Improvement and a restful week

First off, the knee - thank you for the well wishes. J had been massaging the knee for me, but decided that the issue was likely a problem with my hip causing the knee issues. So on Monday she attacked my hip (or at least it felt that way) and in fact, worked on both sides. The muscles extending from the hip on down the left leg were incredibly tight and she located several balls of muscle that were worked out. On my right side, she also worked on the sciatic area. After the first massage I was walking with my knee brace and barely a limp. After a second massage, the improvement was even more noticeable. 

I still can't walk long distances (wandering the grocery store) or sit in the same position for prolonged periods as these activities tend to cause the knee to feel as if it has locked up. Besides icing the knee and hip, I have started doing light exercises to help improve the strength of my knee, both at home and at the clubhouse. We do chair exercises three times a week; they are helping too.

I did my laundry on the weekend as you could see by Wednesday's photo. S and L have been kind in letting me use their washing machine every week. Sometimes I hang the clothing on their umbrella rack at the back of their unit, but most times I bring it back and put it on the rack here.  With warm temperatures and a bit of wind, it usually only takes a couple of hours to dry. My neighbour H has given me permission to use her lines out back to hang sheets as my rack would not work well. 

Most units, especially those in the M section (I'm in R) have space for sheds. The washing machines are plumbed into the shed with cold water only and hooked up to power. My lot doesn't have the space for a shed, nor do I have ample power. Out back I don't have the space for a folding rack to be mounted on the RV. So everyone who passes by gets to see my clean laundry (at least it's not dirty, right?) It's been years since I line dried clothing and I should, but haven't yet, bring out the iron and ironing board as some things are pretty darned wrinkled!

I missed the snow moon at its fullest on Sunday evening but managed to get a decent photo of the sunset and the moon on Monday evening. One of my neighbours, who visits for about a week every month, mentioned that he and his wife appreciate the photos I've posted on FB, especially of the sunset. So these were for them.

The darn power and internet lines made it a bit difficult to capture a decent photo.

The park held it's annual general meeting of the shareholders on Tuesday. I was warned it could be a noisy affair, and it was, especially towards the end of the meeting. It was clear that some participants had not read the reports that were mailed out, or were making assumptions about certain things. I won't go into details - that wouldn't be fair to the residents but I will say it reminded me a bit of a reality television program with some clear alliances. :)

Wednesday, I went to the clubhouse for the morning chair exercises. In the afternoon, I played Canasta with our group of six. The guys beat the gals again, I think we're up the best of nine now, hoping to make a comeback. We'll have to win out the rest of the season at this rate. :)

On Thursday, J and her husband G put on a pancake breakfast for the park. In addition to pancakes, there was eggs, sausage, toast and fruit. The cost was $5 per person, with the proceeds going to the social club. We had a good crowd of 25 or so people, and the food was fresh and terrific! After breakfast I headed back to my unit to count the cash. I updated our spreadsheet and then settled in to watch the Olympics. I was able to catch a bit of the mixed doubles curling, as the Canada-Finland women's hockey game was postponed as several members of Finland's team have come down with norovirus. Finland is expected to play the USA on Saturday, assuming they can field enough players.

My brother and I were chatting one day and he mentioned a salad his daughter has introduced to them. It included roasted chickpeas, along with a variety of vegetables, feta, and tzatziki sauce. It sounded delicious, but I had no feta or tzatziki, and no way to roast the chickpeas.

This is my version. I put a little oil in a fry pan, added the chickpeas, paprika, onion and garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. I cooked them until the outside was slightly crispy (they tasted good right out of the pan!). I added them to a chopped salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, yellow pepper, red onion, and cheddar cheese, with a drizzle of Italian salad dressing. I didn't need all of the chickpeas for the meal, so I'll be enjoying the salad again later this week. 

I've been knitting lots too, and one of the residents has asked if I can teach them. Not sure I can teach but I can show him the basics. I throw my yarn; while I know the continental knitting technique I've never been able to consistently use it. My plan is to show him how to cast on, demonstrate the knit and purl stitches and tell him to watch some videos. He can decide which method he likes best. 

Today I plan to watch more of the Olympics and continue knitting on my project. I will do some light exercises for my legs as well. Gotta keep moving!

Have a great week ahead everyone.

The morning in Baddeck, an afternoon in Sydney

After breakfast at the nearby Tim Horton's, our first task of the morning Baddeck was finding the local laundromat. We packed for eight days, or at least I did, but D and Eli tend to change more frequently, so we had a couple of loads of laundry to complete. While the clothes were in the washing machine, we did a walk up and back the main street. It was early, around 8 a.m. so there wasn't a whole lot open as yet. 

We originally thought this building was a church, but I have learned it is actually the Gilbert H. Grosvenor Hall, built in 1887. It has gone through various iterations, including customs house and post office, library, and now houses the Bras D'Or Lakes and Watershed Interpretive Centre. I wish I'd discovered before we left Baddeck!

D took this photo of the hotel that my friends stayed at, back in 2015. It's a lovely old building, but with no pool, I didn't think it would suit our purposes on this trip. In the end, we didn't use the outdoor pool at the Cabot Trail Motel, as it was a little cool in the afternoon.

Eli had his I-Pad, D and I our phones, so kept ourselves amused while waiting for the clothes to dry. We headed back to the motel to drop off the clean laundry, and before we left, D and Eli went down to the lake.

Then it was time for the main attraction of the day, the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. A short drive from the downtown area of Baddeck, it is an very interesting museum. While Bell is known to be the inventor of the telephone, he had a hand in many other inventions, including hydrofoils, kites, aeroplanes and x-rays. I remember being fascinated on my last trip there, and this time was no different.

A wall of telephones from through the years. I can only guess what Alexander Graham Bell would think of our current cell phones!

The plane above, is a replica of the Silver Dart. The Silver Dart had it's initial flight in Canada on the ice of Bras D'or Lake on February 23, 1909. The pilot who flew the aircraft that day was J.A.D. McCurdy. It was a short flight, but the plane lifted to an elevation of 20-30 feet. A few days later, McCurdy flew again, this time at an elevation of 50-60 feet for a distance of four and one half miles. Sadly, on August 2, 1909, the Silver Dart was crashed Petawawa, Ontario, during its demonstration flights in front of Canadian military officers. The plane was demolished and McCurdy suffered a broken nose.

Eli was fascinated by the telephone switchboard, and spent some time connecting and disconnecting the lines.

This is portion of the replica of Mr. Bell's study. 

I should mention that the Bell's spent thirty years between their homes in Washington, DC and Baddeck. Their home near Baddeck is not open to visitors, though we did take a drive to see if we could find a viewpoint. After finding a sign that advised there is none, we turned around and headed back to the motel.

After packing up and loading the car, we headed off to Sydney. Here are a couple of the photos of our drive.

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A view of the Seal Island Bridge, or alternatively the Great Bras D'or Crossing. 

I don't recall exactly when we arrived in Sydney, but we were early enough in the day to make our way to Fortress Louisbourg. The site is a partial reconstruction of the fortress built by France, beginning in 1719 and completed on the eve of the siege in 1745, following a declaration of war between Britain and France. The British took the fort, but their occupancy was short-lived when three years later it was returned to the French via a treaty. In 1758, another siege occurred, the British prevailed and demolished to fortress walls.

The reconstruction was completed in the 1960's through the 1980's, many of the buildings on the site of original foundations. Most interesting is the reconstruction encompasses only one quarter of the original town and fortifications.

We started our adventure at the Visitor' Center where our admission gave us a ticket to ride a shuttle bus to an area outside the fortress. It's a little bit of a hike from the bus stop to the main gates, and the area within the gates has a lot to see!

This building was sectioned off, with officers in one area and regular soldiers in another. There were young men in period costumes who explained the history as if it were today.

There is a lovely chapel inside the building. 

I don't imagine the pews were very comfortable.

I believe this was the bed of the commander of the Fortress. Much more comfortable looking than the beds in the jail house below.

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In addition to a garden area, there were animals to be visited too - these were Eli's favorite things in the Fortress.

Turkeys, ducks, and chickens were on display, and totally disinterested in the people eyeing them through the fence.

We walked to the bus stop, waited just a few minutes and returned to the Visitor's Center.

Both inside the park gates and just outside was evidence of Hurricane Fiona, which came ashore as a post-tropical storm in September, 2022. 

Back in Sydney we went to our hotel where D and Eli headed for the pool, and I relaxed for a bit. I recall where we picked up our dinner that night, a concession stand at a Open Hearth Park. The fellow was just about to close down when we arrived as it was cool and a bit windy. But he gladly prepped our burgers and fries, while we waited in our car. While waiting we noticed the playground and decided it would be a good place to visit the next day.

More on that in the next post!