Ottawa & Quebec City

Hello again, we recently returned from our first trip to Ottawa, the capital of Canada and the distance from Fredericton to Ottawa is about the same distance from where we live in Australia to Brisbane a distance of some 1.000 kms.

Ottawa is located in Ontario and is a very lovely city. In their capital sits their seat of Parliment. We had the opportunity to have a tour of this magnificant building which was rebuilt after a horrific fire around 1865, it was further rebuilt in 1922. The only part of the building which was saved was the library which is spectular and as you can see from the photo below the whole buiding is most impressive.

Parliment has many services guarding it inclusive of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who always look spectacular in their uniforms.

There is lots to see in Ottawa and below is a photo of their War Memorial where the unknown soldier lies and this day he was guarded by Navy.

Looking down from the Memorial is some of the city of Ottawa and one can get some sense of the city and its layout.

Looking up from the Memorial is the amazing lock system which marks the start of the Rideau Canal that runs for 202km to Kingston on the shores of Lake Ontario. It was built in the early 1800's to provide a secure resupply route in case of further invasions of Canada by the USA.

The reason for our visit to Ottawa was to visit with our lovely friends Dennis and Pat Hearn. Dennis is a LTCOL in the Canadian Army and we have know each other since 1993 when we met at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. Bev and Dennis where International students at the time and we have stayed in contact over these many years . We last saw Dennis in 2004 in Edmonton when we attended the celebrations for the centenary of the Canadian Health Services.

Dennis had started construction of a new deck prior to our arrival so on one of the days we were visiting Ross and Dennis took on the roles of Bob the Builder and you will see from the photo below the professional job they were doing. So much so we were able to sit out their of an evening and enjoy a pre dinner drink accompanied by the delicious appetisers made by Pat.

Over all of the years of knowing Dennis and hearing about his family this was the first time we had ever met Pat, their daughter Kate and grandaughter Carlie who is an adorable 2 year old.

Pat a loverly lady and a fantastic cook and we hit it off so well. We just felt like we were at home and we all had the opportunty to relax and chat. Murphy had the run of the house however, unfortunately she and Sox their 14 year old cat did not see eye to eye.

The morning we were leaving was photo time and below is a photo of Dennis, Pat, Ross and Murphy on the deck.

On the way home we made a return trip to old Quebec City. The city never disappoints and provides the traveller with a variety of things to see and do.

We had a wonderful visit with Pat and Dennis who made us feel so welcome and we are hopeful they will come over to our part of the country for a visit before we leave Canada.

We have now lived in Canada for 20 months and continue to enjoy the hospitality and friendship of the lovely people here.

Ross recommences university 9 September and is looking forward to this so our travelling will start to slow down, however, we are looking forward to relatives and friends who will becoming to visit with us later in the year.

May you all stay, happy, safe and well.

Love Bev and Ross

New Brunswick Day 2010

Just as we were about to publish this post five Canada geese landed in our pond, going on past experiences they will stay with us for several days and then move on. The abundance of wildlife here never ceases to amaze us.

Monday 2 August was New Brunswick Day and as it was a public holiday it was great opportunity to celebrate this day with our good friends. It was also an opportunity for Bev to wear her Mambo shirt.

We had a very simple BBQ but we had so much fun as our Canadian friends who all have great senses of humour. The weather was perfect for the day so we ate out in the sunroom and in the photo below you will see our friends Jacqueline, John, George & Debbie.

Jacqueline brought along desset which was a very large Dairy Queen (DQ) ice cream cake which reads 'Good Times Good Friends'. You will see the large beer stein on it as decoration. The cake was delicious.

We take every opportunity to spend time with our friends who have made us so welcome and continue to make our life here happy and joyful.

Best wishes to all.

Love Bev and Ross

Bar Harbour, Maine

Hi again,

Prior to our return trip to Bangor and Bar Harbour Ross wanted to take a picture of his corn crop just in case the Bandicoots decided to feast on his crop while we were away. As you can see the corn is in good condition and remains so. So this is a snap below which fulfills the saying " you build it and they will come" Well as you can see it worked as Bev and Murphy enjoyed a frolick in the corn before we departed on our trip.

While in Maine we purchased a new 46 inch Sanyo Digital HDTV which cost us US$650.00 which when converted to Australian was $ 711.00. Just shows how inexpensive some things are here.

After our shopping trip was completed we returned to Bar Harbour for the day with the intension of having lunch there . We had stayed in Bar Harbour during last winter so we wanted to take the opportunity to see what it looked like in the summer. Bar Harbour is a favourite holiday destination for many at this time of the year including President Obama and his family who had been visiting this area just a few days before our arrival. The town was very crowded so it was difficult to find a parking spot, eventually we travelled back up the highway for lunch and stopped at the lobster restaurant (pound) in the photo below. As you will see the lobsters are cooked in the outside pots.

We enjoyed the best lobster rolls we had ever eaten and you will see what we are saying from the photo below. The restaurant is directly across the road from the Airfield and as we were leaving the restaurant we saw several Lear Jets arrive and shortly thereafter we saw two civilan pilots followed by two Marine pilots who had walked from the airfied to enjoy a lobster lunch.

We will be returning to Bangor later this month on our return from Ottawa.

Love Bev and Ross

Summer in Beaver Dam

Well summer is in full swing which means frequent lawn mowing and as there are about 4 acres of grass to cut the ride on mower is a great way to do this. Murphy is always keen to be involved with all we do so this day she kept Ross company.

Also at this time of the year large quanties of locally grown berries are readily available. Some of our friends go and pick their own berries and Debbie and George who are keen fruit pickers gave us several punnets of the sweetest strawberries and bluberries. Next were the rasberries which have a pleasant tarteness about them. With all the strawberries we had it was time to do some cooking so you will see Bev in the kitchen after a days baking and in the process of bagging and freeezing her 120 strawberry muffins.

Summertime is also a good time to make the recipes we had been promising to do all year so a couple of weeks ago we made Paella for the very first time. Of course dessert is always a welcome addition to any meal and below is another of Debbie's great creations. A fresh fruit flan made from the delicious seasonal fruits of this area. Needless to say a good Australian red was required to accompany it.

As we did not have a Paella pan we had to improvise with a large saucepan. The flavours were great and we will certainly be making this dish again.

Summertime has also provided the opportunity to spend time with our lovely friends and below is a photo of Suzanne at the Baby Shower we had a home last week. Suzanne and James will welcome their first baby in early September. While the ladies of the area got together with Suzanne, Ross and the boys took James to the local pub for dinner. Following which the boys returned home so we continued on with the good times.

Spirited on by our Paella effort we made some Pho last weekend and it turned out very well. As we had been speaking about this recipe ever since we arrived in Canada to Debbie and George, we invited them over to sample this dish. It was enjoyed by all.

Well this may provide you with a sample of what is like here at this time of the year. There is lots to do and see. It is also a great time to enjoy the outdoors and to spend fun time with good friends.

On Wednesday we are travelling to Bangor, Maine for a few days and in August we are planning a trip to Ottawa.

So until our next update stay happy safe and well.

Love Bev and Ross

Canada Day 2010

The time is just flying by and on 1 July we celebrated our second Canada Day since our arrival. Again it was spent with our lovely friends and this year it was our opportunity to have our friends at our place for the event. In the spirit of the day Murphy dressed for the occasion as you can see from her neck scarf. She was so anxious to get the party started she only had eyes for the door and was so excited to see everyone arrive.




Fortunately it was a sunny day so we enjoyed our time together sitting in the sun room. Looking from the left of the photo below is Doug and Cathy Pyne, Suzanne Cooper, George and Debbie Proctor and Ross.



Bev and Murphy feature in the photo below. We decided to have a very easy lunch so we tried a new burger recipe known as Argentinean burgers with Chimichurri sauce. These burgers are served with sliced avocado, red onion and tomatoes. Yes, they were both tasty and spicy and we all enjoyed a different burger. We also had sausages and hot dogs. This was followed by a fruit platter with a cinnamon/maple dip. This is Bev's cousin Jill's recipe and was accompanied by a carrot and walnut cake.

We flew the Canadian flag from the back deck and before our friends left for their homes we took the opportunity to capture a moment in the day. As you will see from the following 2 photos below we are still all smiling.

Canada is now in its 143 rd year and we feel very privileged to be in this lovely country and to have such nice friends who have made us feel so welcome.

Best wishes to all and come for a visit if you get the opportunity as our time is Canada is going so quickly.

Love Bev and Ross

New England Pt. 2

Hello again and following is the remainder of our recent trip to the New England area of the USA.

As previously mentioned the scenery in this area is beautiful as are the towns we visited. The photo below is taken in Woodstock, Vermont and shows the town centre.





The shop owners in the town of Woodstock take great pride in the appearance of their properities and there are baskets of brightly coloured floweres everywhere along the main street.

There is a variety of different house styles in this area and on a quick walk down a lane we came across stately homes such as the one in the phot below.

On the way to Woodstock we saw these stone monuments in the river which you will see in the photo below. We see similar monuments here in Canada from time to time and we understand that these are native memorials.

On this same trip we also found a brewery , see the photo below and as it was lunch time we decided to check the brewery out. We tried the sampler tray of 6 beers which were produced by the Long Trail Brewery. The flavours went from bluberry to wheat,bitter,dark, IPA and lager. As they did not sell any wine Bev became a beer drinker on this occassion.

On the final night of our trip we stayed at the Town and Country Inn in Shelburne, N.H. To see more of this pretty place please check out http://www.townandcountryinn.com/ and it will provide you with a better idea of this great place to stay.

We had dinner in the Inn restaurant on the evening we stayed and both the staff and food was excellent and enhanced by the magnifigant views as can be seen from the photos below.

Life is meant to be lived and we consider ourselves so fortunate to be meeting such nice folks both in the USA and Canada and having the opportunity to see so many beautiful places.

So come for a visit.

Well until our next update stay happy, safe and well.

Love Bev and Ross

New England Pt.1

Hello again, we have been on the road once again and we spent 7 days enjoying the wonderful hospitality of the American folks who reside in the New England area. New England also provides some of the most spectaular scenery in the US.

Over the first few days we explored Portland Maine, which is about a 5 hour drive from where were live. We have been to Portland previously but we had never had the opportunity to have good look around.

Portland as it names suggest is on the water and is known for the famous Maine lobster so it seemed fitting for Bev and Murphy to have a photo taken in front of one of the many trucks located on the docks area of the city. Around this area of the city there are number of restaurants most with a water view who all offer on their menues great lobster meals.

There are several food venders located along along the street near the water and below is photo of 'Perry's Sidewalk Cafe - almost famous since 1994'. Perry was a happy fellow and if you want to check out more about him go to www.facebook.com/perrys.sidewalkcafe.

Portland itself has a population of some 23,000 and is a very pretty town. Fortunately it is also very pet friendly so we were able to take Murphy on the city trolly tour which took us to many of the interesting areas of the city.

Towards the end of the tour we had the opportunity to look around many of the lighthouses which can be seen along the coastline. As you can see the sunny weather we had experienced in the town areas changed significantly by the time we travelled to the light house.

The next town we explored was Manchester, New Hampshire and we took the opportunity to travel to the Lake District. The 2 photos below show the beautity of this area. They were taken in the vicinity of Meredith, NH.

Our visit also coinicided with the world famous Laconia Motorcycle Week. Laconia is located in the centre of the Lakes District and if you want to know more about this event there are numerours websites giving information on this event. Suffice to say we saw more motorbikes during the few days we were in this area the we have all year and you can see an example of the hardware below. Clearly all the townships in the area were delighted to have this influx of the biking community and there were welcome banners everywhere.

We will post part 2 of the trip in the next few days.

Stay Safe.

Cheers Ross, Bev & Murphy