Burns Street Un-packing/Dirty Laundry Blues: Saturday, December 12th!

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons. -James Thurber, writer and cartoonist (8 Dec 1894-1961)

Dearest Penelopé and Madcap! Thanks for the lovely, lovely card, My Darling! Our first of the season. Literally, just back from India. Landed in Vancouver on Thursday. Chloë collected us at YVR and we spent the night with Elaine/Ted. Drove to Penticton on Friday morning, roads terrific in spite of quite a bit of snow, of late, over passes and in Manning Park. Louise and Henryk, couple who house-sat, just left for Arizona, two days of driving, 2,000 km. Henryk did a wonderful job of installing in-house vacuum and more shelving in garage so we are well set for Christmas. Chloë will fly up on December 23rd so we are looking forward to spending a quiet family Xmas with just the three of us, drinking rum & eggnog/wine in front of fire in our pajamas! Hope to have an Open House on Boxing Day. Happy Christmas from Lady Darjeeling to you both and all the family. [Thought of you folk on plane from Delhi to Frankfurt as I watched a documentary on Amy Winehouse. As you may well know she was from North London, Finchley Park, at some point, I believe, just around the corner form you.] Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!

Back in the saddle again! First ride since arriving home yesterday. Had to give my Trek a pretty good scrub after driving the Hope-Princeton yesterday. Back of car and bike/bike rack were covered in a thin coating of mud, picked up from the slush and sand we drove over, mainly as we made our way through Manning Park. After cleaning and oiling, suited up around 1:30 pm and headed out. Slight drizzle but I wasn't worried about that. However, I soon discovered that the bitterly cold wind out of the SSE at 26 kp/h made the going quite uncomfortable. I had hoped to log 51 km but by the time I had reached close to 28 km I knew it would be silly to try for that distance. As well, with the cloud cover, it starts to get pretty dark by 4:00 pm. I had taken two LED lamps but given the slow going I knew I would be chilled to the bone, long before that and with my Lobsters, worn against the cold, I thought that I probably wouldn't be able to turn the lamps on as I could feel my hands starting to become icicles by 3:00 pm. Happy to be out and enjoying the cold, crisp air, rinsing out my India lungs. Good start after not having ridden since November 7th! Onward!! Fight!!! Stats for the ride:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/981295466#.Vmy2uzZtLi4.email

David Kessler Glad to know you are back safely! Canada looks so great right now from our miserable selfish "Trump and Co." perspective. I find myself almost in tears watching photos of Trudeau welcoming refugees. An island of sanity in an insane horrible cruel world. Cycle away! Chloe Alexis Dunn David come live in Canada 🇨🇦

David Kessler Our job is to turn things around down here-just like you did!

Chloe Alexis Dunn Fair enough, and I know you two can!!!
Hi Cactus! Thanks for welcome wishes. Had hoped to go for another ride today but ended up exercising using the new in-house vacuum Henryk installed while we were gallivanting in Inja! Lady Darjeeling came home this afternoon with a live Blue Spruce, for our Christmas tree. We plan to plant it in the front yard when time is right, to start the "greening" of Burns Street. 

At any rate, had plenty of needles in the back of the car to practice upon. System, (Have a separate hose and accessori for garage.), works like a charm so we'll have the cleanest garage on the block! The tree is in the garage until Lady Mary finds the decorations. Note Trek and vacuum hose. Still need more shelving so I'm hoping Dusty will help me design next phase when he and Rosita are here from mid-Jan to mid-Feb. Cheers to you and Donna Florida! 

Sara Jane McGillivray Welcome home, Corinne and Pat! Patrick James Dunn Hi Wonder Woman! Thanks for the welcome back wishes! Much to tell but will have to wait until we are face-to-face. As I mentioned to my "new friend", Dermot, I trust we'll see you two up here at some point. Gradually reintegrating ourselves into life in one spot, especially since all the dirty laundry is finally done! Quite enjoying our fireplace as I could sit in front of it and just watch the flickering flames for hours, especially if I have a dram of maltage to keep me company! Happy Christmas to you three. Cheers, Patrizzio! Brahman bull outside our hotel in Varanasi, with typical three-wheelers and bicycle rickshaw in background.

Dear Friends, Thank you for accepting the invitation for Jos' Surprise Party January 3, 2016. However, unless my administration is a mess, I have not heard what you are going to bring. If you have told me, my administration is a mess!

We need basically everything. So far we have 3 Appetizers, 4 Main
dishes, 3 Salads and 2 Deserts, and that for some 45 people! So, please
put on your culinary creativity hat and let me know what you wish to bring. Look forward to your response! Thank you. Cheers, Aart (your humble servant) 

Hello Aarturo! Welcome home! Gather you are back from  Hawaii! Trust all went exceedingly well. Look forward to hearing about trip and wedding.

Lady Darjeeling said she would like to bring one of her special dishes, Feta Kartofellage. However, if you need something else, let us know and we'll bring what you feel is needed. Also, please remind us of time we should arrive, and your address.
Are you planning to hike tomorrow? I think I'll try to join group. Know I'll be slower than slow and probably out of breath but need to get back into routine. Furthermore, miss everyone, you in particulare, Aarturo, it goes almost without saying!!! Fondestos from Lady Dar to you and Jos. (I guess you'll have to "lie", keeping surprise under wraps!) Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics: Our guide in Delhi, Shavani, a wonderful, wonderful woman, with Jugos Dom Pedro, Lynne and Lady Dar; Lady D's Chinese Laundry before final round of packing! No Dirty Laundry for Lady Darjeeling!!!