Zircon Bakes The Medicine Hat Blues: Tuesday, March 27th!

A scholar is just a library's way of making another library. -Daniel Dennett, philosopher, writer, and professor (b. 28 Mar 1942)

Corinne and Patrick, Thank you for the fun last night...and to confirm...I’ll host Bridge next Weds, April 4 😊 Hello Easter Egg People! Thanks to the Summerlandians and the Naramatian for the boisterous bridge last night! Thanks as well for the more than palatable, wonderfully quaffable red wine, Michaelo and Spamela. Lady Dar and I took turns playing and things worked out very well over the course of the evening. Highlight for Olga Polga and I was doubling 5 Clubs bid by the overconfident Cuban Wind Surfer Dude and Uppity Naramata Goil. Cost them dearly. I had two aces and four Clubs to the Jack. Rolly Polly played like a shark that could smell blood and we put them down four tricks for 1,100! At a dollar a point, Michaelo now has to sell his surfboard! In order to discharge her debt, Pamela has granted use of her hot tub to any in the bridge group, any hour of the day or night, for the next year! 

If you' like to see what a great deal this is you will be able to do so next Wednesday, April 4th, as she will be hosting next gathering, at 1056 Littlejohn Rd, Naramata, anytime after 6:30 pm. Lady Dar and I will drive and we will have room for three hitchhikers if anyone wants to catch a lift. Let me know who will play and we'll plan accordingly. Bring your swimming togs and plasticized cards! Cheers, Patrizzio! PS: Hope you are well on the mend, Josinta! Pics: Bridge at Burns Street! 😄 Very entertaining post. Great photos. Thanks for sharing Pamela You always bring a smile on my face Patrick and laughter is the best medicine they say.
Anywayzzz I still feel awful, but have Wednesday in my calendar. Happy Easter to you and your loved ones Jos Thank you Corrine and Patrizzio for hosting a fun evening!...we even played some Bridge. Patrizzio I’ll be in Penticton for physio and hope to catch a ride with you to Pams’. Please count me in for Wednesday.

I am able to play on Wednesday and would also be happy to be a hitchhiker. Thanks for the invite pattrizzo!! Judy Happy Easter all🐣🐤🐥

Hello Again, Easter Chicks! To date we have five confirmed, (two hitchhikers have reservations!), so if Spiller Road Folk can play we'll have enough for Dummy Moves, and if Josinta is well enough, (which we fervently wish), two full tables! Let me know so Naramata Goil can plan accordingly. [We can bring Judy Blue's table, if needed, Spamela!] On with the hunt for Easter eggs, chocolate or otherwise. Cheers, Patrizzio! Happy bridge/egg hunting everyone. I will pass this time 😥 Cheers Mike Happy Easter to everyone Yes Phil and I are good for Wed April 4 at Pam's house. see you there Gill  

Hello Bathing Beauty Bidders and Hot Tub Tipplers! We now have seven confirmed players for this coming Wednesday. If Aarturo takes exceptional care of Josinta over the Easter weekend, we trust she will be able to join us. If not, we'll manage. Pamela, do you need Judy Blue's bridge table? Michaelo has begged off, still smarting from his catastrophically disastrous Five Clubs misadventure and will spend his holiday weekend reading Bridge for Dummies! [If you Patrick won’t stop harassing me, the best player you have ever met, I might have to show up on Wednesday to teach you a lesson, or two. 😜 Cheers. Mike Dear Best Bridge Player in the World! My strategy seems to be working! Cheers, Patrizzio! Oh you smart, no mercy doubler 😠😏 Mike Michaelo! You of all people should know that all's fair in bridge and hiking! Cheers, Reverse Psychology Patrizzio!] Onward to the egg hunt and chocolate fest! Cheers, Patrizzio! With all the TLC I am receiving, I'm pretty sure I can play bridge on Wednesday. Not sure if I can play hot tub bridge already☺ Happy Easter everybody Jos on the mend! Hi TLC/Jos On The Mend! Fabulous news! We'll have room for you in our car so I'll let you arrange who drives from Summerland to Burns. Enjoy the Easter weekend. Do hope you will be able to join us as if you are able to play we will finally have two full tables! Cheers to you both, Patrizzio!

Patrick, If it is not too much trouble please bring the card table. It will be more comfortable to play around it. The second foursome can sit around the coffee table in the living room. Happy Easter! Pam Hi Naramata Goil! Your every wish is my command! Enjoy the weekend. The Bench may be very busy as I see all the Tasting Rooms will be open. Plan to do some wine-tasting in and around Osoyoos and up towards Oliver, ourselves. With bike rack on our car, myself and anyone who wants to do so, will ride to a selected winery to meet support vehicle! Lady Dar and Chloë are driving down on Thursday but I won't go until Friday morning, when I'll ride. Will send what I need, (clothes, toiletries, etc.), with them so I'll be able to achieve Wild Bill's warp speed! Thanks again for hosting. Cheers to you both, Patrizzio! PS: Just had a note from Josinta and she seems pretty optimistic about being able to play on Wednesday so we may well have two full tables!

I am planning to be out and about visiting a couple of wineries this weekend too. Our son, Duncan, and his fiancé, Amanda, are visiting this weekend. Painted Rock and Noble Ridge are on our radar. I wish you gravel shoulders to ride on👍🚴 Pamela Hi Wine-tasting Woman! I assume/hope you meant gravel-free shoulders! Hard enough to cycle when tipsy let alone through sand and grit! Happy Tasting. Enjoy Duncan's and Amanda's visit. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Medicine Hat Man, Zircon, arrived in town on Monday, staying with close friend, Linda, and phoned this morning to say he would be delighted to come over for a visit. We were to see both of them this evening, at dinner, at Linda's place, but he wanted to connect, if only briefly, before then. He arrived just before 10:00 am and we had a lovely time chatting, catching-up as he'd not been here for a couple of years, although we'd seen him last year, in The Hat, staying overnight, coming and going, en route to Falcon. Around 11:00 am I announced it was time for my ride, (Scott, the contractor Lady Dar has asked to provide a quotation on the planned extension to the front of the house, was to come by at 3:00 pm to discuss the plans she has for project.) Zircon was happy to go as he was taking Linda for a drive anyway. 

I was suited up by the time he was ready to leave so we said goodbye and then I headed out. Had looked at the weather report and knew that the wind was supposed to be out of the south at but 11 kph, according to AccuWeather but when I looked at PenAir it was a completely different story. Yes,, out of the SSE but increasing from 25 kph to 31 kph, and then dropping to 20 kph over the time I was going to be riding. Tough enough to ride against but gusts were horrible, from 45 kph to 40 kph to 31 kph. Had toyed with a jaunt to OK Falls but the thought of having to stand up in my saddle, for most if not all of the way there, was too, too off-putting, so I fell back on my fall-back route, down Ellis to PTC and then Lakeshore to Riverside. Back to PTC and then struggled up Ellis to dipsy-doodle my way off streets below Pickering until I was ready to hit the KVR. Made a number of trips up to Vancouver Ave and back as wind pushed me uphill and slope, on return run, made fight against the blasts more of an equal fight.

Had 34 km on the clock by the time I was ready to head for Middle Bench and heading south on it, just to gauge wind resistance, I found that it wasn't all that bad. This being the case I described two loops of MB/UB and after the last round returned to Vancouver Ave to zip downhill on it and then more or less coasted the rest of the way home on the KVR. Pleased to have cheated Aeolus out of much of his considerable sting, although the 17.9 kph AVG was pretty dismal, fierce winds or not. Still I was back home in plenty of time to be ready for parlay with Scott. Even ahead of Lady Dar who was lunching with Lynne at The Cellar, a cosy spot on Main. Cheers! Map and Stats for ride:
 
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2583651185#.WrrGF3cnMw8.email 

Hi Linda, Zircon and Northern Niece Kyla! Thanks for the wonderful, wonderful evening of delicious, delicious appetizers, (cheeses and Belgian endive scrumptiosities), succulent bbq'd chicken, roasted spudolas with assorted root vegetables and Peruvian palm-heart salad, not to mention fabulous dessert wine, imported at great expense, from Vancouver Island! You are all to be commended for enduring Lady Dar's experimental torte, (gone terribly wrong, Clarisse, missing a key ingredient, zucchero), but enough wine fixes anything!

Lovely to meet you, Kyla, and trust your bike buying goes well. Travel safely, you two, as you make your respective ways back to Medicine Hat and Prince George. Happy Easter to one and all. Thanks again, from The Burns Street Gang. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Zircon returns to Burns Street. Feast on Phoenix! (Note The "Young" with the two, grumpy "Olds"!)

[Swans in the park near us. You won't see this very often!]
 
Hello world traveller! I'm getting the impression that you don't like staying at home! You make me positively exhausted by just reading about your sojourns! Your timing is not particularly on the money though. Our friends from the Delta are taking a 3 week river cruise through Europe at the beginning of May. We are not joining them on the cruise since we are meeting up with them this summer on the Alaska cruise and there is only so much money I can spend on these exotic holidays! However, prior to their river cruise they are spending time in Holland and we have arranged to take the Eurostar from London for a short break to visit with them. Therefore, we will be away from April 23rd until May 2nd. We will be back a week then heading up to Hampshire the following week. Then we are away from June 8th to Canada. We will be here from April 17th to Sat April 22nd so you are more than welcome if those dates suite. Not sure if this may be cutting it a bit to fine for you but you are more than welcome.
 

[Gayle on one of the few nice winter days.] 
 
We have someone staying in the flat while we are away to look after Spuddy. Poor old boy isn't doing so well and we don't like to leave him on his own since his feeding regime has changed to small amounts of food several times a day. He has lost half his body weight in the last 18 months. We have had various blood tests done and although his vital organs seem OK for his age it appears that he has developed a Thyroid disease. Because he is an old cat the vet didn't recommend any intervention so we are just monitoring him. Will take him back in June before we head out to Canada. We have decided to limit the trip to just two weeks since, although my nephew is staying in the house while we are away, we can't expect him to look after the boy for any length of time with so much intensive care!!
 

[My painting handiwork in the kitchen!]

Our winter has been dreadful this year and if it hadn't been for Spud I think we would have gone to Florida for a month. It has been very cold (well cold for us) and wet and we even had several days of snow. You won't see the white stuff down here very often. The fields were saturated with lots of standing water. The kids liked the snow though since it's a bit of a novelty for them. I have pretty much given up cycling now. To be quite honest I was getting tired of all the Cornish hills and wasn't finding it particularly enjoyable any more. It also meant that we had to limit our coastal and countryside walking because of the time taken up cycling! I prefer now to take longer walks and, when the weather is cooperating, we take our rucksack with coffee and sandwiches and head off to the cliffs. Some of the coastal walks can be quite challenging but the upside is one can stop and enjoy the lovely views!

[Whistler trying to catch snow balls!] 
 
We still have our bikes and will probably take them up to the camel trail in the summer and, obviously, stop in at the vineyard for a glass of Bacchus and some olives! Your Time Share (oops I mean part ownership) sounds delightful and will be a nice place to relax during the summer by the lake. If Spud is no longer with us next year we will make a point of visiting so that you can take us to see it. I'm sure Chloe must be excited about moving in to her new townhouse as well.

 

[Tristan at the Seal Sanctuary.]
 
I am in the middle of painting our kitchen cabinets at the moment. Seemed like a good idea at the time but is taking longer than I had anticipated. As soon as they are done we will replace the countertops and flooring. The cupboards are good quality wood but were looking more than a little tired and we didn't want to go to the expense of putting in new cabinets since we would not get our money back when we move. We are heading up to Hampshire on Sunday to pick up Tristan and bring him back here for half term. Marnie, Ant and the dog are coming the week after for a few days. We had him down a few weeks ago and visited the Seal Sanctuary which he loves. They had dozens of injured seals in the sanctuary this winter because of the ferocious seas which caused a lot of injuries. They are gradually being released back into the ocean as their injuries heal. Well I must be away. Fondest to Corrine and Chloe. Derek


Hello Swan/Snow/Seal People! Thanks for speedy reply. Fab pictures, indeed! Just heard from friend, Penny, in London, and she and her partner, are travelling as much as you two! That being said, they will be home on Saturday, April 21st so it looks like I will be able to fit in with your travel schedule, if that is still fine with you. I'm currently looking at train/bus connections but assume I'd leave Truro on the 22nd. Trust you will enjoy the Easter weekend. Sorry to hear you have given up attacking the Cornish hills, Derek! Fondestos from Lady Dar, busy packing up foodstuffs for meals this weekend. Cheers to you both, Patrizzio! 

Hi Pat, I really do enjoy your emails, and I can say that I read them all right through! So thanks for keeping me on your list, even though you are now on one of my lists, in this case one headed "Overdue Emails", so there are others I owe letters to.

Sounds like you had a good winter as well, away from the cold and dark for the most of it. And now, before you know it, you'll be off again on another adventure! Great! The two bike trips sound interesting. Is Corinne coming with you to Europe or holding the fort at home and having a peaceful time?

Kjell and I had a nice time in Tenerife. I appreciated being away from here for the entire month of January as my location on the beach is great for summer but hopeless in the winter. Sun disappears for about six weeks and then gradually, gradually returns until about now where it is here til late afternoon before disappearing. I do think that like everyone else in the northern hemisphere we'll be so glad to get some warmth and sun for more than a few days.

We're going to Vancouver Thursday morning, coming home Saturday night, staying with Paul and Joan this time. Thursday we're going en masse to some movie about Karl Marx and then en masse (there will be eight of us) for dinner at some place near. Friday night will be a get together of most of the same characters at Liisa's. I really need to get my act together about going to Vancouver. I put it off and off but then in the end enjoy it, except for the traffic, of course. And I also keep forgetting that really it isn't far, and that most of the journey is either on the ferry or waiting for it, so if you can keep the right frame of mine is not tiring at all.

Will send this of and see if I can do a few more before bed! Kjell is here till April 11th. He has been playing a lot of tennis when it isn't raining. Big hi to Corinne! And of course do let me know if you ever come over to the Island. Best, Jane (and Kjell)

Hi Nicky and Paddy! Trust you are both well. Looking forward to the possibility of seeing you both as I fly to Paris on April 16th and am then travelling to Truro. Will be leaving Cornwall on Sunday, April 22nd to stay with friends in London until the end of the month If you are around I thought I might take a day trip to say hello if your busy schedules allow. Anyway, let me know what you think and I'll plan accordingly. Fondestos to you both from Lady Dar. Cheers, Patrizzio!