The 10 or so hours flight was good and I was happy my leg didn't start kicking with Tired Leg Syndrome - it usually does towards the end of a long flight. The meals were excellent and enormous. Every hour or so the attendant would walk down the aisle with drinks; once she came with sandwiches. I did manage to watch some movies but they were quite depressing. I saw "The Favourite" about Queen Anne. I can understand why the actress playing her got the Oscar as it was an emotional rollercoaster role but it was so depressing. I then stupidly watched "Mary Queen of Scots" which was interesting but just as depressing - poor lady lost her head. After that I tried to watch "Holmes and Watson" which was so over the top and daft. I read my book and tried to nod off, which never really happens.
I won't fly to the US any more, and now I'm wondering how to avoid Vancouver. The passport business is very simple and quick but then the queuing starts. Up and down we go, seeing the same people going in the opposite direction all the time. There were 3 customs people on duty, checking the forms the machines churn out, so it was slow going. I ended up having to see a lady which terrified me because they are generally very picky and suspicious. Fortunately, this one just asked me if I do what I do every year and then she wrote "OK" on my paper and off I went. Off she went too, for a cuppa I suppose. Maybe that's why she was easy going with me.
The airport system has changed now for transit passengers and so I was like the proverbial lost sheep. I had to keep asking every few minutes as it was so convoluted and exhausting. I finally reached the security area, where there was another long queue and my boarding pass was telling me the plane was being boarded. Fortunately, the flight was delayed. I hate galloping in airports so I felt a bit let down when I got there and had to wait. I found a chair hiding behind the shoe cleaning chap's equipment so I settled down for a while.
Getting on to an Air Canada flight is always interesting. Instead of being a lone white in a sea of Asians I become like most of the other passengers. The attendants are always enormous compared to Asian cabin crew. Compared to the size of the Asian meals, Canadians meals are minuscule - a bag of pretzels and a cup of tea. I didn't have any headsets so I read my book. I can't finish it though because I left it on the plane; my brain switches off at the end of a day of travelling.
Ilyas picked me up. He'd parked the car close to the airport so I wouldn't have to walk far in my shirt sleeves but he'd managed to get a ticket. It was midnight so I had no idea about the landscape - I knew it would be brown and white so I wasn't fussed about it. Everyone was in bed at the farm so I did some unpacking and then fell into bed. Morning came and I joined Bill for breakfast. He's of the old school so his greeting was a smile and a "Hello". I then was given some instructions - get some chutney for lunch from the cold room, finding out he'd be having soup for supper and telling me that the groceries on the floor arrived yesterday but he'd left them for me to deal with.
Fri, 5th Apr, 2019
I really don't like Alberta at this time of year. Everything is so brown and the grass looks miserable. I did notice that the tulips are coming through. I'm missing Cambodia's blue skies and warmth. Here it's hovering around 10C and there's water running everywhere, which I suppose is a blessing after all the snow. The only problem is that it's stopping me from having my morning walks. Also the dog's not here any more so I'll have to talk to myself when I do get a chance to walk. Jenny and Stephan had made a lamb stew, which is a favourite meal of mine, especially when I haven't had it for a long time.
The rest of the day went by with me doing almost nothing apart from trying to find myself and my belongings. I file them away before I leave and it's always a task trying to find them again and put them back in place so that it feels like home again. I try not to notice that we are all getting older and slower. I'm a bit out of it with the conversations as I haven't a clue what's happening locally.
At bedtime I decided to take a pill to make sure I slept.
Sat, 6th Apr, 2019
I woke up at 2am and I thought, "Here we go again". I really do hate jet lag. I finally got back to sleep and lo and behold I woke up at 9am. I must be maturing because I decided it wasn't worth worrying about. I had my breakfast on my own and then I started to prepare lunch. I didn't want anything complicated so I did mashed potatoes, sausage and a veg mixture. Nobody complained so it must have been all right. Waris came to have a chat and he's promised me some eggs from his hens. He asked if I wanted eggs from the inside hens or the outside ones. I chose the outside ones as I like to think the hens have been having protein by eating insects, worms etc.
I checked the freezer and discovered I'd got a container of vegetable water so I thought I'd make a vegetable soup. I was feeling a bit droopy so it kept me awake. I'm so up to date with my emailing I had nothing to do and so I thought I'd nod off for a while. It didn't work. I lay there for a while and then decided it might be because I was by the big window. I covered my eyes with my handkerchief but that didn't improve the situation. I finally decided to get up and do what I always do in these circumstances - I made a cup of tea. For some reason Bill's changed his habit of 80 plus years and so he didn't come in at 4pm for his usual cuppa.
For the rest of the day I disappeared downstairs, settled down on my lovely leather sofa and either read, wrote or watched news on YouTube. I'm back!
