Last night my brother, Leo, and his wife, plus Dominic and myself, met up with Low Roader and his daughter for a meal. Low Roader had never met me before last night and I only remembered him from the time when I was as an 11 year old. I know he won't mind me telling you that his beloved wife, Betty, died last September. He is still coming to terms with her death. However, although he was only over for a couple of days, we did meet up and had a terrific night. Low Roader and Leo discussed Hilden School and Mr Woodende, the principal, and recounted old yarns. As for me, I sat beside his beautiful daughter, who was both vivacious and friendly. Although she and I had never met either, we talked away all night as if we had known each other forever.

Because of Spam I had to keep my post short. As I say, we had a great night of nostalgia but laughter too. Low Roader and Siobhan go back home today but I'm glad we met. I'm sure he's be proud of his lovely daughter as he should be. (By the way, just as well someone can keep him in check). No doubt LR will have something to add but it was so good to meet him.

Hello Ann

Many thanks for letting us in on that meeting with LR and his daughter. I was very saddened to think of his lovely wife Betty passing away. Come to think of it my husband Pat and I remember she had been for tests when we met up with them a few years ago now. I am so pleased he has family where he lives with his daughter and grandchildren I believe, but nevertheless appreciate how hard it is for him to lose his life's partner.

LR, we shall never forget when we met. Thinking back, Ann has said in jest on the Forum that you must be 90 now, but I believed her, so we were very surprised when we stopped at your home and you came running out of the door to meet us. My dad would have done the exact same thing. So there you were a much younger man with a lovely friendly wife, to spend a couple of hours together chatting away.

I just want to give you my condolences and wish you the best, how blessed you are to have such a lovey daughter.

Liz

Liz, "he came running out of the door" made me look twice. I can't imagine LR running very far as he has put on a bit of weight. The way he can wolf down his food is probably the reason. I think we may put him on a diet. Let's see what he has to say about that. Liz, glad you and the pastor are keeping well. Why don''t you post in more often as we love to hear from you and what you're up to.

Thanks Ann

My husband retired from full time Pastoring four years ago, only to be asked out of the blue a couple of days later to go and help out a church whose Pastor had left suddenly. He did and we are still there. He is now the Pastor of the church and although it is a few miles away from where we live, we have enjoyed our time there and seen the church grow and many young people as well come along. One of these years he really will retire - I think!

Perhaps LR will reply to your remark about his weight and set the records straight, what about it LR, are you going to let Ann get away with this?

xx

Dearest Liz,
It is good to know that you and the Pastor are well and still doing your pastoral work.
It was great pleasure to meet an old schoolmate and enjoy reliving some memories of the wonderful education establishment that was Hilden school.
He was instantly recogniseable despite a sixty five year gap since we last met.
His wife is a beautiful lady and it was lovely to meet her.
I had spoken to Dominic, but never met him. The poor soul has survived the years of marriage to the KK and I must say I was very envious of his wonderful head of silver hair.
We had a lovely evening and the time passed all too quickly.
I have left my comments regarding the KK to last as I wanted to ensure that she would not be confused with any of the other rational people we met!!
She was everything I expected-bubbly (although this may have been the result of the copious amount of wine she consumed), and a happy go lucky person.
I have spoken to her before on the telephone but seeing her was the embodiment all your dreams coming true at once.
My daughter thought she was “a really lovely lady”, but then she also had imbibed in the juice of the grape!!!
With regards to my stature, it is obvious that she does not recognize a superb athletic, wonderfully honed body.
The answer to my problem is simple – I was a weightlifter and my chest has slipped. Unfortunately, it does give the appearance of a little barrel to the uneducated. (That is my story and I am sticking to it).
In conclusion, I would like to express my thanks to Anne, Dominic, Leonard and Marie Terese for their company on what was a very sad occasion for Siobhan and me.
LR

Low Roader, good to know you enjoyed our meeting too. Leo and Marite, who seldom accept invitations out, thought it was a great night, and so say all of us.

Dominic and I are off for a couple of days, just to have a break. Of course Tess has to come too. We found an hotel , not too far away, which allows small dogs. I dont know how she'll react to a strange place but we'll soon find out. In fact, we were to set off today but when I saw the weather forecast I changed our booking to start tomorrow. Hope the weather is better then.

Talk to you all later.

Hi kAnn, read you and the family, Dominic and Tess, are taking off for a few days vacation. Hope you and the family enjoy yourselves, wherever you end up. If you post your destination here, I promise I will not tell anyone.

Fran and I are emerging from hibernation and have just planted out our contribution to the neighbourhood flora. We now live in a Condo type duplex and we are just getting used to this gated Strata living, where most ventures have to be approved by a Strata Council. Quite a change from our previous homes where we planted and changed whatever we felt like. All of our ventures have been approved so far, but I still regard the S.C. as the "Gestratao Council"

This area is infested by deer, so we are limited also by the "Fauna Council" as to what will survive their palates. We found that they will not touch marigolds, so the front flower beds received about 66 of these plants as well as couple of climbing vines, Black Eyed Susans, which proved immune last year. We also have to spray Bobet, a stinky liquid, every four or five days, on our Asiatic Lilies to make them "deer proof"

We have a miniature greenhouse which should provide protection to a couple of tomato plants. Last year we suspended a couple of hanging baskets of tomatoes from a nearby tree and lowered them for harvesting, all this to keep them out of reach of the wee "dears", I'm beginning to think of adding venison to our daily diets.

Also hear that the "older" sister is heading for warmer climes, Spain no less. Must be nice, and here we are stuck here until our new passports arrive later in the month. You and Joe have a great warm time in Espana Pat.

40

Thanks Fortycoats,

We are off soon to our favourite spot outside Canada. Nerja is a quiet resort, plenty of fresh air, nice scenery & people, sun guaranteed & a different restaurant for every night of the week, all excellent.

Admire you both for moving to an easier lifestyle as Joe is determined to "Stay Put", he is out mowing at the moment.

Good luck anyway, hope the weather improves for you soon, at least you are in for a long hot Summer, We have to take it as it comes ...or not.

Badgers & foxes are our wild friends, they only appear at evenings, plenty of pheasants, birds, rabbits, hares & cows & even a bull in the surrounding fields.

We are having changeable weather now, some sun, heavy showers & even hailstones, roll on holiday time.

Pat

Ann, Have a nice relaxing few days off wherever you go??

Pat, I think I wished you and Joe a good vacation in Spain and as you have been there before know your way around,so have fun in the sun.????

Forty Coats, We too moved into a Condo a year and a half ago though I would have preferred to stay in the house but Joy was having difficulty with three flights of stairs. Not sure I understand the name of the orginization that runs your Condo complex, with us it is the International Order of Foresters that do a pretty good job in making sure everything runs effeciently. We have a gym,workshop, library a communal dining room where meals are served for a very reasonable price on special occasions. eg Mother's Day also a dental clinic and a medical clinic.
We just had our passports renewed though have no plans to travel as yet as Joy still having difficulty walking after her hip replacement operation, but who knows whats round the corner.??? Mauri

Hi Pat,
Good to hear from you, so Joe won't move Eh? Well, consider his ability to putter around the place a blessing. I have found that if I relapse into a habit of just watching TV or playing on the Eye Pad, I get more aches and pains than when I stay physically active.

We would gladly trade our deers for your rabbits, badgers, etc., harmless little critters ! Deer will eat the heads off most flowers and tender green rose and lily shoots which they consider dessert.

You heading off for Nerja reminds me of a joke told by the late Jimmy Ferguson, of Irish Rover fame.

He told of a man from Norn Iron who refrained from going to Spain because of the language problem. Eventually his friends convinced him that he had nothing to worry about communicating with the natives, if he just spoke s..l..o..w..l..y !

So Yer Man, booked a ticket to Nerja, and packed his begs for his upcoming vacation. Having arrived in Nerja he immediately headed to his hotel and was ushered into pleasant accommodations where he showered and changed clothes. Then desperately wanting to try out his friend's communicating advise, he headed downstairs to the hotel bar.

Approaching the barman, he said slowly, " Could ...I ....have ....a ....beer ....please ? "

The barman said " Certainly Sir " and poured him a cold beer, which he took to a table.

Glowing in his latest linguistic prowess, Yer Man sipped his beer and thought, this is stickin out, and all these years I've missed out on this. Eventually he thought he would push his luck further and went up to the barman, saying ever so slowly " Could...I ..have...another ...one ...please" again the barman said certainly Sir and poured him another beer.

Feeling really confident now, Yer Man says slowly "What... part...of ...Spain ..do ...you ...come.. from ? "

The barman says, " I'm not from Spain, I'm from Norn Iron ", looking confused Yer Man says, " If...you ...are ...from.. Norn Iron... and... I ...am ...from ...Norn Iron, why.. are.. we... both ...speaking ... Spanish ? "

40

Hi Mauri,

Did not want to push it by including my reply to your inquiry along with Pat's.

The Strata development we are living in, consists of about 100 patio homes, all duplexes except a few two story units. The Developer came out here from Toronto and built a large house on his considerable acreage. He called it Blue Jay Place, after the baseball team. Then decided to build these 100 units on his land.

We moved here in 2007 after finding the half acre grounds of our Qualicum Beach home, becoming a little too much work and because of our vegetable garden. We found we were tied down in the summertime looking after the place.

There is no name except the Woodlands Strata Council given to our Strata governing body. We moved in, even before the Council was formed and enjoyed the benefits of so called Grandfather Clauses given to early residents. I mean like, installing a power awning over our rear patio without asking anyone. Now well meaning people make the rules of our community, not always to our liking.

I hope that when Joy recovers sufficiently, you will be able to continue your wanderlust and perhaps come visit Western Canada again, you will always be welcome in Blue Jay Place.

40

Hi Fortycoats, Sounds like a nice place. I wouldn't mind taking another trip out West always regret not being able to make it to Cowichan Bay the last time we were out in Vancouver, think I told you about catching a bug of some sort on our Alaskan cruise so we were laid up in Vancouver for a few days.

I liked the Spanish joke, I had a vacation in Spain with my late wife more years back than I care to remember. seven days in Spain and seven days in Morocco. While the Spanish seven days was Ok, the Morocco one was a total disaster, with bad food and service we were really glad to get on the ferry back to Spain.

Do you ever hear from John Dunlop?, seems quite a while since we have heard anything from him on the Forum. Anyway must sign off beautifull day outside and want to soak up some of the sun, temperature supposed to hit 25oC today and the same for the week-end.

Mauri

Hi Low Roader,

I don't look in to the Forum often enough,as a result I was not aware of the passing of your wife Betty. Belatedly, please accept sincere sympathies from Doreen and myself.
On a lighter side it was nice to see you had wonderful visits with Ann and Dominick, Liz and Pat. All in all everyone seemed delighted to see both you and your daughter.
If all goes well D.V. we will probably make our first visit to Norn Irn later in the fall, it has been over ten years since we were back,I hope it comes off.

Beano

beano,
i'm planning a trip there as well month of august, maybe run into each other again? tom

Hi Tom,

That would be great, it has been a long time, maybe 50yrs or more.

Best wishes old friend.

Beano

Fortycoats, Mauri and all. We had a nice couple of days away and the weather was good too. I was surprised at how many guests were staying in the hotel as I thought mid-week might be quieter. Mind you, almost all the guests were "oldies" like ourselves, probably having a few days of relaxation in beautiful surroundings. Our room overlooked the lake and we had a great view of all the bird-life in the surrounding trees. Very civilized. However, we're back home again. I'm a bit of a homebird as, even though it's good to get away, I'm always be glad to get home again.

Beano. I hope your trip home takes place as we would love to meet you both.

Beano,
Thank you for your kind thoughts. I appreciate them.
Ronnie

Tom, I only now see your posting about coming home in August. I look forward to meeting up with you as well. Wouldn't like you to think I was leaving you out.

ann
thank you for the kind words
actually apart from other places, we've booked into a lovely en suite room in a house in north circular road for couple of weeks, so can walk everywhere. looking forward to nostalgic rambles around. but will hire a car later for trips everywhere. theres a ''mccabe clan rally'' for mccabes over the world in ballyconnell county cavan so lots of things to do and places to go.
tom

Tom, North Circular Road is a lovely area and very handy to the town. I suppose you know this anyhow. Hope the weather is good for you. (and us too). Tom, are you related to the McCabes who lived in Huguenot Drive? There was a big family of them but I can't even remember one of their names now.

yes ann
north circular road is a lovely road. in the scouts we used to go there on bob a job times. i grew up in mckeown street next to batchelors walk so that area was our local area. it's so handy we got in there as it's local to everything as you say. walk everywhere, especially wallace park to my brothers in hillhall and in pond park bow street, castle gardens,
robins nest?? still going? looking forward to it all. ps. mccabes of huguenot? drive. don't know them but all mccabes are tied in somewhere. came from tyrone and armagh at turn of century when hilden mill and the lambeg bleaching green opened up. also looking forward to visiting tyrone and armagh. i have a family ancestory book so will be checking it all out

Tom, the Robin's Nest is still going strong. It may be under a different name; however, everyone still calls it The Robin's Nest. You may notice, as I did recently, that Piper's Hill has been re-named Market Lane. Who decides these things? Piper's hill has a history and should never have been changed. Stubbornly, I will still go on calling it Piper's Hill.

Ann, I can't resist reminding you that we exchanged comments about Pipers Hill years ago. It was always Market Lane, except to the locals.

ann,
glad to hear robins nest is still operating when i was home on leave from air force years ago i still knew a few people in mckeown street including an aunt so spent some time there, on the way back to spruce street via batchelors walk and wallace avenue, overcome with thirst? i always stopped there for a pint or two to refresh? so lovely memories of it.
ps we always called the lane beside menarys? it pipers hill as well

Dabbler, I, too, remember our conversation about Piper's Hill. At the time I had noticed the sign 'Pipers Hill' and had commented that without an apostrophe we wouldn't know if it was singular or plural. (referring to one piper or several). To me that sort of thing is important but that's just me. However, the place to which the sign referred was called Pipers Hill, not Market Lane.

Since that day, which was only a few months ago, the sign has been changed to Market Lane.

Sorry to differ Ann, but Market Lane was the plaque on the wall seventy years ago. Very top, same side as the barbers where I got my first of many haircuts.

I am no expert on street signs but I can say with certainty that the road/ passageway down the side of Menary's in Lisburn was always known as Pipers Hill in my youth.
I have no idea why or where the name came from, I just assumed that was the proper name.

Dabbler, the latest news about Market Lane/Pipers Hill. Dominic was in town this morning and when he came back he told me that he had a look at the sign. We are both right. At a high level, at the top of the hill, the sign says "The Pipers Hill". At a lower level, the sign states "Market Lane". Take your pick.