Las Vegas Trip

On Monday evening, December 03/07 Ben and I returned from Las Vegas after spending eight days there with Barrie and Dilwyn, friends from Wales. We had arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday Nov.24th from B.C. and picked up a rental car close to Mc.Carran internal airport. That evening, the boyos from Wales arrived around 2100 and we picked them up at the airport without any hassle. We stayed at a small motel for the first night then moved into the timeshare hotel which Dil had arranged for us. It was called The Jockey Club and was located right next door to the Bellagios on the Strip, a perfect place to be.
Sunday was spent in getting to know the area known as the Strip, which is actually Las Vegas Boulevard. We went in and out of the many hotels there (like the M.G.M. Grand for example), marvelling at the size of them and all they contained. Monday we played our first game of golf at Desert Rose a public course close to the city. It was a good public course and we enjoyed it a great deal. In the evening we relaxed then went out to sample one of the very fine buffet diners which every hotel seemed to have. On Tuesday we had a travel day. Following a relaxed breakfast and leisurely start to the day, we went to visit the Hoover Dam site, which is well worth a visit should you find yourself in Nevada. We spent a couple of hours there including lunch time. From there we went north-east to the Valley of Fire. This state park is gorgeous, full of weirdly shaped red sandstone rocks. We explored the park and had a good time there.
Wednesday rolled around and was another golf day. We played at Red Rock Canyon country club. The site is divided into a private course, the Red Rock Course for members only, and the Arroyo Course which is open to the public and which was the one we played. Both courses were beautifully contoured and sculpted. There were beautiful displays of desert plants all around the course. However, though the course was gorgeous, none of the group enjoyed playing there as the previous course. I think this was mainly due to the long time spent in the carts getting from green to tee, and also because we followed a very slow group which would not let us play through.
Thursday was our final golf day as we cancelled the golf for Friday. We played at Stallion Mountain another lovely course, and we enjoyed our time there as we had an earlier tee time and had lots of light left to play. Unfortunately poor Barrie had to stop playing after the first half of the course as his knee was bothering him too badly. He became our official coach and rode the cart for the rest of the back nine and he did have a little trouble driving it.
Friday it poured with rain in the morning, so it was just as well we'd cancelled our golf game for the day in favour of a tour out to Red Rock Canyon and Bonnie Springs, to the west of the city. The weather eased a little for us to tour the canyon, which, like Valley of Fire, was quite spectacular. Once we'd been through the canyon we went on a little further to Bonnie Springs which is heralded as a little bit of the old west, in a secluded spot in the desert. On the way back to town, the outlet shops beckoned to us as a place to find little gifts for certain members of our families, and we were successful.
Saturday we spent doing a final tour of The Strip, trying to take in some of the places we'd missed on our earlier explorations. Once again, we enjoyed the spectacular displays of the Bellagio fountains, which are all set to music. (You can view a sample here by clicking the link then video tour). Of course, the climax to a good day was when we all went to see Andrea Bocelli perform at the MG.M. Grand theatre. He was superb and his performance left us wanting more.
On Sunday, departure day for the four of us, Ben and I dropped off Dil and Barrie at the airport around 10:00 for their noon flight. We then went to visit one of the local malls and got some books to read on the way home. Around noon we returned our rental car and got to the airport check-in. We dumped our bags with Alaska and went to get some lunch at the airport food court. On our return to our gate we were told that our plane was to be delayed three hours with mechanical problems. Well, not to bore you with details but things got worse. Instead of arriving back in Comox at about 22:00 on Sunday night, we arrived at 20:00 on Monday night, tired and frustrated. However, we were safe and well and glad to be home. By the way, Barrie and Dilwyn had beaten us home by about seven hours I'm glad to say, for their flights back to Wales went like clockwork.
It had been a great week. The group had worked well, with lots of give and take. Now all that remains is for Barrie to get his bum knee fixed this coming Saturday morning and we'll be able to go again one day. Safe surgery Barrie and thanks to you, Dil and Ben for a great time. Viva Las Vegas! (If you wish to take a peek at a collection of pictures from this trip, click on the link to Ben's album and you can view them there.)
(Map of some of the local trips we took)

Memories Are Made of This

This past month or so was a very tough one. On October 24th-'07 Cynthia and I got a call from Wales telling us that my mother had fallen, been found at home by her carer and was in hospital. We thought that though Mum had no breaks, she was in poor shape. We booked a flight for the 25th and arrived in London on the 26th. We arrived at the hospital that night and found her to be in better condition than we'd anticipated. We stayed at her house and visited each day. Mum got progressively worse as her kidneys then began to fail. She became more and more confused, ate less and less and gradually lost interest in everything other than the people around her. She thought she was at home. On Monday 12th of November, Mum spent most of the day sleeping on her bed, only coming around when spoken to. Tuesday 13th, as I held her hand while reading my book by her side, she turned to me and told me that this was no way to go on with life. I agreed with her and told her that if she wanted to go and be with my Dad (who had died in 1985), she should feel free to go at any time. The next morning I got a call from the hospital telling me that Mum hadn't fared well the previous night. I went to visit her right away, but arrived on the ward about two minutes after she'd died. I was given a coffee and placed in a side room. One of the nurses spoke with me while they dealt with the area around Mum's bed. A few minutes later I went in to sit beside her. I told her how much I loved her (which she'd heard many times before) and hoped she felt better now she was in heaven with the Lord and Dad. I had a good solid cry and felt better.
Funeral arrangements were made for Monday 19th, and they, along with the cremation service, went well. Cynthia worked like a slave as we tried to get the house packed up and cleared before our homeward flights on the 21. What would I have done without her?
Our return trip was great. We eventually arrived in Comox airport on the evening of Wednesday Nov. 21. As we came in through the doors Ben and Tim were there to greet us. Cynth and I walked towards them to hug them. when we were at about a 20 metre range, they unleashed their secret weapon on us...a penguin suited Charlotte!! They had been keeping her hidden to the last moment. When she saw her Grandma, she roared into Cynth's arms and gave Cynth the biggest possible hug. I had gone on to receive a huge hug and kisses from our lads, then got a quick hug from Charlotte after. It could not have been a better home-coming and memories are made of these times.
The pictures here are of Mum with flowers on her 95th birthday , June 23 2007 and another one taken of her recently in her kitchen at her home.
Our thanks go to all family and friends who have helped us through this difficult time, and of course the good Lord through whom all things are possible.

Oliver James Weighs In

Oliver James Davies weighed into this world at 9pounds 5 ounces on Friday October 12th at 7:49p.m. Andi and he are doing really well. Andi was supposed to have a Caesarean section done on Monday Oct. 15th if the baby had not arrived naturally by then as she would have been one week overdue. However, at her Friday check-up it was discovered that she had gained another 2cm. around the middle, yet the baby's head was nowhere near being engaged in the birth canal. Of prime concern was her blood pressure which was quite high. The doctor wisely suggested that as Andi would more than likely be in the hospital on Sunday in prep for Monday's scheduled section, perhaps they should move up the surgery and do it on Friday evening. Andi and Tim agreed to that so Oliver was born as stated above. He is lovely. He has brown hair and seems to be very content. Andi and Tim are glad to be through this time. Charlotte will be seeing him today, Saturday, and is quite excited. The Davies family would like to thank all of you who have held Tim and Andi in your prayers and thoughts over the past weeks and months. Thanks be to God for the good health of Mum and babe.

Davies -Byles 2007

From Sept. 10th -Oct. 03 Cynthia and I had the pleasure of our friends from Wales being with us here in B.C. Dilwyn and Sandra Byles, along with Barrie and Pat Davies made the long flight from the U.K. to the west coast and landed on Sept. 10th. We picked them up from the ferry in Nanaimo and in the first picture you can see them in the arrivals tunnel at the Duke Point terminal. We immediately took them to Sproat Lake near Port Alberni where we had rented a cabin for a few days. The cabin is situated next to the Martin Mars water bomber base on the lake and during the glorious weather we saw the huge flying boats practising.

In the second picture of Barrie and Pat at the lake, you can see one of the bombers at anchor on the lake. We spent two days in Victoria golfing and shopping.

A highlight for us was breakfast at John's Place, where in picture three you see Barrie and Ben about to eat. From Victoria we relaxed in the Comox Valley for five days before embarking on the Volendam on an Alaskan cruise.

Picture four shows the Welsh contingent eating lunch on the ship before we actually set off from Canada Place in Vancouver. We had a terrific week on board, and even though the weather was not good, we made the most of our stops in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. We also had a very interesting day floating around on the ship in Glacier Bay as we watched the calving of ice-bergs from the Marguerite Glacier in that bay. When the ship docked back in Vancouver, we disembarked and spent two nights in Whistler, the site of the 2010 Olympics. On our return to Vancouver, we spent
the last three days sightseeing and having fun in the big city. The time had gone too quickly for us, and before we knew it Cynthia and I were driving the folks out to Vancouver International for their return flight. It had been a great three weeks together and Cynthia and I look forward to the next group of visitors coming. Perhaps you?

Dancing Lessons

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Cynthia and I just took some dancing lessons . We decided to do this after being visited by our friends from Spain and our Spanish speaking friends here in the valley.

The Bash at the Golf Club

It's not true that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are dead! Take a look at the picture. Sure Fred is a little heavier these days and Ginger is actually grey, but the they are definitely alive and well.
Last Friday night, Glen Norton one of my golfing buddies, and his family arranged a dinner dance for us at our golf club called Glacier Greens Golf Club. His family had many anniversaries to celebrate as well as birthdays immediately past and in the near future. They thought it would be a good idea to get their family together and celebrate all the great days all at once. The family also invited Glen's golfing pals so that's how we got to go. It was a great evening. We had a cold buffet supper and drinks, then Glen had put together some of his favourite music on discs and he played D.J. all evening. He did a fine job too.
It was a wonderful get-together, something I think would be great for our family to do sometime in the near future.

Pensioners Used as Cheap Source of Labour in Comox

While I was driving past a building site in Comox the other day, I happened to see this old man sitting on a pile of lumber at the site. He was looking to his left at a huge pile of concrete which was from the driveway to the house, and had been broken up to allow entry to the site. When I talked to him, from my car, he told me he was a retired teacher who was doing odd jobs to supplement his pension income. He had asked the owner of the home, who was also the general contractor, for a job, and had been given the job of breaking up the concrete driveway. I felt sorry for him as he sat on the wood-pile looking wistfully at the rock-pile he now had to move. I think it's such a shame when poor fellows such as this old man have to go out and earn a second living because they can only afford a sack of rice per week on which to live.

Construction at Andi and Tim's home

Just a few short weeks ago Tim and Andi began construction of the addition to their home on Salish St.
Under the watchful guidance and through the skill of Andi's Uncle Dick, the addition started when Tim and his friend Wayne excavated the hole in the ground to accommodate the footings for the new construction. Tim, Dick Ben and I all worked together to build the footings and the concrete walls.
Tim and Wayne had also taken up part of the concrete driveway with the small bulldozer they rented. Tim did a masterful job of breaking up the huge slabs with a sledgehammer. We were also fortunate that a friend, Ken Cochrane wanted the exposed aggregate pieces for his garden. They enabled him to build exposed aggregate planters for his property, so one man's junk became another's treasure as he, Tim and I hauled the materials away in Ken's truck and trailer.
The picures above show (top left)the end of the house with the tar paper exposed and the new concrete footings poured. In the middle picture you can see the first floor walls (forming the new garage)taken from the rear of the building. Bottom left are the same walls taken from the front. As I write this on July 21, the stringers for the garage roof have been added, along with the plywood on top which forms the floor of the two new bedrooms above.
Dick has done a masterful job of doing most of the building while Tim, and I, along with Ben, when he was able, have tried to be as helpful as we could in assisting Dick whenever he needed help.
It's exciting watching the whole thing rise from the ground. It's also proving to be a very enjoyable experience working alongside Tim and Dick as bit, by bit, the home is extended.
I give thanks to the Lord for the fact we are able to do this.

From Bambrick Place to the little house on the prairie

This past week we really had a great occasion to celebrate, for Ben and Josée's home on Bambrick Place sold to some people from Victoria.
In the picture to the left, you see the front driveway.
Ben and Josée did all their own advertising on an internet site called By The Owner and it proved invaluable. At first, there seemed to be little or no action from the site, then suddenly things took off and many people called about the house and a number of couples came to look. One interesting feature among many on the site was it's ability to record how many people had looked at the home on-line, and whether or not they were return lookers.
Ben and Josée were delighted to finally get their sale done as they can now concentrate more of their energy into gutting and renovating their next home which is a small rancher home on almost seven acres, located near the airport in Comox. In the picture to the left and below, you can see the house in the background and Josée busily involved in fencing an area to the rear of the house. Fencing this area took priority over anything else for a while, for they needed to create a "pen" to contain Tegan the Mastiff Tank, otherwise she would have disappeared and gone to play with the horses on the one side, or the geese on the other.
Ben and Josée are now almost through the wrecking stage and beginning to look ahead with excitement to the renovations. They have much courage and we wish them well.

Hot Tub Pals

On Friday June 29th. Cynthia and I invited Tim, Andi, Charlotte, Ben and Josée to dinner to celebrate the end of school for them and the beginning of the school holidays. It is also the Canada Day long weekend, so we had two causes to celebrate. Ben and Josée were a little late in joining us for the meal as they had to meet a farmer to see if he wanted to cut the hay which is now growing rapidly on their new Knight Road property in Comox. They arrived after we'd eaten, so while they had their meal, Tim, Charlotte and I decided to hit the hot tub and have some play time with the toys. You can see that Tim was obviously enjoying himself with them. I wonder if Charlotte ever got a chance to get a turn! The whole evening went well, for after the meal, Cynthia and I were also able to go for a walk with Ben, Josée and Tegan the dog. It was a good time together with all of them.

Wales: May-June 2007

We just got back on Thursday, June 07/07 from another trip to Wales. The prime reason for going was to visit my mother and to cover for Linda, Mam's carer, as she went to Spain for a well deserved week's holiday. We had a great time with my mother and took her out for lunch on each of the four Sundays we were in the country. We also took her out several times on little mini outings to various beauty spots. Leaving was a traumatic time, but I have learned since getting back, that the "Duchess of Royal Lane" is now back into her regular routine.
We also spent a lovely couple of days at Bell House, a "cottage" which had been rented by Cynthia's sister Janet and her husband Alex. Bell House (after clicking on this link, go to alphabetical listing of properties and scroll down to Bellhouse, Cotswolds, to see the house and other pictures)and its adjoining building Field House, were part of a larger mansion house in Woodchester Park which is near the village of Nympsfield, near Painswick in Gloucestershire. The building, seen here, was quite magnificent and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with Janet and Alex who can be seen in one of the pictures relaxing in the living room of Bell House.
We also managed to see some of our old friends. We had a lovely evening with Tony and Marie Cavaciuti. Tony can be seen in the last of the pictures. He is a retired Chief inspector of police in Wales, and now, in his retirement from active policing duties, works with the medical fraud squad.
Unfortunately, when visiting other friends or when being visited by family members, I often forgot to use the camera.

Places of interest in B.C.

I have been working on MY Map which is a visitors' map of places of interest in B.C. If you would like to take a look, click on the hyperlink My Map. When it opens, you will be able to use the map by clicking on the links to the left of the page. Good luck, I hope it works for you.

We Are Poor Little Lambs .........

Today Charlotte was with us for a few hours while Mum and Dad tried things of their own. During the time she was here, she and Grandma did many things. They washed up dishes together, made bread, ate mini-muffins, read books and sang songs at the piano. However, the thing Charlotte liked best today was playing sheep. They got out their fleeces and made all kinds of lamby noises while crawling around on the living room floor. When "night-time" came, they cuddled up in the sheep fold behind the living room couch so they would be warm and safe from the wolf...Guess who that was?

Easter Monday Dinner

Cynthia and I were so fortunate to have the family come for dinner tonight. It was the best time for us to get together over the Easter weekend. We are so blessed to be able to live in such a lovely place and still have family around us to share in these special times. We give thanks to the Lord for all the good things He has done in our lives and continues to do on a daily basis.
Ben and Josée (along with Tegan the Mastiff Tank), Tim, Andi and Charlotte, as well as Jean and Ron were able to come for dinner tonight, Monday April 9th-2007. We all gathered at our home around 5:15 and after pre-dinner drinks we settled in to a marvellous meal cooked by Cynthia. We had ham and different vegetables, potatoes and French bread. For dessert Cynthia had made trifle and mud pie. The wine flowed freely and we had lots to drink. I should have mentioned that beforehand Cynthia had hidden lots of mini Easter eggs around the house for Charlotte to find. Charlotte did a good job and found most of them.
You may be wondering why there isn't a picture of Charlotte or Cynthia on this posting. The answer is that I could not get Charlotte still long enough to take a picture of her, and Cynthia wasn't far behind her. Rest assured, Charlotte had a good time tracking down the eggs, dancing to the music on the CD and generally running round the room givng high fives to everyone.
Eventually it was time for the younger folk in the party to depart, so Tim, Andi and Charlotte left in their van to get Charlotte home and into bed, while Ben, Josée and Tegan walked home to give the baby Mastiff her exercise. It had been a fine time. Thank you Lord for your small mercies.

Visit to Wales: Jan- Feb 2007

Earlier this yearI went over to Wales at the end of January, beginning of February. I had heard from family members back in Abertillery that my mother wasn't doing so well. She's currently 94 and will be 95 on June 23 2007. I decided that I would go back to see her and fly on Zoom airlines. The plane ride went well and I enjoyed my time with my mother. I found her not to be eating well and generally down in spirit too. Her carer, Linda, came in and carried on with what she did with Mam when I wasn't there. It was good to see how the two of them related, and was reassuring for me, knowing this is what was happening in my absence. I wasn't able to add too much to Mam's daily existence, but I felt the visit was worthwhile for we were able to have some laughs about old times and to share good memories with each other. Cynthia and I plan to go back again in May to see her and the rest of our relatives. I hope that Mam will be there when we arrive. However, if she isn't, then I know she has gone to a better place and had no fear of death or dying. In her words, " I am not afraid of death Mart, for I know the Lord will be waiting for me. In fact, it will be rather nice to see your Dad again."

The Taiwanese Lantern Festival

Yesterday we had Charlotte for the whole day. Andi had not been well and had spent quite a lot of the night in the hospital with what appears to be a gall bladder condition. She may have to have this treated in the near future.
Tim called us before he left for school and asked us to have Charlotte for the day in order that Andi might go back to bed and catch up on some of the sleep she had missed.
Cynthia went down to their home to pick up Charlotte and bring her to our house. We had some stories with her for a while and then enjoyed playing with her and her toys. Eventually we set out for Cumberland to see the Taiwanese Lantern festival. In the big hall an amazing array of lanterns had been set up for the general public to view. As we entered the hall we saw small lanterns depicting creatures representing the Chinese New Year animals. Then, as we moved around the hall, we saw tableaux done showing farming and scenes from the ocean. There was even a huge lantern of the main government building in Taipei. Charlotte's eyes were popping out of her head. Soon it was time or us to leave.
Charlotte wanted to visit Tim Hortons for a Timbit so we did that and headed home. More playtime with the toy box followed and soon lunch was on us. After lunch Charlotte bedded down for a nap. We relaxed and waited 'til she woke which she did after about an hour. We sang songs to her Raffi C.D. and then ended up dancing together in the living room. Around 4p.m. Tim arrived to get her and take her off to see GJo and Poppa her other grandparents. Andi was feeling a little better but was also glad of the extra rest. We'd had a great day with Charlotte, but it was also great to know Andi was on the mend.

San Diego Dec. 2006-Jan. 2007

We left for the States in Tim's mini van on Jan. 28th. The seven of us drove to Seattle and stayed overnight at Sutton Suites where we also left the van for the week. next morning we got a ride to the airport at 5 A.M. on the hotel shuttle. Alaskan Air got us to San Diego in just about three hours and in comfort. We picked up two rental cars from Budget at the same price as the mini-van we'd booked but which was unavailable and headed of to the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido. We explored the resort for a while then went shopping later in the day. Each couple got the groceries they wanted to use in preparing the two meals for which they were responsible to cook. That worked well and the load was easily shared and not a burden for anyone.
During the week we all went to the San Diego Wildlife Park and thought it was fine. Later in the week, Ben, Josée, Tim, Andi and Charlotte went to Seaworld while on another day Tim, Andi and Charlotte went to the zoo on their own.
Cynthia and I toured one of the local vineyards and explored Temecula, a lovely town north of Escondido.
Ben and I managed to get in three rounds of golf on the executive course at the resort. During one of those rounds, Ben got his first hole-in-one on a 128 yard par three hole.
Charlotte loved having everyone close at hand. She traveled so well, sleeping when she felt like it on the plane and in the cars.
When it was time to leave, we departed at 4 A.M. from the Welk resort, returned the cars to budget at 5 A.M. and got the 6:30 flight back to Seattle. Ten minutes after we'd called them, the van from Sutton Suites picked us up and got us back to the van at the hotel. We were on the road home to Vancouver by 11 A.M. After getting the 3:15 P.M. ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo we got in the house by 7:30 P.M. It had been a long day's travel but not an unbearable one. I sure enjoyed the trip. It was amazing how well we all got along and enjoyed being in each other's company.