Our Visitors depart...

Well we have the house to ourselves again. Carolyn and Tim jetted back to the UK on Wednesday evening arriving safely but tired on Thursday morning. They seemed to have a good time - not sure if they felt it was a destination to which they could emigrate, but we'll see. Tim built us a very nice gate onto our deck so we can let Bella out for some fresh air unsupervised.
We had a lady come round on Friday giving us a quote on Invisible Fences. This is a wire which is buried around the perimeter of the property (all 800 feet of it..). The dog wears a special collar around it's neck and when it approaches the wire, it gets a tingling sensation which increases in strength as it approaches the wire itself. They also do three training sessions, install it and guarantee it, so it's something we will probably have to get done. As Carolyn pointed out on a few occasions, there aren't fences around the properties, so dogs and people can roam at will! However we have two friends who have invisible fences and they do work, so it's good that it will give Bella over an acre to run around on without being tied up!
The weather has definitley got milder this week and we're expecting to see some evidence of bulbs poking their heads through. A lot of the trees have got some growth evidence, so it shouldn't be long. We have a bit of a tree quandry in the woods at the back of the house. A pine tree has broken and landed on a birch tree. The birch tree is supporting it, but leaning alarmingly. We would cut it down, but it's not our tree! The house to which it belongs is actually for sale, so we'll have to contact the Realtors and see if it's okay to cut it down. I want to keep the wood as well to supply the wood burning stove next winter. If they were to fall down completely, they would land on our property and we are concerned they may fall on the children, so we'll have to get something sorted soon. Next door have a chainsaw.....
Had a fun Toastmasters meeting on Thursday. I was Grammarian which means I have to introduce a new word to the vocabulary and keep an ear out for mis-use of English. I was also Listener, which means I have to listen to all the speeches and quiz the members on a couple of issues to ensure they were listening as well! On top of all this I got stiffed for a Table Topic - where you have to get up and talk on a subject for 2 minutes. Normally you volunteer for this, but this week people were 'volunteered' and I got picked on! I couldn't believe it - what with me being so busy with other duties. The irony is that I came joint first, so that was a result!
Matthew went on a sleepover last night to next door. This time, he actually stayed the night, so that was a good hurdle to get over. He used to be okay, but as we were preparing to leave the UK, he suddenly started getting homesick and has been unable to last the night since. They were planning on sleeping in a tent in the garden, but that was downed on two counts. Firstly it was too cold and secondly we'd had police in the neighbourhood at the beginning of the week, looking for a fugitive. They slept in the tent in the basement instead! Emma had Megan next door come here for a sleepover, but as were next door for drinks until 10pm, by the time they got back here, they were both shattered and were asleep within half an hour. Result!
Things seem to be coming together at work. I'm slowly getting the hang of how they do things. My desk order will arrive a week Monday and the other orders I've placed for software have also been signed off, and are 'in the system'. It is a nice place to work and the cafeteria does damn good coffee!
My boss is away this week, so there will be less English translation to do (he's from Chile) and with a bit of luck I'll get my Internet access.
That just about sums it up. Our next visitors arrive in June - we're hoping to go whale watching with them as it's the season apparently, so we'll have to start investigating that.
I'll see if I can rustle up a picture for the next entry!!

Bills, Bills, Bills...

Well I've just spent a mammoth session paying all the bills online, does it ever end? The 'Property Tax' came in this week which is fun - not! They bill you 50% of last years assessment, and then once the new assessments have been calculated, they send you another bill, minus the amount you have already paid. Sneaky eh?
It doesn't have to be in until end of April, but I've set it up online in case I forget. Also paid the mobile phone bill (cell phone's here) and the Eastlink (cable) bill. All done online, so that's useful and saves me a pile of stamps!
Well it's hard to believe that Carolyn and Tim have been here for a whole week! Doesn't time fly. Obviously I've been working, but they've been out and about and we spent the weekend taking in the sights. Yesterday we did the Farmers Market downtown (located in the Alexander Keith's Brewery). It was the first time we'd been, so it was nice to see. Bought a clan crest which had been painted on one of the slats of an antique barrel. Clan Kerr of course...Apparently the Clan Motto is "Late but in Earnest". After that we drove over to Peggy's Cove and a walk around the Lighthouse (as you do...) and went for lunch in the Sou'Wester Restaurant which was as good as ever. Especially the Seafood Chowder.
Today we took a drive up to Martock to check out the facilities. Martock is the closest Skiing facility to us and is less than an hour away. Although small, it is excellent for learners and the children. We'll get them started skiing next year when we have a bit more time! (and hopefully some more snow - though they do have snow making facilities). We then carried on north to the Annapolis Valley, taking in the University town of Wolfville and along the north shore to Middleton, then south to Bridgewater for a spot of late lunch. We then stopped at the beach at East River to give Bella a walk along the sand. She's actually turning into the incredible Vomiting Dog every time she goes in the car. We'll have to take her more often on short journeys to try and get her used to it. She's okay once she's emptied her stomach! Hopefully it won't be a problem once she's down to one meal a day. Apart from that she's doing great. The pictures were taken at East River. During the week they also took a drive down to Mahone Bay and Lunenberg. The weather was a bit changeable apparently. They experienced everything - sun, hail and snow but no rain! Actually we've had very little rain since we got here which makes a change. Good job we didn't go to Vancouver - they've had loads of rain. The day they arrived it was 15 degrees - Matthew only had a T-Shirt on. It was glorious, needless to say it didn't last! We're back down to -4 tonight. I'm back to work tomorrow (Monday) so Deborah is back to the sightseeing (and the early morning walk to the school bus). Matthew and Emma are back to school after their week off. The only holidays they have between now and summer is a long weekend for Easter and a couple of teacher development days. Hopefully I'll finally get my internet access at work this week and I may get the opportunity to update this at work! On a brighter note, the order for my new desk has gone in so should have that within the next few weeks. Exciting stuff.....

Another sunny day....

Well it's the day before our visitors arrive, so thought I'd do a quick blog before they arrive in case I don't get the chance tomorrow. We have had a lovely day today which is in complete contrast to yesterday, which was horrible! It started off snowing, then turned to rain, finally stopping early evening. Main problem is the fact that it turns the drive into a bit of a quagmire. I had my Airport Security brief yesterday, which meant a walk to the Terminal Building in the snow (and a walk back in the rain!). As my place of work has direct access onto the Airfield, we are governed by Transport Canada security, which means I will have my background checked by the powers that be over in Ottawa. The pass you then get issued with has fingerprint and retina scans on it... In the brief, I was sat next to this woman who I was sure I knew. Anyway, as it happens she works for Air Canada and was one of the stewardesses on our flight over in December. Funny how you recognise a face!! She says she loves doing the London route.....
So as it was such a lovely day today we popped over to Oakfield Provincial Park and took the dog for a walk in the woods. She's doing really well. Yes we are having a few accidents, but that's mainly our fault for not keeping a close enough eye on her. While we were at the park, we did some training. Calling her and getting her to come and sit. She did really well. In fact so well, she nearly ate all the training treats we took with us (and promptly threw up on the way home! - or 'tossed her cookies' as someone said on the radio this week). This was in relation to the threatened closure of a school in the Musquodoboit Valley. The parents told the education board to come and take the bus trip the children would need to do if they closed the school. As a consequence, one of the board members 'tossed her cookies'. But I digress.....the pictures here were taken while on the walk. She was told to sit and stay for both photos and she did just that! The park leads down to a lake which at the moment is frozen, but not thick enough ice for skating. Apparently they do swimming lessons here in August. So that will be something for Matthew and Emma to do during the long summer break. When we got home, we then sat and watched the latest Harry Potter film on DVD in the media room, which is all up and running, but lacking proper seating. However, a couple of garden chairs and some beanbags sufficed.
As far as work goes, I finally got the necessary software installed on Thursday and they managed to get it working properly on Friday, so it will be all systems go on Monday!
Matthew and Emma are now on March break which means they have next week off - back to school on the 20th March. Last week was the obligatory wind down week and they had a week of theme days. They had a Canada Day, Wacky Hair day, 60's Flower Power day, A Holland Road day (they basically wear green - the school they go to is Holland Road Elementary) and another one which I can't remember.
Apart from that it's been a relatively quiet week, Deborah had a trip to the dentist and consequently needs 3 fillings - a great money making scheme this dentistry lark....Matthew and Emma both go next week (they should be free!) and I go at the end of the month - I wonder how many I'll need.....Tomorrow will be spent finishing off the tidying and cleaning in preparation for Carolyn & Tim arriving, we're having steaks cooked on the new gas Grill when they arrive - we had a practice run last weekend and the steaks were delicious!. Got a few trips planned while they are here, but no doubt this will be the subject of future blogs....

Ice and Dogs.

So after 4 days couped up inside looking after a poorly Matthew, it was decided that a day out was called for to get Deborah out and about! Matthew is much better now thanks! We decided to take a drive to the north shore via Truro. We set off on another glorious sunny day and drove north through Truro crossing the frozen upper reaches of the Shubenacadie River. Further down as we approached Cobequid Bay (where the river reaches the sea) the river wasn't quite so frozen, but boy was it spectacular. Obviously this part of the river is affected by the infamous high (and fast) tides along the Bay of Fundy and the associated 'bore'. This has the effect of creating an almost lunar landscape along the river sides. The picture of Deborah and the children shows it in the background. The river itself was full of ice, but it was flowing slowly towards the bay. We had parked the car and walked along a track to a lookout post at the end. This is obviously used to view the 'bore' in full flow so to speak. We must find out the best time to view it and go back! It was very strange though to see all this ice in lumps along the side of the river. We then drove back across country and got home to an answer machine message inviting Emma for a sleepover and Deborah to a movie and bottle of wine at Emily/Mary Beth's. Emily is in Emma's class and Mary-Beth is her mum and an OT. We weren't sure if Emma would stay overnight, but she did and had a great time. As it happens the ladies who were present (4 of them) didn't get around to watching the film, but had a nice evening chatting. (the mind boggles what about). This afternoon we got a call from a Pet rescue centre in Cape Breton. We'd put our name down to rescue a puppy called Caleb. Sadly Caleb was no longer available, but there had been two other collie-cross puppies as well. These had both been re-homed, but one of them had gone to an elderly couple who were now regretting getting a puppy. They had planned to return her to Cape Breton, but to save them doing this, would we be interested? We decided we would be and (after borrowing a travel crate) we had another drive up to Truro. Needless to say she's beautiful, very intelligent and obedient. Her name is Bella and she seems to be settling in well. She barked in the car for about 10 minutes, but settled down and was fine all the way home. This picture was taken about an hour or so after we got her home. As yet we have had no accidents, so fingers crossed. She'll get loads of walks and attention and Matthew was desperate for a dog so she'll be good for him. All we need to do now is get her microchipped and spayed at 6 months (in 2 months time). I'll let you know how we get on!!

Go Mooseheads Go!!

Well it's been a few days since I posted, so thought I'd better do a catchup in case you'd all think I'd forgotten about it....Of course I'm assuming this is being read!! Feel free to leave comments - at least I'll know this is a worthwhile experience!
Well as you know we had a busy weekend culminating in a trip to see the Mooseheads on Sunday evening - but more of that later.
Saturday was the usual brilliant sunny day, clear blue skies but a bit chilly! We'd been invited to lunch by a lady that Deborah had met online in one of the expat forums. She was really miserable and had a real downer on Halifax - however, as it turns out, she'd been dragged here by her husband having to leave a country she loved (France) and a house she loved. It's all been a bit of a culture shock for her. However, Deborah had arranged to introduce her to the delights of Costco and they arranged to meet outside Home Outfitters. Val thought she'd said Home Depot and needless to say they missed each other. Well the lunch was by way of an apology. So a pleasant couple of hours was spent lunching and chatting.
We then had to get home as Deborah and I were off to the Sears Halifax Toastmasters (of which I am a member - see link on the right) 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner. This was being held at the Westin Nova Scotian Hotel (very nice - I stayed there when I was out on my own last November). It was a most enjoyable evening. The keynote speaker was John Buchanan - an ex-premier of Nova Scotia and quite a witty talker.
The next day, Sunday, was spent 'pottering' and then in the afternoon, we were off to see the Mooseheads as it was their Annual Scouts Canada game. For those not in the know, the Mooseheads are Halifax's Ice Hockey Team - see the link on the right for their website. There was an excellent turnout by the various Beavers, Cubs & Scouts from the Halifax area and they helped swell the total crowd numbers to 8750. There were loads of things going on during the breaks, throwing T-Shirts and Frisbees into the crowd and so on. The evening was marred slightly by the major fight/brawl that broke out at the end of the second period. It involved 10 players and the ref's were having real problems controlling it. There were blood splatters on the ice, helmets, gloves and sticks strewn everywhere. Needless to say the kids thought this was great! All the scout leaders and parents were all thinking what an excellent example this was setting! Halifax won though which was a result, ending six consecutive defeats and I think they won again last night.
Emma thoroughly enjoyed it, Matthew would have but he was a little under the weather with a sore throat. This has in fact got worse and he is now on his 4th day off school. He's a lot better now, but has no energy and as there was gym today, we decided to keep him off for another day. He will spend today catching up on homework!!
The weather all week has been cold (-15 overnight up to just below freezing during the day), but clear and bright with lots of sunshine. Despite the freezing weather, the snow still manages to melt on the deck. Apparently the back of the house is a major sun trap in the summer - looking forward to that! We've had a couple of flurries during the week, but nothing major. We still have snow on the ground though from the last snowfall a couple of weeks ago.
Work is going slowly. My colleague is away on a course (I can't do any courses until I have been here for 6months....) so I have been able to use his computer. My new one arrived last week but who knows when it will actually make it to my desk. If it's not here by Monday then I'll have nothing to do! I've actually been quite productive this week doing a behaviour characteristic analysis on a Deflector baffle assembly. Management seemed impressed, so let's hope it spurs them into action to get this PC delivered. Unlikely.
Carolyn and Tim arrive in 10 days - really looking forward to that. Apparently the skiing at Wentworth and Martock is quite good at the moment, so Tim may get some snowboarding done.