Our Message Archive
Sunday June 28
Oyster fishers with St. Patrick's church in Bayside, PEI
Ann and I spent last week in PEI riding with the Ramblers. We left on Sunday morning, stopped in Amherst for lunch, then drove to Cape Tormentine to cross the Confederation Bridge. There we came to a stop for half an hour while we waited for on-coming traffic to get past the construction crews repaving the road surface. Once we got going again it was clear sailing to the AirBnB in Summerside that we shared with Kim and Glen. I spent the rest of the day watching World Cup matches while Ann prepared chili for dinner for the four of us as well as Glen's son Sam who now lives in Summerside.
The first Rambler ride wasn't until Monday afternoon so, in the morning, we drove to Miscouche and rode along the trail to Wellington, then took the roads to Mount Carmel and back to Miscouche. Ann and I then joined the Rambler ride along the Confederation Trail to Kensington where we had ice cream at the Frosty Treat Dairy Bar followed by coffee at The Willow Bakery & Café before returning to watch more World Cup games.
On Tuesday it rained most of the day but we did manage to get in a short ride around downtown Summerside. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching the World Cup, and working on a jig-saw puzzle.
On Wednesday, most of the Ramblers did the ride that we did on Monday morning; meanwhile, the four of us decided to do the ride that was originally scheduled for Tuesday from Alberton to Tignish. When we got back we watched the Canada-Switzerland World Cup match.
On Thursday, we joined the Ramblers on a ride starting in O'Leary and looping through Cedar Dunes Park back to O'Leary. After the ride, many of us went to the Canadian Potato Museum for french fries. That evening we went to the Ramblers group dinner at New Glasgow Lobster Suppers featuring all-you-can-eat seafood.
On Friday, there was rain forecast to begin around noon, so the ride started a little earlier than usual at 9:30 am. Even so, the ride, from Miscouche up to Green Park on the north-western coast of Malpeque Bay, was nearly 60 kms so we decided to truncate it a bit by turning around just past St. Patrick's Church and returning on the road through Arlington. That was only 45 kms and got us back to Miscouche shortly after the rain started so we didn't get very wet. Those that went all the way to Green Park ended by riding the last 20 kms in the rain. That evening Kim drove the four of us into Charlottetown where we met Marya and Darke at their place, then went for dinner at the John Brown Richmond Street Grille followed by C'Mon In: An Island Kitchen Party at The Mack.
There was a ride scheduled on Saturday morning but it was cool and threatening to rain so we decided simply to pack up, visit the Summerside farmers market in search of new potatoes (we didn't find any there but did at the Arlington Farm Market in Miscouche), have brunch at the Starlit Diner, and drive home.
As you will have figured out from the descriptions above, I have been following the World Cup since it started. At home we can only see the games on CTV and they only show a limited number of them. That is probably just as well as I wouldn't get anything else done. Canada's loss to Switzerland was disappointing but the 6–0 win over Qatar and the win over South Africa were both great to see.
The week before last, our good friend Nancy was in town. She and Lauren drove from Ontario to Cape Breton then, while Lauren stayed there with the car, Nancy took the bus to Halifax. Ann picked her up at the bus terminal on Tuesday morning. Since it was a beautiful day, we relaxed on our back deck for most of the afternoon until Ann and Nancy left to have dinner at The Canteen. Ann then took Nancy to stay at Kim's for the week.
SailGP practice runs: Brazil makes a bad mistake rounding a mark.
Last weekend weekend, SailGP returned to Halifax. We had already left by the time the actual races started but I went to the waterfront on Friday afternoon to watch some of the practice runs while Ann went to Kim's to spend more time with Nancy before she left.
Last week was also not devoid of biking. On Monday, we went, as usual, to join the Railers but only four others showed up and then they all bailed because it was cold and drizzly. Ann and I braved the elements as far as the start of the Salt Marsh Trail. On the way home, we stopped in at Shelby's Bunker on Cole Harbour Rd. for a coffee. On Tuesday evening, while Ann and Nancy were at The Canteen, I joined the Ramblers for a ride commemorating 20 years of the Ramblers: the first ride was on June 14, 2006. On Wednesday, we rode with the Roadents from the 5k Café to the Bike & Bean and, on Saturday, we rode with the Ramblers from Hantsport to the Bent Ridge Winery where we all had lunch in their tent. Before the ride we stopped in at the Essentially English Bakery for a coffee.
Sunday June 14
The Grace United choir and the bell ringers performing their final joint number
Today the Grace United choir performed a concert at the church for which they have been preparing for several months. It was called A Season to Sing and was "a choral re-imagining by Joanna Forbes L'Estrange of Vivaldi's Four Seasons". The concert also featured The Handbell Ringers and Singers from Lakeland Florida. I went along to watch as did several of our biking friends. After the concert we all went to Battery Park for beer and cider.
The World Cup started on Wednesday and David and I have been watching most of the games that have been offered on CTV (we don't get the cable channels that carry them all) including Canada's draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina that we dominated throughout. Ann is not as interested but she pops in to watch for a few minutes every now and then.
Other than that my time has been taken up mainly by biking and gardening. I was supposed to lead a ride for the Ramblers yesterday that circumnavigated the town of Debert on back roads. Ann and I rode it on Friday to make sure that there would be no surprises (there is construction everywhere these days) but, in the end, I had to cancel it because yesterday it was cold and wet. We have also been out with the Railers and the Roadents a couple of times and, last Saturday, we rode with the Ramblers from Maitland to Burntcoat Head.
My garden is finally all planted, quite late due to the cold weather at the end of May. We have also planted a rhododendron in the rock garden in corner of the back yard and a blue spruce to replace the maple tree that we had to take down a couple of years ago. In a few years it will break up the line of sight to our back yard neighbours.