My Next Project

These two flowers represent my grandma and I.  She's the yellow Rose and I'm the blue Tibetian Poppy.  Grandma enjoyed tending to her gardens for as long as I knew her.  She had tulips, dahlias, roses, a huge rhododendron, and many others.  I asked my mom if she knew Grandmas' favourite colour of rose, she thought it was yellow.  I like wild flowers as well as poppys.  I chose this particular poppy because it's blue. 

I've been thinking about what my next tattoo was going to be for quite a while now and my first thoughts were to add wild flowers and a vine to the bumble bee I already have on my left ankle area.  But just recently, a couple weeks ago, I thought about having a sort of memorial to my grandma tattooed on me.  It had to include a flower and a really nice, feminine font that said "Grandma".  So off to google I went to search for yellow roses....above is what I selected mainly because of the defined petals.  Then I thought about adding something that would represent me, so I also chose a flower and above is what I selected.  I was lucky to quickly find a nice, flourishing font to reflect who Grandma was.  It's called Scriptina.

This tattoo will be done on my wrist, not sure which one though....maybe my left one as it's less dominant and used less.  The two flowers will be beside each other with the word below and possibly in a rounded shape, not straight across like it is now.

Anyways, I don't have the money right now and some car repairs are needed to be done first.  I think this will look very pretty and it will probably be done in a tattoo shop in PG.

River Rafting BA-BY!!

Sunday July 18th at 6:00am, my friends Melissa and Nathan and I get in the car and drive to Lytton for our combo rafting trip.  It took us 2.5 hrs to get there so we were about 45 min early.  When the time came to sign-in, we gathered along with about 18 others to sign a waiver, receive instructions and get our gear.  We loaded into an old blue school bus and off we went; 30 min north of the base, up the Thompson river.  In the boats we went, about 10-11 per boat and off we motored.  Our guide was named "Wave Dave".  He was awesome and very entertaining.   

While in the boat we had to hold onto a rope that was along the inside of the tube we sat on. We had to hold onto it at all times, with at least one hand, and between our legs. That prevented our legs from being tossed backwards and into the river.  There was a bit of a history lesson included regarding the gold rush, the river gorge, the camel/sheep, rock formations and significant river levels.  The water looked to be very clean although would be filtered for best results and it was very refreshing.  The last rapid was called "eighteenth hole" and I was lucky to be at the front of the boat.  It was awesome! The wave was huge and super wet!!  I couldn't stop laughing during it all.

After the 2 hr ride, we went back to the base, had lunch and joined up with about 40 other people to do a paddle rafting ride.  So into the bus we went, drove up north and loaded into boats.  The power ride had 2 boats and the paddle ride had 7 boats.

The paddle ride was quite a bit different.  I think most people think it's a wilder, wetter ride but, really, it isn't.  The paddle boats can't go in the same rapids as the power boat because there is a lack of power.  The rafting guide told us about the paddle calls she would be yelling to us; so we practiced those before attempting the rapids.  Once again, I felt safe on the paddle boat.  Sure it looks like you're going to fall in but I didn't feel that way.  On one occassion, my side of the boat was lifted up and the girl behind me and I were tossed INTO the boat.  We had to stay in the boat until we were on calmer waters.   

After the ride, we went back to the base, got dried off and changed and the 3 of us split the purchase of a CD with trip pictures on it.  Hense the pics on this blog entry.

In summary, I felt the power ride was a lot more rougher, wetter and faster!  I loved it.  The paddle ride was slower and not so wet because that boat can't go through the same rapids as the power boat.

Another bucket item crossed off....

Oh Deer!!

Just this past Thursday (July 8th) I was driving my usual early morning route to V'hoof to work when all of a sudden a deer came up from the ditch beside me (driver's side), hopped towards me as I was driving 100 km/hr and crashed into my car. 

I was on a curve that went towards the left and the deer came up from the left side, hopped towards my car and while I had a short moment to slow down, it wasn't enough to save the deer (or my car).  He flew off my hood and into the ditch, somewhere, on the passenger side.  I pulled over off the highway, inspected the major dents on my car and was debating whether I should find the deer and see how it was doing.  Very quickly, a thought entered my mind of "what if it's still alive and suffering?"....I didn't want to see that so I got back into my car and drove off to work.

Nonetheless, I was upset.  I turned off my radio and drove in silence the rest of the way (1/2 hr longer).  I wasn't in the mood for tunage anymore.  I felt like a killer of an innocent being.  Poor Mr./Mrs. Deer....it's family will be wondering where they are.  Then again, why would a deer hop onto the highway when it saw me coming and hop in front of my car!!??

ICBC here I come.

Oh and one more thing.  A few days before this incident happened, I was driving the same highway but back to PG from V'hoof and an oncoming semi-truck flicked up a stone about the size of an open fist and it landed on my windshield!  I saw it coming towards me but I had NO way of avoiding it.  WOW!  What an expensive highway to drive!

Check out this article I found online...

DUTCH FARMERS TIP-TOE THRU THE TULIPS

www.dailymail.co.uk

At first glance, it looks like a giant child armed with a box of crayons has been set loose upon the landscape.  Vivid stripes of purple, yellow, red, pink, orange and green make up a glorious technicolour patchwork. Yet far from being a child's sketchbook, this is, in fact, the northern Netherlands in the middle of the tulip season.

With more than 10,000 hectares devoted to the cultivation of these delicate flowers, the Dutch landscape in May is a kaleidoscope of giddy colours as the tulips burst into life.
The bulbs were planted in late October and early November, and these colourful creations are now ready to be picked and sold as bunches of cut flowers in florists and supermarkets.
More than three billion tulips are grown each year and two-thirds of the vibrant blooms are exported, mostly to the U.S. and Germany.

Their dazzling colours are thanks to the years in the 17th century when Tulipmania swept the globe and the most eye-catching specimens changed hands for a small fortune.

But like a rainbow, this colourful landscape is a short-lived phenomenon.
When the flowers are gone, the land will be cultivated for a rather more mundane crop of vegetables.

House Sale

Well to make a long 1.5 month story short, the buyer did not come through with a down payment for my parent's house so we're not moving.  My parents don't want to sell privately or use a realtor either for a couple reasons.

I think this has been a waste of time now that we know the guy who "so badly" wanted to buy this house hasn't gone through with the deal.  So now my parents will continue with the renos of new gutters and down spouts and a repaired ceiling in living room.  A new roof was just finished being installed yesterday.

I was really looking forward to a "new" house of only 4 years old but looks like my parents will try again next year.  Maybe this wasn't the right time to purchase but next year will be.  During the past 1.5 months of house-searching there were only 2 or 3 houses that had potential to purchase and mom & I looked at 20+ houses in all sorts of conditions, ages, updated/non-updated etc.  It's really quite an eye-opening experience.

So for now this 'adventure' is done this year and might be continued next year.

Our New Home?

This is the house that my parent's have all their eyes on to purchase.  It's 4 years old which would the newest house we've lived in since 1995-ish.  Here are the specs:   4 bedrooms, 3 FULL bathrooms, family room in the kitchen, rec room, living/dining room, large master bedroom with walkin closet, wood patio out back, and balcony just outside of living room above 2 car garage. This house is on a corner lot so there is extra grass to cut but it's so nicely manicured, why not?!  This house is located about 10 min from downtown and west of town in a newer area.  Right now my parents are awaiting confirmation of any kind from their interested buyer.  Will he have a down payment or not?
Here's a pic of my room to be:

It is on the smaller side but it's just a place for me to sleep.  Beside my room is the rec room and there are  frosted double french doors to that room.  I have another entrance of a single french door as well on another wall.  I will have a 4 piece bathroom downstairs but it will also be used by who ever will be hanging out down there too.  A luxery nonetheless!  Anyways, my parents hope to hear in a day or two what the final decision will be.  If the buyer is a no-go, then the house won't be for sale and this new house won't be purchased.  If the buyer is a-go, then an offer will be made and if it's accepted then moving day is Aug 1st!  The buyer needs to be out of his place on that date.  That means 5-6 weeks for mom and I  to pack a whole house....we got our work cut out for us, that's forsure.

To be continued....