It's been a long time since I've posted, and for that I do apologize. My life has been so busy, but the end of school is now in sight - at long last! If all goes well, I'll graduate during the first week of June :) It's been a long haul - this is the fourth spring term for me and I'm feeling a little burnt out at this point. Fortunately, I've only been taking one course as well as working with a supervisor to arrange my final practicum. Even so, there has been a lot of work.
In other news, Sean and I took two mini vacations late last summer/early fall. The first was a camping trip to Lightning Lake in Manning Park - about 3 hours east of Vancouver. We hiked, biked and enjoyed campfires - even met up with some friends who had been camping nearby and decided to spend the night at the same campground we were at. The weather was a little cool, but we were snug in the camper every night and only got rained on a little. In late September we drove north of here to the West Coast Wilderness Lodge in Egmont, so celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. Again, we went hiking and visited the museum in Egmont, which is fascinating, and ate lots and lots of lovely food.
Christmas was a noisy affair - lots of family and we enjoyed watching our young nephews run and play. We also spent New Year's Eve with the family up at Whistler, which was a lovely treat. Along more mundane lines, I'm continuing to work two days a week at the Sechelt Library, a job I continue to love. There's always something new to learn and it's wonderful to part of such an important community service.
That's about it for now. Once school is done, I hope to resume a more regular blogging schedule as I resume my writing and hopefully, my reviewing.
Teresa
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Where did the summer go?
I can't believe we're down to the last official weeks of summer! Granted, here on the BC Coast, the weather didn't even get decent till the first full week of July and I was in school from May till early August, but still...
Regardless, we had a wonderful season :) In May, Sean and I took our camper to Harrison Hot Springs in the Fraser Valley and had a fantastic time, despite a flat tire on the truck and getting lost on a muddy trail.
One of the highlights of the summer on the Coast was the presence of a grey whale that fed up and down the coastline from Roberts Creek to Halfmoon Bay. Sean and I just happened to be down for a sunset walk at Davis Bay on one of the evenings it was very close to the beach. Fortunately I had my camera, and snapped this pic of it!
Other nature encounters included the bear and a heron. I'm particularly pleased with the photo of the heron on wing:
Soon after finishing my English lit course (which was fantastic), my sister and her family came to stay - we had a busy but fun 10 days together:
Meanwhile, I'm still working at the library - in fact, in May I officially became a part-time employee :) Up until then, I'd been a Casual. I still love my job and love being able to apply the things I'm learning about in school.
Finally, the cats continue to be their happy-go-lucky selves - running around, playing, snoozing and generally enjoying the life of Riley.
On Tuesday I started school again and it's going to be a busy term! One of the courses is a cataloguing one and the other is about the history of libraries (yeah, that one's really tough to take!) I'll try to pop in again at least once or twice before Christmas...
Teresa
Currently Reading: Solo by Jill Mansell
Regardless, we had a wonderful season :) In May, Sean and I took our camper to Harrison Hot Springs in the Fraser Valley and had a fantastic time, despite a flat tire on the truck and getting lost on a muddy trail.
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| Cheam Peak |
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| Camper in situ |
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| Harrison Lake |
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| Clematis in bloom |
One of the highlights of the summer on the Coast was the presence of a grey whale that fed up and down the coastline from Roberts Creek to Halfmoon Bay. Sean and I just happened to be down for a sunset walk at Davis Bay on one of the evenings it was very close to the beach. Fortunately I had my camera, and snapped this pic of it!
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| Whale at Davis Bay |
Other nature encounters included the bear and a heron. I'm particularly pleased with the photo of the heron on wing:
 |
| Bear on an early morning vist |
 | ||
| heron |
Soon after finishing my English lit course (which was fantastic), my sister and her family came to stay - we had a busy but fun 10 days together:
 |
| the gang out at Smuggler Cove |
Meanwhile, I'm still working at the library - in fact, in May I officially became a part-time employee :) Up until then, I'd been a Casual. I still love my job and love being able to apply the things I'm learning about in school.
Finally, the cats continue to be their happy-go-lucky selves - running around, playing, snoozing and generally enjoying the life of Riley.
 |
| Chloe and Cleo enjoying the sun in the living room |
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| Chloe and Cleo enjoying a post-dinner snooze in the spare room |
On Tuesday I started school again and it's going to be a busy term! One of the courses is a cataloguing one and the other is about the history of libraries (yeah, that one's really tough to take!) I'll try to pop in again at least once or twice before Christmas...
Teresa
Currently Reading: Solo by Jill Mansell
Monday, August 11, 2008
Where I've been and what I've been doing...
As some of you may have noticed, I've been AWOL for just over a week. Sean and I went camping at the northern tip of Vancouver Island for a few days, then entertained guests upon our return followed by a visit with family.
View Larger Map
This has been my first chance to post and I spent much of my day adding photos to the blog posts I typed on Alphie while we were on the road. You can read the results over at my Windshield Chronicles blog:
Day 1
Day 2
Days 3&4
If you'd rather just look at the photos without my running commentary, have a look at my Best of North Island Trip album on Picasaweb.
I still have much to catch up on, so it may be a couple of days before I post again.
Teresa
Currently Reading: The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch
Link of the Day: Northern Vancouver Island travel directory
View Larger Map
This has been my first chance to post and I spent much of my day adding photos to the blog posts I typed on Alphie while we were on the road. You can read the results over at my Windshield Chronicles blog:
Day 1
Day 2
Days 3&4
If you'd rather just look at the photos without my running commentary, have a look at my Best of North Island Trip album on Picasaweb.
I still have much to catch up on, so it may be a couple of days before I post again.
Teresa
Currently Reading: The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch
Link of the Day: Northern Vancouver Island travel directory
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Weekend bliss...
We spent half the weekend with our camper over at the house site. By noon Saturday we were ensconced:
and after a bit of lunch, we headed out to build our official fire pit. Of course, it took me a while to figure out where to put it and after some input from Sean, we finally picked a nice spot. Fortunately, we have lots of rock over there, so it wasn't too difficult to find the raw materials.
After an hour or so of lifting and rolling, we had everything in place. Sean fetched some smaller stones to line the circle with and I arranged some smaller rocks between cracks to make sure none of the bigger ones would be dislodged. Then we moved our bench/picnic table (it folds and unfolds) and chairs into position. Here's the result:
We can see it from the living room too:
Now it was a warmish day, so we celebrated our hard work with a beer each and some salt and vinegar chips before heading back to the big house to watch the hockey game. The Sens showed what they're made of and came from behind to win the game :) Go Sens Go!!!
With that excitement behind us, we walked "home" and laid match to flame for our inaugural fire:
My in-laws joined us and we chatted, roasted marshmallows and listened to the birds and frogs. After they left, Sean and I stayed out for at least another hour:
This morning I was awake early and decided to document the way the sun moves across the property at this time of year - fortunately it was a perfect morning - warm and sunny.
The fire pit just past 6 am - it's the last place to lose the light in the evening and the first to get it back in the morning:
Here's the house, also just past 6 am:
This shot was taken just a few minutes later:
Sun on the basement stairs:
After all that hard work with the camera *g*, I fetched coffee and a chair before settling into the eating nook in the kitchen:
Talk about bliss - the birdsong was about the only sound I heard as I watched the sun continue its ascent - here's the driveway around 7:25 am:
Around 8:30 I discovered my woodland garden gets far more sun than I'd ever imagined - at least early in the morning at this time of the year:
Soon after that, I walked over to our little cabin to check on the cats and give them some food. As Sean wanted to putter on the site, I had a quiet walk, well, except for my little bear bell ringing in my hand *g*.
By the time I'd satisfied the needs of the beasts and retraced my steps, I found Sean had built a platform for the firewood and stacked it for me:
If you're planning a visit, know that early June in the sun is a good time - by around 10 am the deck will be just perfect to sit and sip coffee, tea or another beverage of your choice:
We puttered some more, then headed home so Sean could play in his regular ball hockey game. Hopefully within a couple of months, we'll be there permanently. But for now, we're enjoying our moments of bliss as our dream slowly takes shape.
Teresa
and after a bit of lunch, we headed out to build our official fire pit. Of course, it took me a while to figure out where to put it and after some input from Sean, we finally picked a nice spot. Fortunately, we have lots of rock over there, so it wasn't too difficult to find the raw materials.
After an hour or so of lifting and rolling, we had everything in place. Sean fetched some smaller stones to line the circle with and I arranged some smaller rocks between cracks to make sure none of the bigger ones would be dislodged. Then we moved our bench/picnic table (it folds and unfolds) and chairs into position. Here's the result:
We can see it from the living room too:
Now it was a warmish day, so we celebrated our hard work with a beer each and some salt and vinegar chips before heading back to the big house to watch the hockey game. The Sens showed what they're made of and came from behind to win the game :) Go Sens Go!!!
With that excitement behind us, we walked "home" and laid match to flame for our inaugural fire:
My in-laws joined us and we chatted, roasted marshmallows and listened to the birds and frogs. After they left, Sean and I stayed out for at least another hour:
This morning I was awake early and decided to document the way the sun moves across the property at this time of year - fortunately it was a perfect morning - warm and sunny.
The fire pit just past 6 am - it's the last place to lose the light in the evening and the first to get it back in the morning:
Here's the house, also just past 6 am:
This shot was taken just a few minutes later:
Sun on the basement stairs:
After all that hard work with the camera *g*, I fetched coffee and a chair before settling into the eating nook in the kitchen:
Talk about bliss - the birdsong was about the only sound I heard as I watched the sun continue its ascent - here's the driveway around 7:25 am:
Around 8:30 I discovered my woodland garden gets far more sun than I'd ever imagined - at least early in the morning at this time of the year:
Soon after that, I walked over to our little cabin to check on the cats and give them some food. As Sean wanted to putter on the site, I had a quiet walk, well, except for my little bear bell ringing in my hand *g*.
By the time I'd satisfied the needs of the beasts and retraced my steps, I found Sean had built a platform for the firewood and stacked it for me:
If you're planning a visit, know that early June in the sun is a good time - by around 10 am the deck will be just perfect to sit and sip coffee, tea or another beverage of your choice:
We puttered some more, then headed home so Sean could play in his regular ball hockey game. Hopefully within a couple of months, we'll be there permanently. But for now, we're enjoying our moments of bliss as our dream slowly takes shape.
Teresa
Monday, April 16, 2007
Life goals vs. story goals...
I've been struggling with this over the last few weeks and think it's part of the problem I'm having with my characters. GMC has always formed a big part of my story planning, yet with this story in particular, I'm finding my hero and heroine have life goals AND story goals. So which one is paramount? When working with GMC, we ask "What does he/she want?", then have them work towards it. My characters want one thing overall in life, and another for this story in particular. Are they truly divergent?
There is no doubt that one informs the other, yet I don't see the life goal as being an internal one, per se. That was my first thought, but I it didn't follow through when I examined it more carefully.
Am I making too much of this? Over-analyzing? Should I just include both and work with the story goal first and life goal second?
Any insight into this is most welcome :)
Other than that, more progress on the house has been made. The footings were poured last week, the electrical shed now has a roof on it (as of this afternoon) and we spent Saturday night at the site in our camper. And both the Senators and Canucks are up 2 games to 1 in their respective playoff series!!!
Oh, and I've been noodling about with another story idea, one that might, in the end prove a tad easier to sell as it's set in England rather than France - though it still takes place in 1793, a decidedly unusual time period.
Tomorrow I'll relate a cute Cleo story, complete with photos.
Last, but not least, my heart goes out to the relatives and friends of those who lost loved ones today in Virginia.
Teresa
Currently Reading: Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
Link of the Day: PageFour Notebook - updated version
There is no doubt that one informs the other, yet I don't see the life goal as being an internal one, per se. That was my first thought, but I it didn't follow through when I examined it more carefully.
Am I making too much of this? Over-analyzing? Should I just include both and work with the story goal first and life goal second?
Any insight into this is most welcome :)
Other than that, more progress on the house has been made. The footings were poured last week, the electrical shed now has a roof on it (as of this afternoon) and we spent Saturday night at the site in our camper. And both the Senators and Canucks are up 2 games to 1 in their respective playoff series!!!
Oh, and I've been noodling about with another story idea, one that might, in the end prove a tad easier to sell as it's set in England rather than France - though it still takes place in 1793, a decidedly unusual time period.
Tomorrow I'll relate a cute Cleo story, complete with photos.
Last, but not least, my heart goes out to the relatives and friends of those who lost loved ones today in Virginia.
Teresa
Currently Reading: Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
Link of the Day: PageFour Notebook - updated version
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