Heps is Back Baby

Man it has taken me a while (a month) to get this blog up and running ...

I asked my students to start blogs this year (am trying to go paperless) and I have been put to shame with the amazing blogs they have set up.  So here I go with  my rudimentary old school blog ....

Oh and I will post the new list of things I need to accomplish at the side!!  Looking forward to getting back at this!!

Leave something on the table

My dad has been known to say that you should always leave something on the table when you are leaving a place.  There should always be something there to return to, or why else would you want to return.

So although I didn't quite finish all my items on this list, I know that I have a whole bunch of fun things to do when I get back!!  (and a whole lot of great friends to do them with!)

As I say "see you later" to Freddy, I say "hello stranger" to Tur-on-a.  And a new list....  torontobucketlist.blogspot.ca!  A whole bunch of new adventures await!

Beat SP at a game other than Apples to Apples

Stop the presses....

I did it!

No cheating.

A fair win!
I beat the Strategizer.

What an end to a fantastic weekend.  Here I was hoarding my animals and hoping for the best without any ovens or crops, and I did it.  We have played Agricola for months and I have never come close to beating the Strategizer, and without a doubt this the game I wanted to beat SP at, and I fished my wish!

Well played (and thank you if you went easy!)  I feel I am redeemed from the night I was forced to steal money from the bank to win!!

Catch a lobster

Ahhhhh...... my Pièce de résistance!

I honestly cannot believe this happened - and thank you soooooooooooooo much Sweetest people for making this happen.  I am excited beyond what you will ever know.  I know this was such a special event - and I am very very thankful!

I must say that I lurve lobster!  I am a proud pescitarian, and although I have no idea what a good steak tastes like, I know how great a lovely lobster goes down.  My mom has said that as a small child when I would be asked what I want for dinner, my response was often "just a little lobster".  What an amazing opportunity to join K on his boat at the crack of dawn and fish the waters for those lovely morsels!

I learned a lot:  the lobster season in Bathurst is only two months - May and June (there are two seasons further south in the Bay of Fundy), you cannot keep any lady lobster with roe on the outside (doing so results in a $5000 fine), or any lobster that is below certain size (there are also two sub categories - canners and market - market being the larger of the two), you sometimes catch really "interesting" things in your trap - sea urchins, crabs (really ... who would want crabs in their trap??!), skate/sole, and my fave, congor eels.  Ugh ....

Glad my removal of said eel provided so much entertainment!  (these things have to be the ugliest fish I have ever seen!  Big huge faces smiling with three rows of teeth attached to a snake body!)

In all we caught ("we" being a bit of a stretch - K did all the work and we provided comic entertainment and the giggles - though the Sweets became quite good at eye-balling what was a throw-back, a canner or a market, me on the other hand just tried to get some sea legs so I didn't fall in the bucket of angry lobsters or overboard!) about 160 lbs of lobster.  For 90 traps that is a good haul (our good captain aims for 1lb a trap!)  The weather was beautiful, the water was as calm as glass, and man those rubber waiders certainly hugged in all the right spots!

But I must say that perhaps the capstone was arriving back on shore at about 9:30 and cracking open a couple Alpine beers while K cooked up the catch.  What a gosh darn amazing experience!!!

Visit three new NB cities (Off the list!!)

The Sweetest people hail from a wonderful city in the north of NB - Bathurst!  After a scenic drive through the province, we arrived in the fair city.   What a fantastic chance to meet the Sweeties' families and relax in one of the most picturesque cities ever.   I was fascinated by amount of water that is everywhere - rivers, streams, the bay, running water (jokes!).  Also cool was the amount of French that was used so effortlessly.  Was at a birthday party and people just slipped back and forth between the languages.  I was very excited to practice my numbers at the LC and Shoppers (though I was quickly found out to be an English speaker when I couldn't answer back!  Oui, j'ai une carte d'Optimum!!)

I was so lucky to have seen so much of the city and surrounding area and to visit with so many fantastic people.  I was at the beach, the residential areas, down bay fishing and harbour area, and up (the) river to see the camps. 

I was also totally intrigued by the "absence" that seems to abound here.  The remnants of the mill, shopping mall, and shops were haunting - though a fantastic site for an end-of-the-world movie, or paint-ball game!

What I might skip on my next visit: the fried clam and choco milkshake combo at the Big D!

Thank you Sweets for a wonderful trip! And with that .... it is off the list!

Visit the world's largest ...

Whilst en route to the latest adventure, the Sweetest people indulged my Bucket List by making stops at two more large things.  I have my doubts as to whether these are the "largest ever", but they are certainly giant items in the good old Miramichi!

So let me introduce you to Bruce the Moose (a classic statue that most people seem to recognized!  I have been told he sports a bright orange vest during hunting season!)

As well as the (unverified) World's Largest Fly - also living in the Miramichi!  (Watch out fish - I will be back to get you some day!  That list item remains unfinished!!)

T-Minus

Hey kids -

So I am putting the feelers out ... anyone fancy doing any of the following next week ...

a) going to the Beaverbrook?  (EM you in?)
b) playing bingo at St.Mary's?
c) swinging by Gagetown to see the bucks?

After this weekend I will have an increadibly fun update to report. Let the excitement build ...!!!!