As we get further into November, 2015, and complete all our
northerly chores in anticipation of our return to Cat Tales in Grenada, it
becomes timely to put up a weblog that wraps up our summer in Canada.
Like most travelers who spend some time at home, we worked
hard to arrange our visits to doctors, dentists, optometrists, and accountants
and financial managers. We got moles,
eyes, ears, and other stuff inspected and prodded; and made those little changes
to allow us to abandon home once more.
Of course, we also worked even harder to ensure we spent as much time as
we could with friends and family.
We were immediately thrown into the Friday night parties
with our neighbours that have become the highlight of each summer. Dawn's sister Lorna and her husband Brian
(S/v Peace and Plenty) visited us, as did Laurie's brother Paul and his wife
Alida (living in Calgary). The August Pig Roast that Hugh Whalen and Liz
Abraham host was great fun in excellent weather, with near 150 attendees, and
our little Halloween Pastafarian Party was fun as well. These events ensured the parties were quite
regular. Sadly, the great and regular rum
tastings of the previous year were non-existent, but for the comparisons made
during the other scheduled events - especially since we had more bottles to
consider this year.
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| Friday night get-togethers with our friends from the cove. This one is at our place. |
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| Pirates Richard, Dave & Hugh! |
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| Mike O'Brien and Dawn at the Pig Roast at Hugh and Liz's. |
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| Laurie and the guest of honour! |
We were kept busy with a major chore: the removal of our pretty pine kitchen and
older appliances, and the installation of a completely new kitchen. The most significant work was contracted
out, but Laurie was kept busy by the demolition work, the rewiring, the
installation of a back-splash, and the reinstallation of trim. Laurie was also kept busy helping neighbour
Hugh construct an iconic shed, and helping neighbour Richard with a boat
repair. Laurie also spent a few hours
constructing a new outdoor bar area on the deck, and the necessary testing of
it.
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| Laurie helped Hugh build the prettiest shed ever built! |
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| Laurie testing out the new bar he built at the end of the deck! |
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| Kitchen Before Picture |
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| Kitchen during project...too late to turn back! |
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| Kitchen After picture - actually, more was done after this picture. |
Travel was rather minimal this year, with a 4-day camping
trip to Mount Carleton with Brian and Paula (s/v Magique), for hiking, biking,
and kayaking; and a bus trip to outside Boston with Art and Gloria Dean for a
Jimmy Buffett tailgate party and concert, with Hughie Lewis and the News as opening band.
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| Oops, can't turn this one around. Art & Gloria Dean with Dawn at Jimmy Buffett |
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| Enjoying Jimmy Buffett in Boston. Love the freedom of a bus trip! |
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| Paula & Laurie at Mount Carleton...let's not forget the mosquitoes! |
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| Top of Mount Carleton |
We have most of the cottage ready for closure, are going
through lists of what to shut off, what to pack, etc., and will be stepping
onto the airplane on November 18.
Hopefully, we can put up a weblog soon after that, documenting our
efforts at repairing and preparing Cat Tales for the season of sailing.
