Thank you for all the beautiful moments and the tremendous Joy that you have brought us by crossing our paths and loving us so unconditionally. You taught us so much dear Zote. May the light of love always shine on you....Zote was finally made to rest at the vet at around 4;30 Friday, July 21th, 2006. May her soul be near to us always as she had never left.
Bye my Zote, We will always love you.

We finally recorded our first demo at Bernards and Henry's big recording Studio in Surrey. We had fun as usual and it was amazing to learn how diffrent studio recording is from live performing. The Mic technique is totally different but I think I adjusted pretty well (after about 7 takes ;o)) We recorded "Somewhere over the rainbow" and "In the wee small hours of the morning" and after a couple of takes we finally agreed that we kind of "liked it". ;o)

We appreciated Bernards help and hope to see him back in Vancouver soon.

Have a great weekend everybody,

Vera and Nev

Joy Spring..and summer !

We've been enjoying a wonderful and warm spring and it seems that we're heading towards a hot summer 2006 !
The above pictures are taken an a herb eveningwalk on the beach and downtown Vancouver. Nev and I were having fun and joking away (as usual) as he asked me to dig in some elderly womans purse...how unpolite ! ;o)))

Also on one of the above pictures showes you the famous pavillion of Expo 1986. The Yukon Pavilion's three-dimensional backdrop of the northern sky was created by Yukon artist Ted Harrison and adds a touch of class, beauty, art and sophistication to the beautiful skyline of Vancouver. Here’s a whole world of wonder waiting for you at TELUS World of Science, including popular, hands-on, interactive displays and spectacular OMNIMAX films on one of the world’s largest dome screens. There are exciting new feature exhibits, awesome shows in Science Theatre, special events, a Gift Shop and tasty Triple O’s Restaurant.

It was the first "building" that cought my eye when I arrived at the nearby train station of Vancouver for the first time 8 years ago and I will never forget that moment in my entire life. It was a beautiful morning at 5 o clock, the skies were blue without a single cloud and the pavillion was sparkling and shining in the dawn. It was so emotional and the tears just welled up in my eyes....(shiver,shiver...;o))

We can't wait for the hot summer barbecue evenings to come and you can find us on an outing almost every weekend.

We are sending you a huge hug across the ocean, and keep you posted...til next time

your Vera and Neville

Happy Easter!

We are very thrilled to have the opportunity to see our old friends George and Joan, living in Switzerland, who contacted us to tell us some great news! They are here in Canada, staying in Kelowna, where they will celebrate Easter with Joan’s family. They were so kind to invite us to come and see them. As Kelowna is only a 6 hour drive from Vancouver we were happy to be able to make this trip for 2 days.

Kelowna is one of the prettiest little towns I have ever seen in my life and it’s greeneries and the beautiful lake gives it such a charming touch. Joan’s brother Keith has built a beautiful huge house on the most amazing property, over viewing a beautiful golf court with the lake Okanagan behind. There is 12 bedrooms, a media and movie room with a huge screen, a swimming pool, fitness facitities and I could go on and on..Joans mom and dad live in the left part of the house and on the other side lives Joan’s brother Keith with his wife and kids. We were so happy to meet Joan’s family again, they are the most wonderful folks that you can imagine and it is so kind of them to let us stay in their beautiful home.





On Friday evening George and Joan took us to a beautiful restaurant where we had some wonderful sushi, assorted tempura and great beef teriyaki. There was a lot to catch up with and as usual we had a lot of fun.


On Saturday morning we joined the big “Easter egg hunt” wich was organized by Keith:
100 kids (with their parents too !!!) were invited for this big event and we could only believe it when we saw all these kids playing on the huge property…having fun searching for little chocolate eggs . Everybody brought over some food and Keith and Mandy made Hamburgers on the barbecue. Below you can see some pictures of this amazing event.

















In the afternoon George and Joan took us allover Kelowna and in the evening we were honored to join a big family dinner with lots of great food again. Mandy, Keith’s wife, made 2 great and very juicy ducks and Lida, Joans mum brought some terrific shrimp marinated in an exotic sauce. And : there was sushi, steamed rice, chicken and lots of fantastic company ! It was delicious ! So delicious that we had to take a picture of it :















After dinner Nev started to play the piano and "caused" a little jamsession....We were so honoured and happy when George came up with his sax and played with us ! We just had such a ball playing with one of the big masters ! We even did the Barbra Streisand tune "the way we were" and I, being a great Streisand fan, had so much fun (and gooseflesh !) singing with those great musicians !



















On Sundaymorning Keith made his famous "Eggs benedict" for breakfast and it was so much fun to have that whole bunch of people, who were actually all family, hanging around in this huge kitchen. At 1.00 pm we decided to take the car and visit one of the famous vineries of Kelowna: The mission hill estates. This vinery reminded us so much of the californian "Napa Valley". The architecture was fascinating and the vines really gorgeous !

















After having some great sushi at a store George drove us to Grayhound's busstation where it was finally time to say goodbye to these wonderful people....sniff....We had tears in our eyes having to say goodbye to Joan and George....we will never forget this great weekend in Kelowna with George, Joan and her family. Thank you for being such great hosts !

February 2006 !

Servus, Gruezi und Hello !

Another month full of fun, good food, good health and great company has passed. After quite a long rainy period we finally saw the light of the sun. The air was crisp and very inviting to go on an outing.

We decided to tank some sunlight and took a bus to beautiful Horseshoe Bay. The properties you can see on this route are just gorgeous and make you dream away..From beautiful huge mansions to small charming cottages...everything was perfect.
The bus reached the busy Horseshoe Bay after 20 minutes and stopped right in front of the ferry terminal where we decided to ceck out the prices and routes. I couldn' t believe it another time....Neville gets a free ticket as he is considered to be a senior (who would buy that anyways...I mean the one with the senior!!!)

After a brisk walk we met a new friend who was willing to play fetch the stick with us....so we did oblige and played with him. He turned out to be a wonderful and very intelligent dog. We wondered where his owner was, as there was nobody with him. After a while we said goodbye to the black and white fellow and on our way back we spotted that great english pub that sold fresh oystyers deep fried in a wonderful, crispy batter. We combined that with some fresh halibut (of course deep fried in the same tasty batter) served with french fries and eaten with a great local beer. (Our calory intake for the month was over in 20 minutes...;o))
In the evening we headed home, tired and ready for a good nap.

When the sun shoes its face Vancouver just puts a spell on us and it made us feel so very much at home. We have been busy working everyday and in the evenings we enjoy our comfertable and cosy home all the more. Finally they also completed the repairs in the pool and we look forward to some more "spa factor" into our lifes.








Last Thursday we spontaniously took a trip to Nanaimo wich is on Vancouvers Islands. (Diana Krall, one of Canadas and the worlds finest Jazz singers is born in Nanaimo)
We got on the 3 o' clock ferry at Horseshoe Bay and as the ferry sailed smoothly through the rough water we started to explore the inside features of the ferry. As I was freezing cold I walked down to the huge restaurant to get myself a steaming coffee. Believe it or not, they had the most beautiful and very fresh clam chowder (Clamsoup). As I never had the famous clamchowder I got myself a nice bowl and Nev and I enjoyed the panaromic view while having that nice snack. An hour and 40 minutes later we found ourselves in Nanaimo and took a long walk from Nanaimos ferry station to the heart of the city.































I was just stunned when I saw all these watertaxis and a big katamaran (that you see on picture above) that takes passengers from Nanaimo to Vancouver in 20 Minutes. Can you imagine how fast that must be ? After browsing through a huge shopping mall and cecking out te city we felt like frozen icecubes and decided to have some dinner in a nice restaurant called akme. We ordered some fresh scallops coated with parmesan and a seafood bowl with a hot soup (scallops, mussels, clams and shrimps) It was aaaaaawsome !

A cab brought us back to the ferry terminal where we took the 9 o'clock ferry back to West Vancover. It was already 11:45 pm at night when we reached home and we were fast asleep just minues later. We will always remember Nanaimo as a pretty and exciting place with a lot of charm....

Until next time
We' ll keep you posted

Vera and Nev

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU !





We celebrated newyearseve at our friends Micheal and Christinas house at British Properties where we were hired for the live music part of the evening.

We started off with some great appetizers and Nev and I played and sang some standarts. We had such great fun dancing and singing and as I also brought my karaoke equipment, they were so happy when we made everybody join in. (Above you see a couple of us singing the song: Thats what friends are for)

There was a lot of great food, as Kristina (skinny blonde in the above picture) cooked some cabbage rolls, a potato/scallops gratin, lasagne, broccoli, ham. pork, green beans...and I could go on and on...she must have cooked all afternoon...it was delicious ! Neville cooked some fantastic chicken byriani, wich gave the dinner the exotic note.

When the newyear came in ,we turned down all the lights and sang the tratitional newyears song: "should all aquaintance be forgot".
As it was my first newyears in Canada I admit that I was quite thrilled and moved at that moment...

One more time Neville did a great job on his solo performance and it just amazes me how he can get a crowd goin.....They just looooved him !

We jammed, jived and sang until early in the morning and then went to sleep in the guest room of the house, as we were invited to stay over night.

At 10:30 am we were gently woken up by their sweet dog "Hugo", who wanted to wish us a happy new year. (Trying to steal Nevs socks...;o))(( As a matter of fact when Nev picked up his watch, Hugo thought he would throw it for him to retrieve !!! )) When we entered the living room, everything was already cleaned up and Micheal and Kristina had some fantastic egg muffins with ham and wonderful coffee ready for us ! What an amazing breakfeast to start the newyear with !

They were amazing hosts and we will always remember a great first canadian newyearseve....Thank you Micheal and Christina.

Happy new year to everybody.....we keep you posted.


Love
Vera and Neville

Merry Christmas !

It is amazing how time flies...we finally reached December 25th and are enjoying a couple of off days here in West Van. Yesturday, on christmaseve, we were invited to Darlenes parents house for a great christmas dinner. Danny, Darlenes brother cooked the most delicious turkey, sourkraut, ham, sausages, cabbagerolls, mashed potatoes, ,perogies,yam (sweet orange potatoe),stuffing,and of course there was some wonderful australian red cabernet souvignon served with it.

Darlene brought over some christmas crackers from her store and when we pulled them apart we all discovered a small flute with a number on it and each one contained a golden crown. There had to be always somebody conducting with a wooden stick, calling the different numbers written on a sheet that would build a christmas carol at the end that we had to figure out.....

After a great dinner and some fantastic homemade sweets with tea, everybody exchanged their presents.....what a nice family...Mum and dad, I really missed you a loooot at that moment..wish you would be here...I miss you.

Today we decided to spend the christmas day at home, cooking some great byriani rice with cicken. Darlene will join us later for a couple of hours and little cattie got some greeeat turkeyliver to enjoy as a chistmas supper.

I am helping my friend Melodie in her dog spa and daycare (www.loveyourdog.ca) these days and everybody who knows my passion for animals will know how much I enjoy to look after these lovely dogs...they are just gorgeous and its such a lot of fun to make them run and to give them their looooved cuddles...

As our friend Jamie is leaving for England on the 28th, we will attend his "goodbye" evening downtown tomorrow....wow...I cant imagine that he' ll be gone for 6 months.....we will miss him a lot...bye bye Jamie...

We are having a bit of a rainy season at the moment, but the very mild 10 degrees make christmas very enjoyable.

We hope that all of you are sweet and dandy and are wishing you a great holiday and a happy (not too dry) 2006 !

We will be happy to get back with some newyears postings and pictures in the beginning of the next year.

Until then keep posted !

Lots of love

Vera and Neville