The Royal Visit

I finally had the honour and privilege of meeting renowned #fridayflasher Cathy Olliffe Webster and her much publicized hubby Dave. I noted to him that there are probably more photos of him on the Internet than anyone else in the world, aside from Barack Obama. He disagreed, insisting that Lindsay Lohan and David Hasselhoff had more face-time than he. I had to concede the point.

I booked the day off Friday and drove them in a stretch limo my Dodge Caravan to the more popular places in the St. John's area: Cape Spear, Petty Harbour, Bay Bulls, Portugal Cove and Laurita Miller's place (yes, that Laurita Miller of Brain Droppings fame). For the 1st of October it was damn hot and humid here and my van was very toasty. And the A/C wasn't working. I normally would have driven about town wearing only my fez and a thong, but since it was my first time meeting the Websters I didn't want to give them a bad impression of Newfoundlanders. My fashion decorum was rewarded as Cathy & Dave presented Laurita and myself each with some lovely Lindgren pottery: A bowl and plate that were replicas of part of the dinnerware used at the G8 summit at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville this past summer. That was very sweet of them, V and I really love the pieces.

That evening, the Websters and Laurita (thanks, Laurita, for bringing along the spiced, red wine and the loaf of soda bread...they were great!) came to our place for a BBQ to help celebrate Cathy and Dave's wedding that had taken place six days earlier. We also invited Charles and Camilla but they graciously declined because of another engagement in India. Dinner was followed by cheesecake and writing gossip (wouldn't you #fridayflash folks like to have been a bug on the wall for that conversation).

For me, the cheesecake is always the highlight of any civilized gathering (sorry Cathy & Dave...you're nice folks 'n all, but you don't outrank the chocolate cheesecake with amaretto). I am only allowed the delicacy once a year, on my birthday, as it's loaded with stuff that's bad for me and it costs so f&%$ing much to make. This one was pretty much same as the cheesecake we usually take to the annual cheesecake party. For those really obsessed with cheesecake, you can link to that blog post here. Sometimes I fantasize about cheesecake...a darkened room, soft music, candles and a plastic sheet on the bed with me alone frolicking with my favourite cheesecake...er, sorry, digressed there for a moment. Did I really say that? Apologies, only meant to think it.

*Coughs*

But enough about me. The highlight of the weekend was the time spent with Cathy, Dave and Laurita on Friday. It was fantastic and I'll remember it for a long time. I'll post a few photos below, but you can link to a much better account of the day, and nicer photos, at Cathy's blog Life on the Muskoka River.

On a side note. I'm sure that at least one reader will be interested to know the outcome of the recent accidental husband-bear shooting incident court case that has been ongoing here in Newfoundland for almost three weeks now. The judge passed a verdict of 'not guilty' on the charge of criminal negligence causing death in the 2006 shooting of the Pennsylvania man. Justice LeBlanc noted that the Crown did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. You can link to the full CBC article here.

Cathy Webster at Cape Spear. Looking up the hillside, wondering why there are two light houses...


Dave returning from taking photos near water's edge (I caught Cathy glancing over their life insurance policy...specifically the 'rogue wave, sweeping loved-one to sea' clause).

No. Cathy hasn't had too much to drink. She is trying to line up Dave for a photo with a ship beyond so that it appears that it's sitting on his head. Nice.

Dave, just fussing lovingly with Cathy's hair. In the top right corner you can just make out 'the narrows'...the entrance to St. John's harbour.

Laurita, Cathy and myself. This is my favourite picture. I have my arms about two lovely women, so I can't explain why I'm not smiling. Perhaps I was thinking about cheesecake...

Bastketball & Court

Last night was the first evening of basketball with the geezers. Yes, the insanity has begun again. Surprisingly there were no injuries. Knock on wood. We had a number of young military guys playing tonight (in order to rent the gym at the base we have to allow members of the forces to play if they wish). They force us to play at a faster speed, which I suppose is good. Then again, it's all fun and games until someone slips a disc or has a massive coronary right there on the court.

The geezer on the left is pretty much reflective of the crowd I play ball with. I may look a bit like them, but I'm just a babe when it comes to age. The military aside, I think that I'm second youngest at nearly 48 years old. It's sad, I shouldn't hurt so much at my age.

I took one ibuprofen before the game (preemptive strike) and 2 more after my shower later on. Between the pills and the single malt I'm almost not feeling any pain at all. Of course I exaggerate...it was beer, not scotch.

A criminal trial started yesterday in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in Grand Falls-Windsor. The case may hold interest to both Canadians and Americans as it involves a woman from Pennsylvania charged with criminal negligence in the shooting death of her husband four years ago today in a popular hunting area in central Newfoundland. In the dim light after sunset, she thought her approaching husband was a black bear and shot him.

The case had caught our attention at the time as we had only been living here for two weeks. The RCMP had investigated and allowed the woman to return home but the man's father pressed for charges to be laid and she was extradited here last May to await her court date. There has been some suspicion about the case as the woman apparently received a hefty life insurance payout after the fact.

The testimony yesterday was mainly from the guide who took them hunting. It sounds like many rules were broken, such as hunting after sunset and the hunters not wearing orange blazing to make them more identifiable, and perhaps the guide is a bit accountable here as well. For those wanting to follow along, there is decent reporting coming from CBC and the local Telegram newspaper out of St. John's.

(Apologies for the formatting here...I have more paragraphs on my screen when looking at the story, but when I hit 'publish' blogger lumps them together for some reason. $%&*ing technology...or maybe it's just operator error!)