Amsterdam

After an exhausting day with an overnight flight and dealing with Heathrow airport in London we arrive on our boat MS Amadeus. Too tired to unpavk tonight. Dinner is at 7pm. Absolutely delicious. I have the pike. We are too tired to attend the lifeboat drill and are in bed by 8pm. I didn't sleep on the plane as I watched The Life of Pi on the plane. Wow did I sleep. We got up at 5am.Time to put our clothes away before coffee at 6am. Breakfast was wonderful too . I had the shrimp omelet from a menue. There was also a huge buffet. 8Am we are on a bus tour of Amsterdam. A 700 year old city capital. We do a canal tour first cruising through the elegant grachten lined with stately homes. A leisurely-paced walking tour to the flower market and the Delft pottery factory.. Amsterdam has 800,000 people and 650,000 bikes. At 12 we are back at the boat for lunch. Here again a buffet and menue to order from. We tried to have a nap after lunch only to be lurched out of bed -we run aground as the wind pushes us as we wait our turn to go through the locks. No damage done. Dinner is not until 7pm. We tie up at Arnheim to pick up Dutch dancers for tonight entertainment. A fun pack sunny day

a new adventure

May 29 Wednesday 2013 The start of a new adventure – A European river cruise ,Amsterdam to Budapest. We are all packed and ready to go, quite excited as we have never been to Europe. We fly British airways to Hearthrow England with a 2-1/2 stopover. Then to Amsterdam where we spend a day in town before boarding MS Amadeus Princess- a long narrow river boat. We will spend 14 days travelling through 5 countries-Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary on 5 rivers-Rhine, Main,and Danube. I hope to blog a long the way when I can.

REMEMBER-Life is not about being wealthy but being happy.

new dinning room suite

May 27 Monday 2013

Bill and Sherri went to sand on the boat. Gerry ,the twins and I went to the planitarium then took the False Creek ferry to Grandville Island . Sorry forgot my camera at home. We now have a dinning room suite. Today we are busy packing for the trip.

REMEMBER-It may be those who do most, dream most

living on the boat

May 19 Sunday 2013

We are spending the long weekend living on the boat. Busy sanding and painting all the outdoor teak. Sherri came down to help yesterday with Carter and Madison. I got a break with the kids. We all went to the White Spot for a reward. Sherri is coming to paint today. Gerry is taking the kids to playland for the day. Tomorrow is painting the second coat , Sherri is coming again while Gerry and I go with Carter and Madison to Maplewood farm.

REMEMBER-Getting older is the only way to live long. 

time flyies

May 16 Thursday 2013 where is the time going? Barely survived the babysitting as I got a sinus infection too so am on Penicillin. The cough is getting much better and so are my sinuses. Sherri and Gerry and the kids picked us up for family night at the aquarium. Jellyfish was the special. I for got the camera so no pictures. We are starting to get ready for our trip May 29-June 13. We had a meeting with Bill Good and met our fellow travellers. Looks like a good group. We have a 86 year old going too she sure looks good for her age I think she does a lot of travelling. We finally ordered a dinning room set

REMEMBER-many people never reach 80 because they waste time trying to stay 40. 

dinasaurs den

baby sitting over

I couldn't get the bear video to work but the coyote one works now. I think I am just about over the cold I had, doing a lot of sleeping after baby siting Carter and Madison for 12 days. I am getting too old as they were into skating, swimming, gymnastics  and art classes as well as school 3 days a week. We did find time to bake cookies and build a dinosaur den. Sherri is taking me for a pedicure Sunday. Bill left me alone while he went to the boat and is starting to sand the boat for painting so I got my needed rest. Weather is sure holding up but is to change Sunday.

trip to the zoo  coyote & Carter

looks like the video of the bear and the coyote will not work

fun at the zoo

fun at the zoo

The weather is holding out and so are we. Sunday was a beautiful day so we went to the zoo. How excited we were when we watched a grizzly bear playing in the water with a big red ball. Then around the corner we watched and listened to coyotes howling when Carter gave the howl. I got a video of it but have to go to our house to get the cord to download on the computer so will post it latter. Sunny today too.

chart painting

chart painting

April 22 Monday 2013

I went to 2 more Opus demo's. They inspired me to start painting on nautical charts. I am doing a sample as Shannon has Indonesia charts she would like me to paint on. Going to skating so I can see where to take the twins next week when we baby sit for 12 days.

REMEMBER-A layer of dust protects the wood beneath it. 

scratch art

busyApril

April 17 Wednesday 2013

STILL BUSY BUSY BUSY. Eye appointment, yearly doctors check up,passports renewed,and income tax information handed in. We check out dinning room and kitchen tables,might have made a decision. Safety weekend over. Our boat passed for another year. We find out we have a hoarder in our complex.The poor soul was taken to human resources for evaluation. She will not be back and her place will be put up for sale. They removed 15,000 lbs of garbage, all the rugs removed and anything with upholstery. The smell was horrendous. Rats dead and alive. Must keep our doors closed as they will be looking for a new home. I have been attending demos in both Langley and North Vancouver Opus stores. Must leave now for the Wednesday painting group. We are going to play with scratchboards.

REMEMBER-A house becomes a home when you can write 'I love you' in the furniture

flowers in front of our place

Cv9 Seattle

April 5 Friday2013 back in Surrey BC

Busy busy busy- We had a high rise toilet but into our bathroom and can now return the riser the hospital loaned us. We got the fireplace working and took pictures of our rv and boat to be mounted. We got new hoses for the washing machine installed. Passport pictures taken as we need new ones. Ordered a stand for between our recliners. Today running around to replace my Telus stick for my computer, and renew car insurance. My camellia’s are in bloom and so are my rhododendrons.

REMEMBER-A smile is a face lift that's in everyone's price range.