Canada Day!

The weather forecast for Lunenburg said there was a 60% chance of rain, all day!  Not great news when you're expecting over 60 people for a Canada Day BBQ and pot luck celebration.  This was to be Roger and Susan's fifth straight Canada Day celebration, and they seemed to know something the weather-forecaster didn't.  

The view from their 'back-yard' is nothing short of spectacular.  It was sunny, and warm, and Joan was nowhere to be found.  I wonder if the grandchildren could help me find her?  She said she'd be in the back yard looking at the view while the sun was shining.

The day really started when Roger served his legendary porridge!  Maybe it was the porridge that made the sun stick around for most of the day.  Mid afternoon, the neighbours started showing up bearing bowls of salad, all manner of main dishes and deserts [of course!].  The BBQs were fired up, hot dogs, sausages, ribs were all shown some heat, and dinner was served.  

Roger and Susan live on a bridge accessible  island, and all the neighbours were invited. Many neighbours are seasonal residents, many from a fair distance [Ontario, Connecticut, Ohio, etc].  Since many had just arrived, the Canada Day party is a great excuse for absentee owners to catch up on the local news.  

It was wonderful to be so warmly accepted by this very friendly community.

As you can see, the sun did its job and it was very warm and pleasant for the celebration.  Joan even helped lead us all into singing our national anthem! 

You may have noted the boat at the end of the dock in the picture above; one invited couple live on the island across the channel where it's  five minute boat-ride or a half hour car drive!  These people even built their own boat!  Here's a closer look!  

We're now back at Chris and Peter's place in Dieppe, near Moncton, after a very pleasant and uneventful drive from Lunenburg.  Tomorrow, it's back to Ottawa for us.

It's been a busy holiday and we have been spoiled rotten by everyone we have met.  The Maritimes seem to infect its inhabitants with great generosity and a certain joie-de-vivre that I don't detect very often in Ontario...  We'll just have to come back here again.  

"Thank you so much"  to everyone that made this happen, Chris and Peter, Brian, Susan and Roger!  What fun!