Hello everyone,

This winter, we received an e-mail from Annabelle East, the co-owner of Killarney Mountain Lodge. She invited us to return to Killarney for a weekend to help them celebrate 50 years in business. They were inviting all of the past captains of the Stormy Night along with us, as the dock masters. We had long been planning to return for a visit and this seemed the perfect opportunity. The event was scheduled for the weekend of June 15-17.

With a long road trip ahead, we looked for ways to break our journey. I suggested that perhaps Ottawa could be a wonderful side-trip. Murray scoffed at the idea of Ottawa being on the way to Killarney but soon came around to the idea, especially as we hadn’t seen our grandkids since last fall.

Plans were made and the car loaded up. Oops, there lies another story. After searching for most of the fall and spring, we finally located a newer Volvo V70 wagon, for sale privately. The deal was finalized that week and it was the NEW car that we loaded for our trip.

It was super to see Matthew and Sammy again! Matthew showed me how to play Minecraft and Sammy reminded me how to play with dolls and Barbie’s. Cynthia took me to her favourite consignment shop and my bag became filled with things that I needed to add to my wardrobe. Murray and Jeremy, ably assisted by Sammy, stained their deck one hot afternoon. I visited Matthew’s class and read them The Pig That Couldn’t Swim as well as the new book, Penny Dives In. They responded very favourably and were full of questions about the pigs and the islands of the Bahamas. The three days flew by much too fast.

On Friday, we made the seven hour journey on to Killarney. On the highway heading into the village, we saw a moose and Murray saw a bear ( I missed it! ). The reunions started in the parking lot, moved into our room and the talking seemed to go on most of the night as we all caught up on each other’s activities since we had left Killarney. Unfortunately Maury East wasn’t well but Annabelle, Kate and Jennifer were wonderful hosts. The whole family was also dealing with the imminent demise of a long-time friend, Ann Reid. It was a tough time for everyone as we all had known and loved Ann and her caustic wit.

On the rocks overlooking Killarney Channel, Friday evening we had a fish fry, ably cooked by Steve Tyson over an open fire. Saturday morning, we all loaded onto Stormy Night for a sail out into Landsdowne Channel for a few hours and on into Covered Portage Cove for lunch. The current captains of Stormy Night, Steve & Margaret Colquhoun, made us very much welcome. They had left their sailboat in the San Blas Islands, near Panama and flew up to work in Killarney for the summer. It was slightly intimidating for them, to have all of the previous captains aboard but they handled the trip with aplomb. Saturday night was another wonderful dinner at Killarney Lodge followed by entertainment in the Carousel Lounge provided by Andy Lowe. We discovered that we don’t party quite as hard as we used to! No stamina.

The middle photo is Murray with Rick Embleton, who was captain along with his wife, Evelyn. The far right one shows the new skipper, Margaret, on the helm with Ron & Joan Lee nearby. Ron & Joan were the first skippers of Stormy Night.

Sunday morning came all too quickly. Promises were made to stay in touch better and to make this reunion an annual event. Cars were re-packed, hugs exchanged and we all departed from this magical weekend. Killarney had one more surprise for us though – on the drive out, we got a very good look at a black bear! What a weekend!

Since then, life has gotten back to normal. I attend aqua-size classes every weekday morning. Murray is busy in the garage, building a storage cupboard for George & Barb. The temperatures here have been extremely high and we had an air conditioner installed in Mom’s room at the nursing home. This has made her much more comfortable and able to breath easier.

The surgeon says that I need a total knee replacement on the left. Now we are trying to arrange it for this summer, so that the fall may find me able to climb a ladder. More about that later.

That is what is happening in our lives. We hope all is well with all of you.

Love & hugs,
Heather & Murray
solidly aground