Happy February!

Hello from cold, windy, wet and snowy Ottawa, the salt capital of Canada...It has been a while since I have blogged and I apologize. Since the last up date winter has set in with a vengence as it is prone to do this time of year at these latitudes and by my reckoning we have another 10 weeks to go before the word spring enters our collective vocabulary. I have since started my French language training at Ottawa U and am enjoying once more the fact I am the elder statesman of the class. I am ready for the challenge and look forward to my daily chats en francaise. Conjugating verbs and when to use etre instead of avoir makes for interesting conversations but I have already noticed an improvement in my speaking. I wonder if anyone else has...Marie and I spent last weekend in Montreal at Phil's new apartment close to centre-ville and helped him pick up some essentials at Home Depot as he begins to renovate. Fernanda has been in Mexico City for the past few weeks and Phil felt lonely and thought it was a good time for us to visit! Friday he flew down to Mexico to spend the next ten days there with Fer - hopefully it won't be too much of a culture shock for him: no hockey but they do have the world's largest outdoor skating rink. Go figure. We are still property hunting in Florida and have found a few places on the internet that seem interesting. I sent Lyn off to look at one in Brooksville for us and she thought it was a nice location and worth following up. She and Don are in St Maarten enjoying the sun and living it up at the moment and I envy them. 'Nuf said, as he looks out the window...But life goes on and we shall persevere. Bring on the next round of snow because for us here in Ottawa winter is not a season, it’s a bloody occupation! So till next time, good health, lots of love, and don't forget us here up north - and remember that one kind word can warm three winter months! gws

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year!

May 2009 be prosperous and healthy to all my family and friends. Marie and I ended the old year by flying down to Florida for Christmas. It was nice to see everyone again and the days flew by as they usually do. John took us out to Caladesi Island State Park in his boat one day and we had a great time beachcombing. Thanks again John! Christmas Day - Dad turned 85 as well - was spent at Lyn and Don's with most of the family present. Even Rachael drove down from the panhandle! We also had a chance to drive up to Inverness in Citrus County with Lyn and Don - a half hour from Brooksville - to look at some land - old Florida, quiet and isolated, with lots of palms and oaks that we will be following up on with the help of Don. We stopped in Montreal on the way back and helped Phil and Fernanda move into their new apartment. Then home to retrieve Muffy from Christina, who always looks after her when we travel. Now we are back in the cold grip of another Ottawa deepfreeze, yet the days are growing longer and the next three months should slip by as they always do until winter becomes yet another memory...For now I'll leave you with a thought : Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better person. Enjoy the photos and take care of yourselves until we see each other again...gws

2009 Year of the Ox

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my family, all my readers, and to those around the world who are working for peace and harmony in the world. To our Canadian soldiers in Afghansitan I especially pray for a safe return home. God bless you all, have a peaceful holiday season and may something good happen to you! Remember, as we enter this new year - you can make a difference! (If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room). Be the change you want to see in the world! And may all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions! To all the others who support war, kill for pleasure and hate in the name of religion I say to you: stay away from Canada. You are not welcome here. Again to my family I love you all and wish you all the best. I'll be back online when I return from Florida at the end of December so until then, peace gws

Global warming? What global warming?

Well Ottawa is certainly living up to it's reputation as the coldest capital in the world after Ulan Bator, Mongolia! It was so cold this morning (-29C) that I had to drive Marie to work. As she only works a few blocks away she usually walks but even this, this early in December, was too much for her! Hopefully our articulated buses which were not designed for this weather conditions (hello again city hall) perform better this year. Here's a hint mayor - It helps if you have SNOW TIRES!!! One good thing about this weather though it keeps most of the panhandlers, crack addicts and ho's that proliferate this part of the city off the streets. It was nice to see how the city of Quebec has completely eliminated this problem when we were there last week. Of course if you follow the shenanigans on Parliament Hill, just a few minutes stroll from here, or at City Hall, you can understand why this town lacks the drive or solution to clean up the streets and make the downtown into what could be a real tourist attraction...Ah our upcoming trip to Florida is looking really good right now!... I have completed three paintings the past few weeks and am currently working on a large 3 feet by 3 feet landscape. Hope you like them! Comments?... Have a great week everyone and it was nice talking to Carolyn just before she headed back to Utah yesterday, this time without daughter Rachel. God speed to both of them. gws

december, joulukuu, thekiemurios, mi na nollag, etc

Where ever you are...happy december! Marie and I returned safely from our trip to Quebec City this past week. As you can see we had a little bit of snow - in fact when we went up to the ski hills they were making snow, but not enough to stop us from getting around. We picked up some wine at a local winery, Vignoble Domaine Royanois, known for being one of the most northerly vineyards in North America, visited the Basilica twice, Montmorency Falls and went into Quebec City. There were few tourists around, but once the Winter Carnival and skiing begins in earnest there will be crowds everywhere..When we left yesterday we took route 138, travelling along the St Lawrence River all the way to Montreal where we met up with Phil for a beer at his latest favourite spot, a microbrewery-bar near centretown. He and Fer are happy, having found an apartment nearby! Before we left for Ottawa`we stopped off at the Olympic Stadium and took in the big dog show there - the Salon National des Animaux de Compagnie. Every type of dog imaginable there but nothing yet to compare to Muffy...So we now are back in Ottawa and getting ready for a snowy month, or so they are forecasting. We will be here till the 20th when we drive down to Plattsburgh, NY to catch a plane to Florida for Christmas. We will probably plan a trip to the property again in February, then again in early spring...This week the Ottawa`School of Art is having it's annual Christmas Art Show and I have put in three pieces, Canadian landscapes in triptych form. I have a few other works in progress and will put them up on the blog soon. Come back and check them out! Meanwhile have a good week and ...go Habs go! gws