November 22 

OK, so when I left off we had just arrived in Fort Langley.  As I mentioned before we instantly loved it when we drove into town.  There are a lot of little things that make me, and/or us, love the part of BC.  I love the air, it has freshness and slight scent of pine or woodlands that you only find in mountain regions in the cool weather.  I also love the holly that grows wild, the lacy cedar trees that seem to flow in the wind, and the mountain views that pop up through the trees or open areas.  I love the blackberry brambles, and all the green stuff growing.  We both love the fact that people are outside - sitting in sidewalk cafes, under an umbrella or port roof if its raining, or just bundled up if it snowed.  We both love the little shops and eateries, lanes and courtyards.

It isn’t all perfect, but it sure had a lot of little things that bring joy.  Among the imperfect things: the sheer volume of traffic between here and Vancouver; cost of things like gas ($1.31/l when we arrived) and Becel ($6.49). 

So what happened since we arrived.  Well, day one we woke up to snow.  Yup, everything what white and crunchy.  Lovely to look at about an inch of white stuff everywhere.  Most of it quickly melted away - none on the roads.  We went in to Langley on an exploratory mission.  Found a lovely little fish mart where they sold stuff to take home, or will cook it up for you to enjoy right there. We were looking for a coffee shop - the guy said , no problem, I’ll make you coffee - and he did.  Next door is a Japanese fruit and veggie stand.  We got halibut fish cakes, and salmon cakes and fresh asparagus for supper.  Great find.  Also sought out the important things for Jack - a bank, a Canadian Tire store, that sort of thing.  I spotted a scrapbooking store but left it for another day.

Next day was a bit of a repeat, found an RV dealer (our hot water isn’t working so we are taking it in to get fixed before we do our final set up.).  We had a look at some used Rvs for sale and got the salesman all excited.  No question we need and would like to upsize our RV.  Still don’t want a “bus”, but would love a bit more space.  More comfort for Jack.  He’s having kind of a hard time with his hip and has basically crashed.

Sunday we woke up to a hoar frost.  It was amazingly beautiful.  We are on an island, so morning fog/hoar frost is expected. We walked into the village for breakfast and took lots of photos.  The avid outdoor types were out on the river in things that look like outrigger canoes, and folks were partaking of good grub or coffee at the little eateries. There was also a little craft fair in one of the courtyards. Then John and Chrissy invited us in for roast beef dinner.  John came out to get us, but Jack had crashed and couldn’t go.  I did.  Went in the afternoon and came back at lunchtime on Monday.  Jack is still down ans out so this is a stay in day.  Except I had to go clean the “yard.”  

We had a windstorm last night.  Branches and stuff hitting the rig woke us up in the night and the power was off for two hours.  No damage, and its very mild in temperature so all is good.  I gathered up all of the wood and stacked it by the fire pit to dry.  John does love a good campfire, so I’m hoping it dries for him to use.

OK, I’m off to get lunch and then write Christmas cards.  Think I’m going to tell Santa to leave a CD player under the tree.  A bit of Christmas music would be perfect on this relax day.

All the best to you all.  Remember if you want to get in touch, email me at julie@seacroftpei.com

Julie