Departure from Beaver Dam

Hello again and after a hiatus of some time we are back on line.  Over the last month we have been rather busy moving from our great house at Beaver Dam where we have resided for the last 21/2 years.  We have had the best time at Beaver Dam as you would know from our previous stories from our many get togethers with our friends who lived around us there.  All of whom have and continue to be gracious, funny and always welcoming.

So now we are residing closer to the city in the basement apartment of Jacqueline and John's home.  Jacqueline was responsible for finding the Beaver Dam home for us.  She also collected us from the airport when we arrived on 23 Dec 2008 and invited us to their home for the first Christmas we celebrated in Fredericton.  So Jacqueline and John have been our longest friends in this area.

On our first night in the unit we invited Jacqueline and John for dinner.  We had a very Australian meal of curried prawns and rice followed by trifle.

         

They welcomed us warmly with a chilled bottle of Australian white wine, a card and a balloon. 

 The following day Jacqueline and John headed off to the USA for a holiday so we took great pleasure in caring for their much loved furry family.  Bryn and  Meagan (very friendly, gentle golden retrievers) and Sheba the persian were constant visitors while their parents were away. 



We are still waiting to hear about our Canadian visa extension and next week we are off to Toronto and Montreal.  While in Toronto we are attending a baseball game between the Blue Jays, the premier Canadian team and the Red ox from Boston.

We hope by the time we return to Fredericton we will be aware of our visa status.

Best wishes to all.

Bev and Ross

Vale Joyce Kate Wright

Joyce Kate Wright came into our lives when she and Beverley's father Christopher met after their respective partners had passed away.  Both the Mills and Wright families were delighted that Joyce and Chris had found each other and they went on to share another 25 years of love and companionship.  During those years together they took the opportunity to get out and about.  The photo below is taken at our wedding in 1990 and you can see the smiles on their faces.     

Sadly on 9 March Joyce passed away peacefully surrounded by her family. She was 90 years of age. On 21 April Joyce joined my father at Mt Thompson Estate where she now rests in a rose garden.  

Dad and Joyce enjoyed life and even when they were approaching their later years they were keen to have a good time.  The photo below was taken in 2006 at Gold Coast which is about an hour drive south of Brisbane, after a lunch of prawn sandwiches with the compulsory bottle of vino.

Joyce brought great happiness to many and was much loved.  She will be missed but remembered in our hearts and minds.

Love to all,

Bev and Ross

St Patricks Day

St Patrick's Day is a big day in Canada and in the spirit of things we and our Beaver Dam friends and went along to the James Joyce Bar  at the Crowne Plaza.  Needless to say it was very crowded.  Cathy had a green beer and Beverley had a green margaretta.  The pub was so crowded,we could not get a table so we returned home to Beaver Dam picking up pizzas (not Irish) on the way.

As you can see Ross went to a lot of trouble with his outfit, which he was personally fitted for at the Dollar store.

We did enjoy our pizzas.

On 18 March Dennis Reilly out dear friend from Texas came for a visit.  He had never been to this part of Canada and so we took the opportunity to have a get together with our our lovely friends and now Dennis has Canadian friends as well. 

Towards the end of Dennis's stay we decided to try some German food so we went to the Schnitzel House and had a top evening.  

It was great to have Dennis come for a visit and it was sad to say goodbye a week later.  However, we will be returning to Texas in the near future and will be staying with Dennis.

Ross has 2 weeks left at university and on 30 April we will be leaving Beaver Dam.   We are still waiting to hear from Canada Immigration regarding our visa extension.

Have a happy day.
Love Bev and Ross
 

New York

New York never disappoints as there is always so much to see and do.  This was our 4th trip to this lively city and we took the opportunity to visit St Patricks Cathedral which is a magnificant church as you will see from the photo below. 



We also spent some time in the Memetropolitan Museum of Art which has a number of outstanding exhibitions.  In the photo below you will see a 4,000 year old Sphinx.  To see more of what the Met has to offer have a look at  http://www.metmuseum.org/

We also tried out the Australian Restaurant which is was located within walking distance of where we were staying at Times Square.  It was nice to hear Australians accents again and we had a great meal which included Kangaroo and a damper.  To know more about this restaurant have a look at  http://www.theaustraliannyc.com/  

We also took the opportunity to have lunch at Staten Island and on the way back Ross was accosted by a clown.

One of the main reasons we went to New York was to meet up with Alan Brimelow who Ross has known for 40 years and for our friends who went to Rwanda 1994-1995 you may remember Alan who worked on the UN Headquarters.  Alan is just completing 15 years sevive with the United Nations and will be returning to Australia.  We took the opportunity to have a great evening out with he and Nadine who works on the Middle Easten desk in UNNY.  We had a great night.

The desserts were outstanding.

The photo below is taken just outside from where we stayed.  You can feel the engergy of this city  just by standing outside your hotel.

Well best wishes to you all.

Love Bev and Ross

Boston, MA

Back again and this time the photos are from Boston.  We spent 2 days here and took the opportunity to see as much of the city as posssible.  Boston has a long history and Paul Revere who was a major player in the Revolutionary War lived in this house below.     This link will provide more information on this famous man whose was a Silversmith by profession.  http://paulreverehouse.org/ 

Boston offers many things to do and to see and as we always enjoy food and wine we took the opportunity to try out food in Little Italy.  The Bus Driver, Eric suggested that we check out Salem Street which we did and we were not disappointed.  We came across the restaurant in the 2 photos below and enjoyed a marvelous lunch   

Please note we are not red faced from the red wine but suffering from windburn  following our morning excursions around the city.  While walking around we happened upon a local skating rink and if you look closely you will see the beginners using plastic milk crates to help them stay on their feet.



Below is a photo of Boston's world renowned Aquarium which attracts huge crowds on a daily basis   

The whole area which makes up the docklands is very old and dates back to before the Boston Tea Party.  Boston itself is built on a huge amount of reclaimed land dating back to the time of the Great Boston Fire in 1872.  The resultant rubble left from this fire ended up becoming the land fill for this city.   

No visit to Boston would be complete without a trip to the famous Fenway Park, the home of the Red Sox.  The tour takes a couple of hours and Beverley who has no interest in the game of base ball found it a most interesting visit.  We got to sit in the green monster seats and learnt a good deal about Sox history.  

The history of the Sox and Fenway can be found at http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bos


We found Boston to be very friendly and a great place to visit, next time we will stay longer.

Cheers
Ross and Bev

Portland, Maine

Hello again, we have just returned from a short visit to the USA and our first stop was Portland, Maine. Portland is a lovely city and a favouite place of ours to stay.  It is so pretty in the summer as well as very attractive in the winter.  

Having now lived in Canada for over 2 years we were very suprised just how cold it was in Portland. It was so cold we tossed our usual headgear and purchased the more glamerous hats which you will see in the 2 photos below.

When Beverley donned her now 'best hat ever" she said it provided warmth to her ears just like the heated seats in our Volvo to her behind. 

 

There are a number of great eating places in portland and below is one of its many pubs.

We had a great time in this lovely city which welcomes all with a smile and good cheer.

 

Our next entry will be about Boston.

Fondest wishes.

Bev and Ross

Vale Dr Maureen Reilly PhD

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness that we write this blog as our much loved friend Dr Maureen Reilly passed away following a very painful battle with pancreatic cancer on 19 February.

We first met Maureen and her family in 1993 when Beverley was posted to Fort Sam Houston. From our first meeting we were welcomed into their family and over our many years of friendship we have shared many a Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at the Reilly home. Maureen and Dennis were most welcoming to all and in particular to Australian Defence Force members who were posted to Fort Sam Houston. They welcomed us all. Maureen and Dennis travelled to Australia on two occasions where Maureen was a keynote speaker at the ADF Nursing Officers Nursing Conferences in Canberra.

Maureen served in the United States Nurse Corps for 8 years during which time she undertook her training to become a Nurse Anaesthetist. Following her discharge from the military she worked at the Veteran's Hospital in San Antonio, Texas for 15 years. She was awarded her PhD in 1999. She and her devoted husband Dennis celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last year and you can see the smile on her face as she enjoyed the evening with great family and friends.

Her funeral was conducted on 23 February following which she was was provided with an Honour Guard at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

You will see from the following photos how the ceremony unfolded when she arrived at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery .

Maureen will always be remembered for her smile and warmth. She has touched the lives of so many people and she has left a lasting legacy of caring.

It has been a privilege to be her friend and we miss her terribly but take some comfort in knowing she is finally at peace. She will remain in our hearts forever.

Ross and Bev