I got home yesterday after five and a half, jam-packed, fun-filled weeks away. Wow! Settling in and loving the North Island weather – sun for five minutes, rain for five minutes and repeat. I managed a quick walk out when the sun was shining and picked five small zucchini and three jalapeño peppers from the garden. You can’t knock a garden that is still producing in November.

My time away was a veritable cornucopia of experiences and impressions – everything from seeing my first grizzly bear in the wild (though I am a seasoned sighter of black bears, a grizzly is a different kind of thrill) to trick or treating with my granddaughters. Then of course there were the great people met and meals had. It will take me some time in the quiet of my lakeside home to let it all seep in.

On the way home, we stopped at Save-On Food in Campbell River and I checked out how Disappearing in Plain Sight and The Light Never Lies look on the bookshelf of a big store – pretty cool. Hope you agree.