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The
Squamidian Report – May 24 / 25
>>>The 1200th Addition<<< Online
Versions
Of This And Past Issues >>>Issue
#1200<<< Rosemary ****
From Rosemary
I wanted to acknowledge the dedication you and the other contributors have made with all these lovely newsletters. And I am sure we are all thinking fondly of Russell and Greg as we approach this particular summer break. My contribution is to tell you about the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa, lasting11 days every May. 300,000 tulips are planted each year along the Rideau Canal and Dow's Lake. The Festival began as a special gift. The Royal Family of the Netherlands took refuge in Ottawa during the Second World War, and Princess Margriet was born here in 1943. Two years later, the Canadian troops played a key role in liberating the Netherlands. In gratitude, the Dutch government has sent Canada a gift of tulip bulbs every year since 1945. David and I have visited the Tulip Festival many times over our years in Ottawa. This time, however, we rode the O Train for the first time. That was on my bucket list. The O Train, essentially an above ground subway, is new to Ottawa and has not been without its problems, but it was very cool to finally ride it. So here's a photo of the O Train coming into the station, and some of the gorgeous tulips at the Festival. Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful summer. Rosemary
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From Nova Scotia Sus
Thanks to everyone for contributing to the Squamidian. Thanks to Doug for creating a wonderful way to keep us all together and up to date on our going on's from coast to coast and beyond. It makes the world a smaller place. We are a very interesting bunch. We have lost some but will never forget their stories and their effort they put in week after week. We will all come back in the fall with new stories. It was such a beautiful day and the tide was low we decided to go cohauging. ( Not sure of the spelling) Dave has a big rake that he scrapes through shallow water and finds the cohaugs. We have to measure the size of each or we are in trouble with the fishery guards. They are very strict. We managed to find 25...not a lot but it will make a meal. It felt good to be out in the sun and by the water. When the weather gets warmer I will be crawling through the water to find these cohaugs. I spent a few hours weeding our strawberry beds...looking forward to a good crop. Also finally mowing our lawn.....the dandelions were starting to take over. They are pretty but enough is enough. My brother Warren is still here from B.C. until June 6th. I hate to see him go but I can't keep him forever. He plans in the future to build a cabin and have a place of his own for a few months of the year. Sus ****
From Karl
Hi everyone Looks like we are still in Summer mode here in Melbourne my Apple tree is flowering We are suppose to be in Winter now but the cold weather is on the way ,Last week I went on a road trip to Port Campbell along the Great Ocean Road Al and Carol would know this place ,Our camera club went down there for the weekend and what a great trip it was I was looking forward to the clear nights for stars and wasn’t disappointed we even captured a Aurora while at Gibson Steps there was only 2 of us at this place ALL the tourists had gone I was there for 4 hrs taking photos ,You can tell I love taking photos ,The next day we went to different places along the Coast we where in small groups so no people getting in the way I will post a few shots from my trip along the Great Ocean road,And I want to thank everyone for the great stories you have contributed over the past year We look forward to reading the great stories you have posted ,at this stage I want to wish you all a GREAT Summer and work on some great stories to come CHEERS ..
 Karl ****
From Carol I am very tired of all the rain we have been experiencing here in Kitchener. It has also been cool. I feel sorry for those who went camping last weekend, a cool and rainy Victoria long weekend is not the way to kick off the summer. Again young guys were shooting off fireworks directly at people, according to the news. Kitchener is banning the sale of fireworks starting January 1st and are already only allowing people to set them off 3 days a year. I’m thinking this latest incident may cause a complete ban. Last year on Canada Day in Wiarton they had a drone light show instead of fireworks which were just as much fun to watch. Getting back to the weather, the forecast had called for sunny warm temperatures for both here and Wiarton. We were planning on spending 3 nights at the cottage but now the forecast has changed to more rain so there isn’t much point in going, especially since Nick won’t be able to take the kayak out. I have also put off purchasing tomato plants and flowers until the weather improves. It is pretty bad when all I could think about to write is the weather, how does Doug come up with something each week? Congratulations on your 1,200th issue Doug. I don’t want to wish the summer away but can hardly wait until you get back to it in September. Take care everyone and have a fun, safe and healthy summer. Carol ****
From Gary Hello fellow Squamidians. The weather in southern Ontario has been absolutely miserable. High of 10 again today and non stop rain. The wind has finally diminished though. I guess Mother Nature thinks it’s November and winter solstice is coming. Longer days means you can look outside to see how shitty it is for twice as long as late November. The grass keeps growing but it’s too wet to cut. I might have to give up on the garden this year. Garden flower of Bethlehem has taken over and the only way to get rid of it seems to be to dig up all the roots and bulbs. I did that in the fall and found it had to be done again in the spring. Got about 2/3 done before it turned too cold and wet. Just too muddy. I noticed new ones coming up in areas I just cleaned. That’s all the whining until September when the Squamidian resumes. Take care and stay safe everyone. Gary ****
From Doug
Here we are, poised to take a nice long summer break. And of course here to acknowledge our 1200th issue. I have to give credit where credit is due, and that is to both Russ and Greg. We lost both of them this year and that lose has punched us all pretty hard. It was those two men who kept me going with this letter. Without their encouragement I would have packed it in long ago. A big thank you to Nova Scotia Sus as well. You have stepped up with your stories of your life in rural NS. Carol and Gary and Wayne pop up once in a while and for that we are grateful. We hear from others of you at times and thats cool. We hear from Olivia and Kyra and Lauren once in a while but not near often enough. Some of you make yourself heard by responding to what you have read and we thank you for that. For me these last several months (actually probably a couple of years) have been quite difficult as ‘life’ has made it very hard to be upbeat and creative but somehow I’ve managed to come up with something to say and I guess thats all that is needed. So, thanks everyone for being involved. If we are able to start back up in the fall, hopefully more of you will make yourself heard. * We almost never go to the gondola on the weekends. There is no need and no point. We don’t like the crowds and we have other things to do. However, we did go there last Saturday evening. The girls came up Saturday morning and went home on Sunday morning. They had not been to the gondola since last December so we decided to take them. It was really weird. There were people all over the place. Like, whats that all about? I had to STAND IN LINE at the coffee bar. Don’t they know who we think we are? Our personal, private seats in our corner were taken! However, I noticed the people sitting there were packing up to leave so as soon as they moved we swooped in and occupied our rightful place. You gotta do what you gotta do. And, our evening visit was as strange to the staff working there as it was to us.
Doug ****
Have
a
Good One ****
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