Back to school!

 Trip to Ottawa!

We were invited to Caitlin's house for dinner. It was an adventure.  Hanging out in the backyard, Jordan used the clippers on Aster. Ah, siblings...

Caitlin worked on dinner, whilst Grampa Joe had a nap. It was a yummy tahini, rice, chicken thingy. 

Grampa asked if they were too old for 'Close Eyes!' Apparently they are not. We gave two rolls of loonies to Jordan, for his laundry machine on campus. Aster was given a bill in the equivalent. Momma got some local honey butter!

Knowing it was close to Back-to-School days, Grampa wrote two poems for the two grandies...

Aster had school the next day, gr. 11.  First day of school!

Jordan was visiting Ottawa since he didn't have any work hours scheduled in Kingston. The plan was for us to go into Ottawa, have dinner with them all, then bring Jordan back to our house. Tuesday morning we planned to drive to Kingston, take Jordan home, and grocery shopping, and out for lunch. 

PART CXXVI – Consult in Ottawa

Tuesday, June 23 

Joe is managing prostate cancer. Things look good. We see the urologist annually, GP quarterly. We are going to carry on as is, quarterly Lupron injections. All is going well. It'll be 10 years on it in September. He had surgery in 2014. The Lupron is keeping the cancer cells in check. No other symptoms, other than the bone issues. His bone health has stabilized with scan #9, no worse than the previous bone scan. [Bone mineral density scan #8 at Riverside hospital, December 11th.]

Off we went into the city. Lots of fields, and little corn plants growing. We left around 10:00, taking our time. We made it into the hospital, sitting down for 12:00. Parking is tricky, but I nabbed a spot. The guy sitting across from us had been waiting an hour to be seen. We weren't waiting that long, 12:35 for a 12:15. Our appointment was supposed to be the day before, but they changed us to Tuesday. We cleared our schedule! 😉

From there we went to The Swan, made it by 2 p.m. An old pub, new patio, new menu, and all was good, once Joe Brian took out his hearing aids! There was a large group, and he couldn't hear me over them. 

The view of the Marina is lovely, with boats coming and going. There was a nice breeze, a screening in porch. 

Veggie burger for me. It was very good. 

The pub hosts a Farmer's Market!

Joe Brian drove us the rest of the way home. The hay is coming off the fields.

Riverside 

Billings Bridge

Manotick

It was a glorious day, once the driving was done!

Trip to Ottawa

 We toodled into Ottawa for Mother's Day. Aster had her birthday party the night before. She was gifted  Lego plants. She is all set to take driver's lessons now. 

Jean-Luc made us a feast for lunch.

We said our goodbyes and drove home. It was a lovely day. 

There were a ton of people out visiting, walking the trails, as well as cyclists. There are lots of green spaces for people who like nature.

Trip to the city!

 We took off Friday, after lunch, to go into Ottawa. This was a big trip for me! We haven't slept over anywhere in all of 2024! I'll be happy to move into 2025. I've been in a bit of a slump, and still slowly climbing out of it. 

We drove in through Richmond, where they were ice fishing. It was a surprise, because the river flows so quickly, they don't tend to freeze as quickly as lakes.

We had a lovely visit with Caitlin. She works a 4-day week, which is great. They are so busy, between school activities and work. The grandkids have had rehearsals every school night of the week. The weekends are for homework. We saw their newly renovated bathroom. That's taken some time, energy, and organization. 

JL arrived home from work, and we had fajitas. The grandies don't come home for dinner after school. There are lots of fast food restaurants in the city, and the kids all eat together, with them car pooling with one another. 

It's been a bit of a topsy turvy year. We celebrated Jo's birthday in early October. I knew things would get busier, and we seldom see him on his birthday. That's the way December rolls. That said, we didn't have a real party on Joe/Brian's birthday in November. Caitlin made a crazy cake, which Grampa can eat. 

Finishing dinner and dessert, off we went to the high school. They were putting on a musical: The Addams Family. This was the purpose of our trip. Jo and Aster were excited to have us there.

Aster was in charge of the music, following in the footsteps of her Uncle T. They used a taped score, rather than a band – as they did when my kids attended. There just isn't the support for the arts that there used to be. 

Aster texted Caitlin before dinner, asking her to bring oranges. Oranges duly delivered! We had front row seats. Jo was in the cast, as one of the 'ancestors,' but we can't take photos for copyright issues. 

This is Perry↓, and he has been teaching here at this high school for 26 years. I know, because Caitlin went to this school that year! She graduated in 1997.  Perry made a lovely speech about the legacy the arts has delivered for our kids over the years. Caitlin's brothers went to school here, as well, and he mentioned my name, and how it is awesome teaching former student's children!  It was touching. It is a full circle moment, since both Jo and Aster were involved in the musical. Jo following in her Uncle Jesse's footsteps. Caitlin played in the band back in her day. 

 Perry mentored my son, Jesse, who was a professional actor for a number of years. Jess is now doing Wealth Management, having taken a number of upgrades to do this. I think his personality and his actor training (BFA) made him an excellent professional. 

The kids ran backstage after the show. "Back stage" in a high school is the hallway, suitably curtained off. They had 8 minutes to remove their costumes and make up, and come out to meet family and friends. The make up was amazing, white, with dark shadows for the 'ancestors.' We meeted and greeted, and congratulated the kids in the hall. All costumes put away.  

After everyone arrived home, and the grandies were delivered home by their car pool dad, we debriefed. Jo was wired. He was explaining all the mistakes, and how they recovered. Their best show was the matinee on Saturday, they thought. Apparently, Jo was kissed – by a special friend!

We watched the neighbours walk by after breakfast. This dude was busy!

After we were home, they had a presentation. Jo turns 17 today. He was given an early birthday present. Jo plans on taking astrophysics at university. 

Papa thrifted a telescope! 

We had a sleepover!

 Yes, it was time. We could not remember the last time we were away for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful opportunity to visit the kids in Ottawa. The kids in Vancouver were at the cottage with friends, as were many other Canadians with the opportunity. We did the reverse, we drove from cottage country to the city!

We've had days of rain, which might have improved my drive-by shootings!

As we approached Ottawa, those dreaded traffic circles! JB just doesn't like them, I felt badly. We avoided them on the way home.

It is a lovely neighbourhood! Look at those trees.

Isabelle and I got a little silly! There was much love. It is wonderful being able to visit them. And to hear the words, "Gramma, you are awesome!" really warms my heart and soul.

The new kitchen, with the half wall, really open up the space. The renovations are amazing. 

Look at this! You can grab items from the pantry drawer. 

JL is an amazing cook, who loves to cook. He prepared a charcuterie board for us. This is all that was left, but you can see the wonderful markings.

Caitlin lit the candles. (It was a gift!)

I took a quick photo of all of us. It's tough getting everyone in the same room at once!

JL was given a painting done by a relative of his step-mother's, Alex F. Yaworski. You can read about the artist in a blog post by his son, Don Yaworski, in a blogpost. He was born in Odessa, lived in the US. It is a painting of the St. Regis Hotel, created on June 25th, 1972.

Josephine was doing some sewing in the basement. We interrupted her to watch a movie. Even Grampa smiled. It was fun entertainment.

Walkies in the rain for the men. 

Off we went home, after breakfast. What a terrific visit. 

There were quite a few people at the various trails, kids in toques and mitts, about to go walking. I am sure it is a family tradition, even though it was raining!

There many fields with geese, and several short skeins of geese over head. With the dull, cloudy, rainy day, photos were not great.

It is a shame to waste these old photos, so here are geese in person, in the flesh, in feather!

We came home through Richmond, with lots of new developments. 

The homes and tree colours were much more appealing.

This is one of my favourite backyards. You'll have to biggify it to see the water treatment, but it looks like Santa is waiting to be installed. Wow!

We had a quick Happy Thanksgiving phone call with our Vancouver family, Jesse and Bryony specifically, who were entertaining friends at the cottage. We were grateful Jesse took time to call!

The new week begins!