I’m delighted to say that my second attempt to leave the country has been a lot more successful than the first. Susie started referring to our abandoned journey to the airport yesterday as our ‘shakedown drive’.

The assorted cardboard I’m using as my disposable luggage didn’t bother the Air Canada staff in the slightest, which was a big relief. They laser-measured everything over at the Outsized Baggage area and gave me a thumbs up and a smile, and said ‘You’re all done!’

I’ve had a chat with the family nature expert, our Sam, and he’s agreed to bear the heavy responsibility of answering all of my ‘What is it, Sam?’ questions during this trip. So I thought I’d get things started with ‘shakedown what-is-it?’, just to see if he’s on the ball. Good luck with this one, Sam. No doubt you’ll also spot a rare leaf gall on a piece of discarded Pret A Manger lettuce that I missed. Dx

See you in Nova Scotia in a few hours. And a warm welcome to Pete H & Jake R, good friends who have recently subscribed to the blog!