Didja miss me?
Jun. 27th, 2013 09:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
midnightsjaneI feel like I've been away a lot longer than a week. Guess that's a sign of a good vacation! Honestly, I had the best time visiting with my family. We all got along (my Aunt Ruth's instructions were "no birthday gifts, just be on your best behavior!") and really enjoyed our time together.
I flew out to Ottawa on the redeye last Thursday, and got in at breakfast time Friday morning. My sister Mary Anne collected me at the airport and we drove to the town she and her husband live in, about an hour from Ottawa. They've built the neatest house on about an acre of land; it's a six sided house that originally was going to be on stilts until Ian realized it would be too difficult to make structurally sound. It's really quite beautiful, and they've painted the inside with great colours. I loved it.
We drove down to Hamilton on Saturday, a trip that took about 6 hours, to my brother Bill's place. My sister Sandy and her husband flew in Saturday evening, and my youngest brother and his wife arrived on Monday. It's the first time we've all been together since my Mom's memorial service five years ago. We had a delicious salmon barbecue on Sunday night, and on Monday we spent the day lounging around and in the pool. It was a pretty hot day so it was nice to have the pool to jump into! Monday evening was Aunt Ruth's birthday dinner; it was held at a country bistro and I have to say it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Several of my aunt and uncle's friends were there as well, and I think Aunt Ruth enjoyed herself. She's looking a bit frail, but is generally doing well. My uncle is so caring and devoted, it's lovely to see. They've been married for over 50 years.
Mary Anne and Ian and I drove back to Renfrew on Tuesday and made it home just before the skies opened and there was a huge thunder storm. Very dramatic.
Wednesday Mary Anne and I went into Ottawa, had a nice lunch near the marketplace near the Parliament buildings, walked around the Parliament buildings, sat on a bench in the cool shade by the Rideau canal to watch a big yacht move through the locks, and then had a leisurely iced tea in a courtyard café before she drove me to the airport.
I caught the nine o'clock flight to Vancouver...the flight was pretty good, and I passed the time watching the first two episodes of Season 2 Once Upon a Time, and an episode of Nova. Got in to Vancouver at 12:30 a.m. (about 3:30 Ottawa time)..by the time I got home it was after 1 a.m. Long, long day.
Great to go away, and great to be home. The cats were happy to see me. I collapsed into my bed, and woke up this morning ready to get back to the real world.
Took my poor injured car in to the ICBC Claims centre, and they looked the damage over and gave me the okay to take it to a body shop. As long as the repairs don't go over the allotted value of the car, they'll fix it. If the damage is worse than they think, they'll just write it off and give me a cheque for what they assess the market value of the car to be. In this case, about $3000. If that happens, I'll be searching for a new car (well, newish). I'm hoping I won't have to do that.
Got a courtesy car from the body shop, so I've got wheels. I have to go out to the farm tomorrow first thing.
Now I'm ready to head off to bed. It's good to be home again.
I flew out to Ottawa on the redeye last Thursday, and got in at breakfast time Friday morning. My sister Mary Anne collected me at the airport and we drove to the town she and her husband live in, about an hour from Ottawa. They've built the neatest house on about an acre of land; it's a six sided house that originally was going to be on stilts until Ian realized it would be too difficult to make structurally sound. It's really quite beautiful, and they've painted the inside with great colours. I loved it.
We drove down to Hamilton on Saturday, a trip that took about 6 hours, to my brother Bill's place. My sister Sandy and her husband flew in Saturday evening, and my youngest brother and his wife arrived on Monday. It's the first time we've all been together since my Mom's memorial service five years ago. We had a delicious salmon barbecue on Sunday night, and on Monday we spent the day lounging around and in the pool. It was a pretty hot day so it was nice to have the pool to jump into! Monday evening was Aunt Ruth's birthday dinner; it was held at a country bistro and I have to say it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Several of my aunt and uncle's friends were there as well, and I think Aunt Ruth enjoyed herself. She's looking a bit frail, but is generally doing well. My uncle is so caring and devoted, it's lovely to see. They've been married for over 50 years.
Mary Anne and Ian and I drove back to Renfrew on Tuesday and made it home just before the skies opened and there was a huge thunder storm. Very dramatic.
Wednesday Mary Anne and I went into Ottawa, had a nice lunch near the marketplace near the Parliament buildings, walked around the Parliament buildings, sat on a bench in the cool shade by the Rideau canal to watch a big yacht move through the locks, and then had a leisurely iced tea in a courtyard café before she drove me to the airport.
I caught the nine o'clock flight to Vancouver...the flight was pretty good, and I passed the time watching the first two episodes of Season 2 Once Upon a Time, and an episode of Nova. Got in to Vancouver at 12:30 a.m. (about 3:30 Ottawa time)..by the time I got home it was after 1 a.m. Long, long day.
Great to go away, and great to be home. The cats were happy to see me. I collapsed into my bed, and woke up this morning ready to get back to the real world.
Took my poor injured car in to the ICBC Claims centre, and they looked the damage over and gave me the okay to take it to a body shop. As long as the repairs don't go over the allotted value of the car, they'll fix it. If the damage is worse than they think, they'll just write it off and give me a cheque for what they assess the market value of the car to be. In this case, about $3000. If that happens, I'll be searching for a new car (well, newish). I'm hoping I won't have to do that.
Got a courtesy car from the body shop, so I've got wheels. I have to go out to the farm tomorrow first thing.
Now I'm ready to head off to bed. It's good to be home again.
