Earlier in the day we had a nice coffee at Sue & Ralph with Opa Vandenboom. Last weekend they hosted a nice dinner with Joe, Marcy, Spencer and Will over from Sarnia. With them we played a few hours pickleball, the new mania......
Friday, 22 September 2023
Birthday Mary
Yesterday we celebrated Mary's birthday. It was also the day 33 years ago that we got married. Time flies. Hilary and Shayd were over from Vancouver (also for a wedding this weekend of one of Hilary's friends. We had a nice dinner at the house of Mark & Carly in Stoney Creek.
Earlier in the day we had a nice coffee at Sue & Ralph with Opa Vandenboom. Last weekend they hosted a nice dinner with Joe, Marcy, Spencer and Will over from Sarnia. With them we played a few hours pickleball, the new mania......
Earlier in the day we had a nice coffee at Sue & Ralph with Opa Vandenboom. Last weekend they hosted a nice dinner with Joe, Marcy, Spencer and Will over from Sarnia. With them we played a few hours pickleball, the new mania......
Wednesday, 6 September 2023
On the bike again
After the almost three months of no to little activity during the prostate problems, it is nice to be on the electric bike again regularly during these beautiful late summer days. On my way to Port Colborne - a ride of about 17 km - I passed the South Niagara Rowing Club (see my hat which is a souvenir of my few years as volunteer while Hilary had some good sport years in the eights, fours and doubles here). The boats would come from the storage place a bit beyond the defunct railway bridge to the 2 km race course. It is a bit narrow for six boat races, but it was an exciting venue for us to watch the races. Hilary did well especially in the eight and the four during her first two years (2007-2009 period) and qualified twice to be racing in the famous long distance Boston river races. The tough winter training periods on the so-called 'erg' (rowing machine) slowed down her enthusiasm and her last high school year she did no longer participate. But it got her into a fine fitness shape which she has been able to maintain.
In Port Colborne it was time for a coffee break in the shade overlooking the canal where it ends into Lake Erie. On the photo in the background one of the lake river cruise boats. On the way back I passed one of the lake cargo ships on its way to Lake Ontario. It is always an interesting sight....Mark and Carly spend a weekend in Sarnia visiting Joe and Marcy + sons. One of the main activities seemed to have been pickle ball games....
In Port Colborne it was time for a coffee break in the shade overlooking the canal where it ends into Lake Erie. On the photo in the background one of the lake river cruise boats. On the way back I passed one of the lake cargo ships on its way to Lake Ontario. It is always an interesting sight....Mark and Carly spend a weekend in Sarnia visiting Joe and Marcy + sons. One of the main activities seemed to have been pickle ball games....
Saturday, 2 September 2023
Summer ending again
The tree which grew out of control is gone. Two professionals took it skillfully down and Ralph cut the tree in more pieces for firewood for his woodstove heater. Leaves and a few other smaller dead trees off to the landfill and our backyard looks a bit more cleaned up again. This summer gave us a lot of changing weather with more rain than usual resulting in still very green fields. Now the average temperatures are going down a bit again; on our way to the Fall.The past two weeks I was able to catch up with several former colleagues again, among them Tom from Vancouver and Hadi from Kingston. Most of them are still fully active in the working world and others are in the semi-retired stages. It is nice to hear their stories and I must admit that I do not miss the work life anymore. It is good to have this phase of life without deadlines, too many meetings and especially managing people. I look back at a very fortunate, exciting and rewarding career, but it was long enough.
Now is the time to lose myself in many books, the occasional 1,000 piece puzzle, lots of walking, regular swims and exercises + sauna in our basement. I found a fun group to play bridge with on Friday mornings and am looking at some other volunteering with seniors as well as mentoring of younger professionals (who work in the international development field).
And every day being in awe with how close Mary keeps our Canadian family ties. Here she is on the phone with Hilary in Vancouver with whom she chats every day. Same with Mark who lives closer by, her brother, wife and kids in Sarnia (and one of the sons currently in BC), her sister, husband and daughter here in Fonthill (coordinating the daily looking after their Dad). Since my visit to Holland last Fall, I send updates to my sisters and their kids through a Whatsap chat group, but there is no comparison. Each family has its own dynamic of course.
Now is the time to lose myself in many books, the occasional 1,000 piece puzzle, lots of walking, regular swims and exercises + sauna in our basement. I found a fun group to play bridge with on Friday mornings and am looking at some other volunteering with seniors as well as mentoring of younger professionals (who work in the international development field).
And every day being in awe with how close Mary keeps our Canadian family ties. Here she is on the phone with Hilary in Vancouver with whom she chats every day. Same with Mark who lives closer by, her brother, wife and kids in Sarnia (and one of the sons currently in BC), her sister, husband and daughter here in Fonthill (coordinating the daily looking after their Dad). Since my visit to Holland last Fall, I send updates to my sisters and their kids through a Whatsap chat group, but there is no comparison. Each family has its own dynamic of course.
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