Feb 15 and 16
John woke early as he has many times before in this trip. He would have to say goodbye to both his families within 24 hours and because one never knows what the future might bring he was very sad and sentimental. However, he knows that he has been blessed to have been able to take this trip around the world - our precious, irreplaceable Gaia. He has been blessed to have such loving friends who gave him great places to stay, good food, and wonderful companionship as well as so much more: Gerald, Cathy, Hans, Pris, Derek, Sue, and Janice. He has been blessed to belong to two fantastic families who gave John not only a home but also love, kindness, support, and validation. He can never repay them enough. Thank you especially to Linda, Val, Alan, and Sandra who took such great care of John. Your hospitality, generosity, sense of humour, and love were "just what the doctor ordered."
Thank you also to his cousins, Dennis, David, and Mick and their partners and children (please forgive our not naming them as there is just so much space and John is afraid he will miss someone) who took him out and joined him in his celebration of homecoming to England. Thank you to his cousins who came to see him: Paul, Carolyn, Rachel, Stuart, Alan, John, Carol, Susan, and their partners and children. You have shown John that he will always be English just as he will always be Canadian. You are all welcome to come to Canada!
Thank you also to Rachel S who has lived in John's place and taken wonderful care of his cat, Jack. None of this would have been possible without your help. Thanks so much for the updates and pictures.
Finally, thanks to all of you who have read my blog these last few months especially my dear Gail and my good friend, Janice. Your many comments throughout these months have showed me that people who care about me were following my adventures. Thank you also to my silent but wonderful friends and family who have emailed me about the blog and my colleagues who have read it.
Later this morning John flies home to Canada. I will carry his stuff as I have done since the very first day when he was fogged in, in London, Ontario. Once again, I will take care of his laptop, without which none of this could have been shared. He will carry me with pride and I will serve him well.
Goodbye and God Bless!
The Red Backpack
John and I leave you with a few scenes from the trip.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Getting Together
Feb 14
John spent Valentine's day with his family. Linda had spent two days in preparation for a family get together.
John woke around 9am and went down. He was stil full from the excellent meal the day before and said that he would rather wait for lunch than have breakfast. He did enjoy a cup of tea and a look at the paper.
Then he took a shower and got spruced for the coming gathering of the clan. He had just finished when Rachel, Nick and the kids arrived. Rachel immediately started helping her Mum while Nick got the children ready to go for a walk and to take Snowy along. Among other items of apparel they needed their 'wellies' (wellington boots) as it might be muddy. John asked if Nick needed any assistance walking two children and a dog. He said, no, but John was welcome to come along if he wanted. Well, with wet hair and no wellies John declined with thanks.
Just after Nick had left a call came from Alan saying that his wife Donna was not well enough to come and could someone pick up Stuart, his son, and bring him to the festivities. Nigel agreed. But there was a problem. Nick had parked behind Nigel and walked off with his car keys. Rachel ran off after the little group to retrieve the keys.
She made it back quite quickly. So quickly, in fact, that John was surprised because he had offered to go with Nigel and was not in fact ready. He quickly got his shoes on and followed Nigel out, while Rachel was reversing their car out of the driveway. John hopped in and Nigel was off.
They went through the village and onto the A12 on their way to Harwich less than an hour away. John was able to ask Nigel some questions about British soccer that he had been wondering about for many years - how the system works, the organization of the various leagues (champion, FA, other divisions), the arrangement of the overlapping play, the number of games per week and so on. Nigel had played soccer and he is an avid fan of Colchester's team so he was happy to share his knowledge even though John is, by geography, a fan of Milwall and Chelsea, though he didn't know it until this trip to the UK. He also enjoyed the changing weather and scenery of the trip.
The two arrived at Alan's and John went inside to meet Donna while Nigel waited outside and talked to Stuart. Alan and Donna, an American, had lived in the US when John was last in England and that was where Stuart was born. So this was John's first chance to meet her. It turns out that she is a truly gifted artist. John was very impressed by the range of her work and the different media that she used, from acrylics and watercolours to pen and ink. Unfortunately, Donna was really not well and it was clear why she couldn't come to the get together and that even John's short visit was taxing to her. It was only right that Alan was going to stay by her side.
John said that he hoped Donna would feel better very soon, that he was very glad to have met her and to take good care. Alan thanked John for coming. The journey was such a little thing to do.
They set off, with Stuart automatically offering John the front seat. Like his Mum, Stuart is also a gifted artist but in music. He is a drummer in a band, has a degree in music theory and wants to become a teacher. He and John talked a little about getting his educational qualifications but John had to admit that he doesn't know the British system well enough to give good advice to his first cousin once removed (or is it second cousin, John never knows). However, John was impressed by Stuart's attitude to teaching - how he wants to share - and it reminded John of himself as a younger man.
They arrived back in time to see a dining table covered in dishes fit for a king with desserts in the kitchen. The table was a work of beauty: the meats all sliced, the salads ready to be scooped, the multiple pickles, the Scotch eggs, the variety of cheeses, and crackers, the various breads, and the array of scrumptious desserts. Rachel and Linda were still hard at work on the last couple of details. Auntie Stella, Dennis, Adele, Lillie and Joel were already there. They were playing with their younger cousins, Josh and Bella. Barney was there too.
Now Barney, though 'fixed,' is in love (lust?) with Snowy who is likewise neutered. He followed her everywhere. In frustration with constant rejection he started getting her toys out of her box. Then he fiercely defended them. Even Dennis had to be quite forceful verbally to make him behave.
Hillary, Terry and Rebecca arrived soon after. David, his other son Tony (who had been away at a boxing match the day before) and Carolyn and Barry arrived a little later than that.
John had got out his iPod speakers and was playing the assembled group some Canadian music and happily adding to the din created by adults talking, children playing, and dogs growling. Stuart, though, was listening and knew the vast majority of groups John played. He even knew John's current favourite group, Arcade Fire. John tried to find his "My Name is Joe and I am Canadian" rant but was unable.
Then it was time to eat. The children were called to the table first and John thought how appropriate that was, to have the children served first because they get hungrier more quickly. Then John and the others went up to make their choices. John had roast beef, ham and chicken along with a couple of regular salads and potato salad along with delicious pickled onions of a type you rarely see in Canada. He went back for seconds too!
The house was peaceful as the assembled group 'chowed down' before starting the merriment over again in three rooms - the kitchen, dining room, and lounge (living room). Throughout the afternoon and early evening John moved from room to room as did others to talk to each person as best he could. Afterwards he wished he had been able to spend more time with Aunt Stella.
Then it was time for dessert and John was delighted to have the first big scoop of a trifle made by Hillary. It reminded him of the trifles made by his Mum. In fact, as the afternoon wore into the evening, he wished that his Mum and Dad could have been there too, along with his aunts, uncles and cousins who could not be there.
John asked David if he would like to play with his videocamera and take some candid shots. David said, "Sure!" This gave David the chance to renew his old teasing habit of taking Linda's picture without her consent, he used to do it many years ago using super 8 movie film. This time he even caught Linda saying a naughty word, Ar%%h&l*s when she realized he was filming her. It made John smile to know that he had been able to help recreate a treasured family moment. hahaha
John also played David some funny songs from Weird Al on his iPod.
Soon, too soon, it was time to be over. Dennis' family were the first to leave followed by David's. Carolyn gave John two of the biggest, strongest hugs he has ever had (to make up for all those he has missed over the years) and promised to come to Canada when she and Barry could. It was sad to see them all go but John was deeply happy that he had had the chance to see so many wonderful people once again.
He helped Stuart, Rachel, Nick, Nigel, and Linda to clean up though the others did the majority of the work. Rachel and Nick said that they would be happy to take Stuart home on their way as the children needed to get into a deep sleep before being carried into their beds (it's not a good situation when they wake up after having a short powernap in the car!).
It was not long until the cutlery and dishes were in the dishwasher and the other things washed and dried. They all had a short visit before Rachel, Nick, the children and Stuart left John with Linda, Nigel, and Snowy in what seemed an empty house. Little Josh seemed particularly sad to know that his playmate, John, would not be there the next time he comes to his Nana's house.
Tomorrow John leaves in the morning for Val's for one last night before flying back to Canada resuming his life, and ending the travels of me, his little red backpack.
TRB
John spent Valentine's day with his family. Linda had spent two days in preparation for a family get together.
John woke around 9am and went down. He was stil full from the excellent meal the day before and said that he would rather wait for lunch than have breakfast. He did enjoy a cup of tea and a look at the paper.
Then he took a shower and got spruced for the coming gathering of the clan. He had just finished when Rachel, Nick and the kids arrived. Rachel immediately started helping her Mum while Nick got the children ready to go for a walk and to take Snowy along. Among other items of apparel they needed their 'wellies' (wellington boots) as it might be muddy. John asked if Nick needed any assistance walking two children and a dog. He said, no, but John was welcome to come along if he wanted. Well, with wet hair and no wellies John declined with thanks.
Just after Nick had left a call came from Alan saying that his wife Donna was not well enough to come and could someone pick up Stuart, his son, and bring him to the festivities. Nigel agreed. But there was a problem. Nick had parked behind Nigel and walked off with his car keys. Rachel ran off after the little group to retrieve the keys.
She made it back quite quickly. So quickly, in fact, that John was surprised because he had offered to go with Nigel and was not in fact ready. He quickly got his shoes on and followed Nigel out, while Rachel was reversing their car out of the driveway. John hopped in and Nigel was off.
They went through the village and onto the A12 on their way to Harwich less than an hour away. John was able to ask Nigel some questions about British soccer that he had been wondering about for many years - how the system works, the organization of the various leagues (champion, FA, other divisions), the arrangement of the overlapping play, the number of games per week and so on. Nigel had played soccer and he is an avid fan of Colchester's team so he was happy to share his knowledge even though John is, by geography, a fan of Milwall and Chelsea, though he didn't know it until this trip to the UK. He also enjoyed the changing weather and scenery of the trip.
The two arrived at Alan's and John went inside to meet Donna while Nigel waited outside and talked to Stuart. Alan and Donna, an American, had lived in the US when John was last in England and that was where Stuart was born. So this was John's first chance to meet her. It turns out that she is a truly gifted artist. John was very impressed by the range of her work and the different media that she used, from acrylics and watercolours to pen and ink. Unfortunately, Donna was really not well and it was clear why she couldn't come to the get together and that even John's short visit was taxing to her. It was only right that Alan was going to stay by her side.
John said that he hoped Donna would feel better very soon, that he was very glad to have met her and to take good care. Alan thanked John for coming. The journey was such a little thing to do.
They set off, with Stuart automatically offering John the front seat. Like his Mum, Stuart is also a gifted artist but in music. He is a drummer in a band, has a degree in music theory and wants to become a teacher. He and John talked a little about getting his educational qualifications but John had to admit that he doesn't know the British system well enough to give good advice to his first cousin once removed (or is it second cousin, John never knows). However, John was impressed by Stuart's attitude to teaching - how he wants to share - and it reminded John of himself as a younger man.
They arrived back in time to see a dining table covered in dishes fit for a king with desserts in the kitchen. The table was a work of beauty: the meats all sliced, the salads ready to be scooped, the multiple pickles, the Scotch eggs, the variety of cheeses, and crackers, the various breads, and the array of scrumptious desserts. Rachel and Linda were still hard at work on the last couple of details. Auntie Stella, Dennis, Adele, Lillie and Joel were already there. They were playing with their younger cousins, Josh and Bella. Barney was there too.
Now Barney, though 'fixed,' is in love (lust?) with Snowy who is likewise neutered. He followed her everywhere. In frustration with constant rejection he started getting her toys out of her box. Then he fiercely defended them. Even Dennis had to be quite forceful verbally to make him behave.
Hillary, Terry and Rebecca arrived soon after. David, his other son Tony (who had been away at a boxing match the day before) and Carolyn and Barry arrived a little later than that.
John had got out his iPod speakers and was playing the assembled group some Canadian music and happily adding to the din created by adults talking, children playing, and dogs growling. Stuart, though, was listening and knew the vast majority of groups John played. He even knew John's current favourite group, Arcade Fire. John tried to find his "My Name is Joe and I am Canadian" rant but was unable.
Then it was time to eat. The children were called to the table first and John thought how appropriate that was, to have the children served first because they get hungrier more quickly. Then John and the others went up to make their choices. John had roast beef, ham and chicken along with a couple of regular salads and potato salad along with delicious pickled onions of a type you rarely see in Canada. He went back for seconds too!
The house was peaceful as the assembled group 'chowed down' before starting the merriment over again in three rooms - the kitchen, dining room, and lounge (living room). Throughout the afternoon and early evening John moved from room to room as did others to talk to each person as best he could. Afterwards he wished he had been able to spend more time with Aunt Stella.
Then it was time for dessert and John was delighted to have the first big scoop of a trifle made by Hillary. It reminded him of the trifles made by his Mum. In fact, as the afternoon wore into the evening, he wished that his Mum and Dad could have been there too, along with his aunts, uncles and cousins who could not be there.
John asked David if he would like to play with his videocamera and take some candid shots. David said, "Sure!" This gave David the chance to renew his old teasing habit of taking Linda's picture without her consent, he used to do it many years ago using super 8 movie film. This time he even caught Linda saying a naughty word, Ar%%h&l*s when she realized he was filming her. It made John smile to know that he had been able to help recreate a treasured family moment. hahaha
John also played David some funny songs from Weird Al on his iPod.
Soon, too soon, it was time to be over. Dennis' family were the first to leave followed by David's. Carolyn gave John two of the biggest, strongest hugs he has ever had (to make up for all those he has missed over the years) and promised to come to Canada when she and Barry could. It was sad to see them all go but John was deeply happy that he had had the chance to see so many wonderful people once again.
He helped Stuart, Rachel, Nick, Nigel, and Linda to clean up though the others did the majority of the work. Rachel and Nick said that they would be happy to take Stuart home on their way as the children needed to get into a deep sleep before being carried into their beds (it's not a good situation when they wake up after having a short powernap in the car!).
It was not long until the cutlery and dishes were in the dishwasher and the other things washed and dried. They all had a short visit before Rachel, Nick, the children and Stuart left John with Linda, Nigel, and Snowy in what seemed an empty house. Little Josh seemed particularly sad to know that his playmate, John, would not be there the next time he comes to his Nana's house.
Tomorrow John leaves in the morning for Val's for one last night before flying back to Canada resuming his life, and ending the travels of me, his little red backpack.
TRB
Sunday, February 14, 2010
English tea
Feb 13
This was to be the day that John was to meet even more of his cousins. He got up still full from the excellent meal of the night before. When he went down to the kitchen, Linda was there and asked him if he would like a cup of tea. He did. She asked him if he would like breakfast. He didn't. Nigel came down and joined them.
After drinking tea and reading a bit of the paper, John went up to get ready for his day. His cousin, David, was going to pick him up about 10am and take him for a driving lesson to build up John's confidence in driving through the narrow lanes. In the meantime, John had time for email and the blog.
Shortly after 10, David called to say that he was unavoidably delayed due to business and would be along in a couple of hours. No worries, thought John as he settled down to read more of the paper and watch a BBC program called Click about new technolgies. In this show they were talking about Apple's new iPad computing device, mid way between and iPod and a laptop. They decided to forget the driving lesson because John has only one more journey, most of it on divided highway, back to Canterbury.
Soon, David was at the door and ready to go. It was wonderful to see David again. He was the same nice man that John remembered from his last visit to England in 1987; the very same friend John had played with at his Nanna's house when they were only toddlers.
They got into David's very cool Saab convertible (roof up in winter) and zoomed off to David's home in a village a few miles away by divided highway and local road. On the drive they talked about old times and family. It was no time before John was feeling very comfortable. It was as if the past 23 years had not happened.
They arrived at David's house in a nice subdivision and went in. A woman said hello to John and gave him the warmest hug. It was Carolyn, another cousin - David's sister who lives in London. He shook hands with Barry her husband and hugged Hillary, David's wife. He also shook hands with a fine young man, named Terry, David's oldest son and his fiancee, Rebecca. Here was yet another branch of John's family and he felt the same warmth of connection as he had with Linda's branch.
Hillary offered John a cup of tea and he was happy to accept. Then it was time to get organized into two cars (John travelled with David and Hillary) for the drive down to another branch of the family who live on Mersea a small island connected to the mainland by a short causeway. It was a picturesque drive through fields and villages that were quintessentially English.
They arrived at Mick's, another cousin and head of the third branch, five minutes before the time he had booked tables at a local pub/restaurant. So, soon after greetings were exchanged with Mick, his wife Val, and his son Simon, they once again fitted into multiple cars to travel the short distance to the restaurant very near the beach. They were to meet, Mark, Mick's other son at the restaurant.
It was not that big in the pub area and the other patrons looked up when the huge Barnett retinue walked in: Mick, Val, Simon, Mark, David, Hillary, Terry, Rebecca, Carolyn, Barry, and John. However, their tables were through the pub part and in the restaurant seating area in the next room.
It was a very nice restaurant and Simon asked his son, Alex, who works in the kitchen to come out and be introduced to John. Mick suggested a beer that John should try, which turned out to be close to his favourite back home, Upper Canada Dark.
Since it was lunch rather than dinner, everyone decided just to order a main course without an appetizer. Just as well because some of the mains were huge. John, on Val's suggestion had ordered bangers and mash. His plate was full when it arrived. Three huge English sausages, the three biggest onion rings John had ever seen, mashed potatoes and gravy with a bowl of veggies on the side. The sausages were so good - they were pork with a little zing of pepper. And the gravy was beyond excellent.
Conversation was good all around the table. It was a little more subdued than at other times when the English sense of humour was running rampant but it was fun and witty, nevertheless. One aspect that John found particulalry interesting was based on Mark's career. He worked as an engineer on Princess Cruise Lines, and indeed worked on the Pacific Princess, the famed Love Boat, of the TV series of the same name. He regaled the group with stories of his time there. He now works in software.
Soon after, Simon had to leave to pick up his wife, Shelley and his daughter, Holly.
After the rest had finished eating, the men got up to pay but David and Mick sent John and the others back. John thanked Mick and David for their generosity. As they left John captured some nice scenes of the harbour for the blog.
Back at Mick's it was time yet again for tea or coffee. John chose tea. The group sat around Mick's living room talking and reminiscing. Mick and Val showed pictures of their grandchildren and various items of interest for all. Various times, Mick was called to the phone to deal with an emergency at work.
Mark had asked to have the TV on to keep one eye on the rugby match, France versus Ireland. Unfortunately the French won 17-3.
Then another competiton show came on that captured people's attention. It is the one where contestants have to go on obstacle courses and often fall into the water under the various contraptions they have to negotiate their way, over, through or around. There were peals of laughter as various contestants tried to jump onto and across a large series of huge rubber balloons and most often bounced off into the water.
Simon, Shelley and Holly came by. John had met Shelley when he was last in England but Holly was not yet born. It is strange John thought how fast times can fly. Here he was meeting a young woman who had not been born when he was last here and Simon was middle aged. John remembered Mark and Simon about three years old holding onto Val's hand.
The room, due to simple body heat, became very hot. John thought it reminded him of Melbourne even though it was cool outside and there was no heating on in the house.
Around 8:30, the visitors started to make a move to go and they headed back. Timing was important to ensure that the causeway wasn't flooded by a high tide that can close the road to all but the biggest trucks.
John drove back with David and Hillary again. David who has always been a professional driver negotiated the dark, narrow roads with ease.
Upon arriving back at David and Hillary`s, David got out some memorabilia, such as a painting of their Nanna Barnett and a wolf cub album with David on the cover while Hillary made tea. David also brought out a precious container with pictures of his Dad (John`s other uncle Ted) as a prisoner of war in WW2. Talk turned to old times at 33 Brunswick Court where Carolyn and David`s Mum and John`s Dad had lived as children. They talked of their grandmother and their aunts and uncles and the good times they had had playing together as children when they visited. John was sad not to have the chance to see his cousin Diane, who is David and Carolyn`s older sister.
Too soon, it was time for John to go back to Linda`s and John said his farewells, happy to know that all would be coming to the family get tgether the next day. When David dropped him off at the door, John went in and had a short talk with Linda and Nigel about his day and headed up for bed after declining Linda`s kind offer of a cup of tea.
TRB
This was to be the day that John was to meet even more of his cousins. He got up still full from the excellent meal of the night before. When he went down to the kitchen, Linda was there and asked him if he would like a cup of tea. He did. She asked him if he would like breakfast. He didn't. Nigel came down and joined them.
After drinking tea and reading a bit of the paper, John went up to get ready for his day. His cousin, David, was going to pick him up about 10am and take him for a driving lesson to build up John's confidence in driving through the narrow lanes. In the meantime, John had time for email and the blog.
Shortly after 10, David called to say that he was unavoidably delayed due to business and would be along in a couple of hours. No worries, thought John as he settled down to read more of the paper and watch a BBC program called Click about new technolgies. In this show they were talking about Apple's new iPad computing device, mid way between and iPod and a laptop. They decided to forget the driving lesson because John has only one more journey, most of it on divided highway, back to Canterbury.
Soon, David was at the door and ready to go. It was wonderful to see David again. He was the same nice man that John remembered from his last visit to England in 1987; the very same friend John had played with at his Nanna's house when they were only toddlers.
They got into David's very cool Saab convertible (roof up in winter) and zoomed off to David's home in a village a few miles away by divided highway and local road. On the drive they talked about old times and family. It was no time before John was feeling very comfortable. It was as if the past 23 years had not happened.
They arrived at David's house in a nice subdivision and went in. A woman said hello to John and gave him the warmest hug. It was Carolyn, another cousin - David's sister who lives in London. He shook hands with Barry her husband and hugged Hillary, David's wife. He also shook hands with a fine young man, named Terry, David's oldest son and his fiancee, Rebecca. Here was yet another branch of John's family and he felt the same warmth of connection as he had with Linda's branch.
Hillary offered John a cup of tea and he was happy to accept. Then it was time to get organized into two cars (John travelled with David and Hillary) for the drive down to another branch of the family who live on Mersea a small island connected to the mainland by a short causeway. It was a picturesque drive through fields and villages that were quintessentially English.
They arrived at Mick's, another cousin and head of the third branch, five minutes before the time he had booked tables at a local pub/restaurant. So, soon after greetings were exchanged with Mick, his wife Val, and his son Simon, they once again fitted into multiple cars to travel the short distance to the restaurant very near the beach. They were to meet, Mark, Mick's other son at the restaurant.
It was not that big in the pub area and the other patrons looked up when the huge Barnett retinue walked in: Mick, Val, Simon, Mark, David, Hillary, Terry, Rebecca, Carolyn, Barry, and John. However, their tables were through the pub part and in the restaurant seating area in the next room.
It was a very nice restaurant and Simon asked his son, Alex, who works in the kitchen to come out and be introduced to John. Mick suggested a beer that John should try, which turned out to be close to his favourite back home, Upper Canada Dark.
Since it was lunch rather than dinner, everyone decided just to order a main course without an appetizer. Just as well because some of the mains were huge. John, on Val's suggestion had ordered bangers and mash. His plate was full when it arrived. Three huge English sausages, the three biggest onion rings John had ever seen, mashed potatoes and gravy with a bowl of veggies on the side. The sausages were so good - they were pork with a little zing of pepper. And the gravy was beyond excellent.
Conversation was good all around the table. It was a little more subdued than at other times when the English sense of humour was running rampant but it was fun and witty, nevertheless. One aspect that John found particulalry interesting was based on Mark's career. He worked as an engineer on Princess Cruise Lines, and indeed worked on the Pacific Princess, the famed Love Boat, of the TV series of the same name. He regaled the group with stories of his time there. He now works in software.
Soon after, Simon had to leave to pick up his wife, Shelley and his daughter, Holly.
After the rest had finished eating, the men got up to pay but David and Mick sent John and the others back. John thanked Mick and David for their generosity. As they left John captured some nice scenes of the harbour for the blog.
Back at Mick's it was time yet again for tea or coffee. John chose tea. The group sat around Mick's living room talking and reminiscing. Mick and Val showed pictures of their grandchildren and various items of interest for all. Various times, Mick was called to the phone to deal with an emergency at work.
Mark had asked to have the TV on to keep one eye on the rugby match, France versus Ireland. Unfortunately the French won 17-3.
Then another competiton show came on that captured people's attention. It is the one where contestants have to go on obstacle courses and often fall into the water under the various contraptions they have to negotiate their way, over, through or around. There were peals of laughter as various contestants tried to jump onto and across a large series of huge rubber balloons and most often bounced off into the water.
Simon, Shelley and Holly came by. John had met Shelley when he was last in England but Holly was not yet born. It is strange John thought how fast times can fly. Here he was meeting a young woman who had not been born when he was last here and Simon was middle aged. John remembered Mark and Simon about three years old holding onto Val's hand.
The room, due to simple body heat, became very hot. John thought it reminded him of Melbourne even though it was cool outside and there was no heating on in the house.
Around 8:30, the visitors started to make a move to go and they headed back. Timing was important to ensure that the causeway wasn't flooded by a high tide that can close the road to all but the biggest trucks.
John drove back with David and Hillary again. David who has always been a professional driver negotiated the dark, narrow roads with ease.
Upon arriving back at David and Hillary`s, David got out some memorabilia, such as a painting of their Nanna Barnett and a wolf cub album with David on the cover while Hillary made tea. David also brought out a precious container with pictures of his Dad (John`s other uncle Ted) as a prisoner of war in WW2. Talk turned to old times at 33 Brunswick Court where Carolyn and David`s Mum and John`s Dad had lived as children. They talked of their grandmother and their aunts and uncles and the good times they had had playing together as children when they visited. John was sad not to have the chance to see his cousin Diane, who is David and Carolyn`s older sister.
Too soon, it was time for John to go back to Linda`s and John said his farewells, happy to know that all would be coming to the family get tgether the next day. When David dropped him off at the door, John went in and had a short talk with Linda and Nigel about his day and headed up for bed after declining Linda`s kind offer of a cup of tea.
TRB
Saturday, February 13, 2010
First and Second Gears
Feb 12
It was a dreary overcast day when John looked out the window. It was the kind of day you want to spend poodling along in first gear. He was glad that Susan and David did not have to make such a dreary drive but wished that David felt better. As a result, John didn't have anything specifc planned during the day though he was very much looking forward to taking Linda, Nigel, and Aunt Stella out in the evening to thank them for their kindness and great welcome.
He quickly remembered it was Linda's birthday and retrieved her card to take downstairs. Josh and Bella were already there and Rachel had baked her Mum cupcakes, each with frosting and one big frosted letter on top of that. They spelled out "Happy Birthday, Nana xx" It must have taken some time to decorate.
John had a shower, then had breakfast with his tea and afterward played with Josh and Bella. It's funny, but with children around the hours sort of melt away. He read the paper, wrote and uploaded the post for yesterday with its video. He also tried to keep out of the cleaner's way, too. She seemed like a very nice person.
In the afternoon, John went along with Linda to let the children play on the playground equipment in the park close by. John shot video of the chidren running, climbing, balancing, swinging etc. Once again, the children loved to be on camera. It was a little trying when Bella, once again, refused to leave the park but the offer of seeing herself on 'television' helped her to change her mind. All in all, though, they are very good children.
Once back in the warm, John and the two children watched the video together - little Bella pointing at herself on the screen and cooing, "Bellaaa" with the biggest smile. John was smiling too.
Then the day switched into second gear. Rachel came and picked the children up, Nigel got home from work, and Linda went and picked up Aunt Stella. Linda had asked John if he could do it but he was a little concerned about driving on such narrow roads, especially in the dark. He lost his driving confidence a bit the day before on the local (as opposed to major) roads.
When Linda arrived home with Aunt Stella they left, with Nigel at the wheel, for "The Railway Tavern" for dinner. It is a typical albeit beautiful English pub with good food and a happy ambience. People were standing around talking and laughing in a relaxed easy fashion. Linda got the group a table while Nigel generously got the first round of drinks. John accepted only on condition that the rest of the night was on him to thank them for everything. Nigel accepted reluctantly but graciously and ordered a local brew for John that was 'just what the doctor ordered.'
They surveyed the menus. John chose a delicious carrot and parsnip soup to start and a tasty lamb dish (pieces of lamb in a tomato-based gravy with roast potatoes and veggies) for his main course.
As they were finishing their mains came up another cousin, Paul, and his partner, Beverley. It was so great to see him again and to meet Beverley! John had last seen Paul when he, Aunt Stella, and his late Uncle Bernie had visited John's Mum and Dad in Nova Scotia in the 1980's. When Paul was up getting drinks John told the group he had taught Paul something when he was in canada and was going to test him.
Thus, when Paul came back, John said he had a question. Paul said ok and John asked him what he had taight him back then in Nova Scotia... and lo and behold Paul got it. John had taught Paul how to throw a forward pass with a Canadian football. Then John asked, "how DO you throw it?" And Paul said completely correctly, "You have to put your fingers on the laces." It was astounding that after nearly thirty years he had not forgotten! Good teacher? Great student? Both? hahaha
The dessert menu arrived and John thought to himself that he shouldn't have any because he was so full. The easiest thing to eat was simple ice cream so that is what he ordered. He didn't think he would get three huge scoops. Nigel gallantly agreed to take two of the scoops so they would not get wasted.
When the bill arrived John was very happy with it. It was far less than he had expected. He hoped that Nigel had not paid for all the drinks surrepticiously. John asked what if anything he should leave as a tip. Ten pounds, twenty pounds? Paul and Linda both said, "Five pounds" in unison. John felt yet again the warmth of family. They didn't want him to overpay and so were looking out for him.
Too soon Paul and Beverley had to leave but it was wonderful to have seen Paul again and to have met Beverley. Paul made a promise that if he ever does come to North America he will definitely come and see John.
It was, at last, time to leave the establishment. On the way out, Nigel pointed out that the pub was right on the river and has a brand new patio deck right on the banks of the river, all ready for the spring season. It will be beautiful there and likely will be so popular it will be hard to find a table.
They drove Aunt Stella home and John walked her to her door. Then it was back to Linda and Nigel's home. The day had everything: slow, lazy, reflection, fun, great food, family. What more could a person want, thought John as the clock neared midnight.
TRB
It was a dreary overcast day when John looked out the window. It was the kind of day you want to spend poodling along in first gear. He was glad that Susan and David did not have to make such a dreary drive but wished that David felt better. As a result, John didn't have anything specifc planned during the day though he was very much looking forward to taking Linda, Nigel, and Aunt Stella out in the evening to thank them for their kindness and great welcome.
He quickly remembered it was Linda's birthday and retrieved her card to take downstairs. Josh and Bella were already there and Rachel had baked her Mum cupcakes, each with frosting and one big frosted letter on top of that. They spelled out "Happy Birthday, Nana xx" It must have taken some time to decorate.
John had a shower, then had breakfast with his tea and afterward played with Josh and Bella. It's funny, but with children around the hours sort of melt away. He read the paper, wrote and uploaded the post for yesterday with its video. He also tried to keep out of the cleaner's way, too. She seemed like a very nice person.
In the afternoon, John went along with Linda to let the children play on the playground equipment in the park close by. John shot video of the chidren running, climbing, balancing, swinging etc. Once again, the children loved to be on camera. It was a little trying when Bella, once again, refused to leave the park but the offer of seeing herself on 'television' helped her to change her mind. All in all, though, they are very good children.
Once back in the warm, John and the two children watched the video together - little Bella pointing at herself on the screen and cooing, "Bellaaa" with the biggest smile. John was smiling too.
Then the day switched into second gear. Rachel came and picked the children up, Nigel got home from work, and Linda went and picked up Aunt Stella. Linda had asked John if he could do it but he was a little concerned about driving on such narrow roads, especially in the dark. He lost his driving confidence a bit the day before on the local (as opposed to major) roads.
When Linda arrived home with Aunt Stella they left, with Nigel at the wheel, for "The Railway Tavern" for dinner. It is a typical albeit beautiful English pub with good food and a happy ambience. People were standing around talking and laughing in a relaxed easy fashion. Linda got the group a table while Nigel generously got the first round of drinks. John accepted only on condition that the rest of the night was on him to thank them for everything. Nigel accepted reluctantly but graciously and ordered a local brew for John that was 'just what the doctor ordered.'
They surveyed the menus. John chose a delicious carrot and parsnip soup to start and a tasty lamb dish (pieces of lamb in a tomato-based gravy with roast potatoes and veggies) for his main course.
As they were finishing their mains came up another cousin, Paul, and his partner, Beverley. It was so great to see him again and to meet Beverley! John had last seen Paul when he, Aunt Stella, and his late Uncle Bernie had visited John's Mum and Dad in Nova Scotia in the 1980's. When Paul was up getting drinks John told the group he had taught Paul something when he was in canada and was going to test him.
Thus, when Paul came back, John said he had a question. Paul said ok and John asked him what he had taight him back then in Nova Scotia... and lo and behold Paul got it. John had taught Paul how to throw a forward pass with a Canadian football. Then John asked, "how DO you throw it?" And Paul said completely correctly, "You have to put your fingers on the laces." It was astounding that after nearly thirty years he had not forgotten! Good teacher? Great student? Both? hahaha
The dessert menu arrived and John thought to himself that he shouldn't have any because he was so full. The easiest thing to eat was simple ice cream so that is what he ordered. He didn't think he would get three huge scoops. Nigel gallantly agreed to take two of the scoops so they would not get wasted.
When the bill arrived John was very happy with it. It was far less than he had expected. He hoped that Nigel had not paid for all the drinks surrepticiously. John asked what if anything he should leave as a tip. Ten pounds, twenty pounds? Paul and Linda both said, "Five pounds" in unison. John felt yet again the warmth of family. They didn't want him to overpay and so were looking out for him.
Too soon Paul and Beverley had to leave but it was wonderful to have seen Paul again and to have met Beverley. Paul made a promise that if he ever does come to North America he will definitely come and see John.
It was, at last, time to leave the establishment. On the way out, Nigel pointed out that the pub was right on the river and has a brand new patio deck right on the banks of the river, all ready for the spring season. It will be beautiful there and likely will be so popular it will be hard to find a table.
They drove Aunt Stella home and John walked her to her door. Then it was back to Linda and Nigel's home. The day had everything: slow, lazy, reflection, fun, great food, family. What more could a person want, thought John as the clock neared midnight.
TRB
Friday, February 12, 2010
A Day of Many Things
Feb 11
John did not expect a day that would be filled with such diversity of things. So, this will be a long one!
Once again, he felt well. He had talked to Gail the night before and they had had a good conversation.
This morning, like the last one, was frosty and icy as it had snowed the day before and overnight but there was blue in the sky. John had not expected this kind of weather. He had predicted that it would be overcast with light drizzle every day. So, this was a nice surprise.
And because it was icy, John thought.... Well, truthfully, John didn't think! He decided it would be a good day to go out for a drive. The sunny sky filled him with confidence and he still has a full tank of gas that he doesn't seem to be able to use up and he doesn't want to take the car back with a lot more fuel than he started because it is very expensive here (1.11 pounds per litre). Furthermore, Alan (in Kent's) GPS phone, called a SatNav here, would bring him back to Linda's no matter where he went. And he drives through Canadian winters, doesn't he?
After having breakfast and tea, he went out to look over the car's controls more carefully. Once again he was impressed with the little car. The only control that still stymied him were the two levers (the turn indicator is where the winshield wipers should be and vice versa - many times on the way here John had told the other traffic that he was changing lanes by turning on the wipers).
So he set out to see the countryside, stop the car in picturesque locations and take some beautiful video. He turned right coming out of the subdivision. He doesn't know why he chose right but it took him to one of the villages. As he drove he noticed there were fairly big trucks parked wherever it was convenient for them and the cars and other trucks had to take turns passing by. Well, that was ok. He motored on and the road led to the A12. Ok, John thought, it would be nice to see the divided highway on a good day and practice handling the car where there was a lot of room. He headed towards London, intending to take an off ramp somewhere to see the countryside.
Everything was smooth and John's confidence rose even higher. Smiling, he took an off ramp near Chelmsford and drove away from the city. For those who know the area, he thinks it was the A414 towards Maldon, another famous British fighter base in WW2. He came to a nice little village but the SatNav didn't seem to be working. The battery wasn't dead but the screen kept telling him it couldn't connect to the Internet. So, he stopped and turned it off and then on again and all was once again, fine.
Strangely, since it was programmed to go to Linda's, it did not tell John to turn back the way he had come but rather to continue on the road. Good, John thought, this little device is very clever. He drove through a country lane that gave him spectacular vistas but had no, and I mean, NO shoulder. The road was lower than land it ran through. Right beside each narrow lane was a metre or so of grass on land (the edge shaped like a cliff) one foot or more higher than the road itself so you could not drive up onto it. And right next to that were the hedgerows. John realized that he really couldn't stop to take video. So he drove on a little disappointed but still enjoying his time.
The GPS told him to turn right. No problem. The sign should have warned him when it said, "One Lane Road with Passing Bays." But the map said it was only 0.3 miles back to the A414. No worries. John just hoped he wouldn't meet another car and have to back up to the closest passing bay. And he would only go 30.
The A414 was closer and closer. He went over a ridge and there in front of him down in the hollow ahead was a white car sitting in the road and a tow truck hoisting a van onto its bed. He hit the brakes.... nothing. He hit them again.... Nothing! He was getting closer and closer. Too close! He stood on the brakes and realized that the ABS brakes WERE working, chattering down the sheet of ice that called itself a road.
His car stopped close enough for John to see the many rust marks on the other car.
Once stopped he thought he might wait the minute until the van was hoisted but then realized no one was sitting in the car in front. It was just a barrier to stop other cars from crashing into the tow truck. And the tow truck did not seem to be making any progress towards hoisting the van. So John turned in the driveway of a lovely house and went back. The GPS had him turn right back onto the original road and it intersected the A414. He needn't have even had his close encounter of the vehicular kind. Shaken, but not stirred, John continued on.
(note from TRB to John: Stop with the stupid jokes when you're dictating!)
The A414 led him back to the A12 and he decided he would follow it but take a slight diversion to a village where his two uncles and families had lived. But first he had to pass through the village closest to Linda's where it was narrow, so he took a turn left to try to bypass the main road. OMG, the streets were half the width of the main road with cars parked on both sides and there was still traffic.
No one blew their horn at John but he did see angry looking drivers who seemed to be shouting in their cars at him. Let's just say they had faces like pitbulls chewing wasps. John realized that because of his extra care he was probably adding 10 seconds to their various journeys. This sort of bad impatience behind the wheel is a bad British trait. They even have TV commercials about it asking people what would life be like if people teated each other the same way when walking.
Anyway, he was soon back on the main road in the village weaving in between the delivery vans parked everywhere. He took the turn to the village and set off cross country again. Once again, it was pretty and he thought of one of his late uncle Stan who had been the volunteer fire chief and who must have ridden these roads - and of the memorable time in 1960 when he took John and his Dad on a drive in his car and had let John turn on the siren.
He arrived in the village and facing him was a huge transfer trailer of the size they have in Australia blocking 80% of the narrow road. John thought, "I just can't win!" as he drove on the sidewalk within centimetres of a house to pass by. He saw a sign to the other village close to Linda's and followed it, arriving back determined to tell the world his story.
He spent much of the afternoon with John and Bella. He videoed them and showed them what they look like "on TV". They turned out to be, like most English chidren, natural stars and were able to easily follow his director's instructions. Along with Linda they went to a playground in the chill wind. Josh turned out to be an expert climber though not quite four and both enjoyed the slide. The two had so much fun that they resisted leaving although it was getting much too cold for them to stay in the biting wind from the North Sea. Bella resisted loudly and sat on the ground. Linda had to pick her up in her harness before she would walk again.
Bac kn the warm, Susan, on his Mum's side called to say that she had to cancel lunch for Friday as David, her partner, was ill. He had come back from a work trip with a virus with the exact symptoms as John had experienced when arriving here. They had a great conversation and agreed to stay in touch from now on by telephone was well as email.
Soon, Snowy came home. Now John has forgotten to tell you of Snowy, Linda and Nigel's pet white West Highland Terrier. She is a lovely dog but loves to play and roll in the mud and so she does not look snowy often! hahaha She had been out to get shampooed and clipped and was stunning when she arrived home. The video below shows her.
Linda told John that his cousin Dennis was picking him up to take him to dinner at his house. Dennis arrived just after Rachel had come and picked up John and Bella and they set out.
It was great, John thought, to let someone else drive, as Dennis confidently and quickly negotiated all obstacles. Dennis volunteers with a service that helps people in the wee hours on the weekends - they work with with the ambulance service and help people who are hurt, sick on the street, drunk, homeless, whatever. He volunteers one overnight every month.
They went to the best Fish and Chip shop in the city where Dennis lives and Dennis bought cod and chips. When they arrived at Dennis's home he took John in to meet his wife Adele, and their two children, Lillie and Joel (named after John's Dad). What a charming family! Both children are intelligent, creative and obviously filled with talent, enthusisam, and curiosity about everything. John did not ask their ages but thinks that Lillie is in her last year of elementary school and Joel is a couple of years younger.
Adele makes greeting cards and John asked he if she could make one for him to give to Linda as Feb 12 is Linda's birthday. She graciously agreed. Although they said they would not take John's money, he insisted because the resulting card would not be a gift from him to Linda if he had not paid for it. Adele reluctantly agreed to acdept payment.
They sat down to dinner. John had a big piece of fried cod with home made french fries and mushy peas. John had never had mushy peas before but they talk about them on Coronation Street so he had wondered. Adele had them, along with regular peas, and salad. Dennis said you have to have them with mint for them to be good. They WERE good. John was stuffed at the end of dinner.
Joel showed John his room and his lego. He is really into lego these days and Lillie told John about her school and what is happening there. Along with Dennis they headed up to the attic where Adele makes her cards and they showed John all kinds of neat stuff - including a bow and arrow that Dennis bought from apygmy hunter when he spent nine months driving from England all the way to South Africa many years ago.
The interaction with the children was wonderful as they did their best to make John feel welcome. The only being not entirely convinced of John's good intentions was Barney, their wire haired dachshund. He was very friendly and liked to be stroked but guarded John, and his toes, closely.
After dinner they talked about a lot of things like Internet Safety, what Canada is like, what is going on in their lives and they saw where John lives using Google Earth.
Adele had by now made the card and was putting on the last bit of decoration when Linda and Nigel came to pick John up. How can we transfer the card without Linda seeing, ran through John's mind. Dennis had given John the previous weekend'a newspaper with a story of a man whose father had gone to BC some fifty years ago. When John was getting up to put on his jacket and shoes he dropped the paper onto Adele's lap as if he was giving it back. She instantly knew what he was doing and deftly slipped the card into the paper and folded the paper up. As they were leaving she gave him the folded newspaper back. John was pleased that their exchange had worked so well. Linda did not seem to notice anything amiss. It was hugs and handshakes goodbye and John was off in the comptent hands of Nigel, driving with the same confidence as Dennis had before.
After arriving back at Linda's, John had tea and big piece of low fat fruitcake before heading off to bed thankful for such an awesome day.
TRB
John did not expect a day that would be filled with such diversity of things. So, this will be a long one!
Once again, he felt well. He had talked to Gail the night before and they had had a good conversation.
This morning, like the last one, was frosty and icy as it had snowed the day before and overnight but there was blue in the sky. John had not expected this kind of weather. He had predicted that it would be overcast with light drizzle every day. So, this was a nice surprise.
And because it was icy, John thought.... Well, truthfully, John didn't think! He decided it would be a good day to go out for a drive. The sunny sky filled him with confidence and he still has a full tank of gas that he doesn't seem to be able to use up and he doesn't want to take the car back with a lot more fuel than he started because it is very expensive here (1.11 pounds per litre). Furthermore, Alan (in Kent's) GPS phone, called a SatNav here, would bring him back to Linda's no matter where he went. And he drives through Canadian winters, doesn't he?
After having breakfast and tea, he went out to look over the car's controls more carefully. Once again he was impressed with the little car. The only control that still stymied him were the two levers (the turn indicator is where the winshield wipers should be and vice versa - many times on the way here John had told the other traffic that he was changing lanes by turning on the wipers).
So he set out to see the countryside, stop the car in picturesque locations and take some beautiful video. He turned right coming out of the subdivision. He doesn't know why he chose right but it took him to one of the villages. As he drove he noticed there were fairly big trucks parked wherever it was convenient for them and the cars and other trucks had to take turns passing by. Well, that was ok. He motored on and the road led to the A12. Ok, John thought, it would be nice to see the divided highway on a good day and practice handling the car where there was a lot of room. He headed towards London, intending to take an off ramp somewhere to see the countryside.
Everything was smooth and John's confidence rose even higher. Smiling, he took an off ramp near Chelmsford and drove away from the city. For those who know the area, he thinks it was the A414 towards Maldon, another famous British fighter base in WW2. He came to a nice little village but the SatNav didn't seem to be working. The battery wasn't dead but the screen kept telling him it couldn't connect to the Internet. So, he stopped and turned it off and then on again and all was once again, fine.
Strangely, since it was programmed to go to Linda's, it did not tell John to turn back the way he had come but rather to continue on the road. Good, John thought, this little device is very clever. He drove through a country lane that gave him spectacular vistas but had no, and I mean, NO shoulder. The road was lower than land it ran through. Right beside each narrow lane was a metre or so of grass on land (the edge shaped like a cliff) one foot or more higher than the road itself so you could not drive up onto it. And right next to that were the hedgerows. John realized that he really couldn't stop to take video. So he drove on a little disappointed but still enjoying his time.
The GPS told him to turn right. No problem. The sign should have warned him when it said, "One Lane Road with Passing Bays." But the map said it was only 0.3 miles back to the A414. No worries. John just hoped he wouldn't meet another car and have to back up to the closest passing bay. And he would only go 30.
The A414 was closer and closer. He went over a ridge and there in front of him down in the hollow ahead was a white car sitting in the road and a tow truck hoisting a van onto its bed. He hit the brakes.... nothing. He hit them again.... Nothing! He was getting closer and closer. Too close! He stood on the brakes and realized that the ABS brakes WERE working, chattering down the sheet of ice that called itself a road.
His car stopped close enough for John to see the many rust marks on the other car.
Once stopped he thought he might wait the minute until the van was hoisted but then realized no one was sitting in the car in front. It was just a barrier to stop other cars from crashing into the tow truck. And the tow truck did not seem to be making any progress towards hoisting the van. So John turned in the driveway of a lovely house and went back. The GPS had him turn right back onto the original road and it intersected the A414. He needn't have even had his close encounter of the vehicular kind. Shaken, but not stirred, John continued on.
(note from TRB to John: Stop with the stupid jokes when you're dictating!)
The A414 led him back to the A12 and he decided he would follow it but take a slight diversion to a village where his two uncles and families had lived. But first he had to pass through the village closest to Linda's where it was narrow, so he took a turn left to try to bypass the main road. OMG, the streets were half the width of the main road with cars parked on both sides and there was still traffic.
No one blew their horn at John but he did see angry looking drivers who seemed to be shouting in their cars at him. Let's just say they had faces like pitbulls chewing wasps. John realized that because of his extra care he was probably adding 10 seconds to their various journeys. This sort of bad impatience behind the wheel is a bad British trait. They even have TV commercials about it asking people what would life be like if people teated each other the same way when walking.
Anyway, he was soon back on the main road in the village weaving in between the delivery vans parked everywhere. He took the turn to the village and set off cross country again. Once again, it was pretty and he thought of one of his late uncle Stan who had been the volunteer fire chief and who must have ridden these roads - and of the memorable time in 1960 when he took John and his Dad on a drive in his car and had let John turn on the siren.
He arrived in the village and facing him was a huge transfer trailer of the size they have in Australia blocking 80% of the narrow road. John thought, "I just can't win!" as he drove on the sidewalk within centimetres of a house to pass by. He saw a sign to the other village close to Linda's and followed it, arriving back determined to tell the world his story.
He spent much of the afternoon with John and Bella. He videoed them and showed them what they look like "on TV". They turned out to be, like most English chidren, natural stars and were able to easily follow his director's instructions. Along with Linda they went to a playground in the chill wind. Josh turned out to be an expert climber though not quite four and both enjoyed the slide. The two had so much fun that they resisted leaving although it was getting much too cold for them to stay in the biting wind from the North Sea. Bella resisted loudly and sat on the ground. Linda had to pick her up in her harness before she would walk again.
Bac kn the warm, Susan, on his Mum's side called to say that she had to cancel lunch for Friday as David, her partner, was ill. He had come back from a work trip with a virus with the exact symptoms as John had experienced when arriving here. They had a great conversation and agreed to stay in touch from now on by telephone was well as email.
Soon, Snowy came home. Now John has forgotten to tell you of Snowy, Linda and Nigel's pet white West Highland Terrier. She is a lovely dog but loves to play and roll in the mud and so she does not look snowy often! hahaha She had been out to get shampooed and clipped and was stunning when she arrived home. The video below shows her.
Linda told John that his cousin Dennis was picking him up to take him to dinner at his house. Dennis arrived just after Rachel had come and picked up John and Bella and they set out.
It was great, John thought, to let someone else drive, as Dennis confidently and quickly negotiated all obstacles. Dennis volunteers with a service that helps people in the wee hours on the weekends - they work with with the ambulance service and help people who are hurt, sick on the street, drunk, homeless, whatever. He volunteers one overnight every month.
They went to the best Fish and Chip shop in the city where Dennis lives and Dennis bought cod and chips. When they arrived at Dennis's home he took John in to meet his wife Adele, and their two children, Lillie and Joel (named after John's Dad). What a charming family! Both children are intelligent, creative and obviously filled with talent, enthusisam, and curiosity about everything. John did not ask their ages but thinks that Lillie is in her last year of elementary school and Joel is a couple of years younger.
Adele makes greeting cards and John asked he if she could make one for him to give to Linda as Feb 12 is Linda's birthday. She graciously agreed. Although they said they would not take John's money, he insisted because the resulting card would not be a gift from him to Linda if he had not paid for it. Adele reluctantly agreed to acdept payment.
They sat down to dinner. John had a big piece of fried cod with home made french fries and mushy peas. John had never had mushy peas before but they talk about them on Coronation Street so he had wondered. Adele had them, along with regular peas, and salad. Dennis said you have to have them with mint for them to be good. They WERE good. John was stuffed at the end of dinner.
Joel showed John his room and his lego. He is really into lego these days and Lillie told John about her school and what is happening there. Along with Dennis they headed up to the attic where Adele makes her cards and they showed John all kinds of neat stuff - including a bow and arrow that Dennis bought from apygmy hunter when he spent nine months driving from England all the way to South Africa many years ago.
The interaction with the children was wonderful as they did their best to make John feel welcome. The only being not entirely convinced of John's good intentions was Barney, their wire haired dachshund. He was very friendly and liked to be stroked but guarded John, and his toes, closely.
After dinner they talked about a lot of things like Internet Safety, what Canada is like, what is going on in their lives and they saw where John lives using Google Earth.
Adele had by now made the card and was putting on the last bit of decoration when Linda and Nigel came to pick John up. How can we transfer the card without Linda seeing, ran through John's mind. Dennis had given John the previous weekend'a newspaper with a story of a man whose father had gone to BC some fifty years ago. When John was getting up to put on his jacket and shoes he dropped the paper onto Adele's lap as if he was giving it back. She instantly knew what he was doing and deftly slipped the card into the paper and folded the paper up. As they were leaving she gave him the folded newspaper back. John was pleased that their exchange had worked so well. Linda did not seem to notice anything amiss. It was hugs and handshakes goodbye and John was off in the comptent hands of Nigel, driving with the same confidence as Dennis had before.
After arriving back at Linda's, John had tea and big piece of low fat fruitcake before heading off to bed thankful for such an awesome day.
TRB
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Out and about in Essex
Feb 10
John spent the part of the day/evening writing and uploading a couple of posts to the blog. He was happy to talk to his cousin Anita because he had not been up to a visit the previous day. Anita has a holiday house in Newfoundland and loves Canada. Her daughter has been attending MUN (pronounced MUHN) the Memorial University of Newfoundland. They agreed that they should make a point of seeing each other sometime when she and her family are all in Canada. However, it is a three-hour flight with a connection in Halifax so it will have to be planned. Perhaps John thought, he could see his children and grandchildren on the way to Newfoundland. John was very happy to talk to Anita and to realize that he does have a cousin in Canada...when she is there!
After watching some TV with Linda and Nigel John retired to bed. He also took one more Panadol to ease the fever and drank two huge glasses of Orange Squash to rehyrdate himself. He felt quite good when he turned in. In fact, he knew he would be able to sleep well because Nigel had adjusted the radiator in his room and turned it off. John was able to get under the duvet in a cool (in both senses of the word) room.
His night was perfect and he got a great sleep, waking up not only refreshed but feeling 95% himself again. Ok, maybe 97%! It had snowed the night before and there was still a dusting left on the ground and it made the scene outside really attractive.
He went downstairs and saw Linda who asked him if he would like some toast. Oh Boy! Did he ever! He had two slices of toast with the most delicious strawberry jam washed down with tea. That was the moment John knew he was better. John was happy to help Linda by cutting up some of the veggies for dinner because he knew he would enjoy eating them later.
Linda and John then went over to Auntie Stella's to take her to the hospital to get an Xray taken. Linda drove through the local villages and John was able to see how the design of the buildings differed from Kent to Essex. The three passed by a village where two of his uncles had lived (and of course Linda and Stella) and saw some of the places he remembered as a boy when he had visited them there.
When they arrived at the hospital John felt good that he could help by taking his aunt in while Linda parked her car. His aunt has difficulty walking and John was able to have her on his arm while getting to the XRay department. John thought to himself that being part of two wonderful families (his Mum's and his Dad's) is, indeed, a blessing.
After the XRay was taken they drove to a local big box store area and Linda picked up some groceries while John had a long and enjoyable conversation with Aunt Stella. It turns out that they see the world in similar ways and that felt good to John.
After that Linda took her Mum home and drove John back to their house by a different route so John got to see more of the local countryside and villages.
The chicken was smelling sooo delicious!
Well, the roast chicken dinner tasted so delicious. When Nigel and Linda called John to the table he was astounded by the smells and the look of his dinner. He may have been hungry but this was great: roast chicken, gravy, roast potatoes, all the veggies John had cut up and peeled and more! In fact he cannot remember all that there was but it included cabbage, carrot, swede, green beans, zuchini, and well as I said he was so hungry and it was so delicious he gobbled it down without noting precisely what he was eating but the tastes were incredible. He thought how well he has been fed... first by Alan in Kent and now by Linda!
In the evening he read about the history of the local villages from Roman times to the present. Then he asked me to write this blog entry.
Suffice it to say that John is now 100%
TRB
John spent the part of the day/evening writing and uploading a couple of posts to the blog. He was happy to talk to his cousin Anita because he had not been up to a visit the previous day. Anita has a holiday house in Newfoundland and loves Canada. Her daughter has been attending MUN (pronounced MUHN) the Memorial University of Newfoundland. They agreed that they should make a point of seeing each other sometime when she and her family are all in Canada. However, it is a three-hour flight with a connection in Halifax so it will have to be planned. Perhaps John thought, he could see his children and grandchildren on the way to Newfoundland. John was very happy to talk to Anita and to realize that he does have a cousin in Canada...when she is there!
After watching some TV with Linda and Nigel John retired to bed. He also took one more Panadol to ease the fever and drank two huge glasses of Orange Squash to rehyrdate himself. He felt quite good when he turned in. In fact, he knew he would be able to sleep well because Nigel had adjusted the radiator in his room and turned it off. John was able to get under the duvet in a cool (in both senses of the word) room.
His night was perfect and he got a great sleep, waking up not only refreshed but feeling 95% himself again. Ok, maybe 97%! It had snowed the night before and there was still a dusting left on the ground and it made the scene outside really attractive.
He went downstairs and saw Linda who asked him if he would like some toast. Oh Boy! Did he ever! He had two slices of toast with the most delicious strawberry jam washed down with tea. That was the moment John knew he was better. John was happy to help Linda by cutting up some of the veggies for dinner because he knew he would enjoy eating them later.
Linda and John then went over to Auntie Stella's to take her to the hospital to get an Xray taken. Linda drove through the local villages and John was able to see how the design of the buildings differed from Kent to Essex. The three passed by a village where two of his uncles had lived (and of course Linda and Stella) and saw some of the places he remembered as a boy when he had visited them there.
When they arrived at the hospital John felt good that he could help by taking his aunt in while Linda parked her car. His aunt has difficulty walking and John was able to have her on his arm while getting to the XRay department. John thought to himself that being part of two wonderful families (his Mum's and his Dad's) is, indeed, a blessing.
After the XRay was taken they drove to a local big box store area and Linda picked up some groceries while John had a long and enjoyable conversation with Aunt Stella. It turns out that they see the world in similar ways and that felt good to John.
After that Linda took her Mum home and drove John back to their house by a different route so John got to see more of the local countryside and villages.
The chicken was smelling sooo delicious!
Well, the roast chicken dinner tasted so delicious. When Nigel and Linda called John to the table he was astounded by the smells and the look of his dinner. He may have been hungry but this was great: roast chicken, gravy, roast potatoes, all the veggies John had cut up and peeled and more! In fact he cannot remember all that there was but it included cabbage, carrot, swede, green beans, zuchini, and well as I said he was so hungry and it was so delicious he gobbled it down without noting precisely what he was eating but the tastes were incredible. He thought how well he has been fed... first by Alan in Kent and now by Linda!
In the evening he read about the history of the local villages from Roman times to the present. Then he asked me to write this blog entry.
Suffice it to say that John is now 100%
TRB
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Feb 9
John was exhausted after the night. Rarely had he felt so bad physically - an aching body, a severe headache over the entire front and top of his head and a stomach constantly rumbling and gurgling. And lying in the bed, his feverish mind raced over the various worries in his life. Nothing seemed good. He wished he had taken Linda up on her offer of Panadol for pain and a stomach settling drug.
He had been up several times in the night and had tried to drink fluids to avoid dehydration but fluids swept right through him. He listened to trains pass by and looked at the ceiling. The he would turn over in the bed just to feel a cooler pillow. His hands felt very hot.
When morning came, he went downstairs and Linda gave him the drugs and she said she was ok with him going back to bed. She has been so understanding and that has made it so much easier for John. Finally, with the aid of the drugs he slept. He woke at 12:30 but continued to lay down because he felt very weak. He finally got up at about 1:20pm and came down. He was surprised and happy to see his Auntie Stella, Linda's Mum, there (along with Rachel's children that Linda takes care of three days a week). Stella was married to John's late uncle Bernie.
They had a very good conversation about a lot of things until Auntie Stella left. Tomorrow John is going to go along with Linda and Aunt Stella to the hospital where Stella has to undergo some tests.
John wanted me to write this now because he doesn't know how he will feel later even though he is feeling a bit better at the moment.
TRB
John was exhausted after the night. Rarely had he felt so bad physically - an aching body, a severe headache over the entire front and top of his head and a stomach constantly rumbling and gurgling. And lying in the bed, his feverish mind raced over the various worries in his life. Nothing seemed good. He wished he had taken Linda up on her offer of Panadol for pain and a stomach settling drug.
He had been up several times in the night and had tried to drink fluids to avoid dehydration but fluids swept right through him. He listened to trains pass by and looked at the ceiling. The he would turn over in the bed just to feel a cooler pillow. His hands felt very hot.
When morning came, he went downstairs and Linda gave him the drugs and she said she was ok with him going back to bed. She has been so understanding and that has made it so much easier for John. Finally, with the aid of the drugs he slept. He woke at 12:30 but continued to lay down because he felt very weak. He finally got up at about 1:20pm and came down. He was surprised and happy to see his Auntie Stella, Linda's Mum, there (along with Rachel's children that Linda takes care of three days a week). Stella was married to John's late uncle Bernie.
They had a very good conversation about a lot of things until Auntie Stella left. Tomorrow John is going to go along with Linda and Aunt Stella to the hospital where Stella has to undergo some tests.
John wanted me to write this now because he doesn't know how he will feel later even though he is feeling a bit better at the moment.
TRB
From Kent to Essex
Feb 8
This was to be the day that John was off to see his Dad's side of his family. When he woke he was not feeling very well at all. He attributed this to nerves because he was going to have to drive through some pretty heavy traffic. He was also sad to say farewell to Val and the family. Val made him a piece of dry toast and some tea and he felt a little better and said that he was sure it would pass. However, he still had to visit the bathroom a few more times.
The driver from Enterprise, the rental car company, came to pick him up a little later than agreed but that was ok John thought as long as he could make it to Linda's before dark. It was a cold day with occasional snow flurries and the weather had put the car company behind in their pick ups. The driver, though, was a really nice guy and he had been a London bus driver before retiring. He had driven some of the routes that John had ridden on with his Mum and Dad when he was a small boy: the 47 and the number 1. Of course the driver had driven those routes when John was already in Canada but he was fascinated to hear how the system worked with drivers and conductors being teams who always worked with each other. The driver had, in fact, married his conductor.
Soon they were at the rental depot and John bid his driver farewell and was accompanied into the office by one of the office staff. It turned out to be the easiest and best car pick up he has had. The guy walked him through the whole process quickly and easily, helped to take his luggage to the car and gave him a run through of the controls. The only trouble was that the car was not full of gas. He has to return it with the same amount in it but that is hard to work out when it is only at a quarter tank. It is much easier to fill up when you arrive back.
It was a brand new black Volkswagen Polo (950 miles on the odometer) and it had a lot of bells and whistles. It was a tight little car and felt like it would be very steady on the road.
Then John was off. The driver had told John the easiest way to get to the divided highway from the office. He had pointed out the way to go on the first roundabut, told John to take the right hand side of the next roundabout and then just go straight through all the other roundabouts until getting to the M2.
John followed the instructions but he seemed to be heading in the wrong direction through many, many roundabouts and then out into open farmland. At one point he was right beside Canterbury Cathedral in the middle of town. In the end he pulled over, got out Alan's phone GPS and it said he was going in the right direction.
He arrived at the M2 and zoomed out onto the highway. He found it difficult because all the distances, speed limits and speedometer are in miles not kilometres and he had to look in the rear view mirror on the other side. He heeded Alan's warning not to overtake European trucks in the lane beside them (they have left wheel drive and cannot see cars directly beside them).
Then it started to snow.
The flurries became very heavy. So much in fact that it was hard to see very far down the road. The car's temperature guage said it was 2 degrees Celsius so the snow was not settling.
Then fuel gauge started to beep.
John missed the first service centre and eventually saw a sign for the next one. It said 13 miles. Now 13 miles is a lot further away than 13 km. The fuel gauge was beeping again when John pulled in. He filled up the car and it took 42 pounds to fill it. That is about $70Cdn.
He pulled back out onto the highway and felt more comfortable. He knew he was taking the Dartford Crossing and the signs were plentiful. He had his one pound fifty for the toll ready and followed the signs even when they seemed to be going the wrong way. He only made one mistake, being in the wrong lane to go to the A12 east after passing through the tunnel and a truck driver blew his air horn to complain. For John such a trip in England was a miracle of good directions.
He reached Linda's by 3:30pm and the light was still good. It is a very nice house on a little side street of a small English country village. She welcomed him inside but by now he was really feeling sick. He had a fever and all his muscles were aching. He offered to go to a hotel rather than share whatever disease he had but she would have none of it.
After showing John to his room, a lovely bedroom on the second floor facing the front of the house, she said he could lay down if he wanted and although just arriving he said thank you and did just that. It felt so good after the two hour drive to know he was there and didn't have to worry about finding his way.
He came down in time to see his cousin Alan and his son, Stewart come in. Then Nigel, Linda's husband came home and finally Linda's daughter Rachel came in with her two cute children, Josh, 4, and Bella, 2, and her husband, Nick. The company really perked John up and he started to feel a little better. John had last seen Alan in 1965 because Alan had lived in the US with his wife the last time John was back in the UK. Alan said that he had thought John was bigger than him because John WAS bigger... in 1965! No longer so!
After the company had gone, Linda, Nigel and John sat down to dinner. Linda had cooked a lovely dinner of beef, potatoes, veggies and gravy that was delicious but John's stomach was still feeling very off. Although Linda had only put a little on his plate he still couldn't finish it.
The three had a good conversation after dinner and he learned a lot about the family, and Alan's work. By 9pm though John was really feeling that he needed to lie down badly and he went to bed.
It was a bad night. John could not get comfortable because of his aching body. He could not get the temperature right... first he was too hot and then too cold and then too hot again. It was nothing to do wth the excellent heating system; it was John's body fevering up and down. He tossed and turned all night and he realized that he had a pretty bad stomach flu bug. At one point in the night he contemplated abandoning the blog. But that is a story for tomorrow.
TRB
This was to be the day that John was off to see his Dad's side of his family. When he woke he was not feeling very well at all. He attributed this to nerves because he was going to have to drive through some pretty heavy traffic. He was also sad to say farewell to Val and the family. Val made him a piece of dry toast and some tea and he felt a little better and said that he was sure it would pass. However, he still had to visit the bathroom a few more times.
The driver from Enterprise, the rental car company, came to pick him up a little later than agreed but that was ok John thought as long as he could make it to Linda's before dark. It was a cold day with occasional snow flurries and the weather had put the car company behind in their pick ups. The driver, though, was a really nice guy and he had been a London bus driver before retiring. He had driven some of the routes that John had ridden on with his Mum and Dad when he was a small boy: the 47 and the number 1. Of course the driver had driven those routes when John was already in Canada but he was fascinated to hear how the system worked with drivers and conductors being teams who always worked with each other. The driver had, in fact, married his conductor.
Soon they were at the rental depot and John bid his driver farewell and was accompanied into the office by one of the office staff. It turned out to be the easiest and best car pick up he has had. The guy walked him through the whole process quickly and easily, helped to take his luggage to the car and gave him a run through of the controls. The only trouble was that the car was not full of gas. He has to return it with the same amount in it but that is hard to work out when it is only at a quarter tank. It is much easier to fill up when you arrive back.
It was a brand new black Volkswagen Polo (950 miles on the odometer) and it had a lot of bells and whistles. It was a tight little car and felt like it would be very steady on the road.
Then John was off. The driver had told John the easiest way to get to the divided highway from the office. He had pointed out the way to go on the first roundabut, told John to take the right hand side of the next roundabout and then just go straight through all the other roundabouts until getting to the M2.
John followed the instructions but he seemed to be heading in the wrong direction through many, many roundabouts and then out into open farmland. At one point he was right beside Canterbury Cathedral in the middle of town. In the end he pulled over, got out Alan's phone GPS and it said he was going in the right direction.
He arrived at the M2 and zoomed out onto the highway. He found it difficult because all the distances, speed limits and speedometer are in miles not kilometres and he had to look in the rear view mirror on the other side. He heeded Alan's warning not to overtake European trucks in the lane beside them (they have left wheel drive and cannot see cars directly beside them).
Then it started to snow.
The flurries became very heavy. So much in fact that it was hard to see very far down the road. The car's temperature guage said it was 2 degrees Celsius so the snow was not settling.
Then fuel gauge started to beep.
John missed the first service centre and eventually saw a sign for the next one. It said 13 miles. Now 13 miles is a lot further away than 13 km. The fuel gauge was beeping again when John pulled in. He filled up the car and it took 42 pounds to fill it. That is about $70Cdn.
He pulled back out onto the highway and felt more comfortable. He knew he was taking the Dartford Crossing and the signs were plentiful. He had his one pound fifty for the toll ready and followed the signs even when they seemed to be going the wrong way. He only made one mistake, being in the wrong lane to go to the A12 east after passing through the tunnel and a truck driver blew his air horn to complain. For John such a trip in England was a miracle of good directions.
He reached Linda's by 3:30pm and the light was still good. It is a very nice house on a little side street of a small English country village. She welcomed him inside but by now he was really feeling sick. He had a fever and all his muscles were aching. He offered to go to a hotel rather than share whatever disease he had but she would have none of it.
After showing John to his room, a lovely bedroom on the second floor facing the front of the house, she said he could lay down if he wanted and although just arriving he said thank you and did just that. It felt so good after the two hour drive to know he was there and didn't have to worry about finding his way.
He came down in time to see his cousin Alan and his son, Stewart come in. Then Nigel, Linda's husband came home and finally Linda's daughter Rachel came in with her two cute children, Josh, 4, and Bella, 2, and her husband, Nick. The company really perked John up and he started to feel a little better. John had last seen Alan in 1965 because Alan had lived in the US with his wife the last time John was back in the UK. Alan said that he had thought John was bigger than him because John WAS bigger... in 1965! No longer so!
After the company had gone, Linda, Nigel and John sat down to dinner. Linda had cooked a lovely dinner of beef, potatoes, veggies and gravy that was delicious but John's stomach was still feeling very off. Although Linda had only put a little on his plate he still couldn't finish it.
The three had a good conversation after dinner and he learned a lot about the family, and Alan's work. By 9pm though John was really feeling that he needed to lie down badly and he went to bed.
It was a bad night. John could not get comfortable because of his aching body. He could not get the temperature right... first he was too hot and then too cold and then too hot again. It was nothing to do wth the excellent heating system; it was John's body fevering up and down. He tossed and turned all night and he realized that he had a pretty bad stomach flu bug. At one point in the night he contemplated abandoning the blog. But that is a story for tomorrow.
TRB
Sunday, February 7, 2010
A Day of Reflection
Feb 7
Today was very quiet for John. It was thus a day for reflection and the weather made it perfect for the activity. It was cold, near freezing, with heavy dark overcast and a damp wind that cut right through John. He didn't go out much.
The highlights of the day were a magnificent Sunday lunch cooked by Alan. There was pheasant and chicken topped with gravy, along with so many veggies, Yorkshire pudding and dressing. They had roast potatoes along with carrots, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, swede (a little like turnip but not turnip), cauliflower, and another vegetable that John had never heard of before.
John spent the rest of the day watching a show called Zoo Days about the Chester Zoo. He enjoyed watching the treatment of a little lion cub called Tejas (TAY-JAS) who had been taken of since birth because his Mum had rejected him. Tejas had tendons on hus front legs that were too short to let him walk properly. They put a cast on his front feet and he did very well and didn't even chew off the casts. He is one of only 250 Asiatic lions in the world today. The show followed him from his birth through to growing up and it was the sweetest and happiest story and on this dreary day one that did John good. It was on Channel 5 and they had over four hours of the show on through the afternoon. Tejas has since joined a the breeding programme of a French Zoo.
John also packed for his trip to stay with his cousin Linda and see his Dad's side of the family next week. He is picked up at 12:00 noon tomorrow and after picking up the rental car, we drive to Essex. We will be adding to the blog when we can.
TRB
Today was very quiet for John. It was thus a day for reflection and the weather made it perfect for the activity. It was cold, near freezing, with heavy dark overcast and a damp wind that cut right through John. He didn't go out much.
The highlights of the day were a magnificent Sunday lunch cooked by Alan. There was pheasant and chicken topped with gravy, along with so many veggies, Yorkshire pudding and dressing. They had roast potatoes along with carrots, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, swede (a little like turnip but not turnip), cauliflower, and another vegetable that John had never heard of before.
John spent the rest of the day watching a show called Zoo Days about the Chester Zoo. He enjoyed watching the treatment of a little lion cub called Tejas (TAY-JAS) who had been taken of since birth because his Mum had rejected him. Tejas had tendons on hus front legs that were too short to let him walk properly. They put a cast on his front feet and he did very well and didn't even chew off the casts. He is one of only 250 Asiatic lions in the world today. The show followed him from his birth through to growing up and it was the sweetest and happiest story and on this dreary day one that did John good. It was on Channel 5 and they had over four hours of the show on through the afternoon. Tejas has since joined a the breeding programme of a French Zoo.
John also packed for his trip to stay with his cousin Linda and see his Dad's side of the family next week. He is picked up at 12:00 noon tomorrow and after picking up the rental car, we drive to Essex. We will be adding to the blog when we can.
TRB
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Whitstable
Feb 6
John was up quite late - he had slept soundly until 7:30 or so. He got a cup of tea and went out to Val's living room. She came in a few minutes later. Alan had asked John if he wanted to go for a walk with the dogs down at Reculver but there was a problem with the back door of the four wheel drive vehicle so Sandra and Alan had decided to take a walk into Herne Bay with the dogs instead. John still wanted to go.
It was an interesting walk and the dogs had a great time. When they reached the town, Sandra and Alan put Rufus and Lara on leashes and although it was not necessary thay had a leash for Charlie and John was able to walk her. They had hoped to look into the Herne Bay Museum but it was closed until 10:00am and they would be long gone by then.
Alan suggested that they have breakfast and decided he would get each of the dogs a large, warm sausage roll as a special treat. Sandra had one as well. John and Alan had a sandwich, but Boy oh Boy what a sandwich! It was back bacon, with cream cheese and cranberries on English bread. Now Engish bread is like French bread but in a bigger size, just as crusty and just as delicious. The combination of flavours was superb.
They came back with plans to visit another seaside town, Whitstable in the afternoon. But the dogs were quite muddy from their free ramblings. John volunteered to clean Charlie, the smallest, while Alan and Sandra did the big dogs. Rufus and Lara started to horse around and Rufus left up when Sandra was cleaning him and his head hit into Sandra's causing a painful collision. Sandra said she was ok so John wnet back into Val's.
Gail and John had agreed to talk at 12:00 (7:00am in Canada) and she and John had a nice talk about many things.
Soon afterwards, it was time to set off for Whitstable. Sandra had a headache from the collision so, understandably, she decided to stay home.
Whitstable is a very cute little town as you will be able to see from the video below. The three first stopped at the harbour which is famous for its oysters. They bought some seafood (mussels, cockles, and prawns) and a pheasant. Then it was over to the oyster bar, where Alan bought them fresh oysters. The man shucked them and John and Alan ate them raw. It was only the second time in his life that John had eaten raw oysters. The first was when he was small child and the experience had turned him off. This time he really liked them. They were sooo fresh!
They walked around the town and stopped into the Duke of Cumberland pub for a drink. John and Alan had Red Lite beer, a locally brewed beer by the people who own the pub. Val had a coke.
After seeing the town they returned home to prepare for dinner. John wanted to take the family out to thank them for everything. He leaves on Monday to see the other side of his family.
They went to the same restaurant where Val and Les had taken the family the previous Sunday. They had a nice meal and all had a good time, a result of some great wit and exhilirating conversation. John said that he really felt good to say thank you in this small way for the many kindnesses he has received from his wonderful family.
After eating their fill, they all drove home to feed the dogs (who needed to eat too). And then it was time for another early night.
TRB
John was up quite late - he had slept soundly until 7:30 or so. He got a cup of tea and went out to Val's living room. She came in a few minutes later. Alan had asked John if he wanted to go for a walk with the dogs down at Reculver but there was a problem with the back door of the four wheel drive vehicle so Sandra and Alan had decided to take a walk into Herne Bay with the dogs instead. John still wanted to go.
It was an interesting walk and the dogs had a great time. When they reached the town, Sandra and Alan put Rufus and Lara on leashes and although it was not necessary thay had a leash for Charlie and John was able to walk her. They had hoped to look into the Herne Bay Museum but it was closed until 10:00am and they would be long gone by then.
Alan suggested that they have breakfast and decided he would get each of the dogs a large, warm sausage roll as a special treat. Sandra had one as well. John and Alan had a sandwich, but Boy oh Boy what a sandwich! It was back bacon, with cream cheese and cranberries on English bread. Now Engish bread is like French bread but in a bigger size, just as crusty and just as delicious. The combination of flavours was superb.
They came back with plans to visit another seaside town, Whitstable in the afternoon. But the dogs were quite muddy from their free ramblings. John volunteered to clean Charlie, the smallest, while Alan and Sandra did the big dogs. Rufus and Lara started to horse around and Rufus left up when Sandra was cleaning him and his head hit into Sandra's causing a painful collision. Sandra said she was ok so John wnet back into Val's.
Gail and John had agreed to talk at 12:00 (7:00am in Canada) and she and John had a nice talk about many things.
Soon afterwards, it was time to set off for Whitstable. Sandra had a headache from the collision so, understandably, she decided to stay home.
Whitstable is a very cute little town as you will be able to see from the video below. The three first stopped at the harbour which is famous for its oysters. They bought some seafood (mussels, cockles, and prawns) and a pheasant. Then it was over to the oyster bar, where Alan bought them fresh oysters. The man shucked them and John and Alan ate them raw. It was only the second time in his life that John had eaten raw oysters. The first was when he was small child and the experience had turned him off. This time he really liked them. They were sooo fresh!
They walked around the town and stopped into the Duke of Cumberland pub for a drink. John and Alan had Red Lite beer, a locally brewed beer by the people who own the pub. Val had a coke.
After seeing the town they returned home to prepare for dinner. John wanted to take the family out to thank them for everything. He leaves on Monday to see the other side of his family.
They went to the same restaurant where Val and Les had taken the family the previous Sunday. They had a nice meal and all had a good time, a result of some great wit and exhilirating conversation. John said that he really felt good to say thank you in this small way for the many kindnesses he has received from his wonderful family.
After eating their fill, they all drove home to feed the dogs (who needed to eat too). And then it was time for another early night.
TRB
Friday, February 5, 2010
Herne Bay
Feb 5
John has been able to experience 'living' in England this week. He has not set a frenzied pace that he did in many other parts of his trip but has been able to sit back and reflect on all the aspects of his life. It has been healing to be in the arms of his family because he has felt very alone in the past and this is so good for him.
Today, he and Val went for a walk into Herne Bay. It was a nice day weatherwise after some that have been less than good. The temperature reached 10, which is amazing for February. The sky had some cloud but had enough blue to make a handkerchief as his Mum used to say.
They walked down the seashore into town and walked around the streets. Herne Bay is a bustling little seaside town that has come across hard tiomes because of the global recession. There are many shops that have closed.
One shop they went into, was kind of an antique store that was absolutely packed with stuff. There was everything there from clothes to life-sized Santas you could put on your lawn. There were little figurines, toy soldiers, Toby mugs, Royal Douton etc of all types in cases. John was thrilled to see a Muffin the Mule, a TV character from his toddler years and one on which he had sat as a child. He even has the picture. One thing that John found fascinating was the display of chairs on the sides of the walls.
Next Val and John went into the Rook's Butchers and bought a leg of fresh (not frozen) New Zealand lamb for dinner.
Then, they took a different way back and saw the statue of Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the 'bouncing bomb.' This was a system in which bombers would fly very close to the surface of the water of a dam reservoir and drop bomba that would skip like stones on the surface. They did this so they would hit a dam at the exactly the right place to destroy it. The whole project was to break the electrical generating dams supplying the Nazi German factories in the Ruhr Valley. It was quite successful.
After arriving back, they went up to the village, got a hot chocolate and cake, and Val got some veggies for supper. The dinner itself was marvellous - the meat done to perfection, the broccoli, carrots, roast potatoes excellent. they ate a few chocolates for dessert.
John offered and was allowed to do the dishes afterwards.
TRB
John has been able to experience 'living' in England this week. He has not set a frenzied pace that he did in many other parts of his trip but has been able to sit back and reflect on all the aspects of his life. It has been healing to be in the arms of his family because he has felt very alone in the past and this is so good for him.
Today, he and Val went for a walk into Herne Bay. It was a nice day weatherwise after some that have been less than good. The temperature reached 10, which is amazing for February. The sky had some cloud but had enough blue to make a handkerchief as his Mum used to say.
They walked down the seashore into town and walked around the streets. Herne Bay is a bustling little seaside town that has come across hard tiomes because of the global recession. There are many shops that have closed.
One shop they went into, was kind of an antique store that was absolutely packed with stuff. There was everything there from clothes to life-sized Santas you could put on your lawn. There were little figurines, toy soldiers, Toby mugs, Royal Douton etc of all types in cases. John was thrilled to see a Muffin the Mule, a TV character from his toddler years and one on which he had sat as a child. He even has the picture. One thing that John found fascinating was the display of chairs on the sides of the walls.
Next Val and John went into the Rook's Butchers and bought a leg of fresh (not frozen) New Zealand lamb for dinner.
Then, they took a different way back and saw the statue of Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the 'bouncing bomb.' This was a system in which bombers would fly very close to the surface of the water of a dam reservoir and drop bomba that would skip like stones on the surface. They did this so they would hit a dam at the exactly the right place to destroy it. The whole project was to break the electrical generating dams supplying the Nazi German factories in the Ruhr Valley. It was quite successful.
After arriving back, they went up to the village, got a hot chocolate and cake, and Val got some veggies for supper. The dinner itself was marvellous - the meat done to perfection, the broccoli, carrots, roast potatoes excellent. they ate a few chocolates for dessert.
John offered and was allowed to do the dishes afterwards.
TRB
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Canterbury Museum
Feb 4
It was after 8am when John came to this morning. Life had started without him. People were up and doing thinhs while he was sleeping.
When he caame out, Val was reading in her living room. John said that he feels so good and so comfortable and he is sleeping so well.
He didn't have a lot on his genda today apart from arranging and reserving a rental car to take him to his Dad's family in Essex next week. Alan had wannted to loan John onw of his cars but his insurance could not cover anyone who did not have either a British or European driver's license.
John looked through the phone book and the Inrternet and came up with fve possible companies. Two of them didn't meet his needs and one had a bad number. He got two quotes and the second one met the other's price and agreed to pick him up and drop him off at Val's. So he booked it on the spot.
Sandra came in and asked Val and John if they wanted to go into Canterbury as Alan's flight lesson for 9am had been rescheduled for 2pm due to weather. John said he would get ready right away. It turned out that Sandra could get ready faster than John, a new experience for him.
They set off in Alan's Range Rover and went into the city. Alan and Sandra dropped them off in the shopping district. Since John did not expect any good shots in the rain he did not take the videocamera.
Canterbury's shopping district is a working area but it has many of the original Tudor-age buildings so it is extremely picturesque. The two looked for a Roman museum but it seemed closed. So, they visited the Museum of Canterbury (click here for the link).
It showed the considerable history of the city from the time of the Iron Age through the Celts, the Romans, the Anglo Saxons, the Normans, the Middle Ages, the Tudors, the Industrial Revolution, as far as the Blitz in World War 2. It was extensive and very interesting. So much so, that John left a favourable comment.
The museum even had a Rupert Bear museum. John's teddy bear was a Rupert Bear and he had a number of Rupert children's annuals that he loves to this day. So, he was delighted to see some Rupert memorabilia. Once again, John thought that he should have taken his camera.
After an extraordinary visit, they left and went to a coffee shop where John had a coke zero and Val a hot chocolate. Then they went back to the bus depot to get a bus back to the village.
Val went into the local flower shop and bought some flowers - John ordered some to be delivered to her tomorrow to thank her for all her kindness.
After arriving home, John went out to practice using the GPS that Alan has loaned to him for his drive and while outside saw Alan coming back from his flying lesson and they had a long talk about it. It was Alan's first landing and that is always a thrill!
Val had cooked a dinner of ham and chips, with peaches in brancy topped with cream for pudding. It was sooo delicious. They ended the day watching TV while I was left writing the blog.
TRB
It was after 8am when John came to this morning. Life had started without him. People were up and doing thinhs while he was sleeping.
When he caame out, Val was reading in her living room. John said that he feels so good and so comfortable and he is sleeping so well.
He didn't have a lot on his genda today apart from arranging and reserving a rental car to take him to his Dad's family in Essex next week. Alan had wannted to loan John onw of his cars but his insurance could not cover anyone who did not have either a British or European driver's license.
John looked through the phone book and the Inrternet and came up with fve possible companies. Two of them didn't meet his needs and one had a bad number. He got two quotes and the second one met the other's price and agreed to pick him up and drop him off at Val's. So he booked it on the spot.
Sandra came in and asked Val and John if they wanted to go into Canterbury as Alan's flight lesson for 9am had been rescheduled for 2pm due to weather. John said he would get ready right away. It turned out that Sandra could get ready faster than John, a new experience for him.
They set off in Alan's Range Rover and went into the city. Alan and Sandra dropped them off in the shopping district. Since John did not expect any good shots in the rain he did not take the videocamera.
Canterbury's shopping district is a working area but it has many of the original Tudor-age buildings so it is extremely picturesque. The two looked for a Roman museum but it seemed closed. So, they visited the Museum of Canterbury (click here for the link).
It showed the considerable history of the city from the time of the Iron Age through the Celts, the Romans, the Anglo Saxons, the Normans, the Middle Ages, the Tudors, the Industrial Revolution, as far as the Blitz in World War 2. It was extensive and very interesting. So much so, that John left a favourable comment.
The museum even had a Rupert Bear museum. John's teddy bear was a Rupert Bear and he had a number of Rupert children's annuals that he loves to this day. So, he was delighted to see some Rupert memorabilia. Once again, John thought that he should have taken his camera.
After an extraordinary visit, they left and went to a coffee shop where John had a coke zero and Val a hot chocolate. Then they went back to the bus depot to get a bus back to the village.
Val went into the local flower shop and bought some flowers - John ordered some to be delivered to her tomorrow to thank her for all her kindness.
After arriving home, John went out to practice using the GPS that Alan has loaned to him for his drive and while outside saw Alan coming back from his flying lesson and they had a long talk about it. It was Alan's first landing and that is always a thrill!
Val had cooked a dinner of ham and chips, with peaches in brancy topped with cream for pudding. It was sooo delicious. They ended the day watching TV while I was left writing the blog.
TRB
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Flying over Kent
Feb 3
John was awake early because this was to be the day he accompanied Alan on his first actual flying lesson over at Manston (Kent International Airport). Manston was an RAF fighter base in WW2 and was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe. So John considered it an honour to fly out of there.
The two arrived at 10am ready for the lesson at 10:30. Unfortunately, someone at the flight school had not told the flight instructor about the lesson and he had to come from home. John talked with one of the club members while Alan read a training book as they awaited the instructor.
The instructor arrived shortly before 11am and he took Alan in for a preflight briefing. When they came out the instructor said to John that he could wait inside while they did the walkaround. However, John wanted to see the walkaround because they were going in a four seater Piper Warrior which is a low wing airplane while John has only flown high wing Cessnas. So he went out with them.
He watched the walkaround and noticed te similarities and differences from the way he had been trained to do his walkarounds. Soon, it was time to get inside and buckled up. Alan took the pilot's seat and John found it surprisingly hard to be a passenger. Every ounce of his being wanted to take the controls. The instruments and controls were very nicely appointed in the aircraft but the back seat was not the most comfortable.
It wasn't long before they were taxiing out to the runway and taking off. The day was heavily overcast and that made it a very smooth ride indeed. They took off to the weat on runaway 28 and proceeded in a southweasterly direction.
Alan learned the effects of the controls - ailerons, elevators, and rudder at different airspeeds on bank, pitch, and yaw. He learned the secondary controls of engine level and flaps and the necessity of trimming the aircraft.
John took the video you can see here and at one point saw the white cliffs of Dover at a great distance. See if you can see them.
Too soon it was back to Manston and a l-o-n-g landing. They were at a great height over the threshhold but the instructor said that would take them back to the flight school better. John was very impressed by the knowledge, skill, and professional demeanour of the instructor.
They went back to the flight school where Alan made an appointment for his next lesson and paid for a series of five lessons so that he can tell if he wants to go the whole way through training to become a private pilot.
Unfortunately they were too late to go to lunch with Ron, so went home. John had hurt his back in the back seat of the plane and had to nurse it a bit.
After a short while he and Val went out to do a few errands in the ocal village. When they came back John went to sleep on the couch. It was gtime for sinner - chicken curry and John ended the day watching soccer on TV while I had to do this blog.
It was the end of another memorable day. John said he is very tempted to take up flying again.
TRB
John was awake early because this was to be the day he accompanied Alan on his first actual flying lesson over at Manston (Kent International Airport). Manston was an RAF fighter base in WW2 and was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe. So John considered it an honour to fly out of there.
The two arrived at 10am ready for the lesson at 10:30. Unfortunately, someone at the flight school had not told the flight instructor about the lesson and he had to come from home. John talked with one of the club members while Alan read a training book as they awaited the instructor.
The instructor arrived shortly before 11am and he took Alan in for a preflight briefing. When they came out the instructor said to John that he could wait inside while they did the walkaround. However, John wanted to see the walkaround because they were going in a four seater Piper Warrior which is a low wing airplane while John has only flown high wing Cessnas. So he went out with them.
He watched the walkaround and noticed te similarities and differences from the way he had been trained to do his walkarounds. Soon, it was time to get inside and buckled up. Alan took the pilot's seat and John found it surprisingly hard to be a passenger. Every ounce of his being wanted to take the controls. The instruments and controls were very nicely appointed in the aircraft but the back seat was not the most comfortable.
It wasn't long before they were taxiing out to the runway and taking off. The day was heavily overcast and that made it a very smooth ride indeed. They took off to the weat on runaway 28 and proceeded in a southweasterly direction.
Alan learned the effects of the controls - ailerons, elevators, and rudder at different airspeeds on bank, pitch, and yaw. He learned the secondary controls of engine level and flaps and the necessity of trimming the aircraft.
John took the video you can see here and at one point saw the white cliffs of Dover at a great distance. See if you can see them.
Too soon it was back to Manston and a l-o-n-g landing. They were at a great height over the threshhold but the instructor said that would take them back to the flight school better. John was very impressed by the knowledge, skill, and professional demeanour of the instructor.
They went back to the flight school where Alan made an appointment for his next lesson and paid for a series of five lessons so that he can tell if he wants to go the whole way through training to become a private pilot.
Unfortunately they were too late to go to lunch with Ron, so went home. John had hurt his back in the back seat of the plane and had to nurse it a bit.
After a short while he and Val went out to do a few errands in the ocal village. When they came back John went to sleep on the couch. It was gtime for sinner - chicken curry and John ended the day watching soccer on TV while I had to do this blog.
It was the end of another memorable day. John said he is very tempted to take up flying again.
TRB
A Peaceful Day
Feb 2
John didn't wake up until 8:30am this morning. He had been very tired the night before so he had gone to bed at 9:30pm even though he thought it was a bit early. Bit he had slep through.
Valerie was up and when he came out, she asked him if he was ready for breakfast. He was surprised but also delighted when it turned out to be a full cooked English breakfast: fried eggs, fried tomatoes, back bacon, and toast and tea. She apologised because she didn't have mushrooms but John said not to worry as this was plenty. Besides he had never quite understood mushrooms at breakfast anayway.
After breakfast he took a shower and decided to do some computer work. He had not backed up his movie files since being in Nanaimo so he got out his external hard drive and set it going. It said that it would take over an hour to transfer files from the laptop to the hard drive.
Val and he talked and watched a breakfast TV show. It was cool and rainy outside and neither he nor Val were keen on going out into it. When the backup was finished, John caught up on his email and started surfing the Net about aviation.
If the weather is good tomorrow, Alan is going to take his first flying lesson and the people at the flight school said that John, as a pilot visiting from Canada, can go along. Now, in Canada, that would be against flight training regulations and it might be so here in the UK. So, if they say that John cannot go along, he will understand and be happy to sit in the flight school talking to other pilots and reading avaiation magazines while Alan and the instructor are up in the air.
If he does, by luck, get to ride along, he will take his videocamera and bring back some shots over lovely Kent, the "Garden of England."
However, the weather forecast is looking grim - rain for the rest of the week, so John thinks it will only be an outside chance that they do go flying. But then, who knows, eh?
Later in the day Alan and Sandra invited their neighbours, Ron and Linda, to come over for dinner. John was very pleased to meet them as they are extremely nice people and they all had a typically English fun and laughter-filled evening. The meal of lamb shanks, with veggies was absolutely delicious. The 'pudding' (dessert) was apple pie with custard or homemade English trifle. John had both. But this was after having a beer. Now trifle usually has some sherry in it. But Sandra's trifle had a LOT of sherry in it. John started getting his words mixed up. What to do? Give him some Bailey's on ice, of course. John became very happy.
After Ron and Linda had left, John helped a tiny bit with the dishes (he dried a few glasses) then he crashed, happily thinking of the day to come.
TRB
John didn't wake up until 8:30am this morning. He had been very tired the night before so he had gone to bed at 9:30pm even though he thought it was a bit early. Bit he had slep through.
Valerie was up and when he came out, she asked him if he was ready for breakfast. He was surprised but also delighted when it turned out to be a full cooked English breakfast: fried eggs, fried tomatoes, back bacon, and toast and tea. She apologised because she didn't have mushrooms but John said not to worry as this was plenty. Besides he had never quite understood mushrooms at breakfast anayway.
After breakfast he took a shower and decided to do some computer work. He had not backed up his movie files since being in Nanaimo so he got out his external hard drive and set it going. It said that it would take over an hour to transfer files from the laptop to the hard drive.
Val and he talked and watched a breakfast TV show. It was cool and rainy outside and neither he nor Val were keen on going out into it. When the backup was finished, John caught up on his email and started surfing the Net about aviation.
If the weather is good tomorrow, Alan is going to take his first flying lesson and the people at the flight school said that John, as a pilot visiting from Canada, can go along. Now, in Canada, that would be against flight training regulations and it might be so here in the UK. So, if they say that John cannot go along, he will understand and be happy to sit in the flight school talking to other pilots and reading avaiation magazines while Alan and the instructor are up in the air.
If he does, by luck, get to ride along, he will take his videocamera and bring back some shots over lovely Kent, the "Garden of England."
However, the weather forecast is looking grim - rain for the rest of the week, so John thinks it will only be an outside chance that they do go flying. But then, who knows, eh?
Later in the day Alan and Sandra invited their neighbours, Ron and Linda, to come over for dinner. John was very pleased to meet them as they are extremely nice people and they all had a typically English fun and laughter-filled evening. The meal of lamb shanks, with veggies was absolutely delicious. The 'pudding' (dessert) was apple pie with custard or homemade English trifle. John had both. But this was after having a beer. Now trifle usually has some sherry in it. But Sandra's trifle had a LOT of sherry in it. John started getting his words mixed up. What to do? Give him some Bailey's on ice, of course. John became very happy.
After Ron and Linda had left, John helped a tiny bit with the dishes (he dried a few glasses) then he crashed, happily thinking of the day to come.
TRB
Monday, February 1, 2010
White Rabbit
Feb 1
John awoke really early because he knew he was going to be seeing his Auntie Maudie and he had to be up and ready to go with Alan and Jack when they left at 5:45am. They have to leave early to beat the traffic into London.
It was dark and cold when they stepped outside and with the heavy frost Alan had to scrape off the car's windows. John happily sat in the car while poor Alan did the chore and Jack waited to close the gate after the car was driven onto the road.
Alan drove really well along the lanes near the village until reaching the motorway when the power and comfortable ride of the car really showed itself. They hummed along smoothly in the dark and the miles drifted past. BBC Radio 4 was playing as John closed his eyes for a moment.
They arrived at Alan and Jack's work just as dawn was breaking into a clear blue sky. John went in with the father and son and sat in their office as they performed their jobs. John drank a coffee that Jack had made for him. Jack was filling in because they were slightly short staffed. However, both Alan and Jack explained how their software system worked (which was very interesting) and they generously answered all of John's many questions even as they worked. Jack also helped John to find Aunt Maudie's place on a big map of London and John wrote down the directions to her house. It was only a 10 minute walk.
Close to 9am, John said goodbye and set off on the walk. However, he missed the first street where he was supposed to turn and hence walked on and on looking for the correct street. It was quite cold and the wind caused real chill. John put his hands in his pockets. He thought that this would have been a typical winter day in Canada. He finally turned around knowing that he must have overshot his turn. It was easier walking back with the wind at his back and feeling the occasional shaft of sunlight on his exposed face.
He found the street he had missed when he looked down some steps and saw the correct street beyond. After that it was easy to find Aunt Maudie's house.
After ringing the doorbell, Maudie, 80, the widow of John's Dad's youngest brother, answered the door. It was lovely for John to see her again. She had come to Canada once, after John's Dad had passed away, and stayed with John's Mum. So, unlike some of the wonderful people he had seen the day before, he had seen Maudie in this century.
They had an incredible talk. Sitting in her front room, they talked of old times and all the people that they knew in common, including Val. But more than that. Maudie was able to give her perspective on John's Mum and Dad and their times. It was invaluable for John to better understand his family history. He was so impressed and felt so warnm towards her.
Maudie then asked John if he would like to come to the kitchen for lunch. She had prepared everything ahead of time to help keep the conversation going. They had turkey, ham, salad, beetroots, and baked potatoes. It was delicious but the creme brulee for dessert was delicious beyond belief.
They continued to talk and laugh and John, noticing the time was past 2pm, said he had best get back to Alan and Jack's workplace. At that moment the phone rang. It was Alan, asking when John was coming back as they were ready to go home. John said a quick goodbye and he and his Auntie Maudie had a farewell hug and he set off on his return walk.
He met Alan and Jack and they headed back, stopping on the way for a snack (John was too full). It had been an incredible day but more. It was an important day because John knew his Mum and Dad a bit better than he done before. John thought to himself, "It has been so worthwhile to come to England and reconnect with his family."
TRB
John awoke really early because he knew he was going to be seeing his Auntie Maudie and he had to be up and ready to go with Alan and Jack when they left at 5:45am. They have to leave early to beat the traffic into London.
It was dark and cold when they stepped outside and with the heavy frost Alan had to scrape off the car's windows. John happily sat in the car while poor Alan did the chore and Jack waited to close the gate after the car was driven onto the road.
Alan drove really well along the lanes near the village until reaching the motorway when the power and comfortable ride of the car really showed itself. They hummed along smoothly in the dark and the miles drifted past. BBC Radio 4 was playing as John closed his eyes for a moment.
They arrived at Alan and Jack's work just as dawn was breaking into a clear blue sky. John went in with the father and son and sat in their office as they performed their jobs. John drank a coffee that Jack had made for him. Jack was filling in because they were slightly short staffed. However, both Alan and Jack explained how their software system worked (which was very interesting) and they generously answered all of John's many questions even as they worked. Jack also helped John to find Aunt Maudie's place on a big map of London and John wrote down the directions to her house. It was only a 10 minute walk.
Close to 9am, John said goodbye and set off on the walk. However, he missed the first street where he was supposed to turn and hence walked on and on looking for the correct street. It was quite cold and the wind caused real chill. John put his hands in his pockets. He thought that this would have been a typical winter day in Canada. He finally turned around knowing that he must have overshot his turn. It was easier walking back with the wind at his back and feeling the occasional shaft of sunlight on his exposed face.
He found the street he had missed when he looked down some steps and saw the correct street beyond. After that it was easy to find Aunt Maudie's house.
After ringing the doorbell, Maudie, 80, the widow of John's Dad's youngest brother, answered the door. It was lovely for John to see her again. She had come to Canada once, after John's Dad had passed away, and stayed with John's Mum. So, unlike some of the wonderful people he had seen the day before, he had seen Maudie in this century.
They had an incredible talk. Sitting in her front room, they talked of old times and all the people that they knew in common, including Val. But more than that. Maudie was able to give her perspective on John's Mum and Dad and their times. It was invaluable for John to better understand his family history. He was so impressed and felt so warnm towards her.
Maudie then asked John if he would like to come to the kitchen for lunch. She had prepared everything ahead of time to help keep the conversation going. They had turkey, ham, salad, beetroots, and baked potatoes. It was delicious but the creme brulee for dessert was delicious beyond belief.
They continued to talk and laugh and John, noticing the time was past 2pm, said he had best get back to Alan and Jack's workplace. At that moment the phone rang. It was Alan, asking when John was coming back as they were ready to go home. John said a quick goodbye and he and his Auntie Maudie had a farewell hug and he set off on his return walk.
He met Alan and Jack and they headed back, stopping on the way for a snack (John was too full). It had been an incredible day but more. It was an important day because John knew his Mum and Dad a bit better than he done before. John thought to himself, "It has been so worthwhile to come to England and reconnect with his family."
TRB
Sunday, January 31, 2010
A Beautiful Day
Jan 31
This was the start of a beautiful day. Valerie was already up when John came out of the bedroom. Val made him a cup of tea and while he was drinking it, he saw Alan start to leave with the dogs for their morning walk on the beach. He waved to Alan to wait and joined them and quickly got on his warm sweatshirt and jacket. Alan had come back in and loaned John a pair of boots and a warm hat.
They walked down to the beach. The dogs met their friends and played. Well, just watch the video to see...
After they came back, it was time to get dressed for going out. Although John had said he wanted to take them all out for dinner, Valerie said definitely not today.
Les called to say he was nearly there and Valerie went out to see her brother. When they came in Val said, "Les has brought a friend." At first John thought the person with him was a womanfriend of Les. He got up to say, "Hi, I'm John" when she said something and John suddenly realized she was his cousin, Susan. What a thrill to see her! The two had spent a lot of time playing together when they were children. It was soooo good to see her.
They sat down with a drink. Les has such a great personality it is always fun wherever he is. They laughed and chatted. Val said they were just waiting for four more before they left for lunch.
A car arrived and Val said it was Carol, another of his Mum's cousins and someone who visited John and his parents more than forty years when John was just a child. She was with her husband, Dick. John was so happy to see them both and was amazed at how young Carol looked. But there was another man who definitely looked familiar but John couldn't place him. He said, "John, you don't know me. My name is Je.. Je... Joh..." Suddenly John realized... it was another of his cousins... John! John had lived on the same street in London when they were little and John from Canada was 'over the moon' to see him and his wife, Sandra. He last saw his cousin in 1969 when John was first starting university. And they had always had fun when they were together.
The group, including Alan, Sandra, Jack, Amy and Jack's friend Darrell were all going to go out to lunch and they piled into a number of cars. They went to Tabletable Restaurant. Everyone had preordered their dinners and because it was a surprise Val had picked for John. She had picked chicken goujons for an appetizer, a roast beef dinner for the main and profiteroles with cream for dessert. He also had a glass of red wine.
It was simply the most amazing as well as fun time. It reminded John strongly of what his family life had been like before emigrating to Canada. The wit was bouncing around the table and John felt as happy as he has been in a long, long time. He felt so at home, within his wonderful family (his Mum's side). He felt wrapped up in the embrace of such wonderful people. It was almost as if his Mum and Dad were there again and he was sad when it was time to say goodbye. It turned out to be Valerie and Les' treat.
Family is something that you simply cannot replace with anything else and John realized yet again how lucky a person he really is.
TRB
This was the start of a beautiful day. Valerie was already up when John came out of the bedroom. Val made him a cup of tea and while he was drinking it, he saw Alan start to leave with the dogs for their morning walk on the beach. He waved to Alan to wait and joined them and quickly got on his warm sweatshirt and jacket. Alan had come back in and loaned John a pair of boots and a warm hat.
They walked down to the beach. The dogs met their friends and played. Well, just watch the video to see...
After they came back, it was time to get dressed for going out. Although John had said he wanted to take them all out for dinner, Valerie said definitely not today.
Les called to say he was nearly there and Valerie went out to see her brother. When they came in Val said, "Les has brought a friend." At first John thought the person with him was a womanfriend of Les. He got up to say, "Hi, I'm John" when she said something and John suddenly realized she was his cousin, Susan. What a thrill to see her! The two had spent a lot of time playing together when they were children. It was soooo good to see her.
They sat down with a drink. Les has such a great personality it is always fun wherever he is. They laughed and chatted. Val said they were just waiting for four more before they left for lunch.
A car arrived and Val said it was Carol, another of his Mum's cousins and someone who visited John and his parents more than forty years when John was just a child. She was with her husband, Dick. John was so happy to see them both and was amazed at how young Carol looked. But there was another man who definitely looked familiar but John couldn't place him. He said, "John, you don't know me. My name is Je.. Je... Joh..." Suddenly John realized... it was another of his cousins... John! John had lived on the same street in London when they were little and John from Canada was 'over the moon' to see him and his wife, Sandra. He last saw his cousin in 1969 when John was first starting university. And they had always had fun when they were together.
The group, including Alan, Sandra, Jack, Amy and Jack's friend Darrell were all going to go out to lunch and they piled into a number of cars. They went to Tabletable Restaurant. Everyone had preordered their dinners and because it was a surprise Val had picked for John. She had picked chicken goujons for an appetizer, a roast beef dinner for the main and profiteroles with cream for dessert. He also had a glass of red wine.
It was simply the most amazing as well as fun time. It reminded John strongly of what his family life had been like before emigrating to Canada. The wit was bouncing around the table and John felt as happy as he has been in a long, long time. He felt so at home, within his wonderful family (his Mum's side). He felt wrapped up in the embrace of such wonderful people. It was almost as if his Mum and Dad were there again and he was sad when it was time to say goodbye. It turned out to be Valerie and Les' treat.
Family is something that you simply cannot replace with anything else and John realized yet again how lucky a person he really is.
TRB
A Canterbury Tale
Jan 30
This was be a day to see a town that is famous for being the seat of the worldwide Church of England, Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury, whose seat is Canterbury Cathedral, is the head of the entire Anglican Church created by King Henry VIII in order to divorce his queen, Katherin of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. The town is also named in one of the most famous of medieval literature, the Canterbury Tales.
Val cooked John a couple of eggs in the shell along with toast before they went, although she did not have anything to eat herself. She said John should drink more and John took the opportunity to say that Valerie should eat more.
It was a bright sunny but very cool day. Val and John took the bus to Canterbury. They sat on the top of the doubledecker and got some great views of the Kentish countryside, going through a number of small villages, past sweeping vistas of gently rolling country, and typical English country houses.
When they arrived, Canterbury was bustling. There were loads of people, although they walked as people do on Saturday mornings - with smiles and at leisure. The architecture was beautiful and even the newer buildings blended in quite nicely with the old. John took a number of shots of some of the more interesting buildings. He also walked over the oldest bridge in England and saw the ducking stool (a replica, obviously) for the medieval punishment of wrongdoers. They did a little shopping: Val wanted to get something for Amy and John wanted an electrical plug adapter so he didn't keep using Alan's. He is so grateful for the kindness and generosity shown by Alan and Sandra. And Val showed John a wonderful chocolate shop where John was offered three samples of chocolates (a full sized chocolate each time) and ended up buying three packages of scrumptious sweets, two to share with Val and Sandra.
As they were getting chilly by now they stopped into a coffee shop to get a couple of flat whites (coffees). John also bought an orange and lemon muffin but Val declined to eat even part of it. So, John, of course, gobbled it down.
Then, they were off to see the cathedral. Val insisted on paying their admission and it wasn't cheap. She also bought John a book about the cathedral itself. It was so worth it. The cathedral is stunning inside and it has so many small chapels and crypts as well as resting places of some very famous people such as the Black Prince, who fought for England in the Hundred Years' War against France, St. Anselm, and at least one English King and Queen.
Of course, the cathedral is most famous for a dark event in British hisory. Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury in 1170, was murdered at the altar on December 29 by knights of King Henry II. He had fought for the rights of priests to be exempt from the king's law. Becket was later proclaimed a saint by the Roman Catholic church. The tip of one of the knight's swords that broke off during the murder is still kept in the cathedral and the altar is called the Altar of the Sword's Point.
After looking around they noticed that the choir was about to practice so they sat down and listened to the all male choir (boys and men) sing. The sound seemed to fill the vast space especially as the voices of the young boys soared in the highest soprano.
They left, having had a moving experience and went back to the bus area. It was going to be quite a while until the next bus so they went to another coffee shop close by and got hot chocolate drinks before going back to the stop and catching the bus back. The sun was starting to sink and the cool day was getting colder on the walk back from the bus stop.
Once back in the warm welcoming house, Sandra had prepared a steak pie for dinner and John was hungry enough to wolf his down. He was filled with a warm feeling as he settled into bed and a deep sleep.
TRB
This was be a day to see a town that is famous for being the seat of the worldwide Church of England, Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury, whose seat is Canterbury Cathedral, is the head of the entire Anglican Church created by King Henry VIII in order to divorce his queen, Katherin of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. The town is also named in one of the most famous of medieval literature, the Canterbury Tales.
Val cooked John a couple of eggs in the shell along with toast before they went, although she did not have anything to eat herself. She said John should drink more and John took the opportunity to say that Valerie should eat more.
It was a bright sunny but very cool day. Val and John took the bus to Canterbury. They sat on the top of the doubledecker and got some great views of the Kentish countryside, going through a number of small villages, past sweeping vistas of gently rolling country, and typical English country houses.
When they arrived, Canterbury was bustling. There were loads of people, although they walked as people do on Saturday mornings - with smiles and at leisure. The architecture was beautiful and even the newer buildings blended in quite nicely with the old. John took a number of shots of some of the more interesting buildings. He also walked over the oldest bridge in England and saw the ducking stool (a replica, obviously) for the medieval punishment of wrongdoers. They did a little shopping: Val wanted to get something for Amy and John wanted an electrical plug adapter so he didn't keep using Alan's. He is so grateful for the kindness and generosity shown by Alan and Sandra. And Val showed John a wonderful chocolate shop where John was offered three samples of chocolates (a full sized chocolate each time) and ended up buying three packages of scrumptious sweets, two to share with Val and Sandra.
As they were getting chilly by now they stopped into a coffee shop to get a couple of flat whites (coffees). John also bought an orange and lemon muffin but Val declined to eat even part of it. So, John, of course, gobbled it down.
Then, they were off to see the cathedral. Val insisted on paying their admission and it wasn't cheap. She also bought John a book about the cathedral itself. It was so worth it. The cathedral is stunning inside and it has so many small chapels and crypts as well as resting places of some very famous people such as the Black Prince, who fought for England in the Hundred Years' War against France, St. Anselm, and at least one English King and Queen.
Of course, the cathedral is most famous for a dark event in British hisory. Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury in 1170, was murdered at the altar on December 29 by knights of King Henry II. He had fought for the rights of priests to be exempt from the king's law. Becket was later proclaimed a saint by the Roman Catholic church. The tip of one of the knight's swords that broke off during the murder is still kept in the cathedral and the altar is called the Altar of the Sword's Point.
After looking around they noticed that the choir was about to practice so they sat down and listened to the all male choir (boys and men) sing. The sound seemed to fill the vast space especially as the voices of the young boys soared in the highest soprano.
They left, having had a moving experience and went back to the bus area. It was going to be quite a while until the next bus so they went to another coffee shop close by and got hot chocolate drinks before going back to the stop and catching the bus back. The sun was starting to sink and the cool day was getting colder on the walk back from the bus stop.
Once back in the warm welcoming house, Sandra had prepared a steak pie for dinner and John was hungry enough to wolf his down. He was filled with a warm feeling as he settled into bed and a deep sleep.
TRB
Saturday, January 30, 2010
A day of rest.
Jan 29
This was a day of welcome rest for John. He just hung out and chilled with Valerie and talked of old times. Meanwhile I did some work on the blog: uploading videos and writing about the day before. No end to the work I have to do!
It was a wonderful day because John realized just how tired he had become. He sat on the couch and watched some nature television including a program on how they take care of the animals in the Metro Toronto Zoo. During the program, John felt soo comfortable and relaxxxx__zzzzzz.
He woke up long after the program had gone off. That was how relaxed he was.
Alan and Jack had gone off to work but when they came home, it was time to get ready for dinner out! Alan wanted to treat everyone to a dinner at an Indian restaurant in Herne Bay. However, Jack had plans with Sam so it was Alan, Sandra, Amy, Val, and John who got in the car to go.
They drove in and it was amazingly good. John had a couple of dishes that he cannot remember, ate someone else's rice by accident, and enjoyed a local beer. However, it wasn't just the food but the company that made the evening so special. Alan has a gift for telling jokes and recounting stories while Sandra can keep up line by line. It can make for hilaious repartee. John asked mt to underline that it was a very fun and memorable evening.
When they got home, John was ready to crash again.
TRB
This was a day of welcome rest for John. He just hung out and chilled with Valerie and talked of old times. Meanwhile I did some work on the blog: uploading videos and writing about the day before. No end to the work I have to do!
It was a wonderful day because John realized just how tired he had become. He sat on the couch and watched some nature television including a program on how they take care of the animals in the Metro Toronto Zoo. During the program, John felt soo comfortable and relaxxxx__zzzzzz.
He woke up long after the program had gone off. That was how relaxed he was.
Alan and Jack had gone off to work but when they came home, it was time to get ready for dinner out! Alan wanted to treat everyone to a dinner at an Indian restaurant in Herne Bay. However, Jack had plans with Sam so it was Alan, Sandra, Amy, Val, and John who got in the car to go.
They drove in and it was amazingly good. John had a couple of dishes that he cannot remember, ate someone else's rice by accident, and enjoyed a local beer. However, it wasn't just the food but the company that made the evening so special. Alan has a gift for telling jokes and recounting stories while Sandra can keep up line by line. It can make for hilaious repartee. John asked mt to underline that it was a very fun and memorable evening.
When they got home, John was ready to crash again.
TRB
Friday, January 29, 2010
Planes
Jan 28
John woke up several times in the night. He knew that his body was adjusting to the new time zone. The house is situated on a lovely little street that is very quiet and provides John with a welcome break from the hectic pace he has been setting himself since starting off on this long odyssey.
The day started with a walk with the dogs down by the ocean and along paths between thickets of brambles. John and Alan had a great walk. It was cool and windy but the three dogs loved it. They also met many of their friends, also being walked by their owners. Rufus and Lara by their sheer size scare new people and other dogs even though they are gentle giants.
Alan asked John if he would like to go out and see the Spitfire and Hurricane Museum at Manston. John knew this was one of the most important bases from which the British sent their brave young men up in Spitfires and Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain in 1940. He was thrilled to go. Spitfires have been a passion of his for many decades.
The former base is now an airport called Kent International Airport. Anyway, they walked into the free museum and saw the two restored aircraft along with many, many artifacts of the time, including an old air force fire engine. John and Alan both put a donation in the box to help keep the museum going.
After leaving there, the two went to the local flying club. It was called TG Aviaiton and was a very modern facility. John got to speak to a pilot who had just completed a flight over southeast England to keep his licence current. Alan asked if they could see the planes in the hangar and after checking for security reasons, they were allowed to go out with a young pilot/mechanic. It was great for John to talk aviation with someone who knew the way things are in Britain. He found that, although there are minor differences, most of the regulations are exactly the same. One tiny point that John found interesting was in the way that planes identify themselves to the tower. In Canada a plane that is say, C-GBJU (will always leave out the C for Canada and talk to the tower using the last three letters, such as Bravo Juliet Uniform) while in Britain a plane that is say, G-XBJU (will always use the G for Great Britain and the last two letters (ie. they will use Golf Juliet Uniform).
Next it was over to Reculver to see the ruins of an ancient Roman fort on which had been built a church that is now in ruins itself. Reculver Church is now on the edge of a clff and is a spectacular sight though John knew the videocamera could not capture it well. All that is left are the twin towers. They also had a beer and some quintessential British pub snacks called pork scratchings.
Again the day ended with a wonderful meal that Alan cooked. It was seafood fettucine (aka tagliatelle). John was exhautsed after his day and retired early.
TRB
John woke up several times in the night. He knew that his body was adjusting to the new time zone. The house is situated on a lovely little street that is very quiet and provides John with a welcome break from the hectic pace he has been setting himself since starting off on this long odyssey.
The day started with a walk with the dogs down by the ocean and along paths between thickets of brambles. John and Alan had a great walk. It was cool and windy but the three dogs loved it. They also met many of their friends, also being walked by their owners. Rufus and Lara by their sheer size scare new people and other dogs even though they are gentle giants.
Alan asked John if he would like to go out and see the Spitfire and Hurricane Museum at Manston. John knew this was one of the most important bases from which the British sent their brave young men up in Spitfires and Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain in 1940. He was thrilled to go. Spitfires have been a passion of his for many decades.
The former base is now an airport called Kent International Airport. Anyway, they walked into the free museum and saw the two restored aircraft along with many, many artifacts of the time, including an old air force fire engine. John and Alan both put a donation in the box to help keep the museum going.
After leaving there, the two went to the local flying club. It was called TG Aviaiton and was a very modern facility. John got to speak to a pilot who had just completed a flight over southeast England to keep his licence current. Alan asked if they could see the planes in the hangar and after checking for security reasons, they were allowed to go out with a young pilot/mechanic. It was great for John to talk aviation with someone who knew the way things are in Britain. He found that, although there are minor differences, most of the regulations are exactly the same. One tiny point that John found interesting was in the way that planes identify themselves to the tower. In Canada a plane that is say, C-GBJU (will always leave out the C for Canada and talk to the tower using the last three letters, such as Bravo Juliet Uniform) while in Britain a plane that is say, G-XBJU (will always use the G for Great Britain and the last two letters (ie. they will use Golf Juliet Uniform).
Next it was over to Reculver to see the ruins of an ancient Roman fort on which had been built a church that is now in ruins itself. Reculver Church is now on the edge of a clff and is a spectacular sight though John knew the videocamera could not capture it well. All that is left are the twin towers. They also had a beer and some quintessential British pub snacks called pork scratchings.
Again the day ended with a wonderful meal that Alan cooked. It was seafood fettucine (aka tagliatelle). John was exhautsed after his day and retired early.
TRB
Thursday, January 28, 2010
First Day in England
Jan 27
John woke several times in the night, probably due to his schedule being a little off kilter as a result of the long flight and the six-hour time difference. However, his being able to lie down on the plane greatly eased his usual discomfort from long flights.
The Comfort Hotel was good and very reasonable. His travel agent had gotten him a good deal at 49 pounds which was really great. Their posted rates started at 129 pounds.
John got up and had a traditional English breakfast: scrambled eggs, back bacon, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, and hash browns. Ok, well the hash browns were not really tradtional. He also had tea, orange juice, yogurt and pineapple. A little after 8 am the phone rang and it was Valerie calling from Les' home. She had stayed with Les and they would be coming to pick John up about 11am. He brushed his teeth and packed for the next leg of his trip. He thought he would have a little lie down.
He suddenly awoke from his snooze at 10:30. So he put on his clothes once more and went to the reception and paid his bill, happy to be ready ahead of time. He put on his iPod and was about to start listening when he saw a Mercedes Benz drive up and saw Valerie get out. After a hello hug with Val, and a good handshake with Les, he put his stuff in the 'boot' and they set off. Valerie wanted John to sit in the front so he did. The three had a great conversation on the 90 minute drive to Val's home and Les said that was making super excellent time. Les had just come out of hospital after having pneumonia so it was really good of him to make the drive.
The house in Kent has a name relating to its origins rather than a street number and indeed all the houses but one have names instead of numbers. That is sooo English! It is a lovely house in whch Val lives with Sandra, Alan, Amy and Jack. It is an old house that has been totally removated inside and out and decorated with real panache. The colours, styles and themes of the decor all work well with each other. John also got to meet Rufus and Lara (two huge Irish wolfhounds) and Charlie (a sweet female Staffordshire terrier) along with their three cats, Pebbles, Abby, and TC (for top cat) two of whom came by for a pat. Pebbles is very shy.
Val and John talked for a while and Val showed John the room he will be staying in. It is her room and John protested, not wanting her to be put out of her own bed. But Valerie insisted that she could sleep in Amy's room, so John acceded with real appreciation. Shortly after, Alan came home with groceries. John had not met Alan or Jack before (because Alan was not yet on the scene so long ago and Jack because he hadn't been born yet). Alan is a fine cook and he had been out to get groceries to make supper - an Oriental dish of duck breast, rice and wokked veggies in a delicious homemade sweet and sour sauce. John, Alan, Sandra and Val had a very interesting talk and they found not only that they had a lot in common but that they all had the same sense of humour. Alan and Sandra are very successful businesspeople, running a taxi enterprise with some 85 employees. Amy works as a paralegal and Jack works with Alan.
Alan then cooked supper with no help from John, Val, and Sandra who stood in the kitchen talking. Jack's girlfriend, Samantha, came over and dinner was set for seven places. The meal itself was absolutely scrumptious, cooked to perfection. John was so full at the end that he had to turn down dessert, a first for him.
After dinner, John and Alan took the dogs for a walk along a footpath near the sea, before heading down close to the beach itself slightly before 9pm and in the dark. The particular smell of the ocean here reminded John of the seaside of his childhood. The salt spray, the seaweed, whatever it was, took John back to the happy times he had spent at the seaside with his Mum and Dad and he took a second to think of them. The wind was cold but the hat loaned to John made him quite warm.
The dogs ran and ran and obviously had a great time. Alan takes them out twice a day. As they returned it started to rain and Amy and Sandra came out to wipe the dogs' muddy paws.
The it was time for a little TV before turning in. John felt so much at home he easily drifted off to sleep.
TRB
John woke several times in the night, probably due to his schedule being a little off kilter as a result of the long flight and the six-hour time difference. However, his being able to lie down on the plane greatly eased his usual discomfort from long flights.
The Comfort Hotel was good and very reasonable. His travel agent had gotten him a good deal at 49 pounds which was really great. Their posted rates started at 129 pounds.
John got up and had a traditional English breakfast: scrambled eggs, back bacon, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, and hash browns. Ok, well the hash browns were not really tradtional. He also had tea, orange juice, yogurt and pineapple. A little after 8 am the phone rang and it was Valerie calling from Les' home. She had stayed with Les and they would be coming to pick John up about 11am. He brushed his teeth and packed for the next leg of his trip. He thought he would have a little lie down.
He suddenly awoke from his snooze at 10:30. So he put on his clothes once more and went to the reception and paid his bill, happy to be ready ahead of time. He put on his iPod and was about to start listening when he saw a Mercedes Benz drive up and saw Valerie get out. After a hello hug with Val, and a good handshake with Les, he put his stuff in the 'boot' and they set off. Valerie wanted John to sit in the front so he did. The three had a great conversation on the 90 minute drive to Val's home and Les said that was making super excellent time. Les had just come out of hospital after having pneumonia so it was really good of him to make the drive.
The house in Kent has a name relating to its origins rather than a street number and indeed all the houses but one have names instead of numbers. That is sooo English! It is a lovely house in whch Val lives with Sandra, Alan, Amy and Jack. It is an old house that has been totally removated inside and out and decorated with real panache. The colours, styles and themes of the decor all work well with each other. John also got to meet Rufus and Lara (two huge Irish wolfhounds) and Charlie (a sweet female Staffordshire terrier) along with their three cats, Pebbles, Abby, and TC (for top cat) two of whom came by for a pat. Pebbles is very shy.
Val and John talked for a while and Val showed John the room he will be staying in. It is her room and John protested, not wanting her to be put out of her own bed. But Valerie insisted that she could sleep in Amy's room, so John acceded with real appreciation. Shortly after, Alan came home with groceries. John had not met Alan or Jack before (because Alan was not yet on the scene so long ago and Jack because he hadn't been born yet). Alan is a fine cook and he had been out to get groceries to make supper - an Oriental dish of duck breast, rice and wokked veggies in a delicious homemade sweet and sour sauce. John, Alan, Sandra and Val had a very interesting talk and they found not only that they had a lot in common but that they all had the same sense of humour. Alan and Sandra are very successful businesspeople, running a taxi enterprise with some 85 employees. Amy works as a paralegal and Jack works with Alan.
Alan then cooked supper with no help from John, Val, and Sandra who stood in the kitchen talking. Jack's girlfriend, Samantha, came over and dinner was set for seven places. The meal itself was absolutely scrumptious, cooked to perfection. John was so full at the end that he had to turn down dessert, a first for him.
After dinner, John and Alan took the dogs for a walk along a footpath near the sea, before heading down close to the beach itself slightly before 9pm and in the dark. The particular smell of the ocean here reminded John of the seaside of his childhood. The salt spray, the seaweed, whatever it was, took John back to the happy times he had spent at the seaside with his Mum and Dad and he took a second to think of them. The wind was cold but the hat loaned to John made him quite warm.
The dogs ran and ran and obviously had a great time. Alan takes them out twice a day. As they returned it started to rain and Amy and Sandra came out to wipe the dogs' muddy paws.
The it was time for a little TV before turning in. John felt so much at home he easily drifted off to sleep.
TRB
Singapore to London
Jan 26 Enroute
John and I are sitting in gate B7, waiting to board Singapore Airlines flight 318 to London. There is supposed to be wireless access here but John's computer cannot find it. One might have to go upstairs to the first class waiting area, perhaps. Anyway, we have some time to wait so we decided this might be a good time to write the content for the next post.
John is not looking forward to the long flight but he picked an aisle seat in a back row in hopes that if the plane is not full he might be able to stretch out a bit. It is a gamble because the row is close to the toilets. In the flight from Melbourne either he or his fellow passenger could have had a whole row but it would have been impolite to accept over the other and so both turned it down. However, John noted that the last rows are the ones they do not fill up until the end.
The day itself is typical. Sunny with clouds, hot and very humid. John was pleased when he checked out because he had eaten breakfast each morning at the hotel and it turned out to be included. So $100 Cdn a night in a 5-star hotel with breakfast is a pretty good deal.
Unlike what he had been told taxis were not cheap. They weren't expensive either - just not dirt cheap as in some third world countries. John had to take a taxi to the airport rather than the shuttle because the shuttle could only take him at 8:15 and that was wayyy too early for a 1:00pm flight.
As it was being at the airport three hours early was too soon anyway. The airport is so efficient that you check in very quickly. John went through passport control with no problem and was able to check out the malls in all three terminals by using the Skytrain between them. Terminal 3 is definitely the best one as it is the newest. If you don't look around when you arrive the other terminals can seem sort of dull. But if you look closer there are many, many shops from Ferrari and Dolce & Gabbana, to public post offices, restaurants, bookstores, childrens' stores and so on.
One of the most interesting things is that security is at the gate. There is no central hub through which everyone must go. This little change makes security clearance much, much more comfortable. John had accidentally taken a bottle of water from the hotel to drink at the airport but had forgotten to drink it. When it was discovered by the scan he was given the choice to drink all or part of it before proceeding to the seating area. After having a short drink John proceeded on and was met by three police officers who checked his passport again. That seems to sum up the way many things operate in Singapore. Tourists are seen as honoured, valued customers but underlying that is a tight security regime.
Well, it is close to the time to board so Jhn is putting the laptop away for the flight and picking me up again. Talk to you later from the UK.
TRB
On flight SG 318 currently at 39,000 feet southeast of Ashkhabad in Turkmenistan (north of Iran) after overflying Afghanistan between Kandahar and Kabul. John sent his wishes for safety to the Canadian troops below.
The Airbus A380 is an amazing plane. It is so new and the features make it a joy in which to fly. Of course, Singapore Airways gives more knee room than John is used to. Not only that but they give economy passengers more room as well.
This is the BEST flight John has ever taken and he has been flying since 1960! One reason is that his flight has come at a real down time for the airline. Nobody it seems is going to London today. His strategy of asking for a seat near the back was unecessary. There must be only 20 passngers in his section of the plane that can hold 120 people. The only downer is a baby that cries incessantly. The baby went to sleep for a while but has cried the rest of the time and the flight has been airborne for seven and a half hours.
John has a row all to himself and can lay down aytime he wants. He even had a fairly comfortable sleep. The service has been phenomenal. He was served two drinks of a good Cabernet Sauvignon before lunch (steak with mashed potatoes au gratin), beer with supper (John chose the Thai fried rice over the bangers and mash. He has been offered drinks on at least five other occasions. Since there are so few other passengers there is never a line up at the washroom!
We are in the main cabin of this double decker plane but the ceiling is curved just like it was any other wide body jet. The plane is also extremely quiet. There is a jet engine sound so low you can hear the hiss of the air flowing over the wings. The individual lights are very focused to avoid disturbing other passengers. The entertainment is superb - John watched a movie called The Informer with Matt Damon, then slept, then watched two episodes of Two and a Half Men followed by two documentaries (one on Cleopatra and another on penguins and other life in and near Antarctica). It reminded John of his ecperience in Christchurch at the International Antarctic Centre.
John has been reflective of late as his trip is starting to wind down. What does it mean and what has he learned. There are so many different cultures from the Maori to the Australian aborigines, to the Chinese, Malays, Indians. and those of us from a Western tradition. The street of Harmony with all the different religions is good but it doesn't take religion but rather goodwill. Each culture is worthy to live in peace with its neighbours. There is intolerance but it can be overcome by good faith and good karma. We are all indigenous to our beautiful Mother Earth, our Gaia.
TRB
John and I are sitting in gate B7, waiting to board Singapore Airlines flight 318 to London. There is supposed to be wireless access here but John's computer cannot find it. One might have to go upstairs to the first class waiting area, perhaps. Anyway, we have some time to wait so we decided this might be a good time to write the content for the next post.
John is not looking forward to the long flight but he picked an aisle seat in a back row in hopes that if the plane is not full he might be able to stretch out a bit. It is a gamble because the row is close to the toilets. In the flight from Melbourne either he or his fellow passenger could have had a whole row but it would have been impolite to accept over the other and so both turned it down. However, John noted that the last rows are the ones they do not fill up until the end.
The day itself is typical. Sunny with clouds, hot and very humid. John was pleased when he checked out because he had eaten breakfast each morning at the hotel and it turned out to be included. So $100 Cdn a night in a 5-star hotel with breakfast is a pretty good deal.
Unlike what he had been told taxis were not cheap. They weren't expensive either - just not dirt cheap as in some third world countries. John had to take a taxi to the airport rather than the shuttle because the shuttle could only take him at 8:15 and that was wayyy too early for a 1:00pm flight.
As it was being at the airport three hours early was too soon anyway. The airport is so efficient that you check in very quickly. John went through passport control with no problem and was able to check out the malls in all three terminals by using the Skytrain between them. Terminal 3 is definitely the best one as it is the newest. If you don't look around when you arrive the other terminals can seem sort of dull. But if you look closer there are many, many shops from Ferrari and Dolce & Gabbana, to public post offices, restaurants, bookstores, childrens' stores and so on.
One of the most interesting things is that security is at the gate. There is no central hub through which everyone must go. This little change makes security clearance much, much more comfortable. John had accidentally taken a bottle of water from the hotel to drink at the airport but had forgotten to drink it. When it was discovered by the scan he was given the choice to drink all or part of it before proceeding to the seating area. After having a short drink John proceeded on and was met by three police officers who checked his passport again. That seems to sum up the way many things operate in Singapore. Tourists are seen as honoured, valued customers but underlying that is a tight security regime.
Well, it is close to the time to board so Jhn is putting the laptop away for the flight and picking me up again. Talk to you later from the UK.
TRB
On flight SG 318 currently at 39,000 feet southeast of Ashkhabad in Turkmenistan (north of Iran) after overflying Afghanistan between Kandahar and Kabul. John sent his wishes for safety to the Canadian troops below.
The Airbus A380 is an amazing plane. It is so new and the features make it a joy in which to fly. Of course, Singapore Airways gives more knee room than John is used to. Not only that but they give economy passengers more room as well.
This is the BEST flight John has ever taken and he has been flying since 1960! One reason is that his flight has come at a real down time for the airline. Nobody it seems is going to London today. His strategy of asking for a seat near the back was unecessary. There must be only 20 passngers in his section of the plane that can hold 120 people. The only downer is a baby that cries incessantly. The baby went to sleep for a while but has cried the rest of the time and the flight has been airborne for seven and a half hours.
John has a row all to himself and can lay down aytime he wants. He even had a fairly comfortable sleep. The service has been phenomenal. He was served two drinks of a good Cabernet Sauvignon before lunch (steak with mashed potatoes au gratin), beer with supper (John chose the Thai fried rice over the bangers and mash. He has been offered drinks on at least five other occasions. Since there are so few other passengers there is never a line up at the washroom!
We are in the main cabin of this double decker plane but the ceiling is curved just like it was any other wide body jet. The plane is also extremely quiet. There is a jet engine sound so low you can hear the hiss of the air flowing over the wings. The individual lights are very focused to avoid disturbing other passengers. The entertainment is superb - John watched a movie called The Informer with Matt Damon, then slept, then watched two episodes of Two and a Half Men followed by two documentaries (one on Cleopatra and another on penguins and other life in and near Antarctica). It reminded John of his ecperience in Christchurch at the International Antarctic Centre.
John has been reflective of late as his trip is starting to wind down. What does it mean and what has he learned. There are so many different cultures from the Maori to the Australian aborigines, to the Chinese, Malays, Indians. and those of us from a Western tradition. The street of Harmony with all the different religions is good but it doesn't take religion but rather goodwill. Each culture is worthy to live in peace with its neighbours. There is intolerance but it can be overcome by good faith and good karma. We are all indigenous to our beautiful Mother Earth, our Gaia.
TRB
Monday, January 25, 2010
Culminating Day in Singapore
John woke early to make sure he was ready for his 8am departure on a full day trip to Malacca (spelled Melaka in Malay) in Malaysia. He checked to ensure he had his passport and Singapore Departure Card and went down to breakfast.
The bus arrived about 8:02 and John thought, "This is funny. They're late!" He has gotten so used to the level of service that something like this, that would not raise an eyebrow anywhere else, crossed his mind.
The trip down to the coordination centre where all the buses that pick people up from hotels converge and distribute their passengers. John was shown to a small coach where he was asked to fill out a Singapore Arrival Card and a Malaysian Arrival Card. He also had to show the driver his passport and his Singapore Departure Crad that he got on first arriving in Singapore.
Apparently very few people take this all day trip. It IS a lot of driving and the time reasonably short in Malacca so it is not particularly popular. Their driver was a man of few words. So, the passengers, all 10 of them, introduced themselves. There was a family from Fremantle, Australia (near Perth) with two boys, one in school (year 9) and one in university. There was a woman from Italy or Bulgaria travelling on a British passport. She is a tour guide at home in Rome. Go figure! There was a couple from West Virginia, close to Ohio and Pennsylvania, and knew about Ontario. There was a painfully shy young Chinese woman and a woman from the Phillipines. The group were all friendly and they talked all the way to the border (about 23 km since Singapore is so small). They all got out of the bus at Singapore Immigration.
Like New Zealand and Australia, you have to go through security and Immigration to leave the country. They take away your Departure Card (which says there is the death penalty for having 15 g of heroin) and off you go. You have to rejoin your bus that has moved through.
Everybody has to do it alone. The Aussie woman had some trouble. Their dog had bitten her passport and the officials were suspicious. But they relented. Next was an extraordinary trip in the bus between barricades and barbed wire to the Malaysian entry point. The two countries used to be one, but are not now the best of friends. Once more you have to get off the bus and go through Malaysian Customs and Immigration. John had no trouble but again they questioned the Aussie woman.
On getting back to the bus, they met their guide, a Malaysian man, who told them about Johore Bahru, the city on the Malaysian side of the border. He told them that the Sultan had just died and he was wearing the obligatory black armband for the month of official mourning. He also said they had a long drive ahead of them on a very good divided highway for a third world nation. It was some 240km away.
But first they were to see a pewter factory. The town was very third world - industrial, not very clean, with small, obviously unregulated shops and tiny factories. The guide told them about pewter and how it is made. They looked at people making molds of lids for containers meant to hold Chinese tea. They also saw the people polishing the containers. They wear gloves so that they can polish the pewter to a high sheen. John thought the gloves looked suspiciously like dangerous asbestos but he wasn't sure. They were then taken to the 'store' to 'see' the products - available for purchase, of course, at factory prices - made in the factory.
They then set off onto the highway. On both sides of the highway for mile upon mile upon mile they could see Oil Palm trees, the ones they use to make Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil used in all sorts of products like soaps, oils, waxes, even for food. Don't believe me? Look at the ingredient list of any packaged baked goods. The guide said that the government had converted their millions of rubber trees to oil palms because the rubber market had decreased so much due to artificial rubber.
They also got glimpses of small houses and occasional villages. They looked desperately poor to John but the guide said that the average income was $2,500 Malaysian ringgits a month and so only 4% of the popualtion was in dire poverty. The ringgit is today worth about 31 cents Canadian. So, John figures the average Malaysian earns about $800 Cdn a month.
The drive continued and the guide talked in a monotone for a very long time about the history of the area - the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians, the English, the Dutch, the Portuguese. He reeled off dates when this happened or that and why. What sultan did this or that. John normally loves this sort of stuff, but with the gentle rocking of the bus, the soothing monotone, and a short sleep the night before, he nodded off for a few minutes. Eventually, the guide said sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery.
John wondered why do they tell people to sit back; he was never sitting forward. And why relax; he was not on the edge of his seat due to the commentary. Anyway, John enjoyed the gentle swaying and looked outside from time to time. Eventually as they neared Malacca, the guide pointed out that there were other trees, too. John saw rubber trees that had been tapped for their latex. The other trees were the teak trees that the road company that owns the road (it is a toll highway) has planted to sell for timnber in a number of years.
Thye passed an area where there were lots of swifts, small fast flying insect-eating birds. The driver had to drive slowly to avoid hitting them. It was as if they didn't understand about traffic.
Then they arrived in Malacca and were taken to the Hotel Equatorial for lunch. It was sumptuous. It was one of the best buffets John has seen ever. They scrimped on nothing. John ate well, both first course and incredible desserts. He also splurged by buying a coke to go with it. It was $5 Singapore. John gave three $2 bills just to get some Malaysian change to take home.
After lunch, they boarded the bus and were taken around the town. Eventually the guide asked then to diembark to see a temple for Buddhists, Taoists, and Confucians and explained about the gods and how these three can all happily coexist. He told them that the street was called Harmony because it had Christian churches, Hindu temples, Buddhist temples, and Muslim mosques.
They were then given 50 minutes to walk the old streets. The guide said to guard your passport because there was no getting back into Singapore without it and they had had some people pickpocketed in the past in the area. John wandered around with the Aussie guy and their two sons. John didn't want to go shopping anyway so they sat down near the riverbank. Suddenly, the younger son, yelled out that there was a crock in the water. John grabbed his camera and got some good footage - not of a crocodile - but rather a large monitor lizard. It was the highlight of the day. They met the bus and the guide and were taken to another part of the toen close by. There was a choice. Sit in the bus or walk up the hill to see the place where Saint Francis Xavier is buried. Once again, most people did the activity though the Aussie woman and the Bulgarian/Italian stayed on the bus. It was quite steep but very cool. John had never seen a Saint's burial place before.
They met up with the rest of the group and headed for the bus. It was time for the two hour ride back. The group had a good discussion about all sorts of things. John was very impressed by the two sons. The one in university has his head and heart in the right place. No rightwinger there. He is taking film studies. The younger son oozed talent. He is in year 9 at school but didn't look more than 13. He could easily keep up with the adult conversation and had amazing social skills. It turns out he can cook better than his parents from watching cooking shows on TV. The boys both do their own laundry and cleaning. And they are really happy kids. What an awesome family!
Soon, it was time to go through the customs and immigration process in reverse. Just as long and tedious. But then they were through and headed back to town. For the first time ever John was the first one delivered to his hotel. He said his farewells to all the others and wished them well, his trip to Singapore over.
John has asked me to remind you that he will not have Internet access for a few days but to hang in there. More posts and videos will come when he can get connected again.
TRB
The bus arrived about 8:02 and John thought, "This is funny. They're late!" He has gotten so used to the level of service that something like this, that would not raise an eyebrow anywhere else, crossed his mind.
The trip down to the coordination centre where all the buses that pick people up from hotels converge and distribute their passengers. John was shown to a small coach where he was asked to fill out a Singapore Arrival Card and a Malaysian Arrival Card. He also had to show the driver his passport and his Singapore Departure Crad that he got on first arriving in Singapore.
Apparently very few people take this all day trip. It IS a lot of driving and the time reasonably short in Malacca so it is not particularly popular. Their driver was a man of few words. So, the passengers, all 10 of them, introduced themselves. There was a family from Fremantle, Australia (near Perth) with two boys, one in school (year 9) and one in university. There was a woman from Italy or Bulgaria travelling on a British passport. She is a tour guide at home in Rome. Go figure! There was a couple from West Virginia, close to Ohio and Pennsylvania, and knew about Ontario. There was a painfully shy young Chinese woman and a woman from the Phillipines. The group were all friendly and they talked all the way to the border (about 23 km since Singapore is so small). They all got out of the bus at Singapore Immigration.
Like New Zealand and Australia, you have to go through security and Immigration to leave the country. They take away your Departure Card (which says there is the death penalty for having 15 g of heroin) and off you go. You have to rejoin your bus that has moved through.
Everybody has to do it alone. The Aussie woman had some trouble. Their dog had bitten her passport and the officials were suspicious. But they relented. Next was an extraordinary trip in the bus between barricades and barbed wire to the Malaysian entry point. The two countries used to be one, but are not now the best of friends. Once more you have to get off the bus and go through Malaysian Customs and Immigration. John had no trouble but again they questioned the Aussie woman.
On getting back to the bus, they met their guide, a Malaysian man, who told them about Johore Bahru, the city on the Malaysian side of the border. He told them that the Sultan had just died and he was wearing the obligatory black armband for the month of official mourning. He also said they had a long drive ahead of them on a very good divided highway for a third world nation. It was some 240km away.
But first they were to see a pewter factory. The town was very third world - industrial, not very clean, with small, obviously unregulated shops and tiny factories. The guide told them about pewter and how it is made. They looked at people making molds of lids for containers meant to hold Chinese tea. They also saw the people polishing the containers. They wear gloves so that they can polish the pewter to a high sheen. John thought the gloves looked suspiciously like dangerous asbestos but he wasn't sure. They were then taken to the 'store' to 'see' the products - available for purchase, of course, at factory prices - made in the factory.
They then set off onto the highway. On both sides of the highway for mile upon mile upon mile they could see Oil Palm trees, the ones they use to make Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil used in all sorts of products like soaps, oils, waxes, even for food. Don't believe me? Look at the ingredient list of any packaged baked goods. The guide said that the government had converted their millions of rubber trees to oil palms because the rubber market had decreased so much due to artificial rubber.
They also got glimpses of small houses and occasional villages. They looked desperately poor to John but the guide said that the average income was $2,500 Malaysian ringgits a month and so only 4% of the popualtion was in dire poverty. The ringgit is today worth about 31 cents Canadian. So, John figures the average Malaysian earns about $800 Cdn a month.
The drive continued and the guide talked in a monotone for a very long time about the history of the area - the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians, the English, the Dutch, the Portuguese. He reeled off dates when this happened or that and why. What sultan did this or that. John normally loves this sort of stuff, but with the gentle rocking of the bus, the soothing monotone, and a short sleep the night before, he nodded off for a few minutes. Eventually, the guide said sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery.
John wondered why do they tell people to sit back; he was never sitting forward. And why relax; he was not on the edge of his seat due to the commentary. Anyway, John enjoyed the gentle swaying and looked outside from time to time. Eventually as they neared Malacca, the guide pointed out that there were other trees, too. John saw rubber trees that had been tapped for their latex. The other trees were the teak trees that the road company that owns the road (it is a toll highway) has planted to sell for timnber in a number of years.
Thye passed an area where there were lots of swifts, small fast flying insect-eating birds. The driver had to drive slowly to avoid hitting them. It was as if they didn't understand about traffic.
Then they arrived in Malacca and were taken to the Hotel Equatorial for lunch. It was sumptuous. It was one of the best buffets John has seen ever. They scrimped on nothing. John ate well, both first course and incredible desserts. He also splurged by buying a coke to go with it. It was $5 Singapore. John gave three $2 bills just to get some Malaysian change to take home.
After lunch, they boarded the bus and were taken around the town. Eventually the guide asked then to diembark to see a temple for Buddhists, Taoists, and Confucians and explained about the gods and how these three can all happily coexist. He told them that the street was called Harmony because it had Christian churches, Hindu temples, Buddhist temples, and Muslim mosques.
They were then given 50 minutes to walk the old streets. The guide said to guard your passport because there was no getting back into Singapore without it and they had had some people pickpocketed in the past in the area. John wandered around with the Aussie guy and their two sons. John didn't want to go shopping anyway so they sat down near the riverbank. Suddenly, the younger son, yelled out that there was a crock in the water. John grabbed his camera and got some good footage - not of a crocodile - but rather a large monitor lizard. It was the highlight of the day. They met the bus and the guide and were taken to another part of the toen close by. There was a choice. Sit in the bus or walk up the hill to see the place where Saint Francis Xavier is buried. Once again, most people did the activity though the Aussie woman and the Bulgarian/Italian stayed on the bus. It was quite steep but very cool. John had never seen a Saint's burial place before.
They met up with the rest of the group and headed for the bus. It was time for the two hour ride back. The group had a good discussion about all sorts of things. John was very impressed by the two sons. The one in university has his head and heart in the right place. No rightwinger there. He is taking film studies. The younger son oozed talent. He is in year 9 at school but didn't look more than 13. He could easily keep up with the adult conversation and had amazing social skills. It turns out he can cook better than his parents from watching cooking shows on TV. The boys both do their own laundry and cleaning. And they are really happy kids. What an awesome family!
Soon, it was time to go through the customs and immigration process in reverse. Just as long and tedious. But then they were through and headed back to town. For the first time ever John was the first one delivered to his hotel. He said his farewells to all the others and wished them well, his trip to Singapore over.
John has asked me to remind you that he will not have Internet access for a few days but to hang in there. More posts and videos will come when he can get connected again.
TRB
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