I’ve been absent from my website for just about 5 weeks while we were visiting our daughter and family in British Columbia. Luckily for us we missed all the frigid temperatures that Ontario had at the end of December and the beginning of January. We left on a mild, damp day to the beginning of December and got home on a mild January 9.
We did arrive home to snow piled up on both sides of the driveway but thanks to a wonderful friend and neighbour it was clear. The house was fine while we were away. There was just one spell of hydro outage, but luckily I get texts from Hydro One so was able to quickly notify our daughter who stopped by to check things and reset the timers. The deck was cleared and paths dug around the garden so we could get to the bird feeders.
Today I made a double batch of my all season suet to entice the birds back to the garden after the feeders were empty for so long.
We saw so many wonderful places in BC. One of our favourite activities was walking the numerous beaches and collecting sea glass. I’ll be sharing more about this when I get around to making the different projects I want to do. I also learned the difference between sea glass and beach glass. I’m still in the process of sorting it all. I also collected shells for a project.
The highlight of the trip was spending Christmas with our grandkids in BC. Even though to visit each year since they were born we have never been to spend Christmas and New Years with them. We made all sorts of crafts, did lots of baking, sprinkled magic reindeer food and had lots of fun. Now we are back we will be having a second Christmas to spend with our Ontario family.
It is always wonderful to go away but it is just a good to get home, adjust to the proper time zone, enjoy your own bed and get back to routines. It is another mild day but it is supposed to get colder, but not frigid, overnight and tomorrow. We get the fridge stocked up on Wednesday so it won’t be a problem if we have to stay home.
I’ll be sharing some of the different ducks and birds we saw while away. It is going to take me ages to get all the photos sorted out. I do keep a diary of where we went each day and what we did or saw so that when the photos are uploaded into the daily folders it isn’t quite to hard to sort through the.
Thanks for taking time to visit today and I hope you have time to say hi. I’ve been working on a new contact form and I’m not totally pleased with it yet. I had to add a captcha as it is amazing how much spammy contacts came through on the old contact form. Please bear with me as I work through this process. I’ll also be working on some changes to the site. I’ll be getting around to visiting your blogs in the next day or so and I’ll also be joining in on some of my favourite link parties.
Robin
Hi Linda, welcome home! I enjoyed your updates on Instagram and it looks like you had a wonderful time. Love all your sea glass.
Take care.
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
Thanks Robin, think I am back to Ontario time, just need to get back into routines. Wow, sure was mild over night and lots of the snow melted away. But I think this January thaw is about over and the colder, snowy weather is moving back in.
Ricki Jill Treleaven
Welcome home! You’re so thoughtful….I need to make your suet recipe for our birds. We’ve had an unseasonably cold winter way down here in Alabama. Happy that your visit was nice with your family. Have a Happy and Healthy 2018! Happy New Year!
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
Hi Ricki Jill, I’m back on the right time zone now, takes a few days to adjust. Early next week we will be visiting the library, sure have missed reading all my books. It was frigid while we were away, and I’m so glad I missed it. The suet is fantastic, made some yesterday, and already the birds are pecking away at it. Have a great weekend.
Kim
Welcome back! I’m glad you had a wonderful time with your family, though after five weeks I can well imagine you were happy to be home. Nothing like your own bed (and pillow)!
Brace yourself for the winter blast tonight and tomorrow…maybe you came back too soon. LOL.
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
HI Kim, we left in mild weather, came home in mild weather, missed that frigid spell, but don’t think we are going to avoid the wintery weather that is coming. It was 11 Celsius this morning and so much snow melted, at least the January thaw got rid of some of the stuff we came home to. Hope work is going well.
Myrtle
Welcome home Linda, glad you had such a great time with your family and fist Christmas with them. Wishing you & hubby a healthy & happy 2018. I am looking forward to the pictures you will be posting in due time.
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
Hi Myrt, it is good to be home and back to my own bed. Now to get my eating back on track. I’m just starting to sort through all the photos I took. The cold spell this weekend will give me a good chance to find some to share.
Pamela C Gordon
Hi Linda. It looks and sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas with your BC family. It’s fun to be with them for Christmas and we have done that just a few times. We’re getting spring weather here today and tomorrow with lots of rain. A little rain is ok but 50-70 mm is way too much! Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. I hope you have a nice weekend there. Pam
Plowing Through Life (Martha)
That is wonderful! I’m so glad you got this opportunity to spend time with your loved ones, especially those darling little ones. And during the Christmas holidays is even better! What fun.
Lorrie
It’s good to be home. Glad you enjoyed your time out our way!
Margie
Welcome back, Linda! I’ve enjoyed following your BC photos on Instagram. Enjoy your second Christmas celebration!
linda
HI Linda…
Welcome home!!
That bird suet looks fantastic! Almost good enough to eat! hahaha!!
Love the beach glass…I’ll be interested to see what you do with yours…I have tons at the cottage!!
enjoy your weekend..
Cheers!
Linda :o)
Jennifer Jilks
What a trip! My daughter just came back to Ottawa from YVR, but she was in Taipei for three days!!!
That’s a good long visit!