CelticCowpokes

A new beginning in NB

The MacDonald family finally moved into our house with the help of Beatons, MacDonalds, Deroches and even some MacMillans.  We're happy to have things starting to settle down for a while as we're getting used to living in the country.  It's quiet most of the time, with the exeception of a snowplow every now and then, or the odd windy snowstorm.  Its a great place for Rebecca and Abigail to play and in the last month and a half, we've gone snowshoeing out our front door more than a few times already.  There's a lot of work to do in the coming summer (decks to be built, foundations to be insulated and lawns to be made) so if anyone wants to have a little labour on a little vacation (free beer provided), you'll be welcome!  Stop by if you like in the meantime. :)

 

Thanks to everyone for their loving help, encouragement, support and assistance during our move home from the west (especially Janice and Reg, who gave up their house for 9 months to a crazy family!).  We couldn't have done it without our friends and family.  From the MacDonald's, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  

Slowly coming along...

...is this website.  We apologize for the lack of posts lately.  With the house arrival, it seems we've had little time for much else than work, travelling and organizing stuff.  Unfortunately, after we move, we'll be even less online, as Belleisle doesn't have high-speed internet.  We may try satellite internet, but its fairly pricey.  So, unless we find another solution, in a couple of weeks our posts to Celtic Cowpokes will drop off considerably.

... is the house.  With the Christmas break, there's been little carpentry work on the house.  However, the heating, plumbing and electrical work has been coming along in their absence.  Here's hoping we'll have an end of the month move-in. 

More photos are up... http://picasaweb.google.com/davidbmacdonald/House#

A Cross-Canada trip

Well, we've all arrived safely in New Brunswick after travelling from Alberta by both plane for Sheena and Rebecca and four days of straight travel by car by myself, Kris and our cat Lilo.   Rebecca and Sheena set up shop at her parents place last week, just before our cross-Canada drive.    Traveling across Canada by car certainly yeilds some interesting sights:  there's the flat travel from Calgary to the Ontario border, mixed with the occasional hill, grain elevator or salt flat; the rugged northern roads with transport trucks that rule the road, the OPP and their saturation patrols and the single lane highway from Manitoba to Ottawa (!); the crazy drivers of Montreal, including a funny story of how I almost got the Yaris compacted by a transport truck trying to merge against 'Montreal rules', a big bridge accident in Quebec City and also trying to navigate in another language after a 15 hour day; and finally, the welcome 4 lane highway through New Brunswick and the views of the recently flooded communities.  As you can see from the photos, we have a bit of a theme of Cleaning Up Canada.  Thanks to Kris for his 'borderline' photography.

For the next few months, we'll be living in Moncton and Saint John and commuting between both until things are more finalized with our new home.  We'll keep you updated and you'll probably see more of us now that we can visit family and friends in the maritimes whenever we want! 

Moving update and house for sale!

Sheena and Rebecca left Calgary yesterday and arrived safely in Moncton.  We'll be staying at Sheena's parent's place for a little while until things are finalized with our house in Airdrie.   Right now, I'm doing some of the final preps for the movers who come tomorrow.  On Friday, probably around noon, I'll be leaving as well...with Kris!  Yes, Kris is flying from Halifax to help drive the Matrix across to NB.  It should be a wild and crazy trip (not), but we'll have a little tag-along, Lilo.  Lilo was supposed to fly with Sheena's plane, but I forgot to read the fine print on her ticket about booking a pet  with Westjet.  A little lesson for anyone booking a flight with a pet online, make sure you call afterward to have them added to your ticket.  Anyhow, we'll be making a five day trip starting at the end of the week.  Wish us luck and... anyone want to buy a townhouse in Airdrie?  Sorry, a shameless plug.  :)

Moving to Airdrie

Well, over the past couple of weeks, Sheena and I have been slowly packing up the apartment in anticipation of our move to Airdrie.  It's been a long road of planning and scheduling all sorts of things that need to be in order: lawyers, contracts, services, packing, moving, renting, cleaning.  All sorts of fun (right!).  After all that, it's down to the final week.  We'll be heading out to do our walk-thru of the house, checking everything to make sure it's a-ok.  After that, we'll be signing a few papers with the lawyer probably near the end of the week and get the keys next Tuesday.  Of course, then will be the job of installing our own flooring (we bought some laminate) on the main floor before our moving day on June 29.   Sheena's busy cleaning our apartment as I type.  You should see it, most of our stuff has been moved into the living room, with a small space for sitting, eating and watching tv in our downtime.  No photos for now as all the cables have been packed away...(oops).  We'll have quite a few after the move I imagine.  Wish us luck!

Finally!

As of tomorrow morning at precisely 8:30am David and I will be the new proud owners of OUR STUFF!!! Thank the lord! After living out here for two weeks with the bare minimum, we will never again take anything for granted.

I will kiss the microwave, and cradle my bake ware,
I will shrine our bed and tell it how much we care!
I'll kiss the ground that our pots will soon sit on,
And hug the end tables that our phone will soon sit upon.
There will be much celebration and much to do,
for christmas is near and I have baking to do!

Our cupboards will be full and our storage we will use,
We have so much space it will be hard to chose!
Knick knacks and fluff will soon fill the air,
And David will smile and pretend not to care.
But when temperatures drop and chattering teeth do appear,
David will care when we have our quilts near!

Posted by Sheena

Last days in Cape Breton

Before we left Nova Scotia, we had a chance to drive down to Cape Breton and visit with family. We only had a couple of days, but we had quite a bit of fun. On Tuesday night,my mom planned a big bash for Sheena and I -- and my sister who just returned from Korea. We hadn't had much of a wedding party for anyone in Cape Breton, so the party had a triple purpose -- happy marriage, happy going away and happy return!

So, for a day and a bit -- everyone prepared for the party -- Mom made a huge scoff, with lasagna and chicken casserole and the day before, we had raided the local hall for chairs and plates. Mom worked really hard baking for everyone, we appreciated it.

When the time came, about 45 people attended from both Mom and Dad's families -- cousins, uncles, brothers, sisters.. it was a good time. The house was VERY packed, but it was quite enjoyable...and cozy really. A few even got up to step dance during the night. So after lots of good eats and drink -- we said our goodbyes and recieved many 'good lucks' for the days (and years) ahead. We were grateful to everyone who came and thank everyone for the many gifts. We'll be sure to send our family pictures while we're in Calgary. Cheers and westwardbound!
David

Oh, we're going to post pictures once we get our computers set up in Calgary. For now, here's the first one we had a chance to upload before we headed out.

Moving day is Near!

We're getting closer to the big day. The family's all up today, picking up my sister who's also returning from Korea. We're making a trip down to Cape Breton for a bit of a going away and wedding party with family -- everyone's going to gather at Mom and Dad's. It'll be small, but wow, we're excited to see everyone before the big trip to Calgary.

Last night, we were able to take in a few final sights of Halifax with Kris and Matt. First, we headed out to the Chicken Burger and enjoyed a few good meals. Sheena and I went nuts with the cool jukebox they have there, listenin to Elvis and Johnny Cash. Good stuff! I'd recommend the restaurant/eatery for anyone wishing to see a piece of history in Halifax (its been around since the fifties). Not much for meals, but atmosphere makes up for it.

Afterwards, we took the long way to Peggy's Cove (thru Tantallon) and stopped by one of our geocaches just past the tourist area. We had also hoped to check out some of the Northern Lights, but weren't so lucky. Instead, we hiked the couple kms to the seaside and explored the rocks. Sheena, Kris and Matt had a ball while I scoped the stars for a while. It was a great night, certainly a good sendoff for us and our friends.
David

Packing up

Things are really moving along for us. We have the movers booked, an apartment reserved in downtown Calgary and got a great deal from Jetsgo for our flight. (Sunday's are loonie flights if you can believe it, check it out at: http://www.jetsgo.net) Moving is pretty stressful though, lots to figure out, lots to plan. I'm lucky that Sheena has been so good at it. We'll be sure to send everyone our address when we're heading out. Right now, it's Nov. 6th!
David