I know, nobodies counting, but we hit eight days of sunny great mind blowing weather yesterday.

It was so warm we hit the harbor ice in our fashionable spring attire. The only white in the sky were the contrails of planes coming in from Europe.

Very light snow is falling this morning so that is that, long weekend must be coming up, the forecast is not so good.

Sure is sad to read reports of Italy’s latest earth quake deaths and devastation.

Thirty years ago I spent a couple of days in L'Aquila. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, it seemed like most of the population was out enjoying the late autumn sunshine, everybody was dressed to the nines in what looked like family groups, just parading around the streets and this very large square.

Two of use had come ashore by ferry at Brendisi from Greece. We did a short drive up the coast then headed inland and took a leisurely drive up the ‘spine’ of Italy.

The medieval buildings in many of the towns and villages in that region were all very impressive and there images have stayed with me all these years.

I think it took us five days to make it to Little St. Bernard Pass, a very small and unmanned border crossing into France.
I still recall the Second World War anti tank emplacements that were on both sides of the road. On the France side there was no need for any emplacements, the bloody road was so narrow and windy that any tank driver in his right mind would have done a u-ey and gone back the way he came. But then the tanks would have been coming up the hill, hence the emplacements.

Update on the RCMP volleyball tournament in Hopedale:

Fran, being from Hopedale and having lots of relatives there would naturally cheer for them, then again her grandson is from here so she would want to cheer for him.

So there is some good news bad news for her in the results. The Hopedale men's won there event, grandsons team was beaten in the semi final.

In the women's event Nain won that, with two Hopedale players making up the

numbers. A good compromise all round I would think.