The Passing of Time

We haven’t posted here in a while. We’ve thought about it, a few times now. It’s not like we haven’t been doing things. But I guess much like life in a pandemic, we either had too much time on our hands or not enough. And somehow, even the most menial task of downloading the pictures off my phone seemed like too much work. But as summer approaches, and a trip to Victoria is on the horizon, I thought it might be worth doing a catch-up post. So please bear with us while we cast our memory back over the last 6 months or so and capture a few of the events worth mentioning.

Back in November we had the pleasure of hosting Sayler and and showing her around a bit. We did a quick trip to Montreal and another to Kingston. It was really nice getting to know her better and sharing some of our favourite haunts in Kingston.

In December I had fun making felt Christmas tree ornaments for my colleagues, including these felt rainbow trout for a friend who really enjoys fishing.

Meanwhile George took many naps on the spare bed where I was organizing my Christmas presents. Look at that tail!

We were heading to Magog on Christmas Eve to spend a few days with mom and Michael when we were rear-ended going through Ottawa. This was my first car accident and we were both very grateful that the damage was minimal and we were able to continue our drive to Magog. I will say though, we were both very annoyed.

In January we had the windows upstairs replaced. It was supposed to be completed in September but the company experienced delays with manufacturing so they were 6 months behind in their installation. We would have waited until Spring to have them installed but as you can see in the before and after photos below, they really needed to be replaced. The old windows frosted over so bad that you couldn’t open or see through them any more.

Before:

After:

We’re really happy with the new windows.

In February, Kirby went to Alberta to celebrate his dad’s birthday and do a little skiing. He made a stop in Canmore on his way home from skiing one day to catch up with his old friend Matt. Look at these two old guys.

I’m personally a fan of the reflection in Kirby’s sunglasses in this photo. Before he left he had Elayne teach him how to make thin bread, one of his favourite homemade snacks.

Upon Kirby’s return, we were still contending with the freedumb convoy and occupation of downtown Ottawa. The day after he returned we had the very important task of delivering a wedding cake (baked by a mutual friend) to my friend Emily who was getting married in her living room with 4 people in attendance due to strict COVID-19 lockdown rules. We had to detour around the convoy and pass through check-stops just to get her the cake, which she really loved. I was glad we could contribute in some small way to making her pandemic wedding a little more special.

In March we celebrated my dad’s 70th birthday! It was another small gathering but it felt great to be able to celebrate indoors with people again.

Sylvie put together an amazing spread and we had fun playing cards after dinner.

In May we had the front steps replaced. I’m not in love with the final product, but we very badly needed to replace what was there. So for now we can move on to other projects.

Before:

After:

Later that month Kirby tried his hand at making flat bread alone.

And it turned out really well! He’s very meticulous when it comes to baking, although not as careful with himself (he has no idea why I was taking this photo with a huge smile on my face at the time).

And speaking of not being so careful with himself, May also marked his surgery to have the plate removed from his collarbone (finally). We were both a little shocked to see the size of the plate that was in there.

And the very next day I was in Magog to attend my grandmother’s funeral. It was sad but I am relieved that she is finally at peace. She was loved and you could tell by the number of people who showed up the impact she had on those around her.

The next day, Ottawa and surrounding areas were hit by a huge storm that knocked out the power to thousands of people, including us. Kirby endured one night alone in the dark and the day after I got home we spent it driving around trying to find a laundromat to do our laundry and charge our phones.

Let’s just say I hope I never have to use a laundromat ever again. The power ended up being out for 4 days and we lost all of the food in the fridge and freezer but luckily we were eating only vegetarian food in May so there wasn’t much to throw out. The cats were somewhat intrigued by the candles we had all over the house but mostly, they slept.

Well I guess that’s about all for now. I’ll leave you with one last photo that pretty effectively captures how we’re feeling lately.