Reading away

I think I have read more books during the past two years than during the 40 years before that. Loving it especially during a cold evening with the fireplace on.....

Opa Vandenboom loves his new Christmas lights, purchased and hung up by his loving daughter Mary. Last weekend Joe, Marcy and Spencer were in Niagara to cheer on Wil who was playing a hockey tournament in Thorold. It was nice to see a few of his games. It looks already so long ago we watched Hilary and Mark in those arenas. Wil's team won the tournament....

My sister Hanneke send me this photo: March 1944, Jo Nolle en Nel Leverman get married at age 24 and during the last year of the Second World War. Later that year my sister Gerrie was born, and she sent me recently a photo with her kids....

And Gerrie's youngest, Berrie, with his family in the mountains of Switzerland. New generations growing up in a world shocked by the COVID pandemic and all the fallout and confusion. It is not always easy to stay optimistic, but then again - it is the only way to go. Soon we will be in 2022...

Change of chairs

Because both Mary and I live the life of retirement luxury, we felt we deserved two new comfort chairs. Our old ones - which served us well for some 20 years - went out, and Mary found us two very nice new ones. Today they were delivered. The old ones were picked up within two hours after we put them on the side of the street. Hopefully they will still find some good use somewhere....

Swimming in the Y

I have been swimming lanes in our local YMCA for the past ten years. That routine had to stop during the past two years because of the COVID pandemic when the Y closed. Mary started the swimming routine a few months ago when the Y again partially opened. This week I joined her and it is very nice to be back in the pool. Feels good for the body and mind...

Back in Fonthill

Back in Niagara after four weeks of driving to Vancouver and having a nice visit there. Yesterday walked over to the retirement home of Opa Vandenboom to tell him the travel stories.
 

Granville

Today - my last day in Vancouver this trip - Hilary organized a vitamin infusion for me. The clinic is located not far from Granville. It was a nice stroll for the last day in town....

 

Downtown Vancouver

 

This afternoon I took a ride on the Sea Boat Ferry to downtown where I met up with Ben for a walk to Stanley Park and with Hilary for a bite to eat after her work.

CRV in hibernation

Our good old Honda CRV is going to sleep for 6-7 months. It performed so well during the almost 4,000 kilometers out West. I decided to make the trip back next Spring, probably in May. Shayd has an old high school friend from New Zealand living just north of Whistler, and Steve offered space for parking the CRV. He lives in a big house which is rented out half to forest workers, while also offering space for a workshop of his small electrical and construction company.

A view of the back of the house with the new deck Shayd and Steve built recently.

On the way to Whistler, we had a nice late breakfast. Despite the fact that it was a rainy day, we stayed warm and comfortable at our table near the outside fireplace...

Friday morning I said goodbye to Tom and Karen where I spent a night at their house just outside of Victoria. They made a Portuguese meal on Thursday night and we talked for hours at their dining table.

From Victoria I took another ferry to Tsawwassen where I stayed the night with Val and Steve. Their house has a gorgeous view over the ocean, and you can in the distance see the ferry landing place.

One of the friends of Mary's old windsurfers group, Anne, stayed overnight as well, on her way to Sidney on Vancouver Island where she has a nice sailing boat with her husband.