Our Message Archive
November 2023
Sunday November 26
Our maple tree before and after
Our back yard is undergoing some major transformations. On Monday, we had to have the red maple tree taken down. It was half dead and would have fallen on its own eventually. One major branch had already been removed last year and two more, the lower ones on the left and right, were also dead though it is difficult to see in the picture above since its leaves had already fallen. I had the arborist leave us most of the smaller branches which I am now sawing into a manageable size so we can use them as firewood. We now have an unencumbered view into our neighbours' house; it will partially fill in over the coming years by the trees on either side but we will also probably plant a new tree to fill in the middle.
I have also enlarged the flower beds on the north side of the yard and added two new beds, one against the deck and the other underneath the lilac and honeysuckle bushes. They have been populated with tulip, daffodil and crocus bulbs; we'll add some more flowers next summer.
The centre of the yard (just out of view in the pictures above) has had its grass removed and is now a 12 foot diameter circle centred on a fire pit. I have moved the gravel that used to be under the maple tree to this circle. In the summer, when it is hotter, it will also provide a place for us to sit. Next year I may add some extra paths and flower beds but that is still a matter for discussion and planning.
Yesterday Ann and I attended the annual general meeting of our bicycle club, the Nova Scotia Ramblers, at the Mill Cove Brew Pub. I am currently on the Board of Directors as the secretary and will continue in that role for at least another year. On the way home mid-afternoon we ran into a major traffic jam caused by the closure of the MacKay bridge for repairs and the Parade of Lights in downtown Halifax (our version of a Santa Claus Parade). That persuaded us to take the ferry over to Halifax when we went to a concert of Baroque music, mainly Handel, by Symphony Nova Scotia. We both enjoyed the concert despite the fairly long walk from the ferry terminal to the church where it was held.
Sunday November 19
Ingrid helps to raise the Latvian flag (Mayor Savage on the right)
Saturday was Latvian Independence Day so, at 8:30 am on Friday, there was a ceremony at City Hall to mark the contribution of the Latvian diaspora to the local community. Of course, Ingrid, as the honorary Latvian consul in Halifax, was front and centre. She came dressed in a Latvian folk dancing costume that used to belong to her mother. Ann and I went along to help boost the numbers in the small crowd of participants (there were eight of us with two more arriving late due to the traffic). Afterwards we all went to Tempo, a café in the Barrington Hotel, for coffee.
Ann has had a busy day. As usual, she sang with the choir at church but today they were joined by the trombone group iTromboni, one member of whom is the brother of the new musical director at Grace. They played for 20 minutes before the service and then played along with all the hymns which made for an extra rousing service. Ann left promptly at noon (missing the cake marking the church's 170th anniversary) so I could take her over to Halifax in time to go to Come From Away with Ingrid at the Scotiabank Centre. I declined to go, not being a big fan of musicals so not willing to pay the price of the ticket; I went for a ride instead (it was a beautiful day). They both thought it was "a memorable and heartwarming show with rousing Newfoundland tunes and excellent acting" (Ann's words). After that it was off to see Aerial Opera, a fundraiser for Opera Nova Scotia with Jane Archibald (a noted soprano), a couple of pianists, and aerialists from inesS Circus. Finally, they relaxed over dim sum at Beyond Pho before heading home.
Sunday November 12
Alex and Andrew as Pokémon characters Pikachu and Ash for Hallowe'en
Ann and I arrived home a week ago Thursday after a long drive that didn't go exactly as originally planned. We left on Monday morning with the intent of driving to Montmagny but forecasts of snow in Quebec persuaded us to divert to Renfrew for the night. That allowed us to get a bit more play time with Alex and Andrew and have them show off their Hallowe'en costumes. We set out for Montmagny again on Tuesday (Hallowe'en) arriving mid-afternoon. We decided to walk down to Café Bistro au Coin du Monde for dinner passing by trick-or-treaters along the way. On Wednesday we had planned to get all the way home but more snow, this time in Nova Scotia, caused us to stop short once again in Moncton. We finally got home on Thursday morning.
That evening we had Neptune tickets to Murder for Two, a very funny whodunnit that made significant demands of its two actors. They had to play multiple characters, sing, play piano very well, as well as perform a lot of physical comedy. It was very well done. We met Ingrid and Mike for dinner at Café Chianti beforehand and Kim and Glen at the show.
During the next couple of days we tried to make up for the inactivity while sitting in the car for several days by joining the Railers for a ride from Fall River to Enfield on Friday and the Ramblers for a ride around the Porters Lake loop on Saturday. We had to shorten the latter by a little so that Ann could get home in time to go to the Ramblers Book Club.
Since then I have been working in the garden getting it cleaned up for winter, planting several hundred bulbs in some new flower beds, and working on the fire pit in the back yard.
On Wednesday evening, we both went to a first aid course put on the Ramblers which concentrated on the types of injuries that might be sustained by bicyclists.
On Friday, I played in a bridge tournament with my friend and ex-colleague Layton that was conveniently located at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. We didn't do nearly as well as we did in the last couple of tournaments we played in but an analysis of the results suggested that that was largely due to bad luck. However, there were a couple of hands that I played really badly so there is plenty of room for improvement. By the time I got home, Ann had already left to go with Kim and Glen to a concert of African-Cuban roots music by Okan and Symphony Nova Scotia which she really enjoyed.
Yesterday Ann and I walked down to the Remembrance Day Service at the cenotaph. We arrived shortly before it began so we were far enough back that we could not see much though we could hear what was going on well enough. In the afternoon, Ann went to Martin Walker's funeral, a member of the congregation of the church who died unexpectedly last week.
The choir at the church has a new director, Joel Tranquilla, who is also the director of the Halifax Camerata Singers who gave a concert this afternoon. Most of the church choir, including Ann, went. They were all very impressed.