HOGMANAY

Hogmanay preparations. Our evening promises to be one of quiet reflection, scintillating conversation with cousins, and a gentle toast for the pending year. Hogmanay, in Scotland, traditionally was celebrated with 'first footing', when a dark man would arrive on the doorstep with a chunk of coal, a piece of shortbread, some black bun, a packet of salt, and a bottle of whiskey (preferably single malt). We might have to create a suitably similar scenario here this evening.

Nigel took me out for supper on my birthday. We went to Cafe Compose in Annapolis Royal, where we ate a delicious Viennese meal (schnitzel). We sauntered along the boardwalk afterwards.

The sunsets last week were lovely. The air is still chilly, but the sky has been beautiful.

And then there is the gentle slide into the gloaming, accompanied by the melancholy of the mauve evening light and cool breezes whisping in on-shore.

In the gloaming, oh my darling / When the lights are soft and low / And the quiet shadows falling / Softly come and softly go / When the trees are sobbing gently / With a ...gentle unknown woe / Will you think of me and love me / As you did once, long ago?

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/751

We have had a lovely show of tulips this spring. They have bloomed in the small garden just behind the sunroom. I love tulips...they add such a joyous touch to the spring.

Nigel and I enjoyed a delicious bbq hamburger, cooked by himself, on the barbecue on the deck. It was still too chilly to sit outside to eat, so we retired to the sunroom for our meal. But that delightful bbq taste was there. Although we only had hamburgers, somehow, they were epicurean.

April 2 walk in Kejimikujik Park

Friends of ours, and we went for a long walk along one of the paths in Kejimikujik Park. This is a national park about 1 hour from our home. We took our dogs, of course. As you can see, it was a delightful day, and we all throughly enjoyed ourselves.