Musings on a Small Life

I took the train to Brockville on Wednesday to spend a handful of hours catching up with my aunt and the friend of Mom's who is visiting from Nova Scotia. We had a lovely lunch downtown at the  1000 Islands Brewing Company  and did some poking around, then checked out the old Brockville train tunnel , Canada's oldest railway tunnel. The two entrances/exits are unremarkable. However, the waves of light inside are really funky and fun! The lights come in waves from one end to the other and it's quite something! They have old photos and information kiosks along the way. It's also quite damp and dripping in various places (by design) and you can see the water (heavy in calcium) forming deposits on the rock. I'd been wanting to check that out for some time, so I was glad to get the chance. The one thing that we missed out on was the Aquatarium , which had just changed hours and was closed. Too bad! I'll leave you with a pic of this very friendly fellow who was with h...

A note before I start: I have May 1st as a tentative start date for the kitchen reno. We shall see! There's still no initial invoice for the deposit. I checked on that and was told the sales/planning fellow is a bit slack about the money. Okay...just as long as the installer(s) aren't slack!   ******   On April 4th Dad and I went to Stewart Farm and Crescent Beach. He'd taken me there last year, so long-time followers will already have seen pics then. Last year the farmhouse was closed though, this year it was open. It's a typical  1890s Victorian farmhouse, the kind seen all over Canada, and most of my interior pics were very dark (flash photos not allowed).   The area is part of the Semiahmoo Trail, below. We stopped at this little park before going into the farm itself. It's a very pricey real estate area (what part of the lower mainland isn't?). Note: The snapshots are best seen by clicking to enlarge. They look even fuzzier than they really are when I view...

I got home very late last night (April 11), to bed after 1 AM, but I made it! 1. It was a wonderful holiday with Dad, lots of sightseeing, and we muddled through just fine food-wise, though neither of us cooks (I did bake my dairy-free, sugar-free Irish soda bread and pumpkin muffins, though.) 2. Both flights were on time and uneventful, as was the train to Toronto on April 3rd and the UP Express train from Union Station to the airport. No problems at all; yay! The bus home, was a different story, though. 3. I took over 800 pics that I have to wade through, cull, and then edit. 4. Trip highlights, other than spending time with Dad: The Reifel Bird Sanctuary, the Van Dusen Gardens, and lunch in Queen Elizabeth Park (in Vancouver) with its incredible views of the city and mountains beyond. The only glitch: I knew I would get into Pearson from Vancouver too late to make my way downtown to pick up the last Via Rail train home, so I had booked the bus instead (one of the two companies in to...

A couple of weeks ago the university posted info on voluntary early retirement for eligible faculty and librarians.   On Tuesday they posted an exit incentive for (only) Faculty of Arts and Science staff. (Four weeks pay for every year of service, up to a maximum of 52 weeks pay. Those who are eligible for retirement would be able to take it.) A&S has the biggest deficit, so that's why this is limited to their staff right now. The article stated that if successful, and needed, the admin would consider rolling it out more broadly. I'm not sure they would roll it out to us as well, even if they did extend it to other faculties (we're not an academic department), but let's just say that things are becoming a bit more interesting now! Sunrise on Tuesday     As for other things, I'm getting ready to head west to visit Dad; the trip is coming up very quickly! My travel anxiety is ratcheting up, but on the flip side, I'm so over-tired that perhaps by the time I go,...

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I've bothered to post; there's not a lot to write about right now--not that I'm willing to put out in a public forum anyway! As you can see from the two snapshots above, we've had a good wallop of winter weather. First with snow and bitter temps, windchills in the minus 20s Celsius (I know, I know, it's been colder in other more westerly provinces!). Then with rain and freezing rain and more rain. So it's been messy, grey, gloomy, dreary, and dismal, and I'm feeling the effects of almost zero sunshine since what, October? Early November? On the plus side, we're on the right side of the winter Solstice and the daylight is increasing. Thank goodness! I have not been idle, though. I'm now booked for a trip west in early April to visit my dad. His wife will be away at that time, on vacation overseas with her sister. Apparently she had suggested (to Dad) that I come out and keep him company. So I will go for a ...