2001 July 16 / A Great BC Summer Hi everyone. I trust all the locals are busy enjoying the great summer weather we've been having here on the coast. And for those of you in other hemispheres and climes – warm wishes from sunny BC! Gary gwilcox@direct.ca / Vancouver July 17 / Vanishing Email Gary I sent an email to the chat room last week under my alter ego moniker's edress: efuddatcedar@webtv.net but do not see it on the roll. Que Pasa ? It was also enquiring if everyone was 'away' as there seemed to be nuthin' from the end of June to the middle of July. Anyhoo gotta get back to those wascawee widdo wabbits. Happy days to all grads. Mike mgibbs@webtv.net / Cedar by the Sea July 17 / Those wascawee widdo wabbits Hi Elmer, er...Mike Haven't received a thing at this end. Maybe it's those wascawee widdo wabbits, or perhaps the system has a few bugs... Gary gwilcox@direct.ca / Vancouver July 19 / Mike's Missing Mail I think that there might be an online pawn broker in Turkey still puzzled by Mike's email. In any event it was a contribution to our email chat and for that Mike we thank you. I have had quite a few emails from some of the class asking where all the chat has gone. Perhaps I am not the only one who reads the headlines on the tabloids while standing in line at the check out. I hear it is very dry in Victoria and that watering the garden has been reduced to a trickle. I guess we are fortunate here in that we still have lots of the stuff and no water meters either. I was in Penticton on the weekend visiting friends who I had not seen since 1979. They are from Quebec and the rest of the family with them did not speak English. I tried to grasp remnants of Miss Burridge's French class but could only recall rather useless sentences like "Le Chapeau de ma tante est sur la table" which would be a ridiculous attempt at intelligent conversation. Instead I opted for smiles, nods and feigning some understanding. Fortunately after a couple of glasses of wine, the language barrier and the vision of Miss Burridge glowering at me faded. Hope everyone is having a great summer. Cheers to all. Richard rgoodall@sunwave.net July 27 / Where Are You? Hello from Duncan. Where is everyone? For those of us who like to live vicariously, it would be nice to hear how people are spending these lovely long, warm summer days. Perhaps computer correspondence isn't as high on the priority list as working in the garden or taking a trip. Do you remember the summer afternoons spent at Elk or Beaver Lakes? I wonder if anyone takes their grandchildren there. Gloria Gloria Knudsen (Manson) / gmk.ca@home.com / Duncan July 27 / Checking In Hello, everyone. Guess you're all away on vacation (sigh!) This is a very busy time for me, my choir is singing a concert Sunday nite at one of L.A.'s outdoor theatres so we have been rehearsing much. It will be videotaped and there will be a CD made. We are becoming very well known! Breaking barriers in the arena of "Spiritual" Music! You can check out our Choir Directors website at www.rickiebyars.com. (she has her own singing career) My younger daughter will be visiting me for a long weekend in August, then I am off to Vegas for the wedding of my step-grandson early September. I'll be back up in Victoria likely in early October. Many blessings to you all. diane diane wilson dyer / ddyer2001@excite.com or ddyer2001@mediaone.net July 27 / A Tale of Two Tails Our old friend Norm Pringle sends along, via Richard, an interesting tale that recounts the significance and historical ramifications of a horse's, uh, tail end. Click here for this tale of two tails... Thanks Norm! July 28 / July Dog Days This is proving to be a September day, but I did pick half an ice cream bucket of blackberries this morning. Blackberry crisp for dinner, or not. If anyone wants a recipe for 3 minute jam which has no Certo, email me. I am celebrating my grandson's second birthday yesterday, my son's birthday is tomorrow, and grandchild # 2 is ready for an appearance any day now. Wish summer would come back. Still, reading is good .... or a nap .... Cheers, Laurel laurelj@aebc.com / Tsawwassen July 28 / Blackberry Wine Laurel reminded me of the wonderful blackberry wine that was made at our house in the fifties and sixties. We had a jungle of blackberries at one end of the property and in a good year my dad and I would pick buckets of them. Anyway the wine was very similar to Port, high in alcohol and as my dad said "damn good." The kitchen would get re-arranged with fermentors in every corner and the entire house taking on a unique aroma. The final bottling was three months later and then another 6 months to a year aging in the cellar. The recipe was an old English one going back to George the 2nd and if anyone is interested in something far superior to what you can make at the local "U Brew It" and way cheaper, email me. Richard goodallr@sunwave.net July 29 / Gerry Skinner Hi, there, everyone... I had sent a msg earlier, but it apparently didn't get up to the north Pacific. I wanted to pass on news that Gerry Skinner is your new Canadian ambassador to Iceland, apparently opening up the first embassy there. He has done well in the diplomatic game! Many may also recall Simon Wade, who is now the high commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago. Weather here is pretty cool, though not by eastern Canadian standards!! I am off to New Zealand for a month on Thursday: north end of North Island. They say it is semi-tropical, but it's not really THAT warm. Any msgs to my address will be onpassed by my family here...so don't stop the mail! By the way, did you know that blackberries are considered a weed in Australia, and are determinedly sprayed-to-kill by authorities here? And Charmaine: still have that watch, left here. What to do??? Sandy redoak@austarmetro.com.au July 31 / Summer In and Around the Islands Hi all – we are enjoying those crazy, hazy but definitely not lazy days of summer. I was offered one of those little, you know, only a few hours a week jobs at our new second-hand book store (is that an oximoron Mr. Oliver?). It has taken up any spare time that I had. Anyway, working in a bookstore is still my idea of the best job in the world and at 58, I'm glad to be offered anything – it's good for the ego. Laurel, you were talking about picking blackberries already; Don's Marion berries are ripe now – one plant yeilds all we can eat of these wonderful berries – we made the first batch of Marion berry gelato, with two of our grandchildren, last week. Divine! We, like Victoria, are very short of water this summer and so are hand watering just enough to keep things alive. Consequently, many of our fruit trees won't produce much and it will affect the apple crop I suspect. Pender Island is busy these days, we grumble about not being able to find a parking place at Driftwood Centre. The summer crowd is, by and large, a happy group and keep the real estate people happy, too. Cheers from my front porch to yours, Therese Therese Williams / chickiedoc@yahoo.com / Pender Island