Weeks 4 & 5 and our first Canadian Thanksgiving!
The "settling in" period has really begun to "settle down"......... Laura has now finished all her driving theory lessons and just has to wait awhile for the on-the-road lessons as the driving licence people are on strike at the moment. This also affects Paddy and I as we can't apply for Canadian drivers licences yet 'til that's over. In the meantime, we have been having numerous phone calls back and forth to Quinn Insurance trying to get my insurance for the new car sorted out and finally today (after 2 weeks of calls back and forth) we have made progress and I am now insured to drive again - hurray!
Ellen and Patrick have both had "School Photo Day" and so we will be able to send home some pics of them in their new schools shortly! We have also begun our ice-skating lessons in the Invista Centre.......... Patrick is in a junior group on Wednesday evenings which is great fun and he is coming along nicely. Paddy, Ellen and I are with the adult group on Thursday evening and we are making (slow) progress. On the first outing, I thought I was doing brilliantly until I did quite a spectacular wipe-out and landed flat on my back/ass on the ice! thank God they insist on helmets cos it was quite a thud...... in fact, I'd swear I had whiplash for about 4 days afterwards!! Last Thursday was better tho and none of us fell at all!
Thanksgiving in Canada is earlier than the USA - it fell on Monday 12th so it was a holiday day here - no work or school!...... The Grand Benders had invited us up to join them at the cottage again and also very kindly extended the invite to Laura's pal Rachel to come too. Luckily we had the new car with the extra seats in the back which was still a squeeze with 6 of us and our various bags, some food etc. but off we headed on Friday evening. It was a slow journey through driving rain the whole way (reminded us of home!) but eventually we got there about 11pm!! It was great to see the Sinead and family again, and Al & Shelley too. We had a great laugh with them all on Saturday over dinner and played the game "head bands" which had us all in stitches. The girls ended up staying up til 2am with Chris and Alex playing rock band on the Wii so a fun night all round. Al and Shelley had Laura and Rachel stay over in their cottage and they got 5 star treatment - they even got a chocolate on their pillows!!! The kids had great fun playing with each other - its great that they all get on so well and love being together.
Then on Sunday we had Thanksgiving - it was great! Judy (Chris's mum) joined us all and we had a delicious feast of Turkey with all the trimmings including butternut squash which was a new vegetable for us Irish, and finishing up with Judy's desserts of pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake and carrott cake - it wasn't just the turkey that was well stuffed!!! It was gorgeous and no mean feat to serve up such a great meal for 13 people, so once again our thanks to the Grand Benders for looking after us all sooooo well.
Other news is that Laura started working properly at the shop "blueprint" and they want her to be a keyholder and do opening and closing so good for her! she is enjoying it so far..... her hours are mixed during the week as they are open late some evenings and at weekends so she is still managing to enjoy her social life as well. On Friday we had our new oven installed - halleluia! and after an initial fault which was fixed by a technician on Saturday, we had our first roast dinner at home - might not sound like its worthy of mention, but believe me, it is!!! On Wednesday last, the girls and I got tickets to see Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance which was on in O2 - nothing as fancy tho from what I've heard. The show was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed our night out.
Last Sunday was a beautiful day - tempertures were up again to about 12/13c and the sun was shining so Paddy, Ellen, Patrick and I (Laura was working in the afternoon) got the car ferry to Wolfe Island and went to a corn maze (i could have called it a maize maze but that would be too corny) where we spent the afternoon trying to find our way out of the maze!! it was great fun and good excercise too since you're basically walking around in circles for hours!!! Anyway, we all enjoyed the day. In the middle of the maze, we had a phone call from my mum and dad who were just back from their hols so that added to the enjoyment for me too!!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Week 4 - The Cottage update
We've had an eventful week! As I had told you, we were going to spend last weekend at Sinead and Chris's cottage up at Grand Bend on Lake Huron with the Bonthron family (hereafter to be referred to as the "Grand Benders" - no offence intended). We had such a good weekend! it was so nice to relax and enjoy the weekend with extended family - Chris's aunt and uncle Shelley and Al were there and also Chris's dad, Brian, Brenda, their brother in law Alex and his kids Mia and Alexa. It was a long journey (took us 6 hours but includes two stops for petrol, food etc) but it was well worth it as we had a great time. Sinead cooked us up a lovely breakfast on Saturday of "strata" which is a like a full Irish in a pot - it was yum! On Saturday night Chris and Al treated us all to their B-B-Q ribs and home fries which were absolutely amazing!! our contribution was to make Caesar salad using Brenda's recipe for the dressing and we also had fresh corn on the cob. After dinner, we went over to Al & Shelley's cottage where they have a fire pit and we toasted "smores" - these are made by toasting marshmallows on a long skewer then when they're all mushy you sandwich them between two biscuits and add your favourite chocolate (the girls made them with Reeses peanut butter cups) and eat - delish!! and of course excellent for diabetes - NOT! I had to have one - it'd be rude not to? and all in all, it was a great night with lots of fun so a big "Thank You" to the Grand Benders for all of that .......
Other news for the week is that we got a car on Tuesday - its a Ford Taurus station wagon - 10yrs old but only 15k on the clock and in great condition as it was owned by an elderly couple who didn't really go anywhere. The main advantage is that it has those extra dinky seats in the boot so Patrick can sit in there and the girls have more room in the back - it was a bit of a squish on the way to the Cottage last weekend so next trip everyone will have more room ....... Paddy is the only one insured on it at the mo cos we're waiting on some papers from home to arrive for me but hopefully that will be sorted before the week is out.
I have an admission - after all my saying that I was having no diffs with the driving, I actually reversed into a neighbours car on Friday (in the rental)! We were trying to get away early for the journey to Grand Bend and I have to admit I was fairly hassled!! Luckily it was only a small scratch on his car and he was really cool about it - he more or less said sure its an old car and you wouldn't notice another little scratch! There was more damage to the rental car - the rear bumper was pushed in and it had a good scrape - but the neighbour actually popped the dent out for me - he was really nice!! When we left the rental back I was cowering in the new car which we had just collected, but the rental people walked around the car and didn't notice the damage so I got away with it - phew!!
Laura had her first few hours at work - she's allowed work part-time til her work permit comes thru and she really enjoyed it - they seem like a nice company and she's looking forward to getting stuck in there. Ellen and Patrick continue to settle into new schools, homework etc. Our current routine is that Paddy drops Ellie off to school (she has to be in for 8.15) on the way to work and Patrick and I walk to his school which takes 15 to 20 mins - depending on how many squirrels we see along the way as we keep stopping to watch them. I can totally see where the expression "squirreling things away" comes from 'cos they always have something either in their mouths or in their paws - its a great start to the day. Ellen then walks home at 2.30 when she's finished (I know - its very early!) and I walk with Patrick at 3.30pm. So we'll keep that up as long as the weather allows, which will hopefully be for another 4 - 6 weeks. Everyone keeps saying "wait til the winter comes" so we're waiting with great expection for the massive snowfalls!
On the home front - some further cabinets have been installed in the kitchen so its looking better but still some work to be done on replacing the sink and sorting out the oven. At the moment only the gas rings on top work so my limited stove-top repertoire is wearing a bit thin............. I don't have my cookbooks yet either as they will be coming with the rest of our bits 'n pieces in another 4 or 5 weeks so if anyone would like to send me any suggestions other than Spag bols, stir frys, eggs, pasta I would be very grateful!!! We also had phone, internet and t.v. installed this week so everyone is delighted with that. After some initial set up probs we now seem to be fully up and running and look forward to easier communications with everyone.
Paddy is enjoying the CYA - the president is arriving this week for a couple of days with him so he will have a busy week ahead. They are also preparing for their AGM next month so plenty to keep him occupied. Breaking news - I have joined a Gym!! so now that I've gone public with that, I'd better make it work! so far so good and I'm enyoying the workouts - you mightn't recognise me next time we're home so be prepared! Paddy, Ellen and I are also hoping to start ice-skating lessons together this week and Patrick will join the junior class (Laura can skate already) so that should be fun!! We have to get some kit first today to get us started but I'm really keen that we learn as they put a skate rink in front of the Town Hall from December onwards so we want to be able to take advantage of that and enjoy it. Laura has a 21st party tonight and Patrick has a school friends party tomorrow so that's it for this week from all of us here! Keep the news coming folks, it's great!
Other news for the week is that we got a car on Tuesday - its a Ford Taurus station wagon - 10yrs old but only 15k on the clock and in great condition as it was owned by an elderly couple who didn't really go anywhere. The main advantage is that it has those extra dinky seats in the boot so Patrick can sit in there and the girls have more room in the back - it was a bit of a squish on the way to the Cottage last weekend so next trip everyone will have more room ....... Paddy is the only one insured on it at the mo cos we're waiting on some papers from home to arrive for me but hopefully that will be sorted before the week is out.
I have an admission - after all my saying that I was having no diffs with the driving, I actually reversed into a neighbours car on Friday (in the rental)! We were trying to get away early for the journey to Grand Bend and I have to admit I was fairly hassled!! Luckily it was only a small scratch on his car and he was really cool about it - he more or less said sure its an old car and you wouldn't notice another little scratch! There was more damage to the rental car - the rear bumper was pushed in and it had a good scrape - but the neighbour actually popped the dent out for me - he was really nice!! When we left the rental back I was cowering in the new car which we had just collected, but the rental people walked around the car and didn't notice the damage so I got away with it - phew!!
Laura had her first few hours at work - she's allowed work part-time til her work permit comes thru and she really enjoyed it - they seem like a nice company and she's looking forward to getting stuck in there. Ellen and Patrick continue to settle into new schools, homework etc. Our current routine is that Paddy drops Ellie off to school (she has to be in for 8.15) on the way to work and Patrick and I walk to his school which takes 15 to 20 mins - depending on how many squirrels we see along the way as we keep stopping to watch them. I can totally see where the expression "squirreling things away" comes from 'cos they always have something either in their mouths or in their paws - its a great start to the day. Ellen then walks home at 2.30 when she's finished (I know - its very early!) and I walk with Patrick at 3.30pm. So we'll keep that up as long as the weather allows, which will hopefully be for another 4 - 6 weeks. Everyone keeps saying "wait til the winter comes" so we're waiting with great expection for the massive snowfalls!
On the home front - some further cabinets have been installed in the kitchen so its looking better but still some work to be done on replacing the sink and sorting out the oven. At the moment only the gas rings on top work so my limited stove-top repertoire is wearing a bit thin............. I don't have my cookbooks yet either as they will be coming with the rest of our bits 'n pieces in another 4 or 5 weeks so if anyone would like to send me any suggestions other than Spag bols, stir frys, eggs, pasta I would be very grateful!!! We also had phone, internet and t.v. installed this week so everyone is delighted with that. After some initial set up probs we now seem to be fully up and running and look forward to easier communications with everyone.
Paddy is enjoying the CYA - the president is arriving this week for a couple of days with him so he will have a busy week ahead. They are also preparing for their AGM next month so plenty to keep him occupied. Breaking news - I have joined a Gym!! so now that I've gone public with that, I'd better make it work! so far so good and I'm enyoying the workouts - you mightn't recognise me next time we're home so be prepared! Paddy, Ellen and I are also hoping to start ice-skating lessons together this week and Patrick will join the junior class (Laura can skate already) so that should be fun!! We have to get some kit first today to get us started but I'm really keen that we learn as they put a skate rink in front of the Town Hall from December onwards so we want to be able to take advantage of that and enjoy it. Laura has a 21st party tonight and Patrick has a school friends party tomorrow so that's it for this week from all of us here! Keep the news coming folks, it's great!
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