Quiet time

Not much is happening so far.  I knew, what with winter, snow and rain, it wouldn't be an exciting holiday like the one in Italy, but I am always happy with a change of scenery and it's still early days.

Dianne isn't feeling well, so she likes to stay indoors.  I, however, had to turn down the heating in the bedroom and open the windows at night, and went for a walk this afternoon.  I just can't be cooped up in a house without fresh air for too long.

I love the the crispiness of the air around and when it stops raining it's not bad at all.

I have taken a few photo's from around and inside the house, just to show something today:

Walking up the driveway

Another very attentive person!

A planter with bonsai(?) along the driveway

The gates to the property

The snow nearly gone now

The porch with the carport on the right

The car I'm driving - Nissan Xterra, couldn't be any bigger!

Working on my laptop at the breakfast bar

The lounge area next to the breakfast bar

The kitchen on the other side

The living/dining room

My bedroom (Dianne's is downstairs, with her own bathroom)

The heater in the bedroom

The ensuite

It's a nice house, and when you know that I have now seen all kinds of different houses, old and new, small and big, you may also know that to me it's not the most important thing of my travels.  Living as a local and enjoying new surroundings is my big thing. Comfort is great, but all I really wish is more than one (!) comfortable chair if I am not alone in the house.  (You may remember Frank's and my adventure in France...)

Later in the afternoon I wanted to go for a walk and as there is a geocache hidden just about 300m from the house I decided to head that way.  I wasn't lucky though.  I needed to find a 'queen', which I did, but the actual container eluded me.  Never mind, I had my walk in the crisp afternoon air and that was all I needed. (Reminder for myself: cache name is B08 Queen of The Wood)

The 'queen' (it's actually the top of the tall stump in the middle, carved like a chess piece)

Walking back

All properties are on acreage here

Lantzville - Canada

In February last year I received a request for a house exchange in Canada for the following year February.  It was on a sultry hot day and I did not need to think about it: Yes!

And February 2017 was hot again, so I was very happy to pack my bags and leave the mugginess behind me.  As I was told by a good friend in Powell River, BC that it had started snowing I wanted to go well prepared, so I bought a pair of hiking boots in case I needed to barge through the snow.  I was still in possession of all other winter clothes from our house exchange in France, where we saw lots of snow as well.  No worries! :-)

I'm ready!

On the 12th of February I picked up Lorana and Juergen at the airport and we spend a day together to get to know each other and to get them settled.  On the morning of the 13th they dropped me off at a very early hour for my trip to Lantzville, via Seoul and Vancouver.

I was to meet Dianne (remember Italy?) in Nanaimo and together we were going to be picked up by Lorana's friend Cathy who would drop us of at our address for the next three weeks.

For those who follow me on facebook, you will probably see some pictures repeated, but there will always be others, because I won't publish very often on fb.

I had five hourse to kill at Vancouver airport, so plenty of time to take a few pictures:

Snow tops in the distance

My plane in the distance on its return trip to Seoul

Sunset over Vancouver Island

Dianne didn't have to come from far as she had been travelling in the States, but had a bit of bad luck with the cancellation of her flight to Toronto.  She had arrived just after midnight from Seatle instead and spend the night in Vancouver.  Later she took the ferry to Nanaimo where we met up.

I was pretty tired from my trip, having left in the early hours of the morning, so I was happy to just find my bed and close my eyes.

The next morning started with a few rays of sun on the snow in the backyard, which I was lucky to catch. It didn't last though. It looks a bit purple, but that was actually the reflection of the sun on the clouds in the sky: a bit like purple.

There is a bird feeder with nectar just outside the kitchen window which attracts the rubythroated hummingbirds. We see them all day long.

And a day later a young deer walked into the yard when we were lucky to be looking outside.

So far we haven't done a lot.  We're just happy to hang around the house mostly.  Dianne found a nice spot where she can work on her family tree, and I did the same and have been mainly updating my blog.  In between I have only tried out the car, which is a huge Nissan Xterra, and we have been groceries shopping twice.  Love my breakfast: bagels with whipped cream cheese.  To die for.  I used to have them every morning when we were in Hamburg, NY and was so glad I found them here too!

Yummie breakfast! Don't worry, the milk and fruit are healthy. ;-)

And last but not least, so far, we have found one cache!  And where else than in the Walmart carpark!

Keep on Rockin' Me

We don't have a lot of plans yet, so I don't know what's in store for the rest of our stay.  You'll find out soon enough..... ;-)

Meanwhile back home...

January 2017

I don't longer maintain my old blog, and this one should really be for travelling only, but... I am going to make an exception and show what I have done between travels.

A while back I had planned to change my furniture and have a lighter and brighter outlook.  I had to wait for IKEA to open its doors on the northside of Brisbane though, but when that finally happened my dream came true!

For years I have lived with my parents' furniture, with great pleasure I may add, because I always liked my childhood home, but it was finally time for a big change. For those who haven't been able to visit before, this is what it used to look like (and that not even quite, as I had lots more funiture in the room since those pictures were taken, including a large bookcase):

 

Thanks to Stephen and Kevin (and friend Patricia!) I got this done in no time, because as you know, IKEA furniture comes in flat packs and there is a LOT of work to do before it's all been put together.  Stephen helped with lugging some old funiture around, and with shopping and with trying out the lovely Swedish meatballs. :-)

Kevin stayed overnight and helped me put most of the furniture together, and Patricia, when she came to stay with me for a few nights, helped me shopping too! ;-)

We got the room down to this:

Then we started to work:

And this is how that goes:

blister prevention!

Et voila!

And here's the New Look.  I have kept a few pieces that I am too attached to, so managed to combine the old with the new.  The only thing left is removing that picture on the wall and get a new colourful one.  It's all planned.  I just need time and patience! (and lots of money, and a plane ticket to the Netherlands....) ;-)

the brown bookcase is gone now and has been replaced by the two red ones

 And that's it.  My next update will come from.... Canada!