Petal.

Petal explores the garden.

Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness, know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again. ~ Unknown

I came across this quotation today which prompted me to write this post. In January, I wrote a post about the death of Ben and Josée’s pet pig Monty.  They were badly shaken up by that event.  Last week when Ben came home, he found another pot-bellied pig in their garden, the little pink one shown above.  Her name, he found out, is Petal.

Petal wandered away from a nearby neighbour’s property.  She, like some of the neighbour’s  other pets, tends to wander from home when the neighbour, who has health issues and is in hospital, is unable to care for them.  Her friends and relatives are supposed to care for the animals, but it doesn’t seem to work out.  To cut a long story short, the neighbour, when she got out of the hospital, came to see Ben and Josée and has realized that the pig would be better off with them, so after caring for the little animal for the whole of the weekend, Ben and Josée have agreed they will keep her.  They made it quite clear to the neighbour, that she is welcome to come and visit/play with/spend time with Petal any time they are home.  The neighbour was very relieved and grateful. I believe that good homes are also being sought for her other pets.

Today we went out to see little Petal.  We took Oliver our grandson with us as he had asked us if he could go out to see her.  We were met with squeals and grunts of welcome (at least I interpreted them as welcome, as Petal was running to us, not away from us), as well as the usual hearty greeting from Tegan the mastiff and some leg rubbing from Julius the cat.  We spent about an hour there with them, petting and scratching them.  They seemed to enjoy it and so did we.

So…after the very sad time around Monty’s death, it does seem that “sometimes things must fade before they can bloom again”

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Goodbye for now and God bless.

Bocce At Its Best

Well folks I have to tell you about Ben and Josée’s Bocce tournament which was held two days ago, Saturday Aug. 07, and is not a load of balls, bocce or otherwise.

Typical bocce ball set.

It was the second annual tournament in what I hope will be a long string of these.  For those of you out there who don’t know about this game, it has a long, a very long history.  You can read about it here if you wish.

Last year, the event had twenty teams and was played in Ben and Josée’s backyard field in the middle of their property.  This year, the event grew considerably with 32 teams in the fray and a waiting list of about five teams I believe.

Cynthia and I were at their Knight Rd. property early, to assist in any way we could, for the event organisers had promised to feed entrants too, for the price of their entry fee, as well as have them play their games.  The weather, which up until Saturday had been phenomenal, suddenly took a turn for the worse.  Grey skies covered the sun and the threat of rain was imminent.   As we looked out the window of B & J’s kitchen, we all said the same thing, and hoped and prayed for the weather to hold.  Fortunately the weather did hold for the best part of the day, only deteriorating late into the day as final events were played.

Typical Italian bocce pitch

Between 13.30 and the starting time of 14.00 all the participants’ cars arrived and were parked around the edge of the field.  Participants, many of whom were in the tournament last year, greeted each other like long lost friends.  There was a great atmosphere and it was greatly enhanced by the costumes or special T-shirts the competitors wore.  Competition got under way close to the proposed start time, and the 32 teams, organised into four pools, began play amongst themselves.  There was great camaraderie and the ten minute games went without a hitch.  Much of that was due to the rubbery lungs and massive vocal chords of Ross McDonald, one of Ben’s buddies.  He acted as announcer, ringmaster, public speaker, foreman…you name it, he was it, and he did a brilliant job of keeping the teams on schedule, both with his precision wristwatch timing of the games, and with his ear-splitting announcements.

The day wore on, children played tag, checked out the chickens and petted Monty the pot bellied pig.  Others spent time with the dogs and climbed all over the tractor, all pretending to be farmers in their own rights.  Later, Ben and Jason, yet another friend, fired up the barbies and cooked us all burgers.  The chefs did us proud, and the burgers, potato and bean salads, all filled the gaping holes in our stomachs.  Once the pool play had finished and the elimination rounds began, rain, light at first began to fall.  Some folks, especially those who were out of the running or had small kids to consider, left the playing field early and made their way home.  Cynthia and I were among them.

As I write this, early Monday morning, I still don’t know who were the winners of the trophy for 2010.  I really don’t care, and I think most of the others there yesterday didn’t care either.  Really, the day was about getting friends together for food and fellowship.  In that, the day was a brilliant success.  I know for sure, that Ben may have to mow even more grass next year, for I’m sure that all those who were there yesterday, plus many more, will be clamouring to enter.

To Ben and Josée, many thanks for the time, effort and energy you put into making the day happen.  Your reward will be in heaven.

To all who read this, all the best to you and yours.

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Trivia Night.

Ben and Josée the organizers.

Last Saturday evening, we helped Ben and Josée set up one of the local halls for a trivia night.  They had rented the hall and organized the trivia night as part of the fund-raising for their part in the Ride To Conquer Cancer.  This ride takes place every year, and  it is coming very soon on the weekend of June 19th.  The ride goes from Vancouver to Seattle.  Over 1000 riders will participate, and each one of those riders will have raised over $2500 to participate in the ride.

Ride To Conquer Cancer Poster

Ben and Josée have been working hard to raise their totals and, as of last Saturday, Ben had achieved his goal but Josée was still short of hers.  They hoped the trivia night would help them top off Josée’s target and even push them farther ahead of their combined goal.

Pauline, Ben’s office manager, and her husband Steve, along with Tom Morgan our ever dependable friend, also were there at the set-up.  Things went well, and around 19.30 lots of people began arriving.  Among the supporters were our Uncle Ron and Aunt Jean, Ron’s son Ray and his son Ryan, both here on a holiday from the UK.

Uncle Ron, Jean, Ray and Ryan all set for the off at the trivia night

Ben made the introductory remarks and soon we were into the competition.  Ben had prepared a visual presentation of the questions which Josée showed us on a large screen via the computer and a projector.  This was great for old fogies like me who don’t hear too well, as Ben announced each question.  One minute was given for teams to consult and write their answers and then we were on to the next question.  After several rounds, the eventual winners were Pauline, Tom, Steve and Lois.

One of Steve Williamson's pictures was in the silent auction

All night there had been a silent auction going on.  Everyone was given ample opportunity to visit the tables and see the donated prizes, to make a bid on any of them.  One of the wonderful items on the table was a picture of a Spirit bear, taken by Steve Williamson.  (If you want to know more of the Spirit Bear and see Steve’s brilliant photography, click here )

The evening ended with Ben and Josée thanking everyone for coming and for their support.  It had been a great night and everyone had fun.  The nearly 60 people who had attended had raised around $1300 for the cause.  Here’s a little snippet from Ben’s thankyou note on his blog…

“Josée and I are very appreciative of the support we had, both emotionally and financially.  Right now, I think our tally for our Ride to Conquer Cancer fund-raising efforts is about $5400 and we’re really happy with this figure.  Last year, the 1700 riders managed to raise about $7 million for cancer research and hopefully this year we will smash this figure.”

Let’s hope that all goes well for them and the multitude of other riders participating over the weekend of June 19th.  If you wish to see a video of one of the previous rides, and how well the whole thing works, just check it out below.

All the best you all of you who read this. Best wishes to you Ben and Josée…safe riding.

Monty Arrived, Friday April 16th

Last Friday Josée drove Cynthia to Victoria.  Their mission, should they accept it, was to pick up Monty the mini-pig.  Monty is five months old and quite lovable.  He was being offered free to anyone who would provide him with a good home, as his present owners had to move and could not take him with them.  Of course, Josée being the animal lover she is, and a person looking for a mini-pig, spotted the ad and away they went.  Well, the mission was completed and last Friday was added to the animals at Knight Rd. farm.  Cynthia went along to keep Josée company on the ride, but was immediately smitten by Monty’s good looks.  He is definitely cute.

Shortly after they arrived back in Comox, Tim and Andi came out to see Monty bringing Charlotte and Oliver with them.  Charlotte immediately loved the pig and wanted to pet him, but for Oliver, there was no contest where his desires lay.  As long as the tractor is available for a ride, that’s where his heart is.  After a quick hello, he was off with Ben to drive the machine and practice his skills in that area.  As for the rest of us, we sat around on the front steps, watching Monty grunt with pleasure as he nibbled the grass, our fingers, or anything else which might be in the area and available for eating.  His little tail (not curly by the way) continued to thrash the air like a wind-shield wiper as he absorbed the love and care which surrounded him.  He is going to be a very happy pig at Knight Rd, of that I have no doubts.