Our Message Archive
Monday March 23
Winter aconites in the back yard
Ann has been up in Renfrew for the past week looking after Andrew and Alex during March break so that Katy and Ben could work uninterrupted. I drove her to the airport a week ago Thursday but, despite it being clear in town, we found the airport blanketed in fog. I waited while Ann went to see whether the flight was going to leave; she returned a few minutes later with a new ticket for the next day, so we returned home. That messed up her plans to hang out with Morgan and Julia on Friday since she only arrived in time to get a ride with Ben out to Renfrew. However, since Morgan and Julia also went to Renfrew for the weekend, they did get to visit for a couple of days. Since then, Ann has played with Andrew and Alex and has done a lot of work finding a suitable bicycle for Katy for her upcoming birthday. She flies home again tomorrow.
A couple of weeks ago, in Nova Scotia, we had the big thaw with temperatures going up to the mid-teens. All the snow which had persisted for well over a month — unusual for these parts — disappeared revealing the winter aconites in flower underneath. So skiing season is over and biking has begun. So far I have gone around my standard loop in Dartmouth three times and I've also ridden a new route which circumnavigates the airport making use of a new road with a bike path that connects the airport to the village of Wellington. Yesterday, I drove to MacElmon's Pond Park near Lower Onslow and rode a loop through Crowes Mills, Belmont, Debert and Masstown stopping at the Masstown Market for lunch. These last two rides are new ones I've added to the Ramblers schedule and wanted to try out first.
I've also managed to do a bit of gardening getting the beds ready for planting and tidying up the hostas, hydrangeas and peonies. Winter is not quite over yet though: we had snow overnight and all day today so, until it disappears again, there will be no more biking and gardening.
On Friday and Saturday, I played in a bridge tournament at Mount Saint Vincent University with my friend Layton. We played in four sessions coming in first, second twice, and third in our flight.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had damaged the car while parking at the Oval. It finally went into the shop last Monday and I've been driving a rental car since. Although they had estimated that it would take four days to fix, there has been some trouble getting a part so it is still there. I hope it will be ready in the next couple of days.
Sunday March 8
The breakfast area at the Castle Rock Inn
Ann and I spent this week in Cape Breton skiing at Cape Smokey with the Club Ski 30 crowd. We left on Tuesday morning, after getting up early to watch as much as possible of the lunar eclipse, and arrived in Ingonish Ferry at about 4pm having stopped at the Museum of Industry in Stellarton to break up the drive. We stayed at the Castle Rock Country Inn which is about 3kms from the ski hill. Breakfast and dinner were included in our package so we spent all our non-skiing time at the inn.
When we awoke on Wednesday, it was snowing and by the time we arrived at the hill there was about 4–5cms of fluffy powder on top of a hard base. That made conditions really great for the morning; by the afternoon, it had heated up enough that the new snow became heavy and patchy exposing the harder snow beneath. On Thursday and Friday, the hill had been groomed and the conditions were much more consistent. Ann and I skied together for some of the time but also split up and skied with other members of the group who were closer to our abilities. Ann also stopped after lunch while I lasted until the lift stopped on Wednesday and almost as long on Thursday. We only skied until noon on Friday, then headed back home stopping in Baddeck for lunch at Bean There Café, at Big Spruce Brewery to pick up some beer, and at the Whistleberry Market in Greenhill for a few groceries.
This afternoon Ann and I went to see Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Neptune. We saw it there years ago but Ann claims to have forgotten all about it. Though definitely funny at times, it is not an easy way to spend three hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Sunday March 1
Snow in our front yard
Looking back in the archive to this time last year, I see that the winter aconites were already blooming in our back yard. Not this year! It has been well over a month since we have significant rain or a thaw. Meanwhile we have had several storms including one this past Monday. The result has been large snow banks all over the city including this one in our front yard. At the moment, spring seems a distant prospect. Of course, all the snow has been good for the ski hills; we took advantage on Wednesday by going to Wentworth. All the runs were open and the conditions were great though there was enough snow that it took extra effort to turn, so we both got tired fairly early.
Our friend Glen is a member of Collegium Cantorum, an auditioned community choir based out of Dalhousie University. This afternoon they teamed up with Nova Sinfonia to perform Brahms' German Requiem at St. Andrew's Church in Halifax. Ann and I went with Anne, Judy and Kim. Afterwards we all went for coffee at the Glitter Bean Café.
We also went to see Symphony Nova Scotia on Friday playing music from Star Wars and Star Trek. There was a fair amount of talking between numbers by the conductor and an actor from Star Trek: The Next Generation who had been brought in or that purpose. They also chatted with one of the bass players who had worked with John Williams.