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Sunday October 25

Thanksgiving Monday in Renfrew was a relaxing day, as it should be. In the morning, we went on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign designed by Andrew in which our primary task was to rescue the king's pet cat from a gang of thieves. We were successful with only moderate setbacks due to Alex's incredible luck rolling dice for the monsters we encountered. The afternoon was spent watching the Disney movie Encanto. In the evening, Katy drove Julia back to Ottawa so she could work the next day.

On Tuesday, Ann and I drove to Titchborne to visit Nick and Annette. The drive down was spectacular with the trees south of Calabogie especially colourful. As it happened, Tony Gibb, Nick's best friend since they were both kids, was also there. I hadn't seen him for about 50 years, the last time being in Lake Louise when I worked there in the mid-70s. We spent a pleasant afternoon reminiscing before we headed back to Renfrew in torrential rain. We were happy to arrive intact.

On Wednesday, while the kids were in school, Katy, Ben and Morgan were working, and Ann was attending her book club meeting via Zoom, I rode up the trail to Cobden, bought as many beer would fit in my bike pannier (only four ☹️), and rode back again.

On Thursday, we packed up the car, said goodbye as the school bus arrived, then Ann, Morgan and I began the long journey back to Dartmouth. We stopped in Cabano for a pizza dinner and then at the Comfort Inn in Edmundston for the night. The next morning, we had breakfast at the motel then continued the journey, stopping to pick up some groceries at the Masstown Market and arriving in the late afternoon.

On Saturday, we all attended to celebration of life for our friend Chris at the Atlantic Funeral Home: a very nice tribute with a large turn-out. On Chapman's request, amongst several other musical selections, Brendan and I played the tune Ashokan Farewell on twin fiddles to close out the celebration. It was followed by a reception where we all mingled over nibblies. There were quite a few people, mostly from work, that I hadn't seen for a long time.

Last Sunday, as it was a beautiful day, while Ann was at church I took the opportunity to get a bit of exercise after several inactive days by riding out the waterfront trail, then up through Cole Harbour to the Salt Marsh Trail as far as the first bridge, returning via Montague road. In the afternoon, Ann, Morgan and I went for a walk on Conrad's Beach.

On Tuesday, my brother Simon arrived for a visit. Since Wednesday was forecast to be the only nice day while he was here, we all drove down the South Shore, stopping at Bayswater Beach for a short walk and to admire the ocean, then continuing to Lunenburg where we had a very nice lunch at the Salt Shaker Deli. We returned home via the airport where we dropped Morgan off for his flight back to Ottawa.

Thursday was a miserable day so we stayed at home until the late afternoon. Then we headed over to Halifax to meet Ingrid and Mike for dinner at Da Zero Ristorante before going to Neptune to see Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors. Unfortunately we got caught in a major traffic jam going over the bridge and arrived at the restaurant almost an hour late. However, they were very good at accommodating us at the restaurant and we arrived at the theatre in the nick of time. We enjoyed the show which was very silly but well-performed.

Simon recently edited a book for an acquaintance of his about his family history in the Pictou area. Simon was interested in seeing Pictou for himself, so on Friday, another wet day, Ann, Simon and I headed up to Pictou, arriving around lunchtime. We ate at Stone Soup Café and then went to see Hector, a replica of the boat on which the earliest settlers arrived in 1773. Unfortunately, despite information on Google saying the Hector Heritage Quay was open, it was, in fact, closed for the season though we could still see the ship from the wharf. Instead, we went to the McCulloch House Museum & Genealogy Centre. Once again, the museum was closed but the Genealogy Centre was open. Simon was interested in meeting Brenda, who works there and had helped provide useful information for the book. We were told that she was not there but would be returning at 3 pm, so we went for a coffee at Two Odd Beans Café before returning. Simon had a nice chat with Brenda before we headed back home via the slower roads through the centre of the province.

On Saturday morning, we drove Simon to the airport then continued on to Brookfield. The Rambler ride had left from there about 40 minutes before, so we chased them around the loop through Old Barns and along te Cobequid Trail, finally catching up as we approached Victoria Park in Truro. It was a lovely day, though windy, so it was a very nice ride. Afterwards, several of us stopped in for a coffee at the Tim's in Stewiacke.

While we were away, there was a hard frost that killed off some of the vegetables that were still hanging on in my garden. I have now pulled out the tomatoes, beans, squash, cucumbers and pumpkins but there are still carrots, parsnips, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and onions to be harvested. Garlic has also been planted for next year.

Sunday October 11
Happy Thanksgiving!

Ann and I have now moved on to Katy and Ben's in Renfrew, driving up on Wednesday via the 407, Peterborough and Bancroft. On Monday morning, Ann and I rode up the Etobicoke Creek Trail getting back in time for lunch. Nancy arrived shortly after, having driven down to Brampton from Barrie for a visit. She, Ann and Martha went apple picking at a friend of Martha's.

On Tuesday, Martha's friend Cliff arrived and he, Martha, Thom Ann and I went to the Canadian Opera Company in downtown Toronto to see Cosi Fan Tutte. Although I have seen several operas on video, I have never seen a complete opera in person other than The Hobbit by the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus back in 2004 when Ann and I billetted four of their members. This time we got rush tickets on Tuesday afternoon and sat high in the nosebleeds. Nevertheless, we could see and hear everything well and enjoyed the show.

Here in Renfrew it has been a long weekend for all with no school on Friday for a professional development day and Thanksgiving Monday off as well. On Thursday, after an afternoon ride while the kids were in school, Ann and I picked up Morgan and Julia from Ottawa, so we had a full house for Alex's fifth birthday on Friday. He got to choose the menus for all the meals: pancakes with bacon for breakfast (and presents, of course), mac and cheese with bacon for lunch, and hamburgers with bacon for dinner. In the afternoon, Katy went with Alex so he could ride his scooter along the sidewalks on Gillan Rd. while Ann and I took Andrew for a bike ride along the Algonquin Trail as far as Whitton Rd. Alex's birthday party will be next weekend.

Yesterday everyone enjoyed a relaxing day. A 1000-piece puzzle was started and I took advantage of a beautiful day to ride towards Calabogie as far as Norway Lake, taking the roads on the way down and the trail on the way back.

Today has been another relaxing day except for Ben and Katy who prepared us all a wonderful Thanksgiving turkey dinner at mid-day. Afterwards we watched the Disney movie Coco and, later on, the adults watched Project Hail Mary.

Sunday October 4

Ann and I have decamped to Brampton for a few days; we'll be heading up to Renfrew in a few days. We left home on Thursday morning making it as far as Rivière-du-Loup where we shared the Comfort Inn with a busload of French tourists who took over the restaurant across the street where we were going to have dinner, and the breakfast room the following morning. On Friday, we drove to Gananoque, bailing from the 401 onto the 1000 Islands Parkway for a more scenic route over the last few kilometres. After checking in to our hotel, we went for a cruise through the islands with City Cruises Gananoque then had a very nice dinner at Riva, the Italian restaurant next door to the hotel. Yesterday we completed the journey to Martha and Thom's arriving in time for Martha and Ann to go to downtown Toronto to see Hell's Kitchen by Alicia Keys at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre; they gave it positive reviews. Meanwhile, I took advantage of a beautiful day to stretch my legs after two and a half days in the car by riding up the Etobicoke Creek Trail which passes very close to Martha and Thom's. Today, Ann and Martha's cousins Jane and Sherry came for lunch and a prolonged gab session.

Back in Nova Scotia, the wet weather continued over the past couple of weeks so we weren't able to get out as as many rides as we would have liked. Since the forecast for last Saturday suggested that the Rambler ride would be cancelled (as, indeed, it was), we took the opportunity to ride with the Railers on Thursday from Western Shore to Mahone Bay via Indian Point, a Rambler ride that had been rained out a few weeks before. For once it was a nice day and it is a pretty ride, especially between Indian Point and Mahone Bay. We had coffee and treats at The Barn before riding back. Jocelyn met as in Western Shore and we had a late lunch at the Island View Restaurant before returning home.

Our trip required some rearranging of the Neptune shows that we had tickets to. Last Sunday, instead of the usual Thursday, we went to see Women of the Fur Trade at the Studio which turned out to be better than we expected (the plays at the Studio tend to be more experimental than at the main stage).

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