Mommy & Me time
July seems to be Mommy & me month. My mother and grandmother came for the Canada Day weekend and this coming weekend Dave and I are going to home to my mother's.
While my mom and my grandmother were here, we went to the Nova Scotia Tattoo and the next day we took my grandmother to Pier 21 (it’s kind of Canada's Ellis island).
The tattoo was excellent as always. They receive a "royal" distinction this year, so they are now the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo. They did the gun run - they didn't last year.
My grandmother had wanted to go to Pier 21 because they were doing an exhibit about war brides. The exhibit was not at all what I was expecting but was interesting.
My grandfather was in Halifax during WWII with the British navy. He had told me that he was in Halifax a couple of times during the war and my grandmother had more information about the ship he was on and the Halifax bar he frequented. So we went up to the resource center to see if they could give us any more information. Turns out that my grandfather's ship convoy (he was a British midshipmen at the time) used to land at Pier 21. When my grandmother gave them the name of his ship, they were able to give her a whole print out of information. It included a picture and description of the ship, its history and dates of service. They were well aware of the pub - the Green Lantern - which is now somewhat of an infamous place. Apparently many sailor have mentioned this pub when they reminisce.
The librarian was super sweet. He asked my grandmother all about herself and about my grandfather. She told him she was a war bride, but that my grandfather was British and they had immigrated to Canada after the war. She arrived after he did and landed in Dorval - not at Pier 21. They told her that was ok, they were collecting all sort of immigrant stories and asked her to make an appointment next time she was in the city so they could record it properly. She was tickled.
This weekend I am off to mom's as I mentioned. She has been doing a lot of work on the house and wants to tackle the basement next. So I have volunteered to help clean it up and tear out the old paneling. The plan is to get as much of this done ourselves as possible. Then if and when she pays someone to come in, mom will be paying them to renovate rather than pull out the paneling and haul it away as well. Wish me luck; I might need it to survive a weekend in the basement with my mother. ;-)
While my mom and my grandmother were here, we went to the Nova Scotia Tattoo and the next day we took my grandmother to Pier 21 (it’s kind of Canada's Ellis island).
The tattoo was excellent as always. They receive a "royal" distinction this year, so they are now the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo. They did the gun run - they didn't last year.
My grandmother had wanted to go to Pier 21 because they were doing an exhibit about war brides. The exhibit was not at all what I was expecting but was interesting.
My grandfather was in Halifax during WWII with the British navy. He had told me that he was in Halifax a couple of times during the war and my grandmother had more information about the ship he was on and the Halifax bar he frequented. So we went up to the resource center to see if they could give us any more information. Turns out that my grandfather's ship convoy (he was a British midshipmen at the time) used to land at Pier 21. When my grandmother gave them the name of his ship, they were able to give her a whole print out of information. It included a picture and description of the ship, its history and dates of service. They were well aware of the pub - the Green Lantern - which is now somewhat of an infamous place. Apparently many sailor have mentioned this pub when they reminisce.
The librarian was super sweet. He asked my grandmother all about herself and about my grandfather. She told him she was a war bride, but that my grandfather was British and they had immigrated to Canada after the war. She arrived after he did and landed in Dorval - not at Pier 21. They told her that was ok, they were collecting all sort of immigrant stories and asked her to make an appointment next time she was in the city so they could record it properly. She was tickled.
This weekend I am off to mom's as I mentioned. She has been doing a lot of work on the house and wants to tackle the basement next. So I have volunteered to help clean it up and tear out the old paneling. The plan is to get as much of this done ourselves as possible. Then if and when she pays someone to come in, mom will be paying them to renovate rather than pull out the paneling and haul it away as well. Wish me luck; I might need it to survive a weekend in the basement with my mother. ;-)