Our Message Archive
Sunday November 30
Ann in Terence Bay last week
Yesterday, the Ramblers officially ended the year with their AGM. As the Ride Scheduler, I had to give a brief report on the rides we did, or did not do, this year. Since I have just completed the first year of a two year stint, I will be the Ride Scheduler again in 2026. I am currently checking out options for new or modified rides for next year. A week ago Friday, Ann and I tried out a new route from White's Lake to Terence Bay, back to White's Lake and then down to Prospect. It is a good route, with both Terence Bay and Prospect being quite picturesque, except that there is a stretch of less than a kilometre along a busy road with no paved shoulders. Annoyingly, there are paved shoulders all the way from Halifax to White's Lake but they end just at the place where we would like to have them. Unfortunately, that might mean that the ride will be too dangerous for us.
As well as continuing to bike when the weather is good enough, Ann and I have begun to skate again. So far we have been to the RBC Centre twice. They have free skates for an hour and twenty minutes every weekday morning and in a few weeks we will also have the option of skating outside at the Emera Oval. We are also staying active by walking with the Roadents most Wednesdays. Usually we go to Shubie Park but last week, for a change, we walked along the Dartmouth waterfront trail instead.
November 18 is Latvia's Independence Day so, as I have done for the past few years, I went to Parade Square in Halifax to join Ingrid, the honorary consul for Latvia in Halifax, at a flag-raising ceremony. This year the mayor, of whom we already had a poor opinion, decided not to make an appearance and sent one of the councillors instead. Ann was not able to make it either (but my opinion of her has not lessened) as she was doing her usual stint at the food bank. Afterwards, we went for coffee at Tempo, the café in the Barrington Hotel.
On Friday and Saturday, the church held one of its fund-raising sales: bags of used books for $10, jigsaw puzzles for a couple of bucks each, "new to you" Christmas items, baked goods and a raffle on a large gift bag. Ann, David and I went down on Friday morning to help lug tables from the basement to the main floor but found that they had already been set up by the time we got there. Ann went back in the afternoon to help set out the items.
That evening, Ann and I went to see Dave Gunning and J.P. Cormier playing with Symphony Nova Scotia. We ran into several of our biking buddies there. Everyone enjoyed the concert.
Today, Ann invited Alice, whom we helped emigrate from Uganda a few years ago, for cake in honour of her birthday which was a few days ago. Susan and Pat, who were also part of the group that sponsored her, also came.
Sunday November 16
On Oakland Rd. near Indian Point last week
Not a lot has happened since I last updated this page a few days ago. No new photos have been taken so I've used another one from my bike excursions last weekend.
I spent yesterday and Friday playing in a bridge tournament at Mount Saint Vincent University with my friend Layton. There were four sessions in all, one in the morning and one in the afternoon on each day. The field is split into sections, A, B and C, according to the number of masterpoints the partnership has. We are always in C since I have only about 30 masterpoints, not having played in enough tournaments or club games to accumulate a lot. To put that in perspective, there is a US player who has over 100,000. When the scores come out, you can see how you did compared with the whole field, with only sections B and C, or C alone. We did very well in the first session coming in third overall and first when compared with sections B and C. In the second session I made quite a few stupid mistakes and we did not do nearly so well. Yesterday we did fairly well but not as well as in the first session. Overall I picked up 6.19 more masterpoints; if I can keep up this pace playing in two tournaments a year it will only take me 8075 years to get to 100,000.
We have had a couple of dustings of snow so far but nothing serious yet. We had the snow tires put on this week which always makes us feel a little relieved that we won't get caught without them in an unexpected blizzard.
Tuesday November 11
Houses on Narrows Basin near Mahone Bay
We had an uneventful Hallowe'en with about 50 trick or treaters, close to our average over the last few years. I carved a jack-o-lantern which has now been cut up and steamed for use in muffins, pies and pumpkin soup. Our neighbour Barb also gave us two large pumpkins and I grew three smaller ones in the back yard, all of which have been cut up and steamed, so we will be having muffins, pies and soup for quite a while.
The biking season is now officially over but we still went for a ride with a few of the Railers last Monday. The Roadents have switched from riding to walking in Shubie Park which is conveniently located for us; we go for coffee at Café Marco Polo afterwards. I have also started working on the ride schedule for next summer. Both Friday and Sunday were lovely days, though cool, so I checked out a couple of rides that I have not done before. On Friday, I rode from South Maitland down the eastern bank of the Shubenacadie River to Shubenacadie, then back up the western bank. It was a nice ride which I plan to put in the schedule on a day when we can catch the tidal bore on the river while we stop at the Fundy Tidal Interpretive Centre for lunch. On Sunday, I rode the trail from Western Shore to Mahone Bay with a loop through Indian Point on the way back: another nice ride that will make it into the schedule somewhere.
We spent a while last week cleaning out the garage so that we will be able to put the car away when a significant snowfall arrives. We will be getting the snow tires put on this week. All the patio furniture has also found a place there as we won't be sitting out on the decks again until the spring.
A week ago Saturday, we picked up our friend Erika and met Ingrid and Mike at Chef in the Kitchen, a Turkish restaurant not far from the Rebecca Cohn theatre. I learned of a new way to cook eggplant, The Imam Fainted (İmam bayıldı), which it seems is a classic dish in Turkish cuisine. I liked it a lot and may try making it at home with the last eggplants from my garden. You can find different accounts of why he fainted here. Afterwards we all went to see Natalie MacMaster and her daughter Mary Frances Leahy playing with Symphony Nova Scotia at the Cohn. They put on a good show which we all enjoyed.
The following Monday we went to dinner at Kim and Glen's then walked to St. Andrew's United Church to see Glen sing with one of the choirs in which he is a member (there are several of them). They were followed by Adrianna Ciccone and Ellen Gibling, a duo playing fiddle and Irish harp, whom I had never heard of even though they are based in Halifax. It was a good show.
We were at the symphony again last Thursday using tickets that Kim gave us because she and Glen were unable to attend. The program included music by Respighi, Warp and Weft by a modern woman composer whose name I've forgotten, and Beethoven's Emperor Piano Concerto. All three of them were a bit out of the ordinary so it was an interesting evening.
This weekend was a gals' getaway at Heckman's Island (Ingrid and Mike's cottage). I dropped Ann off at Kim's on Saturday morning and she, Kim and Marg arrived at the cottage in time for lunch which Ingrid supplied. They spent the afternoon chatting, working on a cat-themed jig-saw puzzle, and watching a couple of movies that they thought the guys at home would never watch (Quartet and Mickey Blue Eyes). For dinner they had appetizers, lasagna from Mappatura (an Italian restaurant in Halifax), salad and carrot cake (Ann's contribution). Then they went to see Measha Brueggergosman-Lee at the Lunenburg Opera House. After the concert they finished the puzzle before turning in. On Sunday morning, they walked out Heckman's Island Rd. to Hebb Point Rd. then went to Chicory Blue General Store for lunch before coming home.
Today, Ann and I walked to the cenotaph for the Remembrance Day ceremony where we ran into Erika, Manon and Dave. It was more poorly organized this year than in years past with the laying of wreaths going on interminably. Dave and I left before it was all over and walked back to our place. Ann, Erika and Manon lasted for a while longer then drove up the hill to join us for coffee and pumpkin muffins.