We showed her around to places she hadn't seen before- like Nicola Lake which is still quite frozen on the southern end.
While my husband pitched stones across the ice as far as possible my sister and I "walked on water" as I jokingly put it. It was the first time she had really seen a mass of water this size frozen to the point where people could walk on it- it's still a novelty to me despite what I witnessed in terms of testing the ice at the fishing derby last month at Mammette Lake.
We also drove out to Lower Nicola for a cruise after popping into the Courthouse Gallery for a quick peek at the art that's now up from all the local artists and photographers.
Bigger view at DA
Edit: I've since decided to change the name of this piece to 'Haida Girl'.
I met a few people who I had seen on the first day when I brought my works in and was introduced to Opie who is a well known painter and jewelery maker ( carving in metal and gold ). He liked my print 'Spirit Of Haida' and bought it! I'm so proud of this because I'm not native myself but have a real love of that artistic heritage and Spirit Of Haida is my portrayal of the beauty of it and how it can inspire beauty. That was really a special feeling for me.
Bigger view at DA
Later on that evening my husband and I went to the official opening where I met a few more familiar faces and found out that one of my photos 'The Harness Maker's House' had been selected to win an award for the heritage category. Can't beat a day like that! Unfortunately their web site isn't updated to show what all the local artist's contributed so I will wait until the newspaper comes out to get some more info on the results.
Also in Merritt the Olympic torch passed through town. Merritt is really gearing up for the 2010 Olympics.
On another subject, my husband just became a member of the Outdoor Writers Of Canada and I'm quite proud of him for that achievement. He has been writing about and promoting hunting- in practical experience and from the preservation of the heritage it represents- for a long time now so this is kind of like an official stamp of recognition of that.
