Nice Walk by the Sea

Hi all,

The midwife is here, nice strong baby heartbeat broadcast over the room.The baby is still within normal range of lateness. Lyssa's midwife, who is from Holland, has recommended some gentle methods to encourage labor if things haven't happened by Friday. (At 42 weeks, the baby will be delivered in the hospital, probably by the midwife and the obstetrician working together.)

All signs are encouraging that things will happen on their own before then.

Yesterday Lyssa and I had lunch at a place over the water in Sechelt.

This man and dog were sitting out on the bench outside, just across the sidewalk from our table by the window. People kept walking their dogs back and forth.

Then we had a really great walk by the sea. The area along the walk was a city park, and there were many benches such the one above.

Love, Lennie

Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner with Lyssa's In-Laws

Hi Family,

Cold windy day in Sechelt. We had a nice morning hanging out with Dale Jr.

Mike had to work a half-day in the morning, as he does every Sunday. I walked to the grocery store to get some milk.Got this photo of a man fishing in the creek.

  I was almost back at the house when Dale Jr. waved from his rental car, going to find a pub where he could watch the Cardinal's game.


 

Mike's parents had asked us to come by around four. Dale Jr. arrived a little later after the Cardinal's game was over. 

It was so much fun, they really made us feel at home!

Tammy, Mike's ex-wife, is still part of the family; here she is mashing potatoes.

 
I like this photo of Mike's folks:

 
Here's a few more photos from the evening:

  

 We had a nice relaxed morning again, Mike does not have to work Mondays so we were all drinking coffee together.  Mike and Dale Jr. were trading "back stage" stories (being taken into a side room and questioned, going through customs). 

 Due to extra holiday traffic (Canadian Thanksgiving) Dale Jr. ended up missing the first ferry he aimed for. He had allowed an hour and a half to get to the terminal, when it's usually a 20 minute drive). And he was the very last car allowed on the next ferry after that, two hours of waiting in the long car line after that! (He is only going back to Vancouver).
 
Love, Lennie

Dale Jr. visiting here in Sechelt

Hello Family,

Lyssa remembers that when she was working with the midwives in LA, that there were spikes in the number of births they got called to, twice a month, for both the full moon and the new moon. The new moon is Tuesday...

Dale Jr.'s company wanted him to stay in the Vancouver area through Monday in case they had to call him back (they finished up all the calculations on the Edmonton light-rail bid yesterday but I think higher-ups are giving it a looking over before it gets turned in.) So he came out to Lyssa's for a visit, what a nice surprise. 

Dale Jr. and I went on a little outing, with the idea of giving Mike and Lyssa a little time to themselves.  Mike had suggested Gibson's Landing, near Sechelt, and on the same peninsula. We liked the sound of it because it has a museum of the history of this area, and nice places to have lunch. Here is Dale Jr. on the steps of Gramma's Pub, which we chose from the several Mike described. This pub is right over the water and  has been there more than half a century.

Standing by the window over-looking the water, I had to get between the raindrops for the camera to focus on this boat down on the bay.

We found out later, at the museum, that this boat was used in Canada's longest running TV series, "The Beachcombers" which was filmed in Gibson's Landing. 

 


Both sides of the main street (the southernmost part of the Sunshine Coast Highway) were lined with little shops and restaurants. We walked down to the little museum, which was excellent.

At the time of the poster below, there were "summer camps" along the Sunshine Coast (I'm guessing from the poster that they were not summer camps for kids, but camping resorts similar to the one in New York State where your parents met, Mom...with people staying in tents but coming into the central dining room for meals.

 The museum was packed with interesting things to look at, these photos are only a small sample.

I think the model below is of one of the small whaling boats.

When we walked back, it had stopped raining.and it was easier to take photos of the boats in the marina.

Dale and I drove back to Mike's and Lyssa's, but then walked down by the sea wall. The tide was high and it was very dramatic. 

One of the photos I took was so dramatic that Lyssa suggested I wait and put a copyright on it before I post it anywhere; "Otherwise it will end up all over Facebook with a trite religious saying written across it."

So I guess I'll have to wait until later to show that photo off!

Back at Lyssa and Mike's house, we had a nice evening. 

Mike cooked dinner, Dale Jr. played guitar and sang, and then they watched a Clint Eastwood movie while I worked on the second plaid flannel receiving blanket.

I'm writing this on Sunday, and believe it or not we are having Thanksgiving Dinner this evening with Mike's parents. Of course their harvest is much earlier because of the cold. The Canadian Thanksgiving is actually this Monday, a holiday here, but most people have the dinner the previous evening.

Love, Lennie

Windy Cold Day in Sechelt

Yesterday we walked over to the little strip mall where the pizza place is. We stopped by the pizza place to give Mike what he always wears on Friday: his kilt and a dressier shirt. He says instead of casual Fridays he has dressier Fridays because they always dress casual.

The walk had been a little more uncomfortable than usual for her (is that a sign?) so we went to the nice little coffee house at the other end of the mall.

I liked this t-shirt that one of the barristas was wearing:

On our walk home I loved taking more photos of the colored leaves:

I like the way the far bank of the creek is covered with orange-red leaves
.
We came back and both took a nap, hers longer than mine.  The day was getting more windy, loved hearing the sound of the wind in the tall trees around the house.

I went back to working on the Mexico article I'm doing for my hobby website. I got really interested in the history section, because I'd never gotten Mexican history straight in my mind.  Lyssa was a great help when I came to try to figure out how to word something.

In the evening Mike and Lyssa were playing a video game was this guy in a Mexican cowboy outfit  but named John Marsden. The scenery is gorgeous and the computer programming of the way the horse moves, the wagon, etc.They were both having a really good time playing it.

I stayed up until almost midnight, I felt like I was finally understanding who all these people were and why 16th of September is important.

Love, Lennie

Hello Family,

This morning Lyssa helped me buy on-line a Vancouver-Arizona ticket for a week from tomorrow. She also looked up the bus and train schedules to make sure I can get there with public transportation at the time of day I need to go. Buying new ticket was much less money than it would have been to have US Air change my original ticket.

I still have to call the travel agent to extend my travel health insurance, and call the bank to tell them that my bank card has the right to be used in Canada for another week.

Yesterday Lyssa and I went into Sechelt (after walking to the restaurant and borrowing the van) to see if we could get my glasses fixed (I'd sat on them). No go, so it's lucky I'm not that blind anyway!

Pizza dough spread with sauce, getting ready to make the day's pizzas:

We had lunch at a very delicious Indian restaurant, Punjabi food with some changes made to adjust to customer preferences.

Here's Lyssa entering the back door of the restaurant, I like her "urban chic pregnant" look:

She also bought some knitting needles she needed.

We passed an "everything but the actual marijuana" shop.

After leaving the van with Mike, we walked back to their house. The fall color has really exploded due to a chillier night on Tuesday.

I'll sign off, and you can scroll down through the fall color photos if you like.

Love, Lennie