Some news briefs

...and I do mean brief!

Judith has just finished exams for this semester and is in the throes of applying to some universities.

Sean has bought himself a snowboard. He's pretty good on skis but now wants to get with the snowboard action too - still a novice there. See the album by clicking on the link on the left. I had hoped to show you a video but 80MB was a bit much for my patience to upload. He spent his off day today at Blue Mountain.

Sean and Judith have taken out a membership with Persechini where they will get fit.

Mark visited Maia, Heather and Reinier (Ingrid's brother) in Glasgow this past weekend. He is still trying to get his work visa sorted out to work in the UK and Netherlands. I gather he has acquired a car - cannot tell you more than that.

Stephen and the band he plays with now has a weekly gig at the Engineers' pub at Queen's University - I think. I believe this is supposed to be a good thing and we should all be happy for him.

Ingrid's newly operated eye continues to improve and she cannot wait until Valentine's Day when she replaces the lens in her other eye with a brand new, state of the art, roll-up, self-unflexing flexible plastic variety.

As for me, it's just steady-as-she-goes. Oh. There is also a new link to a small album of our winter garden. No people. Just snow. This is Canada, after all.

Marks adventures

Well, I am not quite sure where to begin. As most know I am in Holland for the year. This has been quite an exciting change for me and is only just beginning.

2006 saw a lot happening to me. A big part has been my wonderful girlfriend Luisa. I don't want to be too mushy but she truly is wonderful. Here is an introduction to the two of us and our adventures together which started in Guatemala and Belize. This picture is taken at the Mayan ruins of Tikal. She will be joining me in Europe on the 3rd of Feb. I think we are both counting the days.

Quickly a little about Luisa... we were destined to meet. Here or in SA. Her family is Portuguese from Mozambique and her parents decided to move to Canada. SA was their other option and they did not know which way it was going to go until the day they left. Years later we followed them and met at a friends Halloween party.

Back to Holland...since a young age and with my moms Dutch heritage I have always dreamed of living in Holland for a year. The opportunity came up and I had to take it. My only reservation was Luisa as I could not do it without her. When we talked about it I think she was more excited than me to do it. It was good timing for her as she plans to start her masters in September and would therefore be putting in notice at work anyway.

So, I am now here in Holland. I am jumping back and forth between Holland and England quite a lot for the next few weeks while my visa gets sorted. I hope to be here permanently within the next few weeks. I have a little apartment in the city of Breda. I have only been here for a few days but it seems to be a wonderful place and look forward to the many visitors that have promised a trip over. I plan to spend quite a bit of time with my family that is local for the first time. Oom Vincent and Oom Jeroen are about 1.5 hrs away with my cousins Levien, Sera, Marjoke and Ruben. I am also lucky in that the England office is about 4 hrs from Glasgow. I plan to head up there this coming weekend to see Oom Reinier, Heather and Maia. Haha. They are all going to curse my use of the word 'Oom'.

That is it from me for now. Luisa and I have a whole year's adventures ahead of us.

Ingrid - Bionic Woman

On Wednesday morning 17th at 06:00 Ingrid and I were at Southlake Hospital for her to check in to have the first of two cataract surgeries. When I picked her up at 09:15 the cataract was gone and so was the eye lens that she had been born with. In its place was a new plastic lens that had been rolled up before insertion into the eye. Even though this is the most common operation performed in N America today, I find this all quite amazing. Once she has had her second procedure next month she will no longer need eye glasses for distance though she will need glasses for reading. Ingrid is recovering well and can already drive herself during the daylight hours.

News from Mark via Luisa is that he has gone across to Holland to sort out his visa which will enable him to work in The Netherlands.

Winter has arrived in Toronto.
It was a green Christmas this year and it was still a balmy 5 degrees C when we got back from Europe. That was then, and winter has finally arrived. I took some shots this morning. Click to enlarge.


This is the view of our deck and front garden from Ingrid's and my bedroom window.


Left: The view from our lounge window.


Right: This is the winter scene as viewed from our kitchen. We have a small window box that I throw some bird seed in when there is lots of snow. You can see the silhouette of a sparrow.


Ice crystals form fascinating designs on the windows.

Mark has left for Europe

Today the family got together for an informal farewell lunch for Mark who left for London, UK this evening. Through the company he works for here in Newmarket, he organised himself a job with an associated company in England and a small town close to Breda in the south of Holland. He is still waiting for work permits and visas to be finalised for the Netherlands so will be working in England for the first month or so. Luisa will be joining him in a few weeks. Mark's plan is to work in the Netherlands for about a year. Family, please make sure that you only speak to him in Dutch!


I have added a link to a photo album of Christmas day that we spent with everybody and their uncles and aunts and cousins at Vincent, Marjoke and Ruben's place in Heerlen. It will probably be pretty boring for anyone except family - who should find some of the shots quite entertaining.

Last day of our holiday

So much has happened since arriving in Glasgow I will spare you the details: Hogmanay with Reinier (Ingrid's brother), Heather, Maia and a number of their friends; local walks; Glasgow; Edinburgh; Loch Lomond's "bonny, bonny banks"; Loch Fyne on the west coast; food, feasting and more food - and lots of drinking; and, of course, lots of talking and catching up. Now the last day has arrived.



Judith, Maia, Reinier and Ingrid walking on the bank of Loch Lomond.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.








Reinier, Ingrid and Terry spitting on the Heart of Midlothian.



Edinburgh Castle. Ingrid, Judith and Maia can be seen to the right of the picture. Judith is wearing luminous green - which proved to be very helpful a number of times when she became the rallying point.