Arrived Stockholm. Meeting our friends Steve and Mary here and then picking up the ship on Wednesday. We arrived too early to check in so set out to see the city. We're staying at the Lady Hamilton, a small boutique hotel in the old section of town, lots of pedestrian only streets. The hotel is beautifully decorated with lots of antiques and architectural features.
The city is very walkable, wonderful cobbled streets, lost of water and bridges, and great weather.

Beginning our trip to Europe today. Flights from Halifax to Toronto on to Amsterdam and then Stockholm. Picking up a ship, the Windstar Star Legend for an 80 day adventure to Athens.

We have been furiously working to get all the yard updates we want to do this year done before we leave. Finally looking great. Here's to teamwork - Adrian's the master gardener and I am the master grunt worker! It's a perfect match. 

Happy Canada Day! We celebrated with a lovely brunch in Lunenburg and a walk on the waterfront. Friends of ours, Steve and Mary, who we'll be joining in Europe later this month, sent us this great photo of the Canadian Flag flying from the ship they're on in Tahiti.

Excited to have co-hosted a retirement party for our friend Sheila with my good friend, Rhonda. We had great fun planning and Rhonda came up with the perfect gift - a gift certificate to a favourite beachside resort - The Quarterdeck. Great turn out and everyone enjoyed themselves. A big welcome to the retirement club, Sheila!

This weekend we got to host Justin, Shannon and baby Quinn (3 mos) at the beach house. Can't wait until Quinn is old enough to hang out on the beach together. So much fun getting some quality time together. Adrian was excited to prove he hasn't lost his touch.

One of my favourite things about the Beach house is the rhubarb patch. This year I have been making some flavoured syrups to have with club soda or gin and tonic or with prosecco. They're a nice non-alcoholic treat. I forgot to bring some from home so today I made strawberry rhubarb syrup for while we are here. The best thing about this recipe is the massed strawberries and rhubarb that are leftover from straining make a great sauce for ice cream or greek yogurt - I love an excuse to eat ice cream though.

We're back at the Beach House to finish up getting ready for our summer guests and to enjoy it ourselves. Today was a large day - lots of sunshine, warm and a gentle breeze. The patio stones we ordered, to be installed next year, arrived today. 100 2'x2' stones at 95 lbs each. The plan was for Adrian and me to do most of the unloading, however I managed to drop the corner of a stone on my finger and ended up on the truck making sure the patio stones didn't fall down. Fortunately the delivery guy, Deacon, was a wonderful young person who helped us unload.

Today we got to see the room Marina is using to teach her students. The local commission (like our town) provided the space for her to start with a small class of young students. While most of the kids were afraid of us at first, they did warm up enough for a copuple of group pictures before we left.

Today we start our 2 day journey home... we managed to use our points to upgrade to business class - yipee!!