Arrivederci Apex and The Idleback Blues: Friday, March 1st!

We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found. -Tzvetan Todorov, philosopher (1 Mar 1939-2017) 

First Visit with Olivia! Just such a cupcake. I should have taken a picture of her wardrobe. This child will need to be changed several times a day to wear her clothes. Ready for more of her tomorrow. 
 

Hi Pat Wonderful news to hear about the birth of Olivia!! We are very excited to see Sam and Alex, whom we remember well from 2010 to become parents with this beautiful baby girl. Please forward our heartfelt congratulations to them! We wish them all the best, especially for the first few days and week to settle in as a family. Congratulations also to the grandparents and great-grandparents! Hopefully you get to visit them soon. How far is Alex and Sam in their career? 

Yes, Michael is still living in Basel. Actually, his shared apppartment is just around the corner from the Eyeclinic. His left me his couch several times when I visited Basel and my home Dept. of Ophthalmolgy in the last few months. He is currently working in the sales team of Hilti Company, selling professional prower-drilling tool and spends a lot of time on the road. Best wishes from Nils, Max, Lia, Sabine and Simon

Dear Pat and Corinne, We have to apologize for our long silence because Eveline had at the end of summer an emergency hospital entry and she had to undergo an appendix surgery with a following long recovery time. After this we had to cancel all our plans and ex home activities. We could not even make a short trip to Copenhagen… Luckily Eveline is now with full spirits fine again. Except she hit her foot (sprain) and went on crutches for a few weeks, she still goes to physiotherapy for a limited time.
 
Next we will probably spend some days in Mürren to relax. After this Copenhagen will be the place to go to see Sabine and Simons family with newborn Nils. Now the other good news your plans to come to the old continent again both of you! Concerning the timing, we always spent the first two weeks in September in Finale Ligure (near Genova) except last year. But we would like to do so also this year. This means we would be back at Sonnenblick from September 16th and you are more than welcome! We hope this fits your plans. Eventually Simons family is also around then because the have to look for an appartment when they return to Switzerland, but we will arrange a full house. 

We keep in touch! We would be very happy if everything workout and send to all families our warmest regards Eveline and Heinz hello to all our dears, Corinne, Pat and Cloe! You are very wellcome, I am looking forward to have you here in september! All the best to you, see you soon! Eveline

Yes I would love to join you and snowshoe Idle back. Will call you later. Taffy. Hi Toshi and Team War Eagle! Colin will be joining us so I'm going to pick him up, en route to Sendero. Should be at Chloë's place close to 11:00 am. Cheers, Patrizzio!      Hello On The Road Gang! After you left, friend Taffy, joined Toshi and I at Idleback and we had a wonderful three hour trek. Snow was quite deep at times so we all had a pretty good workout. After we dropped Colin off we enjoyed a tasting at UB as she wanted to take a couple of bottles of their Riesling back. Shana, cheese-maker was there and she had a long chat with Toshi. Her daughter, Chloë, has studied Japanese and is hoping to teach ESL there so Toshi said she would be happy to introduce her to a number of her friends who run or are associated with language schools. Great, great visit. Pleased Apex was rewarding. Enjoy the rest of your cross-Canada ski tour. Travel safely. Stay well. Uncle Patrick The Misguided Recycling Freak/Fanatic!

PS: Grog, thanks for the slippers! I had to cut the back off to make them fit but an Exacto knife did the job! Also, thanks to The Birthday Boy for leaving all his goodies in fridge in garage. Agnes and I won't need to raid any dumpsters for weeks! PPS: Huge carbon footprint bill, as a result of extra environmental despoilage during Manitoban Freeloader stay,  in the mail, as I speak! I think it is actually being delivered to ski lift at Big White. Too, too bad Cody now has to sell his new boots!

Video from snowshoeing: Thank you for the lovely experience!! Toshiko
<https://share.icloud.com/photos/0J3B8cvf01SIZPzjurkgODrrA>

Last night, after dinner, we watched Period. End of Sentence, ["Indian women fight the stigma surrounding menstruation and begin manufacturing sanitary pads."], and Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. Pleased it won as it is a very powerful, necessary story. Then Polar, "a neo-noir action film based on the webcomic series of the same name", because Pushy Chloë wouldn't let us watch anything else! Silly but at least Toshi could follow it as she kept falling asleep and waking up, tired from pretty good snowshoe workout. She even nodded off the night before, before dinner, as she was sitting on couch and was so cosy that she just drifted off!  

Hi Pat and Corinne, Guess what, it's official, we are now Grandparents!
Leah had Baby Emry Brooks Lamb last night at 3:52 a.m. March 1st. He weighs 7lbs and 11oz. She was in labour for a couple of days so last night they gave her an epidural at 6 p.m. and she slept a bit and then things progressed
nicely. They are at North York Hospital in Toronto and she should be home tomorrow. He's a beautiful baby boy. I can't wait to go see them. Ruth
 

Congratulations! That’s great news. Please give them my best. I’m in LA visiting our great granddaughter Olivia Rose born Feb 22. On my way home from 2 months in Mexico. Love the name Emery. When are you going to visit? Send pictures of Emery. Hugs Corinne Thanks! We are going to visit in a week, but I wish I could be there now. Congratulations on your great granddaughter, too. What a beautiful name! It would be wonderful to get these guys together some time. The 2019 babies!! I'll send pics as soon as we have some. I look forward to hearing about your time in Mexico, too. Love, Ruth

Hello Newly Minted Grandparents! What wonderful news indeed! Congratulations to you, Little White, and Ricardo, [Now he is truly a Grumpy Old Man!], and to Leah and Mason, of course. Please give them our best wishes when you see them and Emry. What a great name, Little Lambkin! Hip Hip Hooray! For He's A Jolly Good Fellow!!! Must away as Duke wants to play soccer! Congratulations again, to both of you! Fondestos to one and all! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Thanks for sharing so many awesome snaps of last Monday's snowshoe excursion. I'm amazed at how you can maneuver the camera with trudging along to also keep up with the group I managed to get out along the Trans Canada Trail from the rodeo grounds to the gazebo ... It was my first this winter so at least a start I cannot join you this coming Monday as I made another commitment but will see what the following Monday brings Ceou Patrizzio Elle🙏😊 

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