Welcome to Our Web Page
When this web page began more than twenty-five years ago, it described most of the activities of our whole family. Now that most of our children have flown the coop, it is mostly about what Ann and I (Dave) have been up to. I update it most weekends. We save all the messages over the past year in an Archive along with links to what we were doing ten and twenty years ago.
You can click on the pictures above to get a bit more information about each of us.
Sunday October 25
Ann and Simon in front of the replica of Hector
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.