We started in Vancouver to be present when Anne,  Alan’s sister, received an award from the International Diabetes Federation for her career work in diabetic education around the world.  We were very impressed with her talk, her research and with the conference itself. We are so very proud of her.

We stayed with Gwen, Alan’s cousin – Yahoo and had lots of fun walking the trails near her house with Ripley just like we do in the summer. We also had dins with 2 of the Bruemmers – Jennifer and Matthew, and Gwen’s son Chris and his fiancée Lacey.

We headed to Vancouver Island on my birthday!! December 3rd and were looking forward to seeing the islands up close as we went across on the ferry. No such luck – pea soup fog and pouring rain. The ferry was terrific though – had a full breakfast that was fantatstic!

We went to the West side of the Island first – Tofino and then Ucluelet. Everything you have heard about the beaches there are true and then some. Granted we had some rain and fog  but this time of year is also billed as one of really big waves and wild winds. It was soooo impressive. We could not believe that people were surfing (Ian Belton Jr. I now know you are crazy to be doing this!!!) and they even had a beginner’s class which looked pretty suicidal to me. At any rate,  we spent a whole day just combing the beaches and walking the trails.  It was amazing. We walked part of the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet later in the morning and it was quite different with craggy cliffs and swirling waves over rocks. Ucluelet also is home to a tiny café called the Blue Café where we had, bar none, the best Seafood Chowder we have ever eaten. I was studying it with every bite to see if I could figure out all the ingredients – I need to go back for further study.

In Tofino we stayed in a neat Motel called West Marine that was also part working fish docks, marina and had its own pub onsite.  What a great combo. I have to show you this picture as one of the things we loved best – especially Alan,  was all the wooden boats! And there are lots and lots of crazies who are living on them – and you know how I feel about that (Second life, Second Wife!!!)

One of the highlights of our trip was walking the Rain Forest Trail in the Pacific Rim National Park (Forêt Pluviale), near Tofino that my friend Marie Josée Normandin from Parcs Canada recommended. What a beautiful trail amongst the giant cedars. We met not another sole and it was amazing to be in this park all alone. So quiet and majestic.  I love walking in the forest – I always have  – this was totally outside my experience and it is set up with all kinds of good plaques to outline the  ecology of the forest. We learned so much.  We have beautiful trees were we are,  but they seem like gnarled twigs in comparison to these soaring giants some of which are more than 800 years old.

A bridge made from a fallen tree

Our next trip was to cross over to Gabriola Island. A short 20 minute trip to an island that is farmland, marinas and trails.  I think this island would be a good example of the word bucolic and we were told it was one of the original hippie islands that never lost its hippy roots. Very organic, artistic and environmentally conscious.  We stayed at a B&B owned by a couple who had emigrated from Britain 5 years ago. Everyone we met was from somewhere else!

Our final island visit was to Saltspring Island. Again a mix of farm and village. We loved this island for very different reasons than Gabriola. One being that we actually had a half day of sun – amazing. Thanks to David Price and Jane Walker for the recommendation we stayed at Maracaibo on the island and spent the better part of the first afternoon exploring the coast around that area.

We did have a day of rain – surprise – and spent a great part of an afternoon in a wonderful book store Black Sheep Books. A throw back to the old days it had towering bookshelves, classical music playing, stools in corners for you to read on and a very quiet ambiance. Ahhhhh

A highlight of our Saltspring stay was to have dinner with Jill Evans another cousin. She opened her beautiful home on Oystercatcher Place and invited a friend of ours from an early parish who also retired to Saltspring. What a wonderful small world it is.

We returned to Vancouver Island via ferry and the ferries reminded us so much of our own. The small island ones are similar to ours in that they are a lifeline. Primary school students stay on island (ie Gabriola, Saltspring and others) but secondary students go to the main island for school. Many work on the main island so go back and forth everyday twice.

Once back on Vancouver island we spent a great day exploring the towns of Duncan and Chemanius before heading to Ladysmith.

Duncan is known as the town of the totems and several years ago the town decided to trumpet its aboriginal history and have totem poles carved and posted throughout the village by local aboriginal families. Each totem tells the story of a family, a family story or tribal history. They are magnificent. I have posted a couple below. They actually have footsteps painted on the sidewalks so that you can follow the steps and go to see each of the over 30 totems. Some as you will see were posted with a wall mural.

Chemanius, in an effort to capture their history, chose the use of murals on the walls of commercial buildings as their creative venue. Each was more magnificent than the last depicting the introduction of the railway, farming, mining and fishing that sustained their community.  Brilliantly done and updated to ensure their vibrancy it was like an outside art gallery.

We spent an afternoon in Ladysmith to visit colleagues of mine who moved there 15 years ago when they retired.  We spent the afternoon combing over a marine museum of old restored boats and dioramas of the timber and mining history of the village.

The final two days of our trip were spent in Victoria. We were lucky enough to have another cousin just move there – we obviously need even more cousins to spread out across the country. Bill Stephens opened his new home to us and drove us all over the city. He even found more cousins, Tim and Claire Evans who we had not seen for many years, and invited them to join us for a great evening of laughter together. We climbed up the Mt Douglas Trail, drove all around the coastal area of Victoria on a day when the surf was really, really up; visited the Royal BC Museum and a fabulous exposé in the Robert Bateman Museum. We attended a beautiful Victorian Advent Evensong at the Cathedral and then returned home for a lovely glass of wine, or two, dinner and prep for the trip home. Kudos to Bill for a great visit and the drive to the airport at the ungodly hour of 0500!

And then we came home. We spent a night in Ottawa with our close friends Don and Brenda, had tea with Tom, Heather, Julia and girls then spent the night with Susie and George Bruemmer who are our dogs adoptive parents while we are away. Our dogs were happy to see us but not quite as happy as they should have been!! Life is pretty good at the Bruemmer hostel for dogs.

And finally we arrived home in Tad to snow YAHOO,  and belugas in the river.  We loved our trip but we were so glad to be home again too. The blitz is on now for Christmas. The tree is up, some of the baking is done the rest is a work in progress. We are waiting for this week when Michael and his family arrive with another couple who are long time friends joining us for Christmas.

It is almost the end of the year and we cannot believe we have had yet another year here in paradise.  We hope that wherever you are as you are reading this that you have a blessed Christmas and find your paradise wherever it may be. All the best for 2016!

Of course, with the end of the season comes Hallowe’en so all is not lost. Tadoussac made a grand splash again this year and created the “Sentier du Horreur” in the Parc des Ancêtres. This is the park that starts half way up the hill as you walk to church. The entrance has lovely benches and you walk down into the gulley below via the stairs. It is a perfect place for this type of activity as it is a pretty spooky place! It runs along the brook, follows across the bridge behind the hotel, and then up and out of the park at the public washrooms on the boardwalk.  At this time of year it is dark and creepy – absolutely perfect.

The planning group decided to do a walk for the school kids in the afternoon and then to repeat, with more horror,  for any who dared to do it again in the evening – in the dark, with only torches for lighting.

It took the group – which included parents, the fire brigade, the municipality and some of the teachers almost 3 days to put it all together. The main thing was to make the walkways safe (day and night) and to ensure there was just enough lighting so no one would be hurt – but not so much that people weren’t scared to death. This is of course the main goal. The third morning we added in all the horror bits with creatures hanging from trees and large horrible monsters hiding in all nooks and crannies.

L’Auberge de Jeunesse held an afternoon of pumpkin carving and they created about 30 amazing pumpkins which lined the road from the Caisse up to the entrance.  The one below was on the table where we greeted everyone and it is a good example of the intricate designs that many people created – wow.

All the kids from École St. Joseph came for the afternoon. This year they did not wear costumes because they had to walk down stairs and around creeks etc. – plus the wind was howling and it was bloody cold. They were so excited that they were jumping up and down.  They were also nervous but it was all cool.

All the older grades went first – 3, 4, 5 and 6. They went in groups of 4 and some thought it was a good idea to have a teacher with them.  Some were brave enough – at least at the beginning, to go it alone.  Then it was the 1 and 2’s and finally the kindergarten kids.  We make a distinct break between the bigger and the little children. I went with the last group of 4 boys of 1 & 2 and told each monster as we passed that it was the kindergarten next. The monsters wave at the littlest ones rather than scare them to death.  But sometimes that is still very scary so 2 teachers go with that small group. It was a total success. You could hear the kids screaming all over town and they loved it. I went with a small group of boys, as I mentioned. One of the lads went the whole way going “Je n’ai pas peur! Je n’ai pas peur! ” (I’m not afraid) Methinks he doth protest too much!! By the end three of the 4 boys were clinging to me.

These are some of the creatures they encountered

There were also trolls, baby killers and a cemetery with a grave just the right size for kids!!

All was well in the end. Nadia Gagnon, the amazing teacher and leader for this event, had all the kids come together at the end of the path for two very good reasons. First she asked all the monsters to come meet them so the kids could see them without their masks. This way no one was going home to have nightmares and they could see that the monsters were their parents and neighbours pretending to be monsters.  The second reason was to have the kids say thank you to all of the monsters and the helpers who had put the event together. Truly an amazing group of people.

While I wasn’t able to take pictures at night, I just want to tell you that the night time version was also a totally successful nightmare and I say that in the kindest way.  The path which was scary during the day,  was a real horror at night and the 282 people – yes you  are reading that correctly – that went through were amazed. A large group of about 25 adults and older kids came from  Les Bergeronnes and there were people from Forestville,  Longue Rive,  Sacré Coeur and of course lots from our own village.  Not to be outdone – the screaming was even louder I have to say. It was a freezing cold night and many people stood for an hour in anticipation. Each person at night was charged a toonie to be scared out of their minds. All the money went to the school for much needed support for a small school that has so few resources.  I just need to say that while they have few financial resources they have a dedicated group of teachers and parents that make this school a happening place.

I can’t wait to see what next year brings.

Hope you all had a great Hallowe’en too.   Jane

The first thing was the docks had been stored on the wharf and needed to be lifted into the water by the green crane in the photo below.  However, this research ship from the University of Quebec at Rimouski tied up the night before saying it had to have its hull inspected by a diver, for two whole days, and wasn’t going to move out of the way.  Apparently the dock in Rimouski is in bad repair and they’re not allowed to dock there.

That problem became secondary when I noticed the crane operator and owner feverishly leafing through a manual, talking on cell-phones and sweating profusely.  They couldn’t get the crane to work.  Optimistically I suggested we all go home, they get a mechanic to fix it, and we’ll all come back tomorrow.  Trouble was, there was a transport truck with ten docks on it due in from Chicoutimi any minute, and we had to have a crane to unload it.

There was a smaller crane we could get to unload the truck on to the wharf as opposed to into the water where we needed the docks, and by the time we got that one down to the wharf, of course, the first crane started working.  So then we unloaded docks off the end of the wharf which meant a double-lift for many of them because of the research ship being in the way, and as in the picture above took the docks from the truck right into the marina area.  This was great till the fishing boats started coming in…

They are just trying to make a living and were none too pleased about the research ship in the way either, so we moved some docks to make a little space at the end of the wharf for their boat and we moved other docks on the wharf to make room for their truck.

Then the crane broke again.

Just before we decided it was game over they got it working once again.  We had a late pizza lunch and carried on getting about half the docks in by day’s end.

Saturday we started at 7.30 am and, although the ship and the fishing boats were still around, the crane worked perfectly.  We got all the docks in and the main dock bolted together and anchored into position.  It was a beautiful sunny day but, lest you think everything went right this time, as my mother used to say: “Into every life a little  (er) rain must fall.”

You may recall that the fuel dock has two hinged struts bolted to the dock to hold it in place and accommodate the tide.  These are hinged up in winter and then lowered into place.  One strut supports the gas hose down to the dock and the other has the diesel fuel hose going down and sewage from boats’ holding tanks going up.  (You know where this is going, don’t you?)  Fortunately the gas and diesel hoses were dry.  Unfortunately the 30 feet of 3 inch sewage hose had somehow retained the remains of its last pump-out.  When our hero (not me, a real hero) was confidently standing on the dock saying, “Lower away!” or words to that effect, little did he know that within seconds he would be heading for his car, his home, his shower, and a complete change of clothes!

Sunday morning saw Shawn and Phil back at the docks looking after the details (like anchors, not that they are mere details).  Now it’s time to start thinking about the dry-dock…

This was going on as Tadoussac seemed to awaken from hibernation.  Restaurants are opening and B & Bs are having their first customers.  Tourists were looking down at us from the docks with the usual curiosity and taking pictures with views in the background (never me, I noted.)  The ship had divers underneath it all day.  A black zodiac with three men dressed in black survival suits complete with black helmets and visors showed up looking like a set piece out of a Star Wars movie.  They didn’t look like the sort of people who would take kindly to suggestions about liberating their concept of color scheme but before I had the chance I fortunately noticed that the only white on the vessel was letters spelling out the word “Police.”  They hung out at the  Coast Guard dock for a while, I assume comparing horse-power, while their mother ship hovered out in the river.  I mention the horse-power because Shawn pointed out that there were no numbers on the two huge motors driving the zodiac.  He asked last year and was tersely informed that the horse-power was “classified.”

Add to all that, the first two zodiacs were running whale-watching tours starting today.  Tadoussac is finished with winter and starting to show some life on the water and off it.

Alan Evans

Alan

You have seen our year in pictures and I am posting some pics from today. This is  what my life looks like and I could not be happier

For anyone contemplating retirement – don’t delay – do it. For anyone not quite there – you will get there.  For anyone not nearly ready – you can come and stay with us and, at the very least,  pretend for a few days!!

Off to play in the woods. Have a great Spring weekend wherever you are.                  Jane

So all the ice is gone from the bay, the paths in the deepest part of the woods still have icy bits but all the roads are clear and all main paths. We went down to Adele’s beach yesterday and walked to the clay cliffs and not one speck of ice remained. Given what you have seen earlier in the blog you know what a change that is!

I drove to Chicoutimi today for an appt and the Marguerite is now clear and full, and the far end of the Saguenay is now completely open as well.

There are three fishing boats still here for the urchin fishery and a third ferry arrived at the same time I did on my return on Sunday. I haven’t seen three running yet so I imagine another will go to Quebec to be fixed up for summer and still leave two here.

Alan saw belugas earlier in the month under Pointe Noire where we often see them but there have not been many. However we did see our first seal of the season as he came to play with the dogs who were swimming yesterday and he followed us along as we walked the beach.  In other wild life sightings, on my way home from Chicoutimi today myself and another car had to pull over and stop as a large moose cow and a young moose were running down the middle of the road in a panic!! They got to safety and I hope they stayed in the forest!!

The bay was its usual spectacular self this evening and we had our first drinks on the deck – what bliss. We are looking forward to the long weekend when family and friends will arrive. See you all soon and enjoy every minute of the sunshine! Jane

The ice continues to be fascinating as this is an exceptional year.  Now it is on the wane as the sun softens up the top and the tide eats away at the bottom.  The shapes that are left behind during the process are, in my mind, high art.

Enjoy your day, Alan

And to keep the tree tradition alive the Easter tree is decorated and shining in the forest for all to see.

Now that is a lovely way to start the day. Have a happy day where ever you are. Jane

We started out an early weekend as Anne arrived from Calgary on Wednesday evening.  We walked around Point L’Islet and it was spectacular as usual and while the ice is changing rapidly it is still very present.

Then this crazy wind started on Saturday evening and it has persisted. Imagine this. Last night was garbage night so we hauled our bin out to the golf club as usual. However both sides of the road are piled high with snow and so we tucked the bin into a snowbank where it looked sort of safe. Our big fear was that the bin would not be there in the morning. So early today we went to  retrieve it and it was no where to be seen.  It could not have moved before emptying but when empty it was like a bullet. As the bin was being emptied several of the smaller bags of garbage were whipped away and we found 2 on the road just in front of Mike Skutezky’s house. Alan had to walk up the hill to the new house that is being constructed just below Alain Therrien’s place to find the bin.  As he was coming back down he let go of the bin to pick some garbage off the road, the bin tipped over again and the wind sent it sliding on the icy road  away from Alan. Unbelievable.

As we were watching some tv last night we felt our new strong house tremble – hard to imagine.  It really made me think about how the small islands and tin roof huts are hammered by 300 mile per hour winds ever survive.

On our walk this morning Alan took a video of the river to show how fast the ice is moving with the tide and the wind. It also gives you a sense of the noise as well. I have to post it on Facebook though as this site won’t support the video – phooey. Here are some stills though. There is lots of ice moving down river. As we took Anne to Bagotville yesterday (and that was a crazy trip up and back) we saw that the ice in the upper river is certainly beginning to break up, so I imagine we will see lots more days of ice as it moves back and forth with the tide.

So another day in paradise begins. Keep warm wherever you are. Spring must be coming soon! Jane

A favourite walk with the dogs from here is down the lower path to the top of Red Point and the tremendous view there, and then on down to the beach on the far side of the point where the dogs love to run.  With the cold winter there has been much more and thicker ice than usual so it is currently a maze of broken ice pans and bergy bits that I have found fascinating.  Barb and Kevin Dillon and I were down there Saturday for a look.

On top it is all quite flat but then quite a scramble over the edge to get to the beach on the water side of the ice.

Alan