Mossie bites and burning stuff

After my relaxing last night in Montreal, I went to the airport with a smile on my face ready to catch the flight back to Winnipeg. However this didn’t last as yet another pillock got in my way....

1litre beer can!!

I was going through airport security and was placed into queue number 1, where there was just one middle aged man in front of me. He was slowly taking off his shoes and placing them into one of three trays he had filled with his stuff. I however, as normal, had prepared and had packed everything into my backpack, less my computer which was out and ready for inspection. So, when I got to where he was still slowly removing his shoes, I walked around him. There was nobody between him and the empty x-ray machine and I obviously thought it would be ok. He suddenly started to move and got in my way, saying in no uncertain terms that I couldn’t go past him. I tried to explain that he was still taking off his shoes, but by now he had suddenly hurried up, removed them and moved on down towards the x-ray. At this point I turned around, counted to 5 and then continued, showing my boarding pass before passing through the metal detector. However, once through he then stood right over the conveyor belt with my stuff coming through and called me a ’dickhead’. I obviously saw a little red at this point and decided not to take his abuse, telling him that HE was the dickhead and an arsehole into the bargain. This continued for a minute or so as he (again slowly) collected his stuff together while abusing me and my answering him back using as much foul language as I could muster, which for anyone who knows me  - is a lot! He then sneaked away as fast as he could when he realised I wasn’t going to take his abuse and I collected my stuff, intent on finding him and wreaking as much havoc as possible by following him about and sitting next to him. But unfortunately for me and probably luckily at the same time, he had done a good disappearing act and was nowhere to be seen. What a dickhead. I calmed down, waited for my flight and eventually landed back in Winnipeg later that evening.  

Friday was my usual get my shit together day – so a bit of laundry and a bit of cleaning up, plus a little bit of shopping – I had to buy myself a new set of sandals, as my old ones were now knackered. They had lasted since I bought them in Chaing Mai, nearly a year ago – the same place I spent a week in hospital in Thailand. So they haven’t done badly – but they are now beginning to fall apart.

It was not a remarkably exciting day in any way, but the evening was fun. One of Buffy’s friends was having a bbq in her back garden in celebration of leaving and so invited a few friends over. We walked to the bbq along the river where we found a really strange ‘memorial’. Photographs of an old man, who has been dead since 2005, have been placed in the branches of a tree, with other photos attached to the trunk and left laying around. It was a bit strange. However, we got to the party and enjoyed a good evening, stood around a great bonfire, avoiding the mosquitoes and generally getting little drunk (well, me anyway!) I don’t remember much from the journey home apart from the bus driver forgetting where his route finished!

The strange monument to...

...Laurence Edgar Turton

Around the fire..

built by my own hands

a good evening

Saturday was a good day – Buffy was promoting the store she works at during the Winnipeg Cancer Awareness Dragon boat weekend and so I went along for the afternoon and spent a few hours sitting in the sunshine, enjoying the dragon boat races and the strange teams names – mainly to do with dragons or cancer or both – My favourite was the team sponsored by Viagra and with a massive dragon shaped tent, complete with tail. The racing was fun too, as well as the commentator getting a little bored and going off on some ramble about meaningless stuff before telling other boats to get off the river!

After a nice breakfast on Sunday at ’Stella’s’, the local cafe, I headed to the pub to watch the England match – Not a great result, but a nice enough afternoon followed by a relaxing couple of hours having a lovely roast dinner and mellowing out into the evening at the end of a lovely sunny weekend.

The festival ....

cool...

some of the teams

A dragon tent, complete with tail

The end of a close race...

I now have just over a week till I go away again – actually we both go away – Buffy goes on tour with the choir before a few days in New York and I am getting a lift off the choir down to Fargo, where I head off on a little adventure on my own. This trip is a little different from normal, so I have had to buy a couple of things before I go – that’s what I spent Monday doing. There will be more news about all that next week, when I hit the road again. I also spent a while on the internet today, mainly on Facebook, where Gareth and Tracey are posting their final messages before heading off for a new life in Australia. Good luck you two and I’ll see you down there sometime.

On Monday evening we had a night at a ‘book club’ meeting. Basically a few people get together, read the same book and then a few weeks later get together to talk about what they thought of it. We had all read the book ‘Enders Game’, and so we sat around another bonfire in the back garden of a guy named Paul and chatted about the book. I didn’t know what to expect but actually really enjoyed a good chat about the book and a lot of other things. It actually reminded me of just being in a bar and chatting about life in general – something that I love doing rather than having laboriously loud music spoiling the evening. We now have another book to read and will meet about it next month sometime. It is at least, a nice way to meet new people!

It’s now Tuesday afternoon and the weather is lovely – I have spent most of the afternoon, sitting in the town centre, on a grassed area right next to a lovely fountain that keeps getting caught by the wind and sprays water over in my direction keeping me cool from the blazing sun. It’s a 15 minute walk from home, completely free and very comfortable – I think I may well be spending a few days right there if the sunny weather continues throughout the summer.

Right....ok!

Mellowing out at the fountain in town

Tonight is Quiz night in the Elephant and Castle – where I watched the football and had Sunday dinner. Its a good pub, but we didnt do very well......It was a good laugh as ever, but we should really get at least 50 out of 100!! Poor effort really...hahaha