Welcome to Our Web Page
When this web page began more than twenty years ago, it described most of the activities of our whole family. Now that most of our children have flown the coop, it is mostly about what Ann and I (Dave) have been up to. I update it most weekends. We save all the messages over the past year in an Archive along with links to what we were doing ten and twenty years ago.
You can click on the pictures above to get a bit more information about each of us.
Monday July 28
A farm near Borden-Carleton in PEI
We spent last week in PEI riding with the Ramblers. Unlike most of these multi-day tours, it spanned mid-week to mid-week instead of from weekend to weekend. Norm, the tour leader, arranged it that way so we could get a cheaper rate at the motel. Ann and I left on Wednesday morning, drove across the Confederation Bridge and arrived in Charlottetown in time for the afternoon ride to the waterfront for Cow's ice cream. After a swim in the motel pool, we all gathered for dinner in the motel restaurant.
On Thursday it was very hot, over 30°C, but we rode along the trail to Hunter River anyway. We had a picnic lunch there followed by an ice cream at the diner in town. That evening we returned to Hunter River, by car, for dinner at Harmony House followed by the show Ladies of the Canyon. It featured four very talented PEI women playing songs written by the residents of Laurel Canyon in the 1960s: Joni Mitchell, Mama Cass, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Brian Wilson, Carole King, Bernie Leadon, Chris Hillman, and others. We enjoyed it a lot.
On Friday, there was a ride scheduled from Cornwall to Fort Amherst and Canoe Cove but it rained, so Ann and I drove around the route instead stopping to enjoy the views. In the afternoon, after the rain had subsided, several of us went to Brackley Beach and rode along the trail to the inn at Dalvay-by-the-Sea where we stopped for coffee on their verandah. That evening, we went downtown for dinner in a pub with Dave, Manon and Martine.
On Saturday, the weather was beautiful again and we rode along the trail to Tracadie where we had a BBQ lunch provided by the Confederation Trail Campground. After a swim, we had another pub dinner in downtown Charlottetown.
Sunday was a day off from riding so, for breakfast, several of us walked to Pür and Simple in the mall close to the motel. Afterwards Ann went to a market with a bunch of the other Ramblers while I stayed in our room and read. In the afternoon we played boules with Sylvain and Colette on the grass by the pool, then moved into the bar to play cards (Ann won but I got clobbered). For dinner, we shared a pizza with Norm and Pauline.
On Monday, we repeated the ride from Brackley Beach, stopping for a coffee at Oh Hey by the Sea afterwards, then driving back via Rustico, Cavendish and Stanley Bridge. That evening was the group dinner at Lobsters on the Wharf.
On Tuesday, most people drove home but seven of us rode from Borden-Carleton to Victoria past potato farms overlooking the Northumberland Strait. When we got back we had an ice cream at Cow's then drove home.
We were riding again last Saturday, from Risser's Beach along the coast road to Mill Village where we had lunch at the Riverbank General Store. This is one of our favourite rides and it was a lovely day for it. On the way back we stopped for a coffee in Broad Cove with Manon and Dave. Once we got back to the beach, Dave went for a swim and Ann dipped her toes in the water while Manon and I kept an eye on the bikes.
Katy, Ben and the boys drove to these parts on Saturday but they are currently staying with Ben's mum Mona. We joined them at Crystal Crescent Beach this morning. It was another lovely day and not too hot. Ben and Andrew made a large sand castle and Alex, Ben and I went for a short hike along the trail out toward the end of Pennant Peninsula.
I have spent most of the rest of my time gardening. I'm digging out the ground in front of the stump left by the maple tree we had to cut down last year to make some flower beds. There are some large roots that will have to stay but I have managed to hack out a large number of smaller ones. Meanwhile the vegetables are beginning to bear fruit (so to speak). We have had lettuce for some time but we're now getting beets, carrots and beans and the zucchini are almost ready. I pulled my garlic yesterday and it will be ready for consumption in a week or so when it has dried out. I also made a batch of pesto from our basil last week.