, I don’t have much energy for exercise yet. Adam spent the morning finishing off a piece of work, while I did loads of laundry, bought groceries, and cleaned the flat.At noon, Adam headed off to retrieve the car from Carol and Scott’s parking space. When he pulled up in front, it was immediately obvious someone had keyed it along the passenger side. I suppose it could have happened at the airport, or in Whiterock, but I expect one of us would have noticed it. It most likely happened the night it spent on Haro. Bummer…

Drove out of town at a sedate pace as Adam got used to Pat’s vehicle, he rest of us contentedly munching our bagels and carrots for lunch. The Fraser Valley is really quite beautiful. I’ve never seen it that way — it’s always the last tiresome stretch to get through on the long journey to Vancouver.

Enjoyed the Fraser Canyon as well, especially bellowing out “Tunnel!” whenever I saw one in the distance. That was one of the few entertainments on the long car journey from PG to Vancouver. Actually, the whole trip sideswiped me with memories of childhood and mum that I haven’t had the chance to become hardened to…

Pat’s car is a pretty smart vehicle. There is a built-in jack for connecting an iPod to the speaker system, programmable car seats that remember which settings you like, dual air conditioning for front and back, bluetooth functionality for handsfree phone calls… We don’t need a new car yet, but it would certainly be nice to have some of these features…

Broke our journey at Horstings Farm north of Cache Creek. The last time I stoppedthere was with mum and dad, when we travelled up to PG for Nova’s christening.

The last leg to 108 Mile House took less than an hour. Once we checked in, we took a stroll down to the paddock to see their miniature donkeys. The air was fresh and clean, and aside from the mosquitos it was lovely to be outdoors.

Didn’t bother with dinner — no one felt that hungry after a day in the car. We had a snack in our room instead, then went for a swim. Lyra’s swimming is coming along great guns — she can manage over half a width on her own.

Adam had some work to finish afterwards. The rest of us went to bed, but it was hard to settle with the lights on. It was after 10pm before the girls finally stopped bickering and fell asleep — I wasn’t that far behind them…

August 9, 2011

Had a more relaxed start to the day, which was fine after yesterday’s whirl of activity. Did a load of laundry, and popped out to Shopper’s Drug Mart for cold sore medication — :-{ First time I’ve had a cold sore in well over a year. I think this one was triggered by all the time I spent in the sun yesterday. Bought the strongest product available over the counter. Though nothing seems to do much good once they’ve erupted…Took the bus/SkyTrain to the new Chinatown station to meet Trevor and Marni for dim sum. I hadn’t realised that Vancouver now has a working underground system. The SkyTrain was built before I left, but it didn’t feel like a metro system, more like two barely connected elevated train lines to the suburbs.

The Chinatown stop is right next to my old office on Beatty Street. The entire area has been transformed. Where I once looked out on dumpsters and parking lot, there is now a plaza, fountain and range of snazzy new shops and restaurants, and people everywhere. A group of burly soldiers in cami fatigues were climbing the stairs from the plaza as we approached. I was amused to see they were carrying plastic containers of take-out sushi.

Ate dimsum at the Floata restaurant. I’d seen advertisements for it last time we were here and thought it looked amazing, but the reality was nowhere near as grand as the pictures. The food was pretty good, especially the deep-fried tofu. Trevor and Marni seemed a bit subdued — his grandmother is about to die, and Marni has had serious health issues of her own, so that could account for it.

After we’d eaten, Adam went back to do an afternoon’s work at their office, and I went to Chinatown with the girls. Gave them each $10 to spend in one of those classic emporia — Nova bought a notebook, pen, ink stick and receptacle, Lyra a pretty little wooden doll.

Next stop was the Sun Yat Sen classical Chinese garden. I haven’t been there is years, and it was interesting to see how it has developed. Visited the park first, which was free. The beautiful, lily-covered was teaming with turtles, carp and frogs.

Paid the admission to the formal garden, but there was no point in doing the tour with Lyra in tow — we made our own way round, following the treasure maps they’d given the girls. We all really enjoyed it. It’s not a particularly big space, but it intricately unfolds a series of views that encourage you to linger.

There were a series of rooms surrounding the garden, the last of which featured an art exhibition. There was also a table set up with “Buddha boards” for people to practice calligraphy. They are essentially aquadraw for (Chinese) adults. I fell in love with the thing, and bought myself one in the gift shop.

Swung through the old Woodwards to see how it has been redeveloped, then made our was back to Robson Street. Fed the girls at a Japanese noodle bar, then headed home for red velvet cake and cherries.

When Adam returned we got in touch with Carol and Scott. With everyone on speaker phone, we agreed a Won More order. Adam headed off to pay and pick it up, and we covened at ours. Spent the evening round the dining room table, until Adam started nodding off in his chair…

August 8, 2011

Had our first reasonable night’s sleep this trip, which was very welcome…
I was determined we were going to bike the seawall as a family, so after breakfast we headed down to Robson Street and rented bikes. Adam had a trailer bike with Lyra on the back, while Nova and I both had our own. 

Bit of a ropey start, what with Lyra panicking and wanting off, and Nova keeling over on the two blocks of road to the park. They both got the hang of it soon enough, and were soon cruising along like they were born in the saddle.

I love the seawall and cycling it with my family was a real pleasure. Cruised along, enjoying the dramatic views and bird life. I don’t think Adam had much opportunity to look around. Lyra kept him pretty engaged with her back seat driving, and it sounded like he was offering Nova a steady stream of encouragement and advice.

Had a few hairy moments when people overtook us on narrow, curvy parts of the path. Nova was leading the group at this point, and I could see she felt a little nervous about bikes swooshing past her. I was half expecting to round a curve and see her upended in the salal, but she held her nerve and did us all proud.

After dropping off the bikes, we swung briefly by the flat to pick up our swimsuits and pack a lunch before heading to Second Beach pool. Never seem to manage to choose the most direct route. This time we ended up inadvertently cutting across the pitch and putt golf course…

Met cousin Richard, his wife Tanya and little daughter Alexis at the pool. The girls were straight into the water, but we managed a bit of a visit between child supervision.

We’d agreed to meet Pat Boeker at the airport, so he could hand over his car to us. Started our journey with the local downtown bus from Denman Street. The driver was pretty dozy and seemed to have trouble working out the fare for two adults and two children. Didn’t help that he and Adam were struggling with each other’s accents. Seemed silly that we had to pay it entirely in coins, especially as it came to $10 even.

Getting off at the wrong stop meant staggering up Granville with a sleeping Lyra in the baking heat looking for the station. Headed out to Richmond on the new Canada line, which runs up Cambie Street. I was surprised how much of the route was underground — it was Southwest Marine Drive before we saw a hint of sky.

Pat was waiting on the platform when we pulled in. Retrieved his car from long-term parking and drove out to Whiterock, Lyra still fast asleep. Went for a walk along the pier for some fresh air, and also to wake Lyra up a bit before inflicting her on Pat’s mum. Watched a group of teenage girls leaping off the end of the pier into the sea. Pretty impressive — it must have been at least 15 metres, and I’m sure that water was mighty cold.

Had dinner with Pat’s mum Thea. It was great to see her — I was in my teens when I first met Pat’s parents, and I am very fond of them. She cooked a lovely pork roast with garlic potatoes, green beans and salad, and the best gravy I have ever tasted. She’d also made a delicious pie with almond, jam and cream. The girls were on top form — Nova happily ate her body weight in roast dinner, and Lyra was high spirited and entertaining.

Back in the West End about 9:30. I got the girls in bed while Pat and Adam sorted out some parking, then we had a glass of wine before calling it a night. I felt particularly beat — maybe all the fresh air we’re getting — and my eyes have been bothering me too, which is a drag. It seems very bright here, after the gray and gloom of London.

Speaking of London, riots have erupted since we left. They started after police shot and killed a young black guy. Initially in Tottenham, they quickly spread to other parts of the capital, and now to other cities as well. Pretty shocking images on the news…

August 7, 2011

6:15 start this morning, which is a little better… We ought to go to bed a bit earlier, but it’s difficult with so many things to do and people to see…Went for a run round the lagoon — it’s not very far, but better than nothing. Passed a rough sleeper playing a game of solitaire on a park bench. “Morning, beautiful!” he called out. “Who’s winning?” I asked him. “I’m a winner!” he grinned, giving me two thumbs up. Good positive attitude for someone in his situation.

After a leisurely breakfast at the flat, we walked along English Bay to Sunset Beach and caught the little ferry to Granville Island. Met Jane, Scott, Toof and most of their kids. It was great to see them all, and our girls fitted right into the collection.

Bought lunch in from the market — I had a Vietnamese salad roll, which was good as I remembered. Ate outside on the wharf, where Lucas was promptly shat on by a seagull. Ice cream cones for dessert — mojito for me — then headed over to the water park.

It was a blistering hot day, and the kids had a great time running through the fountains and whooshing down the slides. My eyes are still giving me a lot of grief, aching and watering even with sunglasses on. What a pain in the ass…

Stopped briefly at Emily Carr, where a friend of the Steedmans had an art opening. Jane gave us a lift back to the West End, where we picked up Brad’s car and drove to cousin Brenda’s in East Van. I’d completely forgotten the route, but we pieced it together between us.

It turns out Brenda and her Kevin separated last year, which is sad. He always seemed like a nice enough guy — apparently they hate each other now. Her two girls are on a road trip to Drumheller with their aunt and grandmother, so we didn’t get to see them, but dad drove over to join us after his trapshoot.

Brenda made a delicious dinner of marinated flank steak, baked salmon, potato salad, peaches-and-cream corn on the cob, with blueberries and whipped cream for dessert. We were feeling pretty zonked by 10pm, so headed back to the West End for a relatively early night.

August 6, 2011

…where we slept soundly until 3:15am, when Lyra came in to ask if it was morning yet. “No,” I croaked, and encouraged her back to bed. But that was it for sleeping… The kids were padding about by 4am, checking in with me regularly to see whether I wanted to get up yet.Gave up on the idea of any more rest about 7am. Adam got up and made the coffee, while I did last night’s dishes before heading out for some breakfast groceries. They’ve rebuilt the Safeway at Robson and Denman, and it is truly something to behold. It rears above the street in a great glass prow, and stretches a whole city block. There’s a magnificent deli section, cafe, pharmacy, and row after row of impressively stacked groceries. Bradley calls it the spaceship supermarket, and I can see what he means.

It was a struggle to find small packages of anything. Need some milk? How about a 5 litre jug? Finding small enough packages of things was a real challenge. We’re only here a few days, and perhaps I’ve been conditioned by our small fridge — and a different style of shopping. I still find it strange though… surely there are an awful lot of single people in the West End who shop on foot. Who can be buying all this food?

It was a bit surreal walking through the old neighbourhood on my own. Yet again, I felt projected back to my 25-year-old self. I noticed a few changes… For example, Vinas is gone, which is sad. It was Vancouver’s first Vietnamese restaurant, and a West End institution — and I had a lot of good times there. But there’s a lot that’s the same too…

Hung around until John and Bradley set off for the Sunshine Coast, then wandered over to the Stanley Park playground. Struck once again by how incredibly green and clean and quiet Vancouver is, at least this part of the city. From there, we walked the seawall to English Bay where we bought shawarmas to eat on the beach.

The girls were campaigning for a swim in the sea, but although the sun was shining it was just too windy. Compromised on the Second Beach pool. It was windy there too, but at least the water is heated. Adam and I took turns doing laps, Nova gave the slides a good workout, and Lyra worked relentlessly on her swimming. Had to pretty much drag her out of the pool after an hour…

Went round to Carol and Scott’s for dinner and to watch the fireworks. They have a flat at the corner of Denman and Davie, with possibly the best view in the city. Caught up with Peter Kyne, who I haven’t seen in years. Although I met him as Carol’s roommate when I stayed in her flat in Toronto, he’s actually from Prince George, and best friends with Gale’s brother Mark. Small world…

Limited myself to one martini this time, as the two I drank the last time we visited meant I missed all the fireworks…;-) Carol had picked up Bella Pizza, but the girls were too tired to eat. Lyra had actually fallen asleep on Adam’s shoulders on the walk over, and Nova wasn’t far behind her.

The fireworks were amazing. It was Canada’s turn, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. My favourite were the golden splodges that sort of splattered and hung in the sky.

The crowds were phenomenal, and we stayed on another forty-five minutes after the show ended to allow the streets to clear a bit. Even so, we had to let five of six elevators go before we finally got space in one. By the time we got home at midnight, poor Nova was so tired she actually crawled up the hallway and collapsed tearfully into bed. I know how she felt…

August 5, 2011

Got up about 7am to tackle the final to-dos before we set off for Gatwick. Things like the final load of laundry, taking out the garbage and compost, cleaning out the fridge etc.We’ve already had one wasps nest treated this summer, but have since noticed another one outside the kitchen window. This morning a wasp crawled inside Nova’s nightie and stung her on the tummy as she was eating breakfast. The stinger was left inside her, and I had to remove it with tweezers. She was pretty stoical about it, but wasp stings hurt like hell.

On my run round the village shops, I bought a can of Raid for wasps. Adam leaned out the kitchen window and emptied half of it onto the wasps nest, which certainly upset the little bastards — and killed plenty of them too. I’m sure it’s nowhere near as strong as the professional stuff, but better than nothing…

Fortunately, the weather was dry enough to seal the crack in the roof as well. We also found time to rig up a tarp at the bottom of the stairs, with the aim of blocking the cat from the main part of the house while it’s empty. It won’t be feasible to have it in place once the houseguests arrive, but I hope it will spare the carpets two weeks of her abuse…

Set off for the airport at 11:30am. We took the train from St Pancras, which was pretty painless — nicer than driving to Heathrow actually. There was an enormous queue at Air Transat when we arrived, and we were one of the last people to check in. Among the last to board the plane as well — they were calling our names over the tannoy as we arrived at the departure gate. It meant that we had three seats together and one seventeen rows away.

Oddly enough, none of this produced any anxiety in me — my former fear of flying was colouring the whole airport experience. The hypnosis certainly appears to have worked. None of the usual triggers produced any response — the moment during take-off when the plane appears to lose power, banking, the horrible clunk of the landing gear, turbulence — left me completely unmoved. I’ve started to wonder if I would even experience fear if something genuinely scary (like the engine catching fire) were to happen.

I think a scary flight I took in the Maritimes started the whole problem. We flew through an electrical storm that had the plane bucking and plunging. People were shouting out and sobbing in fear. I was travelling alone, so didn’t have anyone to process it with afterwards. I know it started sometime after that at any rate…

Our charter flight was okay, aside from the way they tried to sell everything. They did serve a meal and snack, accompanied by a ludicrously small glass of complimentary wine. Aside from that, they pushed their overpriced “bistro” service. The plane was pretty chilly, but the only way to get a blanket was to buy a “comfort kit” for $7.

The seating arrangements were actually a bonus. Adam and I each spent half the time with the girls, and half relaxing in peace and quiet. I thought the girls might nap, as we were getting to Vancouver at 1am London time, but they soldiered through.

Lyra did doze off during our descent and we had to carry her through immigration. Vancouver Airport is as magnificent as I remember it — an airport Vancouverites can feel proud of.

It was great to see our friends John and Bradley again — they appear to be thriving. Their flat is an oasis of calm and beauty. They poured us drinks, and left us to shower while they went for sushi. The girls finally went to bed after dinner, but we carried on knocking back bottles of wine and getting into grandiose. Headed up to the rooftop to continue our antics, and it was after midnight by the time we staggered back down again.

They went off to spend the night at the Buchan Hotel round the corner, and we tumbled into their bed…

August 4, 2011

Woke to pouring rain. Felt very annoyed I didn’t manage to get up on the roof and fill the crack with the silicone sealant I went to the trouble of acquiring earlier this week. Especially as it’s still leaking, in spite of my drain clearing efforts…Adam arranged a playdate for Lyra which gave me a clear run at tackling the rest of the list. We also managed to hire Christine’s cleaner Esmerelda for two hours to finish off all the cleaning jobs I hadn’t managed to do yet.

That woman is a force of nature — she not only blasted through my entire cleaning list, she recleaned the stuff I’d done already, all the while carrying on a lively dialogue with Nova.

There’s something about having your house professionally cleaned that’s difficult to replicate yourself. Maybe it’s because everything is clean at the same time, which never happens when I do it. Or maybe it’s the fact that by the time I’ve done all that cleaning, I’m not in the right frame of mind to enjoy it.

More gardening jobs… When cutting back raspberry canes, I managed to give myself a nasty secateur cut on the web between my thumb and finger. There was a lot of blood — it’s fortunatel I’m a good clotter…

Dinner was a sort of an international tapas of the remaining fridge contents. Like one of those masterchef challenges, but with random, tired ingredients, and far less time. Made a green salad. tomato-cheese pasta for the girls, “spanish potatoes” with chorizo, red pepper and onion; endive leaves stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts; and leftover Asian coleslaw…

August 3, 2011

My ankle felt a little hinky on my run today. I hurt it in the garden a couple of days ago, and it’s still not right…Changed all the beds this morning. We’ll have to sleep in them for a couple of days, but gives me time to do the laundry and have it back in the cupboard bwfore we go. When the housesitters arrive, they can choose whether to take it off or not.

Went to see Arriety in the afternoon at the Rio in Dalston. The Studio Ghibli remake of The Borrowers, it’s produced to the same quality as their other films. The Japanese setting adds to the magic. Four thumbs up from this family.

Took Lyra to the doctor to get her toenail looked at again. It turns out she has a fungal infection, and there’s a specific treatment for it. Why they didn’t share this information with us when the results came back from the lab I have no idea. It’s going to take about nine months to work though…

As we left the house, Lyra dropped a small triangular piece of paper she’d drawn a few lines on. I couldn’t see where it had landed, and we didn’t have time to search for it. She sobbed and railed the whole way to the doctors. I tried ignoring her, reasoning with her, distracting her, making a joke about how all the teardrops falling on her Paris teeshirt looked like a rainstorm. She wasn’t having any of it. On our return, I said, “Shall we have a little look for that piece of paper?” “No, I don’t want to,” she said. That’s Lyra for you…

Getting the garden as ready as possible before we go. I rigged up a criss-cross of strings in the greenhouse to offer some support as the fruits swell and ripen. Adam fixed the hose so it’s not leaking any more. I’m a bit sad to leave my garden just as it’s all starting to come good. There are so many tomatoes this year… sigh…

August 2, 2011

Money is very tight at the moment. We’ve invested pretty much all our savings in buying and doing up the flat. Although it’s rented now, it’s going to be another month before we see any income from it. Fortunately I have a little stash of cash in Canada that we can spend when we’re out there…Took the girls to tennis, then carried on with the list from hell. Adam has lots of work to finish — which is great on the one hand, as he can submit some invoices before we go away. But it also means he doesn’t have much capacity to help.

It’s been very hot the last few days — seems we’re finally getting a bit of summer before we go. From what we hear of the weather in Canada might be all the summer we get!

Made a recipe called ‘best ever steak salad’ for dinner. Barbequed steak tossed with new potatoes, green beans, red onions and tomatoes in a horseradish dress. It was pretty damn good…

Booked the 108 Mile Ranch hotel to break the journey from Vancouver to Prince George. We’ll spend the night and the following day the girls can attend a kids camp where they get to groom horses and go for a ride before we head off.

August 1, 2011

Happy birthday, British Columbia!
Adam pulled an all nighter — I don’t know how he manages to do that… He woke me with a coffee before 7am, and nudged me out of bed for a run. He’s a good ‘un.Made the girls breakfast and packed lunches, sunscreened them, and delivered them to tennis camp for 10am. Evelyn and Alice going this week as well, so that’s nice for them.

Tackled the interminable getting ready list. Adam has this crazy idea we should have everything ready to go by Wednesday. Not that he has any capacity to help me do it unfortunately… But at least I’m not working myself — that was always incredibly stressful.

Did a Waitrose run after picking up the girls. Rotisserie chicken and a bag of salad for dinner. Dessert was frozen berries with cream poured on top to sort of coat them. I’ve had a similar dessert with melted white chocolate that definitely worked a lot better…

Sloped off with Nova while Lyra was in the bath for a swim in the ladies pond. It was pretty busy as it was such a lovely evening, but there was lots of room for everyone. Nova absolutely loves swimming in the pond — she had such an enormous smile on her face, which was beautiful to see.

We spent at least a half hour in the water chatting as we swam from buoy to buoy. Talked about our favourite places. One of Nova’s was her bed on Christmas Eve, and gave a poetic description of going to bed with the taste of chocolate in her mouth, snuggling under her warmest flannel duvet, and thinking of turning on her light to read but deciding against it because she felt too content…

She also confessed to no longer believing in Father Christmas. Apparently Eloise Phillips caught her dad filling her stocking last Christmas Eve, and told Fay, who promptly told Nova…

I remember hearing the big news in grade 2 at school. I came rushing home to interrogate mum, who admitted the truth. My next thought was, “Wow, I have to tell David about this!” but mum managed to talk me out of it. It wasn’t that I wanted to spoil it for him, it was just such earth shattering news…`