Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Australia Day 2011

Hello to you all and we hope that you have a great Australia Day (our 3rd in Canada).  We are having friends over on 29 Jan to have a belated celebration.  So while all of our Australian famiy and friends will celebrate our National Day in the heat with the trademark flies and the not so trademark flood clean up, we in Fredericton will be having well below freezing temperatures and snow flurries.



We donned our Mambo shirts for the occassion but it is worth noting that while it is 21C inside the house it is minus 24C outside with snow falling to add to the 30+cm already on the ground. We feel fortunate to have experienced this winter wonderland for two years now.

This may well be our last Australia Day in the snow and we will really miss the white winters.

Please have a great national day and stay safe.

Love Bev and Ross
  

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Pond Hockey

Hi All,

Our pond has become so popular as a pond hockey venue that we thought that you should see a short snippet of the evolution of the site.

First is a shot of the pond in summer that I am sure most of the regular readers are familiar with.


This photo shows our fantastic young next door neighbours Suzanne and James who early in 2010 started clearing the snow off the frozen pond but due to many difficulties with weather nobody got to skate on it.



But this year the weather has been more favourable and a team of youngsters ( younger than us anyway) led by across the road neighbour Andrew Pyne took on the challenge to clear the snow, attempted to scrape the ice smooth and make use of it.




After much work the team managed not only to smooth the ice but start to improve it by scraping and flooding with water overnight to provide an improved playing surface.



Andrew (with a significant amount of help from dad Doug) has been the lead in the work and is seen here watering down.



The surface continues to improve and is flooded after use most days.



Then on Friday mother nature decided to take a hand and dumped 20+ cm of snow on the area in what from our Aussie point of view can only be described as close to a white out.



Not to be daunted our team arrived on Saturday complete with snow blower to begin restoration. As you can see a significant amount of snow had to be moved.



By Sunday morning, after what can only be described as a heroic effort by Doug and Andrew on Saturday the pond was back to playable standard and this shot was taken only two hours ago.

 

All the youngsters and some of the not so young appear to enjoy the pond and we are so pleased to be able to help facilitate all the fun. 

Tonight (Sunday 23rd) we have a wind chill warning for tonight and tomorrow morning of lower than -38C  so there is not much doubt that the surface will stay solid.

We wish all the best to our friends and family at home who are caught up in the flood crisis or its consequences.

Please stay safe and well.

Love Bev and Ross

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Connecticut Visit & Wedding

Welcome to 2011.

Fom 29 December 2010 to 3 January 2011 we had the opportunity to travel to Connecticut to attend the wedding of Jessica and Christopher which we will talk about later in this update.  The trip to Connecticut from Fredericton is about an 8 -10 hour drive particularly at this time of the year with falls of snow which can render the roads inaccessable.  We were fortunate that we had good weather with sun and no snow falls to worry about.

We took the oppportunity to overnight in Freeport, Maine which is rich in history, nature, the arts, and the home to numerous shopping outlets.  For more information on Freeport have a look at http://www.freeportusa.com/ 

From Freeport to Middleton, Connecticut it is a short drive of 3 hours, so after booking in to the Crown Plaza we were off exploring.  As many of you will know Ross has a passion for trains so one of the first areas we visited was Essex Train station which in the summer months conducts combined river and train trips.  When you live in a country that really has a winter with lots of snow many of the activities are seasonal such as river trips. 



Essex is a pretty little town and is located on the coast, the following two photos show what the harbour looks like as it starts to freeze and what a beach looks like with snow on the ground.  This is something that we never see in Australia.



On New Years day we travelled to the Mohegan Sun Casino and donated $30.00 to the Casino's coffers.  The building is amazing and it was well worth paying a visit.  To see more of this Native American casino have a look at  http://www.mohegansun.com/


The reason for the visit to Middleton was to attend the wedding of Jessica and Christopher.  Christopher is the son of our dear friends Regina and Jim Hess whom we visited in Georgia last year.  Justin, their other son is married to Lizzy, the daughter of our great friends Maureen and Dennis who live in San Antonio, Texas.    The wedding service was conducted at St. Pius X Church, Middleton and you will see just how beautifully the church was decorated.  


We donned on our Sunday best for the occassion.


The bride and groom looked outstanding and there was great joy as we wish them every happiness for a long, happy and loving life together. 


The wedding reception was held at The Wadsworth Mansion at Long Hill Estate.  This is an amazing old home and to see more of this impressive venue have a look at http://www.wadsworthmansion.com/ . The band that provided music at the reception was called Shaded Soul and was one of the best bands we have ever heard. Their website is worth a look and is at http://www.shadedsoulband.com/
              

In lieu of wedding favours, a donation was made for The Matthew Freeman Project: Pens and Papers for Peace.  The website is http://www.freemanproject.org/ This donation was to honor the memory of their brother in law Captain Matthew Freeman who was married to Theresa, Christopher's sister.  Matthew was
killed in Afganistan in 2010. 


The wedding was a great opportunity to spend quality time with our dear friends Regina, Jim and Justin and some of their extended family.  We also got to meet Jessica's family who were very gracious and made us feel right at home which is the way of our American friends.

Until our next update we wish you a happy new year, may it be filled with good fellowship, good health and laughter.

Love Ross and Bev

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas Company

We have just celebrated our third Christmas in Canada and once again it was a most enjoyable time spent with good friends.  Debbie who is very creative provided the decorative table centre piece.  


Christmas Day started off with breakfast with our great friends and neighbours.  It was Evan's first Christmas and as you can see was also the certre of attention.  James, Suzanne and Evan travelled to Turro in Nova Scotia to spend Christmas with their families.  So after a breakfast of eggs benedict, muffins, bagles, orange juice and coffee they were one the road.      


Later that evening Debbie, George, Jacqueline and John joined us for Christmas supper/dinner.  Dinner included roast turkey and craberry sauce, roast lamb, baked veretables, smokey bacon squash soup and dessert.  We all contribute to the meal so no one had to slave all day over a hot oven.  This gave us all much more energy to enjoy our evening.  Which we certainly did. 
    

As the evening wore on the boys, Ross, John and George made themselves very comfortable in the sunroom and watched foodball.


The girls on the other had settled in the kitcken and enjoyed a game that Jacqueline brought along to share.  It was a hilarious evening with much laughter.


Jacqueline, John and their beautiful golden retrivers Megan and  Brynn stayed over night and while John was having a sleep in Ross, Jacqueline and Beverley enjoyed a hearty Boxing Day breakfast.  John joined us a little later.  You will note that there is no snow visible throught the windows.


Meagan and Brynn were never far away.


There was no snow on Christmas Day so we enjoyed what is termed here a green Christmas however, on Boxing Day night the snow arrived and currently continues to snow heavily.


Every now and again we receive a gift which is very special and Emily, our friend who used to look after Herbie and Murphy and who joined us for Christmas Day breakfast gave us this lovely photo which was most touching.  


We will be spending New Year in Connecticut, USA as we are attending a wedding on 2 Jan so we are departing Fredericton 29 Dec and plan to visit Cape Cod and Rhode Island on the way.  We expect to be back home by 5 Jan 2011.

So happy new year to you all and stay happy, safe and well.

Love Bev and Ross 

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Christmas Greetings

Hello again, as you can see  the snow has come early this year changing the whole landscape and providing the picture postcard look that we used to see on our Christmas cards as children in Australia.




Once again this year we celebrated an early Christmas dinner with our friends at Kings Landing Historic Village where the menu included goose, turkey and prime rib. We had another great night which was enhanced by musicians dressed in period costume. The lower shot shows Doug displaying his skills as a spoon player in an impromptu co-performance.   



Christmas in Canada is an exciting time and many families put a lot of effort into brightly decorating their homes. 


On that Christmas note may we wish everyone a happy and holy Christmas full of good cheer.


Love Bev and Ross

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Family Visit to Canada



Hi, winter has arrived. As we write our blog today you will see the first of the fair dinkum snow for this season.  The fall is expected to be around 5 cms.


Over the period 27 October to 17 November we were thrilled to have some of our lovely family visit with us.  Bronson, Beverley's 3rd cousin who is 19 years of age arrived in Bangor, Maine after tripping around the USA for a couple of months.  Bronson is a real character whose passion is fashion and design and here you can see him in the "don't shoot me, I'm not a moose" outfit courtesy of Bev's ski suit with his new hunter orange cap given to him by Doug, our friend from across the road.
 
It is important to note that Bronson does not normally dress this way but after hearing the various stories of hunters being shot because they were mistaken for game Bronson became very passionate about the colour orange.   


As you can see Bronson was supported during his orange phase by Joy and Adam, Ross, Debbie and George.   


During our family's stay we celebrated Remembrance Day and the outfit Bronson is wearing is more his style.  We were fortunate to have a sunny day for the event however, it was a cold day so you will see Joy and Adam who live in Darwin and arrived on 3 November rugged up and the only time Ross ever wears his overcoat is on this day.  Later in the day we joined by Debbie and George and we enjoyed mushroom risotto for lunch.  


During the family visit we took the opportunity to have an Australian night where we served foods from OZ such as roast lamb and vegetables, curried prawns and rice, individual meat pies with tomato sauce, pavola and trifle.  All together there were 18 of us at the dinner and below is a photo Debbie, George, Kathy, Doug and Diane who are our neighbours along with Bronson.


Ross dressed in his Mambo shirt for the occasion and a good night was enjoyed by all.  Please note the hunting orange cap.


While our family was here we also took the opportunity to return to Quebec City and you will see from the photo below it was a cold day so we rugged up and walked around the old city, finally stopping for great lunch before returning to our accommodation.  The waitress who served us had spent 1 year in New Zealand and when Ross asked about fish and chips on the menu she said they were not as good as in New Zealand so Ross had the seafood crepe instead, which was superb.


All too soon it was time for us to say goodbye to Bronson who found it a difficult task to pack for his return home.  He spent a great deal of time sorting out his bits and pieces and he would have been more than happy to stay in North America and we feel very sure that this is the first of many visits over this way.  


Bronson's flight departed 6 am so at 4.30 am Ross cooked him blueberry pancakes with the maple syrup which had been a gift from Debbie and George.  Bronson looked remarkably bright and cheerful at this early hour.


Throughout his stay Bronson had been there to support us as we said our final farewell to our much loved Murphy. It was a delight to have him visit and he has made a lasting impression on all who meet him. We look forward to seeing his name in lights when he makes it big in his chosen field of fashion and design.

Joy and Adam stayed on until 17 November so we took the opportunity to spend a few days on Prince Edward Island. Fortunately the weather remained sunny so after some sightseeing we enjoyed lunch at an Irish Pub and spent the afternoon enjoying Irish music. Joy and Adam depart today from New York where they have been sightseeing for the last three days.

We really enjoyed spending time with our lovely family and thank them for making the trip to visit with us.

Until next time stay safe and well.

Ross and Bev

Thursday, November 18, 2010

End of an Era

Hi again, now the upsetting news.

Over the last decade and a half we have been blessed to share our lives with our much loved dogs who were truly part of our family.  As many of you will know, Lester our oldest Maltese became part of our family in February 1995 just after Beverley returned from Rwanda.  Some 18 months later Murphy joined the family and following the death of Ross's mother, Herbie joined us.  Lester died 5 years ago and Murphy and Herb became world travellers when, like their parents they travelled to Canada.  Sadly Herbie passed away one year ago on 7 November following a heroic effort but succumbed to an overwhelming infection.

Murphy who at 14 1/2 years of age had outlived her brothers.  Sadly however, on 2 November we said our final goodbyes to our much loved Murphy who was suffering from worsening congestive cardiac failure.  It was a difficult decision to make but it was the right one.  Hopefully she is at peace and back in touch with Lester and Herbie.


Murphy aged 14 years

Herbie aged 10 years


Lester aged 11 years


Murphy  and Herbie in Canada 2009


We were so fortunate to have had them in our lives and we are better people because of them.

Love Bev and Ross