Dateline: Thursday December 31st 2014
January 1st - December 31st 2014
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| A winter break at Gerry (& Vals?), North somewhere About 20 below I seem to remember |
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| It's deep midwinter and I'm walking the Humber river trail |
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| Looks like Kayla's birthday. March 13th |
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| Environs Balzac's, sadly salt strewn and deserted Spring solstice |
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| I'm running away from my responsibilities and etc etc Well, walking actually. This one, along Bloor to Don Valley Down to Balzac's and home. About 30Kms |
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| Just to show our friendly neighbours dust (from paving cutting) What a jerk! |
See France/ Iceland blog in here before we come back for:
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| Kayla's graduation etc in London with proud dad, give or take |
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| Proud parent, brother? Kayla definitely. B. Mus (or is that BeMused?) |
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| Aiden practicing looking cool (I guess) |
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| Enough already? Well you don't graduate every day |
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| Kayla and mates from several years, now past |
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| The cat flap, Mk I. At least this one is safe |
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| House chores. This time, reset the camber on the BBQ area away from the house |
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| Finally! A really disreputable coat is finally tossed |
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| Richard arrives, with Liv Both needing Respite care and attention again (no surprises there) |
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| Our usual annual birthday trek to the Vicarage Great grub on the Toronto Islands |
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| The house and summer environs, continue to give I really must fix the sun room structural problems soon! |
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| Our annual Massassauga trek is a bit of a crap event Cold, wet, Gerry is his usual self.... |
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| Mostly, not fun. You really need the sun to shine to enjoy Ontario Lakes especially in August |
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| Could not have put it better myself This was definitely a hardship posting |
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| Typically, Richard comes for his birthday break. I always take him to Massassauga Park Originally, about 15 years ago, there was no phone signal anywhere here, so he gets a real break from everything Now, there's signal, but I haven't told him that |
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| Looks like I'm still in denial about my house reconstruction responsibilities of the sunroom |
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| Life somehow goes on, even with a haircut |
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| There's some kind of ruckus about a Canadian in a tennis tournament. This made totally of tennis balls |
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| I start off loading all my miscellaneous detritus of the cruiser. A bike rack |
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| Our faithfull rooftop box I bought in Durban, South Africa in 2000 |
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| My Kingsway Office "Board Room" table (I still have it) |
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| Ilge's inheritance. A "Claw and Ball" dining table |
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| And my beautiful 8ft x 4ft ceramic design board Selling this was really painful. This was the final end of my consulting career |
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| No one wanted this stuff |
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| But these were very popular I still have them...... |
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| But! I discover the ongoing joys of biking to the lighthouse |
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| The lighthouse trek is still relatively undiscovered Tommy Thompson park has been here for ages, but officially you can only enter after 4PM or at weekends. I ignore these strange ideas |
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| Aiden, again, redux |
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| One of my favourite shots Steph, Aiden's girlfriend and Aiden doing what he does best |
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| For some strange reason, this is the only (surviving) pix of a trip to a Pow Wow somewhere up near Midland. We all went with Patty & Roy. Early September |
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| Mid September, and the rot has still not been fixed Oh well, maybe next year. It hasn't collapsed (yet!) |
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| Looks pretty water ridden and rotten to me too. Next year? |
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| Tempus Fugit Et Al |
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| I ignored the water for so long. It's therapeutic fixing the entire, well, 3 office walls and floor come to think of it |
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| Oh yes, totally bleach and waterproof & tar finish Totally Pucker job. Took months |
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| Many times as I was consulting beneath, I heard the rainwater gushing in. What did I care? |
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| I told you not to look under the hood Will I get another winter out of it? |
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| There's actually very little structure left here |
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| Uh Oh! Looks like winter is approaching and I've ducked the issues again. This time is even worse because I now know how dreadful the sun room is |
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| Life in the basement continues Total reconstruction of rot and mould due to window leak that I ignored for 10 years. Payback! |
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| The inside is pretty shit too. The carpet, office is disgusting |
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| It was regularly soaked and is not only stinking, but mouldy |
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| A view from our Airbnb in New York |
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| Another Koplimae family, foreigners this time |
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| A trip to the in-laws in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Thanksgiving (theirs), family and NY, NY shows |
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| There's a million dollar view of the Hudson river from their patio |
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| Back home. Ice in the bird bath, shack falling apart, again Must mean winter's coming |
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| A sunny day in December must mean it's time for our Christmas tree outing. Cut your own of course |
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| Yet another Christmas tree family tradition We used to get them at Kayla's riding school, but they were typically old crap, so, trying a do it yourself approach |
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| A fitting end to the year? Cleaned and ready to reassemble |
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| I'm ripping and fixing it all My old office only so far. Next year? Onward and upward |
I guess that's the update on another exciting year over
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| I'm going to find out soon! |
From Your Correspondent