Shhhh....

I am on a secret staycation...a couple of days vacation in Vancouver. The weather is gorgeous; not a cloud in the sky, just sunny and warm. For a couple of days the kids are enjoying some time in JKC (daycare). I am taking some much needed time to recharge my batteries. So this is my vacation. Until this evening when we will really begin Spring Break in earnest.

So what can you do on a beautiful sunny March day in Vancouver when you are on a tight budget? Well, for starters you can do some reading. I just finished "Blindness" by Jose Saramago; a fantastic, and at times grim and awful, read. There is an epidemic of blindness and, in panic, a group of those first afflicted are rounded up and quarantined in a disused mental hospital...then it gets grim, really grim. Humanity stripped down and a quest for survival and the maintenance of dignity and morality in a world of chaos. I won't re-tell the story, but it was a superb book that gave me much food for thought. I won't say I'll rush out to read other works by Saramago...not yet...but I was more than impressed.

Then you can go for a walk along the rugged, natural coastline - as I have done many times before - and self-indulgently marvel at how beautiful it is here. Mike had the afternoon free so we walked from home towards the beach and then on and around, following the shoreline, to Wreck beach. Wreck beach was relatively deserted. And yet, as always, stunningly beautiful. Pictures...

Beginning our walk along the rocky coast. Tide was out and the conditions were perfect for stumbling around the shoreline.

 Every time I come to these towers there is a new paint job. Some are better than others. This one is a a bit meh...but it still caught our eyes.

 A blue crate stranded on the shore made a funny look-out spot.

The lines left by the tide at Wreck beach. Clouds over the north shore, in the distance.

 Me on my vacation!

And, for good measure, another one. Relaxed and laughing...because Mike was being funny. And he can really make me laugh.

I took this for Bronwyn who says she loves pigs and bacon (and pugs). Obviously she is not alone!

 Back home to Jericho. I have so many pictures of this view. But how could I ever tire of it?

For dinner I made a Chicken Vindaloo which, even if I say so myself, was hot and delicious. If I have the time (and inclination) I will write down some of the recipes that Mike and I create. Well, at least the ones that turn out. And this one certainly did. I made it two days in a row!

So it was a lovely vacation with wonderful company. Today I am planning much of the same. Kids are back this afternoon and Nicky was supposed to be here too. But there was a change of plan and he won't be here until tomorrow. That is a shame - but it is out of our hands. We will try to make up for the lost time when he is here.

Now I must continue my vacation and find a sunny spot to sit and read "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (a re-reading of a book that I love). I can only hope this weather will stick around for the rest of the Spring Break.