Pocketful of Memory Cards

I've always wanted to check out the Dream Cafe and when I discovered a Chilean guitar player was going to be performing in the Penticton restaurant in February I thought immediately of calling a few of our amigos to join us.   Penticton is almost an hour away so I figured if we really wanted to enjoy ourselves and not have a long drive in the dark with unpredictable weather conditions, hubby and I should try to find a place to stay overnight.  I suggested we combine a late Valentine's Day present with an early Anniversary present and stay at one of the many B&B's you can find on the internet.  We found a lovely place called Cormier's Studio, run by two very talented artists, Kena Cumming Cormier and Lawrence Cormier.   We arrived in the afternoon and one of the first things Kena did was offer us some wine.  I had a very nice glass of the 2010 Meritage from Noble Ridge Vineyard , and hubby had a Chardonnay.  Kena encouraged us to look around th...

No special theme this week for my declarations of gratitude.  I'm just grateful for: the clear roads and easy drive to and from Penticton this weekend. the opportunity to see Nano Stern 's performance Saturday night at  The Dream Cafe .   If you have the chance to see him I highly recommend it.  He's performing in the CBC studio in Vancouver tomorrow so you may get a chance to hear him on the radio.  He's a talented musician and an excellent entertainer - funny and informative.  The Dream Cafe is also a great venue and the food was delicious! Watch for more details on our visit to Penticton in a post later this week. the fact that we are 99% finished the main floor renos. our realtor, Ellen Churchill who has been a great help with suggestions for the house.  She's taken us through a number of places in our preferred location and I'm always grateful for her honest appraisals and thoughtful suggestions. the sunny February we've had. ...

"There are only two kinds of music.  Good and Bad" Duke Ellington Oh how I do love music.  It's been a part of my life since before I was born when my Mom sang in the church choir with me listening intently from within.  It relaxes me, cheers me, calms me, saddens me, uplifts me, makes me work harder on the eliptical, makes walking up the ridge incredibly easy and thanks to headphones makes grocery shopping bearable.  This week I'm very grateful for being surrounded by music in it's many forms. I'm grateful for the variety of music I get exposed to on CBC radio everyday.  Thanks to shows like Q, Canada Live, Radio West and Daybreak South, I can hear hip hop, folk, country, classical, jazz, pop, opera, indigenous music and lots of indie and local bands you don't hear on the local top 40 and Classic Rock stations. I'm very grateful for Rosemary Thompson who's been the Music Director at the Okanagan Symphony for 6 years now.  She'...

I've been writing, writing, writing this week.  Mostly transcribing the conversations that Reg and I had this past September.  I can't wait to get these stories into the memoir.  Anyone who blogs knows how time consuming it is so I'm going to cheat a little today.  We're still early enough in the year to do a  top ten list aren't we?  I thought ten might be a bit much so I took some inspiration from Lilly's blog   Feel LOVD Everyday and listed five of my favourite posts from January to November 2012.  I left out December since you probably looked at them recently.  The wishing tree is probably the true Number 1 in terms of the number of visitors. Number 5: I love this shot of the band at the Chris Botti concert we went to in June.  Have a look at Oh What a Night .  Do follow the link to my post on From the Valley and Beyond to see some more great shots  (how often do I brag about my photos?) and read the concert ...

Chris Botti with bassist Richie Goods and drummer Billy Kilson at Mission Hill Winery last night.  For a more detailed description of the event and recommendations for live music in the Okanagan Valley this summer, check out this link  on my blog From the Valley and Beyond.

After much thought and an overview of the posts from the past two months I'm going to make some changes.  Since the blog title and description talk about a daily photo,  after Monday's post, my focus will be on regular (though not daily) photographs.  And since I love Kelowna and love sharing all the things that you can do here, I'm going to revive my blog " From the Valley and Beyond ". I've been keeping my ears and eyes out for things I'd like to do and thinking about experiences I'd like to repeat.  Over the next few months you can look forward to one photo per post that links to more detailed posts on From the Valley and Beyond.  I'm hoping for posts on biking the Kettle Valley Railway Trestles , an outdoor concert in the Mission Hill Amphitheatre, kayaking with friends, wine tasting and picnicking via bike through East Kelowna , birthday celebrations in NYC,  and events put on by Festivals Kelowna and Parks Alive .  Cross your fin...