Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday 30th October 2009…..another month gone..

It is about 8pm and it is raining so hard just nasty outside.

Had another really busy day doing last minute things and visiting. This morning Eileen and I went to visit Roy.  Regular readers will know all about my association with Roy.

I have known him for over 12 years and he has been like a Father figure to me.  When Eileen and Roy were together and Roy started to suffer from the early stages of Alzheimer's, Roy and I would go out on outings each day and for over 4 years we spent countless hours together.

When Roy got to the stage where his illness was quite progressed he went into Dover House,  a very loving care facility here in Nanaimo,  where he has been for 3 years.

Roy now does not know us but he still retains that great smile that he always has possessed.  He also now has some cancer in his body and he is gradually getting frailer BUT it was great to have a visit with him today.

This will be my last time seeing Roy before I leave and it was just a joy to see him looking well and to see his smile and hear his usual funny comments.  I know it is hard for Eileen to see him but she was also glad she came especially as she is leaving at the end of November to move closer to her family in Williams Lake.

leaving photos 001

Blessings to you ROY!!!!!

Ramona is resting peacefully before her long journey south next week.

leaving photos 006

Sara is now back at her house in Duncan

Map picture

and I am going down there tomorrow and we are going to a dinner theatre performance of the Woman in Black.

office day 007

Wish you all a safe and happy Halloween day and evening….

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Wednesday 28th October 2009…..the girls

Received this photo of the girls taken yesterdaygirls

they are looking so happy only a four more weeks till I see them!!!!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Tuesday 27th October 2009….a cold day in Nanaimo

It was really cold today and therefore a good day to go for lunchpalb 009

with Heather, my good self, Ken, Irene and Eileen.

Then in the afternoon drove to port Alberni to watch Ben play soccer.  the drive was a sunny one and very beautiful scenerypalb 013

palb 017

What a lovely setting for a game…

palb 019

The mountain in the background is Mount Arrowsmith.palb 026

So ends another great today.

Pretty excited as Sara comes home tomorrow from Kyuquot…stay posted.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Tuesday 27th October 2009…..My Dad

 

This is a photo of my Dad and his pride and joy his Grand Son, Tom!!!

 

dad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today would have been my Dad’s 90th Birthday and he has been gone now just over 3 years.

I have many fond memories of my Dad and he was a great inspiration to me.  He was instrumental in my development as a  young man and a soccer player.

I know I have his wonder lust and spirit of adventure and I just wanted to pay a tribute to him here….Love you dad!!  

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sunday 25th October 2009…..soccer Sunday

Rainy morning saw me on the soccer field at 11am this morning…sunday 002

See I can keep up with those young guys!!!!sunday 004 

sunday 005-1

Now before anyone makes any comments about my waist line I want to state right now that it was very cold this morning and I had 17 layers of clothing on!!!!!!

I then went and reffed another game this afternoon which was an OK game except one team only had 7 players.

When I came home Kirby and Heather called me outside to see this beauty right on the road outside the house….sunday 018-1

sunday 022-1

sunday 023

Well definitely on count down now…..2 weeks today Sara and I will start the journey south….it will be a big change for me having a travelling partner but one that I look forward to, what a difference having someone to make my tea, make breakfast for me, do the laundry, navigate, someone I can beat at back gammon, some one to nip to the store for my morning paper, making supper, washing Ramona…..    BOY I cannot wait for this trip to start!!!!!

I know I will pay dearly for this last paragraph!!!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Saturday 24th October 2009…..a sporty weekend.

Started out at 7am this morning watching a live soccer game televised from England.

Then went to watch Zach play his soccer game…Datres 007

a sunny and warm day with the fall colours.Datres 008

Thanks to Pat and Chris for taking me out for supper tonight!!!!

Then finished off the day watching hockey…Edmonton and Calgary.  This game brought back memories of my first years in Canada in the early 80”s when the Edmonton team were so dominant and I was lucky to get to see some live games the rink and crowd and team were electric.Datres 015

Sara the sailor!!!

sailor

Sara the pilot!!

transportation to work

Pity she is not the back gammon champ!!!!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Friday 23 rd October 2009….friday morning funny…

Painting the Church

There was a Scottish painter named Smokey Macgregor who was very interested in making a penny where he could, so he often thinned down his paint to make it go a wee bit further.

As it happened, he got away with this for some time, but eventually the Baptist Church decided to do a big restoration job on the outside of one of their biggest buildings.
Smokey put in a bid, and, because his price was so low, he got the job.
So he set about erecting the scaffolding and setting up the planks, and buying the paint and, yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down with turpentine..
Well, Smokey was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, the sky opened, and the rain poured down washing the thinned paint from all over the church and knocking Smokey clear off the scaffold to land on the lawn among the gravestones, surrounded by telltale puddles of the thinned and useless paint.

Smokey was no fool.  He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty,
so he got down on his knees and cried:
"Oh, God, Oh God, forgive me; what should I do?"
And from the thunder, a mighty voice spoke..
(you're going to love this)

"Repaint!  Repaint!  And thin no more!"

Have a safe and happy weekend………

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Thursday 22nd October 2009..Uncle Bill’s Birthday

My family on the “Bank” here in Nanaimo celebrated a huge birthday yesterday, Uncle Bill turned 96 years young!!!uncle Bill 003

Family album…

uncle Bill 008

So here we have from right to left Ken, Heather(Ken’s daughter in law), Uncle Bill and Heather and Kirby(not in picture) three boys Alex next to Heather, then Ben and Zach.

It was a wonderful celebration to have three generations together and finally I have a photo of someone older than me!!!!uncle Bill 010

The deer are still roaming the streets but they now have their winter jackets on!!!

deer 001

Just about a month now before Sara and I arrive in San Miguel and see the girls this photo is of the most loving and kind Madres who take care of over 40 girls in the home.madre

Congratulations to Sara she just finished a couple of Examinations and I know she will have aced them.  

Disaster 019

Looking forward to seeing you when you come back home next Wednesday.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sunday 18th October 2009….another weekend finished.

Well I had a busy wet weekend filled with lots of soccer reffing.college 009

college 012 

college 014

college 015

Watching Ben play hockey.

college 006

Trying to make Alex smile whilst I help him with his homework.college 018

Sara note my T shirt!!!!

Three weeks today the big journey begins so the next little while I shall be busy making sure I have all the little things that need attending to done.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Friday 16th October 2009…..a Fall Day!!!

Rain rain go away….typical scene today..fall 015Although the fall colours are quite beautiful..fall 010 

fall 012

fall 016

fall 017

I have a busy weekend coming with 2 games to ref tomorrow and Sunday.  These are College games and can be very intense and competitive.  Both Women and Men’s games and guess which gender are more aggressive and chippy???  Answer on Monday..

Hope Sara is enjoying her time with her friends in Kyuquot just don’t let her take you kayaking she will try to make you fall out and scrape yourself on the rocks, been there done that!!!

Wish you all a fabulous safe, happy and healthy weekend…

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Thursday 15th October 2009….a little personal writing

I was awakened this morning at 7.30am with friend informing me of a memorial service taking place this morning at 11am of an old referee colleague.

John DaSilva was a fiery old Portuguese man I met when I became involved in refereeing here in Nanaimo about 12 years ago.  John was in his late 70’s then and the only man I met who had a passion for this game equalled to my own.  We became friends and I admired his dedication to the youth of this sport.

I must admit I did not know he had been sick for a while and passed away last week.  I was happy and proud to be at his service which was held in the Bethlehem Retreat in Nanaimo.  The service was a good “sending off” ( a referee term) for John but I want to describe the Chapel.

The location is set on Westwood Lake, a beautiful lake at the base of Mount Benson and the view out of the chapel window was of the lake,  the high trees in the back ground with the clouds filtering through, a truly splendid send off for John.

Now it gets personal……as I mentioned John was born in Portugal and he even bears the same surname of my ex-wife’s family whom I met in Bermuda.  So I got to thinking about my life and how I left England and my family as a young immature youth of 21 years old to go the other side of the world.  I think my Mum was so very happy for me but also so sad to be seeing me gone.

My next thoughts were of my own Mum’s and then my Dad’s services.  At John’s service today his Grandson, a man of about 25 years spoke.  It was very hard for him and he broke down many times during his speech, which made it all the more special.

I was privileged to give the eulogy at both my parent’s services and I remember the hours I pondered over what to say and how to say it.  The celebrations were totally different…at my Mum’s I was very confident, clear and quite unemotional and to this day I have never shed a tear for my Mum.  I am not quite sure what to make of this because she was the finest woman I have ever met and we had a beautiful and very loving relationship.  For my Dad it was different, the speech was laced with humour but I remember lumps in my throat through out.  Dad and I had talked many times about when that day would arrive for him and his wishes and I know he was at peace.  I miss them both very much.

I also remember the last time I was at the Bethlehem Retreat it was about 8 years ago and again for a friend’s funeral service.  I remember at this time I was in a relationship and we had a fight in the car on the way and how we were through the service.  How stupid and sad of me,  of course I realize that now.

I also thought about the new relationship Sara and I are embarking upon and how so sweet it is, she is one amazing woman and I feel so lucky.

So there you have it quite a roller coaster of a morning.

The afternoon saw me reffing another high school soccer game, then a quick bite to eat and off to a class put on by the local Recreation department and it is about digital cameras.  I hope to learn how to take night photos. 

Then out to the airport for 8.30pm to pick up Eileen from her trip up north.  So a busy day…leave you with a nice photo of Sara and some of the children on the reservation in Kyuquot.Sara in Kyuquot

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Wednesday 14th October 2009…rainy days

The fall weather has arrived and today was blowing and rainy.  I spoke to my lovely friends Barb and Paco this morning.  They left Port Alberni on 1st August and are currently in Ontario having been all the way to the East coast and they are shortly heading down  the Eastern seaboard and we shall meet up in Mexico.mum 002

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I apologize to barb and Frank and any body else on my e mail list it seems some of you are not receiving my e mails, sorry about that and I have no idea why.

Another lovely friend EileenIMG_6947 who I have know for many years and is like a “Mum” to me is moving to Williams lake to be close to her family.  I am going to miss her but so happy for her, Love you Eileen.

Also want to say hello to Sara, I miss you….day2 027

Now on countdown till we leave November 8th 2009…..blessings to all

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Tuesday 13th October 2009…another weekend done

I had a very happy Thanksgiving weekend and spent two days with my extended family on the “Bank”…the girls managed to cook two incredible meals

monday 006

this is my before

thansgivin 003

and after plate

thansgivin 007

I know, I know…..what an interesting blog seeing what I ate for dinner…the old adage runs true “it is my blog and I can write what I want!!!!!”

Kirby was kind enough to show me how to load Bonita on to Ramona and I think with a couple more times of practise I am good to go.

monday 001

I spent a few minutes doing some soccer reports at the kitchen table and this was taken from inside where I was sitting….monday 004 Just love the photo of some kind of bird, not a Robin I have been told and the ocean back ground.

Today I pulled out the road maps and started the planning stages of the journey south,  the best news of course this year is that Sara office day 031 will be with me………a navigator…..someone else to blame for all my wrong turns……let the fun begin.

This afternoon I reffed my first high school soccer game of the season I have quite a few booked this month and I look forward to them.

Want to say hello to my family in England and to wish my big Bro, Malc and my favourite Sis in Law, Janet,  wonderful holidays in the next few weeks….by the way Malc I never did receive my birthday cheque in the mail 5 months ago like you promised!!!!!!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Saturday 10th October 2009…more reflections

Had lots of time to think today had a lazy morning catching up on mail, newspapers, friends and realizing it is only just a month away before the journey south to see these little Angels begin.birthday How can anyone resist those smiles and innocent faces, I sure look forward to spending lots of time with Paola and Daniela this winter.

I do want to share some great news with you all…..Sara and I have decided to travel down to SMA together……we seem to have bonded and become very close and we want to explore the journey together.

The plan is to leave here 8th November and to spend a couple of day's with Sara’s family in Vancouver then the 10th November we have tickets for the concert Celtic Thunder in Seattle.  From there down to San Francisco to see Sara’s best friend for a couple of days,   then head to the border and cross into Mexico and the journey to San Miguel de Allende and arriving there around 23rd November.

Sara will stay till  the middle of December when she will fly home to spend the holidays with her family before she heads back to Kyuquot for 30th December.

It will a great adventure and one I welcome so I suppose you better get used to these kind of photos.Disaster 060 Disaster 063

 

 

 

 

 

 

office day 007

  Me dressed up for the concert, CUTE or not???

police choir 003

 

Tonight I went to the local United church to hear the Victoria Police Men’s Chorus.

police choir 006 My dates for the evening…police choir 007

Heather, Uncle Bob and Aunt Doll and Heather’s Mum, Ruth!!!

The concert was very enjoyablepolice choir 010

and was a fund raiser for

police choir 012

Hope the weekend is a great one…….blessings to all.

Thursday 5 th January 2023…it was a great run!!!

 This was my first ever blog post back in November of 2006!!! With just a couple of days off I have written a blog every day since and I hav...