Saturday, November 17, 2012
Today Whistler opened for skiing, so it must be winter and time for winter blogging.
We returned to Whistler almost two months ago. Our first month back was spent mostly outdoors, hiking and biking, working in the yard, and completing jobs around the house. Our second month was dominated by several short trips away to visit with friends and family. Both months have involved plenty of social times and dinner parties - including Canadian Thanksgiving feasts - all a major part of getting back to our Whistler Winters.
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| International FIS Children's Committee dinner party chez nous |
While excellent and gourmet meals are regularly prepared in our ship's galley, it's always a treat to return to our fully equipped Whistler kitchen. Soon after getting home Al made his traditional granola, which he makes in bulk from bags and bags of raw grains (and more) sourced at the Granville Island market in Vancouver.
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| yummy granola! |
Fresh baked bread, cookies, slow cooked stews...for us these are all appealing
culinary options which we avoid while on the boat where our limited
propane supply restricts regular use of the oven.
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| yummy cookies |
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| yummy slow-cooked lamb shanks |
Hiking and biking in the forests and mountains within walking distance of our house are such a treat, especially when the days are still warm and the trails are not yet covered with snow.
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| September in Whistler mountains |
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| among Arbutus trees on the BC coast |
People often ask which coastline in the world is our favourite. After all, we have sailed along many of the globe's most exciting coast lines. Still, as Pascal once said "there is no place like home" and a favourite for us is still our own BC coast!
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| getting out on our BC coast |
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| taking time for water colour painting |
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| wandering with friends along another BC beach |
Owning a house can be a bit of work (understatement) and one aspect of being away for extended periods of time is that when we return we notice there is actually quite a lot or work to be done. Whether it is maintenance, or in our case completing a major renovation begun 10 years ago, a house always requires attention. For us specifically, the time has come to finally get the final jobs completed, and our renovation building permit signed off.
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| unfinished area under the deck |
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| soffit job complete at last! |
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| first snow on our deck = time to stop working outdoors! |
Another aspect of being away is that we miss spending time with friends and family. And so once the weather changed we set off for a few weeks to visit people, on the coast, inland and, thanks to Arthur and Rita, in sunny California.
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| Gingko tree near the house in Palo Alto |
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unripe lemons beside the house in Palo Alto
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We appreciate all the generous invitations and hosting! Thank you all! Come visit us soon!
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| Al ~ Irene ~ Bill meet after ?? years? |
And, of course, the rocks were a highlight. Too bad we didn't bring any climbing gear.
Our friends Foster & Tracy recently acquired a place in "old" Palm Springs, a beautiful architecturally designed house surrounded by lovely, private gardens and complete with a swimming pool plus a private tennis court. 
