Our Message Archive
August 2024
Wednesday August 14
Natal Day fireworks over Lake Banook
We have had a busy couple of weeks so I am a bit behind on updating this page. The weekend before last, Ann flew to Ontario to attend her Aunt Carole's 90th birthday party in Merlin. She left on Thursday evening, after her flight was delayed by a couple of hours, and was picked up by Martha in Toronto. On Friday, Ann. Martha and Thom drove to Bright's Grove to stay with John and Halima for the night and on Friday they all drove down to Merlin for the big party.
The celebration started on Saturday morning with the unveiling of a historic plaque at the main intersection in Merlin where the Dent garage, John Dent & Sons, used to be (now an empty lot owned by Ann's cousin Bob). Afterwards, Aunt Carole and Martha put their feet up while the rest went to the Merlin Friendship Center for lunch where Ann caught up with her childhood friend Janice Carnahan (now Wright). The birthday festivities started in the afternoon at The Garage, a Merlin restaurant not to be confused with the Dent garage. First there was an open house at which the whole community came to give their best wishes. At 3:30 pm, Ann and Aunt Carole went for naps during a John Wayne movie. At 6 pm they tottered back to The Garage for a family dinner with all the Howells, Ann, John, Halima, Martha, Thom and Rachel followed by a karaoke session with dancing (including Aunt Carole).
Ann, Martha and Thom returned to Brampton on Sunday and Ann flew home again that evening. Meanwhile, Nancy and Josie arrived at our place for a visit having spent a couple of days driving here from Barrie. The original plan was for Nancy to pick up Ann at the airport as they were passing by but then it was decided that they should come straight here in case the flight was late again. That was just as well since the flight was late and didn't arrive until 4 am; I went out to the airport to pick her up then caught up on my sleep when I got back home again. Josie only stayed one night, then went to a friends' place; Nancy stayed with us until Thursday, then stayed with Kim and Glen for a couple of nights before going to stay with Jocelyn and Lokman in Mahone Bay.
On the Thursday before Ann left, Katy, Andrew and Alex came for a last visit before they headed back to Renfrew on the weekend. They came in the morning and stayed for lunch. Alex checked my garden for me to make sure that everything was ship-shape.
Since that weekend was the first in August, Monday was a holiday — called Natal Day here — and there were fireworks over Lake Banook. Ann, Nancy and I walked down with our folding chairs to enjoy them.
On Wednesday, Nancy took Ann and me out to dinner at USTA, the Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant near the border of Dartmouth and Cole Harbour, to celebrate our upcoming 40th wedding anniversary. After a very nice meal, we went home and Chapman came over for a visit with Nancy.
The gospel workshop in St. John's Anglican Church
We spent all of last weekend at the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival. We drove down to Ingrid and Mike's cottage on Thursday afternoon, got ourselves set up in their boat loft which they kindly let us use again this year, then went in to Lunenburg to see the evening concert, getting dinner at the sushi food truck that was one of this year's vendors.
On Friday, Ann and Ingrid went to the Celtic dance workshop in the morning and came back with sandwiches for lunch. We then went back to see some workshops in the afternoon followed by the evening concert (sushi dinner again but we weren't complaining).
On Saturday, Ann and I went to the gospel workshop by The Barrel Boys, a bluegrass band from Ontario, then met Ingrid at Dory Mates' Seafood Shop for lunch. Then it was more workshops, fancy hot dogs for dinner, and the evening concert.
On Sunday, I dropped Ann off in Lunenburg for the gospel concert (Ingrid and Mike came and joined her a bit later), then rode to Mahone Bay to join the Ramblers on a ride to Indian Point and then out Second Peninsula. My plan was to forgo Second Peninsula and ride back to Lunenburg so that I would arrive in time for the fiddle workshop at 1 pm, but on the way back from Indian Point my tire blew its sidewall so that the inner tube was protruding in a lump the size of a golf ball. My friend Dave Ripley kindly came back to pick me up and drove me back to Lunenburg in plenty of time for the workshop. Meanwhile, Ann, Ingrid, Mike, Jocelyn, Lokman, Nancy, Robert and Jackie met for lunch at the Bluenose Golf Club. When they were done, Ann met me in town at the workshops, we ordered a pizza for dinner, then went for the first part of the evening concert before driving home again.
I enjoyed the festival this year more than last. The best part is always discovering new performers that you had never heard of before. Last year there were comparatively few but this year there were The Barrel Boys mentioned above, Rum Ragged, a band from Newfoundland with very good button accordion and fiddle players, and Mama's Broke, a Halifax-based duo that had escaped our notice probably because they don't play locally very often.
Since we got back, we have been out biking a couple of times: on Monday going to Lawrencetown Beach with the Railers with a stop for coffee at Cottage Café on the way back, and today going from the Enfield Big Stop to Monte Vista and then to Nine Mile River with the Roadents. I also got a new tire from our local bike shop and got a refund for the one that failed since it was new this spring.
We watched a fair amount of the Olympics coverage before we left for Lunenburg. I was happy to see the women's soccer team make it out of the group stage but the loss to Germany was very disappointing. And who knew that Canada was a powerhouse in the hammer throw?
The summer has been so hot that my garden is well ahead of schedule. I have already harvested eggplants (much to David's chagrin; not his favourite vegetable) and made a moussaka and eggplant stew; they are usually not ready until September.