Christmas Day

Jim & Me Chris & Mark
Barb & Jim

We had a wonderful day, after waking up around 7am we opened our stockings that Genette had sent us (first tears of the day) Jim made coffee and we ate our THORNTONS CHOCOLATE. Thanks Gen.
We then had our gift's from Emma Nick and Joe and Grace and Edward (second tears of the day)
We called the girls and my mum, and heard all about the gifts the little one's got, and had a few more tears. Emma was worried Father Christmas would not find us.... well he did.
We went and had a few games of Pickle ball, then got ready for Christmas dinner at 1pm. Over 200 sat down, and it went so well, even if Mark and Chris and a few others had to sit out in the car park and the sun .
We finished the day with more Pickle ball and lots of laughs. A very good day.

SO MANY HAPPY HOURS............

At Bob & Kathy's
Just me, Jim had things to do.

Happy hour for Ken's birthday.


Happy hour with Lisa & Don



Good friends, Bob & Julie

Happy hour with Don & Lisa


There are not enough hour in the week for all the happy hours. We will be hosting one in the new year and I have been talked into doing a "Curry happy hour" The smell should be good around the camp ground...........

Christmas Party

I have found Father Christmas and I'm not letting him go.

Ed and I at the party. Ed was Jim's secret Santa, and gave him a big gift box full of cheese and sausage. Suzy was my secret Santa and gave me a bag full of "Tinkerbell" stuff and an angle with my name on it, so its official now. HA HA. We had a great time and lots to eat.

Jim and I all dressed up.

My BIG find........

On Monday I went down into the river to Fossil, and was joined by 7 new "Old Fossilers." The water was so nice and cool, as it was over 85F on land. After about 30 minutes digging in a hole I had been working on for over a week, I dug out a Woolly Mammoth tooth. I was so excited, just holding it in my hand and knowing it is so very old makes me feel so very lucky to have found it. My new fossilers came over and we all set out to find the rest of it !!!!!!!!!. Two hours, later no Woolly Mammoth skeleton, but Jay, one of my fossilers, got a very nice Great White shark tooth, and the rest of the group got some nice "bits and pieces." And a lot of very sore backs.

My FIRST art lesson

This is the first painting I did in my art lesson last week, Liz (my teacher) said it was good, even if I did put the humming birds thin bill in the wrong place............. Next week may try line dancing !!!!

A British"BOBBY"

Jim was a "K9" officer in England.

I was ask what Jim looked like in his Police uniform........
Well here he is.


Getting his "Long service medal"

YES, That is a moustache, Jim only lost that 6-7 years ago.


With the 2nd love of his life "Dana"

She was the only bitch he trained, and we lost her to cancer when she was 5 years old.

The list is still growing.

We were all sitting chatting the other day, and someone said to us full timer's "It must be strange not having a home base" This got me thinking HOME !!!!!!!!! To me this is where ever Jim is, (corny but true). Then I thought BASE !!!!!!!!!!! We have a bases. One in England with our two girls, we also have a base on the farm in Alberta, with our best mates (also family) Richard & Marlus. We also have a base somewhere in Arizona with our first RVing friend Sandy (she is moving soon so please send us 'our' new address Sandy.) plus we have a base in New York with friends Bob & Barb, spent a great few days there this summer. We got a new home base this year in Pennsylvania with good friends Lee & Judy. So I think we are very very lucky, and doing a lot better than most. And it goes without saying, that our home base in England can be added to all their home base lists.

Getting Fit ....

As you can see, we are TRYING to get fit. We play every day at 9am till 11am, then again at 4pm till it gets too dark to see. But there is talk that Debbie has some lights to put up around the court.
It's so nice to be back at Peace River and meet up with all our old friends from the last two winters here.
I've had a few visits down the river, (miss you Bob) and The Old Fossil Club has started off well, 9 people came to join me the first day. We meet on a Monday Thursday and Saturday. I'm getting used to being called and introduced to people as the "Fossil Queen."

Such a nice welcome back

We flew into Toronto on Saturday, where we stayed the night, and then drove back to the RV by Niagara falls on the Sunday morning. All was well when we got to her, so we hit the road on the Monday morning and got to Hershey, Pennsylvania Monday night. We gave Lee and Judi ( good friends from Peace River) a call and spent two wonderful days with them. They took us to visit the State Capital Building, and the Museum. Judi cooked us a great meal Tuesday night in their beautiful home.
We will set of in the morning (Thursday) down the I 81 and hope to get to Florida on Sunday.

Our trip home to England

Our son-in laws were at work.

From left to right, Georgina, Edward, Emma at the back, Grace in front of her, Nick with Joe on his lap, and Genette and Jim and I at the back.

Our grandchildren
So much fun dressing up.


Top...Georgina, Genette, me and my mum.
Bottom... Me, mum and my sister Darcy.

The 3 weeks went so fast, so I would like to say sorry to all the people we did not get to see this visit, will catch you next time round.

From the other side of the Pond

Just to let you all know we are safe and sound back on British soil. The flight was good and on time, and we had a nice surprise as we landed, as we were met by Georgina and little Joe.
As I email this, poor Jim is prostrate on the couch with a good old English "cold". We have got all the Dr & hospital visits out of the way, and we both have a few more years left in us, to play "pickelball"

Good as New

Doesn't she look nice?

We keep putting it off, BUT this week WE got it done.......WASHING & POLISHING the RV. It took Jim, with my supervision, 14 hours over a 5 day period. But He got his own back last night when every muscle in his body was aching and I used a whole tube of muscle cream on his poor muscles.

A Night & Day at the Falls

The Falls at night


Niagara Falls.

Maid of the Mist

Niagara Falls.....what can I say amazing, mind blowing, mesmerising and magical, well that's just my opinion. We again went for the best "Theme Park" ride ever, The Maid of the Mist. No matter how many times we go on that boat, it is still as exhilarating as the first time.
We also went on a walk alongside the rapids, on the River Road between Niagara and Niagara on the Lake, which we had never done before. These rapids are classed as a class 6, the most dangerous. As a result, there is a by-law prohibiting anyone from attempting to go down them. However in the time we have been here, (3 weeks so far) there have been two rescues from the rapids, resulting in one certain death, and two men still missing, presumed drowned. Some people just cant take advice!!!!

The Rapids

Demolition Derby

What fun we had at the demolition derby. Having never been to one before we were not sure what to expect. In one race the drivers wore a bag over their heads, and blindly depended on their passengers for directions (Jim and I have been doing that for years). Then there was the school bus race, the trailer race and the car jumping thought the trailer. We saw car's on fire and car's upside down, then there was the "lets see how many times we can ROLL the car" the atmosphere was great and we had a good time.

Look Nana

Edward & Grace

To all you girls, Mum's and Nana's out there, we all love to dress up don't we?. The young girls today have so much more than we had, but I can still remember the fun I had with my mum's "snake skin" high heels and her old dresses. I can feel a dressing up day coming on when I get home, I still have my wedding dress (if I can get in to it) so keep an eye out for the photo LOL .

Nick being NICK.

"Superman" Nick, with his cousin "Princess" Grace.


We called our youngest daughter, Georgina on Wednesday. She answered the phone with "can't talk Dad, on the way to casualty with Nick, he has stuck a pencil up his nose" She promised to text us as soon as she got back. As you can imagine we were looking at the phone for the rest of the day till she did text us some time later, and we immediately rang her back. She told us all was well. HOW or WHY did he do it? I asked. Because he's a BOY, and his name is NICK!!! she said. (he will be 4 next week). As the mother of 2 girls, all I can say is my hat goes off to all you mum's with boys out there,......... We rang Nick today to see how he was, and he'd forgotten all about it already, but wee Emma was able to fill us in, on all the blood and gore, etc., both real and imaginary.

Time with Family.

Me & cousin Gail

Monday 10th September, Fonthill, Niagara. Spent the afternoon with my mum's little brother, my Uncle Charlie and Auntie Joy. We have tried to see them every year on our trip, but did not get a visit in last year. Aunty Joy did a super meal for us, and my cousin Gail came home from work, and had lunch with us.



Me, Uncle Charles & Aunty Joy

Peterborough Lift Lock


When we were staying near to Toronto, we went to Peterborough to see the 'Boat Lift lock', and it was amazing to see it work. This was to be the world's highest hydraulic lift lock, rising 19.8 m. in height. It opened in 1904. What I could not understand was when we were told that there could be a small canoe in the lift or a 10 ton boat the weight in the lift would not change. Jim tried to explain but I still don't understand. Blonde moment he said, his eye will be better in a day or two..............

Greetings from Niagara Falls

We have been here almost a week already, I can't believe how quick the time flys by. On Monday, we visited with my aunt and uncle , who live in Fonthill, about 30 miles or so from here. They served us a great lunch, and their daughter Gail, my cousin, came from work to see us. It was nice to see them all again. Hopefully we will get to see them again before we head off for Florida.
We are very close to Niagara Falls, about 20 Min's drive from Sherkston, so of course we have been to have a look. I never tire of seeing them they really are magnificent.http://www.city.niagarafalls.on.ca/
Up until yesterday, the weather here has been pretty good, quite hot and sunny, with an occasional shower. That all changed yesterday, around lunch time the wind increased, by late afternoon the rain started, and by 9pm, we brought the slide-out in, as we thought the topper would be ripped off. The light show was superb, but I really did think on a couple of occasions we were going to be blown over. This morning, the park seems to have escaped relatively unscathed, one or two branches laying on the ground, but the poor people who were living under canvass, we saw so many tents totally destroyed. Also some people have left their pop-ups on site, and visit at weekends. If they come this weekend, most will have some serious cleaning up and repair work to do. Will post some photos as soon as I can.

A few photos from the past.

We scrub up quite well for 2 Grannies.

Marlus and I getting ready for Ken & Carrie's wedding 2006. It was so nice to dress up. And yet another first for me, I danced till 5.30am. I will never forget dancing the Polka with Richard.

A DREAM come true.





This was a dream come true for me. If you had asked me 4 years ago when we started our trip what was one of my dream's, I would have answered "going on a cattle drive" and I didn't even mind getting up at 5.30am. As you can see Jim was on his best TOY the quad bike.....that's another story.......





The other Stallion in my life, Chillie & Me 2006





This is how I was met every morning, as you can see before I even done my hair. Chillie and I got to know each other in 2005 when he cut the top of his leg badly on some wire, and I offered to wash and put cream on it every day for the 6 weeks we were there. When we went back in 2006 he was there to meet me, with his new friend RED, I like to think he remembers me. That year we stayed for over 2 months so we had many happy hours together.

Irma 2006

Ruby,Marlus,Richard,Jim & me, EATING AGAIN.

How we came to meet Richard and Marlus.

Jims Granddad outside his shoe repair shop in Wimbledon, London, England.



As some of you know, Jim's dad was born in Canada in 1909, but his parents came back to England with there 5 children in 1914.
So when Jim and I started this journey of ours, one of the things we wanted to do was try and find out as much as we could about any family left in Canada. So in the summer of 2004 we visited the Church in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where Albert(Jim's dad) was baptised. We found the church easy enough, as we had his baptism certificate, this was the only paper we had, he never had a birth certificate. We were told it was too cold (never) to go out in January, the month he was born. Also he was born in a small town called Francis, about 1 hour away by car today, from Moose Jaw, where he would have to have been registered. Goodness knows how long it would have taken in January 1909, with no cars and no roads to speak of. The vicar at the church was very helpful and we spent some time there going through the very old books. Here we found out that his dads godmother named on the baptism certificate (Amelia Russell) was Jim's grandmothers sister. She stayed on in Canada and married a John James, and had two daughters, Jenny and Ruby. Ruby will be 90 years young next Febuary and she is a wounderful lady and dear friend. Are you keeping up?????? Jenny sadly passed away a year or so before our arrival. Ruby had 5 children, one of whome is Marlus who, along with her husband Rihard, drove all the way from Alberta to the Atlantic Coast and back, to see us for their 3 weeks annual holiday this year. They are also the same family who we stay with on their farm in Alberta. We were made so welcome by Ruby's and Jenny's family in Irma, Alberta.
Hope to see you all next year. Thank you again for making us FAMILY.

Grace & Edward

Grace and Edward had a happy time at the beach last week, "O" to be so young and care free. So looking forward to seeing them all next month.

We do get the SUN in England

We all live in Solihull * about 12 miles SE of Birmingham .

The beach Georgina & Dan took the children to is just above the Isle of Wight.





Bournemouth Beach, England

This weekend is a long weekend in the UK, and the sun was shining and it was HOT, so off to the beach they went.

Where our daughters live, The Midlands (the clue is in the name) is right in the middle of the UK, so its a bit of a drive to the beach. Only around 120 miles, BUT on the English roads, and a bank holiday weekend?, it could take up to 4 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We rang the little ones the next day and they told us all about their day, and the fun they all had.

Genette & Darren have taken Grace & Edward to visit their other Grandparents, Keith & Terry, in Southampton, (next door to Portsmouth on the map). Whilst there, they all went to the Isle of Wight for the day. They have also spent many hours at the beach, so I'm looking forward to Grace telling me all about that when we phone her later this week. It also gave Darren a chance to catch up with all his old buddies from when he lived in Southampton. He also managed to get to see his team play ( http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/ ) a game of football (proper football). They actually won, not too common of late for the Saints, perhaps he should go more often.

Our wedding Anniversary

33 years and still counting!

We may look a bit different, but 33 years later to the day, the one thing that remains the same is.........the fun we have together. Love goes with out saying. But as anyone knows that RV's full time, if you don't have FUN and laugh when you take a wrong turn in the RAIN, and have to unhook, or the BLACK tank is too full because your husband is rinsing it out and forgets to tell you, and he got talking to your new next door neighbors, and you press the peddle and "YES" Sh** all over you. We did laugh 6 weeks later......... after many showers and cleaning of the bathroom....... Of course we have had REAL fun too travelling to such wonderful places and meeting some great people across the USA and Canada.

Of course two of our greatest achievements, our two wonderful daughters, they have and continue to give us such pleasure and pride.

We have no idea what is in store for us in the next 33 years, but I can guarantee that it will be FUN.

Parliament of Canada.

Just like home

We do like Ottawa, maybe its the Parliament Buildings and The Peace Tower ( looks a bit like Big Ben ), so reminds us of home.

We went on a tour of the House of Commons and the Senate. On another day we walked round the shopping and downtown area of the city. Such a nice and easy city to walk around and the fruit and veg market was so nice, we came home with so much stuff, I will be making "fruit smoothies" for weeks.

We are at a campground in metropolitan Toronto now, (although we are an hour away from Downtown Toronto) called Trout Water Family Camping. www.troutwatercamping.com. Small, friendly and we have WIFI access in our RV. Its right near the centre of Kawartha Lakes country, with many small and picturesque towns, the main one being a town called Lindsay. Supposed to have the widest main street in Ontario. Lindsay has all the big box stores, and a shopping mall on the edge of town, but still has managed to retain its town centre, with many different small shops. Well worth a visit. Despite, as I have said there are many big box stores in Lindsay, there is no Wal-Mart, good heavens, what will we do. Not to worry, about the same distance in the opposite direction, is a small town called Uxbridge. Equaly picturesque, but a Wal-Mart on the edge of town. Phew!!!!

We will be here till the 5th Sept. Then its on to Sherkston Shores www.sherkston.com for a month. We stayed there 2 years ago, so know what its like. We hope to leave the RV there when we fly home on the 5th Oct. Its right on Lake Erie, and has its own private HUGE sandy beach, and its very close to Niagara Falls, which I will never tire of seeing. Also of course I will need at least a month to TRY and pack all our bags for our trip home. We are only allowed 40 pounds checked baggage each...... I can feel an excess baggage charge coming on. I have told Jim he can wear two jumpers on the plane, and he will only need ONE pair of shoes for home, (that will give me more room for my 6 pairs of shoes) you know what I mean don't you girls.

A few photos from home.

Painting "Joe"

Self explanetary !!!!!!!!!


A treat.

Told they could see the 1st Harry Potter film. They were all so excited and enjoyed it.

My Diamond

Well, do you like my DIAMOND it is a Herkimer diamond from the mines in New York. A gift from Bob.......
http://www.herkimerdiamond.com/Wholesale07.html

The Blue Nose (and her new crew mates)

The Blue Nose 11

When we were in Nova Scotia, Jim & Richard were invited onto the "Blue Nose 11", the two young men you see with them, tried to get our men to leave Marlus & I on dry land and sail away with them, into the sunset........don't get to excited..... as they then followed it with "we could get you both in shape and get rid of that excess weight you both have" We did laugh..........

Then went to Tim Hortons and had coffee & doughnuts, just for a change.......... We love our men the way they are.

We have a CONNNECTION ......

Montmorency Falls Quebec City, Quebec.
The top photo show's the 400+ steps down to the base of the falls.



Grand Falls, New Brunswick.



This was the view we had from the RV, on PEI, and yes, thats the sea.









As you can see, we have not been able to get on line for weeks now. So in short......... We spent a wonderful week on Prince Edward Island. We were very lucky to have been invited to stay with Louanne's parents on their sea side property, right on the beach. As you can see, we had one of the best views we have ever had from the RV, and great next door neighbors too. Louanne is an RCMP officer in Irma, Alberta, where Richard & Marlus live. While there, we decided to leave the RV and trailer, (as it cost around $60 to get OFF the Island) and go for a few days to Nova Scotia. And on the way there, we passed Jean & Garrett Mulder in their caravan of RVs, she would not have seen us as we were in Richard's truck, but we got very excited when we saw them. When we left PEI, lots of tears as we had to say good-bye to Ralph and Bernadette and again thank you, for making us so welcome at a very difficult time, and a fare well to Richard and Marlus, as they were heading back to Irma. But that turned into 3 fare well's, as we stopped for gas and then at TIM HORTONS.............. Jim and I then went on to New Brunswick for a week, and got to visit the Bay of Fundy area and saw so much there. On the way out of NB we stay at Grand Falls for a few days, then on to Quebec for 2 weeks. We both love Quebec City. We stayed there for one night on a vacation in 1997 and always said we would come back one day. It's so like some of the old city's we have been to in France, one being Carcassonne, where they filmed Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. This is also a walled City.

One of my favorite thing to see are water falls, and I have had my fill over the last few weeks. First we went to Grand Falls, in Grand Falls New Brunswick, Montmorency Falls in Quebec City and Chaudiere Falls in Levis Quebec.