Olympic Fever

We have been avid followers of this year's Winter Olympics taking place in Vancouver, BC. We are quite fond of this great city which is known for its natural beauty as well as for its cosmopolitan flavor. In the "olden days", when the Canadian dollar was at its lowest and we were able to take advantage of a very favorable exchange rate, we made frequent, sometimes weekly, visits to our northern neighbor. Bellingham is a little less than an hour's drive from Vancouver's downtown. Our favorite places to visit include Chinatown, Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth Conservatory, the University of British Columbia, and Vandeusen Gardens. The annual Missions Conference is held at Canada Place where much of the hustle and bustle of this year's sports extravaganza is taking place. Because of our proximity, we are able to watch the Olympics on the Canadian channel as well as the U.S. channel. It's been interesting to observe the differences in the style and scope of the reporting. The emphasis is very different!

I have a good friend who lives in Victoria. She needed to make a trip to Seattle to pick up her husband who was flying in to SeaTac today and on her way home, she was going to stop by here and pick up a package that her sister (who lives in MN) mailed to her here to avoid the outrageous mail rate involved in shipping "internationally".

When Mary arrived, she presented me with a wonderful gift:


So...do you think these might get me across the border safely should the U.S. win the hockey game against Canada?

A Friend Loveth At All Times

A true friend knows just when you need extra encouragement, even when she hasn't spoken to you for 4 days....she just knows when she walks by those flowers that "Ridgely needs these today." What a blessing friendship is.

The Winter That Never Was

I've changed the background on my blog. Snowflakes no longer seem appropriate since the temperature in Bellingham has hovered around 50+ degrees for the past two months. My hellebores are in bloom and we've seen several flowering cherries around town that are in full bloom. The Indian Plum is out and Joe's Garden is tilling their fields. All systems are go for the onset of Spring.

Other than this dramatic change, not much new is happening at 3105. We get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to bed and repeat this process. Some knitting and quilting has happened, but I'll blog about that later when I actually get around to taking pictures of it.

Meanwhile, Puxatawny Phil doesn't know beans...spring is here already.