Our Message Archive
June 2023
Monday June 26
The Dragon Boat Festival
Last Thursday, Ann and I set out for the long drive to Ontario leaving David and Louie to mind the home front. We stopped overnight in Montmagny having a pleasant, but expensive, meal outside at La Maison Rousseau. The next day we arrived at Morgan and James' place in Ottawa, though only Morgan was there, James being in PEI for the week with some of his old university friends. On the drive Ann had noticed a new floater in her eye and had consulted our optometrist to ask whether it should be checked out. They recommended going to a hospital emergency as soon as possible so, after unloading the car, we immediately dropped her off at the Ottawa General. Seven hours later (at about 11 p.m.) after several tests and consultations she was given the all clear.
We had a slow start on Saturday but managed to rouse ourselves in time for lunch at a ramen restaurant in Chinatown to which Morgan treated us. We then went to take in the Dragon Boat Festival at Mooney's Bay arriving in time to see the last few races, then staying to see the free concerts in the evening: Sister Swire, The Darcys and Bedouin Soundclash. We were joined by Morgan's friend Maya.
Yesterday we picked up James at the airport just before lunch, packed up, then the four of us drove to Sarnia, through some impressive lightning storms west of London, arriving just before 11 p.m. Today has been a drizzly day so we have relaxed at Gran's (Morgan and James both worked remotely) and recovered from the drive.
On the Monday before we left, Ann and I picked up Lorna and the three of us went to Jenny and Ron's to celebrate Jenny's 70th birthday along with Ron's daughters and grand-daughters. We enjoyed a pot-luck dinner, with cake of course, before returning home for a fairly early night.
Sunday June 18
The Ramblers in Blue Rocks last Sunday
I have spent an uncomfortable couple of weeks. About a month ago I started to get pains in my right thigh that would get worse overnight then clear up again mid-morning. I made an appointment to see my GP but I couldn't get in until July. The pains gradually got worse until, the week before last, they got so bad that I couldn't sleep properly. Early on Tuesday morning I gave in and had Ann take me to emergency. After waiting the rest of the night to see the doctor, I finally came home armed with prescriptions for anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants; x-rays had shown nothing out of the ordinary (other than the bolts inserted when I broke my hip in 2015). After a week popping pills (and being cut off coffee and alcohol) it did start to get better. Although they are still there overnight, I am now sleeping much better and they seem to be gradually fading out.
The good news out of this was that the pains do not seem to be affected at all by bicycling and the emergency doctor encouraged me to continue, so, with the wild fires now out and the weather improved, Ann and I have been on several rides this week. Last Sunday we rode with the Ramblers from Mahone Bay to Blue Rocks (a pretty village just east of Lunenburg), on Monday we rode with the Railers from home to Lawrencetown Beach, on Tuesday evening we joined the Rambler ride on the Shearwater Flyer Trail, and yesterday we joined the Ramblers again to ride from Maitland to Burntcoat Head along the south shore of the Minas Basin (the southernmost bay at the eastern end of the Bay of Fundy): all very enjoyable rides. On Monday evening, we also attended a two-hour training session, organized by the Ramblers, on how to maintain your bike.
A farm seen on our ride yesterday
Ann and I have volunteered to help out at the North American Indigenous Games which will be in Halifax in July. Ann is going to be in the transport team ferrying athletes and officials to the various venues around the city. I am on the photography team. I've asked to be assigned canoeing or lacrosse as they will both take place in Dartmouth, but it is possible that I will get one or more different sports.
On Thursday evening, we went with Carl and Roxanne to the opening of an art exhibition at the Teichert Gallery (a smaller gallery co-located with the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia) in which Roxanne had a couple of photos. There were also paintings by other friends of ours, Cathy McKelvie and Carol Smeraldo, both of whom we also saw at the opening.
On Thursday, Ann and I drove to The Chickenburger in Bedford to meet Dave and Janice, two friends of mine from my days working at Lake Louise back in the 70s, whom I hadn't seen for over 40 years. We got burgers and sat at a picnic table outside and chatted for the whole afternoon catching up on all that had transpired since we last met.
Yesterday, after returning from our ride along the Minas Basin, Ann went to Paddy's to play Mahjongg for the evening. She ended up driving home through a torrential downpour with much thunder and lightning and was very happy to arrive home again.
Sunday June 4
My latest puzzling effort
When I wrote this page last week, we knew that there was a fire near Tantallon but we still had no idea how disruptive it would prove to be. I had driven out to Lakeland Plant World to buy a few plants for the garden and on the way back I could see a large plume of smoke off to the west. Our first clue that it might affect us was when, later that day, our friend Kathi phoned to ask if we could put her up for the night. She was on the way to her daughter Lauriel's house just south of Tantallon but was unable to get there because of the road closures. The following morning we learned that 16,000 people had been evacuated and that the fire had destroyed several homes and was still burning out of control. Over the next few days, as the weather got hotter and dryer, the news got worse: there are now over 150 houses damaged or destroyed and about 200 "structures" (presumably commercial buildings, sheds and barns). For a few days the air smelled of smoke and was noticeably hazy. We finally got rain yesterday and it has continued through today and is forecast to continue for most of the week. It has made all the difference and it has just been announced on the news that the Tantallon fire is now wholly contained but not yet out. However, the fire near Shelburne (about ten times larger but in a less populated region) is still out of control.
The fire and the recent rain have combined to limit our biking this week: we haven't been out at all.
Monday was Ann's birthday, a significant one as she now qualifies for all the senior's discounts. David made us all steak and eggs for breakfast and that evening she hosted one of her book clubs for which I made an apple cake and iced a store-bought angel food cake. The following day she continued the celebration by going out for lunch with Malcolm, the about-to-be-retired music director of the church who is exactly 10 years her senior.
My garden is now all planted with the exception of a few rows that I'm delaying to spread the harvest out over a longer period. We have the usual stuff: lettuce, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, peppers, eggplant, two varieties of carrots, parsnips, cucumbers, beets, three varieties of tomatoes, basil, tarragon, oregano, dill, parsley and chives.