It's awful waking up with no sunlight streaming into the room - winter is coming. Outside it's dismal with mud and slush everywhere; poor Sheba looks bedraggled as she refuses to take shelter.
Before lunch I welcomed some of the people from the Permaculture group. They are using Bill's kitchen for the weekend, and his living room for a seminar. They are a hippy looking group but quite pleasant. I asked Bill if he was going to be welcoming them and he said he wasn't. Later I mentioned to Jenny that I thought it was odd that Bill would invite them but have nothing to do with them when they arrived. Jenny said it was her and John who'd invited them - not to work in their kitchen but in Bill's.
I showed them where to find pots and pans, beakers etc and then I left to have lunch at the other house. I told them I'd made three traps to catch the hoards of fruit flies. They plan on making jam so it's possible we'll have even more flies in the kitchen. Before going over, I checked my email and there was one from Joy Newman saying she and Keith would be with the family in Lacombe today and why didn't I join them. Seeing as the house would be full of people I decided to phone Lacombe to see if it would be OK, and it was.
For about an hour it was a miserable drive with snow and rain in the air. It was difficult to see when vehicles past. Thankfully, it cleared up and so, for two hours, I just had to contend with light drizzle. I'm now hoping it won't freeze and I'll have a safe drive back tomorrow.
I was pleased to discover I was the second youngest among the six people sitting around the table. Nowadays, I often find that I'm the oldest person in the room. I've been to restaurants in Cambodia and I've noticed that I push up the average age by quite a bit. Three of the family have or have had terrible colds so the coughing sounded quite profound; one member is booked for a new hip next month. I felt quite good about myself as I feel all right. I tell people that I love being with old folks - they can be quite funny. Jack received a Rotary International award for his contributions to something or other. Sheila said, "How did you manage that when you spend all your time in the basement?" Joy had just had a birthday so she was presented with a cup cake with a candle. Sheila had also remembered my birthday on the 23rd so I also got a cake. Sheila then placed a lovely apple pie on the table so I decided to save the cake and focus on the pie. She always says to people, "If you don't like the pastry, blame Peter as it's his recipe." I can't remember a thing about it but I go along with the story as it's fun.
I watched the Canadian national news for a while but gave up as it was almost entirely about the hurricane that has landed in North Carolina. I'm sure other things are happening around the world so I'll have to turn to trusty old BBC.
