Broken Chain Blues: Monday, June 13th!

Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry. -William Butler Yeats, writer, Nobel laureate (13 Jun 1865-1939)

Hi Janet! Trust all goes well with you and that your Mother is continuing to gain strength and moving back towards full health. Fondestos to you from Lady Dar. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Colin! Trust all goes well with you and Gail. Must apologize for not thanking you both for the anniversary wishes sooner! No excuses but plenty of reasons, as I'm wont to say! Maya sent along a snap of you and Noreen so we knew she was visiting. Lady Dar called her once we arrived in Falcon but have not yet heard back from her. Hope to have a visit over the next few weeks.Busy time before we left. Lynette stayed overnight on Tuesday, en route to Vernon. Fondestos to you and Gail from Lady Dar. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hello Diligent Garden Waterer et al! Trust all goes well with you and the kale! Your grandfather is concerned about the plants so I thought I'd send along a message to find out how things are going. Enjoyable, lazy time here, for the most part. Will call the bike store shortly and if they can service the bike I'll drive into Kenora. Lady Dar will accompany me as she has been in shopping withdrawal, (Had a maintenance shot or two at Lumber One!), for almost a week now! Hope it can be done there as I don't want to go to Steinbach or wait until we head into Winnipeg. Fondestos to you both from Dusty, (Rosita is still abed!), and Nana, mesmerized by her Gmail, "tellin' me more and more/About some useless information!" Love and Cheers, Dad!

Pics: War Eagle cleared area; Kitchen in trailer; inside of cabana; tiles we removed; deck and cabana; Esso gas station near Clearwater Bay destroyed by fire a week or so ago. Cody worked here! BBQ King!



Hi Colin! Trust all goes well with you and Amy. We plan to be back and forth, between Falcon and Winnipeg, over next few weeks and am wondering when might be a good time for a visit. Let us know and we'll plan accordingly. Fondestos to you and Amy from Lady Dar. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio! Hi Colin/Erika! Oops! Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Hi Patrizio ! I was wondering when the 2 of you were rolling in this direction. Glad you had a good trip (omit the bicycle outing) Have you managed to get I touch with Greg and Gloria Lampert ? It would be good to see them before we head out to B.C. Those hummingbird photos are real winners - the best I've ever seen. You have to enter them in a photo contest.
 
Re when I (we) am/are free to get together: This week, only Friday or some time Saturday or Sunday are free. I still have 2 evenings to teach (lots of marking to finish) Wednesday evening is my auxiliary AGM/dinner and I still have several reports to prepare including treasurer's report.
 
Next week is exam week and that means we are both busy. The following week is filled with graduation activities. We have to find some time to get together, for brunch, lunch or dinner if possible. When do you head back? Colin ??? Who's Colin ??? Now what were you wanting to say here ? Say "CIAO" to Corinne.
Hello Sandy Lodge People! Trust all goes well with you. Can't remember your dates for Naramata but you should give Chloë a call as she is house-sitting while we are away. Pop by and see latest changes if you are in town.Hello from Clara and Dusty. Fondestos to you from Lady Dar. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Happiest of Happy Birthdays Vincenzzzooo! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! For He's a Jolly Good Fellow! Hip Hip Hooray! Congratulations from Rosita, Dusty, Lady Dar and Patrizzio! PS: Ticket for flight to Paris is in the mail!!!!

Thanks for the lovely message. Perfect!~ I have the coffee, I will break into my New York Times when I get to the bottom (if there is one) of my stack of birthday messages and I GUESS I should slip on one of my French berets!!! Did my laps (68 at Hearst) remembering each year as best I could as the lap slipped along the abacus string. What lies ahead, who knows? Grateful to still have "hair and teeth" as one of my cards pointed out! Much love to you all; if you are still on the prairies, happy anniversary to Dusty and Clara as well! WOW Cactus

Hi Cactus! Glad you enjoyed the card! Cheers, Patrizzio! PS: Any movement on a visit this summer?
 
Up at 8:20 am this morning. Not quite as much of a sleep-in as on the first few mornings we have been here. Rosita had bought me some Starbucks Sumatra, Dark Roast Torréfaction, before we arrived and I have been enjoying its Earthy & Herbal flavours each morning! Thanks from your Favourite Son-in-Law, Clarisse! At any rate, by the time everyone was up it was around 9:30 am and I called the bike shop, The Hardwear Company, in Kenora, and chap I talked with said he could replace chain whenever I brought the bike in. That being the case, I asked The Sisterhood if they wished to accompany me. They did as a spot of shopping was too, too much to pass on. 

After Cora Lee scrambled a lovely omelette and Rosita had her toast and tea, I loaded my bike onto the rack and we took off. Uncle Giorgio had plenty of chores around the house to keep him busy and close to Dusty, should the need arise, so all was fine on that front. Gorgeous day and we streaked along, hitting Kenora about 11:20 am. Had no trouble finding Hardwear and while I took it in Cora Lee went to the RBC ATM nearbye and Rosita guarded the vehicle. Chap said it would take about half an hour to change the chain so I returned to the car and The Sisterhood had me drive them to Shopper's. I read in the parking lot while they scoured the shelves for bargains and close to 12:45 pm they appeared. 

Then drove back to Hardwear to collect my bike. Apparently a pin which fastens one of the links had fallen out. Either link was faulty or chain improperly installed. At any rate, I kept chain as I plan to take it back to Freedom. Only had two rides on it as it had been replaced a day or so before we left. By the time I'd returned my bike to rack and locked it on, it was close to 1:00 pm and Clarisse suggested she take us for lunch before we returned to Falcon. Drove a few blocks to The Boathouse, a lovely restaurant right on Lake of the Woods. While I parked the car The Babes found a table on the patio, in the shade. 

Lovely breeze and most pleasant setting. I ordered a Boathouse Burger, "ground

chuck charbroiled and topped with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, crispy onion on a garlic grilled brioche bun." Cora Lee had the same, without the bun, Sweet Fries with Lime Aioli as her side, while I had the House Salad. Rosita opted for the Chicken Crunch, "crispy house breaded chicken, jalapeno jack cheese, roasted red pepper, lettuce, crispy onion, served on house-baked focaccia." House Salad for her as well. Food was very tasty and we all savoured our dishes, The Goils sipping iced tea while I had cranberry juice. 

Most pleasant late lunch and after polishing almost everything off, (one sad leaf of lettuce on Lady's Dar plate was all that remained!), I walked to the car to bring it closer to restaurant, cleverly avoiding having to pick up the tab, Dear Reader! Still had almost half an hour on metre when I reached car. Only 75¢ per hour so didn't feel too, too badly! The Sisterhood soon appeared and we made our way out of Kenora, ahving to wait for a few minutes a the last bridge one crosses as it is under construction and down to one lane. After that, it was smooth sailing all the way back to Falcon and we were home just before 3:00 pm.

Soon as I was home I unloaded my bike and then made preparations for the ride I had planned on Saturday! Needed to recharge my camel pack and once that was done I suited and lubed up and was on my way, close to 3:40 pm. Wind wasn't overly strong, 8 kph S, so I had it pushing me along for much of the way towards West Hawk. However, due to twists and turns in the road and perhaps some micro-wind tunnels, I found myself battling it quite a bit of the time past Penniac Bay and certainly all the way past Lily Pond. I rode abut half way to Rennie, (32 km from West Hawk), before I turned around. I knew this would give me 61 km by the time I was back home and once I was headed south the wind's direction seemed to have changed and it was more of a help than a hindrance so I wasn't about to complain!

Whizzed along, my chain performing as it should so I could stand up on most of the small hills and keep my speed up. When I made the turn-off back to Falcon, just before West Hawk, I knew I would be in pretty good shape, as far as my AVG would be, even if I had to face a strong headwind on the last, long flat stretch before turning into the town-site. In fact, the wind continued to push me along, almost all the way home. Absolutely delighted, I tore into Ace Bay with my best AVG, 22.5 kph, to date. Found Giorgio and Lady Dar busy stacking firewood in the new holder, (top shelf for recycling), he had put together and then painted, the day before. It is next to a small hatch which will allow quite a bit of firewood to be placed directly inside a small holding space, so constructed, by Dusty, of course, years and years ago! Giorgio has been doing a stellar job of cleaning up both the yard and Dusty's workshop, doing things that Dusty cannot manage now, needing oxygen as he does. Anyway, felt pretty pleased with ride as my legs were well rested after an extra day off! Map and Stats for ride:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1211613655#.V19FnDa8Oc4.email

Hi Old Farts, Jim is away for this coming Thursday (June 16th) so I'm still carrying the baton in his place. Plan's for Thursday's hike as follows...- Meet at 0800 Home Hardware car park Penticton (S'landers at IGA parking lot 0740 to carpool to Penticton). - Carpool and make our way to the South end of Mahoney Lake. Arrange a car shuttle - ie have some vehicles drive over to the South end of Willowbrook, leave a car or two and return to start the hike. - Head East and South to reach Mt Keoghan for lunch. From there towards Rattlesnake Lake and finally rambling back towards Willowbrook detouring around private property. - Return to cars and decide on a place for coffee/debriefing/discussion for next hike. - Limit of 12 people in this group, so let me (Phil Robson) know soon via email. I hope I haven’t missed anything but hopefully someone will let me know if I have. Cheers, Phil

Hi D, My watering duties have been thankfully taken off my hands with the crazy amounts of rain the last several days and even as I type this email we are awaiting a thunderstorm of great proportions!!! Things have been quiet here, going to yoga, reading my huge Strata manual, naps due to text....it is very dry and quick trips out on the town to explore which grocery store to venture into. Even went to an afternoon film as the rain was depressing and needed to go to a dark room to hide.

Off for an RMT massage at 2 today with the office above the Starbucks on Main Street. Love to all the family, Robbie and Saara arrive tomorrow afternoon so I won't be wandering all alone in this large "I'm used to my loft" home with too many rooms and as much dusting!! Hope your bike chain has been fixed, Greg's project looks overwhelming!!! xx Chloe Alexis

Rach and I leave Friday AM into Winnipeg at 9:25 Am If anyone? Ayn? needs pick up or any supplies let me know. Patti Hi Patti! I know Lady Dar has replied but just wanted to wish you and Rachael a safe journey. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Patrick and Corinne Hope this email finds you well. We are in Dublin at our AirBNB and it is very comfortable in a nice area of Dublin. John and Yulin arrived today and they have gone off exploring. Colin and I bussed to city centre and then picked up our car. Yikes not sure driving is the best thing to do but we are headed to see Gary tomorrow. People are very nice and there is a lot to see.
 
My good leg is really paining me so I am staying at the flat and will read a bit. Nice to see the sun shining. Thinking of you. Lots of love for now Joanne 

Hello AirBNB People! Sorry to hear about your leg, Jo-Anne. Obviously not enough Guinness! Your place looks terrific! We stayed on Lower Baggot Street. Is that near you? Not far from a canal and locks. Fondestos from Lady Dar to you and gang. Cheers, Patrizzio!