Taken back 31 years...

Okay - today the most amazing thing happened. I went to the place where our kitchen cupboards are in process of being designed to talk to them before coming to mainland. While I was chatting with the people a woman comes up and starts to ask a few question - I am standing about 3 feet from her and watching her.

I am thinking to myself - this looks like someone I know. I listened to her voice and I am really thinking this has to be her.

I say 'Laurel' and she looks at me - she is trying to figure this out - I look at the cupboard people and say, 'she doesn't remember me but I almost gave birth to my first born in her house 31 years ago'.

Needless to say she freaked and we hugged and hugged. Oh my goodness.

The night I went into labour at 7 months pregnant - Tim and Laurels' husband Manny (who was the best man at our wedding) were out of town working. I was having a visit and sleepover at Laurel's house. In the middle of the night after laying in bed for a couple of hours with these cramps in my stomach I started to worry so I tried to wake her up. She was so sound asleep she wouldn't wake up - so I went into the kitchen and turned on lights and banged cupboards trying to get her to wakeup.

Finally she came into the kitchen and said something like 'oh, just have a cup of tea, it can't be labour your only 7 months'. Kind of like saying -DON'T BE A WEANY haha. To make a long story short - we called the doctor, called an ambulance and I had that tea. We told the ambulance it wasn't an emergency so they didn't rush. When I told Laurel I was going to BE SICK she ran for the pot and put it under my face just in time.

It was about that time we both started to panic. I couldn't walk around anymore - the pain was much worse. Finally the ambulance arrived and off to the hospital I went asking Laurel to make the call to my parents and people at the office so they could phone Tim. About an hour later one special first born came into the world at 3lbs 11oz.

And here is a pic of that baby all grown up at his sister's wedding last summer. Oh, and by the way, Laurel is Brad's godmother. I sent her some pics by email tonite and she wrote back and said, 'wow - that tiny little "beeper" baby is all grown up'. When Brad came home from the hospital he was hooked up to a heart rate monitor that went 'beep, beep, beep' with his heart rate.

Wow, I move to Courtenay and meet a long lost friend. Laurel and I went out for coffee and one of the first things she said to me was 'Sherry - I have to tell you - I have become quite religious'. I chuckled to myself and told her that's cool I started going to church 20 some years ago.

Needless to say, we had lots to talk about. It will take many many visits to catch up on all the years. Just a week ago I prayed for a friend - one who I could not only just share regular life with - but a friend that I could share my faith and prayers with. Someone to go to church with on occasion. What a day today was.

I am so excited about coming to visit you all - I will be catching the ferry sometime tomorrow and be in town by supper for sure. See you soon.

View of back of house... new ph # 250-334-1975

This is twice in one day... oh my. I can't keep this up. :-)

So here is a pic of the gate at the back of my yard. When I go out that gate there is a trail thru the forest that leads to the Big House on the property.

I have taken some pics of that trail and the 'Big House' and will post them in the coming days. We have a fence around the back and down both sides and of course the other side of the front lawn is fenced to keep the horses in from the other side.

This next pic is taken from the very right back corner. The back gently slopes up from the house - not too steep.. Still haven't seen a deer at
cottage yet. I would just love to wake up one morning a see a few on the front yard. Dororthy our landlord has seen them at the big house. I'm thinking we may not get any here because we are all fenced except for the long driveway.

I put my new number at the top of this post. I kept forgetting to put it up there everyday.. Still trying to get unpacked and settled. I seem to be busy from morning till late at nite when I sit here.

So tired last nite..

Good morning. I was so tired last nite I just didn't have enough energy at the end of the day to put my post up..

I got up yesterday morning and felt like a Mack truck had slammed into me. All the long days of physical work had finally caught up to me. I had a massage appt at 9:00 am - she took one look at me and said, 'oh my your neck looks sore and you look tired'. So she gave the the once over to try to get my body to relax and told me I am not 20 years old.. haha (but I want to be)

Then off to the condo to do the laundry (bedding, towles etc.) I was too tired to clean bathroom etc. so I just sat on the couch and then had a little nap while the laundry was happening.

Did some grocery shopping, bought a couple new lamp shades for bedroom lamps as we didn't find the box with them in and it's likely buried at the back of the storage. So when I got home I gave myself a little lesson in lamp rebuilding. I had to take them apart to put on new pieces that hold the lamp shade. So now I am a lamp rebuilding expert. haha

It is a beautiful morning out here so I thought I would take some pics out my front window. I took three and panned the front yard. This is what I get to look at each morning.

Here's the last one. oh maybe I will take a pic of the back and I will post them tonite. The windows in the front come down to about 21/2 feet above the floor so we get to look out at this all day long. There is a big one in the living area and a big one in front of kitchen table. It's all one big room but divided by the front entrance.

Have a good one.

Why I called it the 'Little House in the Woods'

Thought I would show u some pictures of our driveway.. it will explain why I orginally called our place the 'Little House in the Woods'.

My front yard does not face a road like regular houses - that's what makes it so unique. I turn off of a street into this driveway.



TJ said he thought he was going camping again when he drove in this weekend. It's very pretty.

This first picture is just inside the driveway looking towards the house.

This next picture is about halfway down the driveway. You can start to see the clearing at the end where the 'Cottage' is. That is what our landlords call the house. They just bought this property of 6 acres and this house is in one corner and was built 12 years ago so the family could have some extra revenue coming in.

The main house is like Anne of Green Gables (4000 sq ft) on 3 floors. It has a seperate 3 car garage with a 3 bedroom suite up above. It needs some finishing and then will be ready to use as a bed and breakfast type of dwelling.


This last picture shows me coming to the end of the driveway and getting a peak at the house. Tim cut the lawn today and weed wacked.

Jessie seems to be settling in pretty good. I really think she is going to like living here. She hasn't seen a deer yet so that will be fun - but she did see the horses on the other side of our front yard. We look at the back of that horse pasture I think I may have mentioned.

We will be ready for company anytime now. Book your room now - July 1st is already taken. hahaha. That would be TJ and Chelsey.

Yesterday was sooooo long..

Just a quick note to say that we made some pretty good progess out at the Cottage yesterday. Tonite will be the first sleep at the new place. We will have TJ and Jessie girl with us. What fun it will be.

I have to tell you that when you just stop and listen for noise out there - 'THERE IS NONE'. It is so quiet and I mean quiet. It's actually hard for me to believe. I wonder what it is going to feel like to wake up there tomorrow morning.

I need to post a pic of the driveway and then you will all know why I called it the 'Little House in the Woods'. Will do that later. We are complete surrounded by treed areas and our front yard does not face a street but it borders the back of a farmers pasture. It is treed also and the horses come up to the fence.

Will post again later.. Many, many pics on the way.

Pics of Lot...

Today was another long day at the Cottage. Lil Kate is here helping me unpack dishes, line cupboards with shelf paper etc. All the things she helped me do when we moved to Murrayville. We had a bit of deja vu. Kitchen is almost done and we are exhausted - but had a fun day together. When we left the Cottage tonite the frogs were so loud. Wonder what Jessie will think of that?

Tim phoned this afternoon to say I better get over to our lot and take some pictures because tomorrow is 'clearing day'. The lot is almost all covered with trees so it is a bit difficult to get a feel for how the house will look etc. There is just a bit of the 1/2 acre on one side with no trees.

This is a pic of the whole front of the lot. The property line is just off the left hand side of this picture and the lot goes to beyond the telephone pole that is behind our car.

Most of the trees on the right hand side of the lot will stay and around the back yard. We are hoping to save a stand of trees
at the front on the left side.

Our driveway is around the back - it's a lane that drives right into the back of our lot. We will drive into our garage from there.

Tomorrow's entry will show a very different picture I'm sure. It's sad to see trees go but got to have room to build the house.

When Lil Kate and I were there this afternoon all we could here were birds chirping everywhere. It was cool. Look for new pics of lot tomorrow nite.

Yesterday was a long long day..

Hey everyone! Yesterday I spent 12 hours moving. The movers came to the storage early in the am and it took till 2:15 to unload all our stuff and pack in storage as well as load a U-haul truck with stuff for the Cottage. I picked up a couple young boys after school and Tim, 2 boys and myself headed out to our new place. After unloading the u-haul as well as the back of Tim's pickup we headed back into town to pickup our new bed and another truck load of stuff from the storage unit.

Needless to say, our little cottage is full of boxes and calling my name this morning. I must get on my way. Hopefully I will be able to post some more pic of front and back view tonite. Will get pics of inside to you all when it's a little more settled.

It is so nice inside - all freshly painted and I mean all. New floors, light fixtures, base board heaters, countertops etc. It will be so cozy once we get all settled. Talk to you later.

Trip to Coombs Market...

Yesterday Kate, Chris, Tim and I headed out to the Coombs Old Country Market . It was an amazing day. I haven't done something like that with my husband and any of my kids for many years. With Tim's work schedule on the mainland there was just no time or energy. This 'Island Life' is definitely looking good so far.

They have many buildings and gift shops to look in, as well as the main market building which is the one with the goats on the top. I guess it's a pretty well known place. Tour buses were coming in and out all day. They put those goats up on the roof in the spring when the market opens and they spend the summer up there. It's kind of cool. Underneath that roof is the big food market.

We came home had a snack and around dinner time went to Goose Spit. Everyone in town has been asking me if I have been there yet. Well, I finally made it. We walked and walked on the sandy beach. Our new house will be about 5 min. max (no traffic or parking issues) from the spit.

I have never been interested in living close to this kind of setting before - in Vancouver the beaches are right in the city and I really am not a city person. But this is so easy to get to and so beautiful. I really had no idea that this little place was so beautiful - when we were here in the winter I didn't see all those mountains because it was cloudy. I had no idea they even existed. Everyday that has been sunny since I arrived I have had to catch my breath and the beauty of the Comox Valley.

Tomorrow is moving day... It will be a long day. The next post will have pics of our new home. Miss you all.

This a day for Stewart Family History book....

What a day.. Katie and Chris arrived this morning and promptly went to the Ford dealer because there car was making a funny noise. Both of them had talked for months about what they should do about Kate's car because it had so many miles on it for a new car.

Well, to make a long story short.. they came to Courtenay for the long weekend and traded in their car for a brand new one. When they were done the head of the dealership took a pic of Kate & Chris with their brand new car - they plan to put this pic in the local paper with a some comment about 'Come visit the Comox Valley and buy a new car'

Needless to say.. it was quite an exciting day .. the people at the dealership were very excited.. This one will go down in Stewart family history book for sure. Things don't change much for the kids with the trade - no tax with Chris's card and it was the right time because of mileage to make the trade.

The car is awesome, power locks, power windows, it's a great color, and a four door which will help Kate when she takes out the kids. We went out for lunch at the new 'hole in the wall' I found this week and then later this afternoon we took snacks and wine to our landlords place and had a great time. Tomorrow we are going to the famous Coombs Market - can't wait. Talk to you tomorrow.

It was a good day.. High Speed Internet & Car Insurance

Hi guys... well today was good. This morning after many phone calls during the past week and having to put up with (bunk) dial-up internet service, I believe I have high speed on it's way. I had a bad day last week when I had to go back to the dark ages, put a modem in my computer and hear that oh so memorable beep, beep, beep of dial-up.

While arranging for a long distance plan this morning, I found out that this company offers high speed in our area so I signed up. IT'S ALL GOOD.

Oh, and by the way, the service I signed up for is Wintel (a subsiduary of Primus). I am on the 25 cents a call. Yes, you read correctly. I can talk as long as I want, any time of day, no busy signals, $2.25 a month fee and it is only 25 cents a call. My friend Julie has used them for a long time and swears by them so I will give it a try. So excited that I don't have to put up with that beep, beep for much longer.

Tim and I changed our car insurance today. Saved 700 plus change a year and our house insurance is going to be about 20% cheaper to.

Going to Victoria for the day tomorrow and Kate & Chris comin for the weekend. It's so nice to have a husband around on weekends to do things with.

Can moving make you have blonde moments...

Ha ha... This was funny.

Went to a drugstore yesterday to take a prescription in. When I got to the counter the lady starts asking me questions.

• What's your address.. umm I don't know - it's in my book in the car
• What's your phone number .. umm I don't know - it in my cell in the car

I look at this lady and say ' I'm looking pretty stupid right now aren't I - I don't know my address and I don't know my phone number.'

Then later that day I had coffee with my landlord and she asks me who my new doctor is ... um I can't remember his name. I tell her that the massage therapist I went to phoned the doctors office for me. She says, 'who was the massage therapist' ummm I can't remember her name.

Ha ha ha. is that scarry or what. People ask for me address and when I do have my book it's like - okay, which address would you like. The one is live in now for another week, the one I am moving into, the P.O. Box we have or the address of the house we are building.

Oh my gosh.... I have to many addresses, too many phone numbers.. On a side note - Tim bought me a new digital camera today - so pics will be on the way. Yahoo.

DEER, DEER, DEER everywhere

Today was a great day. Was driving into Courtenay from the Comox side when all of a sudden I realized the cars in front of me were stopped. I'm thinking "what are these people doin".

Then all of a sudden I saw why - a "DEER" right on the edge of the road (a fairly busy road). I just wanted to get out of the car. give it a hug and then send it on it's way so it wouldn't get hurt by the cars.

All the roads in town have signs on them like this one. I don't think I will ever get used to driving down a regular street with houses on both sides like tonite and seeing 3 deer on someones front lawn - chewing everything in site of course.


Then Tim and I drove by the golf course in Comox and sure enough we saw practically a whole herd of them.

Another cool thing happened today - I went into Tim Hornets to buy a sandwich and cup of tea and ran into a lady I had met at church a couple Sunday's ago. She invited me to sit down and we had a really nice visit. It was so cool to see someone I actually knew. She has offered to spend a couple days with me showing me all the good things to see and do and where to shop etc.

Property Owners in Comox, B.C.

Today was a good day.. was taken out for lunch to a little hole in the wall called the Atlas Cafe. 'The food was great'.

After lunch Tim and I signed the papers to purchase the 1/2 acre we have been looking at. And then this afternoon Tim was told that our house plans have gone to the city for approval. He came home with a big smile on his face.

Later this afternoon, our new landlord Dorothy, took me out for coffee. Dorothy and Bill moved to the valley from Victoria less than a year ago and just purchased this 6 acre parcel of land about 8 min. out of town. They will be moving into the big "Anne of Green Gables' house on one corner of the property. And our little 'Cottage in the Woods' is on another corner. We can't see each other but we can get to each other's houses by walking thru the property or driving around which is a bit of a distance by road.

Bill has totally refurbished the Cottage - new flooors (no carpet), new toilets and sinks, new light fixtures and paint. It looks just great and feels almost like a new house. It has 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath, laundryroom and kitchen family room together. No garage or anything so most of our stuff will go into storage on 23rd when the moving company brings the containers. Pictures to come soon.

The Comox Valley is a beautiful place.

I thought I would talk a little today about the Valley. When you meet people and tell them that you just moved here they get big smiles on there faces and say 'Welcome to the Valley - You are going to love it here'. Tim and laughed when we talked about it - we figure they have all been to the same nite school class.

A BLURB ON THE VALLEY

The Comox Valley is situated mid-way on Vancouver Island's East Coast. It is bordered on the west by the Beaufort Mountains with its breathtaking Comox Glacier and Strathcona Park, and on the east by the Strait of Georgia, Comox Harbour, and Baynes Sound. The Valley extends south to Fanny Bay and north to the Oyster River. Within its boundaries are the municipalities of Courtenay, Comox, and Cumberland.

Climate
The region enjoys short, mild winters and warm, dry summers. Weather systems that bring heavier rainfall and storms generally pass over us enroute to the mainland. ha ha . You guys get all the rain..

The snowbirds just spent a month practicing everyday before going on their summer tour. We get our very own show every day.

Well enough on the Valley. That gives a little window into my new home. I am sure there will be more installments as we go along.

I hope you will come and visit sometime.

The First of Many Firsts in the coming year...

Mother's Day - this was my first of many that I will experience this coming year. Being away from family and friends on special days. Our beautiful daughter Katie left her husband to come and visit this weekend. How thankful I am for her loving heart and desire to be with me today.

We had a great couple of days - showed her 'The Cottage in the Woods' that we will be moving into in 10 days. She loved it a first sight and her excitement was catching for sure. I think we will really enjoy our time out there. I will post a picture once we move in.

We went to Miracle Beach (wow) and showed Katie the lot where we are going to build. It was a good time. Thanks for coming Kate - love you. And Chris thanks for sharing your bride with us this weekend.

Oh - and Happy Mother's Day to my mom Rosie and Tim's mom Noreen. God Bless you both.