Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Laying Gramma to Rest

 Hullo, Sandy Bear here, enroute to go to Gramma's funeral... we are touching base in Vancouver first...


Where Lexie still thinks I am a stuffie chew-toy... honestly... you'd think she'd know better by now!

But Rose knows better!!!

We flew up and got an Airbnb!!! This is my beary first stay in an Airbnb... so far so good...

I like their decor!!! They are obviously fisher people!!

Yes... beary nice decor... 

And "NO!"... I did not pick this Airbnb out... hmph...

Rose is beary tired...

Oh, look... she has excellent artwork in her room too!

OK... well... maybe I did nudge Mama just a tiny bit in this Airbnb's direction...

Let's see what else is in here...

They have fridge magnets... always useful...

And er... more excellent artwork...

You might think this is a bear's lair...

And honestly... I don't blame you!!

But you know... this is the north soooo....

Auntie Pam is looking skeptical but...

On the whole it is a beary nice place!!!

They even have a pool table!!!

We had some fun playing pool and darts...

Oh... and look... they left some honey packets!!

Do you think they knew a bear was coming for a visit?

Either way... much appreciated!!

Oh... and look... more excellent decor!!! No... not a polar bear... Kermode Bear... possibly Old Gimpy...

Yes... love the style in this place...

With one possible exception...

Yes... this... used to be on display in a glass case at the airport but now... it is here in the entrance hall of the Airbnb... made Rose squeak when we first walked in!!!

Which makes perfect sense... not everyday you get almost pounced on by a lynx... or it a bobcat?? We are going to say Lynx (Lync canadensis) based on the long ear tufts...

Anyhow... we are here for Gramma's funeral and there is one other stuffie here...

It's Gramma's Teddy... 

He is a beary old, beary wise bear who has seen a lot in his long life (90 years old). He's got a prosthetic arm... and many repairs... 

He's been with Gramma since she was very young... and it seemed only fitting that Teddy would join Gramma for her final journey... 

Teddy will be laid to rest with her in the coffin. It's becoming something of a tradition. Grampa had a teddy go with him... and now Auntie pam wants her childhood teddy bear to be buried with her... and Mama... well... of course... Teddy, we salute you. You have done admirable service... and now you can rest.

The funeral service went OK... although... they did start with Amazing Grace which guaranteed that Mama was sobbing as she followed the procession into the church. Lovely... but it's what Gramma wanted...

We added another stone with Gramma's name to the grave plot. Grampa's stone needed a touch up but now that they are both in here, we can look at getting a real gravestone.

Teddy... we salute you. And Gramma and Grampa...  RIP

And of course our flight was delayed a day... so we had a sunny day to hang around...

But we finally did manage to leave... Mama says... the stories she could tell about flying home from university and only landing or taking off 50% of the time in the winter... fun...

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Come from Away

 Hullo, it's been a while since I last posted and lots has happened. After we got back from Mexico, Mama and I went to visit Gramma who hadn't been doing well... it was Mama's birthday and she got her birthday hot chocolate at Starubk


It's a different world up here...

Lots of snow!!

And Gramma has the cutest little Christmas tree!

This was the last picture I got with Gramma... she went into a care home after this...

We went up to Grampa's grave and changed the light in the lantern...

And then Mama and her sister crammed Gramma's little car as full as they could.... that's a lot of stuff!!

And then we drove off and got a room in a hotel...

This little bear is exhaustipated... we were up with Gramma for a month... and had to clear out her apartment. It was not easy.

Righto... morning and where are we... 

Starbucks of course!!!

And then catching the ferry...

We ended up near the nose of the ferry... cool!!! First on and first off!!

It's a beary calm morning here...

This ferry ride will take almost 24 hours... and we had our name on a wait list for a berth...

And we got one!!! Then we could relax... and have a drink...

Gorgeously calm...

On a nice winter's day... you'd never know it was winter...

Not for sale. Ever. True North. Strong. And. Free.

Just. Not.

A beary nice trip so far...

And Auntie Pam brought snacks!!!! 

She's better than Mama that way!!!

Next morning... and our berth view is not the best but we slept well which is all that counts!

And now the nose is opening...

Almost there!!

Ready... start your engines!!!

Well... maybe not quite yet... but soon!

And then a long drive home... down the Island.... this little bear makes a good co-pilot...

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Sad News

 We have some beary sad news. Gramma passed away and we are all beary sad. She was the best Gramma to this little bear. She always stocked salmon, baked yummy treats, sewed me excellent outfits (and knitted this sweater!) and welcomed any and all stuffie pals. RIP Gramma.