Friends for 75 years!!!

Celebrating our 81st.  

Last week I was gadding about with Pat W. and PJ in Nova Scotia.  We've been friends since first grade which was 75 years ago and that means we were also celebrating the year that we all turned 81.  Yes 2018 has been a big year for us.

We arrived in Halifax, (Pat W was sitting in my wheelchair.) 

After flying from Charlotte to Toronto (where we missed our flight to Halifax but were able to get another one) we arrived in  Halifax to spend a couple of days.

I wanted to be sure my friends saw some of the South Shore of  the province.  We of course hit Peggy's Cove and then Mahone Bay and Lunenberg.  Along the way we had to have a meal at the famous Tim Horton's.

Peggy's Cove

Beautiful Church in Mahone Bay. 

A pretty B & B in Mahone Bay. 

Lunch at Tim Horton's. 

Back in Halifax we visited Becky, Bruce, and Sherri Campbell, and we were charmed by their new little husky Juno.

Juno, the newest member of the Campbell family. 

Then off to Marble Mountain in our rented Lincoln MKK, a vehicle too smart for us.  We were constantly having to check the manual to see how something worked. 

Our Lincoln MKK.  Leaving for Cape Breton.  

The weather was perfect  and after we arrived in Port Hawkesbury we had dinner at the Fleur de Lis, shopped for groceries and headed out to Marble Mountain.  (to be continued)

A Busy Sunday

Light house at Peggy's Cove on a foggy afternoon.

Last Sunday my grandson Brooks and his friend Missy and I flew to Nova Scotia.  The day started early.  We flew out of RDU at 6:00am and traveled via Toronto to Halifax landing there about 1:00 pm.  Immediately we took the shuttle to our motel near the airport where we also rented our car for the week. 

By 3:00pm we were on our way to Peggy's Cove.  Unfortunately it was a rather foggy day there.  I stayed in the parking lot while Brooks and Missy walked out to the lighthouse.  From my vantage point I could barely make out the outline of the lighthouse because of the fog.  But they had a better view close up. 

Lighthouse from the parking lot.

Then we headed to downtown Halifax and the Halifax waterfront.  I had never taken the ferry from Halifax over to Dartmouth so I suggested we do that.  It gave us a great view of the Halifax harbor from the other side. 


Brooks and Missy on the ferry to Dartmouth.

The Halifax waterfront from the Dartmouth side of the harbor.

Dinner at Salty's was good as usual.

Our view while having dinner at Salty's. 

 And then over to Cow's Ice Cream for dessert.

Cow's Ice Cream.

I was disappointed they didn't have my favorite flavor Maple Walnut,  Then we walked on over to the Casino where we had parked the car.  Brooks and I went into the Casino, but since Missy doesn't turn 19 until September, she had to wait in the lobby.


I won $63.00 on the penny slot machine in just three spins. 

 I sat down at a slot machine, put in $20.00 and on my third spin I was up to $83.00.  I said I'm quitting.  So I walked out $63.00 to the good. 


It was a long day.  But a fun one. 

I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen. ~ Winnie the Pooh

Our wedding announcement.

When I was a graduate student at Duke in the summer of 1964, I heard about one of their professors, Dan Livingstone, who had survived a crocodile attack while working on a lake in Africa.  Later in the early 1970s as a graduate student at NC State, I had read papers by this Dr. Livingstone.  However, it was not until 1973 that I finally met this renowned biologist.

Dan the day after the crocodile attack.  (Photo courtesy of Joe Richardson).

 I was on a plane departing RDU for an International Biological Congress in Boulder.  This was before assigned seats, and this charming man sat down beside me.  After we were airborne, I took out my program for the meeting and was leafing through it.  This man next to me looked over and said, "Oh, I am going to be one of the speakers at this meeting.  I'm Dan Livingstone from Duke."  And I said, "Oh you are the guy who escaped the crocodile!."  That is how we met.

In 1989, we were married.  We had planned to get married in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  We thought we could just go down to City Hall and get a marriage license and be married by a Justice of the Peace.  But no, it was June and they were completely booked.  Furthermore the Public Gardens our second choice for a ceremony were also booked.   There was some kind of meeting for ministers in the area and the only minister we could find who was available to perform the ceremony was the Associate Minister of the Unitarian Church who happened to be expecting her first child any day (otherwise she would have been off at this meeting).  Yes, we were married by a pregnant minister.

The ceremony was held in the beautiful garden of one of Dan's friends, Roger Doyle, in Halifax, with just a few family and friends in attendance.   The garden was abloom with lilacs at the time.

The ceremony.

As something old, I wore a white shawl that my mother had made over my navy and white dress.  It is a bit cool in Halifax in June.  I wasn't one to wear hats at the time, but I had found a pretty white hat, and I adorned it with a navy ribbon around the band.  

"You may kiss the bride."

The happy couple---married.

After the noon ceremony, we all went down to the Athens Restaurant on Quinpool Road in Halifax for a luncheon.  Great food and a wedding cake.

Cutting the cake. 

Yes, it has really been an adventure these last twenty-five years.  We're still a  happy couple who love each other very much.

Everything Comes Out in the Wash

The floor mat in our laundry room, Chatfield.Rd.

I love washing clothes when I am at Chatfield Rd, because I can hang clothes on the line to dry.  In Raleigh we don't have a clothes line.  The only place we could put one would be in the front yard, and I'm not sure that would be acceptable in our neighborhood.  But think how much energy can be saved by using "solar energy" to dry our clothes.  And I love the crisp fragrance of clothes dried in the outdoors.

Our sheets drying on a sunny day, Chatfield Rd.

I was at a craft show here in Cleveland County yesterday, and one of the potters, Ron Philbeck, uses clothes lines as a theme on his pottery.  I couldn't resist; I bought this delightful little dish

Pottery dish with clothes line theme by Ron Philbeck.

I'm so intrigued  by clothes lines I take photos of them whenever I'm traveling.

Clothes drying in Port Hawkesbury,  Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Somewhere in Italy.

In Venice.

I wonder what the neighbors would say if we installed a clothes line in our front yard in Raleigh.  Maybe we could start a trend.

Opa! now ela!

ela! Greek Taverna in Bayers Lake Shopping Center.

Last May when Dan and I were in Halifax we discovered this wonderful Greek  restaurant, Opa!, in the Bayers Lake Shopping Center.  Eager to return, we found that the name had been changed to ela! Greek Taverna as the outcome of a trademark issue.  The menu, the food, and the service have all stayed the same we are happy to report. 

Grilled octopus over chickpea salata.

Dan’s cousin, Bruce, and his wife Becky joined us there the other day for lunch.  I was looking forward to having ela’s grilled octopus seasoned with oregano, lemon, olive oil and capers served over chickpea salad that I had enjoyed in May.   If you like calamari (squid), then you will likely find octopus its close relative tasty.  (As a biologist, I know that the squid and the octopus are both cephalopods and closely related and that’s your biology lesson for the day.)  Although I like calamari, I find octopus even more delicious.

ela! lemon roasted potatoes.

The grilled octopus is featured as an appetizer, but it was quite filling as an entrée with a side of ela! lemon potatoes oven roasted in olive oil, lemon and garlic. 

Rotisserie leg of lamb, Dan's choice.

Dan chose the herbed rotisserie leg of lamb topped with sautéed mushrooms and onion.  The succulent lamb comes from Colchester County, and ela! selects the freshest, highest quality items from local organic farms whenever possible.

For dessert, I had the Bougasta, a rich orange flavored custard pie in a flaky filo pastry with a light cinnamon honey syrup.

Bougasta for dessert.

Yes, the restaurant name may be ela!, but all I have to say is “Opa!”