Life's a Stitch

I use Instagram solely for the promotion of my art business and rarely do I post the same item here. Today will be an exception. 

I just had the pleasure of painting these beautiful kitties when SIL Ellen commissioned the portrait for a dear friend.

As has happened recently when I’ve put paintings in the mail, it was delayed due to severe weather. There’s always a bit of trepidation handing that package to the post office. Where possible I insure them, but the thought of having to repeat the portrait is intimidating as they are impossible to duplicate. It will look different. 

I have paintings in seven countries and when mailing to some, tracking and insurance is exorbitant. It was explained that some countries have a higher chance of missing parcels, hence the pricing. I’ve only had one wayward painting, in the US, never to be seen again. That was before I insured my North American deliveries.

Back to these sweet painting subjects, their owner commented “you have captured the souls of both cats perfectly.” I am happy to be part of illustrating Murray’s personality while preserving the memory of Marvin.

There is no universal scale of trail ratings. What’s considered moderate in one guide is easy in another. It’s totally subjective. I sorted through all the “easy” ones in the book “140 Great Hikes in and near Palm Springs,” and am generally finding them underrated. 

Recently we hiked the Bear Creek Canyon/Boo Hoff Loop Trail, rated easy: 4.5 miles, 2 hours, elevation gain of only 400 ft (123 meters). Piece of cake, right? Maybe, if you remembered your hiking poles.

We started out on even ground and quickly came to the realization that the trail was too flat. 

We looked up to see the ridge where we should have been. We always add in “lost time” so we were on schedule. Not far back we had missed the turn, but in all fairness there were no trail markers; we were following written directions from the guide. Actually there were three more instances of questioning our location. Luckily each time a hiker approached from the opposite direction to reassure us.

It was unusually green given the recent strong rains that hit the desert.

It’s when you hit an inclined surface like this that you seriously consider your lack of poles:

Elevation has all to do the trail’s surface, this one being rocky shale. Up we went anyway. It was good for the adrenaline especially when combined with thoughts of the possibility of insufficient water and rescue helicopters. 

The trail wrapped around the mountain as promised and right on schedule we saw the view of La Quinta again.

We were back in the parking lot in reasonable time for lunch at Stuft Pizza. Total time: a reasonable 2hrs 40 minutes including lost time.

A few more photos from Bryant and Sammy’s Las Vegas ceremony. They want to reiterate, as they assured us, that this was purely a legal ceremony and the real wedding is yet to come, one where they can say their own vows in front of friends and family. 

Thanks to all of you who responded to the news. I wanted a creative way to share your good wishes. Consulting with Elina, who is good at such things, we came up with origami hearts containing a strip of paper with each of your messages.

It reminded me of fortune cookies. Rhinestones were the finishing touch, perfect for Sammy.

They were presented in a bag we found Daiso: clear with tiny red hearts, and “Full of hearts” printed on the front. Perfect! There’s room for more as we hear from additional people.

Samantha Wilson and Bryant Boesen 

Married January 3rd, 2026

A Little White Wedding Chapel

Las Vegas, Nevada

We look forward to a larger celebration next year.

Sammy and Bryant have formally entered the Wilboe clan. All three of our Boesen children have married a Williams or Wilsons.

Geocaching was introduced to me 19.5 years ago on the weekend of my first daughter’s wedding. Flying in for the celebrations BIL Greg read about it in an airline magazine, and considering my love of walking in the woods, thought I would like it. We bought a gps that evening and immediately started geocaching. 

I’ve cached in 36 countries, 18 US states, 6 Canadian provinces and every continent except Antarctica. It’s a wonderful way to learn interesting, sometimes offbeat facts about the places you visit.

My favourites include one in Tenerife where the coordinates took us to the middle of a large fountain with the advice not to get wet. Turns out the cache was underground, in a museum beneath the fountain.

Another was with my sister and kids in NH. The coordinates took us to a large boulder. Inspecting every hollow at the bottom edge of it, we were surprised to have a porcupine staring back at us.

On this late December day our hike on the Indio Badlands Trail started with an unexpected treat – seeing a group of maybe 50 beautiful Lusitano or Andalusian horses riding by.

The geocache registered as being 1.5k away, but that was as the crow flies. 

Up we went. I wasn’t pleased that the cache appeared to be considerably more off the trail than described (as a couple of feet away). I was grateful for Bryant’s scouting, determining the safest approach. 

Success:

It was challenging, but parts of our Portuguese hike were worse.

We celebrated with a visit to Handel’s Ice Cream, which has been around since 1945.

Mari with her brownie dough cone and KC’s two scoop: strawberry cheesecake and Buckeye – peanut butter ice cream,  fudge ripple and buckeye candy pieces(chocolate-covered peanut butter) that looked like Reese’s pieces. 

The rest of us had NY Cheesecake, coconut/pineapple and orange/pineapple. Have I given you the ice cream version of an ear worm?

We had a nice California visit with all three kids and two partners until the week prior to Christmas. E went home to be with her family and the actual day was shared with M&KC, B&S. 

Gifts were fun. This is what happens when both the purchaser and Amazon make a mistake:

4lbs of giant Reese’s peanut butter cups.

B&S spoiled me with a glimmery set of Iuile watercolours. 

We had been watching the weather after the state was hit with torrential rain, planning a picnic brunch for Christmas Day. The morning’s weather report:

What it actually looked like:

Alas, it burned off by late morning and off to the lake we went.

Dinner was turkey and a veggie Wellington made by S. Poor girl cooked her own vegetarian main course, but there were plenty of sides and we all were suitably impressed by her effort.

It was a full and enjoyable day.

Docking at Falmouth, Jamaica, evidence of the devastating hurricane was apparent. Blue tarped roofs and uprooted trees showed the damage.  Our ship was one of the first back to a town that depends on tourism.

We walked into town where some shops were closed permanently, unable to survive the four months without  business. A grocery store was still being powered by generator. 

We went to a craft market and I bought my nativity animal 🦒. Although a bit large, it came with the vendor’s story of hurricane survival, injury and determination.

Greg accompanied me geocaching. As there were no physical caches in the area, we completed an earth cache that could be accomplished from the 19th floor of the ship. It required reading background info on a geological formation, in this case a tombolo: a bar of sand or shingle joining an island to the mainland. 

We were required to answer questions proving we understood the concept and had observed the subject. Mission accomplished. And yet  one more country cashed in.

Two sea days were on the agenda before docking at our ultimate destination in Galveston, Texas. It was easy settling back into the shipboard routine, but this time I added my at home habit of walking at sunrise. 

Afterwards was knitting group, trivia and origami. Being progressive origami, each subject is more difficult and this day’s was a cat. The white one is the teacher’s, mine is the orange, showing signs of overfolding. Ellen’s, the black one, had an unfortunate ending being squashed in a fit of frustration. The next day was better for our turtles.

One of the best onboard eating places was the Food Hall, where there were a variety of small international food kitchens. The Indian food was the best and we were given a demonstration of baking naan on the wall of the tandoor.

We quarantined C to the cabin when he developed a hacking cough, sounding like many other passengers. That’s the problem with travelling with a few thousand people in a confined space. I’m not fond of these large ships. In the end, three of us caught the same cold despite meticulous handwashing. Just can’t control airborne disease. At least tested negative for Covid. 

We’re back in North America and are fully recovered.

There will be more posts for our holiday adventures.

It’s been 30 years since we were in the Dominican. The kids were 5, 10 and 12. Lots of good memories there.

The first day in the Dominican in the oppressive heat we walked from the port, past three baseball fields, over a bridge and into the town of La Romana.

It was a large city with a population of 250,000 in the greater metropolitan area. It reminded me a lot of urban Bali: the dichotomy of strong tourism with poor infrastructure and poverty. 

We accomplished a geocache despite being stopped by the police. I explained what we were doing, showing him the app and he gave us a thumbs up to continue. I think that’s the 33rd country in which I’ve geocached.

The next day we docked at Cabo Rojo at an amusement park built by the cruise lines. We stopped at a wonky village, like an outdoor funhouse, that was so disorienting I turned around. It looked so normal it took me by surprise. 

We headed past the $80 per person beach club to the free public beach about a 15 minute walk for a refreshing dip in the ocean.

There was a gift shop that only carried items made in the Dominican where I was able to find a tiny turtle to add to our nativity. We try to buy a little animal or angel from the countries we’ve visited. This trip I also bought a wee metal rooster while in Portugal.

Heading back to the ship we went by  the ATV track, a lazy river ride, a Ferris wheel and carousel not knowing they were all free or we might have given them a try and our priority was a swim. There were no lines so we figure there was an assumption that they would be as high priced as the beach club.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Jamaica.

The world gets smaller. On our last night at sea, admiring the moon on the water, the group of four next to us were talking about their post cruise plans. They were a Czech family, mom and dad and two grown daughters. We had the same plans and the conversation progressed. We were from Canada, all having lived on Vancouver’s North Shore at the same time. Turns out we knew their close friends from the Czech Republic who lived in our neighbourhood, directly across the street. We took a photo together to send to our former neighbours.

After six days we landed on the island of St.Maarten. Our goal was a good long walk on land, which was achieved despite the oppressive heat and humidity. We got a decent anniversary photo on the beach.

I spent the afternoon painting in air conditioned comfort. I can’t show my work as it’s a Christmas gift.

We celebrated 43 years at the onboard French restaurant with our official marriage witnesses, Ellen & Greg. It was the first time we’ve been together on the actual date.

The next day we docked at St.Thomas, V.I. that reignited childhood memories. Visiting my grandparents in Puerto Rico many years ago, my grandfather would take my cousins and sister on day trips to St.Thomas so he could stock up on duty free rum. 

I clearly remember at least four trips. The airfare was $26 on Eastern Airlines from San Juan. We also travelled on Prinair, where the seats resembled webbed patio chairs bolted to the floor. The worst trip I remember was on a ferry when the seas were rough. My cousins and I thought it would be fun to run back and forth on the bow as the boat rocked in the sea. I got seriously seasick, not a good memory.

Today was a beautiful day in St.Thomas. It was still recognizable despite the areas of development on the hills. 

We walked to the old town where a few familiar spots remain in between a crazy amount of jewelry stores. 

There used to be camera stores, one where my grandfather bought me a 35mm Minolta for my university graduation.

I am happy to say I didn’t spend a penny until we got to the Pueblo grocery store, the Puerto Rican  grocery chain where my family shopped. I bought two kinds of bouillon cubes with traditional spices.

Leaving felt quite sentimental. 

The next three days we’ll visit ports in the Dominican and Jamaica. Stay tuned.

1983 nautical mikes from Lisbon in the middle of the North Atlantic. No birds, no land, just ocean and sky. The sea depth is 5000m! I’ve done this route a few times in the past so I know the routine. Heading to the Caribbean, each day gets warmer. Soon we’ll see flying fish and an exhausted flock of birds might land on deck for a much needed rest on their long trip across the ocean. 

I find the routine quite relaxing, meeting new people, participating in activities as if it were camp for grown ups, watching the sea and the sky. 

E and I tried the Drop, a “ten story free-fall” dry slide. Reality was way better than it sounds. You are positioned enclosed in a clear tube, wrapped in a plastic padded mat, standing on a small platform. You hear the countdown and the platform drops from underneath you, leading along the first steep part of the slide. It never really feels like a free fall Halfway down you come to a stop. That’s what I thought would be the scariest as if you’d be stuck in a tube. You have to wiggle a bit to get moving again. It’s like a regular curvy slide until near the end when you come to a dead stop inside the tube with the end in clear sight a few feet away where there’s an attendant to help pull you out. I talked to a staff member whose work commute from the top floor to the eighth would be by slide. How cool is that?

The person who introduced me to audiobooks many years ago was inspired while on a cruise where she saw people engrossed in reading and missing the view. That’s when she began listening to books and shared her advice when she heard I was going on a cruise. What appealed to me was the ability to do two things at once: walking, cooking, knitting while reading. So that’s what I do when walking laps around the promenade deck. 

This cruise’s full length theatrical production was Beetlejuice. It went off without a sea induced hitch (it happens) and was quite impressive. 

On this, the last long stretch of sea days, following my usual routine I was walking on the promenade deck without my book. It’s interesting what you overhear. Tone of voice is everything. A much younger couple comes toward me. He says “You have ice cream on your shoulder.” She replies with a sneer, “well you can just lick it off then,” not a hint of come hither. Probably an unfortunate ice cream accident, but the story could have been a romcom moment at sea. She was unhappy about something. At our first dinner we unfortunately heard two adult brothers angrily debating their American politics throughout the meal. E politely asked them to tone it down, the request was not well received, and G sprang up to avert a near brawl. Those aside, you hear plenty of laughter and happy holiday sounds, punctuated by the excited screams of those brave enough to attempt the Drop. 

Tomorrow, our 43rd anniversary, we land on the Dutch side of the island of St. Marten.