Thursday 30 March 2017

Crescent Beach/Peach Orchard Blues: Thursday, March 30th!

There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to other animals as well as humans, it is all a sham. -Anna Sewell, writer (30 Mar 1820-1878)


Miss Etta was keeping my legs warm at 6:30 am but Soccer Boy was ready to start his game of fetch so I complied, grudgingly, I must admit, Dear Reader, as I was ever so comfortable, under the covers. Still, I knew Rambunctious Boy would not cease and desist so once I'd let them both out the front door, I zappd my java and prepared their breakfast so that it was ready for them when they decided to come back inside. When I opened the cat door to the garage I noticed yesterday's very strong wind had knocked over the empty water barrel, the one that had tipped over when fully frozen, this past February. I had purchased the necessary over-flow valve and tube connection a few days ago so knew I needed to hook them up and stabilize the tank, itself, today. No rest for the overworked, underpaid, constantly berated handyman unlucky enough to be indentured to Lady Darjeeling!

Hi Donna Maria! Trust you and Heraldo are both well. Sorry I have not replied sooner but I did send off a message to Jo-Anne Naslund as soon as I received your request for advice, in case she was able to point out something. Since I have not heard back from her, as of this writing, I did a quick search and came up with this, from UBC's Faculty of Education:

http://lled.educ.ubc.ca/programs/libe/
As well, The Teacher Librarian - Distance Learning program is a fully online Masters program offered by the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta: <https://sites.google.com/a/ualberta.ca/tl-dl/home> Can I combine study with full time work? Yes. The Master of Education is available on a part-time basis. and can be completed entirely online.   

Both of the programs are, I assume, somewhat similar, (though much changed, obviously!) to what you yourself took, Donna Maria, lo those many, many years ago! A plethora of other such courses are available elsewhere in the country and in the US, as you can imagine, varying in level, cost, and entrance requirements. 

One from Queen's: <https://coursesforteachers.ca/courses/CONT797>
looked ideal, however application requirements probably rule out non-Ontario applicants: We will use the OCT number you provide during online registration to confirm OCT Membership with qualifications in Primary, Junior, Intermediate or Senior.

Sorry I cannot provide a quick, easy fix! I'll talk to Jo-Anne again and see what she has to say and will let you know if she has any other ideas. However, I suspect there isn't one. No free lunches!!! Must away as I want to have a bite of breakfast and then head out for a ride before wind picks up. Fondestos from Lady Dar to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Patrick, Thank you for your information All very good but I don’t think Linda will be able to access any of it as she doesn’t have a degree - she took Early Childhood Education. I guess you could say she shouldn’t be in the library but better to have her as she is enthusiastic about it than not have the library open. I have forwarded your information to her.
 

You, as always, are leading a pretty exciting life - we on the other hand are doing nothing of note. Gerry has taken up pickle ball and is thoroughly enjoying it (maybe I already told you that). We are involved in the Provincial Election. Our candidate is a native by the name of Ellis Ross and he is excellent in our opinion. He was Chief Councillor for the Haisla Nation here and has turned that group from 99% unemployment to almost full employment among other things. We sure hope he gets in. Gerry has been busy taking him to various functions and MC’ing fund raisers etc. One time he got to tour Rio Tinto’s new operation in Kitimat which he was delighted that he got to do - sparkling clean, safety unreal and environmentally very high standards re emissions etc. 


 

Tonight the Minister of Education is here so we are going to hear him - I sure hope the bitter animosity between the BCTF and the Government will diminish now that the court case is settled. Saturday we have a group attending a fund raiser for the Rotary Foundation and it should be fun as the dinner is Italian and quite fancy for us folks in Terrace. Today is lunch with the biddies (women), preparing the agenda for our Strata Council meeting and generally tending to the day to day chores of living. I am still not drinking wine so Gerry is very lonely for companionship over wine but he does manage to imbibe despite me not joining in.
 

We are in Vancouver from April 5 to 11 as Gerry has a meeting with the Knowledge Network (he is on their Board) and so we decided to both go down for a few days as there was a terrific seat sale on. At the end of April I am off to Denver to see my youngest brother, Ross and his family. One of my other brothers is going too. We arrive Friday night and leave Sunday at noon so our visit shouldn’t be too long for anyone!!!!

And that dear Patrick is about all I can think of to tell you. Thanks again for the information. Cheers, Dawn PS My hair has turned curly for the first time in my 71 1/2 years of living! I guess the treatments did that - better than losing my hair but I do believe it is losing its curl as it grows. Gerry and I just looked at your photos of the cooking class - those mussels looked delicious. Dawn 


Hi Busier-Than-Burns-Street-People & Curly Haired Person/People! I suspected that Linda might not be able to use what I sent. I still haven't heard from Jo-Anne but will certainly forward any additional suggestions if she is able to find something that might work! Sorry to hear that Heraldo is a lonely wine drinker! He needs to come and stay with us once his political commitments are over! Mussels, from Saltspring Island, were extremely tasty. Mike is originally from New Brunswick and he mentioned that Maritimers, in general, are very proud of their mussels but since he has lived in BC he has come to believe that West Coast mussels are "meatier" and more flavourful, as a result, than their smaller East Coast cousins. Fondestos and Cheers to you both, from Harried, Badgered, Unappreciated Houseboy Patrizzio!

Hello Spiller Road Survivors! Trust everyone is well after the hard-fought bridge battles last evening on Spiller! Thanks to Jack Rabbit and Phillipo for hosting two tables and providing endless quantities of tea and tasty nibbles. You should have joined us, Grand-Slam Michaelo, as prize for top score was a free month in Sedona with a daily allowance of $500 US for incidentals! Unfortunately, Phillipo won! Fix was in!!!

With respect to next week's game, Josinta has graciously offered to host. We need to know whether to schedule game for Tuesday or Wednesday so please let me know your preference/availability and we'll plan accordingly. The Marriage-mobile is available for chauffeur service from Burns Street for other Pentictonites or Naramatians, so book early! Fondestos from Lady Dar, just off to yoga, to one and all. Cheers, Patrizzio!


Patrick, As it turns out I am booked both Tuesday and Weds next week. A most unusual week😊 Pam 

Hi Gisela! Trust you are well. Lovely to see you, if only for a relatively brief visit. Sorry it has taken me so long to send along snaps of our meeting but seem to have been busy ever since. More significantly, in addition, I had to deal with a "glitch" in my email system that would not allow me to attach pictures to messages! Actually talked to Tracey Douglas, in Systems, and she helped to resolve issue! Fondestos from Lady Da to you. Stay well and keep in touch. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Canyon Sin Nombre
Photo: Jim Doss
[Oxymoron
 
MEANING:
 
noun: A figure of speech in which two contradictory terms appear together for emphasis, for example, “deafening silence”.

ETYMOLOGY

From Greek oxymoron, from neuter of oxymoros (sharp dull), from oxys (sharp) + moros (dull). The word moron comes from the same root. Earliest documented use: 1656]
 Hi Janet! Trust you are back on your feet again and feeling well. Lovely to see you. Cheers, Patrizzio! Hi Rain City Glasgow! Sorry you are forced to wear Wellies rather than cycling shoes! Nasty day yesterday, with fierce winds and on-and-off squalls so glad we had plenty of indoor activities. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Pat and Corinne, Sorry, for a few reasons, I can't go ahead with  Rick's Surprise 60th on April 22nd. I am looking at a few other dates in June and July so I'll keep you posted as I try to narrow it down. Thanks, Ruth Hi Pat and Corinne, Hopefully, we are getting you early enough that you'll be able to come down for Rick's 60th on June 10th. Ruth

Hi Surprise Party Goil! Thanks so much for the invitation to Ricardo's 60th! Unfortunately, for us, Lady Dar has a wedding to perform that very day so we won't be able to join the wonderful gathering and celebration of Mr Grumpy's 60th! Fondestos to you both. We'll be in touch before we next head into Vancouver, (early May), to see if we can manage a visit. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Ruth, I have a wedding on June 10. So we will have to send our regrets. Sorry to miss it, I 'm sure party will be fun, Hugs Corinne
Hi Patrick, Cheers for the photos and the memories, they were some great nights indeed! Looking forward to seeing you soon, good sir! Slainte Hi again, Andrew! Glad you enjoyed the snaps. We hope to visit Victoria this coming October so if you might be around when we are there perhaps we can connect. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Evening, Patrick -- We enjoyed the St. Patrick's card -- thanks for sending it along. Also like to get the news bulletins you send over here: lively times up there, eh. We were jammed up a couple weeks ago when you were in town -- I hope that next time we can all get together. Meanwhile, we're pretty healthy but always seem to be scrambling along a bit behind where we thought we'd be. Cheers -- Jane Hi Rain City Folk, I gather! Glad you enjoyed the card. We'll be in touch before we next head into Vancouver to see if we can manage a visit. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Suited up, around 12:10 pm,  [After listening to the Canada Reads finale with Humble The Poet, defending Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis, facing off against Measha Brueggergosman, defending Madeline Ashby's Company Town, to decide the winner of this year's show. Humble and Measha were given opportunities to sway the three other panellists, Candy Palmater, Jody Mitic and Chantal Kreviazuk, through discussions about the writing quality of their book, the respective endings and how well they addressed issues important to Canadians. 
 
In the end, with the final vote, Humble was successful!], and knew, from the very outset, I would be heading to Crescent Beach as the wind was out of the NNE at 11 kph. I wanted to ride into the head wind at the outset so that I'd have a shove on the homeward bound leg. Additionally, I wanted to climb Peach Orchard as I'd not done it since last Fall and with that climb ahead I wanted all the help I could possibly have.

Started off with the basic Gerbil/Hamster Cage Loop before making for Red Wing East for a loop there. By the time I was back on 97 I had 15 km on the clock and wind was not as bad as I anticipated so I was soon at Trout Creek. Shelter there helped and I was pleasantly surprised when I reached the pedestrian/cycle path as the gate was now open and I didn't have to return to 97 for the final leg towards Crescent Beach. Once there the odometre showed me I had cycled 35 km so this started me thinking that perhaps I could stitch together my longest ride of this year.

 

Art: Leah Palmer Preiss
To do this I settled into a series of loops there until I had logged 49 km and then made for the bottom of Peach Orchard. Hill is about 2 km worth of decent grade but I was pleased to find that I wasn't huffing and puffing when I reached the top. Guess I'm starting to build up some stamina and lung power. Once I'd turned left onto Victoria Road the wind was my ally and I could now work on my AVG. I was about 21 kph when I started up Peach Orchard but was around 19.8 kph when I crested the hill. The descent, beginning with the run down Hillborn and ending back on 97 pushed my AVG back to about 20.2 kph, with a distance of 63 km, so I had high hopes for the run back to Red Wing West. In fact, I registered just over 72 km and an AVG of 21 kph when I sailed into RW. Had to fight the head wind each time I rode north but was able to push the AVG up to 21.4 kph by the time I had 81 km on the clock, and time to make for Penticton.


Once on Riverside, I knew I'd need a quick loop-de-loop on Power so did that, plus a mini-loop off Westminster on Comox/Burnaby, before returning to Riverside and then making for PTC. Ride up Ellis went well but bucking the wind on White I dropped a titch so only registered an AVG 21.3 kph. Still very, very pleased with day's outing, given distance and good climb up Peach Orchard. Clawing my way towards 100 km! Map and Stats for ride:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1649263243#.WN2eWabIMu8.email


Norm's Sample Sale
An orchid mantis after ecdysis
Photo: Scott Cromwell
It's that time again for some great deals on dress shirts, sports shirts, sweaters, suits, sports jackets, pants and more from Leo Chevalier, Viyella, Sotta Sopra, S. Cohen and Cavori.  Please join me for my sample sale starting this weekend.

Where:  FX Building, 222-1951 Glen Drive, Vancouver
When:  Saturday and Sunday - April 1 & 2, 2017, 10 am to 2 pm (on Saturday/Sunday please call my cell for access through the gate which will be closed)
    Monday, April 3 and Tuesday April 4 - 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
    Wednesday, April 5 - 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

See you there!

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