Auld Lang Syne - Goodbye 2014

New Years’s Eve! Wow – 2015 is just one sleep away and not a day too soon.  Easing out of the food & wine coma of the holiday season will be my focus, as will kick-starting my 2015 fitness routine.   My hopes for 2015?  Well:  Eat Right; Get Rid of Old Stuff; Get Out Of Debt; Get Outside and Move More; GET FIT!

 I have never been much on New Year’s Eve. This has made it difficult for me to understand the extreme gloom brought on in some of my friends by a lack of new year’s eve plans. I truly cannot remember the last time I went out on a new year’s eve.  Chris would like to go out much more than me, and last year he went to his sister’s, while I stayed home for a self-imposed spa night. There just seems to be such inflated expectations put upon us all to actually have plans for the evening in question.  Personally, I find it hard to stay up that late.

No, New Year’s Eve is more likely to find me scrubbing my refrigerator shelves or rearranging my sock drawers, or sifting through closets or papers to purge what doesn’t need to be carried into the new year.  Somehow, the impending new year always inspires a knee-jerk urge to organize or clean, or take stock of my life.

This year however, we are going for a new years eve dinner at our friends just down the road, and we are both looking forward to it.  Will I make it to midnight?  Hard to say.  I will though, be thinking of everyone and wishing you all a happy 2015.  

Thanks for visiting my blog during 2014, and I’m looking forward to sharing more posts with you in the new year.  I am ending with one of my favorite photos of our home, taken in 2008 - the big snowfall year.  I always dream of another winter like that one.

A New Year's Eve Day!

December 31st!  It  seems like in a blink of an eye 2014 is behind us!!  Today, with the sun shining, we simply had to have a bonfire.   It seems a great way to end the year as we can burn up old wood and garden clippings and enjoy the sunshine at the same time.  My fire-pit is working out really well!

While I was collecting stuff to burn, Chris fired up his John Deer tractor just to give the engine a chance to run since it has been sitting idle for the past 3 or 4 months.  Johnny started up on the first try!

We cooked bratburst and buns with onions for lunch.   Something so much better about outdoor eating and cooking!

After the bonfire I took Jake for his new year's eve walk in one of our many nearby trails.

I came across these 5 Tibetan prayer flags.    The Tibetan word for a horizontal prayer flag is Lung ta, which translates literally as "wind horse." The prayers on a flag become a permanent part of the universe as the images fade from wind and sun. Tibetans renew their hopes for the world by continually mounting new flags alongside the old.  We have a Budhist retreat house on Bowen and I suspect these were hung by some of the visiting monks.  I thought it was fitting to come across these as the year is coming to and end, so I shared my own prayers for the world as I passed by.

 The sun was just starting to sink below the tree lines so we headed homeward up the trail.

 Lots of outdoor activity today, time for a bath.  New Year's Eve dinner will be down the road at Bob and Susan's! 

Pretty Feet For Year's End!

It's always good to pamper yourself, and one of my favorite ways is to have a pedicure.  I did this yesterday as a year-end treat, and as usual I went to Nathalie at Luminescence Spa and Yoga Studio in North Van near Deep Cove. 

After my pedi I went down to the heart of Deep Cove to have a look at Indian Arm.  This is such a beautiful spot, and it is so like the view from Snug Cove on Bowen Island.  A sunny, crisp day!  Great to be out and about as the year draws to a close.

Cat on a Fence

Smoke loves to sit on the fence.  Any fence, really.  He is better able to survey the forest on one side and our property on the other.  This is one of his favorite lookout spots, and it is a good height to avoid being picked up by me, or bumped off by Jake.  It's also a great spot to watch squirrels, mice and birds.  When I interrupted him this afternoon during one of his intense bird watching moments, he pouted for ages, sporting this big scowl directed right at me.

Christmas 2014

I want that special feeling of Christmas to last all year long. I believe in Santa and the Christmas spirit. I love the excitement of decorating and the glow of the Christmas lights. I love the kind hearts of people during this time of year and I love the parties and the friendships.  I really love our little tree this year as well.

Christmas isn't about white-weather, or presents, or anything material, its about family and friends, love and friendship.  It's the time of year we schedule to get together. Cocktails or vino with friends or family are always more fun at Christmas.  This year, on the 21st,  we had a Christmas drop-in for the neighbours - a great mix of  about 18 people, lots of appies, and the first of what we hope will become an annual event.  We have great neighbours in our neck of the island, and you couldn't ask for more.
Christmas day was quiet, with a little gift exchange between Chris and I, with the critters looking on. Chris gave me my favourite "Opium" perfume, and a cool sculpture for my garden.

My sister Florence came for Christmas dinner, which wasn't turkey.  Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, roasted yam and brussel sprouts.   Plain and simple dinner with the wood stove burning, and the Christmas carols playing in the background.  Peace on the earth, good will to man!

My Friend the Mushroom

What's not to love about fungus...especially when it's unique looking and growing in solitude on a local rain forest trail.  I'm not sure I'd pick a bouquet of them for a gift, though. The recent wet weather means we have all sorts of mushrooms springing up on the fern laced trails and even on our grass.  I could spend all day taking pictures of them.  I think they are so cute.  Mushrooms are the "fruit" of a fungus in the ground.  If you pick them, you must be careful not to destroy the mother fungi.
This one, I think, is a candy-cap, though I'm not sure.  It's pretty, and when I walk Jake along the trail everyday, there it is, all alone, standing tall and proud to be a mushroom. "Hello mushroom", I say, as I pass by.  I'm not sure how long they last, but this fellow has been there almost 2 weeks now.