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MECREDYMELVILLE 2002 PAGE 1 G3P1

The photo on the right was taken by one of the many webcams waiting to catch a live picture of the Lochness Monster However the picture is probably nicer without the monster which I really think would spoil a beautiful view.
The underwater webcam is well worth a look at night, and when the lights are on you may be lucky and see all kinds of fish. At the time of writing this (4AM Scottish time ) hundreds of fish are to be seen live on the webcam. It seems to be better in summer and winter but not so many fish in springtime.

SEPTEMBER is here anad schools are in. We had a glorious summer holiday this year and much of the time was spent at swimming lessons over at Nelson Pool on New Street. Both the girls have done very well and advanced a couple of grades
over the summer so Katherine will go into Aqua 7 and Colleen into Small Fry 3 By the end of summer they were sending most of their pool time under water. at the beginning Colleen would not even get her face wet. Colleen starts school today and is going to Tansley Woods Montessori in the United church basement where Katherine went.

LOCH NESS 26TH AUGUST 2002

This late summer photo of Lochness was taken at sunrise by a now defunct Webcam> In this part of Scotland the midsummer nights are very short indeed and it is true to say that in the last half of June there is no true darkness and one can easily read a newspaper outside at midnight. on a moonless night. Thiugh why one would want to accomplish such a feat I am not quite clear.. If you do not believe me, go to the North of Scotland and try it for yourself GOOD LIUCK !!!

The record books are in line for some serious revisions thanks to the never-ending summer of 2002. Hamilton already sizzled through the hottest summer and hottest September on record and October got off to an equally steamy start. Yesterday's unseasonable scorcher, which topped out at 27 C, broke a 26.1 C record set back in 1971. It may have been the first day of October, but the scene at Van Wagner's Beach was pure summer. People picnicked in bare feet and sleeveless shirts, happy couples strolled hand in hand down the waterfront trail and children were playing in the water and sand. Three-year-old Cesar Perez was splashing around in water past his knees under the hot sun and tossing stones into Lake Ontario. His mother, Erica, was right next to him with her pants rolled up around her ankles. "It feels good," she said of the refreshing waves. "It's supposed to be cold out." In fact, it should have been a lot colder. The normal high for yesterday is only 17.9 C. But the warm weather kept up with the pattern that was started back in June, and is supposed to hang on through the fall and winter. David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said the average temperature in Hamilton from June 1 to Sept. 30 was 20.4 C, up from a normal 18.6 C, and a previous high of 19.8 C set in 1970, 1973 and 1983. This September will also go down as the hottest in recorded history. The average temperature of 19 C was nearly four degrees warmer than normal, and more than a degree warmer than September 1960, which set a record with an average of 17.9 C. Phillips said climatologists consider a difference of a few degrees to be very significant. "You clobbered the previous record," he said. "It wasn't in the same league." Normally September would see one day over 30 C. This September there were five and that maintained the summer pattern. June had seven 30-plus days, July produced an amazing 12, and August cooled things down with only four days going over the 30 C mark. While it might not be apparent from all the scratchy brown lawns, rainfall wasn't as bleak around here as it was in other parts of the country. Hamilton got around 80 per cent of what it normally sees. Hamilton is not alone in its warm-weather bliss. Exceptional temperatures are turning up right across the country. "There seems to be something amiss. We seem to be getting seasons which are much more of the extreme variety," Phillips said. "It's almost as if you can't depend on the climate anymore." He added it's hard to know exactly why. But he said there will obviously be some winners and some losers. "In the long haul, it will bite us," Phillips said. "Everybody's going to be affected in one way or another." Consider the health effects on people who have difficulty breathing on sultry, smoggy days. (Hamilton spent 18 days under a smog advisory this year, three days short of the record 21 last year.) Or consider the effects the dry weather has on farmers or the effect of warm winters on pest control. Phillips said trees are already showing signs of stress -- instead of a warm burst of fall colours, many of the leaves are either too green or too brown. The warm weather has even had a negative impact on retailers. Morty Morgenstern of Morgenstern's, a downtown Hamilton store, said people hold off on buying fall and winter clothes until the weather cools off. "I'm looking for cold weather," he said. "And if I'm really, really greedy, I'm looking for cold weather where people can still get out and go." But it's hard to deny the obvious benefits that warm, sunny days bring. People are cramming the patios at Hess Village, and stopping off for ice cream and bottled water at Hutch's after strolling along the waterfront. "You can't go wrong when you can sit out on a patio at this time of year," said Bill Hutchinson of Hutch's. "For us, there's no negatives." There is more good news to come for warm weather lovers. Phillips said warm water from the oceans, along with heat stored in the ground from September, should produce a warmer October than normal. The winter should continue the same way. FROM THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR 2OCT., 2002

NOTES AND NEWS FOR FEBRUARY 2003
We have all been much saddened by the death of Sylvia on Feb 5th 2003 in Credit Valley Hospital after a valiant fight against cancer. John and the boys are devastated and it is going to take a long time for thm to come to terms with things. Te funeral was a week past Monday and the Memorial Service is at Pineland tomorrow at 11AM. It is still very hard to grasp that this has actually happened but alas it has. Her final phase of the illness was very rapid indeed with spread to the brain and spinal cord and she became very drowsy and confused It seems wrong that someone so young should be taken especially with old crocks like myself still hanging in there I wish I could be of more help to John but just now Phil is there which should help John a lot as they get on very well together.

DECEMBER 2002 has arrived and with it some very cold weather. There has been very little snow as yet and there is none in the immediate forecast Up in the snow belt areas there has really been quite a lot with some bad accidents on the local highways
JANUARY 2003 Well there is certainly plenty of winter around now. It has been a bitterly cold month and is minus 18C as I write. The room gets quite chilly on these cold nights. I think the outside walls are not too thick for some reason or other Have spent the last week between Johns place ane Missisauga as Sylvia is very ill with terminal cancer and she has been transferred into Palliative Care in Credit Valley Hospital

MARCH NOTES AND NEWS We have finally come to March 2003 and have reached the 10th. All of us are coming to terms with the death of Sylvia almost five weeks ago and it is going to take a long time John and the boys are as well as can be expected and he was down to church with Liam yesterday.
The weather has been unusually cold this winter and very snowy, with very little melt, if any, of the snow that has fallen. Huge piles of snow are everywhere and with subzero tems they are turning to ice Dianne was off work for over a month but started back at teh end of Feb though she is still very tired and I think rather stressed out.

NOTES AND NEWS FOR AUGUST 2003
August is rapidly drawing to a close and this year has not been nearly as hot as August 2002. The main activity in August took place at the beginning of the month when I accompanied John, Liam and Callum on a trip to Britain as he badly wanted to go back. The weather was extremely hot over there with all time record temperatures - neadly 101F at Gravesend which was the hottest temperature ever recorded in The British Isles and it was the day we spent at Brighton beach not too far away Needless to say we all got a Very Large Dose of UV rays.

NOTES AND NEWS FOR SEPTEMBER 03
Here we are already past Labour Day and today was the first day of school for Katherine who is now in Grade 3 and taking French immersion again. She really enjoys her classes in French. The rest of the week has gone smoothly with Katherine getting to school as early as she possibly can every morning so that she has lots of time to play with all her friends. Colleen back at school on Wednesday and really happy to be back after a long break. And Grandpa using up the as taking them to both schools.

HERE WE ARE a week into school and I am sitting writing this at home. Thought Dianne would be off but no such luck and she has to work fron 9 to 1 which meanns she will have been working every day this week. I will have time to get on with a bit nore of my painting and have three and possibly four liend up which should put me near the fifty mark. Ii certainly gives me something to do in my spare time though I do really keep quite busy with the kids. I am still transposing letters at every available opportunity..

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