June 2014
Sunday June 29
Ann and Emily at the graduation
On Friday morning, Dartmouth High School held its graduation ceremony at the Sportsplex. Of course, Ann and I were there to watch Emily graduate. James also performed in the band that played the national anthem and Pomp and Circumstance. It all started at 9 AM and stretched out, with the aid of some rather long speeches, to near noon. Afterwards we celebrated by having a very nice lunch at The Bicycle Thief, a restaurant on the Halifax waterfront.
This weekend has been gorgeous: the first hot summer days of the year. I spent the mornings trying to catch up on the gardening. It was too hot in the afternoons which provided a convenient excuse to watch the World Cup matches. On Saturday evening, Ann and I went for a very pleasant evening bike ride after it had cooled down a bit. The forecast is for it to remain sunny and hot through Canada Day.
Sunday June 22
Emily and Ian
Last week I forgot to mention that Katy and Ben paid us a quick visit last weekend, unfortunately in sad circumstances. They were on their way to Ben's aunt's funeral in PEI. We picked them up at the airport on Friday evening, they stayed the night in our guest bedroom, then left again early Saturday morning. Katy is currently at a month-long course at the University of Colorado in Boulder, so she and Ben came on different flights. We had a chance to visit while waiting at the airport for Ben's flight to arrive.
We also have sad news about Ginger. The results of his ultrasound were not good: he has a mass in his intestine, almost certainly cancer, as well as an enlarged lymph node nearby. Surgical treatment is not a viable option, so the best we can do is to make him feel as comfortable as possible as things progress. Despite all that, he has seemed back to his usual self over the past few days with renewed appetite and no visible signs of discomfort. We can only hope that it lasts.
This was the last week of school for Emily and James. James had his last exam on Wednesday and Emily on Thursday. Tonight Emily went to the prom for the graduating class with Ian (just a friend she says). As is customary, everybody went to the Halfax Public Gardens beforehand to show off their outfits and to have photos taken. She and a bunch of her buddies have rented a hotel room where they are all going to congregate afterwards for a last celebration.
Yesterday Ann went to the valley with several of her old Dalhousie classmates. The excursion was in honour of one of their birthdays and included a tour of several of the wineries. As soon as she got back, we went across the street to a pot-luck party at our neighbour Barb's. There were several other musicians there, so I took my fiddle and had lots of fun playing country and bluegrass tunes for most of the evening.
Sunday June 15
A columbine flower in our front bed
I mentioned a few weeks ago that Ginger had been under the weather with a gastro-intestinal problem. It seems that there is a blockage in his intestines that could be caused by many things so he is booked for an ultrasound on Tuesday to find out what it is. On Thursday and Friday he completely lost his appetite so he has spent the weekend at the emergency clinic in Burnside on an intravenous drip to make sure he doesn't damage his organs by not eating. Hopefully we can get the problem resolved soon.
On Friday evening, Dave and Chris had a music party. Ann, James and I all went, James and I to play and Ann to listen; we all did a fair amount of socializing as well. There were several musicians there who I hadn't played with before, which is always fun, as well as an old friend, Brian, another banjo player with whom I don't often get to play.
Today was Father's Day so I was pampered. Emily and James made me eggs for breakfast and Ann made a very nice seafood dinner. Other than that I was left to do what I wanted for the rest of the day. Since the weather was miserable, it was a good excuse to stay inside and watch the World Cup games.
Sunday June 8
The All-City Senior Concert Band at the
Citadel
(That's the
band at the end of the barracks.)
I went on a whirlwind trip to Sweden this week, leaving last Saturday afternoon at about dinner time to fly to Gothenburg via Montreal and London. The meetings were held on a small archipelago off the coast, so I had to take a couple of buses to get to the hotel where I was staying. The weather was very nice, so I ate dinner al fresco with a couple of the other participants before heading off for an early night. The meetings started bright and early at 8 AM on Monday: two on Monday, then another all day Tuesday. A bunch of us went out to dinner at a fish restaurant on Monday evening, but on Tuesday I left right after the meeting ended to take buses back to a hotel at the airport so I could catch an early flight home on Wednesday. The flight connections were better on the way home with only one stop at Heathrow. I arrived home in the early afternoon and managed to stay up until about 8 PM before collapsing into bed.
The Thursday before I left was Ann's birthday. Although it was a work and school day, we managed to find time in the morning to make Eggs Benedict for breakfast, then we all went out for a fancy dinner at da Maurizio's, an upscale Italian restaurant in the old brewery market.
This week was the end of the year for the All-City music program, so there were more concerts for James. On Thursday, he played with the Senior Orchestra and the Bass Ensemble at the annual year-end concert in the auditorium at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography. Then, on Sunday, the Senior Concert Band joined with one of the cadet bands to take part in a ceremony at the Citadel to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-day. Ann and I went to both.