Okanagan Valley Winter

a breath of fresh winter!!
Next to Vancouver Island my next favourite place just happens to be where my brother lives in the beautiful Okanagan, between the two lakes and at the meeting place of the winds.

They actually enjoy winter there and it was lovely to get away from the damp fog of the west coast with it's rainy storms and head up there where they can have fog too in winter because of the lakes,  but it is a frosty fog and you will find snow on the ground and iced lakes.

Reflections on a crystal dawn

For more Beautiful BC photos of my Okanagan trip click

http://gatewaysandjourneys.blogspot.ca/2014/01/travelling-in-winter.html

An afternoon at Fort Rodd Hill

Please view this post at the link below.   I thought it might be more appropriate on the journeys blog.


For more history and photos of this beautiful spot visit this page at Gateways and Journeys
http://gatewaysandjourneys.blogspot.ca/2014/01/an-afternoon-at-fort-rodd-hill.html

 

Happy New Year

 Andre Rieu and bagpipes - Auld Lang Syne


The last of the season

An evening at Butchart Gardens and wonderland of lights ( The 12 Days Of Christmas)

This has become a season tradition and we've gone with family and/or friends before or after Christmas . It's one of the most beautiful gardens in the world and pure magic at Christmas.

It's a fond farewell to a most amazing year. We took an amazing trip to our roots and visited cousins and friends, - and my more ethereal photo greeting cards began to sell. There have been changes in our families, challenges and heartaches, yet we prevail.
What can I aim for in the new year? more mindfulness, letting go of expectations, better relationships and my biggie  of less procrastination.  The list is long and as my Zen habits prompts, maybe one challenge a month might be more easily doable.
Namu myoho renge kyo -and just breathe!!

Blessings to all and happy Hogmanay to my Scots cousins. Bhliain nua sásta  to our Ireland and Bliadhna Mhath Ùr  to the wild highland hearts. 
Buon Capodanno a Caterina e Roberto e tutti in bella Italia and ευτυχισμένο το νέο έτος  to my Nick!!

 the sunken garden

Jewelled tree

the tunnel in the slumbering rose garden

gate to the Italian Garden

the snail garden

 

The night garden- the opening looks onto the lagoon where you get a glimpse here of the 5 Golden Rings

                                                       

                                                        one of the nine lords(frogs) a leaping

                               

outdoor ice skating with hundreds of kids

                                                                         

some wild highland hearts and one Irish hooligan send us a greeting



Tamra calls these "the creepy puppets"



A Few Season Bites

Close Encounters at the Mayfair Mall on Boxing Day
 

 

This is actually the ceiling design at the Food Court but looks like a space ship about to swallow up all the greedy Boxing Day Sale shoppers or those ungrateful souls who are taking back unwanted gifts etc etc.

 

This ship would carry them off to Santa's "Work House" (a little bit of Dickensonian allusion ) which is a small snowy planet  a little outside and to the left of Rigel, - part of  the Winter Hexagon of the night sky. Once there they would have to make gifts with their own hands and imaginations in Santa's sweat shop for a whole year or until they find the true spirit of giving in their hearts.

 

I have no idea why I wandered into this Mecca like pilgrimage on Dec 26.  I actually got a touch of vertigo as I was swept along in  a circular wave around the Mall reminding me of those devoted who swirl around the Ka'aba except that this was not a spiritual quest and of a decidedly more mundane and less noble nature.  I finally got the bedsheets I wanted after standing in line for 1/2 hour and then headed exhausted and confused outside to Starbucks for respite. But alas, the lineup for a life giving jolt of dark roasted caffeine went right around the corner, so in a daze I  managed to drag myself to the bus stop and homeward to my eventual collapse - but with a nice espresso and  eggnog with a dash of rum on the couch - much better than Starbuck's!!

 

" A small matter to make these silly folk so full of gratitude"

 

Every year I watch "A Christmas Carol" on Christmas Eve - the best one- with Alastair Sim! I have a collection of Christmas movies that are a must, including "A Christmas Story"  and Disney's "Narnia" and the "Polar Express."  The all time fave though has to be "A Christmas Carol". I still weep at the ending. I am so old to remember singing aloud carols and my parents and friends dancing in the rec room. - Oh, the days before computer games and uncensored television ( and we had a time limit on how much we could watch!)

 

Fire truck toy run in View Royal Christmas Eve

 

 

 a few happy and grateful celebraters at Christmas

 

                                                                                                  Merry Christmas Darth Vader

Come over to the dark side, we have chocolate chip cookies