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Sunday July 26

Katy, Ben, Andrew and Alex arrived this afternoon having left Renfrew early yesterday morning and staying in Fredericton last night. They will be here for a couple of weeks spending part of the time with us and part with Ben's mum Mona.

This week I did our regular three rides: on Monday, with the Railers out to Lawrencetown Beach with a stop at Cottage Café on the way back; with the Roadents from Laurie Park to Monte Vista with a stop at Aroma Maya in Enfield on the way back; and the Saturday ride with the Ramblers. Because it was forecast to rain on Wednesday, the Roadent ride was moved forward to Tuesday so Ann, who was volunteering at the food bank, was unable to go on that one. After it was over, we walked down to the water and stood for a moment to remember our friend Tom who passed away last Sunday. A few Roadents who were unable to go on the ride, including Ann who got a lift with Sylvain, joined us for the informal ceremony.

The Rambler ride yesterday was another really nice one: from Graves Island Park along the rail trail to Western Shore for lunch overlooking the ocean, then back along the trail with side trips around Borgald's Point and along Marriott's Cove for scenery and Hutt's Lake for a swim (I didn't go in but Ann, Erika and Bev did). Afterwards, Erika, Ann and I went for ice cream at The Little Ice Cream Shop in Ingramport. It was doing a booming business.

On Wednesday, we noticed that there was water in the freezer portion of our fridge and realized that it was not working. In preparation for the visit of Katy & Co., Ann had stocked up on various cuts of meat which had all begun to thaw, so I spent the rest of the day cooking coq au vin, maple curry chicken, and a pork loin, then refreezing all but the coq au vin which we ate that night. After all the food had been removed, the freezer began working again so we think it had been overstocked and blocked the fan that keeps the cold air moving. We had an appliance guy come on Thursday morning to check it out just in case. All seems to be alright now provided we behave ourselves and not try to pack too much stuff in.

The rest of the week has been spent trying to declutter the house. We have culled a number of books which will go to the Grace United book sale along with a bunch of picture frames that we will never use, and the cat climber has gone to Bide Awhile, the animal shelter that was Morgan's favourite charity in earlier years. I also disassembled the crib that we got for Andrew and Alex's visits when they were babies; it has been in the small upstairs sewing room ever since. Ann is determined that it will not go into the landfill, since it has hardly been used, and has spent several hours trying to find a home for it. Unfortunately, none of the charities (Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, etc.) are allowed to take it and so far we have not found any friends or acquaintances that have a need for it.

Sunday July 19

The World Cup is finally over. We watched Spain's demolition of France on Tuesday and on Wednesday, Ann, David and I went to Mike's (Ingrid was away in Latvia) to watch the England-Argentina game taking dinner and beer with us. Alex joined us for the second half. David went camping with his friends today (they watched the game at a bar in Enfield) so I watched the final alone except for appearances every now and then by Ann. Not the most exciting game but a well-deserved win by Spain.

Sadly, in the middle of the game, I received an email from Sylvain to say that Tom, one of our biking friends, had passed away. We had all known for some time that he was very ill but it is always a bit of a shock. Tom was one of the nicest people I have known, always cheerful, even in the face of adversity, always supportive and willing to help out. I have a photo of him, on one of the very first Rambler rides we were on, changing the tire on Ann's bike after she had a flat.

Of course, there were bike rides this week. We did the usual ride to Lawrencetown Beach with the Railers on Monday and, on Wednesday, Ann went with Jayne to ride in the Heartland Tour in Lunenburg. Having just driven down that way the Saturday before, I decided to stay home and catch up on weeding the garden. Ann was back in time to take in the World Cup match at Mike's. Yesterday, we rode from the Musée Historique Acadien to Lawrencetown Beach, then up the coast to Head of Chezzetcook before returning to the start. That was followed by lunch at La Cuisine de Brigitte, the small restaurant at the museum.

Our neighbour of 15 years, Barb, recently sold her house and moved to an apartment. Our new neighbour, Ray, is one of our biking friends. He and Jane, another biking friend whom we have known longer, have been an item for a couple of years now. Ray and Jane invited us over for drinks and nibblies on his deck after the ride yesterday. It also transpires that he has a ping pong table in his basement, so I got to take on both him and Jane (Ann declined to take part). It has been many years since I held a ping pong paddle but it came back pretty quickly. Ray and I are pretty evenly matched so I'm hoping to be invited back.

After we left Ray's, Ann went with Judy to a concert at Grace United by the Kulshun Chorus, a community choir from Bellingham, Washington who are touring the east coast.

On Thursday, Ann and I had a very nice dinner at Tulipan, a new Mexican restaurant in downtown Dartmouth. We then took the ferry over to Halifax to see Rent at Neptune. It was well-performed but not a show that I particularly care for.

Back in the late 70s, there was a place for local musicians to hang out on Grafton St. called Odin's Eye. By the time I arrived in 1980, it had been replaced by the Grafton St. Café, run by Patrick Purcell who lived with the folk musician Sandy Greenberg. Chapman and I used to go and there a lot both to play and listen to music. Sandy and Patrick broke up in the early 80s, Patrick moved away, and Sandy met and married Thomas Cormier with whom she performed, and still performs, as Razzmatazz for Kids. They have been good friends of ours since those days. The current occupant of the building which housed Odin's Eye and the Grafton St. Café is Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs. On Friday, they had an Odin's Eye retrospective with several of the musicians that used to play there performing, including Sandy and Thomas along with Betty Belmore and Susan Crowe. Ann and I went to watch and were met there by our biking friends Manon and Dave. The crowd was all of our vintage, including several other acquaintances of ours.

Since tomorrow is Julia and Carl's birthday, today we had Carl and Roxanne over to sit on the back deck and eat Ann's world famous carrot cake. Jim and Valerie joined us.

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Sunday July 12

Yesterday's Rambler ride was one of my favourites: from Bridgewater down through Conquerall Mills and along Petite Rivière (the river) to Petite Rivière (the town), with a lunch and ice cream stop at Risser's Beach, then along the shore to LaHave, crossing the river on the ferry, then back up the eastern bank of the LaHave River to Bridgewater. The scenery along the shore and both rivers is very nice and the ferry ride is fun. Ann and I took the opportunity to stop at the LaHave Bakery for a coffee as we went by. On the way home, we stopped in at the Hooked Rug Museum of North America where one of Ann's church friends was helping in a hooking demonstration.

On Wednesday, we went on the usual Roadent ride from Laurie Park to Monte Vista. For several years, the Roadents have been organized by Toru, originally from Japan, who decided to retire here after mistakingly flying to Halifax when a travel agent bought him a ticket to the wrong city (I can't remember where it was he was trying to go). He has been part of the Rambler/Roadent community since we joined. However, he and his wife, Hiromi, have decided to return to Japan, so after the ride we all gathered at Dick's in Fall River to give them a send off. There was swimming in the lake, relaxing on the lake-side deck, and plenty of hamburgers, hot dogs and salads to go around.

The rest of my week has been spent watching World Cup matches and looking after the garden.

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