Milk Chocolate Bunny Blues: Easter Monday, April 21st!

In nothing does man, with his grand notions of heaven and charity, show forth his innate, low-bred, wild animalism more clearly than in his treatment of his brother beasts. From the shepherd with his lambs to the red-handed hunter, it is the same; no recognition of rights -- only murder in one form or another. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914) 

Thanks so much Patrick hope you all had a great time too. Pics of good Friday do and Saturday tarts and tramps party!  Xx

P, Jake and Amira (in town for the week) came by and Kerry made GF cannelloni with kale salad and a cheese cake to boot. Tia had set an egg hunt in the house for Jake and Amira and that was a riot. Fun night all round.

Won another barn burner match yesterday. Tom had a strong partner in Jeff Ward and decided (rather opportunistically) that he had an easy win -- so just as the match was beginning he said we would enter the match results in Quick Draws. My partner, Chris Galer, was a little put off by this but agreed. We lost the first match, won the second, lost the third and fought back to win handily in the fifth. Tom was beside himself.

I wont ride this morning - the gals have designs on my time. I may be able to get out tomorrow morning. Amira and I are thinking about a trip to Seattle tomorrow and I would like to ride before that if we can.
 
I am hoping to ride, walk or bus to the theatre this afternoon. What was your plan? W

Pat, The weather doesn't look promising, so I'll just head off to the gym early as I have a couple of hours of teaching from 11.
 
The dive bombing birds remind me of my time in Australia where this happened frequently. One of the boys came home bleeding one day from such an incident and one of our neighbours used to run with a plastic bucket on his head for protection. Ray 

Dear Vancouver Accipter fan group, This morning's take from Anne, our GGRO hawk bander friend, on the accipiter:  "As far as the accipiter, most of us agree that it's a Cooper's Hawk mainly by size. While it does look bug-eyed like a Sharp-shinned, the angle of the photo may be deceiving.  Believe it or not, a sharp-shinned can be a bit smaller than a large pigeon."
 

Part of Anne's initial Cooper's Hawk ID was based on the relative size of the pigeon under the bird, hence the closing comment above. - John 

Hello All,  Thanks John. Okay, I stand corrected. Thanks to the GGRO bander for making the call. I looked at the Sibly guide and it has Cooper's range up to Vancouver, so that must be it. Thank you Patrick for the opportunity to sharpen our accipter diagnostic skills. Happy Birding to All and to All a Great Spring! Nancy

Thanks Daddy - O!! For the brunch, the chocolate and the cold hard cash, you know the true way to my heart!!! Love you!!!  

Hi Pat, Belated Happy Easter and thank you for the lovely card. All is well in the Maritimes. I just had a great visit from Marion Holoboff. She was only here for 2 1/2 days, but we caught up on loys of news about people at VRC and just had a nice time. She was on her way to the Canadians in Burlington , Ont, so she added a side trip to NB to visit. She has been a very good friend for many years.
 
I have finished treatment on my eyes for macular degeneration. My sight is still somewhat compromised, but the degeneration appears to have stopped and i am still able to drive and get around. It seems that after 70, there is something new every day. 

I don't really have any travel plans this year except for a high school reunion in June, up on the Miramachi and a short trip to Montreal with my friend and neighbor later in May. I love it up there, so hopefully my back will be stronger than it was last July when I was there. We will be driving, but with 2 drivers, it should take pressure off of my back.
 
Gerry Millett tells me that he ran into you at VRC a while back. He is also a great friend. I talk to him every few weeks. Hi and best wishes to Corinne and Chloe and I hope that you are well and enjoying life to the fullest. Your friend.. Bill

Hi Tom's Nemesis! Almost as good a win as beating Lawn! Well done!

Egg hunt made local news as a riot was reported in your neighbourhood! Love how gluten-free, (GF), has now entered the current lexicon, along with kale cheesecake, probably a new iteration of this versatile, sustainable green. Robo Man will have to start electrifying his garden against midnight kale-nappers! He's not riding either, going to gym to pump iron so he can deal with any foolish enough to breach perimeter security.

I think I'll pose a Queensgorough jaunt to Sarge, or some similar distance. He is wiling to entertain about a 70 km round-trip so that just about suits the bill. That being the case, we should be back between noon and 1:00 pm, depending on flats! This should leave plenty of time to get to Vancity, one way or another. Not sure about Cora Lee's schedule but I think I can strong-arm her into popping us off there for 4:30 pm showing. After screening we could walk back over Granville Bridge. Whether we collect you or you ride to HBT, we can discuss. Must away as time to suit up. Cheers, Patrizzio!

P, have a great ride. There are four of us attending the film (K, T, A & me) so Cora Lee would have a full pay load. It is easy for us to bus so no bigga deal either way, W

Stats for ride:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/484626851#.U1WOchx6Y-U.email

P, thanks for joining us today and more importantly for getting us out to see that wonderful documentary. Thanks also for the Rye whiskey and the pens-- which by the by Tia is very excited about. Grateful for you thinking of Tia and please thank Chloe as well. Also appreciate the invite to dinner. As it happens Tia is in a dance competition in the morning and Kerry was a little worried about getting her to sleep.

I am having lunch with Cobby and Amira at 1PM and I may have a beer before that with Amira at Brassneck brewpub. I would like to ride in the morning but the forecast suggests we should ride in the afternoon. What think you? W  

Hi Rye Rider, or should I say, Brassnecker!

Glad everyone, including Tia, enjoyed the film. Thank you for ticket! Quite a story. Perhaps Tia Maria can draw a self portrait of herself drawing Vivian, in front of a mirror, with the pens. (I'll certainly let Chloë know that Tia is very happy to have received the supplies, such as they are.) Oops, I forgot to mention, the drawing materials were for you, the hootch for her!

Lunch with Kinder sounds great. Let me know when you think you'd be ready to hit the trail. I could meet you on Point Grey if that might be more convenient and then we could head out to UBC. However, if things are too tight don't worry. Give me a shout in the morning and we can confab. Cheers, Il Conduttore! 

Thank you for such a lovely Easter card! Great to join you for the movie today, it was so good, we all really enjoyed it. Tia loves the pens and pencil crayons -- thank you for helping to keep her in art supplies! Please extend thanks to Chole.
xo Kerry  

Hi Kerry!

Glad you enjoyed the card and the film. Pleased Tia's "art supplies" are to her liking. However, as I told Giorgio, the pens and pencils were for him, the rye for Tia! Chloë will be quite delighted that someone with Tia's talent can put them to good use. See you all soon. Perhaps we can arrange a meal together once we are back from Mexico, in early May. Trust dance event goes well. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Dinner when you return sounds very good -- but, it will have to be at our place!! Have a good trip to Mexico, I look forward to hearing all about it. Kerry 

We do not arrive back from Mexico until 7 PM on the 7th. We have made arrangements for someone to meet you at our place on the 6th in the afternoon. Amanda will get you a key to the annex which is a vacant apartment next to Pat and Corrine's. She will make all the arrangements. I have attached her email to this message. Can't wait to see you. Wayne 

Thanks Wayne I will contact Amanda to get some more detail so she doesn't have to wait around all afternoon for us to show up. At this stage we are scheduled to fly into Vancouver with Alaska Airlines at 12:45pm, but as you have probably experienced I'm sure airlines come and go as they please.

Once we get to LA we should have a more definite time for our arrival which we could ring her with. How long does it take from the airport to your place? Not long now Yah! All the best Tony

You are probably looking at an hour to clear customs and then 20 minutes to our place by Cab. Leave for Mexico today. When does your trip start. Wayne