Sand, sea and time

Why do we say things like “Back from vacation” or “Back to work” as if it’s already happened? Shouldn’t it be “Onward to work” or “Onward from vacation”? I dunno.Just a thought.

We haven’t had an actual vacation – one where we did something other than just travel to visit with family – in over two decades. We weren’t really planning to take a vacation this year, but it just morphed into one when I managed to get four consecutive weeks off this year for holidays. We try to drive up to Fort St. John (British Columbia) every year to visit my partner’s dear parents. We lived there and in surrounding communities for many years, so we still have many friends there as well as family. The smell of pine, poplar and clover always makes me feel like I’ve come home. So, we made arrangements for the trip north. Then my partner asked what I thought about another trip to see his sister and brother-in-law in Terrace. The drive from here to FSJ is about 10 hours. It’s 16 hours from here to Terrace: As you drive north on Hwy 97, you can either continue north at Prince George and you’ll come to FSJ in about four hours, or you can turn west on Hwy 16 and you’ll reach Terrace in about six hours. So I suggested that we hang a right on our way back from FSJ and go out to Terrace before coming home.

Then one of us suggested continuing out to the awesome city of Prince Rupert to catch the BC Ferry that sails through the Inside Passage to Vancouver Island. The 15-hour ferry ride goes through a cluster of islands off the coast of BC and ends up in Port Hardy. My oldest brother and his wife just moved to Nanaimo on the Island last year, so it was a half day car ride from Pt. Hardy to Nanaimo. A visit with them, and we’d catch the ferry to the mainland and drive back home.

A week and a half of sunshine, ocean and beautiful British Columbia. And not much in the way of internet connection. I took my laptop along to blog, but I couldn’t access a connection after the first couple of days. I made up for it by visiting almost every quilt and fabric shop that I saw.

Once we got home, Rusty and Ginger wouldn’t leave me alone. We’ve never left them for that long before, and they’ve been cemented to my lap since Monday when we got back. Makes it hard to type at the computer and sew at the sewing machine. But I did manage to get a lot of weeding done outside in the garden. I’d like to know who planted all that purslane in the vegetable garden while I was away!

Began working on a new sewing project this morning – without their help. I’ll post pictures once it starts to resemble something. In the meantime, there be vacation and quilt shop pictures.

And, because the planets and stars don’t stop for vacations, we had a New Moon yesterday at 25 Leo. Leo approaches new projects with a child’s happiness and wonder. Bright and sunny colours are a favourite of this sign. The New Moon pleasantly connects with Saturn and Mars which are travelling together for a few days at 25/26 Libra and while Saturn has a habit of putting the brakes on energetic Mars, it can help us stop and work out a plan before proceeding with those impulsive ideas.

More about the quilt shops tomorrow.

Until next time,