June 25th - Another life chapter comes to a close

June 25^th marks the end of an era on so many fronts.

I started this blog early in 2010 to keep family and friends in Ontario apprised of what was going on here on the island, which had been my new home since the end of April 2009.

So much has happened over the past 11 years and those who read this on a regular basis have been along for the ride, and I thank you all so much for that, but Adventures in PEI has come to an end.

As you pretty much all know, my status has changed to that of a single woman, once again.,. I am currently on the island, after serving my 14 day sentence isolation, and am spending my last few days here soaking up as much “island” as I can.

Our house has  been sold and our closing date is today, June 25^th which ironically is the perfect date for all things to come to an end (our 31^st anniversary). But life goes on and I have successfully built a new life back in Ontario. For that I am eternally grateful to several people and you all know who you are.

So I am enjoying my last few days here with good friends. I moved into the VanGaal residence on Sunday morning after my 14 days was up and I’ve been treated royally ever since. Sunday evening was a delicious lobster supper with another couple of friends, although this was not my first lobster feast. Once a week a lobster feast with all the trimmings was delivered to my place of isolation. Apparently the plan was to make me tired of lobster before leaving.

Monday morning was spent doing some last minute clearing out of the house before stopping in to see Anna and then meeting Brenda at Sharyns for coffee. I had several of her quilting books I needed to return. After leaving there it was a trip into town to check out some complications surrounding mail delivery. Once that was sorted Brenda, Sharyn and I headed off to Lakeside for our first beach day of the season. Meghan (1) met us there. It was a beautiful day and even better evening. Temperatures stayed very warm well past our departure at 8:30.

Tuesday morning I went over to the house to finish up some last bits of packing up. I then went to my friend Margie's for coffee and visited for a couple of hours. I returned back at the VanGaals just in time to help with lunch preperations - lobster rolls on homemade buns. YUMMM! After retreiving a couple of things from the house it was back to spend the afternoon inside, as it was extremely hot and humid outside. Brenda opted for a nap as she had worked in the woods early in the morning and I had a shower and got ready to go out for supper.







I met up with 4 of the staff from Sobeys and we had a lovely dinner and very enjoyable time catching up. I got back to Fort Augustus just in time to join a gang inside the screened tent down by the stream by the shop. A perfect way to end the day.




Wednesday morning  (One day till closing) and I was over to finish up a few things at the house. I tidied up the last bits, vacuumed through and mopped the kitchen floor. After attaching my bicycle to the rack on the back of my car it was time to leave for the last time. I know I should have felt some degree of sadness leaving, but it's just not my home anymore. I have a new life somewhere else and I'm looking forward to getting back to that.

 On the way home I stopped at the shop for coffee with Brenda and the "boys". When you invite yourself for coffee it's only polite to bring treats, and of course that increases the numbers! It was nice to see everyone and have a chance to say good bye.

Back at the VanGaals, we got ready to spend a sunny afternoon on the water. Our friend Jackie is an oyster fisherman and had graciously offered to take us out for a ride. We met in Mermaid and the boat was launched. Being a fishing boat, it's not set up for numerous passengers. No worries. In true island fashion we made it work. Lawn chairs and coolers provided everything we needed for a most relaxing day on the water.


From there it was a bit of a whirlwind. Off to the post office to change my address, then over to Stratford to visit a friend from Sobey's. Finally out to Wheatley River to have supper with Charles and Laura before returning and calling it a night. None of any of this past week would have been possible without a lot of assistance from Brenda and Bernie. They are two people I am going to miss terribly once I'm gone, but I will be back for vacations, you can be sure of that.

Today is the closing on our house and we have a meeting at the lawyers to sign the paperwork. Then tomorrow I will head back to Ontario for the final time. It truly has been an adventure and I'm so grateful to those islanders who have made it such an amazing experience. I will miss you all. But like Margie said the other day, this isn't goodbye, it's simply, see you later!

Sunday, March 8th - Early St. Patricks Day

It's been a busy few days.

Friday was a PD day  and Brenda was off work. So we met up with Bernie and Meghan at the Culinary Institute for breakfast. It's quite a treat served 4 mornings a week by the first year students. Each day there is a choice of 3 different menu items, and all really unique.

 The local church is raising funds for a monument to be placed in the Ancestral Cemetery. Our friend and committee member, Pat, decided that it might be good to have an afternoon featuring Irish music and Irish Stew. Hence Brenda and I were called into action. Brenda's away next week so it was decided to hold the event on Sunday instead of waiting for St. Patrick's Day.

A huge amount of planning and organizing goes into one of these events. Brenda is the perfect person to involve. From planning the menu to making the shopping list, obtaining all the necessary items needed, she had a great handle on it all. I helped with the stew but it was her hard work that made it all come together.

Our menu was Irish stew served over mashed potatoes, home made biscuits (donated by multiple local ladies) and bread pudding with a caramel sauce over top.  Tea and coffee rounded out our menu.

We were too busy to take any photos once things got underway. 

While the turnout was a little less than we had hoped it was still quite good. The music was good and everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves. We had a lot of  really great help both before and at the  end to help with cleanup. All in all, a really great day.

We did some prop on  Saturday morning and then headed over to the Senior's club. This year the LEAP Program (Learning Elders Arts Program) taught a class in Mosaics. I wasn't able to participate this year as I was working but it was fun to look at everyone's completed projects.

It was a bit of a stormy kind of day so the afternoon was spent reading, napping and just generally relaxing. Fortunately Sunday was a much better day.

A few days of mild weather last week has turned back into winter again. But we are almost half way through March so spring is coming. The time change this weekend has made a world of difference.

Monday, February 24th - Loving this milder weather

After several days and nights of VERY cold weather it's really nice to welcome some sunshine and milder temperatures. Although we're not as warm as some areas, it nice to see the ice melting. After the last freeze up there was a lot of it around and walking was somewhat treacherous. Of course now we have mud in spots but that's okay too.

Not a lot going on out here. Just working and catching up on TV I missed while I was away, and reading, lots of reading.

When we were in Florida, we spent one afternoon looking for a prom dress for Meghan. After trying on a LOT of dresses, she found one she liked but it wasn't available in her size. The store advised they could order one in and have it shipped but of course being from Canada posed a bit of a challenge. Fortunately Greg's mom, Lynne, was with us, as we were staying at their condo. So the store arranged to have the dress mailed to their address, and they would bring it with them when they returned to Canada in the spring. Problem solved. Fortunately the dress arrived two days before they were leaving. Unfortunately it didn't fit quite right, On the Sunday morning, after dropping James off at the airport, the dress was successfully returned to the store.

Now back home and the hunt is on for another prom dress. I received confirmation last week that a replacement has indeed been found and she has said "Yes to the dress"  It's absolutely beautiful and much nicer than the one she found in Florida. We didn't see anything quite like this one down south, I'm sure there will be lots of photos come prom night.

Meanwhile her younger brother Tristen has been busy with the cadet band. He competed this past weekend on the Tenor Drum. He finished first in his group so I'm sure he was pretty pleased. I remember taking him to Karate competitions and he would be so discouraged when he just came home with a trophy for simply participating. This one is well earned and I'm very proud of his efforts.

https://www.facebook.com/mistermillerman/videos/10163655991735144/


Meanwhile big brother James spent his weekend entertaining. Patti had a short layover in Halifax on Sunday so after lunch that seems to have featured Oysters, he took her to a Moosehead's hockey game. He sure knows how to show a girl a good time!  But it was nice for them to have some time together.

One more thing, Meghan made a video for her art class using photos and video she had taken on her trip to Italy. Interspersed in the video you will see pictures labeled as Proposal #1, #2, etc. Those are works of art that she has done herself. She really is quite a talented you lady.  It's not that long a video, about 8 minutes but really captures the essence of her travels.

https://youtu.be/Rkj0vqckrYw

Saturday, February 15 - it's always an adventure!

Hello strangers!
I know, it's been a very long time and I'm not going to go into any details, you all know what they are.

So back in the fall Patti suggested that I join them in Florida. They usually go down for a week to visit with Greg's mom and dad. I had no reason to say no. I thought that since I was going to be there anyway, I'd see about using a week of timeshare at the same time. Unfortunately there wasn't anything available in the area for that week so I decided to extend my stay by another week. I obtained a spot at a resort in Orlando (Greg's parents are in Clearwater).

The week we were to leave we looked at flight availability. Tuesday looked like the best day to get everyone there. I flew out early in the morning to Toronto (much thanks to Bernie for driving me at 3:30 in the morning to catch the 5:15 flight). I had several hours to kill until everyone else arrived for our 2:30 flight to Florida. I got myself some breakfast and it was then that I discovered that when transferring my stuff over to my travel purse that I'd forgotten to include my credit card. You know those commercials that say "Don't leave home without it" ? Yeah, turns out they are absolutely right.  I did have my debit card so I was sort of okay but extremely annoyed with myself.

The rest of the gang arrived - Patti, Greg, Meghan, Tristen, James and his girlfriend Liv. Lucky for us there were lots of seats on the plane and we all got in.  When we arrived in Sarasota we picked up the van that Patti had booked ahead of time. It was after supper time and we were all hungry so we stopped at a restaurant on our way for something to eat. Then it was on to Lynn and Paul's. Patti had booked some space at a small hotel directly across the street from the condo so we had plenty of room for everyone.

We spent an enjoyable few days with Lynn and Paul. The weather wasn't extremely warm but it was very pleasant for walking about. We visited the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. A dolphin named Winter was the subject of a movie called "A Dolphin's Tale". Winter arrived at CMA in 2005 after being caught in a crab trap line. Thanks to her rescue, she survived, but unfortunately the damage around her tail was too severe and she lost the tail due to the entanglement. A prosthetic tail was designed for her and she she still resides at this aquarium. Quite an amazing sight to see. 

Some time was spent shopping and just exploring the area. We spent one day at Disney World. Greg decided it might be a good idea as it would likely be the last time the entire family was all together and able to go. 

We lucked out with the weather. It was not as hot as they had predicted and other than just a couple of sprinkles, we didn't get any rain either. It was a long day but an enjoyable one. It's been probably 30 years or more since I visited Disney World. Lots of changes and new things to see. 

Oh look! Geraniums - This one's for you Stu

On Sunday afternoon Patti drove me over to Orlando, about a 2 hour drive. I would have rented a car and gone over but hard to do without a credit card. Plus I needed one to check into the timeshare. So off we headed. We arrived a little bit early but my unit was ready. That allowed me to get checked in and get Patti back on the road for the drive back to Clearwater. James had left that morning and the others were leaving the next day.

My one bedroom unit was quite lovely with everything I would possibly need. The weather was warmer in Orlando so I had  an enjoyable week spending lots of time each day sitting out by the pool. I didn't use the pool but I was in the hot tub everyday.

I would have rented a car for a couple of days, as there was a rental place right next door to the resort but again, it's impossible to do without a credit card. So instead I spend many hours exploring the area on foot. Because it's only one mile to Disney the entire area consists of mainly fast food places and souvenir shops. But sidewalks were very wide and uncrowded so lengthy walks were extremely easy.

I was scheduled to fly out of Orlando on Sunday morning, where I took my first Uber ride. I was able to set up an Uber account on my tablet with the credit card info that Brenda had so kindly secured for my from my wallet that was on the counter in my kitchen at home. 

My driver arrived promptly at 8:00 and I was whisked off to the airport. No trouble getting a seat on that plane and I was off to Montreal. Sadly I didn't get a seat out of Montreal that evening so thanks to Patti and some phone calls she was able to make me a hotel reservation using her card. Once I got to the hotel I was able to pay with my debit card, along with a security deposit which was refunded once they'd checked my room in the morning to ensure I hadn't had any wild parties between 10:00 pm and 4:00 am. 

Next morning we got on our plane at 8:00 am but were delayed for de-icing. As I was by the window,  I had a front row seat for the de-icing procedure. I now know more than I ever expected to about the process. A solution of orange 'stuff' is sprayed all over the plane. That is intended to get rid of any ice on the plane. Then a fluorescent green 'stuff' is sprayed on to keep ice from forming while we take off. At least that's how I understood it. We finally took off around  9:00 am.

We made our way to Charlottetown and upon arrival in the vicinity two attempts to land were made. Both times weather did not permit it. Apparently visibility and wind speed were an issue. 

By this time we are getting low on fuel. So off we go to Deer Lake, NFLD to gas up. 

A quick stop, for the plane,( not the passengers), and we were once again on our way back to PEI. Another attempt was made to land and we were so close, but then it headed back up just before touching down. Without success the decision was made to take us all back to Montreal. So at 3:00 pm we ended up right back where we started!

It was only meant to be a one hour flight on a small plane with one flight attendant, instead of the 7 hour magical mystery tour it turned out to be, so there was no food or anything on the plane. We were fortunate that the plane wasn't full so most of us had two seats to stretch out on which made a big difference. I had a book with me and my travel pillow so I alternated between napping and reading. Our flight attendant was an older gentleman and he did a fantastic job.  I think his good humour and total understanding made it possible for us to arrive safely without a lot of grumpy passengers.

Because they had to re-book all the passengers I knew I wouldn't be getting to the island that night. So I opted to catch a flight to Toronto, where Patti just happened to be returning from a flight herself. We met at the airport and she took me to her house.

My Tristen, how you've grown!

 I ended up staying till Wednesday morning when she drove me back to Pearson to get a seat back to PEI, successfully this time.

I can't tell you how grateful I was to get a text from Brenda to come straight home, as she would have lunch ready for me. She had dropped my car off at the airport on Sunday. I was welcomed to a warm house, shoveled snow, a bottle of wine and delicious lunch. 
It was a clear and sunny afternoon so we opted to go out for a bit of snowshoeing before hauling my suitcase inside and unpacking. That could wait till later.

Today it was -20' when I woke up. Welcome back to winter!