Petrie Island

This morning’s walk was under bright, sunny skies with a light breeze and 16C (60f).

Gordon decided we needed to get out today and he had been wanting to go to Petrie Island which is the northern extension of Trimm Road in Orleans, a suburb of Ottawa so off we went late this morning. Petrie Island is a very pretty place with its own wetlands and lots of walking trails. We walked the Bill Holland Trail down to the end of River Loop. There were lots of wildflowers and this cute little woodpecker. I think he was this year’s crop as he didn’t seem to be afraid and just sat pecking his tree while we took photos.

The Petrie Islands group on the Ottawa River was formed by sand deposited at the close of the last ice age, about 12,000 years ago. The 2 km by 500 m area, from the foot of Champlain St. to Trim Rd in Orleans, has a total shoreline length, including all channels and bays, of about 12 km. Much of the area has been publicly owned since 1983, purchased to preserve the natural habitat of the western portion of the islands. Sand dredging at the eastern end was phased out in 2003, and the ten-hectare sand fill and natural beach is now in use for public recreation.

The Petrie Islands have been used since ancient times, and native Americans fished and hunted the area for thousands of years. In modern times, they have long been a popular fishing spot year round and many boaters, canoeists and kayakers explore the foreshore and backwaters. Naturalists or hikers come to see the varied flora or to get a glimpse of one of more than 130 species of birds identified in the area.

Here are some photos that I took along the trail:



We reached a high today of only 21C(70F) and on our way home from our little outing we had some rain showers but other than that the day was pretty nice - no humidity!

Happy Canada Day Weekend!

It was cooler this morning at 17C (62F) but it was also sunny with a slight breeze so it was comfortable for walking and I walked my 2 miles again.

When I got back after breakfast and internet stuff I packed up the laundry and went in to Carleton Place to get that done after which I went to the library and returned some books and picked up a few new ones. Then I stopped at a couple of grocery stores for a some items since this is a long weekend here in Canada and stores are closed on Monday.

Canada Day Information

The year 2007 marks the 140th celebration of Canada Day, which commemorates the day that Canada became a nation. The holiday is observed on July 1 (unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case Canada Day is observed the following day).

On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act united the British colonies of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia into "one dominion under the name of Canada." These four colonies became Canada's first four provinces; Lower Canada was renamed Quebec, and Upper Canada was renamed Ontario.

The July 1 holiday was known as Dominion Day until October 27, 1982, when an act of parliament established the name Canada Day. The new name symbolized a step away from Canada's colonial past. The holiday had also sometimes been known as First of July or Confederation Day. Like Fourth of July festivities in the United States, Canada Day is celebrated with such summer pleasures as picnics, barbeques, and fireworks.

The name Canada derives from an Iroquoian word for "village," kanata, that French explorers heard used to refer to the area near present-day Quebec City. Today, Canada comprises ten provinces and three territories.

My New Glasses

And here they are! They are a mauvey pink sort of colour (according to Lenscrafters) but actually look more like copper. They're the same shape as my old ones but a bit wider and are made of titanium so they're very light which is a good thing with my prescription. They have a better reading field than my old ones did as they were made more for working. I could even see to light the oven by myself tonight! I haven't gone to Lenscrafters for some years as the last time they took over a month to get my glasses to me. This time was two weeks right on the nose and I'm quite happy with them.

I got up later this morning as it was supposed to be cooler but it was 22C (71F), much warmer than I expected so I wore shorts. It looked like rain so I took my rain jacket. When I got out on the road it was quite windy and cool so I did wear my jacket as I was walking north but took it off on my return. I walked 2 miles under cloudy skies.

The rest of the morning after my usual internet stuff and getting a shower, I sat outside and read. Again it was quite cool so I kept adding clothes and eventually added a blanket. I came back inside when the owner started mowing nearby and got back on the computer.

I found another campground in the Lebanon, Ohio area where we stay to be close to the relatives in Dayton and Cincinnati areas. It’s called Big Turtle Campground and I can’t find much about it so I’m wondering if it used to belong to King’s Island and has been taken over by a private owner. We’ll have to check it out. We’re always looking for alternatives to Cedarbrook even though we like it there, there are a lot of trees so we can only see the satellite from a few sites and they have been booked at times so we’ve had to look elsewhere.

It didn't get above 21C (70F) today so our warmest temperature was early this morning. Tonight it's supposed to get down to 8C (46F).

So nothing much happened today other than reading and surfing the internet.

Hot and Humid But a Nice Breeze

I got up at 7:00 a.m. today as it was to be another hot, humid day. It was 23C (73F)and a hazy sun with a nice breeze this morning so I had a nicer walk than expected.

After breakfast and my usual morning routine I sat outside and read, had lunch outside and came in around 2:30 p.m. after about four hours. It was humid but nice sitting under the tree in the breeze. I walked around the campground and took some photos down by the water as you will see below. I talked with a lady who was sitting outside as well. She and her husband are here for a couple of days having come from Mont Tremblant and are on their way back to their home north of Toronto. As I was sitting outside a Class C RV came in and parked next to us. It’s a rental and the people are from Germany. They are only staying one night and then moving in to Ottawa. I think people don’t realize how close we are to Ottawa here. The people that occupied the same spot and left this morning were going in to Ottawa and camping at Poplar Grove which is probably as far south of Ottawa as we are west. They are here for the Canada Day celebrations as are the people from Germany. Hope it’s a nice day for them!

This pretty little blue dragonfly landed right in front of me on the dock
and posed for a picture.

Pretty view of the Mississippi

There are all kinds of little frogs down by the water. This one sat still
and let me take his picture.

More Ottawa Appointments

Reasons to get up at 7:15 a.m. today:

1. Hot, hazy and humid for my walk
2. We had appts in Ottawa
3. Prevent another headache like yesterday’s

It was 22C (72F) when I got up this morning and very sunny but hazy. I walked for my ½ hour but it didn’t seem like I went that far. I had to come back and get ready to go to Ottawa.

Lenscrafters called yesterday to tell me my glasses were in so that was our first stop. Then I had made a chiropractor’s appointment so we did that and Gordon had a dentist appointment this afternoon. Other than that we stopped at Rainbow Foods and got one of the Gluten Free bread mixes that we tasted last Saturday and a Gluten Free pizza crust. After the dentist we stopped and picked up a couple of items at the grocery store and then headed back to Tranquil Acres.

When we got back I sat outside for about an hour. There was a breeze but it was still pretty hot at 34C (93F).

Groceries, Library and Not Much Else

I woke up with a headache this morning and very little energy so I had to force myself to walk but managed to do the full loop around taking about 45 minutes as I walked it, no running. It was 18C (64F), cloudy and quite humid. On the last leg of my walk I encountered a skunk along the side of the road so I stopped and waited for him to make his move. As soon as he saw me, he crossed the road into the corn field so I was able to continue on my way.

After lunch I went into Carleton Place. We had tried to buy corn wraps for Gordon yesterday in Ottawa but the place where we usually buy them were out of stock (Kardish, Bells Corners). We tried a couple of other places but one was closed as it was Sunday and the other one didn’t stock them so I went to The Granary in Carleton Place and they did, indeed have them. They didn’t however have the Judy’s Multi-Mix Bread. The Judy’s website listed them as having it but apparently there is a problem with the middleman and they don’t carry it anymore. I guess we’ll have to stop at Rainbow Foods when we go to Ottawa tomorrow.

While I was out I did some grocery shopping and stopped at the Carleton Place Public Library. I couldn’t use my Nepean library card there but it was no problem to get one for Carleton Place and I can pick it up next time I’m in. In the meantime they let me take out books. I was able to find quite a few on my list from my favourite authors.

It was mostly cloudy all day with high humidity and little breeze although the temperature only reached about 28C (83F), it was still not pleasant to sit out under the tree and read. I tried for about ½ hour but wound up coming back into the air conditioning.

More Flower Garden Photos

Happy Birthday Nick!

Nick and Becky

Nick opening his card from us

Seeing wildlife on my morning walk is always a bonus! This morning I was treated to the sight of a beautiful white-tailed deer standing in the northbound lane of Appleton Side Road. She stood there for the longest time. Luckily there was very little traffic this morning. She didn’t let me get too close though and bounded into the bush but as I passed the area where she had entered the bush I looked over my shoulder and there she was standing in the long grass against the trees watching me. They are such a beautiful sight! Days like this I could kick myself for not carrying my camera on my walks.

This morning Gordon exceeded the cap we have on our bandwidth by downloading something very large and as a result we have less than dial up speed today. It will be like this for the whole day. Our punishment! Because of this I disconnected from our satellite and turned on the wifi and was able to get a wifi signal. Not sure where it’s from but it’s a lot faster than our satellite today!

This afternoon we were invited for my nephew/godson’s 22^nd birthday at my sister’s place. We had a few errands to run so we went into Ottawa a bit early and arrived at my sister’s around 4:00 p.m. Nick was there and Becky arrived from a wedding shower she was at around 6:00 p.m. and at about the same time as Danica had to leave to referee a soccer game. We had a good dinner and it was nice to see everyone!

Nick’s birthday is actually tomorrow so again:

Happy Birthday Nick!

My friend, Laura’s birthday is also tomorrow so:

Happy Birthday Laura!