After we stopped dressing up in our best clothes for the weddings & funeral - our clothes & activities were a bit less fancy …
Here, in no particular order of occurrence or preference, is what we've been up to in the Nation's Capital (and surrounds) this summer:
 |
| Camping ON MY BIRTHDAY!!! Tom, Sharon and Elizabeth! |
Flowers
 |
| the beautiful and talented Machiko there MIGHT be a better florist (I doubt it) but there isn't a nicer one! |
 |
| Our hosts - before they realized how long we would stay |
Dentist
Strange thing todo perhaps but we don't have "a dentist" in Adelaide (yet) so - off we went to see Dr. Lehrer our dentist for the past 40 years! … no fillings - but oh joy! an extraction (Joe) and root canal (Jill ). My first and I was quite devastated - the needles didn't bother me as much as the horrid gag-inducing latex thing covered my mouth!! Joseph seemed quite happy to have the mind-altering drugs required for his!
Hair
no pics of dentist or root canal or missing tooth!
- I do have a hairdresser in Adelaide but I don't have Bruce - and even though his shop burned down just days before - he saved my day and made me feel human again.
Chiro
Feeling more human maybe, but my stupid frozen shoulder didn't realize it was warm in canada and that it could keep on thawing (it's been 1.5 years!) - it was going back to frozen!! - so off to visit Ken - I was SO happy to see Ken and it seems he has (once again) worked his magic - it is thawing now.
Eating - there has been a lot of eating
Started with a picnic with Nortel friends … lots of laughs and … nice healthy snacks there!
Then we were into the serious stuff …
•Straight to Art-is-In Bakery for Croque Monsieur
•Straight to Art-is-In Bakery for Croque Monsieur
 |
| … it did come with a salad! |
•A few days in Toronto and of course there was LEE
 |
| - outside just as we like it - moderately healthy food |
•Back in Ottawa and dinner with Jane (both Jane's),
• Dinner with the Bush's and the Bush's neighbours - a salad here and there
 |
| here's Jane # 2 - Jane Keogh |
 |
| here's Jane #2 Jane Brigham |
but no pics!!
•Father's day lunch with Julian and Chelsea and the beautiful Sophia (jetting in from Montreal).
•Dinner with Leanne & Jacques at their beautiful house
•Lunch with Christine from the Second Cup (I know she is so much more - but that's what she'll always be to me!)
•Lunch with Özlem & Pete (Nortel)
 |
| Yes they have a tree in the middle of their house! (and I hope they don't mind me posting it!! yikes!) |
•Lunch with Özlem & Pete (Nortel)
 |
| Özlem & Pete's backyard with pool … but they couldn't drag us in |
 |
| Look what's in their backyard - a good old TREE FACE! |
... and in order to meet up with Cassia's friends Lesley and Helenka we had to eat … and then I dragged myself off to breakfast with Jane (K) and Brenda … then there was the Italian Festival with the cars …
… and( lots of) food of course! (met up with old neighbours as a bonus)!
(There were salads but there were lots of sweet potato fries as well!)
As one would expect - we've been eating non-stop with our wonderful hosts Ken & Eileen and now Brenda & Brad are hosting us this week so …
well … it's off to try every restaurant on Preston Street!
 |
| ooops - we ate the pizza!! |
We squeezed in a lunch with Freddie and his parents
 |
| ..there's Freddie and his parents - Karen and Marl |
Cottages on lakes
- the quintessential summer activity in Canada
- well Eastern Canada
- well in this part of Eastern Canada anyway!
 |
| Cook's Cottage - Crosby Lake, Ontario |
If you don't own a cottage hopefully you are (lucky enough) like us to know somebody who does.
Not sure those friends are quite as happy as we are - but off we went …
To the Cook's:
We've been going here for 29 years - some without the Cooks and some with - this time it was without them but with everybody else!
 |
| Pip, Eileen, Ken, Paul and me those orange curtains make everything look orange!! Happy Birthday Joseph! |
 |
| then Chris and Katie joined us … just missing the Cooks :( |
 |
To Marie & Frank's
- a chance to catch up with Janet et al … and T&E
 |
| There's L-R - Marie, Elizabeth, Frank, Tom, Joseph, Taylor (in front), Riley and her mum Janet |
 |
| Riley - dressed for the beach! |
To Pricilla & Keith's
- OK - there's isn't really a cottage (it's their year-round home) - and Ok it isn't on a lake - it's on the Ottawa River - but it was LIKE being at a cottage. These are friend's from Nortel so with Brad, Brenda, Lila and Priscilla it was a chance to reminisce about the "Good old" days and they would be the ones at BNR - that's how far we go back (30 years)
 |
| Keith built a topical island on the river!! |
 |
| Brad Brenda and Lila on the "island" |
 |
| Making sure I don't go under |
 |
| See what I mean when I say it's not like a cottage! |
 |
| There's Brenda, Keith,us, Brad, Priscilla and Lila!! |
Spas
- and somebody had to accompany Brenda for her pedi!
Visits
Aunt Zita
It was nice we could attend Joseph's cousin Joan's memorial service at the nursing home … and … right there in the same home ... was Aunt Zita!
Now you need to know that this is Mrs. Dafoe's younger sister and she is 101.
(Mrs. Dafoe was almost 101 when she died and their elder sister Gen was 99 and their younger brother was 92 .)
Aunt Zita doesn't look 101 and she doesn't act 101! She doesn't nap during the day - huh? !! She goes to bed at 10 p.m. and is up at 6.00 a.m. I'm too embarrassed to divulge our schedule! We had to cut short our visit because she was going to her quiz afternoon - "Are You smarter Than a 5th Grader?" - trouble is, she whispered "I forget somethings I learned in 5th grade"!!
Maitland Garden of Hope
Our friends Colleen & Dave "grew" and grew their garden and now open it up for tours (guided and self-guided) and donations go to their daughter's school in Kenya.
 |
| … and colleen makes the statues scattered throughout the garden. |
 |
 |
| … Jan stopping to smell the … lilly! |
 |
| … and they have a zen garden ... |
Not only do they grow things - Dave is the most amazing cook and they are both amazing hosts… so off we went for a tour of the garden and … more food …
Ribs (why did Dave never win his own Rib Cookoff competition??), lamb cooked especially for me (perfect), and chicken that was (apparently) to die for!
 |
| … and ... a breakfast …fit for kings!! |
 |
| … and Colleen is an artist!! |
 |
| There's Cyril and Jan, Dave and Colleen … and us!! You would look this happy if Dave had just fed you! |
Canada Day
Canada Day in Ottawa is quite the day! To celebrate - we went back to our old 'hood for pizza
 |
| Happy Canada Day eh? |
 |
| our (former) corner pub … Pubwells! then did our old walk into town to "the hill" |
- saw the Snowbirds flying over our heads right over the Peace Tower
 |
| There's the Peace Tower on the hill (too slow to get a pic of snowbirds) …and there's Helenka -in the denim shorthand red sweatshirt (and we didn't know she was there!) |
- heard "Summer of '69" (Bryan wasn't there)
- missed the concert (it has to be a BIG anniversary to be a good concert!)
- but did see the fireworks from Ashley & Andrews balcony (thank you) …
 |
| Not the best fireworks I've seen here (not the best photo either!!) |
Canoe trip
 |
| Canoe trips are Joseph's favourite part of Canada |
… but not mine …
so he took Brad to Algonquin Park and Brenda took me to N.Y.
… well not New York CITY but N.Y. state
Rochester upper N.Y. State (brad's brother lives there) and coincidentally there are Outlet stores on the way
 |
| … and there is Dino BBQ (with the beautiful Ashley) |
 |
| So that's more food! I was able to stuff in some of the best BBQ pork and coleslaw in the whole world |
 |
| ...and bless (our host) Boyd's heart … he cooked us ribs and took us to a lovely restaurant for … yep … more food! |
So we are into the home stretch now - back to Toronto to pack the millions of boxes onto half a million pallets … and there will be … more food!!
 |
| … this is one of the larger boxes he is packing! |
There's lunch at the AGO in with Les & Gwen (who also fed us dinner in their beautiful garden way back in May!!) and it's also a chance to catch up with more family - the Feeney Family and there will be food … and photos of this one I'm sure … sorry Kerry! :(
… a few last-minute visits (more food?) and then good-byes !! Oh dear - I'm not looking forward to them! I AM looking forward to see everybody back in Adelaide - but I'm not looking forward to the goodbyes
 |
| YumYum Beavertails! |
 |
| It's 38c outside the mall and these people are sitting around the fire inside! Something wrong with this … good old USA! |
No comments:
Post a Comment