Our Message Archive
July 2025
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.
Tuesday July 15
Fog rolling in at Marriot's Cove on the ride on Saturday
Last weekend Ann flew to Ontario to attend Decoration Day at the Pardoville Cemetery where her parents are buried. We were up early on Thursday morning to get her to the airport for an early flight to Toronto where she was met by Martha. It was a weekend full of eating out and visiting. On Thursday, Martha and I went for lunch at the diner in Brampton that Thom goes to occasionally with his buddies. Then Thom made a delicious dinner: spicy chicken, rice with peppers and other delicious stuff in it, and broccoli. Friday, Martha and I went to Barrie to have lunch with Nancy at Il Buco, an Italian restaurant overlooking Lake Simcoe. That evening, we took an old air conditioner that had been sitting in Martha and Thom's basement to my cousin Sherry because her new one had died in the midst of the heat wave. On Saturday morning, Martha drove us both to have lunch with our other cousin, Jane, at a diner close to her place near Finch and Bathurst. On Sunday, Martha and I drove to Merlin to pick up Aunt Carole to take her to the service at the Pardoville Cemetery; my brother John also met us there. It was very hot but there was a cool breeze off the lake. Afterwards we went to the bakery next to the cemetery where I bought 12 tarts: butter, turtle, pecan, lemon, raspberry coconut and rhubarb. I ate five of them in the next couple of days. Martha then took Aunt Carole to Erieau while John and I picked up my cousin Scott and went to cousin Ted and Elinor's house. We all then went for mid-afternoon meal at Molly & OJ's restaurant in Erieau. I enjoyed a perch and pickerel platter, of course. Martha and I drove Aunt Carole back to Merlin, helped her water her garden, then drove back to Brampton. On Monday, we met Hannah for lunch at an Indian Restaurant in Brampton before they dropped me at the airport for my flight home. However, as soon as I got through security, they announced that the flight had been delayed by an hour. And then they announced that the plane had not arrived and the flight was completely cancelled. I was rebooked on a flight on Tuesday and Martha drove, once again, to take me back to her place for the night. We spent the day watching Sullivan's Crossing which is filmed in Nova Scotia at many places we're familiar with. On Tuesday, I checked in for my flight before I went to bed and then, in the middle of the night, they delayed the flight by three hours. Martha drove me to the airport for the delayed flight which actually left when they said it would. Dave picked me up at the airport in Halifax. — Ann
While Ann was away I busied myself in the garden and also went for a few rides. On Thursday evening, after the heat of the day had cooled a bit, I rode around the Dartmouth loop and on Saturday I drove to Summerville for a ride with the Ramblers along the Kempt Shore to Walton. A bunch of us stopped for coffee at The Flying Apron afterwards. This Saturday, I led a Ramblers ride from Graves Island to Western Shore so last Sunday I rode the whole route to make sure that the trail was still in good shape.
On Friday, I went to a birthday party for Roxanne in her and Carl's back yard. Most of our immediate neighbours were there along with a couple of their other friends. And on Sunday, I went to play music with my band-mate James and one of his friends at the Tulip Street street party. Every year they close the street to traffic for the afternoon and the whole neighbourhood comes out to mingle and share food. We set up on the verandah of one of the houses and played for a couple of hours.
To celebrate Canada Day we had a few friends over to enjoy the sunshine on our back deck: Manon and Dave, Jim and Valerie, Carl and Roxanne, Dave and Nolda, and Ingrid and Mike. As we've often done for Canada Day, Ann made a strawberry pie and I used whipped cream to make it look like a Canada flag.
We bought Ann a new HP laptop a few weeks ago to replace her ancient Mac. She got Jim to help her install separate partitions for Linux and Windows. Everything was fine for a bit until the screen suddenly stopped working. She could still use it by connecting it to our TV via an HDMI cable but the laptop screen was always blank, even when the computer was booting. That strongly suggested a hardware fault so she phoned up HP to diagnose the problem under its warranty. After long frustrating waits on the phone, the first representative she got said that she had voided the warranty by installing Linux; nonsense of course. Nothing was done while she went away last weekend but she tried again yesterday. After another long phone session with another HP representative, they have agreed that it is a hardware fault so it will have to be shipped back to HP to be repaired.
There have been more rides since Ann returned. On Wednesday we joined the Roadents for the usual ride from Laurie Park to Monte Vista and on Saturday I led the ride mentioned above along the South Shore. It was a lovely day and the ride is very pleasant: no significant hills and some very nice scenery. We met Dave, Manon, Tom, Phyllis, Ted and Rita at Rosa Rugosa in Hubbards for coffee and treats afterwards.
Ann went to the Ramblers book club on Wednesday afternoon and has also been out for coffee with friends a couple of times.