When your oldest friend calls you up and says “Whatcha doin’ the end of August/early September?”, the only acceptable response is “Nothin’. What are WE doin’ then?”. Thus the fabulous road trip to PEI (Prince Edward Island, a Canadian province) began, in our heads, at least.
Cath (aka CJ – my friend since Grade 2 and my Barbados buddy) had purchased an RV about a year ago. It was only a matter of time before either she showed up at my door in it, or I joined her for a road trip. Here is what happened. First things first – the itinerary Cath drew up for us:
The basic sketch of our adventure, which was followed for the most part. Catch-22 is a fabulous restaurant in Wasaga Beach – had the best halibut meal of my life there, that night. We didn’t go to the Big Apple store/bakery/restaurant (too crazy busy) but we did go to Reid’s Dairy and Taste of Country in Belleville, ON. We did not end up at Richard’s for lobster rolls, instead it was the Lobster Barn (delicious food) – in Victoria-by-the-Sea. Nearby Hampton Beach is where our friends Brenda and Ted have a beautiful place, on PEI. What’s not on the calendar is an amazing show we saw Sep 7 at Harmony House (Hunter River, PEI): The Leonard Cohen Songbook, which blew me away….even more than seeing Lennie Gallant (and that’s saying A LOT.) More on my experience at The Table, in my next WOYP post!Cocktail hour at McLaren campground, on the Long Sault Parkway, Ontario. That’s Mini Winnie, in the background.Cath’s miniature poodle and our traveling companion: the lovely Miss Juliette. St. Lawrence sunrise.Miss Juliette can get a little barky 🤣. Especially if she is missing her mommy. At a Walmart parking lot on a supply run, in Rimouski, Quebec.Stopping to take in the views of a covered bridge – Routhierville, Quebec.More great views – Tide Head, New Brunswick.Standing on the dock in Kouchibouguac National Park, New Brunswick. Admiring the views AND the kayak ramp. Kouchibouguac means River of the Long Tides, in Mi’kmaq. This is where the Kouchibouguac River empties out to the Atlantic Ocean.A very quick exploration of Kellys Beach in Kouchibouguac National Park as the rain begins to pelt us.(Miss Juliette stayed in the RV as dogs are not allowed here.)First view of the Confederation Bridge (12.9 km, links PEI to the mainland). The last time I visited PEI (at least 2.5 decades ago) this bridge was only a dream. We had to take a ferry, back then. The home of our wonderful hosts, just off the beach.It was our hosts’ birthdays while we visited. One day after the other. Two separate celebrations were planned and executed so each had their special day. Cath whipped up a joint chocolate birthday cake per request (one of her many culinary specialities) for them. I even had a (very small) piece and it was delicious, although chocolate cake is not my thing. Some of Cath’s family was on the island at the same time (staying nearby in a beachfront rental) and they joined us several evenings for meals, cards and general merriment.Most days involved at least one walk on the beach!Sunset on the beach in front of Ted and Brenda’s house, with the Confederation Bridge in the distance.Going for a hike at a local park. Ted is holding onto Juliette’s grandmother: Chloe. Ted and Brenda are also parents of another poodle – the aptly named: Ginger. Who can be pretty spicy, for her size! 🤣Little Miss Ginger. Our hair colouring kinda matches, I just realized.Waiting for Lennie Gallant at the Souris Show Hall. Lovely, intimate show.Trying the capture the beauty of the night sky in Souris, after the show.Early morning walk along the shore, Red Point Provincial Park in Souris.Typical red cliffs (and sand, soil) found on the island – Red Point Park, Souris.Interesting sea weed growth on a rock – looks like it’s wearing a wig! Red Point Park, Souris.
One thing I didn’t remember to photograph and wish I had: I had a reunion with an old friend who lives on PEI. Kim and I started out as pen pals many decades ago – before the internet, even – when you actually had to write out your thoughts on a piece of paper and mail them to each other. Can you imagine such a primitive form of communication? 😉 It was truly heart-warming and inspiring to see her IRL – and to take in all the beauty of her home and gardens and all the gorgeous artwork she has created. Seeing her creations on Facebook is one thing, but seeing those pieces hanging around her cozy home is quite another!
As foretold in the itinerary, the adventure had to come to an end eventually. After an informative and exciting last walk on the beach with a geologist where we looked for (and found) the fossilized remains of 330 million year old trees and plant life, Cath, Juliette and I headed back over the bridge to the mainland. We revisited our route and campsites for the way back to Ontario: ending in Wasaga Beach for the first two, and the airport for me.
Another gorgeous morning at McLaren campground, waiting for the sun to rise.Our last cocktail hour. My big goal for this trip was: that we are still on speaking terms at the end 😉. Achieved! 🤣
My flights were blessedly uneventful. Which is about the best thing one can say about air travel, anymore. The airline did not give away my seat on the plane and deny me boarding; no one parted me from my luggage; nothing was stolen from me; no one asked me to give up my window seat so they could have it instead because of their poor planningclaustrophobia 🙄 (Really, girl?!?! Uhhh, NOPE.)…see here for my woeful previous air travel experience, if you care to.
Last weekend I hit a major milestone birthday – well, according to our government that is! I turned 65, which is the traditional “age of retirement” still, here in Canada.
Woohoo! I can look forward to my Old Age Security cheque every month now, starting in August. It’s not near enough for a person to actually live on, but it will be something for those of us who no longer garner a paycheque. When I retired from my career officially at age 60, I opted to take my Canada Pension Plan (a benefit available to all Canadians who have paid into the plan during their working lives) early because of a few good reasons – the main one being that my early CPP plus my existing survivor benefit (for being a widow of a working Canadian) meant I was pretty close to my maximum payout already, so why not?! And I have not regretted for one minute my decision to retire early!
My daughter had made plans to treat me to High Tea at the Empress, in Victoria, on my actual birthdate so I had a girly splurge at the local mall the day before – purchasing a new silk top, a new lipstick at the MAC counter, and some new jewellery. Happy birthday to ME, LOL!
Interestingly (to me, anyways), this statement necklace is made from recycled aluminum. Which makes it quite lightweight and thus easier to wear.My beautiful daughter.Getting ready to enjoy our tea tray and extra special tea blend (more on that later!)Close up of some of the sweets.Complimentary glass of prosecco rosé delivered by our waiter, Raymond.
Because the hotel knew it was my birthday, I was given some very special gifts including a sachet of their Empress blend tea (to take home), a delicious glass of bubbly, AND a pot of very premium tea – all on the house! The tea (regularly $18 a pot, on top of the cost of the High Tea itself) was absolutely wonderful – beautifully fragrant and a delight on the tongue – so of course I headed to the Fairmont Store right afterwards to source some to take home. Imagine my shock when I found out it was $99 for 2 ounces of Madame Butterfly!
Luckily (?) I can get over a shock quite quickly and easily 😉 so in the true spirit of YOLO: YES – I bought the damn tea! I reasoned it was the equivalent of buying a very fine bottle of wine or spirits, so out came the credit card. I also purchased the other blend we selected for our high tea – Lady Londonderry (at $18.95, a veritable steal…).
This is looking more and more like the equivalent of a very fine wine, indeed! (The flowers described on the label are jasmine, which gives the tea its heavenly fragrance as well as contributing to the taste.)To be opened and enjoyed the next time I host Book Club.Lady Londonderry ingredients. I have lemon balm and calendula growing in my garden…hmm, getting ideas 🤔.
As if I wasn’t spoiled enough already, my good friend and fellow blogger Donna wanted to treat me to a day at Butchart Gardens including THEIR high tea! Who am I to say no to two high teas only 3 days apart?!
We got the best outside table in the place, overlooking the owners’ private garden.Another guest kindly took our photo.This tea started with individual trifles! Photo by Donna.The Butchart Gardens tea tray.Including a special chocolate birthday medallion!
After that delicious meal, Donna and I valiantly tried to walk some of it off around the gardens.
View looking down at the Sunken Garden.One of many spectacular dahlias that took my breath away.
In comparing the two teas, they were equivalent in terms of quality of ingredients in my opinion. The Butchart Gardens tea tray seemed to give you more in terms of quantity as well as cost – the Empress high tea cost was almost double per person – but in the wise words of our waiter, Shane: Yes, but you had to pay to get into the Gardens in order to eat here…
The Empress provides a different sort of ambience – including a piano player tinkling away throughout our tea, and a gorgeous view of the Victoria Harbour and Parliament buildings…as well as the history of that grand hotel itself. Meanwhile the Gardens provided spectacular vistas and blooms everywhere you looked while enjoying their tea and later walking their paths. I couldn’t choose just one over the other, and luckily I didn’t have to!
If you are ever on the island (and celebrating a special occasion…or not!), I can highly recommend either of these venues. After all, YOLO!!!
And if you can’t find anyone to treat you, there’s always this wisdom from the Parks and Rec crew:
A blogger friend of mine (and yours too, probably) – Kate – is undergoing the hellexcruciating paindistress pleasure of a bathroom renovation at the moment. This is reminding me that I have promised and so far failed to deliver on my own recent renovation experience, also a bathroom.
This was a whirlwind of a renovation, with most of the work being completed by contractors within the space of ONE WEEK in May.
Don’t hate me. This has never happened to me before and will likely never happen again.
It helped that two contractors (drywall, tiling) live a few houses away from me and could pop over in the evenings or on the weekend for an hour here and there, while still pursuing more lucrative and involved day jobs than my wee bath. And that my favourite plumber had openings on his schedule.
Here is the BEFORE: the old bathroom in all its beige 1990 glory:
The toilet is only a year old. It’s the freshest thing in here 😉. It’s surviving the renovation but will be removed temporarily for installation of the new tile floor. I’m also keeping the medicine cabinet over the bathroom vanity as it remains useful and inoffensive.Tired tub/shower unit. This wall (and the unit) are going buh-bye.This corner used to house a stacking washer/dryer unit. I have a second-hand corner cabinet for this space, to hide the plumbing hookups as well as provide storage. It got a refresh (from me) while the bathroom was undergoing renovations.
And here is a video of the glorious AFTER:
I am so happy with my refreshed bathroom space. It puts a big smile on my face when I pass by and catch a glimpse of the shower curtain and the plants and coloured glass hanging in front of the window. And an even bigger smile on my face when I am relaxing in my new, much deeper soaker tub. It’s the hippy-dippy bathroom of my dreams!
This is officially the last large renovation I am doing in my little cottage (she says, hopefully). And also hopefully: LAST RENOVATION EVER.
I don’t want to temp the renovation gods after this incredibly smooth, incredibly fast one!
Getting pointed looks from an impatient Bowser, as seen through my kitchen window.
Many things in bloom this month on the trail (just as lovely as the wisteria in the garden!).
Native trailing blackberryHoneysuckleWestern StarflowerThimbleberryPacific DogwoodNootka Rose (with Bowsie coming in hot for a treat, in the background!)Alright, alright! You are on the trail and blooming too, Bowser!Lupins are just getting started on their bloom time.
No matter how the walk starts or what we see on the trail, it ends pretty much the same way:
Last Sunday was Mother’s Day in this part of the world, and the family and house guests headed out to Jack Point for the afternoon. Bowser’s daddy and his bestie had gone out early in the morning to set some crab traps in the deeper water. They were hunting Dungeness crabs.
Now the tide was out and it was time to retrieve the traps and hopefully find some male crabs inside that were big enough to keep.
They put the boats in the water in the estuary, and are making their way to the open ocean to retrieve the traps.
Meanwhile, the women (and Bowser) made our way up the trail to find a picnic spot.
Spot found, and Bowser-approved. You may notice Bowser is sporting a new “do” – trimmed quite short for the summer weather to come.Bowser sees something in the blue camas. In the Coast Salish calendar, May is known as the Moon of the Blue Camas. Blue Camas bulbs are a traditional food of the first peoples of this area. Bowser and I kept watch for the guys to return with the traps.Bowser had lots of fun exploring the area.Luck! Quite a few legal-sized crabs were in the traps so a fire was built on the beach and the crabs met their end in boiling water. Here are some of the cooked crabs. Someone thought crab is delicious, and kept trying to snatch mine out of my hands as I was getting it out of the shell. Here’s Bowser’s daddy giving Bowsie his share.
A tummy full of crab makes one sleepy.
After a fabulous lunch of crab, crackers and fresh veggies, the day clouded over and the wind picked up. So we packed up, and headed back home. But not before taking a mother/daughter shot in front of a sign that seemed written directly about ye olde blogge’s main attraction…LOL!
We hope you had a fabulous weekend and Mother’s Day as well.
Rock on,
The WB
P.S. the next day Bowser treated me to an afternoon of very stinky and silent crab farts 💨 😫. Oh well, I still love his smelly ole butt!
Here are some of the things we saw and did in March.
We were lucky enough to see the local Roosevelt Elk herd, in their usual spot across the creek.
It’s always wonderful to see them resting and grazing, although I respect that the local farmers might not think so. Apparently they do a lot of damage and can be quite the nuisance. However, they are protected so not much can be done.
We also achieved something I have been meaning to do for a very long time: walk to the Haslam Creek suspension bridge! It was a beautiful spring morning and I just didn’t want the walk to end so, after consulting the AllTrails app, we made it all the way to the bridge.
As usual, Bowser roared ahead of me. Then turned back as if to say: Ummm, was I supposed to do this? I was amazed he went on this structure with no hesitation as you can see through it to the creek far below. My dear departed Lucy would never have ventured onto a bridge like this!
The last highlight I want to share with you was a surprise box arriving in the mail, from my youngest sister. Full of lovely treats for me, including many Schnauzer-themed gifts!
A shopping bag! So handy.A beautiful little charm – hung on my tree per my sister’s great suggestion.
And a pair of the most adorable china mugs!
The front of the cupThe ballie at the back of the cup.
We hope your March was full of lovely experiences and surprises, and that your April is shaping up as well!
January 12 – I boarded the plane in Nanaimo at shortly after 5 am…anticipating the next 3 weeks of fun and relaxation with friends. Winter had finally arrived on the island, and our pilot announced he wanted the plane to go through a second bout of de-icing before we took off for Calgary. This meant arriving in Calgary and at the next gate breathless from sprinting through the airport, where the jet to Toronto waited.
Only to be told that we (there were more guests than just me needing that Toronto plane) were to step aside as the gate agent continued to check in guests arriving AFTER us. Spouting some policy about needing to be in the airport 45 minutes before take-off, the gate agent told us we were being rebooked. (Which was BULLSHIT. I’ve been on WestJet flights where they held the plane to accommodate passengers making tight connections.) Yep, they gave our seats away – probably to crew – and I was booked to fly to Toronto AT 6:30 PM THE NEXT DAY. No discussion except to tell us that we were on our own and WestJet was doing nothing for us as it was deemed a weather event that we “missed” the flight, and they weren’t liable.
FINE. Shit happens and this wasn’t going to ruin my trip. After making sure an underage guest was not left to twist in the wind by the heartless gate agent (they managed to get her out the same day once they realized she was only 16), I went to find myself a hotel room and make the best of things. Getting on another flight was not going to be an option for me as the Departures board was full of delays and cancellations due to the extreme cold weather Calgary was experiencing. The airport Marriott managed to get me into my very expensive room by 10am.
I’d only been there for an hour and already my eyes and nasal passages were inflamed and burning from the lack of moisture in the air. I went to look for eye drops and nasal spray in the airport – found the eye drops only – and also found an oasis of moist air:
This was a photo I sent to my daughter, showing her I had found a source of moisture in the airport (water feature on Arrivals floor). I hung out here on several occasions, during my imprisonment stay.From my room in the airport Marriott…slathering my face with Vaseline before heading for bed. It helped. I also soaked towels and threw them around the room to add moisture. They were all bone dry by morning.
The next day my 6:30 pm flight time came and went. Delayed until 10:45pm, eventually. I was cheered when I finally saw the plane come up to the gate. That didn’t last long, as the gate agents announced they were “just waiting for some crew members to arrive”. This dragged on for a bit until they finally announced the flight’s cancellation due to the lack of crew. We were told we’d be booked into hotels, transportation would be arranged, be given food vouchers, and rebooked to fly out the next day. All this information to come via email to our devices. The only emails I got were the food vouchers and a rebooking to fly into Hamilton, not Toronto. By now it was around 1 am, and my fellow passengers were drifting off to fend for themselves.
So I did the same. I booked a flight out with Porter for 730am the next morning and cancelled my WestJet flight. Then I decided it was not worth finding a hotel room anymore and tried to get some rest in the terminal, instead.
Trying (and failing) to get some sleep overnight at the Calgary airport. Hearing my fellow passengers blissfully snoring all around me, and burying my nose in a book on my phone. Yes, here I am in the wee hours of Sunday morning still in my Friday outfit (my only non-summer one). Ugh. (I did get to wash out my socks and undies in my hotel room and they dried in mere moments it seemed, thanks to the lack of moisture in the air – one silver lining!)
Sunday morning came eventually, and I gave up on any sleep myself a wet-wipe “bath” in one of the family washrooms and went to find my gate for the Porter flight to Toronto.
As promised, I got these notifications EVERY HALF HOUR until it was finally warm enough to de-ice the plane (at -33 degrees C) at 2 pm. To say I was a wreck by this time would be a gross understatement.De-icing fluid: I have never loved thee more! My Calgary airport ordeal was finally over. From 9 am Friday morning to 2 pm Sunday afternoon, and I was finally on my way to Toronto (after contemplating trains, buses and rental cars).
I must tell you I was an unwilling witness to snippets of so many peoples’ sad travel experiences during the time I spent in the airport. I heard people on their phones talking to family, hotels and travel agents about having to cancel their vacations/travel plans altogether due to the delays. It helped stopped my own personal pity party put my own woes into some kind of perspective. The travel clusterfuck caused by the extreme weather made the news, and I vowed to never grace this airport again if I could help it.
Unlimited wine (IN A GLASS) and beer and first class snacks, on Porter airlines. Also: free wifi and no middle seats. WestJet should be worried.Moon, as seen through my window on the airplane.
Joanne and I had a teary reunion at the Toronto airport and tried to make the best of my now-abbreviated stay with her. I think we succeeded! Laughs and good meals were shared, as well as a spa day at the Elmwood, downtown.
Why was this the only photo I took during my time with Joanne?!
And – in the blink of an eye it seemed – I was on another fucking jet with CJ, and we were heading south, to Barbados.
Back to my sunrise walking routine.One of my friends captured this perfect shot.Another picture-perfect sunset.Just before sunrise – full moon over the water.Dramatic skies with the moon behind the clouds on another early morning walk.We got to see sailors practicing for the Round the Island race, which took place during our stay…More sailing action, as seen from the shore.Another racing team.Lovely to see so many sailboats, from our beach.
One of the racers happened to be CJ’s nephew – whose team took first place for their class of boat. Woohoo!!! After the race, he and his wife graciously took us on a tour of the island for a day. We stopped at Earthworks Pottery, Animal Flower Cave, Limegrove Mall, and other island must-sees during our day out. Although we have been to many spots on the island during our years of coming here, these were all new to us and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. CJ’s sister Marilyn also joined us (and got a room at our same hotel) and it was lovely to spend time with her again, not having seen her since she and CJ visited me in the fall. CJ and I have been friends since we were 7 years old and I’m always happy to be folded into her clan.
Tremendous wave action at Animal Flower Cave area, at the north end of the island. Taken from the restaurant where we ate lunch.We explored the area, which is stunning. That’s the restaurant, in the background. Unfortunately the waves were too high to allow us to go to the actual cave. Trying to look angelic at Limegrove Mall in Holetown, where expensive retail therapy happens. I didn’t buy anything, which was just as well considering what happened later.
My friends Jackie and Adrien had also come down to Barbados (first visit for them) and I tried to divide my time such that I got to hang with everybody, equally. Jackie and I booked a catamaran cruise for one of the days we were both at the hotel, and it was a lot of fun to swim the wrecks and observe the sea life there, again.
On a catamaran day trip with my friend Jackie (who took this shot). In Carlisle Bay.
We also snorkelled off of off the beach at the hotel. A fellow guest educated me on how much tropical fish loved to eat bananas! Here is a 2 minute video (watch as much as you can stand) of me (with Jackie) feeding the reef fish:
Jackie (and Adrien) and I out to dinner at Tapas restaurant. I think her husband was off looking at the sunset at the time.Night shot, taken while walking the boardwalk back to the hotel after dinner.Out for a sunset dinner at Champers with CJ (and fam).
For an introvert like me, this vacay was incredibly people-y. And thus, over before I knew it. It was a bit of blur. An enjoyable blur, but a blur nonetheless.
Soon (too soon) I was back on a plane to Vancouver (bypassing the Calgary airport, deliberately of course). I had a very long layover before my flight to Nanaimo was scheduled so I decided to cancel that leg and grab a ferry to the island instead.
And, when I went to Arrivals to retrieve the carry-on bag that I was forced to check (due to a very full flight), I was informed they didn’t have my bag. WTF?!?!?!
I had an AirTag in the bag so I called up Find My app on my phone, and it told me that my bag had already left the airport and was travelling (probably on the SkyTrain) far away from me. For the next 12 hours, I held onto the delusion thought that someone had mistakenly taken my highly distinctive bag and would return it to the airport at their earliest opportunity. I did also make a police report, in the meantime. Long story short, after a couple of days of angst and many conversations with many lovely police officers (truly, I was impressed by their diligence), my luggage seemed to settle on Hastings Street in Vancouver, and I disabled the AirTag. My stolen luggage was irretrievably LOST to me.
AirTags are great, but seeing your luggage travelling around Vancouver without you is not.
So, all of the beach clothes, swim wear and jewellery (and much, much more) you see in the above photos are gone forever. And I am waiting (not so patiently) to hear from WestJet about the claims I have made for the cancelled flights and the stolen luggage. Not the best travel experience, but I had been reminded on this trip how many had it much worse than me.
Will I travel by air again, after this series of unfortunate events? Not soon, but eventually is inevitable I suppose. Road tripping and stay-cationing is looking very good (and so much less stressful) to me right now…
How about you? Have a travel tale of woe to share? Let me know in the comments, if you care to!
Bowser and I continue to visit the trail near our home(s) almost daily. There is always something new to see every day so it never gets boring. One thing stays the same however.
This particular view 🤣.
I watch Bowser carefully as he is my early warning system (usually) of others in the woods. At one point during one of our walks, he stopped and stared intently across the water (of one of the side streams that feed the main creek) at the opposite bank.
I took this picture because he looked so cute and alert, not knowing what was to come.
While Bowser was looking, I heard some major rustling from over there and thought “Oh, it must be a very large dog that he sensed.” Well friends, it wasn’t a dog. It was the most magnificent buck deer I have ever encountered. He was huge with a very impressive set of antlers too. Think: Bambi’s dad; The Great Prince of the Forest-impressive. And, even though I had my phone in my hand with the camera app open, I was too gobsmacked to take a photo. Here is a re-enactment:
What are you looking at, Bowz?OMG. He’s so beautiful!!! Oh no, now he’s leaving….And I forgot to take a photo!!!Try to picture Bambi’s dad’s head and shoulders peeking out from behind these ferns.Bambi’s dad. If I was at all skilled at Photoshop if I even owned the program, I would have pasted him in my photo somehow.
The next day, we disturbed a great big bald eagle at the shore of the creek. Again, no picture!!!! But this is what he was picking at.
What’s left of a very large salmon. I think it must have come from the creek? Although I’ve never seen any fish this big in it. But I had met a couple of people on the trail recently who told me that salmon do run it, usually in October 🤷♀️. I do see eagles flying along the creek (at certain times of the year only), so it makes sense.
I realize there are not nearly enough Bowser shots in this post, so here are a couple more.
He loves to run and leap over fallen branches.Don’t be sad you didn’t get any photos, Oma. Be glad you saw these things in the first place. Wise words indeed, Bowser! Thanks 💕
I’ve come across so many Amanita mushrooms this fall. Never encountered these before. Now I am obsessed.
Looks like tassels.Side view of “tassels”.Giant trio.My fingers for scale.Underside of same mushrooms.In various states of growth and decay.Beautiful clusters.
After being in extreme drought conditions since July, the island is once again experiencing the rainy weather it is known for. And we couldn’t be happier.
This is my “happy to be out in the rain face”. (My hair is not wet from the rain, but still damp from the shower I took just before heading out.)Bowser was excited to be out on the trail again. Not sure if he thought the rain was all that exciting, though. Not like he gets when it snows, that’s for sure 🤣. He matches the scenery nicely, doesn’t he? As usual, Bowser has to trot ahead and scout things out.And, as usual he checks back from time to time to see where I am at. Bright leaves litter the trail, making a beautiful contrast to the rocks and soil.Found this beautiful little mushroom. Some sort of Amanita, I think. I was hoping to see more, but this was the only one I found on this walk.Bowser, coming back from checking on the creek – that we were happy to notice is rapidly reclaiming the dry creek bed.
We hope you are enjoying whatever the weather brings you. Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my fellow Canadians!
