The weather on our visit to Ottawa has steadily improved over the time we have been here.  I must admit that it was a shock to our systems to walk off the plane two weeks ago and be greeted by temperatures that hovered around 10°C. Thankfully Willy was also greeting us at the airport, and his  arms were full of fleeces.  We planned the trip so we would miss the cold, but apparently misjudged what might seem cold to our sun-spoiled selves.

As the days have passed and the temps have risen, we have started to eat more and more meals outside.  We have the perfect spot on our back deck, where we are shaded by our magnificent old pine tree, yet still catch the breeze that keeps the flies at bay.   Even on the hottest days (and the last couple have been pretty hot) we are able to enjoy several meals a day outside.

Willy and I sat chatting following one of these meals on Sunday.  The lils were happily running around in the gardens and we were basking in the last few minutes of their day.  I remarked that we had now eaten outside more on this trip than we had in our entire time in India so far. I wish that wasn’t the case, but we rarely eat outside for our family meals.

Unfortunately for us, our dinner hour is when the mosquitos tend to come out for the day, and they love us.  We become their dinner, and the results aren’t pretty. I am generally the first to get eaten, and end up with huge reactions to the bites. Both lils also get their fair share of bites, and have also been known to have extreme reactions, which have included two trips to the doctor when bites near Goose’s eyes got infected.   If we wait too long, we have to run inside from the foggers that try to keep the mosquito population under control, and that pretty much covers dinner hour. It becomes more pain and hassle than it is worth.

So we sat and savoured, just enjoying the moment.  I was content and happy until Willy pointed out that we only had eleven more meals in Canada, so we needed to make the most of it.  It made me a little sad to think that our trip home was nearing the end. It feels like we just got here