Friday night Tango instruction, and we are progressing well. One of the instructors (Donna) told us that she hated to interupt us while dancing because we look so romantic. I guess is it the way we gaze lovingly into each others eyes. We have really enjoyed learning the Tango and I suspect that we will move on to another type of dancing. Perhaps next year after completing another session of Tango.

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We have more time for socialising in our new life here in Canada. Last week at work an email came out offering tickets to the YMCA 150th birthday bash. My company had brought a table and they offered the tickets to first come first served. I replied and received two tickets. Last night was the celebration and it was quite a night with speeches, dancers and an announcement that the government has sold the Albert Street School site to the 'Y' for $1. In the coming year they will build a new facility on the 6.5 acre site. Another great project for Fredericton. Plus we had entertainment from the Downtown Blues Band an excellent local band. Everytime we are exposed to some new event here I am always amazed at the amount of talent for a city of 50-60,000.

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When we arrived home we found that Kathryn had brought a Nintendo Wii game platform, with her tax refund money (I'll write another entry blog on tax filing). So we ended up spending the next hour boxing, playing tennis, golf, baseball and ten pin bowling! The possibilities of the Wii for increasing fitness is amazing. A session can give you a good work out with lots of motion. I have never been a great fan of computer games but this Wii has possibilities. I shall restart my keep (well get) fit regime.

It has been an overwhelmingly busy week! I am almost thankful it is over. (Hate wishing my life away).

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During the drive home I noticed that we have swapped seasons. The leaves are coming out, and my windscreen (windshield for non brits) is now splattered with bugs, and this year they seem to have put some weight on! Sometimes when you drive by a lake you go through a cloud of bugs and it sounds like rain as this miriad of bugs hit the windscreen... eeeehhh

There are many seasons in Canada; Winter followed by roadworks, Spring followed by river flood. It seems there are two windscreen seasons; Winter frost scraping season and summer bug gut scraping season! On that graphic image I will leave you.

Thursday saw a successful Annual General Meeting for thePMI of New Brunswick. The evening went better than I planned. We have been organizing this for the last month and it was a great success.  

I took friday off and we drove down (or across) toSaint John and browsed the shopping centre. We got to ride the escalators in New Brunswick Square Shopping Centre!(such a thrill  Gemma was right we are much more easily pleased than before) . We don't have any escalators in Fredericton

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Friday afternoon we drove to the Chickadee Lodge where Christine is having a yardsale because they are moving to Calgary Alberta. Julie and Gemma picked out 11 DVD's to add to our library. I decided the whole family should go  fishing this year and picked up three fishing rods with reels. Julie picked out a Chinese dinner set of rice bowels, spoons, and serving dishes, a rug, dressing gown and fleece blanket. Total for the lot $60!  (I am not sure that Julie is convinced about fishing)

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On the drive home Hawkeyed Jules spotted our first Porcupine siting ever. She has been spotting all the wildlife this year. I knew the Green Planet Dvd series was educational and Jules (Hawkeye) Whelbourn is living proof. Did you know that Porcupine's live in trees?  Also they eat sheds!

Life is good!

The sun is out, and we have hit 20c for several days on the trot. Our snowdrops and crocuses are all fading. But we now have one daffodil and three tulips actually in flower! It is true I swear it.

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Everything is growing at an amazing rate, and soon I will be mowing the grass. I fetched the Lawn Mower out of the shed and de-winterised it. Which means I cleaned the one spark plug and charged the battery... de-winterising sounds like so much more work . I will take the blade to be sharpened this weekend in preparation for a summer of mowing.

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I took Julie to Racines for lunch today, as I was working from home this afternoon.

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True luxury is, sitting on the deck with your laptop computer linked to the internet via a wireless connection,  and sipping an ice cold beer,  while sending emails whizzing around getting your work done.

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Racines is one of my favourite restaurants in Fredericton, small friendly and high quality food and service. They stop taking people in at 9pm and they close when you leave!

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Oh well must dash, time for dinner  Julie has made some real BBQ ribs (not those brought ready packaged), potato wedges and the bonus "British Heinz Baked Beans"!

A few more photos from the flooded Fredericton.

Officers Square, under water.	The Road is now part of the river
	Which way to the river bank walk?

The waters are now receding and the clear up begins. We are high on a hill so not affected by the flooding but a friend of mine was evacuated from his house and it will need extensive renovations.

Other than thinking about the flood we have had a pretty good weekend.

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On Saturday we visited the Mactaquac Beaver Trail for the first time without snow shoes and we saw our first Beaver this year, Julie spotted it, and the Bald Eagle flying over our back garden. She is becoming a regular hawkeye. While walking a Jack Rabbit hopped across the path and sat and looked at us for a couple of minutes before hopping into the woods. You can tell the animals are on a reserve because they have little fear of humans.

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Sunday saw us invite some newbies to NB from the UK for Sunday lunch with Ceri and her kids. The couple come from Tamworth with their two young kids and are using the Provincial Nominee Route to come to New Brunswick, they are expecting to land next February or March (Brrrr not a time I would choose to land). 

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Tonight we stayed in, and watched Dexter. This is one of the strangest series I have ever watched. It is very addictive and the star character is forensic blood splatter expert and a serial killer! Series one has just finished and Series two is scheduled to start soon. If you get chance to get hold of a copy watch it. I am sure you will find it fascinating viewing.

It's May (obviously) and Mum Mooses everywhere are doing the sensible thing and telling Teenage Mooses to move out. .

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Last night as Jules and I were driving to Home Depot for some pink stuff (Julie's word for insulation / soundproofing rockwool) she spotted a teenage Moose wandering around in a local garden.

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These things are huge (tall) they weigh about 600Kg (1200 pounds or for the Brits a shade under 86 Stone). They stand over 6 feet tall and most of that is legs. They have big ears and you can see why they earned the name Swamp Donkey. The photo below shows their general appearance but you dont really get the size.

For more photos follow this link to Mooseworld Slideshow.

Anyway if you meet one on the roadside be careful. They can trot at about 30mph and anything that weighs nearly 87 Stone, and is trotting at 30 miles per hour isn't going to stop quickly! If you collide with one duck behind the dashboard because their legs are so long they come over the bonnet and in through the windscreen. 1200 pounds of Moose coming through the windscreen is pretty dicey to say the least.

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Be safe and drive slowly this "Kick out the Teenage Moose" Month. You have to wonder if Mum Mooses have the right idea

Well all that melting snow has been assisted by some rain high up in the Saint John River basin. This has delivered the highest water levels in the Saint John river since 1973 (so far).

Fall 2007 showing all the islands with the church in the foreground	May 1st Flood 2008 Flood waters reached 8.7m - Flood Alert is given when the river is 6.4m about normal.
I hope they moved the lawn mower out first !	Locals with a sense of humour

Seems this blog is creating alot of interest from potential emigrators (if there is such a word). I now have about 18 resumes. Plus a flurry of people who are arriving to carryout their reccie visits of Fredericton and other spots.

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Today the Bradbury family arrive on their reccie visit. On the May 6th we have two families arriving the Warren's the Hawkin's and Kathy and James + family are arriving in May too. Finally on the July 22nd the Beeston's arrive!

If you guys all land in Fredericton , we will almost double the number of children and young people in the Newcomers club!

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If any more of you readers are planning a visit let me know and I am happy to help with anything you need, meet ups, car hire, etc...  and no I don't want any money,  I do it because we need more people  and I enjoy helping people.

Just a quick post today.

Someone brought it to my attention that Fredericton is number three on the list of best places to live in Canada. Click here for the list

 Moncton is number six as well so NB must be high up the list.

I did notice that there was some sort of record of whether you have a casino or not. I am not sure if that is positive or negative.

Have a good day

Friday night Tango lesson is where this entry starts. John was teaching is some technical points on 'connection' and using our Ying and Yang A bit artsy for me. But Julie and I 'connected' and became one with the Tango! We were moving well and people were asking us (the relative beginners) to show them the moves we were doing! (Of course rather than admiration perhaps they couldn't believe what we were doing to the Tango ). So a good start to the weekend with us feeling praised..

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Saturday morning saw a beautiful blue sky with lots of sunshine and we set out for the Outdoor Show at the Harvey Community Recreation Center (their spelling). After living here nearly three years Gemma thinks we are more easily pleased. Because we enjoyed browsing the show and met a couple of people we know. Christine from the Chickadee Lodge and Jessie from Fur 'n Things (Julie met her at the Christmas Craft Fair) so lots of chatting and it was good to see people we know. Who knows perhaps Gemma is right and we are more easily pleased these days. Here are a couple of links to some exhibitors.

• Muskie Fishing (Pike to UK Fisherman)
• Long Lake Adventures (Hunting and Fishing)
• NB Wildlife Federation (check out their Becoming an Outdoors Woman Workshop, I think this would be really interesting)

But we enjoyed it anyway

See photos below.

Julie standing by a beautiful cedar wood canoe handmade by the students of Nackawic High School.

A view down the aisle at the different booths. Notice the collection of trophies on the wall. This community is very much into hunting and fishing as a recreation.

Spring is moving along at a pace now it is here. The last week have been beautiful with only one grey day with a little rain. The sump pump has ended its role of keeping the basement from flooding, the snow has nearly all gone, we have crocus and snow drops out and the daffodils and tulips are coming up. To show the difference in 3 weeks see before and after photos below.

April 6th 2008	April 24th 2008

Last night was our last saturday of the month Pub Night at the Lunar Rogue and we had a good turnout with potentially two new members! Julie and I left about 11:30pm and it was still going strong. We found out the Carolyn is expecting a baby - Ian (Carolyn's husband) swears this has to be the last!

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A beautiful Sunday morning here and today is "fix up the basement" day in preparation for our summer visitors. I am installing some electrical sockets so if there are no more entries on this blog you will know I was toasted!

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Gemma just announced how shocked she was to discover the Activia yoghurt contains 14gms of sugar in every pot, and she was going to spend the next hour on the exercise machine! The moral of the story is "don't read the labels"

The title is a saying used by one of my Canadian friends "Jeff". It always conjures up images of someone working furiously. Hold that image in your mind and that is how busy I have been this week.

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My company wins work in several ways and one it to respond to Request For Proposals (RFP's) from government departments or large organizations. They always seem to sit on and RFP for a couple of weeks (or more) while they decide if we should bid or not. Then they say yes and a team is allocated to respond and often we have only a week or two to deliver a two to three hundred page response complete with estimates and detailed plans. The work is normally hectic and calls for herioc efforts to deliver on time. Well this week I have been splitting my time between two RFP response teams!

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Besides my busy work life we have been watching Spring working it's magic on the snow banks. We have just a little snow left on the back garden. It is hard to think of the amount we had on April 6th and now we have our deck back and we have put out the table and chairs (retrieved from their winter storage in the garden shed). We have even sat out and eaten lunch. Monday night saw our first campfire of the year. We lit a fire in our fire pit and sat around talking until about 10pm. Ah summer is coming.

Today it is raining and grey, I like these days because they are rare and they are restful. Friday and Saturday are forecast wall to wall sunshine at 13c.

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Must dash I have some more paper to hang before the weekend.

Well a pretty busy week has passed by, let me think of the news to tell you all.

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Gemma has recovered from the Dreaded Lurgy, (flu to normal people). There has been a mini epidemic of Flu in New Brunswick and (touch wood) I have completely avoided getting it. This is very unusual for me, I am normally very suspectible to flu bug. This last season I didn't get a flu shot and the only thing I am doing differently is taking Vitamin D (1000 iu) daily.

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Today has been busier than the working week. We started fixing up another basement room in preparation for summer visitors, and I filled in the Bear Trap (otherwise known as the hole over the Septic Tank entrance). Yes the ground had defrosted enough for me to shovel the soil back into the hole .

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I am being bid as the Project Manager on a two year Project in Fredericton for a Cancer Wait Time Information System for New Brunswick.  I hope we win, it will mean two years working in Fredericton and in my past I worked on Cancer detection so I have plenty of experience with Radiologists and Medical Imaging etc.

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The sump pump has been going every three minutes for a week now and no sign of flooding in the basement, just a little dampness in the cold room. The weather forecast is looking good for the coming week with little sign of rain.

The snow is starting to melt rapidly and that means more water in the ground (obviously).  Signs of Spring starting to show through at last. We have some snowdrops showing in part of a flowerbed.  

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We live on top of a hill, but underneath ground is a pan of limestone (or some such rock) which holds the water and that means the water level creeps up under the house.  The concrete floor has cracks in and the water seeps through, giving you a flooded basement. To try and stop this the builder fits a drainage ring around the house and there is an outflow pipe into a ditch at the end of the property. But when the ground is waterlogged even that cannot take the water away fast enough.

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To stop the basement flooding there is a Sump Pump fitted in a hole cut in the concrete floor. It starts pumping water as soon as it seeps through the ground into the small bucket sized pit (sump). We have a pedestal type (wow now you are impressed I can tell)

Yesterday our pump started up and it is currently runing every three minutes (24 hours a day), draining the sump! 

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Now I am praying it doesn't breakdown because I don't have a back up pump (yet). I feel a trip to Canadian Tire coming on (for those of you who don't know that is my favourite store, what they don't sell isn't worth buying).

Tonight I attended a talk on globalisation and the effects on the west (mainly from a North American view point).

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It was primarily a discussion on the different drivers communication, culture and context in working with companies in India and China. Also challenging us as to why we cannot ignore what is happening. It was enlightening to say the least. I am sure for some in the audience it was a little scary. New Brunswick isn't the most competitive place in the world.

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At the end of the talk Ian Cavanagh (the presenter) connected to youtube.com and showed us this short video called ShiftHappens ....."OH MY GOD", food for thought, scary and exciting at the same time, of course in the midst of difficulties you will find opportunities if you look hard enough. By our very nature the Expat community is well placed to take advantage of some of the opportunities.

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So watch the video and as it says pass it on!

Last November (the 28th to be precise) I had an adventure with Septic Tank emptying. (see Septic Tank Man entry).

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Anyway to summarise it for those who cannot be bothered to check my historical blog entries. I dug up a heck of a hole in the lawn trying to find the septic tank cover, and as soon as the guy emptied the septic tank, temperatures dropped suddenly to -12c and the ground froze. I couldn't shovel the earth back into the hole. Hence it became known as the Bear Trap. I did put in some bags of mulch to protect any innocent Bears who happen to be walking around.

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Well the long and short of this entry is that today the Bear Trap is back in sight! I guess the heat from our Septic has helped it thaw quicker than all the ground around. See photo below!

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If you look really close at the flower bed on the left hand side you can see some bulbs coming up! To help those of you with eyesight issues I thought I would blow up the picture for you see below.

One final photo looking across the deck to show the level of Snow we have had and still have! There is alot of water sitting on the grass so I am anticipating some flooding in the basement this spring

We have heard the Grackles (a sort of Magpie), seen some Robins and the Crows are waking Kathryn up in the morning with the sounds of their staking a claim on territory.

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It will soon be time to sit out on the back deck, catch some sunrays to get my legs tanned from the milk bottle white they have become after all winter enclosed in trousers. Oh yes I forgot and enjoy the Mosquitos . Hmmm  where did I put my chemical warfare kit for ridding us of Mosquitos, blackfly, deerfly and no-see-ums?

Julie and I have been married 26 years today!   it seems such a long time when you say it, but funnily enough it doesn't seem that long when you live it.

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We still love each other (I think ) and the Tango instructor told us she loves to watch us Tango because we are so in tune, and intense

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Everything in those 26 years hasn't always been "roses around the door", but the trick is to work through the problems and stick together.  Here are some of my tips for making your marriage/partnership last.

• Communication is the answer to most problems, keep talking and trying not to take each other for granted.
• Compromise on things, don't hold out for your way all of the time. Remember  give and take is needed.
• Be Considerate of how the other person is feeling.
• Control any temper flares, once something is said it cannot be unsaid. Even though you may not mean it for real, we often throw words our as a verbal bricks in an argument just to score points.  Resist this destructive behaviour as much as you can. Become concious of it happening.
• Care about each other. Try to consider your partner's fears / dislikes and don't throw them into situations without a support net.

OK thats enough of my waffling, I am starting to sound like some sort of relationship person.  Everyone knows I am a thick skinned macho man.

Just a photo I promised from the Fredericton Newcomers club visit to Kings Landing and their Sugar Bush Event (Maple Syrup making for non Canadians).

Our newest members are on the far left Sinead and Stuart and if you look down you can just make out their young son Alex.  They arrived on Wednesday, Sinead started work on Friday   Stuart came to our Lunar Rogue pub night on Saturday, and they came as a family to the Sugar Bush event  I think Stuart had the best deal

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If you want a list of names of the guilty pictured here (and of the photographer) then ask me in a comment

After the Easter social whirl, not much happened this week, we got up, went to school/work and came home, watched TV (Robbie Coltrane in Cracker) and ate dinner. Saturday was pub night with a big turnout and we met Stuart who arrived with his wife Sinead and baby son Alexander from Northern Ireland on Wednesday. Today was Sugarbush day at Kings Landing and there was a large Newcomers club turnout (photo to follow).

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I am not sure if I told you this but Kathryn has a new job on the Deli counter at Sobey's (similar to Sainsbury's for those of you not resident in Canada). She is making some friends and starting to go out. At last!

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We were lucky that a huge storm passed up the coast and hit Newfoundland with 50+cm and another one came up and delivered another 20cm! We still have all the snow, the weather forecasters are predicting the start of the thaw next week. The first week of April may see our daytime high climb to the dizzy heights of +9c

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Tango'ed Friday night and tonight, we learned to Molinette!

To finish I want to make you all smile for the start of the week, so here is the Expat song "Where ever I lay my hat thats my home" to mime. It is hilarious so click on and enjoy

Yesterday Ceri held the Newcomers Easter Egg hunt at her house (about 2km from us).

A whole pack of Newcomers came with their children. Including us - Kat and Gemma have babysat for many, so the kids seem to love them. We were the first to arrive at 2pm, the egg hunt went well, and no I didn't run around trying to steal easter eggs of kids. I waited until they came within easy reach .

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Then Jason(Ceri's husband) and I discovered that easter cake and chocolate goes well with Chianti.  

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The afternoon comprised of the adults chatting about anything and everything, the kids were dressing up (girls), playing computer games, running around like headless chickens and generally having fun. Sometimes it seems as if we have known each other for years. Well to cut a long story short, pizza was ordered, Jason insisted on opening another bottle (Shiraz), which goes well with pepperoni pizza and it was dutifully emptied, and then we played sequence until 11pm ......  (exhausted look)

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Today we have been invited to Wendy's house for Turkey dinner. Ceri/Jason and their kids will be there too so another social get together of about 12people. We will be taking the turntable and records, apparently Wendy has a box full as well, so I predict an afternoon of reliving our youth. (now where did I put my flares and platform shoes?).

Tomorrow is a cross country skiing day to shed some of the lbs added binging on Chianti and chocolate.

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Next weekend we are busy with Saturday evening is Lunar Rogue pub night and Sunday we will be at Kings Landing for Brunch and Sugar Bush maple syrup event.

Add all that to our Thursday Pool and Pizza Night at Dooley's and you can see the social life of an expat is probably busier than our workdays. Now where did I put my Pink Gin ?

Winter goes on and on and on and .... In the week Newfoundland had a huge snowstorm/blizzard with over 50cms of snow. My friend told me he had a 7 foot snow drift in his driveway  and we saw pictures on TV of people opening their doors and the snow going up to the top of the doorway! . But I still wouldnt change it for anywhere else.

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This morning it is snowing and blowing - pretty powder snow on top of the 10cm of ice pellets from yesterday and  the seven hours of freezing rain, another "Snow Day" for Gemma.  Because there have been so many "snow days" this year they have cancelled some of the teacher training days, and reset them, back to school days. Ah how sad  

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Some video footage with commentary by some handsome devil,  taken on the 16th March

• Back of the house
• Front of the house
• Street view

We have forecast showing blowing snow today with windchill of -15c and much the same for tomorrow and easing up on Sunday and a beautiful Monday -2c and sunny. I am taking Monday off to extend the weekend, so Skiing will be on Monday this weekend.

Short week at work this week as we have Good Friday (today) off. I am very busy at work and still enjoying it. Sunday night we watched England play well for the first time in the Six Nations tournament. AT LAST.

Our social life is good, Tango on Monday, were we are continued to be taught even more moves! How many steps can a dance have!! Last night we played pool at Dooley's on Prospect Street with the Newcomers club and then on to Pizza Delight for a group meal. I think we all had a good time. I think we spent about $80 for the four of us, for the whole evening.

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Because of the windchill and blowing snow we have declared today  a "family day", We will spend it together, learning how to play Texas holdem poker, watching a video or two and ... Damn the snow plough has just come past, and built a snow wall at the end of the drive .... oh well we can learn to play poker later, out with the shovels for some soul building exercise. I hope you all have a great Easter, we have been invited to Wendy's for dinner. 

When I was 40 I seemed to hit a wall of mid life crisis. I did not want to celebrate being 40 at all. I sat and and sulked! Mainly I was thinking "is this it?, is this all I have achieved in 40 years?" very depressing time for all around me too I am sure.

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Well that was then, and I feel rather foolish about those thoughts. Today I'm 50 and I don't feel like that at all. I am happy with my life.  I have a beautiful wife who I am still in love with (and who loves me .... I think) and two great daughters who have grown in fine young women. I am living somewhere were I feel comfortable, I enjoy my job and I have a new lease of ambition. I love the house and the things we can do throughout all the seasons, and what's more I have the time to do them! Something that always seemed in short supply in the UK. Perhaps I make more of an effort to find time than I did before, who knows.

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I received some nice gifts for reaching half a century, shirts, pyjamas (well I have reached that age I suppose), DVD, new CD of Blues music (something I have discovered while in Canada), and some smellies to help me smell nice. Julie also popped in a bottle of 10 year malt whisky, 'Macallan Fine Oak', which is smooth as silk.  I know because I had some with my boiled egg at breakfast. Perhaps that could be a new marketing idea "Macallan's Fine Oak Breakfast Whisky".

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The temperature today is -4c we still have a ton of snow and the sun is shining and we have a beautiful blue sky. After lunch we are taking a walk around O'dell park.

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I have taken some more video around the outside of the house to record this day for posterity. I may post them tonight.

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PS thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes! I am always amazed at how people connect over the internet and seem to becomelike old friends without even meeting each other. 

I look forward to meeting the Beasties and Sinurt and her family when they land in Fredericton this year!

Weather revision, forecast snowfall has reduced from 50cm down to 5-10cm phew!

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But that means I will still be shovelling. I heard on the radio this afternoon that northern New Brunswick have had record snowfalls and it is the most in living memory. One poor lady was describing how it feels like she is living in an igloo because her husband cleared the snow off the roof and they have little tunnels to let light into the down stairs windows.

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Our basement windows are blocked out by the snow too.  I think we have about 100+cm of compressed snow and upto 200cm on the snow banks. Signs of spring are sparse, although I have seen two crows building a nest.