TOO MUCH WANDERING, BUT STILL HAPPY

Well here we are seven months since the last blog posted and no idea how to catch up without boring you all rigid! But that’s the nice thing about this format; I put it out there and you can read it -or not.

So where was I ? Back in August last year with Anne just getting ready to go off to England. She had a great (and a wee touch crazy) weeks visit, met her new great-great-nephew, and caught up with various friends and family. Mum and I not only batched it successfully and didn’t starve without Anne, but we also had Jamie stay with us at the lake for a couple of days! It was a lovely bonding time for us even if it was exhausting, and lonely without Anne.This year Mum spent an extra night each week with us at the lake, knowing it would be her last opportunity. She loved the water and the outdoors so much. Even when she was unable to do much at all she enjoyed just sitting out on the lawn, watching the water, boats and passing people. She died in November after we had returned to Australia;- so sad for all of us, but she was ready.It was time to quit and lay down all her pain and problems after a wonderful lifetime! 

HELLO AGAIN! It’s now into April and I am just getting back to the blog. We’re on the M.S. Volendam, sailing toward China. Our day in Dalian, China has just been cancelled due to bad weather so I have some unexpected time to get back to this!!

Let’s see!! We went home to Australia early in Sept. Mif and the kids were still living with us for awhile until their rental became available; Mif and Nick had sadly parted earlier while we were away. Despite our houseful we managed to get stuck into repainting and redecorating inside the house, which was getting overdue. By Nov. the family moved to their own badly needed space; and by Christmas we were finished inside. By then though our outside chaos was just started!! We have had the roof extended and the decking replaced and unified. Prior to this there were two main problems. The afternoon sun made it impossible to sit by the water after about 3pm., and heated up the house badly; and the old decking was very ‘Bali’ at several different levels. So now we have an increased space and shade and a totally level composite deck with a 25 year warranty, which will probably exceed ours!

Along the way, we had Hallowe’en, which we and some Aussies do, but isn’t such a big thing here. There were birthdays and family and friends to catch up with. We took Olivia and Alex south for a bit of touring, and particularly to Gnomesville, where we placed two of Audrey’s garden gnomes in an idyllic new home, amongst kindred spirits! We had Brodie and Jett visit in the run-up to Christmas, and they not only did their own gingerbread train, but also a gingerbread house for Corey and Kye.

We also spent some very nice time with Kris, over for her almost annual visit and to pick up her dog from friends.

Christmas this year was at the beachhouse and changed around a bit to try and ease stress for the various families. We had our ‘Boxing Day’ with Hans and Caroline and Clint and Meg, on Christmas Day; and our family Christmas on Boxing Day, which I think was easier. Either way, Christmas is a special season and we enjoy it immensely, then collapse at the beachhouse for the week until New Years! And I mustn’t forget to pay tribute to Meg’s amazing ‘Ninja-bread’ house!!

Somewhere in January, we managed to sell one, and to buy and furnish another rental property, as well as spending time at the beachhouse, attending Carol’s significant birthday party and keeping Geoff and Anita’s 3 boys while they went to Queensland for a few days. Feb brought work at the new house, visits from Barb and Larry, Clint’s parents visiting from Canada, Cliff Richard’s concert,and secret woman’s business arranging Anne’s 70th!! My deepest thanks again to all of you who helped pull it together and to all of you who managed to join us on the day!

March was on us far too quickly! It brought a new wee grandchild, number 11, Maryanne, born to Lee and Belinda, over in Queensland. Congratulations to both! So now Olivia is no longer the only girl! It also took us on an 11-year-old cruise with Corey and Alex, from Fremantle to Singapore via Thailand and Vietnam, then flying home. It was a great trip; the two cousins got a chance to get to know each other better.They had an absolute ball and we thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with them! Thank goodness for kids club,though: we’d never have been able to keep up with those two 24/7!!  And somewhere in all that I sneaked in a birthday as well, but don’t tell anyone!! 

 

Then we were home 5 days:- just time to give the boys back to their parents, unpack, read the mail, launder and repack for our next big adventure!! Our neighbours/friends, Alison and Graham, had found another intriguing repositioning cruise that was too tempting to pass up, but which got us here to Ontario a month earlier than usual! We flew up to Kobe, Japan and embarked on a double cruise which looped back around South Korea (just as all the threatening and anxiety were happening), and China, then travelled up the east coast of Japan toward the Aleutian Islands, across to Alaska and down to Vancouver!! We hit Cherry Blossom time in several areas of Korea and Japan!! Among the many highlights were walking on The Wall, Shanghai central city itself,flying over frozen fiords out of Ketchican, and of course Glacier Bay where we saw icebergs breaking off the face of the glacier. Freezing cold on deck, but well worth it!! Along the way we met up with an old school-mate/neighbour of Anne’s in Billingham, who now lives in Rockingham. These kinds of coincidences happen to Anne with frightening frequency!!

We flew straight over from Vancouver and got a 4 day headstart before Alison and Graham followed us over for a visit here. We were lucky again this year, with minimal ‘creature feature’ and no damage. We’ve had some exceptionally good weather and some shockingly cold weather since we arrived!! Never having been here this early before, we have really enjoyed watching the trees go from bare to fully leafed in just under 3 weeks!! We get to see tulips and lilacs which we normally miss, and apple and other fruit trees all in blossom around us!! Such a beautiful time of year, but too cold for me!! We’ve been showing Alison and Graham around the local sights, out boating on the Rideau system, and yesterday on a 1000-Island boat tour. They’ve hired a car part of the time and gone to Finger Lakes, NY, Niagara Falls, and Upper Canada Village on their own.

Of  course it does seem strange being here at the lake, watching the birds, the locks and the boats, and having family gatherings without Mum, but we expected that, and wouldn’t have wanted her to linger on any longer than she had to.

 

We took Alison and Graham off to the airport then went on to Tanya and Cristinas for a few days, - a really nice visit, a baby-fix (sorry Jamie,- "I'm not a baby;- I'm a kid") and to share Tanya's birthday. Jamie has finally started to talk and is making up for lost time! He speaks in proper, quite grammatical sentences in English, (and probably in Romanian too??)

Anne and I are in the throes of trying to decide on a new dream/lifestyle; we have put this place up for sale, available in Sept. when we leave, and are looking at options what we’d like to do next??!! So far, houseboating as a seasonal base is the front-runner of the options. Suggestions (not rude) welcome!! Watch this space!!

We came home from the girls via the Trent Hills, staying in Campbellford a couple of nights. It's been an area we've always meant to explore, and we particularly wanted to check out the Trent-Severn Canal system. It's a much longer system than the Rideau where we’re based now, with many lovely little towns along its route, and may well figure in our future plans. Unfortunately Mum’s ultra-reliable old car finally let us down and so is ‘in hospital’ up there and we’ll need to go back for it. Visiting that area again won’t be a hardship at all; it’s an extremely pretty area with a lot to offer. Maureen came to ‘rescue’ us and got us home in time for Sergei’s birthday party!! Also Happy Birthday Kris, Hans, and Joe!! Busy weekend!!

That’s about it for now. Can’t believe I’m caught up (at least briefly)

Bye for now and our very best to all!!

Annie and Kathie

The Happy Wanderers!!