Very pleased that you plan to retire in mid-December. As you say, I certainly hope you don't collapse before then, given the travel, parties and house/flat moves/renovations! Is Anna renting out her flat in Mill Hill? Did Anna and Leon buy the cottage in Bushey? Are they close to Carol? Helo to her, and Heather, when she arrives.Have to start calling you The Black Widow after hearing about the chap who was stricken after realizing he had been involved with you twenty years ago! No wonder I came down with a serious sinus infection last time we visited!!!
Had a lovely dinner last night with Kersten and Per, sister/boyfriend of our friend Kjell, chap we stayed with in Stockholm last August. They were using Jane's, (Kjell's Canadian girlfriend's), father's flat while in Vancouver. Her dad is in a nursing home at moment and it is doubtful that he will ever be able to move back to his apartment. Too bad, for obvious reasons, but even more of a shame as it has one of the most incredible views of English Bay, Point Grey, etc., I have ever seen. Cora Lee had a shift at WISH and Jane was working at West Van Library, so the four of us sat around and visited, drinking in the spectacular vista while tippling wine and beer, until goils arrived, just after 9:00pm.
Kersten and Per leave tomorrow so it was terrific that we could see them again as they are both such interesting and lovely people. Discovered that Per works for a small investment firm, (He is fairly well off, I gather, and has already "retired" twice!), and his portfolio has to do with the film industry. He said that his firm was the only "external" investor, (typical investors being Swedish Film Institute, film producers themselves, etc.), to put money into the Stieg Larsson films. I asked him how much they had invested and he said around $1,000,000. Assume it was $US, given timing. At any rate, it has brought nothing but a huge return on initial investment and looks like windfall could go on for many years, given popularity of both film and television series. I had not realized that the TV series was a longer version of three films. Apparently, films were simply edited to fit typical feature film running length. I'd like to obtain DVD's for TV series as I enjoyed all of films so much and am curious to see parts that were cut for big screen.
Before we knew it , it was close to midnight and we had to let our hosts go to bed as they were trying to pack as much in to their last two days as possible. Didn't even have a snort of malt before we said our thanks and goodbyes and farewells to Kersten and Per as I was designated driver. Streets were almost completely deserted as we drove to Lions Gate through West Van, although there was a bit more activity on Denman once we were close to English Bay.
Up at 6:30am to go riding with Whirlygig at 7:00am. After he collected me we made for Stanley Park and did a loop up and over Lions Gate. I pointed out route I had taken, previous evening, along Bellvue, street which parallels Marine. We hope to ride to Horseshoe Bay before the end of the summer, so this is the route we will follow to take us to the Lower Levels highway. Back up and over LG, enjoying the mirrored surface of English Bay, nary a ripple to mar the unbelievably calm surface. Waved goodbye to Giorgio at 9:15am as he had to be home by 9:30am as Tia Maria was returning from a sleep-over at a friend's house then.
I had decided I'd head out to UBC before returning home myself. Wasn't sure just how far I was prepared to cycle but once I was past UBC and had 52K on the odometer, I knew that I could break 100K. Following my regular route, I took my time and when all was said and done, I had logged 121.15K by time I was at The Island Inn, a few minutes before 2:00pm. Felt pretty good, all things considered, as this is the longest ride I've ever done and my feet never touched the ground once for the entire 7 hours! (This mainly for the benefit of my cycling companions as I am known to circle around and around, at red traffic lights, for instance, so that I don't have to stop until the light changes!)
Cora Lee and I are off to a bbq this evening, at the home of the Chair of the Board of VPL so looking forward to meeting some of the movers and shakers in the public library world. Will have to be on my best behaviour as Corinne is the President of The Friends of VPL. Have received explicit instructions that I am not allowed to "howl" or otherwise embarrass her! Maybe I'll just wear a different coloured Croc on each foot!!! Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizio!
Pics: Took Mom for a stroll to Granville Island yesterday and then brought her to our patio to see Maggie. Kjell; Kersten, Per; Jane, Cora Lee, Per.
Hi Sylvia, Chris, Jim and Ray!
Great snap of the cyclists! Whirlygig said he'd never seen either of you without a helmet on!!!
Pat,
You have me worried with these distances and early morning rides.
Thanks for the photos of your mom and friends, as well as Corinne. Haven't downloaded ours from yesterday yet but we have one of Jim's mother age almost 96!
Jim was itching to get going Wednesday morning after a decent night's sleep, so we did a few weights in his garage before moving onto the driveway for rugby skills and tennis. Must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the tennis without a net and inspite of limited lateral movement on my part, we managed to volley and rally quite successfully. It was so much fun. Christine said we were like a couple of kids which we took as a compliment.
Dropped the rental car into York on Tuesday, so J and C kindly drove us north where we are now staying with good friends Lynda and Bob. Jim drove us on the old A1 which was very quiet and we observed some lovely countryside and some of the Yorkshire Moors with the heather about to blossom. En route we stopped at Jim's sister's house in Hutton Rudby where she resided with her husband, Jeff. What an incredible garden, probably twice the size of mine with loads of flowers and numerous apple and plum trees all fully laden but not quite ready. Mrs. Brownlee senior (Edith) was as sharp as tack and Sylvia and I had a lengthy converation on a variety of topics. A little hard of hearing, she had us in Russia rather than Worcester but it was easy to correct her and she seemed to enjoy herself. She still bakes and brought along some cakes for our gathering. Jim's sister, Janet, was very outgoing and surprised me with the kmowledge of my background from my early days. Once the Brownlees had a cup of tea in Hartlepool, they were driving on to Newcastle with camping equipment for their daughter, Lauren and husband, Ed who were off to France. Ed is in medical school while Laura works ro keep the money comimg in. She is a trained lawyer having trouble finding work because ofa glut of trained people in this area, information to pass along to our daughter who is thinking of embarking on such a career.
Now, the process of attempting to see more people than I have the time for begins. A couple who drove and rode the Kettley Valley with me in 2006 are visiting at 9:30 this morning. Pete held the record for many years at the local cycling club for the Sutton Bank climb, one of the steep hills I mentioned in a previous letter. He's 73 now with a few health problems but still riding.
Will pass along the photos of Hutton Rudby soon.
Ray
| Greetings from a grey, post rain Wetherby. Thanks once again for you kindnesses Patrick and Corinne and I hope you are both on speaking terms after the library gathering. Sorry to hear about Imre so please let him know that we are thinking of him and wishing him well. We spent two or so days with Ray and Sylvia in Wetherby with Ray and I doing some local cycle trails and on their final day here doing weight training, rugby ball handing and some knockabout tennis all of which we enjoyed and were ridiculed by our wives for our childish behaviour. We drove our visitors back to Hartlepool to see their friends after stopping in at Hutton Rudby on the edge of the North Yorks Moors to meet my sister, brother in law and my mother. Chris and I drove on to Newcastle to see our daughter and her husband before they leave for a holiday in France. We are still having interrupted sleep patterns and I was walking around Newcastle parks at 5.30 am while Chris did their ironing. We sat next to a Spanish fire-fighter who had been canoeing down the Yukon river -it was an interesting conversation for the first 2 hours of the flight. There were stunning views after take-off over Burrard sound and the coastal mountains. Thanks Pat for taking us to the airport. We have very happy memories of Vancouver and all the people we met, apart from one mountie. Back into solitary training for the Coast to Coast now and preparing for the logistical side of two cars, four bikes , two wives, three to four nights away etc. As I complete this email the sun is coming out. By the way Ray has done an excellent job on our garden, cutting hedge, grass, weeding, watering etc. They have also made new friends of Brian and Pat Taylor some long term friends of ours in Wetherby. No doubt they will tell you all about their stay. We look forward to hearing from you and especially letting us know if you intend to come to the UK. It would be good to lead you over some trails here. Thanks and best wishes Jim and Chrstine Today I did almost NOTHING. The task I set for myself was to find where I had hidden my roll of vinyl coated Cortland LC 13 lead line, cut a 10 foot piece, and a few 4 foot lengths, tie loops on the stripped ends and turn these pieces into "sink tips" for river fly fishing. I succeeded in this endeavour and for the remaining hours essentially loafed, listened to a ++ depressing audiobook written by Henning Mankell-"The Depths",read by Sean Barrett in a plummy english voice and wrote the day off. Tomorrow I'm off to Smithers on an early flight to hear the appeal of a man compelled to take treatment under the Mental Health Act for his major mental disorder; back by 9 pm I think. Soon, within the next three-four weeks pink salmon will return to the various rivers and I plan to take a trip or two to the Squamish River and cast my new spey rod complete with sink tip and gaudy pink fly into the waters for these beautiful game fish. Al Hi there, Just wanted to extend an invitation for you to come and hoist a glass of wine to celebrate Jo-Anne's 60th birthday on August 13, 2011, between 1:30 PM and 5:30 PM at 3826 W. 16th Ave. (O.K., I know it's the day after, but she's not available on the afternoon of the 12th.) Please - no gifts. You are being invited because you are of importance to Jo-Anne. -Colin PS - unless the weather is totally miserable, we will be on our patio in the back - easily accessible from 17th. -Colin P, Impressive. 7 hours on the post. Better join us and cross the border -- that peloton sounds like real trouble. You will be circling Steveston for two hours awaiting the bourbon and coffee swillers. See you at 6:30 at the Hardtack Terrace. W |
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