Fall in the City

The Empress in Red

October 16, 2011

Unknown flower on growing on the deck

View from the desk of Sooke Harbour

Squinting in the sun.

Did I mention that the weather in October was magnificent?  Start with a dollop of that, add a whiff of a seasonal offer, and throw in a gift certificate that is 4 years old and ... presto! ... we have the perfect combination for a mini-vacation at the Sooke Harbour House in Sooke BC.

Yup.  A beautiful 1-hour drive out to Sooke with all the fall colours, check-in shortly after 3 pm, tea on the patio, 3-course gourmet locally produced dinner starting at 5:30, and followed by dessert in front of the large roaring fire before retiring to our room.  We might have eaten too much, but it truly was too good to leave behind.

Sooke Harbour House - dining room on the main floor, our room above the red doors.

View from our room. Sigh.

A happy place.

After dinner, we turned out all the lights and lit the fire, and just sat there talking and watching it burn.  After a wonderful sleep, they bring breakfast to your room!  What a way to start the day .... checkout wasn't until noon.

October 15, 2011

The weather in October was pretty nice this year.  It got quite cool on many days but I was still able to ride my bicycle to work most days.  I bought fenders knowing that the rain is going to start pretty soon and I will be needing them.  One of these days, I'll actually attach them to the bike!

On Saturday the 15th, the sun was shining and it was warm outside. We knew it would be foolish NOT to take our tea to our favourite beach for one last picnic in the sun for the year.  So we made the tea and to celebrate we stopped at our favourite bakery (okay, one of them) and picked up a sweet for each of us to enjoy with tea.  Well, it was such a magnificent day, that we were obviously not the only ones with the same idea.  Not to be scared off by this, we found a different beach just a short distance away.

Fruit tart with custard

Sunny Days and Sunrises

Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day, made even more beautiful with a magnificent sunrise. A walk in Helliwell Park revealed the last of the morning's sunrise. Is there a more inspiring way to start the day?