Hi Wild Bill!
Trust
you are well. Thank you for passing along the terribly sad news of
Daniel's death. I always liked both Marion and Calvin very much and they
treated Chloë extremely well
when she was learning badminton. On another sad note I had a message
from Nigel Amon about the death of Ted Blair, this past June. I always
enjoyed his company and admired his more than tenacious play.
Unfortunately, we lost touch once he stopped playing squash.
On a brighter note, Nigel hooked up with Fast Freddy Ensom, in
Courtenay. Before he moved to VI, I bumped into him, somewhere in
Vancouver, at the time, and we visited for a bit before he moved away.
Hi,
Some of you may have heard already but just in case you haven't
this is to let you know that Ted Blair died in June this year. He had
had cancer for about 20 years but it suddenly took a more aggressive
form and he died soon after.
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/north-vancouver-bc/edward-blair-8744026
His son, Graeme, wrote to me last week with the news and to invite me to a Celebration of Ted's life.
Ted and I were a successful doubles partnership for a while. We used to
play ladder
matches against each other late on Sunday afternoons and play together
on VRC league teams the next evening! He moved out into the Valley and
we unfortunately lost touch. He was a tough competitor and a good
friend and his son survived one of my economics
classes!
If
any of you are interested in contacting Graeme or finding out more
about the Celebration his <gabblair@gmail.com> If you can think of
anyone else who you
think would like to know please forward this to them too. I seem to
remember that Peter Cook and Ted worked together for a while. Cheers N
I
talked to Branko last week and he had been home from the hospital, for a
week or so, at the time, so your prayers must have helped! He is still
not out of the woods yet as more
neurological tests to go. He is also having to deal with selling the
family home, (12th/Stephens, just off McDonald), which is now completely
impractical for him to live in with many stairs, etc. He had to cancel a
planned trip to Croatia, this September,
as a direct result of initial fall and subsequent complications.
Yes,
indeedo, it has been a fair bit of hour glass since last we
corresponded so I do apologize, and profusely so, for being such a
terrible correspondent. No excuses but plenty
of reasons. In the main, due to an almost continuous spate of
Freeloaders!
Added to this we are off to Europe on
August 29th, flying to Vienna where we will rendezvous with close
friends, Flamin' and Sarge, for three weeks.
From there we will drive to
Budapest, eventually making our way to Dubrovnik, where we part company,
they to Rome and back to Vancouver, we to Prague, Cesky Krumlov and
Salzburg, to arrive in Zurich on September 28th! Will
stay with friends there and then proceed to Bern on September 30th,
until October 5th, when we fly to Lyon, to spend a few days near
Valence, with more friends, before returning to Paris to fly home on
October 12th.
Many,
many reasons for enforced radio silence, on my sluggard part, but
delighted to report, all to the positive side of the scale. In the first
instance, as mentioned above,
we have been inundated with a Tsunami of visitors and are still awash
as I speak. First batch of August Freeloaders arrived on Thursday,
August 8th. Kathleen, [Library School classmate is how we met.], from
Melbourne, up from Vancouver where she has been visiting
twin grandchildren, now three years old, flew to Kelowna, to have Lady
Dar collect her, that afternoon. Originally, she and Steve, her husband,
were to fly to Penticton but something happened to booking so no seats
on that flight when they went to check-in
at Air Canada counter! She was not sure how Steve would make it to
Penticton or if he would even come up. Anyway, around 6:00 pm that
afternoon, Chloë came over, after work, for dinner, as pre-arranged, to
see K/S.
Duke
and Etta, our felines, were happy to see her and we'd just told her
about airport kerfuffle when who should pull up in front of our house,
in an EVO, [BCAA car share program],
but the inimitable Aussie! All's well that ends well! Anyway, we
enjoyed a wonderful reunion over dinner, courtesy of BBQ Queen, Lady
Darjeeling. Up early Friday morning to meet Flamin' and Sarge at the
Bench Market for breakfast. They were en route to Kamloops
with The Katzenjmmer Twins, Avery and Ashlynn, to stop, en route, in
Vernon, at a water park to celebrate Jaxon's fourth birthday. He is
eldest child of Nicole, their youngest, and Marvin. She is currently on
maternity leave with Ailya, eight months old.
Speaking
of maternity leave, delighted to report that Chloë is now six months
pregnant.! All continues to go very, very well with her and child. Other
than being tired at times
she has not suffered any nasty side effects from pregnancy. Due to her
age it is anticipated that she will be induced sometime towards the end
of November although she is clinically due in early December. Added into
this mix is the fact that she decided to
sell her townhouse in Sendero Canyon, (about ten minutes away), to both
reduce her mortgage and move to a place on but two levels. All of this
happened two weekends ago so she will soon be living just a few blocks
away from us, on Winnipeg Street, of all things!
Her
boss has been extremely supportive and will allow her to keep company
car, [and gas card!], while she is on maternity leave, as well as
keeping two or three buildings, [As
she is able. She works for a strata management company, Pacific
Quorum], to top up her maternity leave, [60% from Federales], pay. There
is a plumbed/wired, but otherwise unfinished suite in basement so she
should have enough money, after reducing mortgage/assorted
fees, etc., to turn it into a decent mortgage helper. Since we are
flying off to Vienna on August 29th, we won't be here to help with move.
This being the case, Lady Dar has already started helping her pack and
we will continue to do as much as possible before
we depart. Things are pretty much under control so everyone feels quite
optimistic about this pretty hectic time.
After
breakfast we took K/S to see new place, [from outside only], on
Winnipeg and then to Sendero as they had not been before. Then back home
as Lady Dar had a wedding rehearsal
to prepare for, later that afternoon. Kathleen went downtown to stroll
and shop while Steve and I came home, Stevealimo to read while I
embarked upon my shoulder exercises. As you know, I had a complete right
shoulder replacement, here in Penticton, on March
12th, and am pleased to report that I'm making steady, if slow
progress, with flexibility and movement, so try to be quite disciplined
about doing exercises physio prescribed. No pain whatsoever so really am
chuffed with surgery.
When
the Marriage Officiant returned The Gang of Three went for a dip while I
finished off set of exercises I doing lying down. Refreshed and
reinvigorated The Sisterhood set
about stuffing our own home green peppers with fried turkey mince for
the final touch on the grill. Also enjoyed Swiss Chard in a delish
cheese sauce, again, picked from front raised bed. This and terrific
beets and their greens, have been tasty additions
to many meals. Steve and I finished off the evening with a couple of
snorts of Islay after the womenfolk went to bed.
Saturday
I marched in the Peach Festival Parade with Richard Cannings our MP,
[NDP], wearing my orange Crocs. I had a blast, waving, as per Her
Majesty, to assembled throngs
and delighted many kids along the route, throwing handfuls of candy
into the air above where they were sitting on the curb. Afterwards we
strolled the Farmers' Market. Back home around 1:00 pm as Lady Dar had a
wedding at Painted Rock Winery, at 3:00 pm, and
had a few things to do, preparing for ceremony.
Funnily
enough, Chloë bumped into Kathleen's sister-in-law, Leslie, at the FM
and told her that she and Dan, her husband, were staying in Penticton
for the weekend, along with
very close friends from the Hunter Valley, Noreen and Mark. Kathleen
knew they were planning to visit the Okanagan but wasn't sure of exact
dates. Anyway, she called Leslie and arranged for them to come for
dinner, along with another friend, Linda. This being
the case, Kathleen offered to do up a huge batch of risotto so she
worked away on it while I did my
shouldares and Steve read the Globe & Mail. After risotto was
ready she and Steve went for a swim and Lady Dar was back just as I was
finishing my exercises. Time for a quick shower and change before
guests arrived.
We
had actually met Noreen and Mark in 2012 when we visited the Hunter,
travelling with Flamin' and Sarge. They manage a top-end
resort/restaurant there and Mark had been the
manager of Hastings House on Saltspring in the mid '90's, before they
returned to Australia to pursue other ventures. Lovely to see them again
as they are a very interesting couple. Their friend, Linda, had worked
as a set designer in Vancouver's film industry
for over thirty years so it was fascinating to hear about the business
from her point of view. Sadly, a rare kidney disease forced her to have
to stop working, about four years or so ago.
S/K
returned to Vancouver around 10:00 am Sunday morning. Chloë popped by
to say goodbye to them before she went to walk on the KVR. After Lady
Dar put the sheets in the washer
she left for Sendero to do more packing. I did three sets of shoulder
exercises and tidied up house as Colleen and Al, from Vancouver, were to
arrive that afternoon, around 5:00 pm, staying until Thursday, August
15th, when Nancy and David, from Berkeley will
be winging their way to Kelowna. They will stay until August 23rd.
Whew! I need to go back to bed!!!
Really
looking forward to seeing them and showing them our "backyard" and all
the changes that have taken place since they last visited here, back in
2011, I believe. On the entertainment
front, told them to get ready to hit the ground running as we have
tickets for dinner and a show at The Dream Café, a wonderful live music
venue here, to see Qristina and Quinn Bachand, [If interested, Google
them and Dream and you can see coming line-ups].
We can walk to the venue so won't have to worry about hootch levels.
Had
a much needed downpour a few nights ago so all our rain barrels are
full again. Garden and other plants received a good soaking so pleased,
of course. Also, much cooler over
last few days so the wildfire out of Oliver, about forty minutes south
of Penticton, is reported to being almost under control. Have had a bit
of smoke, from it, but nothing nearly as dense and pervasive as what we
experienced over last two years when the
wildfires across the province were simply devastating. Thankful for
that, it goes without saying. We did, however, cancel first week of our
booking at Spirit Ridge as smoke was a real factor in Osoyoos for last
couple of weeks. We hope to spend some time there
with David and Nancy and will drive down this afternoon, after my
physio appointment at 2:30. Chloë has been down there, with three close
girlfriends, since this past Friday, to celebrate her 43rd birthday,
yesterday.
Must
away as I'd like to squeeze in a couple of sets of my shoulder
exercises before I have to see my physio! Fondestos from Lady Dar, to
you BMW Man! Stay well.
Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pics: Latest batch of dehydrated peaches! Basket Case Cat! Kathleen with Chloë and then Flamin; Stefano with Sarge; The Sisterhood!
Peach Festival Parade, start and finish; Avi, one of vendors with wrap, [just finished], I gave to Lady Dar for her birthday, way, way back in July!
