Busy week - equally busy weekend!

White Rock beach - British Columbia

It has been a very busy week.  We had several appointments to take in, some home improvement projects, and, the most exciting of all, the arrival of our kids for the weekend.

Installed the new glass shower door in master bathroom.

We bought this shower door @ Lowe's in Bellingham, WA.  Thursday was the day for the install.  It went well but with 35 pages of directions, it took reading each page twice to avoid making serious mistakes.

Jeanette managed to get some of her pots planted and positioned in strategic locations around the house.

We had the pond and sprinkler system tech come over to teach us the ropes on this system.  We now have everything operating as it should, including the pond.

With some long delayed heat, the flowers have finally decided to bloom.

All of this work was waiting to be completed.  It felt good to complete the indoor and outdoor projects before our kids arrived for the weekend.

Following an early evening flight into Abbotsford Airport from Edmonton, Alberta, we prepared a salmon bar-b-q, rich desert and we celebrated a belated birthday and father's day for dad.

Deni, mom and Courtney.

Deni and Courtney left for her friend's home in Surrey to change and prepare to attend a friend's wedding.  Ginette and Trevor were attending the same wedding.

Mom hugging son, Deni.

Me, daughter Ginette and son-in-law, Trevor.

They were all dressed up and soon to leave for the wedding.  The kids were staying with other family and friends on Saturday night so Jeanette and I had the house to ourselves again, following the Friday night sleepover with all six of us in the house.  Felt nice to have a busy house again.

A beautiful and warm Sunday morning had us on the motorcycle heading to Fort Langley for breakfast.

 We rode along the Fraser River for several kilometres and this river is the highest it has ever been - according to all of those who were gawking at how high it had risen.  One long time resident of the Fort made clear that he had never witnessed a river so high in all of his years here.  Not for us to argue!!!

The photos tell a true story though.  Look at how high the river is to this bridge deck.  Yikes!!!

Zoomed in to these north shore mountains.

 We were early but there were several boaters on the river, including some wave runners.

 This made for an interesting shot.  These are float planes that can land on the river or on the runway.  We could not get a decent photo of it but there was a small private jet on one of the ramps along the runway.

At one of the regional parks in the eastern Fraser Valley.

This tree is soon to erode with the high water and likely fall into the river.

Two to three more feet of height and the park we were standing in would be washed out.

Some boaters who enjoyed powering up stream - shutting down - and slipping downstream with the current.  This boat did this twice while we were on the river bank.  They were clearly enjoying the nice temperatures.

Ginette enjoying a few hours of sun bathing in our back yard before the Sunday evening flight back to Edmonton.

Jeanette exchanging banter with our daughter.

Ginette, Jeanette and Trevor exchanging good bye hugs at the airport.

Ginette and Trevor returned to our home on Sunday mid-afternoon.  We  all took advantage to sit outdoors and visit.   A few hours later we enjoyed some wonderful baked chicken breast dinner that Jeanette had prepared. That done, it was soon off to the airport for their return flight to Edmonton.

Entering the airport

Jeanette and I waved our good byes - as did they - and we drove back home.  Deni and Courtney are spending this evening with Courtney's mom and brother.  Courtney had driven out from Edmonton mid week.  Deni flew in with Ginette an Trevor.  Deni and Courtney will leave early Monday morning for the return drive back to Edmonton.

There you have it!  That was how we lived our lives these past five days.

Thanks for dropping by.

One last shot from our Sunday morning ride.

Trail Hike and a Paint Job.

Parked at the trail head

Based on my previous  hike through one of Langley's many trails, the other day, Jeanette wished to hike the same trail.  After an early dinner last night, we headed off to the trail head.

Entrance to this trail.

It was a decent day but not overly warm....certainly not the typical summer weather we expect at this time of the year.  It was evening so I put on a sweat top and Jeanette took a jacket along.

Part way up the trail, Jeanette found the two chairs I featured on the previous blog. She sat long enough for this photo.  We pressed onwards.

Jeanette commented on how nice this trail was.  I did not see any wildlife on my earlier walk but we saw several rabbits and a couple of deer on this walk.

There is an abundance of these rabbits.  They are everywhere.

Tough to photograph from a distance....and in a deep and dark thicket.

Walking ahead, I'm waiting while Jeanette took this photo.

Just loved the way the sun beamed through between the large cedar trees.

We continued along - well into the first hour of the hike - when we spotted this new home being built on a private lake in south Langley.

 Beautiful setting.

I happen to mention how nice this home would be when Jeanette reminded me that we moved to reduce our residential work load.  She's right!  As nice as this place is, it requires a lot of outdoor gardening and general yard maintenance.  This is ideal for a young family or someone who enjoys being a home body.  

As many of you know, the  goal with our move was to buy the freedom of time to roam around more often.  In the spring, summer and early fall months, we enjoy seeing new territory and exploring new countryside in our own country - especially our province of British Columbia.  Our winter priority is to snowbird in the southern US and Mexico.  That said, the lakeside home idea faded very quickly.

Private setting to enjoy reading a book or simply looking out on the private lake,

Jeanette is always keen on discovering plants she is not familiar with.  This walk proved that there are some plants she doesn't yet know or recognize.  More research in the offing, I believe.

Somewhere in this lush greenery is a plant Jeanette could not identify.

We made our way along this road and, following the curve, we headed back eastward towards the trail and our vehicle.

We came along this home in the final throes of construction.  It is a beautiful setting.... but requires a huge undertaking to complete the driveway, sidewalks and landscaping.

When we came out of the trail near our vehicle, as the light of day was fading, we took one more shot of this pastoral farm yard with a well restored 70 year old home.

Two hours after we headed out, we returned to our vehicle and headed back for home.  That was a Sunday evening well spent in the wilds of south Langley.

Monday saw us drive off to Bellingham, WA, to visit Lowes home improvement store.  We have had little success finding a specialty shower door system for our master bath.  Well we found exactly what needed at Lowes......and at a much better price than here in the Langley/Surrey/White Rock, BC, area.  We were thrilled with our find.  Lowes is a favourite home improvement store.  Unlike Home Depot, the service there is second to none and there is always stock on hand.  Price is always much lower than comparable items here on the Canadian south coast.  After lunch at one of our favourite spots along  US I-5, we headed back home. With a good four to five hours remaining in the mid to late afternoon and evening, Jeanette and I put solid colour stain to brushes and spent four hours staining the pergola type privacy wall on our back yard patio. 

A few weeks ago I painted all of the wood trim on our home.

The original trim colour was 'salmon pinkish' like.  That was changed to this grey/pepper colour.

Early on in the project.  The  pergola wall was pressure washed a couple of weeks back.

Jeanette worked the brush on one side.....

.......I worked the other side.

Making progress....but this is tedious work.

Four hours later and both sides are done.

I had the local Home Hardware owner do a colour match and he was able to exact a solid colour stain to match the  melamine paint we used on the trim of the house.

That pretty well colours our last 48 hours.

This week is shaping up to be a busy one.  There are a few home maintenance things to do, a few mid week appointments to fulfill and, later in the week, we welcome our kids and their significant others to our home for the weekend.  All four of them - Deni/Courtney & Ginette/Trevor are flying in to attend a wedding.  We are really looking forward to that.

Wishing you all a wonderful week.  Thanks for dropping by.

A Walk and a Mailbox .....and then more!

The day before yesterday started off with threatening skies....but with mild temperatures.

Jeanette was off to a few appointments and I chose to explore a trail head we had seen that was not far from our home. 

I parked near the entrance.

This unique gate must be to prevent motorized vehicle access.  This is horse country...so, horses are allowed on the numerous trail heads in the area..

Some kind soul left these two chairs about half way through the trail.  Nice spot for a rest.  I kept going though.

About 30 minutes into the hike and I came through the rough trail into an urban/country trail.  With paved roads, the walk got easier.  This is serious horse country and it was really nice to watch the horses meander and feed in their respective patches.

Home made cedar mailbox.

It wasn't long before I noticed the uniqueness of so many mailboxes along the way.  That triggered the idea for this blog. I can't say that I have ever really paid close attention to mailboxes...mainly while driving, but I found them most interesting to look at during my walk.  If you are not into this mailbox blog, fell free to boot off.  I'll understand.

This one appears to have outlived many users.

A really odd one....with a hole in the bottom for drainage.  Seems odd for a west coast type mailbox...considering the moisture we receive here.  Maybe this isn't really a mailbox but I could see no other near the entrance to the acreage.

A more modern recycled plastic type....but really bent out of shape.

This looked like a piece of large water pipe with a welded door and welded back.

A more modern aluminum style with a collage of horses painted on sticky paper.

I'm sure there are many stories with this mail box.  It looked like it faced the wrath of heavy packages over the years.

With the flag up, I gathered it was full of recent mail.  I didn't look in.

This box seemed lonely and unused.

This unique mailbox was placed in front of a beautiful multi-million dollar acreage property and home.  There are other uses for electrical tape.....such a house numbering!  This owner is into recycling.

It seemed as though two neighbours shared a close proximity for their mail box service.

Ultra modern.

The nicest mailbox, in my view.

This type was the most typical of the many I saw on my hike.

This owner keeps a live plant on the back of the post.  Nice touch.

Two hours after I started my walk, I returned to my entry point and headed home.  Only one other couple were on the trail.  It was a fine walk.  I hope you enjoyed the mailbox tour.  I didn't start out with a plan to feature mailboxes but you never know what triggers a blog.

Thanks for dropping by.

Not sure of this one is in use but it did look disheveled...and neglected.