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| The World's Longest Covered Bridge located nearby our new home |
This blog post may be a long one. SO much has happened since I wrote at the end of March. In no particular order, here's what is what since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.
- New Grandbaby in May
- School Closure
- Professional Development Courses online
- Packing to Move
- Moving to New Brunswick
- Unpacking
- Settling in to Quarantine
- Repairing our Stairs and Decks
- Canada Day
- The Fourth of July
- Exploring our New Province
- Happy Anniversary!
We celebrated the arrival of our daughter's second child, Magnolia Faye on May 14, and although we haven't met in person, we are truly in love with her. The borders are shut down and it just isn't practical to visit Houston, Texas at this time.
Another result of the COVID-19 pandemic was the eventual closure of all Ontario schools. After taking a nice March Break, I return to Fort Albany for a two week quarantine. Yes...fourteen days in isolation within the confines of a remote fly-in community. On the fifteenth day the Education Authority allowed us to return to our homes in Southern Ontario. The transition to online learning was difficult as I was only able to contact students from my Grade 4 Class through the use of work packages emailed to the school, printed and then distributed by our Vice Principal.
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| Ontario in RED |
As a Learning Coach and a teacher in the family of schools along the west coast of James Bay I was able to take advantage of a number of professional development activities designed to educate and support teachers during the closures. As a result I now feel better equipped to return to the northern school in August for my final year of teaching. The Omushkego Education Student Success team was a wonderful resource for our teachers, and for that I am very grateful.
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| Food for Thought |
While I was home during the March Break, my husband and I went to New Brunswick to purchase a new place to live. Although we loved the lake, we agreed it was time to leave and begin a new adventure. This involved a lot of sorting and shedding possessions, packing and repacking stuff, cleaning and re-cleaning our house and packing two truckloads of items. Yes, we took two trips- one at the end of April for the house closing and the second in mid-June. As I write, my husband is on his third and final moving trip to bring his own truck here to New Brunswick.
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| The Second Truck |
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| Some of the packing |
The two trips were a little stressful. On the first I drove the 27 foot long truck from Ontario through Quebec and on into New Brunswick. During the second trip I was able to drive the Jeep, while my husband handled the big truck.We were stopped at the borders for each province both times to ensure that our travel was essential. Because our documentation was in order and we were travelling together, we had no real problems along the way.
Upon arrival at the house we were ordered to stay put for fourteen days, so for both of those periods we unpacked and decided where to put the stuff. As we wheeled out the final shop machine I asked my husband to promise that this would be our final move and if we left, the tools would remain behind. He agreed at that time!
So here are just a few of my favourite spots in our new place (Stay tuned for more blog posts for more.
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| One of the five decks- BEFORE |
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| The same deck- AFTER |
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| My new (to me) desk and office space |
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| The view of the Tobique River from our house deck |
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| The laundry room |
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| My husband's office with his father's big two-person cross cut saw |
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Surprise! A nest of baby Eastern Phoebes-
the three babies flew away with their parents on July 4 |
The process for repairing the stairs and decks to the river is ongoing. We were going to completely re-do the whole structure, but as we looked more closely we realized that much of the framing is still intact. Consequently, we are leaving some and fixing the rest. Our goal is to complete the work before I head back to school on August 12. Wish us luck!
On July 1 we celebrated a quiet Canada Day as we were still quarantined; however, by the time July 4 rolled around we were able to get out and about for shopping and such.
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| Our usual flag- O Canada |
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| Our flag on July 4th |
On that morning I anticipated a ZOOM call with my family from my mother's side. It was my first ZOOM experience with a large group. Not only was it the Fourth of July, it was also my aunt's 93rd birthday. She always maintained that her real age was 39, so by reversing the digits, she is actually correct. I usually travel down to upstate New York in early July for an in-person visit. However, getting together with sisters and brothers, cousins and their children was an amazing experience. It was facilitated by my Connecticut cousin and his son and everyone got to wish my aunt Happy Birthday. Later, I found this picture of her from ten years ago at our home in Ontario.
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| The Happy Birthday Girl! |
A number of people have asked us Why New Brunswick? There are many answers. We travelled here on our honeymoon and fell in love with the landscape and the people.We have taken several road trips to the local stores, the community swimming pool and a few of the Everyone we have met here has been kind, caring, hospitable, helpful and relaxed. The forests, the farms, the fields, the rocks and the rivers give us new surprises each day. And so far, no regrets.
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The pool in Plaster Rock is OPEN!
I swim in the far lane several times a week. |
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| Our most recent stop on a trip to the airport in Fredericton |
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| The AXE and BEE |
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| And of course, we had to stop at this brewery |
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| Just some of the unique furniture |
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| The BIG AXE Brewery |
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| Even the washrooms were charming |
Finally, tomorrow is our 41st anniversary of our marriage. So happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!
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| This is US! Happy Anniversary... |
In one year, I hope to be retired from teaching and living full time in New Brunswick.
In case you haven't heard. New Brunswick is one of the provinces in Canada with the fewest cases of COVID-19. I am sure this is because the people here are very conscientious when it comes to quarantine, social distancing and disinfecting. The Big Axe Brewery is just one place where we felt very safe and grateful.
However, we can never be too careful. So,wash your hands, disinfect your surfaces, wear a mask and stay well and safe.
Until next time (and I hope it will be sooner than later),
Bee Rich
