Big Day

Today I'm off to one of my least favourite places in the entire world -I hate hospitals - I hate the smells and the sounds. I hate being dependent, half naked and exposed. I hate being asked where it hurts and 'what kind of pain is it?'.

But today I have to go and get my knee checked out. It's called a clinical assessment and treatment dept and will carry out all the required tests to, hopefully, diagnose my injury and put me on the road to recovery.

To add to the stress, MB has left for Scotland this morning. He usually comes to hospital with me when I need to go. We have both had hospital stays and we know how horrible it is.

I've filled out my attendance questionnaire. We joke about the NHS, but I worried about the question 'What do YOU think is wrong?' - I couldn't help thinking that perhaps that was their job....

More later

Update: well, I have been poked and prodded and the answer is 'we don't know'. There are some clues that lead to femoral nerve damage and/or the cruciate ligaments being pulled. The physio said that pain is a really bad measurement, and the swollen knee is a giveaway there is a problem.

So, now it's a letter to the hospital and a waiting list - of 5-6 weeks for an orthopaedic appointment. And keep on with the crutches and painkillers.

cq

Clockin' On....

Long time no blog.......so what have I been up to?

Work - well, d'uh! I've been teaching (and learning) and doing the day to day grind. My teaching is still popular and going from strength to strength.

My two year anniversary of stopping smoking has passed and, even with the odd brief temptation, I have not broken my vow.

Struggling with my usual autumn depression.....same old, same old...

I had a bout of the flu, there's a nasty bug going around at the moment. Cyberkitten got it too - not from me, I hasten to add! I blame public transport - all those unhealthy people coughing and sneezing on the bus! Ended up in bed with a temperature and a cough that would shatter glass.

And for the last week and a half I have had a new fashion accessory.....
I hurt my knee at Pembroke (see here) and it was still not healing properly two months later so I went to the doctor and asked for some advice. His advice was exercise and we agreed some nice low impact cardio-vascular swimming would be a good start.
A week later I was back in his surgery with my knee twice the size and four times the pain and the doc admitted maybe exercise was not the best option......
X-rays have shown nothing but there is still pain and swelling so it's off to the hospital for a scan this week - and I have powerful pain-killers and crutches to take the strain off the damaged knee.

cq

Blog Block

Sorry guys, I have Blog Block - just checking in and checking out again...........

Bear with me while I sort my head out.

If you want to leave your mark, sign my guest book (comment) and leave a meaningful sentence.....

Meanwhile: Look what I saw today - this is the coolest flight of the bumblebee ever! Nick Lachey rules!

cq

Does Your Mother Know...?

So, where was I tonight?

Celebrating Bobkat's birthday - a little late 'cos she's been soooo sick lately...... :-(

We went for a meal and a film - and LOVED this bit........



Christine Baranski ROCKS :-)

And young Philip Michael isn't too shabby either...... [wink]

cq

Heartbreaking Addiction

My new addiction is causing me heartbreak.....

When I took up re-enactment in August 2006, at the constant exhortations of my dear Aginoth and Mrs Aginoth, my first event was a stunningly sunny warm weekend at the deliciously romantic Caerphilly Castle.

One weekend roaming around in a long dress and barefeet and I was hooked.
The next event was at the end of season event at Caldicot Castle and I had a bad case of the norovirus, and some people felt I had been put off by throwing up every ten minutes in a field.....
But in January 2007, I tipped up for the Focus meeting, went to the markets and stocked up on reproduction medieval kit.
At the beginning of last year's season, while watching the activities around me, I thought that hammering coins looked simple and interesting, so I learned to do that.
I came home and routed through the internet, finding out about 14C coins and their production.
From then on I was the Company Moneyer, hammering coins every other weekend in the Summer, come rain or shine.
Well, more rain than shine........Last year was the now infamous flooding of Berkeley Castle on the biggest event weekend of the year.
But we soldiered on. At the end of the season I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome due to the hammering, and spent Christmas in a wrist brace.

At the 2008 Focus Meeting early this year I volunteered to be Membership Officer, which meant I was on the Company Council. I inherited the old Company tent and plans were made to share it with two other women of the same age.
It was decided that hammering was difficult for me, due to an elbow injury and so I spent this year training my new apprentice and picking up the spiel for the spinner/dyer.
I took up a part in the Crime and Punishment show, which was a blast, and the 'marital violence' inflamed my old knee injury.
And the weather..........oh, the weather this year has been atrocious.......at Easter it snowed and froze at the formerly delicious Caerphilly and it rained at some point at almost every event. It even lashed it down in Italy - where it was 40 and sunny last year! Evening fires were few and far between. We either spent our days and evenings inside halls or huddled under the market tent, talking to the members of public who braved the weather.
Even on the weekend of our dear friends' wedding, a magical medieval wedding, it rained about 2 inches and turned the field into a quagmire.

And the final nail in the coffin - we heard today that our last event of the season has been cancelled due to flooding.......echoes of Berkeley Castle!
So, given the terrible weather, the leaky old tent, the carpal tunnel syndrome, the sore elbow, the painful knee, the suffering suspension in my car from lugging heavy 14C kit around the area, the constant smell of mildew -
why am I still doing this?
Why am I planning to learn basket weaving to use next year?
Why am I an active part of getting an off-season skills event together?
Why am I sewing a new dress for the Company Banquet?
Why am I already looking forward to next Spring and the new season?
And why am I so inexplicably depressed (reduced to tears to be honest) at the cancellation of this weekend's event?
cq

Hugs is good...

I am a firm believer in hugs. I have lots of people to hug me and I value every single one I am lucky enough to receive.

As an aside, with bad stuff in my past, I prefer to initiate the first hug but once someone is huggable in my estimation they are welcome to hug me anytime.

Amongst the people that 'give good hug' are:

MB - who has always enveloped me in a safe and caring hug, shielding me from the mad bad world.

Bobkat - she was the first woman in many years I have voluntarily hugged and she gives loving hugs.

cyberkitten - like MB, his hugs are a safety zone.

sleepypete - as my pseudo-adopted son, Pete's hugs are like that of a loving son.

Most everyone in the Company of Chivalry are hugging people. Some are perfunctory; a brief show of affection, some are fun and energetic; a result of an irrepressible nature, and some are just perfect.

Our Sergeant at Arms - being a big chap is an enveloping hugger, one of the people whose arms I just walk into.

My 'husband' Brambles - another big man who gives comforting hugs.

George (Brambles' real life wife) - another woman who gives warm loving hugs.

My friend and 'apprentice' 'Maud' - we enjoy sisterly hugs.

Lord Hungerford Jnr ('Maud's' real life son) - we have perfected the three-way hug; him, his mum and his 'auntie cq'.

Kate - my best girlfriend in the company; I can just walk into her motherly arms.

My friend Matt - little brother hugs; starting off comforting and safe, ending in a chest-crushing bear hug.

Finally, when things are quiet and I am in bed with my book, I get the best hugs of all - my big nervous floofy cat Charlie burrows in beside me and hugs me for as long as he can.

cq

Off again...

This weekend I am back off to the 14 century, in Caerphilly Castle. We like Caerphilly Castle, it's good to stay in, nice washroom facilities and a big Great Hall for if (when!) it rains.This weekend is a big deal in two ways, it's the 20th anniversary of the Company of Chivalry, the birthday of one of the longest serving members - and my second anniversary with the Company.

It's funny to think the Aginoths [particularly Mr A] spent five years persuading me to take part, telling me I'd love it.
I hate how well my friend knows me......... :-)
[Mrs Aginoth and LMD talking to the public]

I have been asked in the below post comments which century I prefer.

Well, our approximation of the 14C is probably my favourite place. Given the small luxuries we have sneaked in from the 21C (bathrooms, sleeping bags, airbeds - coffee [out of hours, of course!]) I have grown to love the 14C. The time I spend with the Company has given me a whole new set of friends, people I love and admire. It is a place where I can let go of many of the issues I drag around with me during my normal life. Although Ugly Monster has managed to creep in occasionally, being with the Company is somewhere he is not normally found. I sleep better, I eat better, I laugh more. I am less ego-centric and I am more outgoing. I have learnt new stuff and it is (I hope) making me a better person. I admit, occasionally I curse my long dresses, am infuriated with the tent and feel sad in the rain, but I look forward so much to it each week.I'm so glad to be going back under canvas this weekend, but it is tinged with sadness that the season is nearly over, only two more events to go. Then it will all go quiet over the Winter, allowing for the Banquet, meeting up for market days and the Company meeting in the New Year, until Battle Practice and the new season kicks off next Spring.

cq

Life goes on...

I've been spending a lot of time in the 14 century lately, with the last three weekends away from home and under canvas.

My 14 century life has changed dramatically since I discovered I couldn't hammer coins any more due to an elbow injury. I can still do the spiel and have found a very good apprentice who is expert at hammering coins.

So, while looking around for something to fill my day I volunteered to take part in the court scene as the 'adulterous' wife. I've always been a bit of a drama queen and this has allowed me to revisit that part of my life.

But life has been going on in the 21 century too - and my life has been changing there too. With various reorganisations within our area of the Ministry of Defence, some of our responsibilities have changed or been removed altogether.

So I have been looking to change my skills slightly to benefit both me and my work. And I have moved into the training/education area of health and safety - whilst maintaining my responsibilities in site health and safety management.

For the last few months I have been training dozens of staff in the use of defibrillators and basic life support (CPR etc), practising my teaching skills.

This week I held my first full training day in first aid for a selection of the 150 first aiders under my management.

With a lecture in cardiac conditions, a forum for them to air their opinions and experiences and a whole afternoon of practising assessment and treatment of a variety of conditions, bandaging and resuscitation this was a full day that the first aiders have been craving for years.

I was nervous all day, although I knew most of the students quite well. When the day drew to a close I gathered the feedback sheets (that told me what the students thought!) and hid them - too scared to read them.

My boss got to them first and read them before I saw them.

I was pleased to see the feedback was mostly positive, only little niggles that need to be addressed before the next training day in November.

As they say - life goes on....whether it is the 14 century or the 21 century....

cq

The Wedding

This weekend just gone was the wedding of my friends Jon and Hannah. Long time members of the Company of Chivalry and medieval fans, it was expected for them to have a medieval wedding......
...and it was such fun!

Here are the happy couple in their wedding finery! Jon is simply dashing and his bride is positively glowing!

We all gathered in our medieval kit to help them celebrate the big day. It rained a lot and we all got very wet and muddy, but it was a wonderful day and night. The rain died away about 1am, so I got some quality 'fire time' by the roaring fire :-)

Part of the day's entertainment included a mummers play, starring our two Lords Hungerford, and Master Caunsfield as George.

The medieval party went with a swing and they even managed to perform the Honour Arch while the company were still standing.......

But what wedding would be complete without children? My little friend LMD Aginoth and her grown friend Master Caunsfield. (I love her making eyes at my dear friend Matt - that girl will go far!).

With thanks to Aginoth, Master Turner and Master Caunsfield whose photo albums I plundered......

cq

MakeBelieve

Well, this has been a busy few weeks with re-enactment. We were at Caerphilly Castle two weeks ago and last week we were at Pembroke Castle.

Yeah, yeah, I know - you're all dying to know about being Mistress Brambles.

Well, my 'husband' was the lovely Anthony....

And Arthur of Fopwood was charmingly played by Matt (on the right in this photo)

I have never been the adulterous wife before - and was secretly hoping to be found guilty so I could be burned at the stake! :-)

Anthony must be about 6'5" and towers over everyone. When we were arrested and were waiting for the Lords to arrive, he periodically took some lunges at 'Arthur' and I tried to pull him off by his padded jack. He would get exasperated and throw me across the field. I could hear the heartfelt gasps of the women public as I crashed to the ground time after time.

With Anthony throwing me around and dragging me across the field on Saturday I have some LOVELY bruises - finger marks on my arms and compression bruising on my knees.

But it was an almost cathartic experience; having been in a violent marriage I found being chucked around by Anthony (who I could control totally) went some way to cleansing the memories I have carried around for twenty years.

On the Sunday show my beloved 'husband' was more gentle with me, as I had told him my knees were hurting. I told him and the sarge they must help me up from my knees - but make it look like they were hauling me roughly to my feet......and it worked.

'Arthur' recited some of his delightful poetry to me for the pleasure of My Lord's court - and you could hear a wide range of female sighs from the audience as he knelt in front of me, spoke the words and then gallantly kissed my hand. I swear, given half a chance, the women would have trampled me to get to 'Arthur'.

The sighs were cut short as Arthur and I were roughly pulled apart and thrown back on the mercy of My Lord Hungerford.

Let me see - what else is there.....?

Oh yes, when I was handed back to my 'husband' for punishment he hauled me behind a tent and then faked a beating with a switch on the tent canvas. With me screaming at each hit, it was reported to me later that the women in the audience went white. Reality TV eat my dust!

It was cool - painful but cool. I could really get into the part of Mistress Brambles and the following were overheard as I walked the castle grounds later....

'Miss - were you really crying?'

'Did he really hurt you?'

'Look! There's that poor woman........'

I think I'll do that again :-)

Oh, and to answer that eternal question 'why do you do this?' - I offer this wordless answer:

Pembroke Castle at dusk.......does life get any better than this?

cq

Perils of Friendship

I have discovered that this season I can't hammer coins as I have developed a very painful elbow and it hurts to heft the hammer.
So, in order to fill my day and add value to the show, I volunteered to take part in the crime and punishment segment - as the adulterous wife! :-)

Of all the men in camp, my 'husband' just happened to be the biggest - and the most awesome looking.....and married in reality to a good friend of mine.

So allow me to take you back in time to 1370 and tell a sad story....

My name is Mistress Brambles and I am married to Billy Brambles, brother of Sergeant Little, sergeant at arms of my Lord Hungerford. Billy is a powerful and violent man who is an impressive soldier but not a sensitive husband and I am an unhappy wife.
I meet Arthur Fopwood, the elegant and debonair younger son of the Earl of Fopwood - meaning he has money and no responsibility. We hit it off and a friendship develops, fuelled by his love of poetry and my desperation in a tumultuous marriage.

But when my 'beloved' husband saw me promenading the castle with young Arthur of Fopwood, he demanded Arthur and I be tried by our Lord Hungerford for adultery.

He dragged me off through the market to get justice from the court. Meanwhile, Arthur was taken into custody by the guard.

Here is Segeant Little giving evidence on behalf of his wronged brother, Billy Brambles. I am begging for leniency on my knees by my husband - young Arthur is being held between the two big ugly soldiers on the right.

Sadly, my Lord found grounds for the case and decreed that Arthur's innocence would be decided by trial by combat - against my husband.


We were all required to swear our allegiance and accept the outcome of the trial on the Holy Bible. Arthur had no fighting garb, so he was dressed in the clothes of a poor recently deceased soldier.


Needless to say, despite his best efforts and using all the skills he had read about, Arthur was no match for my big angry husband - and the outcome was inevitable....

So, as a result of the trial by combat, the delightful and entertaining young Fopwood was decreed guilty, taken from the arena, stripped naked and thrown out of the castle.

But that still left my punishment. I cowered in fear as my Lord Hungerford spoke about the choices - burning at the stake or delivery into the hands of my cuckolded husband. Given the effeminate nature of Arthur, my Lord decreed that any adultery would have been impossible and decided to be lenient, handing me over to my husband for punishment as he saw fit.

I was duly taken from the field and was (very noisily) beaten by my husband.

When walking later I discovered Arthur's hat, which was my last memento of my lost friend.

So, that is the sad story of the misguided friendship between Mistress Brambles and Arthur of Fopwood - tune in tomorrow to read what it's like being an 'adulterous wife' in the 14C..

cq

Weekend in 14C

I got off my miserable butt on Friday and piled my kit in my car, picked up my friend goodwife Maud of Keynsham and took the horseless cart to Caerphilly Castle in response to a call from My Lord Hungerford.

The company arrived at the Castle and tents were put up, cars hidden off site, fires were lit and alcohol was pulled out of bags.

Some thoughts about my weekend in the 14C......

I arrived very unhappy - got out of the car and walked straight into Goodwife Kate's arms for a hug.

But.....

Finally - a hot sunny weekend......so good we were complaining it was too hot!

(Sergeant at Arms Little is grateful for the little shade afforded by his jaunty headgear!)

I learnt the hard way how to put up the tent......thank you Courtney!

The public were, mostly, nice and spent a lot of money at the coin die, where we hammer coins.

Now I am a Yeoman and I have two coin dies; a silver penny and a half groat. I also have two peasants to hammer coins - so I am a chief moneyer.

I finished sewing up my adjusted dress - nothing shrieks 'medieval' like a woman sitting on a stool sewing a dress.........There must be a million photos on the interweb of a middle-aged medieval woman sewing a dress....

The displays were well received and we fielded a lot of questions from the public.

(from the left; Mistress Beatrice in the kitchen, Goodwife Maud, Goodwife Quene (me), Goodwife Beryl and Goodwife Kate)

With the nice weather we were able to have our evening fires and come together as a company over a few beers.

I got to bicker, fight, argue and wrestle with my friend Master Caunsfield - we play well together! He doesn't hold back, but he doesn't hurt me. Nice lad.

(Master Matthew Caunsfied in Italy 2007)

Goodwife Kate and I had a laughathon last night - something kicked us off as we lay in bed and listened to the merriment still going on around the fire - and we screamed with laughter for a good twenty minutes. Master Caunsfield put his head through the door to see what was going on, which set us off again.

At one point I lay on my bed and looked at the roof of my tent - dreamy.....

I was so happy to see this and then I turned over and looked out of the door.........

Evocative or what?

cq

[Additional photos from Dawn Davies - pictures added as they arrive...]

Empty Vase

Regulars will know that I suffer from depression, and have struggled with it for over ten years now. I don't blog about this very often, and I don't talk about it very much - not wanting to bring others down.

I was a sombre child and my family have psychological issues. I was always quiet and easily victimised.
I don't remember most of my childhood - whether purposely or inadvertently blanked out.

My severe depression was triggered by surgery over a decade ago with very emotional overtones combined with finding out I could never have children.

It has resulted in terrible mood swings, from abject misery to total euphoria in minutes - and, sadly, the other way!
The drugs I am on have had an effect on my memory, causing me to forget all sorts of things, from dates/birthdays to words and names.
The depression has caused me to have eating issues - veering from compulsive eating to compulsively not eating. For ten years I have found it difficult to eat in front of others.

I have developed mild agoraphobia and a fear of being around strangers. Going out is usually a huge effort and I have often cancelled plans at the last minute because I just couldn't make myself go.

The uncertain summer this year has deepened my depression and I am aware that I am very miserable lately.
I do have moments of pleasure, although they are short and quickly forgotten.
I drift - losing myself for minutes at a time thinking of nothing very much. I have no memory of journeys I have driven.
I concentrate on functioning for eight hours a day to do my job and then collapse at home.

My insomnia is bad, and I am routinely awake and up at 4am, often waking as early as 1am.

I am constantly aware that, although I do sometimes have emotional storms, I am cold inside. I feel nothing, my body feels empty. I am an empty vase.

cq

VIV

Today we had a Very Important Visitor.

The Visitor had dedicated security staff to ensure no one got too close or touched it.

The Visitor sat in glory while the adoring masses gathered for a souvenir photo.

The Visitor helped us to raise hundreds of pounds for charity.

The Visitor was aloof and did not so much as make a sound.

The Visitor was unmoved by all the people desperate to be seen next to it.

Our Visitor was..........The Premiership Trophy - um, this thing......

To put it into perspective for my US readers - this is the British equivalent of the Super Bowl trophy.

I didn't get this excitement - it's just a cup.

The security man tried to explain the wonderfulness that is the Premiership Trophy - solid silver yadda yadda, solid malachite base blah blah....but it didn't make much impact on me.

On the plus side, there were enough football fans who wanted their photo taken with this piece of metal to raise hundreds of pounds for the Help for Heroes charity (see here).

So, I don't get the whole 'trophy' thing - but I do get the wonderful fundraising for our injured troops.

cq

More Thoughts - Sundry and Otherwise

Lots of thinking lately.......nothing else to do with all the rain. The rotten weather we've had has led to lots of icky bugs going around and my depression has settled in again.

I'm sitting at home with my stuff piled up waiting to hear what is happening about Tewkesbury Medieval Festival - a challenge as it hasn't stopped raining pretty much for a week here.

We're all a bit upset as it would appear we are not going to be camping (an integral part of the experience) but are welcome during the day for the events.

My first Berkeley joust was cancelled due to the weather, and this is my first Tewkesbury Battle....not cancelled, but still - not the experience I was hoping for.

On the plus side, the sun is doing it's best to shine this morning - so perhaps the grounds will dry out enough by tonight for us to go for the weekend.

I did some training last week and came away with these brilliant quotes....

One individual was steadfastly checking his casualty, determined the condition and yelled 'Call the emergency sandwich!' and which point I shouted 'Stop! Call the what??' and we all collapsed with laughter.

Another student was giving the Resusci-Anne (the CPR manikin) rescue breaths and he said 'Reminds me of my first kiss!' his partner said 'Oh? Mine was breathing.....!'

And I was getting punch drunk after teaching the same thing all day to lots of pairings that, when the last pair were practising and one of them yelled 'Call me an ambulance!' I yelled back 'You're an ambulance!'......a momentary pause and we all shrieked with laughter.

I was told they love my teaching technique, lots of hands on, interaction and banter which facilitates the learning process.

My first big teaching event is next month - when I am running a full day of learning for thirty First Aiders. It'll include a forum for discussing current issues, a lecture on heart conditions and lots of practice on each other to warm up cold skills. I'm very nervous.

Update: The sun has already been beaten into submission by big black clouds.....oh dear....

Five minutes later: The sun is back.......

Seven minutes later: Nope, the clouds are taking the upper hand......

Eight minutes: The sun is not beaten yet....

cq

Sundry Thoughts

It's raining - again......another wet summer. Apparently this is global warming. I don't think much of it.

[update: this was filmed this morning.... gee look! More rain!]


[and still more rain - this afternoon.....]

I must be a moron. Not only do I get addicted to a pastime that involves one of my least favourite chores, sewing, but it's an outdoor pastime!

We haven't had an event for a few weeks now, and I am looking longingly at wooden stools, fleeces, knives and my jug.

Did I mention the rain?

When you manage a coffee shop and play music full volume, it's to be expected that your staff will get orders wrong and annoy customers. 'No! Not a latte, A-MER-I-CAN-O!'

Why does the cinema only have one coffee machine - when they have at least two of everything else?

Sod's Law states that cq will queue for ten minutes for a Fanta Freeze, only to be told when ordering that the machine is broken - so, no one can write 'Out of Order' on a piece of paper?

Sod's Law states that out of the four automated ticket machine cq will pick the one that eats cards - again, can no one write three little words?

It's still raining.....

William is settling in, although I am not overly won on him yet. He and Charlie love playing Thundering Herd of Elephants - especially on the bed at 4am.


[Naomi asked for a photo - so here he is.......]

MB says fondly that that's what cats do - he can afford to be fond.......I am the insomniac who gets up with the restless cats to keep them company while he sleeps on.

I am beginning to think cyberkitten is Sheldon's twin brother (Big Bang Theory).

Last week the phrase 'details on my blog' was said in one of UK's top soaps - Blogger has arrived!

My boss has approved my request to attend the City and Guilds 7303 training - the first step to a teaching qualification.

I have been told I have a good intructing technique - fun, but factual. Time will tell.

cq

Yankee Doodle Day!

Happy Fourth July, America!

cq

Engineers Guide to Cats

I'm sorry - but it is definitely video time at the Palace....

I found this over at Tabby Normal's blog.....



This is one of the funniest things I have seen since Evolution of Dance......enjoy!

cq

Watching the Whales (Canada 5)

Lakes and Lagoons
Butchart Gardens
Elk and Beaver
Memory

Finally, what you've all been waiting for - the Big Trip of our visit to Victoria BC. On a cloudy but nice day we set out hoping see, in my and ck's case, our first ever orcas in the wild.

We used a wonderful company called Great Pacific Adventures who run two boats, one rigid raider and one yacht. silentmum and I were wanting to go on the raider, but when we discovered the boats went out at different times, we all elected to go together on the yacht.Waiting with bated breath for the trip - 'it is time yet?' was the constant query of nine year old Boo.Once on the boat, Boo was a natural..........
We stood at the rail and scanned the water for signs of orca life....Oh my god - is that one.....?...we strained our eyes at the little black blob on the blue sea....
Well, it's definitely fin-shaped.....Yay - there's the white dorsal mark! It's a killer whale called Pender, who is a transient who has been visiting the straits for over 40yrs.

The resident orca weren't there, but Pender entertained us for a couple of hours. Orcas do deep dives, which involve a submersion for anything from 10 to 15 minutes and then three or four breaths at the surface to suck oxygen before going into another deep dive. Pender would take his breaths and then deep dive, surfacing about 1/4 mile away.....so we never knew where he would come up.

We were watching him sweep the water when we realised that, while we were staring intently at the choppy water, he had found and partaken of a little light luncheon - probably a porpoise. Without a clear view and below water it is called a secret kill.

So, we did see our killer whale and had a wonderful day out on a magical trip. Not only did we see an orca, we also saw harbour seals, stellar seals and Californian sea lions - even a bald eagle nest with a baby eagle peeking out over the edge.

It was a beautiful day out with some of my closest friends, seeing sea animals in their wild environment. A once in a lifetime opportunity.

cq

Memory

Lakes and Lagoons
Butchart Gardens
Elk and Beaver

What else did we do in Canada? - well, amongst other things we attended the Battle of the Atlantic Commemoration Service.

My beautiful god-daughter Boo was in the parade with her sea scout troop so there was no way we were missing this event!

Attended by proud veterans,
the Canadian Navy, the US Submariners, and the Navy Cadets this was a touching service to the honour of the Canadian servicemen lost during the longest battle of World War Two.

Bringing up the rear was a small troop of determined children, polished and cleaned to within an inch of their lives - stubbornly marching to the beat.

This is the image that sums up the morning - RESPECT...(Boo is second from right)

My mother summed up my thoughts about Boo when she said 'that girl is a credit to her Ma!'.......

cq