Thanks to everyone who visits my website. I hope that all is well with you and your families.
We are continuing to enjoy life on the acreage in the foothills. On February 7th, I was on my way to Millarville when I came upon the most amazing sight: Between 250-260 elk crossing the highway in front of me. I sat in awe watching and started to count while totally forgetting that my cellphone was beside me and I could have videoed some of this scene! At the very end of the two constant flows of elk, there was a big bull who stopped right in front of my car and met my eyes as if to say, “You can go now.” There have been many reports of this very large elk herd in that area, but to actually see this number of elk streaming across the highway was truly a gift. (Yes, I know the ranchers in the area don't like this large herd as they do eat their hay and in general interfere with their cattle production.)
This seemed to be the year for me to see somewhat unique wildlife happenings as in one day near the end of summer, I saw three sets of does and fawns in the back yard: One doe had three fawns which is quite rare, one doe had two fawns and one doe had one fawn. It appeared that the does had sent around a memo saying today is the day to take the fawns into the buffet in the yard! I didn’t get photos of them either!
We enjoyed visits from several family members and friends this year. It was great to be able to have visitors and to travel once again. We went to Southern California to help celebrate our youngest grandchild's second birthday. We enjoyed time with the family at their home, the beach near the condo, and Legoland. The Coaster train runs from Oceanside to Santa Fe station in San Diego so we took that and spent a day on the ‘hop on/hop off’ bus touring and then went to a San Diego Padres ball game in the evening before returning on the Coaster. Three guys in their late 20s followed us out of the ball park. One was quite inebriated and said to his buddies who were trying to hush him up: “Look at that cute old couple in front of us holding hands.” It took awhile for us to realize he was talking about us!
We went on the ‘Path of the Vikings’ cruise September 11-26. We sailed from Bergen, Norway, across a very rough North Atlantic and made stops in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. There were many seasick passengers and crew, including me, as very high waves hit the ship and 'churned' everyone. (The cruise director with 15 years of sailing said it was like being in the spin cycle of a washer, and he was seasick for the first time ever!) Decks were closed because of the danger of waves up to the fourth deck, and we missed two stops because we couldn't anchor. We did see the most phenomenal icebergs though!
We had calm waters in the St. Lawrence Seaway, and stopped at Saguenay, Quebec City and into Montreal. We enjoyed the entertainment on the ship including the historical and scientific lectures and the shore excursions were great.
We enjoyed calm waters, perfect weather, excellent food and many great times together on the family Christmas-themed Disney cruise from November 11-18 out of Cape Canaveral to Tortola (British Virgin Islands), St. Thomas & St. John (US Virgin Islands) and Castaway Cay (Bahamas.) There is something for kids of all ages on the Disney cruises and port activities. But, best of all was being with our family.
Doug continues to golf in the summer, curl in the winter and work on cars. I spent many hours volunteering with the Millarville Agricultural Society on the board and at their various events. I'm now looking forward to getting back into family history and doing some writing. I go to aquafit twice a week which I enjoy. I'm still active in the local horticultural club, and our latest project was making swags--a photo of mine is on the Home page. I learn so much from these experienced gardeners who know how to grow things 'under the chinook arch'--very tricky growing conditions.
We had eight inches of snow last week with a bit more earlier this week so we will have a white Christmas. My best wishes to all of you for a great Christmas and for health and happiness in 2024.
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