Beautiful Canadian Bride! And a Handsome Groom, too!

Ali and Ian's wedding was a gorgeous event. Picture perfect, I'd say! The setting at the Shawnigan Lake School was spectacular -- the lawn was meticulously manicured and the flowers were straight out of a gardening magazine. The cool and sunny weather was a treat for all. And the guests, well, we were a good looking group.

Many family and friends gathered from across Canada and the USA to celebrate Ali and Ian's special day. The traditional wedding ceremony included Ali's brother, Bill, on the piano with music composed for the occassion. Other family members and friends participated as ushers and attendants.

Cocktails were enjoyed on the lawn while the bridal party had pictures taken. And then the whole crowd enjoyed an elegant buffet dinner, friendly toasting, and dancing until late into the night. A huge tiaramasui cake and dessert bar topped off the evening as the DJ played on.

The bride and groom were off the next day on a mini-moon before returning home to Whistler. And John and I were off to Seattle and on our way home to Dragon Gardens.

Shawnigan Lake School Chapel

"I do!"


Cousins of the bride, Emily & Victoria


Bill, Ali's brother, & Jane, Ali's grandmother

Anne & John

Brian, Ali, Ian & mom, Jacky


Ali & her dad, Nick

Ali, Ian & his mom, Ollie

Ali & Ian and his sibs & mom


Jane & Ali

Ali & Ian with her sibs & wives

Ali & Ian's Rehearsal Dinner At Shawnigan Lake

The bride and groom, Ali & Ian


Rachel, Victoria & Andrew


John & Anne

James & Maria

Ali chatting it up with friends!

Rachel, John & Michael

Christine, James & Daniel

Bill & Daniel

John & his mom, Jane

Emily leads the kids' croquet games!

Ian & his mom, Ollie

Michael enjoying the toasts!

Jacky & Andrew

Late Bloomers & Strange Visitor to the Garden

The Japanese Beetles have finally left the rose garden!

One of our many spiders and webs in the garden.

Hot August Days -- how we sometimes feel after a long day in the garden!

Does anyone know what this little guy is? He looks like a moth with his furry coat and antennae, but I didn't think moths were attached to flowers, at least not in the day light hours. Cute little guy and a real fast mover!

Jazz Night Out

Marc Antoine

Rachel, Jennifer, Marc, Anne & Esta

This is a great CD. I love the title track, Hi-Lo Split!

Marc's new CD with Paul Brown, Foreign Exchange, is now out.

Too bad they sold out at the club!

Michelle & Steve joined the BofA crowd.

Plumbing is Done!

John and Mike finished the plumbing on Saturday, and John got the new air ducts and the floor down on Sunday. The dust has gone down considerably, and we were finally able to mop and vacuum the floors in the house!

Prince inspected and gave his seal of approval! Now if we could just teach him to lay tile!

Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly

Now you see it...........now you don't!

The bathtub has left the room.................

Unfortunately, so has the plumber. He worked on Tuesday and has not been back since. Hopefully, he will make it tomorrow and finish up this stage so John can begin to lay the new subfloor, work on the electrics, the ceiling and the new walls! I have promised to help with laying the tile for the floor and the shower.

Remodeling always takes twice as long as you think it will, keeps the rest of the house dirty, and ends up costing a bit more money than planned! But, the finished project will be so nice for us and for our guests.

Dragonfly Visitor

How incredible is nature! Just look at the delicate wing structure and the camouflage colors of the body on this dragonfly resting on the Blue-bird Hibiscus. While I was taking the picture, I could see his body moving and breathing and his eyes staring right back at me.

Raindrops

Crop Circle (AKA New Garden Bed) Update

The new garden bed in the back yard in almost ready. John has completed tilling the main circular bed, laying the brick work, and we are planning to put in the last of the red gravel path tonight. John still has to till the side rose beds at the walk near the house, but that should be a breeze compared to the big bed that he tilled while the soil / clay was wet!

Of course, Prince (his highness) has already staked out the top of the garden bed as the perfect spot to rest and "survey his kingdom." We will see how all this shakes out once we get the roses in the bed and the boxwoods up along the path. I don't think we will try to move any plants until the weather cools in the fall.

So almost one down and two beds to go!

Summertime Visitors

"You wouldn't leave me out, would you??"