PEI Revisited

Hello again from snowy Canada. Last week we decided while the sun was shining and there were no snow storm warnings we would have a couple of days away in one of our favourite parts of this lovely country so we ventured back to Prince Edward Island. As we had seen a lot of this island during the summer beak we decided to go to Summerside which is located on the south west side of the island as we had not been to this area.


As we passed the Summerside Yacht Club we were taken with this sign - something that we would never see in Australia is this combination of sporting activities.






In keeping with how fishermen in Canada maintain their sporting interests during the many months of ice and snow they have used their initiative and use a fishing hut which is placed over the frozen river surface. They cut holes about 12 inches across and fish through this. The insides of these huts are amazing and some are funished with all the luxuries of home. They can be purchased with all mod cons from flat screen TVs and a variety of modes of heating and in some cases they look better than some homes we have been in over our life. To get an idea of some of the best ones have a look at http://www.jamesmaurer.com/ice-fishing-house-plans.asp

Our travels took us through some very pretty places as you will see in the photo below.

Our return trip saw us driving in continual snow and as you can see from the photo below visability was very poor and as the roads had not been cleared the trip home was very slow and tedious and this is the Trans Canada Highway.

As Ross has a reduced university workload this semester we are intending to see more of the sights of the Maritime Provinces which of course will be dependent on the weather.

In closing may we take the opportunity to wish you all a happy Australia Day.

Love Ross, Bev and Murphy.

New Year

It was so good to be able to spend New Year with Ross, Murphy and our friends in Canada as this time last year I was back in Australia sitting with my lovely father who finally passed away on 7 January. So for us 2009 has really sped by and we are looking forward to 2010 being full of good cheer and great happiness.

Our New Year Celebrations started with drinks and nibbles with our friends followed by supper. The evening flew past so quickly as we welcomed the New Year with a glass of Moet Champagne

Over the past few days we have a storm warning and a wind warning. It has continued to snow heavily over the period and dumped about 50 cms of snow all up. The temperature has been between -3C and +2C so relatively mild but still indoor weather. Even Murphy hasn't spent as much time out on the deck as she usually does.

Well, happy New Year to you all and may 2010 be the best one yet.

Love Bev, Ross and Murphy

Christmas Day

The leadup to Christmas for the White/Wright household was much more organised this year than for this time last year when we had flown from Australia, been off loaded in Montreal because of a snowstorm, loosing our luggage in LA and finally arrived in Fredericton 23 Dec. This meant we only had 1/2 a day on Chrsitmas Eve to shop. So after the events of last year and the rush it entailed we were determined that we would be much more organised this year which we are happy to say was the case.

It was made much easier because we were able to plan and enjoy time with the many friends we have made since our arrival. We have mentioned throughout the year the wonderful hospitality and generosity that has been extended to us by the nice folks in this area and in the photo above you will see a lovely foral center piece given to us by Debbie to brighen up the house and add some Christmas cheer.

Our Christmas festivities commenced on Christmas Eve when we attended the 6.30 pm Church of England service with Debbie and George following which we all went to Kathy and Doug's house across the road for Christmas Eve party at their home. This was a very pleasant evening meeting with their family and friends.

This was our second Christmas in Cananda and we had a wonderful day. Jacqueline and John joined us for dinner (supper) and stayed overnight departing after a late breakfast on Boxing Day consisting of blueberry pancakes, bacon and eggs.

Megan and Bryn, their two lovely Golden Retrivers also joined the party and for some 30 mins or so after their arrival Murphy finely stopped barking and growling at them and they all got along very well. In fact after they left on Boxing Day Murphy continued to look for them.

We were all in good form on Christmas night and Jacqueline who has a great sense of fun inducted us into the Newfoundland (NFLD)tradition of "being screeched in' as when we had visited NFLD earlier this year we had escaped this tradition. John had also escaped this tradition so he was also initiated.

Being 'screeched in' follows the ritual of wearing a sou-wester hat, kissing a fresh fish on the lips followed by drinking a shot glass of Screech Rum. You will see from the photos what we mean. The fish is generally a large Cod but we were fortunate to kiss a very fresh Rainbow Trout. The trout nicknamed Newfy ended up being our evening meal on Boxing Day and he was delicious.

We hope that you have all had a great festive season and may the New Year be a good one for you.

With all of our best wishes Bev, Ross and Murphy

Dinner Theatre & Pre Christmas

Well its almost Christmas and while we are a day behind you all in Australia we are thinking of you and wish you a joyous Christmas and a happy new year. But before we get to Christmas Day we have continued to enjoy wonderful times with our lovely Canadian friends.

Last update we shared with you our evening at Kings Landing with our friends from this side of Fredericton so now we share with you the evening we spent with Jacqueline and John our friends from the other side of town.

Jacqueline was responsible for finding the house we now reside in and was outstandingly generous by accepting the numerous boxes we sent over from Australia ready for our arrival. Over the year we have shared many happy times with Jacqueline and John who is discharging from the Canadian Military after many years of service.

Following are a few photos of one of the funniest nights we have been to since our arrival. Jacqueline and John shouted us the evening out at a Tea House which has a dinner theatre. The playlet was loosely around the birth of Christ but Incorporated Canadian humour at its best. You will see from the faces of the players the fun they were having which was transferred to the audience resulting in peels of laughter.

The generosity provided to us from the friends we have made here has made living here so pleasant and we truly feel right at home in their lovely country.

Last week Debbie and Bev spent several hours over 2 days as volunteer gift wrappers in the Regent Mall with the money donated going to improving the diagnostic equipment at the hospital. It was a busy time but so much fun as the shoppers who availed themselves of this service were very chatty and full of good humour.

Will provide another update after our Christmas dinner of New Zealand leg of lamb, chicken stuffed with prunes and Camembert & wrapped in prosciutto and baked veggies followed by ice cream fruitcake. This is our Australian response to the traditional turkey dinner served over this way. It will obviously be accompanied by great aussie wines.

Have a great Christmas.

Ross, Bev & Murphy

First Snow & Kings Head Inn

Hi All,

Now that the semester has finished we are getting back to being social again. This is the first time that Ross has taken on a full-time student load and it will definitely be his last, from now on part time only.

As you can see we had our first snow for the season on 6 December and it has snowed on and off since. The pond in the middle ground is now frozen over but not enough for skating yet.

We had about 12cm initially so clearing to ensure we can still access the Bar-B-Q was not a real problem.

This shot give a better indication of the depth and you can see Murphy having her first play in the snow for the season - she really seems to enjoy it and will stay out as long as we let her.

On the 8th of December we went out for a Christmas dinner at the historic site of Kings Landing about 40km from here in Fredericton. We had a three course meal with the main being a choice between turkey, prime rib roast and goose. Ross tried the goose because it was something not tried before and genuinely enjoyed it.

This shot is of Doug (our across the road neighbour) and Ross trying another local speciality - hot apple cider with spiced rum. A great way to start the night.

The entertainment was in keeping with the historic nature of the location and quite reminiscent of some of the folk nights held in the old pubs in the Rocks in Sydney. The musicians were highly competant and professional.

The venue holds around 120 people and is generally booked out - it is that popular. We had to book a month in advance but it was really worth it.

They also have a gift shop that sells festive decorations, so it seemed like an appropriate place to have a shot taken.

We will have another update before Christmas showing our visit to a small local dinner theatre with our great friends Jacqueline and John.

Cheers Ross and Bev.

P.S. We have been in Canada exactly 1 year today.

Catching Up

Hello and after 6 weeks of no blog information we are now back on line. As you all know we only update our blog when we we feel there is something of interest to share with you.

So, over the last 6 weeks we have celebrated a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with our wonderful Canadian friends Debbie and George. The dinner consisted of turkey with all the trimmings followed by a great dessert and our contribution to the occasion was homemade pumpkin soup. As many of you will be aware North Americans generally do not eat pumpkin as much as we do in OZ but Debbie and George are prepared to try anything and we all had a great time.

On 31 October we were invited to a Halloween Party party at James and Susan's place our next door neighbours and you will see from the photo below just how some folks approach the night. We will let you guess what the costume represents. Suffice to say it is not a mushroom.

During the day of Halloween wanting to do the right thing we went to Walmart and purchased a quantity of Halloween treats just in case we had trick or treaters come knocking at the door. Ross got into the swing of things as you can see from the photo below and he spent some time doing up individual packages of goodies. However, as we live some 17 kms outside of the city the trick or treaters were few and far between so we now have lots of sweets left and will be eating these until next Halloween.

On 11 November we attended a Remembrance Day ceremony at a local village not far from where we live. Remembrance Day in New Brunswick is a public holiday as it is in various parts of Canada and it was so pleasing to see that all around the country people turned out to remember those who had payed the ultimate price to ensure the lifestyle Canadians enjoy. The conduct of the ceremony is very like what we do in Australia and Remembrance Day is as big for the Canadians as ANZAC day is for Australians. We were fortunate that it was a sunny day but we all needed warm jackets and sturdy shoes as the ground was very cold. We wore our medals and it was a privilege to celebrate this day with our Canadian friends.

Recently we have discovered NZ lamb in the supermarkets in Fredericton so we have been enjoying this. Lamb is not eaten much here in New Brunswick so it has been a real pleasure to introduce our Canadian friends to this tasty food. Last evening we enjoyed Australian lamb.

As we come to the end of this entry it is with much sadness that we let you know that our much loved Herbie passed away on 7 November after being very unwell over a 6 week period. He put up an heroic battle but succumbed to an overwhelming infection. We miss him terribly and Murphy is still a little lost as this is the first time she has ever been a lone dog.

So we end this update with a lovely photo of Herbie who will remain with us always.

To you all, treasure what you have and stay happy, safe and well .

Love Bev and Ross

Fall in Fredericton, New Brunswick 2009

Hello again and it has been a few weeks since our last update but as you know we only post our changes as they arise.

We are now officially into the Fall (Autumn) season but as the last summer type days are fast fading the city of Fredericton takes every opportunity to stretch out the remaining sunny days as it can. So in true NB style the Dragon Boat races were held on the St John River a few weeks ago. Any monies raised goes to the various well deserving charities.

Yes, this is the same St John River which was solid ice when we arrived some 10 months ago and in not so many months time will be solid ice once again.

The photo below shows one of our local Deer. She and her Fawn are now coming back every day or so to have a nibble and a walk around. We guess they are starting to get ready for the oncoming winter. Last winter we were so excited to have 7 of these lovely animals in our yard.

As we have mentioned in the past, NB is very active with promoting its Province and as part of the Farm Show weekend we had the opportunity to visit one of the local wine makers with Debbie and George our lovely friends.
We visited Motts Landing Vineyard at Cambridge Narrows, NB and this winery is owned by Sonia and David. David is a retired Cathay Pacific Airline Pilot and Sonya who is the Winemaker undertook her winemaking courses in New Zealand (NZ) and each year they return to NZ for the Canadian winter. To see more about their winery take a look at mottslandingvineyard.com

Their property is lovely and we enjoyed their hospitality as well as their wine.

The next few photos show us having yet another great time. This is George and Bev supporting one another in the preparation area.

This photo shows the entrance to the property with the wine making barns to the left of the shot.

This is a photo of Debbie, Ross and Bev in front of the homestead with a view down to the river with the vineyards located near the river bank.

Same photo with Ross, Debbie and George. Bev was the photographer.

We in Oz have oohed and aahed over the years about the changing colours of the fall in North America and the photo below is of our backyard as fall approaches. You have seen this photo several times over the 10 months we have been here from the snow covered ground to the vibrant green of spring and summer but the fall colours are really something.

The next photo is what we see each day we look out our window. This is the home of Kathy and Doug who are our across the road neighbours and lovely friends.

Each day we drive down the road new colours greet us and fall is truly a wonderful time of the year.

So until our next update may you all remain happy and well.

Love Ross and Bev

P.S. Today is Thanksgiving in Canada whereas it is next month in the USA.