Apples, Bees, Strawberries & Golf

It's starting to feel like fall. The weather is perfect and the leaves will soon be turning. Monday was labor day and we decided to visit a local orchard just a few minutes from our house. We just missed raspberry season but there were some varieties of apples for picking and the pears are just ripening. We picked a few of those but they'll need to sit for a few days to fully ripen. Who would have thought we would have bees to write about. I mean Jess and Glenn are the bee people. Well they aren't our bees. This little hive is inside the store at the orchard. They have one comb inside an enclosure which has clear Plexiglas sides. A clear pipe leads to the exterior wall of the store so the bees can come and go as they please. There were a lot of them heading in both directions. There were plenty of bees in there and it did seem a little cramped, but perhaps bees like it that way. There's a jar of liquid attached to the hive which I thought might be some sort of sugar water. Jess or Glenn, you'll probably know.
It just so happens that Monday was also my birthday and this is the fabulous birthday pavlova that Jen made. It was her first time making pavlova and it turned out great. I've never had a birthday pavlova before but I have to say it's a good idea. Since the weather was so nice, we headed to the driving range down the road. This range is a little obscure. They have a red pickup truck for you to hit golf balls at. While we were there, the guy working there decided to head out and pick up some balls. Normally I would expect him to use a vehicle that kind of looks like a golf cart with metal cages on all sides for protection. Not this guy though. He was out in his old Buick pushing the ball collecting machine around. He even had the drivers side window down as he went back and forth. Try as I might, I didn't manage to hit him though. However, I did notice someone must have had a direct hit to his windshield at some point. It had a very nasty crack in it. Here's how not to play golf.

Basement Shelving

So we really do need to get caught up on this blogging thing. There's a whole bunch of things that we've been meaning to put on here but somehow we just never get around to it.
Anyway, here's a quick update on one of the recent house projects. I think the last one was adding a door to the basement. Our basement was getting pretty unruly with boxes piled up all over the place. We decided that the best course of action would be to build a shelving system that would accommodate about 40 boxes and then organize those boxes so that we can find everything easily. Well the shelves got built but the box organization still needs to happen. At least they're on the shelves. Sophie wasn't helping much but gave us some moral support. Hold on to your hats - it's another fast build.

Edinburgh - 8 Years Later

How do you know when you're in a Scottish airport? Well, when we were standing at the luggage carousel waiting on our bags I counted at least six sets of golf clubs that were on our flight alone. Not surprising since everyone wants to come here and play the old course at St.Andrews. I think you need to book your tee time at least a year in advance.

It's great to be back in Edinburgh and the place hasn't changed a bit. It's been 8 years since we lived here. I thought that I'd feel like a tourist but when you know every street, shop, pub, nook and cranny it's difficult not to feel like a local. I probably know Edinburgh better than anywhere else I've lived and as soon as we stepped onto the streets it was like we never left. One thing that we had both forgotten about is the smell. I don't mean that in a negative way. Edinburgh has a very distinctive smell. There's a huge brewery in the city centre (McEwans) and the smell of the hops fills the air. Generally it's in the morning when it is most noticeable. We love the smell and it brings back just as many memories as anything else.
Sunday was spent walking around and meeting up with my old flatmate, and Jen's childhood buddy, Jayne. We had a nice pub lunch and some good chatter. We'll be meeting up again before we leave. Today (Monday) we plan to visit some of the key tourist attractions. Here's to enjoying some good Scottish food, drink and entertainment over the next few days.

Annual Plainville GE 5K Road Race

Almost 2000 people turned out for this run to benefit the Petit Family Foundation. It was our first attempt at running a 5K. In fact we hadn't planned on taking part because we've only started running a couple of weeks ago and figured that we might be pushing it to run 5K so soon, especially in this hot weather we've been having. As expected it was sunny and hot.We took it at a reasonable pace and we were both pleased with our times:

Rodney - 31:41 (10:11 Pace)
Jenny - 37:22 (12:01 pace)

The race was a very well organized event with plenty of free water and food to keep all the competitors hydrated and fueled up. I encourage you to add this race to your calendar for next year.

This terrible tragedy happened in our neighborhood and this very worthy charity has grown to carry on the charitable efforts of the family members that were lost.

Find out about the foundation here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYsWZlxK98I

A news story on the tragedy can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXLFm7LWIhw

Cheshire Fireworks Extravaganza

It turns out that Cheshire doesn't have its own fireworks display. A good thing really because there are better things for our tax dollars to be spent on. I think it costs about $100,000 for one of those big shows. Anyway, we decided to buy some much cheaper, but not any less impressive, fireworks from one of those temporary fireworks stores that are only open for a week before July 4th. Money well spent and now you all get to see it too.