Tuesday, September 29th - if this is fall, bring it on!

We've had unseasonably warm weather for the past week and it's still continuing. The fact I can come home from work with the top down on the car at the end of September is wonderful! I'm totally loving it.  It was a pretty quiet week with plans for the weekend. 

Our friend, Linda, who is visiting her cottage from Ontario, came over for supper on Saturday. When I got home from work, I set about preparing an easy supper and Lloyd was working outside. Now that fall is officially here, suddenly those little jobs that you thought you had lots of time to complete before winter, are looming ever closer. We needed some repairs to some of the siding and around the back door. That is now all done and it looks much better.

We had a lovely evening with Linda and sat and chatted for quite a while, as she's not sure when she'll get back to the island. She's planning to head back to Guelph on Thursday so she and I are going to meet in town on Wednesday evening for something to eat and to say goodbye.

Sunday started out a bit busy. We were expecting some guests for supper that we really don't know very well (actually Lloyd has never met either of them). I only found out after I'd invited them that he's actually a chef - no pressure there. That's probably something I should have known BEFORE inviting them to dinner. Turns out my worries were for naught, as they had to cancel at the last minute on Sunday morning due to illness. Now the pressure was off, but I had this meal prepared, or at least cooking. Since it was Bernie's birthday last Thursday, we decided to make it a celebration of that instead. Easy fix, just put Happy Birthday on the cake I'd already made. You certainly can't say that we aren't flexible.

So same meal, as planned, just different diners. No problem. We had a nice dinner and some wine and then they headed home to find the best spot to watch the lunar eclipse. This was going to be a special one as it was also a super moon at the same time. I understand it was quite spectacular but I missed most of it. I was just too tired to stay awake. But as I suspected, there were lots of photos on line this morning. So a big thank you to those who actually stayed up to record the event.

I did see parts of it as the dog needed to go outside several times throughout the night.  
Apparently something he ate didn't agree with him and I suspect it was the bone we'd gotten for him at the farmers market.  But the up side is I got to see parts of the eclipse.

There was a meeting at the Rec Centre last night for the regular volunteers. They're planning a fund raising event similar to the hugely successful "Chase the Ace" being held in Cape Breton, and need the volunteers to be on board with it. Ours will be "Capture the Queen of Hearts".  It will be held every Friday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 with trivia from 7:00 to 8:00. Looks like I'm going to be  involved in the planning and execution of the trivia portion of the evening, hopefully 'with a little help from my friends'. 

And speaking of "a little help from my friends", I received an email last week advising that my tickets for Sir Paul have been mailed so should be here anytime soon. That date will be here before you know it. Not only will I get to see Sir Paul, but also the family and a lady that's just moved there from the island. She's a very sweet person who I met at the dealership a while ago. She  came in the other day for some advise on a couple of things  As we were chatting she mentioned that she was moving back to Ontario, to Guelph. When I asked her where in Guelph, she said Twin Towers - which happens to be an apartment building owned by my former employer! What a coincidence.  She couldn't get over it. So I've got her new address and I told her I'll be dropping by for coffee one morning when I'm there and she was so pleased, so I'm really looking forward to that.

And speaking of sweet things, Celery has a new house. The cage Lloyd built was only meant to be temporary so I searched high and low until I found the perfect cage for her. Now she has room to move around and things to do. She seems much happier there, although she's really happy to just curl up on your lap and sit  while you watch TV.

Tuesday, September 22nd - 2 birthdays to mention

Happy Tuesday morning!
First a belated Happy Birthday to my great friend Brenda who celebrated last Wednesday, and an early wish for her hubby Bernie who will be turning the ripe old age of 60 on Thursday!

It was a very busy few days.  A bunch of girls from the Fort Augustus and surrounding area went out to Lorne Valley for the old time dance that's held each week. I decided not to go and I'm told that all the group felt like young girls again as the majority of the dancers who attend each week are well into their 80's and still going strong. It's almost like stepping back in time. From what I understand a great time was had by all. 

Lloyd left early in the morning for Guelph on Thursday morning. He's not back yet but from what I've been told, a good time has also been had up there.

Friday night was a quiet night for me, although I did pass up the opportunity to attend the Shell Fish Festival with the Van Gaals and Bairds. No worries, I was going to catch up on some fun on Saturday.

The morning dawned beautiful and sunny and promised to be very warm - and indeed, the weatherman did not disappoint. I packed up my little convertible and picked Brenda up at 10:00 on Saturday morning and we headed for the bridge (the big one, not the one in Stratford!).  We had read about Jost Winery in Nova Scotia that we've been planning to make a run to sometime over the summer, having a first ever Maritime Music Festival. Sounds like a plan to us. SO we went online a couple of weeks ago and picked up our tickets and we were off. 

We weren't in a huge rush to get there so we made a few stops along the  way. So much so that we were surprised to find that it was almost 1:00 when we got to the other side of the bridge and were on our way.  We headed across the Sunrise Trail and eventually landed at the winery, just in time to catch Lennie Gallant, one of our favorite island musicians, playing. 

For a first time event, they did a bang up job!  There were big tents set up with tables and chairs. There was food available for purchase as well as beer and wine.  The music lasted until 8:00 pm but we left just a few minutes before. It had been a really great day and the great weather continued on into the night so we were able to drive all the way home with the top down on the car, do we could enjoy the bright stars and brilliant moon.

I got to bed at 11:30, just in time to catch some sleep before we were off  early Sunday morning. I was at Brenda's house at 7:00 am so we could drive to Stratford to pick up her cousin, Donna, and then head off to the bridge --- again.

The 35th Annual Terry Fox Run was taking place on the bridge again this year, so instead of driving over, we walked. I've done virtually no walking at all this summer so I was pleasantly surprised to actually make it. 13 km is a little bit much for the first training walk of the season, but we did it.  It wasn't that easy either as we had a strong head wind that made it that much tougher. But we made it with 10 minutes to spare before all walkers had to be off the bridge.

The closest we got to rain was a rainbow, in spite of the clouds and the weather forecast all week long

That's PEI WAAAAY back there!

Made it...

We were fortunate to have a ride back lined up and by the time we got back to PEI the three of us were starving. So we headed to Victoria and all enjoyed a really great lunch, followed by a couple of pieces of chocolate from the chocolate store on the main street.   We got to Stratford to drop off Donna and while we were there, we experienced a bit of a mechanical problem with Brenda's car so we had to get it towed over to the garage and Bernie, bless his little heart, drove in and picked us up. 

I had plans to accomplish great things when I got home, but instead I soaked in a hot bath, made something to eat and relaxed for the rest of the evening. I was too tired and stiff to do much else. But the good news is I felt not too bad on Monday morning.

I got this email last night from Patti. Seems one of Lloyd's airport buddies got chatting with James at the airport and gave him a model airplane that needed some fixing up. So now it's in their garage and it looks like he and James had a great time working on it together.  It's going to take some doing to finish it and Lloyd's not there to help very often but they'll figure it out.

Wednesday, September 16th - The Fall Flavours Kick Off .... in the rain

It was a very crazy busy week
We had a fundraising dinner to serve at on Thursday evening. That made for a bit of a late night, as we knew Friday was also going to be busy.

Meghan had wanted to come to the Fall Flavours hosted by Chef Michael outdoors at the PEI Preserve Company. It promised to be a very special event. Because of the recent issues with her health, her mom and I. along with Meg, decided that she would sit this one out. Turns out it was a good decision.

We started out at the Preserve Company where we found the perfect accent table for James' room - unfortunately it wasn't for sale.

 The organizers of the event did an amazing job of attempting to compensate for the heavy rain by having a large tent set up and everything was under there. It wasn't quite the event we would have liked to see take place, but it was still a very good time.  It would have had a different feel and traffic flow if it had been outside in the gardens as intended. Instead everyone lined up and it took quite a while to get through but it was well worth the wait.

Creative use for those large round bales

We sampled various delights from freshly shucked oysters, mussels and lobster rolls, fresh savory goat cheese cheesecake, falling off the bone BBQ ribs, pulled pork, BBQ  brisket on a bun, fish baked in a sand and salt mixture (you had to be there) served with a flavourful broth, and the list goes on. They were all small portions but by the time we finished them all, we were quite full. 

I had a quick chat with Chef Michael and got him to autograph Meg's photo with him from the Village Feast.  I told him about Meg not being there and why. She requested that any new cookbooks contain nutritional information as she now has to be so careful about the amount of carbs she eats. Let's see what happens next year when a new book comes out.  If it does contain that info, she'll be thrilled. We left before it was over and I went home, while Lloyd stayed in town to go to work at midnight.

Saturday was drizzly and a bit cool so I really didn't mind being at work for the morning. When I was done, I headed home to change and get over to the Rec Centre for a wedding.  This group was eating a little earlier than usual and as a result we were all finished by 8:30.  Lloyd was surprised when I walked in the door. He was just finished up making some fresh pesto with some basil a neighbour had given us. We did some research and found a recipe that is supposed to turn out okay after freezing, so we put it into small jars to be used sparingly throughout the winter when we feel like a little taste of summer.

Sunday morning was not the greatest either but Lloyd and Bernie headed out for a bike ride anyway. After church Brenda came over and we went for a bit of a walk. Just before we left, she got word that some family were on their way to visit so she had to go home and prepare for company.  When we got back from our walk, Lloyd was back home. We sat and over a cup of tea, discussed what to do with the rest of our day. At the dinner event on Friday evening, there was a lady walking around with a goat on a leash - one of the contributors to the goats cheese cheesecake. Lloyd struck up a conversation with her and got her card and directions to her farm. He asked me if I wanted to come along and I decided it might be a good idea. Sending him alone to a goat farm would be the same as sending me to the humane society by myself - you just never know what's going to wind up at our house! (In retrospect, I should have stayed home).

We headed to town with a stop at Canadian Tire first for a couple of items we apparently needed, (or so I'm told)  that were on sale. Then it was off to the Island Hill Farm.

Lunch time

What  a lovely little spot. The couple who own it raise cattle and grow potatoes.

She received a goat as a gift a few years ago and that has since turned into a real enterprise on it's own. They send goats milk to the local cheese makers, make goats milk soap  and the rest is a petting zoo of sorts. There were quite a few folks visiting and she has several kids who help out on a volunteer basis.  It was delightful to walk around and interact with all the animals. Lloyd was, of course, talking goats and determining what he would like to order for spring.  I, on the other hand, just wandered about and enjoyed the various goats, llamas, and then the rabbits.

There was one rabbit in a cage that I absolutely fell in love with. It was a Holland Lop and she was so adorable. I overheard one of the volunteers mention that this particular bunny was going to be having babies soon. I said, when she does, I want one!
Lo and behold, didn't they have one little one from her last babies. They took this little white fur ball out of the cage and put it into my arms, where it snuggled up close to me and just stayed there, as I walked around. That was it - I was hooked. I asked the owner if it was available for adoption and she assured me it was. Then when she quoted a price I couldn't refuse, it was mine. It's too young yet to be sure if it's a boy or girl so we named it Celery.  It stayed snuggled in my arms all the way home. When we arrived, Lloyd found a cardboard box as a temporary home while he went out to the workshop to build a cage of some sort. He did an amazing job in a very short time while I got supper ready. The dog was outside so I blocked off the doorways and let Celery explore the kitchen till Lloyd came in with the new little house.

Seriously, who could resist this little face?

Monday turned out to be a rare sick day for me.  Fortunately I was almost back to normal on Tuesday morning.  That was a very good thing as Tuesday was the first night of Community School and I had agreed to teach a class using T-shirt yarn. More on that next week.

Lloyd is off to Guelph on Thursday morning and will be away until sometime Monday. I'm sure I'll be able to keep myself occupied while he's away.

Tuesday, September 15th - stay tuned...

Good morning

Unfortunately I was sick yesterday and slept most of the day. As a result I'm a little bogged down this morning. Please check back tomorrow for a full report on the Fall Flavours event we attended on Friday night as well as the rest of the week.....

Tuesday, September 7th - a roller coaster of a week

A lot has happened in the past week. It started on Tuesday evening with a phone call from Patti. Meghan had been in the week before for blood work and on Tuesday they received a call from her doctor to get her into emergency as soon as possible. It was a bit scary as they were at the CNE in Toronto when they received the call. He advised they could come home to Guelph and then take her as soon as possible.  So after dropping Tristen at home, they went on to the General.

There they determined that her blood sugar levels, which should normally be between 5 and 7, was actually 36. In conjunction with that, her thyroid was also not working properly. They quickly admitted her and began treatment. They now knew that she has Type 1 diabetes. Not a good diagnosis for a little girl who's afraid of needles.  She finally got to sleep around 4:30 in the morning on Wednesday. Needless to say, Wednesday was a pretty tough day for her, having to come to grips with this news that was life changing. But in the end, she stopped feeling so scared and frustrated and angry, and acknowledged that it could be much worse.

She's a determined and sometimes stubborn young lady and that will do her well. They weren't going to let her out of the hospital until she was fully comfortable with testing her own blood and giving herself injections of insulin. I have to say, we're very proud of her and how well she's handling everything.

I felt I should be there as support, if nothing else. So I went on line late Wednesday night and found there were some seats on the early flight to Toronto, so I decided to take my chances. It's always iffy flying on a long weekend when you're stand by but the travel gods were with me this time. I took the shuttle from the airport to Guelph and was dropped of at the hospital around 9:00 in the morning.  I went straight up to her room and surprised the two of them, as well as the nurse who was giving them a lesson. Once that was done, Meg went off to have a shower and Patti and I could comfort each other. She's had to stay so strong through all of this for everyone else,  that she needed someone to just give her a hug and tell her it would be alright. After we both had a little cry, it was time to plan.

There was nothing I could do for Meg, she was in good hands, and her mom was staying with her the entire time. Greg was at work and the boys were at home doing nothing. I asked how I could help and she advised that there were lots of things that needed doing to get ready for school, that she wasn't able to do, so that's where I stepped in. I took her car and went round and after surprising the boys, took them out for lunch and then to get haircuts, shoes, etc for school. When we were done that I asked if they would like to go and visit their sister and there was a unanimous YES! So we dropped by the hospital for a short visit.

Then it was home to make something for supper. James and I took stock of the fridge and the cupboards and put together a meal that we both worked on. He did a fine job as sous chef, and was in charge of plating our bowtie pasta with shrimp and garlic cream sauce.

After supper Greg and the boys and I went up to the hospital. Greg's parents had come down from Port Elgin to visit and were there when we arrived. They left shortly after and then it was a while later when we all left. Between lessons from the diabetic nurse on the use of the insulin as well as visits from the nutritionist, she'd had a pretty busy day. We said our goodbyes and left for the night.

Friday morning was a busy one as the Guelph baseball team was hosting the end of season tournament which Patti was supposed to be helping with. She was able to get some other parents to fill in for her as we didn't know when Meg would be released from hospital. But she proved to be a very good student. For a girl who's always feared needles, she's done amazingly well. She was so proud to tell me that she'd given herself her first injection. After that it was a little easier.  They let her go on Friday with the stipulation that she come back on Wednesday for follow up.

  She came home armed with all manner of reading materials as well as gadgets to keep everything under control.

In her typical fashion, she's taken full control of her situation and very carefully plans out her meals and required snacks in advance to adhere to the strict guidelines that he hospital has given her.  We took her shopping for back to school clothes on Saturday and she planned out and packed her lunch and snack before we left. She understands that there are now some foods that she loves that will have to be eaten in moderation. This changes the whole families diet somewhat but maybe that's a good thing. Once fall activities start they are a very busy family and meals are sometimes on the fly. Now more planning will have to go into those days, as well as when Patti is away on overnight flights. Meg will be solely responsible for her own nutritional needs but I know she's totally up to the task.

I know it's not easy and there will be times when it gets very frustrating but I know she'll get through whatever is sent her way.   She's a determined young lady.

Once everything was under control there didn't seem much reason for me to hang around. They had stuff to do to get ready for the new school year so I caught a late flight home on Saturday night. I arrived home on Sunday morning around 2:00 am, leaving me a bit of time to adjust and get back into my own routine.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny but certainly not as warm as it had been in Guelph, where it was 30' with a humidex reading of 37'.  Can't say I miss that.

Because it was so nice, Brenda and I decided a little beach therapy might be in order. Just the fact we could go and enjoy the beach on labour day was great, considering Caitlyn had to cancel her camping plans out west because it was so very cold. So after doing a bit of housework, she and I headed over to Lakeside.  It was a warm day and there were a few people on the beach but then it's never really crowded here.

After the beach she went home to shower and change before she came back with Bernie for supper. Lloyd cooked up one of our homegrown chickens and it was mighty fine. Some mashed potatoes and a couple of simple salads on the side worked for all of us.


Monday was the holiday and I had the day off, although Lloyd had to go to work at midnight (which is technically Tuesday).  He'd been wanting to go and see the Lennie Gallant show at the PEI Brewing Company. Brenda and I saw the show last year when it was at the Mack. Being as it only plays Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and this was the last week for it, I got gotten us tickets for Monday night. We went in to town around 6:30 as the doors opened at 7:00. 

We had great seats - right in front of the stage. As last year, the show was great and Lloyd really enjoyed it. When it was over, we stopped at Tim's for a coffee before I headed home and he went off to work. Now it's the beginning of another school year - lots of new challenges for everyone.

OOOPS - almost forgot to mention and say thanks to Lloyd for finally getting my new spice rack completed. It is truly a work of art and extremely functional. It really was worth the wait.

Tuesday, September 1st - can it really be September already?

Hard to believe the kids go back to school in another week.  It's really just flown by. It's been an interesting kind of week. Not a lot going on during the early part but a great weekend to finish it off.
Saturday morning I stopped in to Brenda's for coffee on my way to work so we could catch up, not having seen each other all week. 

After work, I picked up a few groceries and got home in time to put together a salad and some butter tarts to take to our neighbours party. It was held in what was once their barn, but has since been turned into a storage building. They did an amazing job of setting it up, and it's quite a large space inside.

 As we sat there watching people coming in with food for the feast, and others coming in with various musical instruments, we realized we were about to be treated to a traditional island party.  Once all the guests arrived, and everyone was sufficiently fed, the instruments came out and the music started. There was also a large number of folks at the other end of the area who were there to catch up with old friends. All in all, a very busy and happy place. We quite enjoyed ourselves, but didn't stay too late as we were both tired, especially Lloyd who hadn't had a lot of sleep on Saturday morning. But I heard it lasted until the wee hours of the morning so it sounds like a good time was had by all.

Sunday morning dawned a little overcast but it was expected to clear up and get warmer, so Brenda and I headed out - her on her bike and me bringing up the rear in my little car. We must be quite the sight going down the road, but then most people wouldn't figure that we were traveling together. We headed out and over about 7 hours we managed to cover 230 km.  We did make a few stops along the way.

We toured out through Rustico to the harbour and stopped to take in the sights.

 Then it was out along the north shore and out to Twin Shores Camp ground. What a lovely spot that was, filled with tourists and their large camping trailers. It appears to be a very comprehensive facility with everything a camping family could want. While there we stopped and had a coffee and some dessert.  (we were just doing our lunch in a different order).

Then it was down through Indian River and past the beautiful old church that's there. We've been there several times for musical events and there was one going on later in the day. 

They've built a new pavilion to host functions, rather than pitching the traditional tent. We'll have to check it out during Fall Flavours as one of the events is held here,
 

Next stop was  the International Children's Memorial, a place I had no idea existed. What a moving experience that was, to walk through the trees and read the plaques remembering children who had died, some of them very young, some of them adults.

The fish ladder at Scales Pond, on the site of the memorial

Then it was off to Kensington to the restaurant that won the burger love contest this past spring. Their burger was still on the menu and we were eager to try it. We weren't disappointed. It was a mighty delicious burger. 

From there it was back to town, with a stop at the farm market for some new apples and corn on the cob.  My apples have since been turned into apple butter and Brenda's were headed for pies.  The corn made for a quick and easy supper, along with a couple of leftovers.

Last evening I stopped over at our neighbours to retrieve the dishes that had been left behind on Saturday night. A cup of tea and a lengthy chat and then it was time to head home.

I received this photo from Patti on the weekend.  James and two of his friends, have been on the same ball team since they started playing rep ball eight years ago.  They are the only three still there from the original group and are affectionately known as "The Original Three". Apparently there are some changes coming next year so they will not likely be together anymore.  It's been quite a ride for these three young lads.

Their team had their division finals this weekend. They finished a very respectable 2nd place.
They still have one last tournament next weekend, at home in Guelph - Good luck guys!