April 2016
Sunday April 24
Soccer practice on the Mainland Common
It was soccer week again this week. The club has enough boys to make two teams at Ibrahim's level, so they held three balancing sessions to determine how to split up the boys so that both teams will be of about equal strength. Ann and I took Ibrahim and his brother Ahmad to the first session on Tuesday evening. It was at the Mainland Common, the same place as the tryouts last week, but this time outside; and it was cold. From my experience with taking David to games there over the years, it's my belief that it's the coldest place in Halifax and, being on top of a hill, it is always windy. Thankfully the weather warmed a bit later in the week so the practice yesterday, which I also attended, was a lot more pleasant. We are now waiting to see what his practice and game schedule will be.
James came home from Acadia yesterday along with his room-mate Duncan. I drove up after the soccer practice to bring them back but managed to forget to take along our bike rack so we had to make a second trip to get everything home including James' bicycle. This morning Ann and Duncan were up early to get him to the airport for an 8 AM flight.
Last night Ann and I walked down to Oakwood House for a party for our friend Susan who has just had a significant birthday. Her whole family has congregated including her son and daughter-in-law from Saskatoon with a special present: she and Dave are going to become grand-parents. We had a very pleasant evening before staggering back up the hill again.
This afternoon was lovely, though with a fairly cold breeze, so Ann and I got our bikes out again. After our rides further afield the last couple of weekends, we decided to stay with my old favourite this time: the Trans-Canada Trail through Shubie Park and past Lake Charles.
Monday April 18
Albro Lake
Last Wednesday evening and again last night I took Ibrahim, our 11-year-old Syrian friend, to soccer tryouts at the indoor fields on the Mainland Common. I used to spend a lot of time there back in the days when David played but I haven't been back for quite a while. Ibrahim is a keen Real Madrid fan and is very excited to be playing. We'll find out shortly which team he will be on.
On Friday we had the snow tires removed so it's our fault that we had a late season snow storm though it all melted pretty quickly. On Saturday, Ann and I were planning to go on a ride with the Ramblers down the BLT Trail just west of Halifax but it was cancelled at the last minute due to all the snow from the day before. We decided to do an urban ride around Dartmouth instead. We were out again yesterday afternoon, this time along the Dartmouth waterfront to the Shearwater Flyer Trail and back home again via Caldwell Road and Westphal.
On Saturday evening we saw Shrek: The Musical at Neptune. It was quite well done, I suppose, but not exactly my type of show; Ann appreciated it more than I did. We went for dinner beforehand, just the two of us, at Baan Thai, the Thai restaurant just up the street from the theatre.
Although now unemployed, Ann is not having difficulty keeping herself busy. On Monday evening she went to a class to learn how to cook with different oils and vinegars. They showed her how to make a quinoa salad with peas and mint, chicken with chipotle sauce, Jamaican soup with sweet potatoes and black beans, and a sponge cake. I was a willing guinea pig for the first three this week and I'm holding out for the sponge cake some time soon.
On Tuesday, Ann had coffee with our next door neighbour Brenton, then, in the evening, played bridge with Maiga and Ingrid. On Thursday, she went to an open rehearsal of the Paganini violin concerto by Symphony Nova Scotia. In the evening she hosted a meeting of the church Christian Development Committee at our house (I stayed out of the way). And on Friday, she and Roxanne finished watching the first season of Downton Abbey (trying to catch up with the rest of the world, unlike some of us who will remain unenlightened).
Sunday April 10
Ann on her new bike
We started off this week playing bridge. On Monday my friend Layton asked me to play with him at the Truro Bridge Club as his regular partner couldn't make it. It was fun but we didn't do very well. There is no doubt that we were responsible for some of the bad results but we also had some very bad luck. Oh well, that's bridge for you. On Tuesday Ann played with Maiga again at the Northwood Bridge Club.
On Thursday evening Ann and I drove to Wolfville where we had a quick dinner at The Naked Crêpe then went to see the year-end concert of the Acadia Jazz Ensemble in which James plays trombone. They played seven mostly well-known jazz and popular tunes; I particularly liked their version of Spain. Afterwards we went back to The Naked Crêpe for a coffee (Ann and me) and a sweet crêpe for James.
Yesterday was a lovely day so Ann and I went for a bike ride down the Trans-Canada Trail, the first time this year. The trail was a bit wet in spots, not unusual for the time of year, but otherwise in good shape; much better than last year when there was still snow on it in May.
Today we were hit by a late-season snow storm. It began overnight and ended mid-morning with about 10 cm accumulation. Some places lost power because the snow was heavy and wet and brought down tree branches onto power lines, but we were fine. The temperature got above freezing in the afternoon sand now there is almost nothing left.
This evening we had the Al Gawabras, our Syrian refugee family, over for dinner. They were in Dartmouth for a course on safety given in Arabic by the police and fire departments so Ann asked them to come over afterwards. We tried to serve typical Nova Scotian fare: I cooked salmon with lemon, dill and maple syrup, and Ann made a blueberry flan. As their English is still rudimentary and our Arabic is non-existent, Google Translate was used a lot.
Sunday April 3
Back in the saddle again
For the past couple of years Ann has been working for the diabetes program at Capital Health: full-time for the first year, then par-time when money for the program got tight. This week the money dried up completely and she is now officially unemployed again. She is now looking for work again and has had some nibbles but no offers yet.
On Tuesday Ann played bridge with Maiga, not having played for quite a while. However, it is likely she will get a bit more practice in the future as she is being groomed as a replacement for Ingrid, Maiga's usual partner, when Ingrid is unavailable.
On Friday evening neither of us felt like cooking so we went out for dinner at Ela!, the Greek restaurant not far from us in Dartmouth Crossing. We had a nice dinner and revelled in the spontaneity of it all.