Tim's Birthday

Tim enjoys a slab of birthday cake

Tim's birthday was a resounding success this year...well almost. He had chosen to go to one of the Mexican restaurants for a dinner with the family. However, when we investigated and tried to book a table for our group, they weren't open when we needed to go. The venue quickly changed to Boston Pizza, a good second choice because it is so child friendly, and of course, with Tim behaving the way he usually does, we need to go someplace like that! Take a peek below



Tim plays the clown for his children Charlotte and Oliver.

Ben, Josée, Andi, Jo, Cynthia and I also went along for dinner. We had a good time and enjoyed ourselves. We give thanks for being so close to each other, that we can enjoy times like these. Ben had a good time talking to Oliver and Charlotte and you can see two of them enjoying themselves below.

Flooding in B.C

Flooding has taken place here in B.C. due to the heavy rains, snow melt, high tides and very strong south-east winds. This lethal combination has taken its toll on southern Vancouver Island towns. In the Duncan area and the Cowichan Valley, over 300 families were evacuated as the rivers burst their banks and water poured into homes in the flood plain. Here in the Comox Valley, we have also experienced some flooding. Some homes close to rivers have been damaged and families evacuated. However, this hasn't happened at the same scale as in the south. Personally, we have been fortunate with no water damage. Best wishes to all who read this.

Trip to Europe

On Nov. 05.-2009 Cynthia and I returned to Canada from a three week vacation in Europe. We were there with our Welsh friends the Byles and Davies families.
The first week was spent in the north of the island of Mallorca, in a town called Alcudia. The area was very pleasant and the weather good enough for us to wear tee shirts and shorts. On one day we rented a seven passenger vehicle and drove south to Palma, the largest city on the island. In the picture above you can see the other five standing outside the magnificent cathedral of the city. We also enjoyed wandering the many squares and narrow streets, stopping to watch and listen to the street artists in those places.
We returned to Wales via Bristol airport after one week. We had two nights with Barrie and Pat Davies. On one one of those nights we met some friends from our childhood at a neighbouring pub. They drove down from Manchester area to see us. We had not seen each other for over 40 years. That was a good occasion.

From Abergavenny, we were driven north to Rugby by Cynthia's sister Janet and her husband Alex Frankl. They met us at The Bell Pub in Skenfrith just outside Abergavenny. Barrie and Pat took us there and then left us in the care of the Frankls. Below you see us enjoying coffee on the pub terrace after a fine lunch.

Our four nights with Janet and Alex were great. they treated us like royalty. One day we went for lunch in Coventry and then on into the city to attend a matinée of a play by a French playwrite. It was called Babylone,at the Belgrade theatre, and was an amazing event to watch as two male characters held us spellbound for 75 minutes.
Eventually Janet and Alex drove us south to Bicester (say Bister) to meet Janet and Michael Raynor, friends of ours for many years. Once the handover was complete, the Frankls went to do some shopping while we and the Raynors had a coffee before heading back to their home in the village of Cuddesdon, which is outside the town of Wheatley, which in turn is outside the city of Oxford. Phew! Still with me? While we were with Janet and Michael, their daughter Caitlin, her partner Michael and their baby Edith came to stay overnight too. Below you see Cynthia with Janet and toddler Edith.

We saw a production of a local play while we were there. We also spent some quality chat time with the Raynors before, after three more nights, they handed us on to our next hosts. The Raynors drove us to London, to Trafalgar Square and guided us in the direction of the National Gallery. In the Sainsbury Gallery, we saw an amazing exhibit called The Sacred Made Real
(If you click on the link, a full explanation of the exhibit can be read on the National Gallery's website.) They also took us to the Portrait Gallery which was also an eye-opener for us. In the afternoon, the Raynors kindly drove us to our last stop before returning to Canada...the home of our cousins Julia and Roger Hussey who live in Shirley, Surrey, south of the city of London.
The first evening we spent with Julia and Roger was a quiet one, but much appreciated by us. Julia had been working hard, so she enjoyed coming home and spending an evening chatting over a glass or two of wine. Roger was preparing us for the next day, when he would take us up to London in his black hackney cab. That day came and off we went. We went specifically to see the Churchill Exhibit and Cabinet War Rooms

This was a new experience for all three of us as Roger had not been either. It added to his already vast knowledge of the city of London and its history. As Roger had taken us in the cab, by law he was required to leave his meter running. When we got home to his house that afternoon, our fare would have been £210.
One afternoon Roger and a friend Dennis and I, drove over to a local public golf course and had a very pleasant nine holes. None of us played brilliantly, but the weather was gorgeous and the company excellent, so what more could one ask for?


Our last evening with the Husseys was a pub night with them and their friends. We all went out for dinner at The Railway, one of their locals. Below you see our group in the pub. They are a great group and the whole lot have marvellous times together.

Finally we caught the plane back on Nov. 05th and Ben met us at the ferry in Nanaimo. It had been a grand time, but we were also pleased to get our heads down in our own home. Thanks to all who made our trip such an enjoyable one.

Bill Ross (Poppa)

On October 15th 2009, Bill Ross died. Not only was Bill a long time friend, but he was father to Andi and father-in-law to Tim, our son. Our friendship with Bill had been a long one, mostly established through our teaching careers. Bill was a much loved and respected teacher in the valley, so our lives crossed from time to time as we met at various workshops, professional days and teacher meetings.
When Andi and Tim married, another link between our families was established. Even though we didn't meet regularly, we saw Bill and Jo at times mutual to both families. We shared the birthdays of our grandchildren Charlotte and Oliver, we saw each other at Christmas and also on the other occasions when family ties drew us together.
Charlotte and Oliver loved Poppa and he always held a special place in both their hearts. Charlotte now has a preserved puffer fish left to her by Poppa, and I am sure that every time she sees her fish, she will think of the wonderful man who left it for her. Poppa will be much missed by all the Ross and Stubbs family, and we will miss him too.

Martin Moves Muck

Last weekend was a pretty exciting one for me and one which took me back to my childhood days in Wales when our gang would build roads in the dirt and drive our Dinky toys over them. Ben had been using an excavator, loaned to him by a friend, to put a drainage ditch down the length of his property. He also needed some help in moving earth from one place to another so it could be screened for topsoil. I was able to try out the excavator, which was great fun, and then use his tractor to move earth after Ben had excavated it. Wow! It was one of the most enjoyable periods of time I've had for a good while. You can see some pics below. We moved a lot of muck!

Charlotte Goes To Kindergarten

This past week was a great one for Charlotte and a hectic one for her family. Tim and Andi took her to meet the teacher (or is it creature?) during a half hour time slot one day. Next came a half class visit followed by a session with the full class. In the remaining days, she went full time and loved the whole thing. In fact, on one of the first half days she came home and asked her Mum why they couldn't be full days. "Is that all there is?", she asked, or words to that effect. Reminds me of the first kindergarten day of someone else in our family. (I won't mention his name otherwise Ben might be unhappy). He came home at the end of his first day in KGTN. When asked how things had gone he replied, "O fine, but I'm not going back tomorrow" When we asked why not he said, "You told me I would learn to read when I went to school and I didn't!"
Charlotte had a great time. We look forward to supporting her in this new phase of her life. Love to all you out there who read this.

Driveway repair-Friday-Sept. 04-2009

Removing the concrete and asphalt.
Today we began work repairing the driveway to our house. Reason for repair...roots from adjacent trees had lifted sections of the concrete and asphalt. Ben brought over his tractor, Tim appeared with his buddy Wayne and I gave a hand too. We began work at 08.30 and by 11.30 we had lifted all the concrete and asphalt. We created a large pile outside the house and on the roadside. Next came the removal of the roots, some of which were as thick as my upper leg and taller than me. In the afternoon we ordered some gravel as a base which was trucked in and spread using Ben's tractor. When that was done, we ordered another load of blue chip gravel to go on top of the first roadway gravel. It packs down more and will firm up the top surface. We spread that too with the tractor. Now all that remains to be done is to remove the waste. Here are some pictures of the process.

 

Preparing the drive

Some of the roots

Size of roots compared to garden gnome

Cleared drive awaiting gravel

Top load of gravel to be spread

Cheerleaders: Oliver in Grandma's jacket, and Erica, Wayne's daughter

International Sand Sculpting Contest at Parksville

Today, Cynthia and I took Jean and Ron to Parksville, which is a 45 minute drive south of us. We went to see the completed sculptures in the International sand sculpting contest which happens this time each year in Parksville. 15 individuals and 3 teams entered this year from various parts of the world. They were given 24 hours to build their pieces over 3 days. Many of the pieces included items about the upcoming 2010 Olympics. We spent about an hour looking at them and then went to have some lunch before returning home to Comox. It was a great day out.
Below you can see a few more of the sculptures.


To view all 31 pictures I took, check out the slideshow at the end of the post, or click the link below to view them on-line..
Sand Sculpture Album

The R.C.M.P. Musical Ride

 

Last Friday, August 14th, the R.C.M.P. Musical Ride came back to town after an absence of about twenty years. Cynthia got tickets for herself and Charlotte, but Charlotte's other grandmother Jo (GJo for short) managed to get some more free ones from her place of employment. Cynthia, Charlotte, Andi and I went to the fairgrounds in Andi's van and met Gjo and other rellies there. One of the highlights of the day for the family was Charlotte's great grandma LIz taking the salute from the R.C.M.P. officer in charge. Above you can see her waiting for that to happen. Below you can see it happening.

Charlotte had a great time as we all did. Below you can see a picture of GJo holding Charlotte up to pet one of the horses.

To view all pictures in an on-line album click here
Check out the slide-show below

Andrew, Sian and Lauren visit from the U.K. July 2009.

 

For quite a few of my growing up years I worked alongside my Dad, his brothers and my Grandfather on the family milk delivery round. When I left home and became a teacher, that was left behind. However, someone else came along to take my place on the van. His name was Andrew Jones, and he lived oppostie my parents' home in Wales. Andrew is about 15 years younger than me. He worked with my relatives for a good number of years. My father came to love him like a son and Andrew loved my father. Earlier this month, Andrew, who is now working with Barclays Bank in the UK, brought his wife Sian ad daughter Lauren to B.C. for a visit to the province. On one of their days, they took the time and trouble to rent a car and come and see us on Vancouver Island. They wouldn't stay with us or even have a meal with us. They "did not want to impose on us"...Andrew's words. Some imposition that would have been! Anyway, we had a marvellous couple of hours with them before they headed south on the island to see Victoria before heading back to Vancouver, and on to Toronto to complete their time in Canada. We enjoyed our time with them, and Andrew promised to come back again in the future and spend much longer on the island and with us. We look forward to that immensely. Blessings to all who read this.
Martin

Walking Group

 

This morning, Tuesday July 28-2009, was the first time I'd been able to join a walking group that's been going for quite a while now. The group is comprised of men who had something to do with the school system here in Comox Valley. Most of us have been long time friends and have known each othe for a very long time. Many of us have been involved with others in different venues such as recreational sports. All of us are retired and loving it. One of the many good things about this group is that it enables us to keep in touch with each other, to the degree that we wish to be involved. The group meets each weekday morning at 08:20 and begins the walk at 08:25. Following a quick route march around the Airport circuit here in the valley , we all head for coffee at one of the nearby coffeee places. A good social time follows and a lot of BS is in the air, that's for sure. I am going to get there each Tusday and Friday morning that I am able to do so. All the best to those who read this....Martin

David and Carol Mills. Visit: July 2009

 

The photo in this post is of our son Tim and our family friend David Mills of Duncan.

Our family has known David for well over 25 years. David used to be the parish priest on Cortes Island where he also drove the garbage pick up truck. When he attended clergy meetings in Victoria he would break his journey with us on his way down island and on the return. Sometime after we knew him, he became very ill and needed a heart transplant. He received that surgery 24 years ago, when he was in his fifties, and is now the oldest surviving heart recipient on Vancouver Island.

Our son Tim needed heart transplant surgery in 1999, so is approaching 10 years post transplant on July 31/Aug 01 of this year. (The surgery went through the midnight hour!). David was a mentor for Tim as Tim approached surgery, just as Tim has helped heart recipients after his surgery.

David and his wife Carol were passing through the valley and decided to stay with my wife and I for a night. We took them to Comox Lake where Tim, his wife Andi and two children Charlotte and Oliver were camping. It was a very pleasant re-union all round.

Many thanks to all in the Comox Valley, and to those world-wide who have signed up on organ donor registries. It's because of donors like you that David and Tim have been able to live normal lives and share moments such as this one.

Best wishes to all,
Martin

Visit To Tsa Kwa Luten lodge on Quadra Island

On the 23rd. of June Cynthia, Jean, Ron and I visited Tsa-Kwa-Luten lodge on Quadra Island. We had noted a special offer in the paper and decided to take advantage of it. The deal was dinner, an overnight stay and breakfast next morning. We made the 40 minute drive to the ferry in Campbell River and after a 10 minute crossing and a short drive, arrived at the lodge

 

The impressive lobby area at the lodge.

We had a wonderful dinner that night. Just as we finished our meal, the Sea Princess, one of the Princess Cruise line ships came sailing past the dining room window.

We had a fine breakfast next morning. We left the lodge in time to get the 11.00 ferry back to Campbell River. As the weather had turned sour, we decided we'd high tail it for home. It had been a very good break.
If you wish to see a slide show of 19 shots of the lodge, scroll down below.

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Roger and Faye Hamson Come to Dinner

On June 16th, Faye, Ron's niece, and her husband Roger Hamson came to visit us . They had been on an Alaskan cruise and after returning to Vancouver they came up island for a two night visit to the Comox area. On the night of the 16th, they joined us for dinner, along with Jean and Ron. A good time was had by all and the evening enabled Ron and Faye in particular to catch up on lots of things.

 

The Golf Ball and The Radish (June 2009)

A few days ago we were visiting Ben, Josée and Lise at their Knight road property. Ben and Josée had put in a veggie garden a few weeks ago and were so excited that some of the crops were now available to them. The radish were among the ones that were ready to be picked. When Josée picked some of them, we were amazed at what we saw. This was just one of the giant veggies we got from that picking. I thought I'd put the golf ball by it so you could check the scale. God knows what the melons will be like!!