Thursday, July 25th - well hello strangers!

Hey there. Really long time no chat! Sometimes real life just gets in the way.

Lots going in since my last post over a month ago.

Brenda and Bernie's son, Will, and his fiance Amanda got married on June 29th. Because the wedding was to be in the yard at Brenda's there was much work put in before hand. They worked tirelessly for many weeks to make sure everything was perfect. It also prompted the start and finish of some long planned projects that had just never got underway. 

The morning of the wedding dawned beautiful and sunny. I was doing the cake and cupcakes and we dropped those off at the hall in the morning. Then Brenda and I set about arranging tables and chairs around the yard. The ceremony was taking place at 5:00 followed by drinks and nibbles before heading to the rec centre for dinner and dancing.

As the day progressed, the clouds moved in. Just before time for the wedding very light drizzle was starting. Then it was all hands on deck to move the motorcycles out of Bernie's shop and quickly move the tables, etc inside for later. Fortunately the rain didn't really amount to much and with umbrellas in hand the ceremony was able to be held as planned in the front yard.

All smiles now that the day if finally here

In restrospect most found the slight dampness somewhat refreshing. Probably much better than really hot, sticky and humid would have been. Needless to say a good time was had by all.

Fresh oysters anyone?

I was challenged with making a cake to look like a birch log in keeping with the rustic theme. I'd met with Amanda and she sent me a picture of what she had in mind. Then sometime later we came across what was labeled a" lumberjack cake" online.  Now there's a challenge if ever there was one. Since the VanGaal boys all spend a fair bit of time in the woods, it only made sense to give it a try and Amanda was a really good sport and said go for it.

I researched how to actually make a cake that looks like red lumberjack plaid and decided this was doable.  I think the results turned out not too bad.

First you bake a bunch of cakes in different colours and flavours.

Then you cut them up and put them back together, just not in the same order they started in

Then you stack them in a very particular order so that when you cut into the cake the inside looks like this:

Yes, this is actually THE cake

Then once the layers are stacked you ice it to look like a birch log

Put it on a table with a bunch of cupcakes and see how many people are fooled into thinking this is just a log as part of the decor - turns out quite a few.

The bride was happy and so was I so that's all that really counts in this case!

All in all a really great day. Congrats to the happy couple.

Once all the work and stresses of the wedding were passed, it was time for some down time.

Where better to relax and destress than supper on the beach. Caitlyn and Mike were here for a few extra days so it was only fitting.

The summer is quickly passing by.  It seems like it took forever to get here but it finally arrived. We've had some pretty warm and humid days but certainly  nothing like southern Ontario has experienced this past while.

Patti, Greg, Meghan and Tristen got to escape for a short time (although maybe not escape the heat) as they traveled to Spain with Meg's dance group. She left a few days before the family and traveled with the other dancers and guests. Greg's mom went with them to enjoy the whole experience. The rest of them arrived a couple of days later and they all spent quite a bit of time touring around. The kids were performing at several music festivals but along with that they had a fair bit of downtime.
As the family had rented a car they were able to travel a little further afield and enjoy some great experiences.  By all accounts a great time was had by all.

Lots of fun but bittersweet that the girls of Comp A danced together as a group for the very last time. They've become such a tight knit team and have been through a lot together. I know there are some friendships that will last a lifetime.

But just before they left for Spain, everyone drove out to Quebec for  James' graduation from his basic training. Very proud of this young man...

and his scary looking friends! (yup, that's him, far right in the back row)

Meanwhile, back on the island, things are slowly progressing. Bits of grass are starting to grow,  the skirting is all in place and a fresh coat of paint has been applied. Work is now underway on the front and back decks to replace the temporary stairs. Needless to say Lloyd has been busy.

We have a small semi circle of grass beside what will eventually be our lane. I wanted an old hand pump to put in the centre. Not an easy find. But I kept looking and finally found one locally. It was old and brown and missing a handle but I could absolutely see past that. I think the end result speaks for itself.

When I first got it home, Lloyd pointed something out about it I had failed to notice. It was made by Beatty Bros. of Fergus, ON.  It's like a little piece of history from home!

Wednesday JUne 19th - It's all good!

Lots has happened since my last post almost 3 weeks ago.
We are finally pretty much moved in. I still have one small bedroom that's being used as a storage room but I'm grateful to have to space to do that.

There is still much to do outside but the inside has finally taken shape just as I had imagined. While we have a little less space than the last house I'm really impressed with the functionality of the layout and the roominess. It's also very easy to look after (aside from the sand that gets tracked in everyday by both us and the dog). Eventually that will lessen once we have a front deck and some grass as well as stone on the laneway.

I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days in Ontario. I went up to watch Meg's dance recital(s). It may well be the last one I'll see as I'll not likely go up next year. I'm more likely to arrive in Guelph for her highschool graduation next year instead. It was cool and rainy the day I arrived in Toront  but the rest of the time the weather was glorious.





 I didn't have time to connect with everyone but I did manage to
squeeze in a breakfast with Fran and Walt and a fast supper before a performance with Nancy and Stu, Marla, Jan and Robin.

Another unexpected treat (because Patti and I were running late) was a hot dog at Rocky's, an Guelph Institution since I was a kid.








When I got back to the island our weather began improving as well. Lots of BBQ suppers (even though I now have my stove back!) Lloyd's working two nights a week at the homeless shelter but on his days off he's busy getting everything underneath the house sorted before the final step of putting on the skirting. He needed to rent a hole digger to install the anchors (that hopefully keep it from blowing away in a hurricane) so while he had it he dug the holes for my clothesline. I've been wanting one for quite some time so I was ever so thrilled to arrive back to see the posts in place.

We had our friends Jens and Linda over for lunch on Sunday. They were our first official guests to eat in our dining room! I've always liked to have a seperate dining room and believe it or not, I have one now. My doll house is sitting in front of the picture window. It's not meant to be there permanently but it will have to stay until I clear out the storage room. It's meant to live in there with a single bed but for now the single beds are set up as bunk beds in the other spare room.

Last time I posted some photos of the house being moved. While there are still little areas that need attention, for the most part we're unpacked.

Finally have a dining room

The den is just the right size for a small living room. The other side of the room houses the TV, stereo and recliner. More than enough room for the two of us

My slightly messy kitchen, although it seems to be pretty easy to keep fairly tidy

My fridge didn't fit in the designated spot so found another place for it. The usual spot is jut the right size for my upright freezer.

The master bedroom. It's not huge but we can fit both night tables for the first time (even with a new king suze bed). The two dressers fit and we have a two piece ensuite and a small walk in closet.

All in all, it's starting to feel like home. It's pretty quiet where we are and we have a huge back yard that's bordered by trees. Photos of that next time.

Thursday, May 30th - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel....

...and it's not attached to the front of a train!

It's been a challenging few weeks but things have almost all fallen into place - finally.

There have been many times I was planning to post an update but then something else would happen and the last thing anyone needs is to hear me moan about yet another obstacle.

Now that all the obtacles have been removed, we are moved in (mostly) and as of today we now have all the essentials - plumbing, heating, running water, propane to cook with and electricity 😃

Moving a home from one location to another is quite a challenge. Unfortunately I wasn't here the day it was moved so I missed all the action. I was on my way to Halifax to visit James, but fortunately Lloyd took lots of pictures.

House on the move on Monaghan Road

Left turn onto Fort Augustus Road then a right onto Five Houses Road

Sharp left turn onto Patti Lane - backing up no less

Back...

,,,and back some more...

...and finally back far enough to drive into place

Left turn (forward this time) onto our lot

And finally onto the prepared pad

A day like this requires spectators!

Finally all in place

The storage trailer backed up to the front door so we could begin unloading.
I'm amazed that the whole process only took a little over 3 hours (from the time it made it to our area)

So it's not like just moving into a new house. Trenches need to be dug, pipes and wires need to be strung as well as run underground, and all the various trades people have their own special part in the dance.

But the dance is almost over and we can get on with things.  Fortunately our weather is finally warming up as well. Of course with that comes blackflies, which will soon be followed by mosquitoes. But that's summer here in Canada.

Just as we get everything up and running I'm heading to Ontario for a very quick visit to attend Meg's dance recital.  Then it will be back to help out with Brenda's son's wedding. I'm making their cake so the hook ups couldn't come at a more convenient time.  We've had very limited electricity for the past couple of weeks and no propane so all cooking had to be done on one induction burner on the counter. I'm so looking forward to finally being able to use my stove again.

Of course like any "construction" project, the grounds around the house are all dirt. Some major work needs to be done out there but at least the weather is now cooperating. Without any grass or gravel it becomes a bit of a mudpit pretty quickly.  So on to the next project. Then it will be time to start Lloyd's garage. With luck, it will be usable by fall at least for storage and tools.

Lots of work to do yet but at least we are no longer homeless. It's been a long haul since October but we absolutely could not have done it without the help and support of really great friends.

Update: since starting this post last Thursday, everything has finally been hooked up and is now functional. The little things we so take for granted: hot AND cold running water when you turn on the tap (many thanks to the Andersons for allowing us to keep filling our water jug at their place),  a furnace to keep us warm and propane to cook with, electricity so that you don't have to make sure two things aren't plugged in at the same time (but many thanks to our neighbour for allowing us to run an extension from his place). My fridge and 2 freezers are now home and have been loaded with their contents.(again thanks to Richard for housing our freezers and the VanGaals for housing our fridge). It's great not having to rely on a tiny fridge to hold all you might need. The only thing left to do is pick up the wine and various other adult beverages that have been gracefully aging over the winter in the VanGaals celler. I had hoped to retrieve those items this afternoon but it started raining so I'll maybe do that tomorrow.

Tuesday I'm off to Guelph for a really quick trip to watch Meg's dance recital.
She just learned that they've found a host family for her in Italy so she's pretty excited about that. They speak English and the 15 year old daughter will be going to the same school as Meg. The mother is a graphic artist and works from home and also has Celiac's so it's a wonderful fit for Meghan.

Tristen is busy with Air Cadets, although I guess they'll be shutting down for the summer soon. He will be going to Cadet camp in the summer and will likely continue with his drumming lessons. This past weekend he played with the band for the first time at a public performance at a basketball game. He's the one playing the big bass drum.  Well done, T !

James is away for his 8 weeks of basic training in Quebec. He was apparently at the Air Show near Montreal over the weekend. Lots of fun!  I'm sure he'll have lots to tell us when he gets back.

Well, I'd best get going. When I get back from Ontario I'll post some photos of the inside. It's actually turning out just as I had imagined and I'm pretty pleased.

Sunday, April 14th - time flies when you're having fun...

...or at least that's what they say.

Lounging around

Let me catch you up on the past few weeks. I'm still in Wheatley River and all my charges (8 ducks and one very large dog) are all still alive and doing well. Wish I could say the same thing for the mint plant on the kitchen window but that's another story.

James has moved into his own apartment in Halifax. He has one bedroom but also got a pull out couch so we have a place to stay when we visit Halifax. We'll try not to take too much advantage of that😃

I wasn't able to go over and help because of the livestock here but  Patti flew down, and with the aid of a rental truck they were able to move all his stuff out of residence as well as pick up furniture at Ikea. He's all set now. He's almost finished school then he heads off to basic training for 8 weeks.

Just a little bit of the hardware they earned ths year

Meg has been really busy with dance competitions, her last ones ever as she's not doing competitive dance next year. Fortunately for me the last two competitions were streamed live so I was able to watch online. They did really well and I know she will miss that next year. But she won't have time to miss much in the next few months as she's going to be a really busy young lady. She's been accepted into a leadership program at the Diabetic Camp she's attended the last few summers. So, she's off to Spain in July with her dance troupe, camp in August and if all goes well, she may be off to Italy in the fall for two months. They just have to find a family over there willing to take her with her special needs - the diabetes and celiacs. Hopefully it will all come together for her.

Tristen is very busy these days with Air Cadets, something none of us saw coming. Besides the regular meeting each week he also has band practice and drill team practice. He's also going to Cadet camp in the summer. I'm so pleased that he's enjoying this experience so much,

As for PEI not a lot is happening. We have one more week before Charles and Laura get back from Japan and then we are on our own again. Our plan is to set up our hard top tent trailer and try staying in there. There is a heater so it might be okay. Worst case scenario is we put all the craft stuff that's piled in the bunky into the storage trailer and we move the two single mattresses into the bunky. At least it's a warm place to sleep if mother nature doesn't cooperate. Our weather is all over the place right now. We woke up two mornings this past week to a couple of cms of snow but yesterday and today are quite mild. Monday and Tuesday are going to be raining and mild but snow flurries and 2' predicted for Wednesday. So who knows.

Weight restrictions are still on our roads and likely will be yet for some time so nothing will be happening with our new home at least until they are lifted.

As I write this Lloyd is in Toronto. He finally made his way back to Canada, arriving in Vancouver on Saturday night, then Toronto this morning (Sunday). He's staying up there for a couple of days to visit some of the guys from the airport. Weather here will be crap so he may as well, can't do much here. There are some bits of stuff we can do out in Fort Augustus but it can wait till weather improves.

We may make a trip over to Halifax for a couple of days after he's back and then on the 26th of April I'm off to Toronto. Patti and Greg are leaving early on the morning of the 28th for Hawaii (it's a work thing for Greg - life is rough ) and I'll be chauffering the kids around for a week. Besides being able to spend some time with the kids I have a pretty full schedule of lunches lined up for that week. I sent emails to the usual suspects and my calendar is getting quite full so it should be fun.

Hopefully by the time I get back things will be dried up and progress can start being made. It's been almost 6 months now. All I really want at this point is to sleep in my own bed, wake up and make coffee in my own kitchen. I don't think that's so much to ask. There's got to be a reason for all of this, I just haven't figured it out as yet, but eventually it will all make sense!

In the meantime, it's burger love month! Ive only sampled three so far but I'm sure there will be more over the coming 2 weeks. Brenda and I spent Friday afternoon doing some shopping then finished off splitting a burger, topped off with Dairy Queen for dessert....it was a lovely warm day. So we'll see how many more we can fit in before the end of the month when we head into .....LOBSTER SEASON!

Monday, March 25th - hello from Wheatley RIver

The last leg of my traveling is underway. I arrived in Wheatley River this afternoon and as I write this Charles and Laura are busy finishing up some last minute tasks before they head out in the morning.

I can't believe just how quickly last week sped by. Tuesday and Wednesday I did cards and spent my evenings catching up on some programs and doing some reading. Thursday was a longer day, as I was bottling wine out at Charles'. We started at 8:00 in the morning and finished up a little before 5:00. Needless to say my feet, legs and back were pretty tired by the end of the day. I thought I might have a bath in Brenda's lovely whirly tub but I was just too tired.

Friday was a drizzly kind of day but it was brightened by two visitors - Sharyn and Heather came over for coffee.  We sat at the table and chatted and before we knew it the clock told us it was almost noon.  Sharyn and I confirmed we were going to meet to go to a movie in town on Friday night.

Before the VanGaals left Bernie and the boys dug some trenches around the house to divert the rain water from coming into the basement so there were no issues there. Just before I was to meet Sharyn, Ethan dropped by to check on the shop.( He stopped by every evening on his way home from work to make sure all was well). I'm really grateful that he did. There had been some water leaking into the shop and the floor in one corner was quite wet. So we grabbed some mops and buckets and headed up to sop up the water. In a few minutes we had things under control. In the meantime Sharyn arrived and we headed into town. We saw "Lost and Found", a really cute movie centred around the lost and found department of a train station in Ireland.

Saturday was a free day, with nothing to do and no where that I needed to go. Perfect. I spent the day baking butter tarts, making chili and a pot of Irish Stew (for those who weren't home on St. Patrick's Day) a great day just puttering in the kitchen. Gosh how I miss that!

Sunday dawned to find that the Van Gaals had arrived home at approximately 4:30 in the morning.They must have crept in very quietly as I didn't hear them at all. I woke up around 7:00 and saw that the truck was in the yard so I knew they had made it back. So it was my turn to creep down the stairs, make a cup of tea and park myself in the living room. Bernie was up first and I learned that Brenda had come down with a terrible cold the last day of their travels. Needless to say Sunday was pretty much lost on her. She slept most of the day. By this morning she was starting to look and feel only slightly better but at least she's on the road to recovery.

I hung out at their place until 1:00 when I attended the annual meeting of the Shamrock Seniors Club. Since I'll be living in the area it seems appropriate that I should become involved.
After the meeting, I headed out to Wheatley River, where I'll be in residence for the next month. The weather is slowly improving and we can actually begin to believe that spring is on it's way.

Meghan had a very busy and successful dance competition this past weekend. There's a rumour that the competition next weekend may be live streamed. Hope that's true. I've never been to one of her competitions.

 While she and her mom were away, James impressed everyone with his new found crepe making skills. I have it on good authority that they were delicious!

Monday, March - hope you all had a great St. Patrick's Day

What a crazy busy week we had.

Thursday night I arrived at the VanGaals to make supper as per our usual plan. Things were well underway once Brenda got home from work. This week we had Chicken Picatta - basically a boneless skinless chicken breast breaded and served with some angel hair paIsta and a lemon cream sauce.

I left early on Friday morning to meet up with our friends Mike and Willow for breakfast at the Culinary Institute. Then it was quickly back out to the country to make my phyllo tarts to take to our basket weaving open house.

We've all finished our 3 baskets and now it was time to display our talents to the rest of the community. A representative from the government was on hand as well. We had a lovely and impressive display of baskets and an even more lovely and impressive display of treats!

I stayed out in Fort Augustus on Friday as Brenda and Bernie were leaving early on Saturday morning. Meghan came out from town and brought pizza from town that I was happy to share with her and Ethan, Will and Amanda and of course, their parents.

I woke up early on Saturday morning while they were getting ready to leave, but I was able to go back to bed. After a little bit of drama. they arrived with their friends John and Janet, in New Orleans. I hope they enjoy it as much as I did many years ago.

I headed into town at 8:45 on Saturday morning as James was flying over from Halifax. His flight was supposed to land at 9:01 but due to heavy fog in both Halifax and Charlottetown his flight was rescheduled many times. Eventually he arrived at 11:45. After some lunch we headed over to the Inn to move our stuff out. I had previously packed up a lot of stuff and and he helped me bring it all downstairs and pack it into the car.

It was mild with light drizzle when we headed over to Patti Lane. We packed some of the boxes of stuff that we won't need until we finally move, into the storage trailer. The rest we brought over to Brenda's. There's still some sorting to do but I have all week.

We had picked up some chicken for supper and the rest of my week. We spend some time cooking together. I showed him how to cut up a whole chicken, and several ways to cook chicken pieces. We also did a little bit of knife skills.

We then went back in to town to see a movie - They Shall Not Grow Old. It was a really interesting documentary about world war 1. Needless to say, James really enjoyed it.

Sunday morning we headed into town to the Old Dublin Pub for their St. Patrick's Day charity breakfast. Another pub had a line outside waiting to get in, at 9:00 in the morning. The Dublin was not quite that busy but was bustling just the same. We invited a friend of ours to join us. Eric had an uncle who was killed in the war and he's been invited to travel to Scotland in April for a memorial ceremony. I knew that James would enjoy talking history with Eric and I think they both enjoyed their chat.

Live music at breakfast

After breakfast we took a drive out to Wheatley River.  James had a really quick tour of the winery  before we left them to get all their work done before they go away next week. 

Then it was off to Iona so James could tour our mini home,  picked up some food for Cooper and stopped in at Rosa's for a visit with all of them. While we were touring around, we received a text inviting us to the Duffy's for Irish Stew. Great way to end a St. Partick's Day.

James was flying out at 8:00 so I dropped him at the airport at 7:00. I stayed in town until I knew he was on his way. I went back to the Inn and finished packing up the last bits of stuff, while I waited.

Monday morning was a slow morning but I went into town around 11:00.  I finished packing up the rest of our stuff and tidied up and vacuumed before I left for the last time.

For the first time, I'm truly feeling homeless. Even though thanks to the kindness of friends I have a place to stay but I still feel a little uncentred. I'm assuming that after a good nights sleep I'll feel better. I have a whole week here then I'm  out to Wheatley River for a month. I'm hoping this next move will be the second last one. Weight restrictions are in place on our roads so nothing will be happening until those are lifted. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. I know it will all work out in the end but I can't wait for it all to fall into place.

Monday, March 11th - hello longer afternoons!

Now that the time has changed, it's such a joy to have that extra time in the early evenings.
Last night I decided to take myself out for supper a little after 5:00. After enjoying some sushi at my favourite Japanese location, it was such an uplifting walk home. We enjoyed sunny, slightly milder temperatures all weekend and it was wonderful walking home in broad daylight and sunny skies after 6:00. You can almost feel spring in the air. There's some heat in that sunshine now and it feels glorious.

This morning I'm waiting for my car to get an oil change so I'm enjoying a coffee at my favorite little coffee spot. It's raining this morning and should get to 6' later. It's nice to get all the salt from my trip to Halifax washed off the car.

My week was mostly quiet after getting home from Halifax on Tuesday. Thursday was once again supper at the VanGaals. I was expecting to be receiving some lamb from our friends Charles and Laura but it wasn't going to arrive in time for Thirsty Thursday. But I had my taste buds all primed for some lamb burgers so a quick stop at the  farmer run grocery store provided me with my main ingredient. My menu this week was lamb burgers with tzatziki sauce, red onions and lettuce, accompanied by a greek salad and lemon roasted Greek potatoes. Of course, some wine to go with that was a given.

Brenda was off on Friday so we went into town early to have breakfast at the Culinary Institute. One of the options was a Vietnamese Breakfast Bowl. I thought I'd give that a try and it was absolutely delicious. Brenda opted for the lemon meringue pancakes with bacon and fresh fruit. Combined with coffee for a total of $6.05 each, it's a pretty great way to start the day.

Vietnamese breakfast bowl

Friday was also our last basket weaving class and all projects are now complete. Next Friday is our open house when all are invited to come and view the fruits of our labours. Watch this space for photos next week.

We completed our afternoon with a short snowshoe trek in the woods.

I was back out in Fort Augustus on Saturday after picking up my lamb from Charles. and dropping it off in the freezers stashed at friend Richard's.  Remember those chicken pot pies I helped with in December? They are mighty tasty in the middle of March. I was able to enjoy some of those at the VanGaals for lunch.

After lunch Brenda and I headed out to Iona. Because of the amount of snow we took our snowshoes with us to visit the mini home. Good thing as we needed them to get in. We poked around and discussed some possible redecorating ideas. I'm getting anxious to get started.  Since we were in the area, we wandered over to Belfast to the Mini Mills. I picked up some needle felting supplies to take with me to Wheatley River so I'll have something to work on.

On our way home we made a detour to Montague and stopped for a beverage at Copper Bottom Brewery. It was my first visit. Lovely views out big windows of the Montague waterfront.

Sunday was the home show here in town. I spent a bit of time touring around there and asking some questions. It was another absolutely beautiful day. I had several things hanging around in my car that I needed to find space for so I made a trip out to Fort Augustus. On my way out I stopped and had a quick visit with Jens and Linda and after dropping stuff off at Patti Lane I checked in with Anna. It was a visiting kind of day.

Then it was back to town for something to eat and some time to contemplate packing things up. I've collected a few boxes and that will be my focus this week. Can't believe it's my last week in town. I can't help feeling that things are moving along, even if it's only me that's doing the moving!

I saw two movies this week at City Cinema, both old ones. The first was an Alfred Hitchcock called Vertigo. It was really interesting, especially to see what passed for special affects in 1958. The second one was a bit of a cult classic  - An American Werewolf in London. It was from 1981 and one I'd never seen, It was a little gruesome but I suppose nothing compared to what we see today. The treat for me was one of the main characters was a very young Jenny Agutter. I knew the face and voice but it wasn't till the credits that I realized that she plays a beloved character on Call the Midwife.

And finally this blast from the past. I was surfing through the TV channels on Saturday evening and on CHCH tv out of Hamiltion Ontario, what did I find but an updated version of an old, old TV show called Tiny Talent Time. It was on the air when I was a kid. In fact, I actually tap danced my way to stardom when I was 12 years old. Unfortunately all the old tapes have been destroyed (maybe that's a good thing!). Anyway it was certainly a trip down memory lane for me.

The older version with host Bill Lawrence

The new version