We are having weird weather, it is as predicted by the Weather service, the Maritimes will have a period of very warm and mild weather from September until Early December and that is what happened. In the last 72 hours the weather has become much colder but again we do have days like today of 14C and nights of -5C, no snow yet and but lots of intense rain, strong winds and low clouds. The winds today stopped the ferry service between Nova Scotia and the Western tip of PEI. The surf is rough under a bright blue sky.
Tomorrow I travelled to Kensington which by Island standard is very far away, don’t laugh, it’s 40 minutes away. Both Nicky and Nora are getting groomed for Santa. Probably will have lunch in town and then return to Ch’Town. Tomorrow night we are told that we might get snow, will see, the weather guy Jay Scotland is not known for his accuracy. Can’t blame the guy, Climate change has screwed up everything.
My Xmas cards are mostly done and in the mail, it is a bit of a chore each year, I also send electronic cards to people far away. This weekend we should start the decorations. On Thursday it’s Will’s Birthday, it is a big surprise, not giving away no details here. We also have the Dinner Party at the Club and then the New Year’s Eve party also at the Club. So we are busy, which is good.
The Holiday Season Music is not too bad in stores, many don’t have any. Though I like 2 songs in particular, Mariah Carey, All I want for Christmas is you, this version was recorded as a spoof on a Royal Navy War Ship, the HMS Ocean, quite funny in a very British way. The other is from a group at Oxford University called Out of the Blue, Merry Christmas Everybody. Both can be found on You Tube.
St-Nicholas day was yesterday, let’s hope we get into more of the Holiday Spirit in the next week.
I had my winter tires installed last week and was told that they had some weather cracking. I did not know what that meant and asked to be shown. Sure enough there are cracks, it also turns out they are 11 years old. That last bit amazed me, because I was convinced that they were 2 years old. I did by a new car 3 years ago and usually you have to buy new winter tires because the wheel size change after a few years and a car is remodelled. I can still keep them for one more Winter, I really do not drive the car much and most of it is within this small town. Next Winter I will get new tires.
We had the very first lighting of the Hanukkah Menorah (9 branches) in Charlottetown. The Jewish community is small in PEI about 200 people, but they have been here for 120 years. Something that is never mentioned. This year the Jewish community given the anniversary of the beginning of their community, erected a Menorah in the park by the Legislature and several politicians came, including the Premier and the Speaker of the House. It was a nice evening, singing traditional songs, etc. The town of Stratford across the river from us also has a Menorah this year.
What is commonplace in most other regions of Canada, is not here. PEI is very insular and change comes slowly and it is a big challenge for many. We have 1000 Buddhist Monks in Brudenell which is a small settlement with a few families. The monks have beautiful farms, they do a lot of good work with the poor, bake bread, and are very peaceful. The local at least some of them hate that, bunch of foreigners. The junior hockey league got itself in big trouble a few days ago, a young 16 year old player thought it was ok to say to non-whites that they did not belong because hockey is a white man sports. This was said in front of the coaches, parents, referees. All pretended that they heard nothing, until it hit the news and now it’s the old “zero tolerance for that sort of thing” and we are doing an investigation. Sure you are, it’s a cover your ass exercise. In the meantime teams from Nova Scotia are boycotting PEI and will not play games here. Change is happening slowly and it’s a good thing.
In other news, today I bought a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau 2021, a young wine that must be drunk before the end of the year, it does not keep. Strangely enough they kept the display with the whiskey section. I had to ask in order to find it. Beaujolais nouveau has to be served at 15C which is considered room temperature. That is cool but this is the way to enjoy it.
This year it is said to be very fruity and the French also make a new Beaujolais Nouveau Rosé. Will have to see how it taste.
Tomorrow Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, we are going to dinner with American friends who have lived in PEI for 29 years now. They are very interesting people and live in a house that was once part of the big mansion across the street that belonged to a Father of Confederation. At some point one wing was detached and moved across the street. It is a beautiful house which has been very well taken care of. They also have a large treed garden.
P. is a very good cook and she spent some years living in Asia and is preparing Lacquered Peking Duck which is one of my favourite dishes. So I am looking forward to this dinner, American Thanksgiving with a twist.
Our friends also have a new 10 week old puppy, a very smart dog and he is adorable and with the personality to boot. He will probably grow to be a 20 lbs dog. Beautiful coat of gray, white with black spots, he is a type of shepherd herding dog.
The City is decorated for Christmas, people have put up their own decorations. Though in the last 2 days it has been rain, rain, and wind. A cold blustery wind is blowing which feels like -3C when in fact it is +6C. We may get some wet snow, what we need is some sun. Everything looks so gloomy.
Tomorrow Thursday is a busy day for me. Who knew that retirement could be so busy.
So the atmospheric river did not happen as predicted. You may wonder what does that mean, it is a new term the weather people have crafted to indicate a storm which covers a very long and wide area and brings lots of rains, provoking floods and very high winds. British Columbia suffered such a phenomenon last week, with highways washed away, cities stranded cut off from the world, mudslides, etc. This is what climate change brings folks. It is not the last of the storms, another one is on the way. After the disastrous forest fires all Summer long and the heat dome which killed 600 people with record heat at 50C. you are cooking in such weather, people should get used to it, it’s our future. Covid 19 is still very present and now we are told that it is not going away and may in fact be with us for years to come. Health experts are saying that the vaccine against covid will probably be required annually in order to avoid the worst. Facial mask will become a fixture. Oh Joy!
Here in PEI, again the weather is much warmer than normal around 12 C which is the same as Rome this week. We have few Covid Cases and though the weather brought us lots of rain in the last few days it is manageable and the winds are high but that is typical for this time of the year.
Though I do find that many people still think this is just a phase and that covid will go away. Or that Climate change is not that bad, just wait folks, PEI is nothing more than a sandbar of red sandstone and dirt. Ask anyone who lives close to the coast how much property frontage they lost in the last 10 years, it’s an eye opener.
PEI produces 20% of all potatoes grown in Canada, our potatoes are banned since yesterday from entering the USA because of a fungus which kills crops. It is not dangerous to humans but can ruin crops in no time at all. This means financial disaster for many farmers on PEI. It will also disrupt trucking and with no tourism our other industry, it all spells economic doom.
On a happier note, Will and I are celebrating 43 years together. Many tell us it is an achievement. We think where has the time gone. So happy to be together and still in good health.
Well I have been reading the website of the Club and prior to 1997 there was another Club in existence, a military one. One of the President of that defunct Club wrote the story of the Club when the military was in charge. It made for interesting reading and it covers the years 1932 to 1997. It shows how mentalities have changed and how we see the role of gender back then and today.
It also shows that there is a bit or a lot of whitewashing of what was going on at the Club. PEI had prohibition like all other Provinces in Canada. However in PEI prohibition last far longer than anywhere else for reasons typical of a small island and its deep protestant roots. Our liquor laws are still archaic but that is changing slowly.
The author explains that the Club being a Military outfit had a special permission from the PEI Government to buy alcohol at Government dispensary. Members could also buy liquor if their doctor signed a paper saying they needed a drink. Being the military they have their own doctors, so everyone had a medical dispensation saying, Johnny needs his bottle of gin or scotch or whatever. Then members were also smuggling liquor bought in various illegal distilleries on the Island, gin at 50% proof, Moonshine, liquors of all sorts. The police knew about this and looked the other way. The reason for this lack of enforcement was that these were soldiers, family members, related in some fashion to various segments of society. Population was only 100K so it is understandable that the local Police preferred to not get involved as long as no one got hurt. However the Federal Police, the RCMP is composed of officers from all over Canada with no link to PEI. They did raid the Club once and the solution of the Club Executive was to build secret hideaway and lockers in the basement, so if there was a raid the liquor could not be found.
Liquor in PEI plays a very big role like drugs in the life of the Island. We have a population of approx 155000 today, old ways die hard.
The Club was also male only, in 1953 women were allowed to come on special days and with a male escort who would have to be a member and the events were billed as Tea parties and the ladies were entertained by members. There was also illegal gambling going on and again the police looked the other way. Many of the doctors who were members of the Club worked at the hospital, then located across the street from the Club. They would come in the afternoon for a few drinks and then go back to work. The nurses residence was also then located across the street from the Club and the male members would bring them in for a drink and some “entertainment”, wink, wink!
The old Military Club disappeared in 1997, changes in society and attitudes, changes also in the military in Canada made it more difficult to recruit new members. They went bankrupt. The hospital is gone it moved to a brand new location at the other side of town, the nurses residence is also gone. The neighbourhood was gentrified and now it is a quiet section of town. The Club building today is a civilian social club and the members are a mix of 50-50 women and men. Though I have heard stories about how bad the reputation of the old military club was, all confirmed by this history written by this long dead old gentleman who was once a president of the Officers club.
So I went with Nick to the vet for his eyes and I am returning with him next week for a follow up.
Going through old photos tonight on my computer I have one of Nick on 23 March 2021, his eyes are fine, no problems with cataracts, by June he had a problem and it has been progressing quickly since.
We got our Flu Shot yesterday, no after effects. Now with the weather getting colder and the first North-Eastern wind storm tomorrow at 50Km per hour, this tells me it is time now to phone the garage to have the tires changed to winter and get a tune up.
Evenings are strangely quiet, no cars and no one on the streets. We went out dining last night with friends at one of the few open restaurants in town, it was full and we had reservations. People love to dine in groups of 6 or more which I find unpleasant. Four people for dinner is plenty in a restaurant. I noticed also that the menus have been simplified if you can it that, soup, salad, sandwiches, pasta, fish and chips, sirloin steak. It reads like a lunch menu. The dessert lists is very simple, always a date toffee pudding, a chocolate cake, a cheese cake. It was good but nothing more.
Our Nora who comes from a long line of European champion tracking wire hair Dachshunds, is always on the hunt and is our guard dog. For a 12 lbs dog she has a very loud bark. She is in the habit of trying to eat just about anything on her walks, two morning in a row, she has been sick because she ate dead leafs or bark or whatever she thinks looks good. So this morning she got a good bath and her blankets where washed. She does not like the bath but this time around she was easy about it. She is very funny and this is why we find her so endearing.
She is quite jealous of Nicky and does not want him to get too much attention, she gives out dirty looks if she gets jealous. At night Nick goes to bed at 10pm it’s his habit and he does it without being prompted. Nora loves to bundle on the sofa and she would much prefer to just sleep there if she could have her way. So now at night we have this game, she will go to her kennel to sleep and get her cookie or her home made baked liver treat. Close the lights and she starts to whimper, we come and have a look, she runs to the sofa in the living room, all the while giving us the sad pleading look. We bring her back to the kennel and give her another treat. She starts again this whimpering, she has a one track mind and is good at manipulation to get her way. Nicky is sleeping ignoring all this nonsense. Eventually, she goes to sleep, but not before making her point. It is a great game.
Up until today the weather was quite pleasant but today Sunday it has turned grey and rainy and slowly becoming colder.
We had a great Premium Scotch tasting at the Club, we tasted Glenfarcas 15yrs, Dewars 21yrs, Glenlivet French Oak reserve 15 yrs, and my least favourite Bowmore 12 yrs old.
Today I had to go grocery shopping, the stores in PEI on Sunday open after 12 Noon by Law. I rarely go to the stores on Sunday, I was very surprised to see so many people and little to no staff to help out. It was like Xmas shopping, just weird. All stores are advertising jobs and are looking for staff for every position. It is a problem but given the very small salary offered and no benefits, no one wants those jobs. PEI is known for low salaries and poor working conditions, nothing to be proud of. Coupled with a difficult housing situation and very high rents in the $2000 dollar range +, no parking if you work downtown. No wonder we have this situation, employers are looking at Government to solve the problem, in other words mission impossible.
It has been announced that as of May 2022, some 75 cruise ships will be coming to Charlottetown. Given the lack of staff in restaurants and bars, I wonder how this is going to work out.
Some of our friends are booking travel to Europe for the coming months, we are still not ready. I am trying to schedule a trip to Halifax some 3 hours away hopefully before December, but still hesitant. I would probably go by the Ferry at Souris, the crossing takes about 30 minutes. Halifax is a city of half a million people, it has a lot of good restaurants and bars. Good shopping and good sights, a beautiful Art Gallery, with interesting artists.
Met with friends this morning for coffee and cake in a friends home, had a very nice time. The rest of the day was quiet. Tomorrow I am taking Nicky to the vet to have him look at his eyes and the cataracts, I know they cannot do much about it but I just want to know more about the progression of this disease in his eyes, it is in part old age. He does not seem bothered by it, but animals are good at hiding ailments.
This morning I went to the Port Authority building for a tour of what is left of what was once a big industrial port. There has been a port in Charlottetown since 1750. From a simply wharf to a ship building site to a train terminus for loading harvests of potatoes to today which serves both the cruise ships and the petroleum product ships and other lakers bringing aggregate to our sandbar island.
The area of the Port nowadays is completely surrounded by a residential neighbourhood, the only part left is a loading area for trucks to take on loads of aggregate. The petroleum ships from IRVING have their own pipeline on the dock and it is pump directly into the line. The Port receives 90% of all oil used on the island. We use to have multiple tank farms on the shoreline until 1980 when it all disappeared, only one is left.
The goal of the visit was to speak about the loading and unloading of trucks in the area after 11pm. The major problem has been that governments have been slow in investing or they have invested small amounts which does not help infrastructure in the long run. Some other ports like Georgetown and Summerside are now receiving more shipment of aggregate and Port Charlottetown as a not for profit corporation is seeing its revenue diminish.
My Member of the Legislature came along for the briefing. She is in the Opposition at the moment, but her focus is on the environment as a member of the Green Party.
We also walk on the new dock for cruise ships, an area not open to the public, it was cold this morning, given that the dock is about 100 feet from shore, the view however was very nice.
1960 Port with Thank Farms in the downtown core. Now all parklandThe Port around 2000 when it was still under the Federal Government control.Around 2016, the area is completely transformed for tourism.
It seems that life is slowly returning to normal, with the VAXPASS that you have to show to enter any public place, people feel more secure and the last dregs of those who had not are now getting vaccinated. The government in PEI and in other provinces have clamped down on all government workers and health workers not vaccinated yet. Those who refuse will loose their jobs and will not be able to claim benefits.
On other fronts, I have re-started working at Government House for the Lieutenant Governor, it has been 6 years now and Her Honour always has lots to talk to me about. She is getting more visitors and the restrictions have been lifted. Again PEI is very different from the rest of Canada when it comes to Covid 19. None of the mismanagement we have seen elsewhere. Alberta is still a basket case, just plain horrible and Northern British Columbia is not much better, high rates of mortality and infections.
This weekend is Marathon weekend in PEI. The weather is still nice, today was suppose to be rainy, we got sunshine instead. Love living on an Island the winds change the weather constantly. No I am not running, are you kidding? One does not run.
Also the medical society has published the following about Pumpkin Spice. So if you are a doctor please beg your patients to drop it.
The weather is still sunny but getting cooler with a North East Wind today. So this is the long Thanksgiving Weekend, was at the grocery store this morning to pick-up a few items, Will is making ice-cream with Irish whiskey, a recipe that never fails to please all.
There is so much to be thankful for in Canada, the economy is doing well, we live in a peaceful and stable country and our life in general is good, no complaints really.
Last night we went for the last time this Season across the street to the Water Prince restaurant and had oysters on the half shell, lobster roll and Halibut Fish and chips. They close at the end of the Lobster Season this Saturday until May 2022. It has been crazy busy all week, lots of last minute tourists. You should hear the questions about the menu. Some do not grasp the concept that we are an Island on the ocean and our seafood comes off the boats just over there. No it is not frozen or sent from a factory in Arkansas. The tourists we get are from Ontario, land of dysfunction and pandemic. Happy to see them go home. The owner Shane has passed the baton to his son Coady who is a school teacher, you cannot improvise yourself a restaurateur, not the same as teaching class to 8 yr olds. It’s too bad really.
Earlier this week we went to Cavendish National Park, it is opposite of French River and New London across the bay from our Summer Cottage. Lots of very big sand dunes and marshes all around. Beautiful and peaceful, nearly deserted at this time of the year. Only one bus with about a dozen American tourists. There was almost no wind and we walked on the wooden elevated pathway across the marsh behind the big sand dunes. In the clear water you see thousand of little Gaspereaux and Blue Back Herring swimming in schools. Lots of small birds, Northern Harrier hawks and bald Eagles, racoons, beavers, muskrats and minks, live in the pine forests growing all around and in the marsh. Parks Canada which manages the area does a wonderful job of managing the park. The buildings are unobtrusive and blend into the scenery. The map of the area shows 3 National parks inter-connected, Cavendish North Rustico, Brackley Dalvay and Greenwich. All those parks were once farmland and owned by families for generations, however with shifting sand and changing currents it progressively became very difficult to farm and the land was either given up or sold to the Federal Government who turned it all into preserved natural areas.
So the plan for Thanksgiving, we have been invited to dinner at friends in Montague, then a catered dinner with 2 other friends on Monday. I was glad this morning not to have to buy a turkey etc.
French River is on the Cliffs
McNeil’s Pond or Lake of Shining Waters, floating platform, the high sand dunes create a barrier to the sea on the other side.
We are a week away from the Thanksgiving weekend. This year we have not made plans, we are thinking of going to the restaurant with 2 friends, keeping it simple because preparing a meal for a group is a lot of work and we are not in the mood for that. We have also been invited by friends in Montague on a different day and that will be fun. The weather is now much cooler and the trees are slowly changing colours.
As we enter October you realize if you live in PEI that we do live on a kind of resort Island, many restaurants and bars, hotels and motels are specifically geared to the tourist and seasonal travellers from May to early October, they are shut down at Thanksgiving time. Only to reopen in Mid-May or early June, which I have always found disappointing because of the lack of effort to cater to this province residents. Yes it is true that it is still a small population at 150K and that the majority are pinching pennies, so restaurant owners can say they do not have the volume, though the restaurants are full every night. The other excuse given by owners is no staff, but again for many years the salaries in the service industry are so poor, people cannot live on $13. per hour, even $15 will not do it anymore and some employers in the industry are offering $20. A lack of affordable housing for service industry staff, lack of parking, no benefits, compound the problem. This pandemic wave has demonstrated it is not worth working in that sector at all and in the long run this endangers the tourism industry as a whole on the Island. What will May 2022 bring? no one knows, many are hoping we will be out of the pandemic but I do not see that happening. We will simply have to learn to live with it. Unfortunately many have not and behave like spoiled children.
On Tuesday, we will have to carry proof of FULL vaccinations with us and it is required for you to show it on demand to enter businesses. Masks are mandatory inside everywhere. The good side is most people are now fully vaccinated and people do wear masks with no fuss. But it tells you that this is far from over, despite the very low numbers in PEI of 22 persons at home with Covid infections. Though in Alberta out in Western Canada, the hospital system has collapsed and at triage doctors now decides who they will treat and who they will not. Everyone else sick or not are told to stay home because the system is full, no room. Alberta has such a low rate of vaccination they are paying now for their right wing agenda. They still do not get it. Saskatchewan next door is not much better again a right wing government told them its just the flu don’t worry. How sad is that.
This fourth wave as been that of the unvaccinated, the young under 30 who did not get vaccinated thinking this was only for the old. They are now more sick and require more treatment and it is becoming alarming. Many young people are also anti-vaxxers. So baffling.
Yesterday we were invited to dinner at a friends Summer home, let’s call it a mansion on the sea. Located in the Cavendish National Park, a spectacular house in a wild natural setting. This is on the opposite side of the bay from French River where we go in the Summer to the cottage.i The kitchen alone was the height of a professional kitchen with its great U shape 10 place sitting area in marble. We had a wonderful meal of the best PEI Mussels in a yellow curry sauce, just wonderful and followed by a chicken madras and a vegetable curry. Good food and good company, lots of conversation and laughs.
This friend also has another mansion on the South shore of the Island in Keppoch with 9 fireplaces. Truly another spectacular house on 3 levels. Located on a vast expanse of land giving unto the water and spectacular views in a very natural setting. Love going there for a movie night and dinner. Always fun.
Tomorrow I am to get a delivery of my new Apple Computer, that will be nice. The weather for the week is cool 13C and sunny.
Jerry and I get around. In 2011, we moved from the USA to Spain. We now live near Málaga. Jerry y yo nos movemos. En 2011, nos mudamos de EEUU a España. Ahora vivimos cerca de Málaga.
Tutto iniziò con Memorie di Adriano, sulle strade dell'Impero Romano tra foto, storia e mito - It all began with Memoirs of Hadrian, on the roads of the Roman Empire among photos, history and myth!
Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada's East Coast. Winner of the Heritage Award from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Heritage Preservation Award from the City of Charlottetown
Larry Muffin At Home 