Our time at home is coming to an end tomorrow, which always makes me a little sad… but the thought of heading back to warmer weather certainly softens the blow.

Aside from a bit of housework, washing the bedding, and squeezing in one last errand, it was a pretty mellow kind of day … the calm before travel day.

Farewell condo … thanks J for the wonderful accommodations!

Right now, we are waiting for our daughter to pick us up and take us to her place for the night. With an early flight in the morning, it just makes things easier since they live close to the airport and she’ll drop us off. Best of all, it means we get one last visit with three of our grandsons before we head out 😊

Until next time …

Wow it’s the first day of 2026 and I’m happy to say I haven’t aged a bit! 😉

We welcomed the new year with smiles after a great sleep, and unlike most years, we actually had plans for New Year’s Day. We were off to the Elks Meat Draw, big excitement to kick off 2026! 😂

The event began with a special draw for fifteen racks of ribs. Throughout the year, anyone who buys tickets for all the draws at the Saturday meat draws earns a red ticket, which goes into this New Year’s rib draw. Hubby and I were sure we’d win … mostly because we have no access to freezer space until we return with Maxx in the spring. And naturally, with that kind of confidence, we did win a rack of ribs.

The regular meat draw followed, but our theory of “no freezer space,” is sure to mean we will walk away with lots of meat didn’t work because we didn’t win anything. Our nephew did have that first time luck and won a pack of four smoked pork chops and of course my sister and brother-in-law won three times … they are the luckiest people we know!

It was a fun afternoon spent with my sister and brother-in-law, along with my nephew and his girlfriend visiting from Tofino.

We had all decided many weeks ago that we would not drive to the Elks Hall today so that we could enjoy a few festive drinks during our last visit together before we return in the spring. The original plan was simple, Uber to the Elks Hall and Uber home. Normally, that would run about $40 total. But New Year’s Day apparently means surge pricing… suddenly our $40 outing was going to cost at least $100!

Looking at the ice build up you would think it has been very cold here but we have been above 0C/32F since we arrived home ,,,, so I’m not sure where all that ice came from!

Now, it’s not that we can’t afford it, we just couldn’t justify it. So instead, we decided to take a bus to the Elks Hall … $12 for the two of us (still ridiculous because transfers are no longer included and the shortest route involved changing buses, so we had to pay twice). But even so, it beat the Uber price that we were quoted on the app. So fast forward to this morning when my sister text to say they had booked a cab for a lot less! Okay let’s check that out … hubby phoned the cab company and for us )we have a little further to go) the price was $25.00 minimum … nope still better off do take the bus. Then hubby decided to check the Uber app again and it turned out if we booked our ride to pick us up right away it would be $12.50, if we wanted to schedule our ride to arrive at a certain time is was $25.00, because it include the surcharge. So it was a toss up, $12.00 for the bus where we would have to stand in the cold waiting for it, or $12.50 (and of course there would be a tip added to that), to wait in the warmth of the condo and go door to door. Yes we spent the extra money and went with the Uber … and we did it both ways.

So in the end what what was supposed to cost us at least $100 turned into $30.00 for door to door service … so if you are doing Uber double check your prices on the day of travel. In the end it cost us a bit of money to “do the responsible thing,” but absolutely worth it not to drink and drive. Having been hit by a drunk driver when our daughter was a baby, we never, ever take chances.

Here’s to a fun first day of 2026 … good laughs, great company, and responsible choices to start the year right. 🥂✨

Wishing each of you a happy, healthy, and memorable 2026. May it be filled with laughter, good friends, and moments worth writing about. 💛

Until next time …

So what did we get up to today, hmm let me think back 😊. 

We started the morning with our Wednesday coffee group and like yesterday it was a good time with familiar faces and easy conversation. We said our goodbyes until spring, shared hugs all around, and then headed out to meet our daughter. Hubby dropped me off and continued on to their place. Our daughter and I went for pedicures and as usual, that came with lots of chatting and laughs.

We cross under the road on our walk to lunch.

Once our pedicures were done we made a few quick stops for her to do things and then returned to their house. Hubby and our son-in-law where fixing their washing machine so I hung around upstairs and visited with two of our grandsons. 

Finally the guys were happy with their work so we headed back to the condo, parked the car, and walked up to a neighbourhood pub for a late lunch.  We were surprised how busy the pub was and enjoyed running into more than a few people we know. This was one of our favourite haunts when we still lived in our house.

There is the pub on the right hand side of the river.

The condo where we are staying from the bridge above the creek … it is a short walk!

After lunch we walked back to the condo and arrived in time to turn on the Canada/Finland World Junior game. And yippee, Canada won again!

After the game we enjoyed a soak in the hot tub and will now tuck into bed for the night. Gone are the days where we feel the need to stay up until midnight to welcome in the new year, it will still be waiting in the morning and we’ll welcome it then 😂

The condo on our return. It looks pretty in the sunset.

Hubby and I wish you all a wonderful New Year filled with health, happiness, and good memories ahead. 🎉

Until next time …