Ottawa--our new home and moving is a drag July 1 until forever....

After a pleasant evening with Linda and Larry and breakfast the next morning, we left for Ottawa.  We have the keys to our new apartment on the Driveway.  We are in.  It is freshly painted and seems smaller than we remembered.  Anyway, we moved the stuff from our car that has been with us throughout Atlantic Canada.  We went walking and encountered a friend of George’s at City Hall looking at a marvelous quilt that was made to commemorate Canada 150 and highlight all the countries that are represented in Canada.  We continued toward the Hill, got through security and managed to hear Gordon Lightfoot doing his sound check for tomorrow's show.  Must remember to spend June 30 on the Hill next year and see the show twice.  I am afraid that he is beyond his best before date.  Anyway, it was great to on the Hill and in fact, in Ottawa.  What a great city!  Back to our place, we tried to put air into Linda and Larry's inflatable bed which we plan to use until we get a new bed.  However, the pump stopped working and we thought we had broken it.  We made our bed on the floor and by next morning the pump was cool and worked like a charm.  So, no hard floor for us tonight.

It was Canada Day and it was raining.  We donned ponchos and headed toward the Rideau Centre.    We encountered some friends in the Rideau City where we stopped to get out of the rain.  Had a great chat.  We were to be part of the Living Flag which includes a new t-shirt.  (This is our third time to be part of it.)  There were more people there than ever before.  Unfortunately someone had brought their dog to the event and while it was laying and people were getting into place, someone stepped on its paw.  Hmmm, maybe dogs shouldn't be in flags.  After the photo, we wandered to Rideau Street but there were many people waiting to get through security.  A friend and his daughters who got onto the Hill told us later that they waited for four hours.  So we went to the newly renovated NAC for Unisong which was excellent.   In our Canada Day travels, we encountered Flora and her friend as well.  Maybe we do belong in this city--I think when you walk around and encounter friends, it is a sign of belonging.   We stopped for a hotdog and a temporary Maple leaf tatoo and that was that.  Another great Canada Day.

We went back to our place where we were camping-out until our furniture is delivered.  This is as close to camping that I want to be.  Next day, Claire had  some news: her passport has expired.  So George spent most of the morning, texting and planning with her how to fix this problem.   We met up with Frank and Brenda for drinks at the Clocktower in the Market.  Took photos by StandUp for Canada sign in the Inspiration Village.  Great to see them.

Next morning, we met them and had lunch together here—our first guests on July 3.  Went for a lovely stroll along the canal, up to the Hill and along Elgin.  Grant joined us for dinner.  Then he borrowed the car for his ball game.  We said our goodbys as Brenda and Frank are going home tomorrow.

Claire’s passport application was sent by UPS and arrived  to us at 10:00 the next day.  We weren’t expecting it until noon.  George happened to spy a UPS truck arriving early and realized we were not in the intercom system yet and the driver would not be able to call us.  He sped downstairs and caught him.  Lucky we are on the second floor.  By noon, we were at the passport office.  The first contact looked at her application and said that likely it would take 4 to 6 weeks to process.  We were shattered as she has an interview on July 24 and reservations to arrive on the 20^th.   Oh, and, we needed a signed letter from Claire to give permission for her Dad to submit her application.  We got this rather speedily by email through Sooters photography, which was just down the hall.  Phew!  Oh, and he asked if we wanted to talk with an agent - well I guess so!.  Stress was running high by now.  Anyway, after an hour or so, our number came up and in fact the process would take just 2 weeks, and no, we couldn’t courier it to Claire as Canada Passport services must do that part. (But lo and behold, it arrived to her on July 13^th.  Neener, neener.)

After a lunch at Big M and a ft chat with Claire, we were off to shop for cleaning supplies.  We picked up some stuff we left at Josh’s in West Wellington and had a nice visit with him.  We had dinner with Neil who is in town apartment hunting as they will be back in Ottawa by the end of August.  Had a pleasant visit.  We checked our email at Ministry of Coffee the next morning, packed a birthday package for Sheryl and delivered it to GAC (the new acronym for Foreign Affairs).  We bought a patio table and chairs for our balcony because we have no furniture yet.

Grant treated us to a lovely Anniversary dinner at Riveriera which is a special place.  July 8^th is our 45^th anniversary.  Amazing.    

July 6 is furniture delivery day and the stuff and boxes kept coming for 5 hours—all 183 pieces.  There was hardly room to move around after it was all here.  We were overwhelmed and felt stressed by all the stuff.  Next day we started to unpack, quite a challenge.  Going from 3 bedrooms to 2 with no storage room presents concerns like what in the world are we going to do with all this stuff!

July 8^th,  Anniversary day, we took the day off and had lunch at the Canal Ritz.  Then Neil met us at the Rideau Centre with an amazing surprise from them—a gift certificate for an Iphone 7.  George will get a new phone and I will inherit his old one.  Such excitement—we were delighted.  Neil spent all afternoon helping us get it all organized and connected.  We won’t have WiFi until July 23^rd but we have the phones.  By this time our heads were swimming.  We went home for Chili and Neil put the wheels on the bikes before he left for more house hunting.  What a day!  We had a toast and that was that.

The Next few Days were unpacking and stressful.  I wasn’t too tactful about all our stuff everywhere with seemingly no place to put it.  We started with the kitchen and bathrooms which gave some semblance of order.  Then the living room took shape which leaves the bedroom and den.  We are still sleeping on the inflatable bed which is very comfortable.  We will buy a new mattress.  After our 123 beds over the last 2 ½ years, we have ideas what we don’t want and the new one must fit our headboard.  The Den is loaded with boxes but slowly the stuff is finding a place to be.  We are trying to pace ourselves but all the disorder is wearing us down.  We took the afternoon off to see a movie.

Monday turned out to be wash day—clean underwear was getting to be an issue.  We put our laundry into two machines and headed back for more unpacking.  30 minutes later, upon seeing that the clothes seemed really dry, George remarked that the machines must really spin the clothes well.  Well, we took another look and realized that I had neglected to push the start button and in fact, the clothes were dry because the washer hadn’t  started.  Oh well, we know how to do it now.

A highlight, former neighbours are in town from Sweden so we had a lovely lunch with them at the Green Door and then a tour of the Mint.  They are really delightful and we had a very pleasant day.  On our way home, we stopped at NAC to check out what was happening.  The renovations are wonderful—a lovely new entrance was added.  There are many events with CANADA Scene.  Our place is looking better every day.  It is great to take breaks and have coffee and get away periodically.

So we are at July 13, had a lovely lunch with Linda and Larry and then did some shopping.  (we bought another mop as ours has disappeared.  It has to be there somewhere but.....)  I went to NAC to chat to Claire and hear that her passport had arrived.  Yay, again.  They are nearly packed and out of their house.  They are moving to Ottawa and will arrive a week from today.  I attended a concert given by William Prince who is from Winnipeg.  This is part of a nightly free concert series.   He is quite melancholy but has a dreamy voice.  Then I met George at Starbucks to post my second last blog and have coffee.  As I was walking home, I thought about what a great city we live in.  Ottawa is wonderful.

Everyday things are getting into place.  I actually did a bit of watercolour painting over the last couple of days.  George has his desk set up and feeling good about it.  I think we will make it.  Boyd will pick up the empty boxes and packing paper tomorrow which will help.  We met Jack and Judd in Kemptville for lunch and a nice visit.

The boxes are gone and it is Friday, a week after our move.  Saturday we bought Phantom at the Opera tickets for George's bd and enjoyed some more concerts.  One was billed as a Quebec Kitchen party and had two different bands--both quite loud and very enjoyable.  Sunday we hung many of our paintings and some of George's framed photos.  Our home is evolving.  We shopped for curtains after the Tenants Association complained about our red and yellow Niagara Falls ponchos on the windows.  The big thing that is left is to buy a mattress and boxspring.  The rest will get done eventually.

Today is the last day of July.  Claire, Noah and Brienne have arrived.  Claire has a job as a Bio-Medical Engineer  and our granddaughter will continue her growing up here in Ottawa.  We will get to play with her often. Yay.  I have to pinch myself to know this is true.  We have spent some great times with them since their arrival, and also with Grant.  Had a fun birthday celebration with him.  Sheryl and Neil will return to Ottawa by the end of August.  They are long-distance apartment hunting and we are viewing the places on their behalf.  Our family will all be in the same country and city by the end of the summer.  Yay.   It has been a challenging return to  regular life--not being Meanderthals anymore but it is time to do just that.  We are still working on placement of stuff and still no bed!

This is the end of my blogging for awhile.  Many lovely memories and much joy contained in the past 2 1/2 years.  Now, on to our next adventures.