Good News, Remembering and Birthdays

Congratulations to Ian and Tracy, Gordon's son and his wife on the birth of their new daughter, Iris Olive born this evening around 7 p.m. I don't have any details, all I know is that her hair isn't red! This is grandchild #6 for us!

On a more sombre note today is the second anniversary of our poodle, Bib's passing. I still think of him often and miss him very much. This is still my very favourite photo of us the first year we were on the road.

Last night I was up for a while because of overeating and reflux disease. Let's hope I have the sense not to overdo it today.

Today was another cottage family day. We arrived just before noon stopping at the garage sale at their church. I had contributed one of our fold up bicycles and 2 helmets. The helmets were gone but the bike was still there. When we arrived we found that Nick and Becky had made it last night. I'm so glad they could make it. It doesn't seem the same without everyone in attendance.

After lunch we all went to do our own thing. My own thing was a nap and I slept a long time!

We had a nice steak dinner with baked potatoes and fresh corn and carrot cake and ice cream for dessert. Since I am 60 this year, I got to blow out the candles even though Margie's birthday comes before mine. I also got to open presents first. Here they are!



A diamond pendant from my sisters and their husbands.

I got flowers from Nick and Becky.


A corduroy jacket and t-shirt from Danica.

One of the gifts we gave Margie and John were two hummingbird pictures that Gordon took at the Museum in Arizona. We had them enlarged, printed and framed.


Today was quite a nice day with no rain. Too bad I slept most of it away.

We're both tired but still another cottage day tomorrow.

Lady's Day Out and About

Today was lady's day. My sisters, Betty and Margie and my niece, Danica picked me up around 10 a.m. to head out to tour the little towns in the area. It was cloudy with a threat of rain in the air.

When I got on my computer this morning, my nephew and godson, Nick in Ottawa popped up and said that they were unable to come to the cottage as Becky is sick. That's such a shame, I know how much they enjoy the cottage weekend but better for Gordon not to pick up any extraneous germs. We will miss them! Since we haven't been around at Christmas for the past four years, this is kind of like a Christmas get together. Everyone who has birthdays from now till November gets their birthday presents. That includes Margie and her husband, John, Gordon and myself.

After I got picked up, our first stop was a lady's wear shop in Lindsay. Lots of stuff for $5.00. I got 2 pair of pants (longer than capris but shorter than regular pants), a t-shirt and a necklace for under $20. That was all I bought today. From there we went to Fenelon Falls, a little town on Sturgeon Lake and had lunch at The Falls Restaurant sitting overlooking the Falls. Here's our mugshot.

This is one of the larger sunflowers we've seen up here this summer. Most of them are stunted from lack of sun.


On to Kinmount where we got our pictures taken in the big chair. Betty and I had ours done last year and we thought Margie and Danica might like to be included so we almost managed to get all four of us in the chair.


From there to Bobcaygeon where we looked in a few shops but the main event here was to stop for Kawartha Dairy ice cream, the best in the area. As I don't eat ice cream anymore I took the photo.

Danica found this 'friend' in Bobcaygeon.


Then on to what the locals call the 'Dunsford Walmart'. A lady has taken a warehouse type barn and turned it into basically a junk shop. She sells everything from expired food to sheets, comforters, frames and almost anything else you can imagine!


Finally back at the cottage, Garth prepared hamburgers for dinner. I made a fruit salad and Margie and Danica had brought some cookies, cupcakes, strawberry fluff (yum) and a watermelon. I'm so stuffed I can hardly move. I'm not used to eating two big meals a day.

Now I'm ready for bed!

Ken Reid Conservation Area

What a beautiful morning! Lots of blue sky and fluffy white clouds filled the sky. I had a nice walk but no herons around this morning. There was some mist on the river when I first went for my walk but didn't stop to photograph it as the grass was so wet and I hate tracking wet grass into the RV so later today I put the mat down outside. Hopefully it won't kill the grass - it's not supposed to.

Here's the row of seasonal park models that face the river.

After breakfast we drove to the nearby Ken Reid Conservation Area for a little outing. There is a boardwalk trail that takes you through a marshy area with lots of cattails and lily pads. From there you follow the trail through the pines to an osprey nest which is a ways out in the marsh. There was one osprey on the nest. We didn't see any young but did see a couple of others that kept circling and trying to land on the nest. It was a bit of entertainment. Here are some photos that I took but the nest is quite far away from where we were so my camera doesn't do a very good job. To see Gordon's photo of the osprey, click here.



Here are more photos of our morning outing.











On our way back we stopped at National Grocers and picked up a few things that we needed.

This afternoon I had a nap, then went to the campground showerhouse for a shower and afterwards sat outside and read. It always seems more homey sitting outside when the mat is down rather than just being on the grass.

A Day Spent in the RV Park at Home

I awakened to pouring rain. A least yesterday was one day of reprieve from it. The ground here is saturated and walking on the grass around the park is very spongy. There is water under a lot of the picnic tables and under the kid's swing set as well as lots of other places.

Pink hollyhock

Cute sign in the park


After breakfast I changed the bed and got the laundry ready and was on my way to getting it in the truck when I realized it was 9:55 a.m. and it was Wednesday and the coffee klatch was going on in the rec hall at 10 a.m. So I got the laundry in the washers and met Gordon at the coffee klatch. We again met up with Tom and Pat who we've met before and sat with Sharon and Phil who are two doors away from us. I was going back and forth to the laundry and finally got it done just after noon. There are four washers and dryers here and it's usually pretty busy so had to wait a while for the dryers. They also don't dry as well or as quickly as the big gas dryer in Ottawa does so it takes longer and of course, is more expensive.

Clouds in the water

The sun came out for a while this afternoon so I walked around the park, then got things ready to wash the windows. Gordon came out and did the windows for me so I wiped down the lower half of the RV. I know it will have to be done again as the top half badly needs washing too but another day for that!

The beach area


Lots of puddles


We both had naps this afternoon and I read for a bit then made cornbread to go with out stew for dinner.

A Day of Shopping

This morning I saw numerous Great Blue Herons on my walk. Most of them were flying as I startled them. The reeds are very high and they see me before I see them. They are such an awesome bird. Too bad they have such a terrible squawk. It doesn't fit their image!



Here's a photo of the water/electric sites. They have a beautiful view out the back window. The only problem is the tenters come in and pitch their tents right on the banks so you're usually looking at tents out your back window.

My sister, Betty picked me up at the campground this morning around 10:30 or so to head into Peterborough, about a half hour's drive from Lindsay. We go there every year to do some shopping. I really needed some closed in shoes. When we went on the road in 2004, I kept sandals as I thought that we would be somewhere warm both winter and summer. NOT! So I needed some dressy shoes that aren't high heels as I can't wear those very well especially now that my foot is just healing from being broken this winter. I also have arthritis in the big toe on my right foot so it's not very easy to wear them anyway but I do need a bit of a heel for my back so shoes are tough to find. So here are the ones I found after trying on many, many pairs of shoes!



I also bought a colourful blouse as I like something to wear over my t-shirts. With all the colours in it, It should cover most t-shirts, I think.



We had lunch on the patio at the Holiday Inn. It's the only patio on the water so we usually eat there. Here's a photo of Betty at lunch. Hmmm maybe I need a purple t-shirt.

We covered a lot of territory today, now I'm tired!

Getting Things Done and Visiting

This morning I got a lot accomplished. I had to clean the strawberries I bought yesterday, I made a stew, I vacuumed and washed the bathroom floor, all this after my walk. I saw a lovely great blue heron on my morning walk but didn't take my camera today as it gets in the way when I'm running. Oh well!

After lunch we got ready and went to Betty and Garth's cottage which is about 10 miles from us. We spent part of the afternoon there, had a lovely spare rib dinner with new potatoes and fresh corn and stayed to take some photos of sunset.

Here I am relaxing on the back deck at the cottage.

Garth and Gordon are chatting while Betty is inside cooking.

This is their dock and gazebo.


Three baby robins in a nest that we saw on our walk

The swamp just down the way from the cottage

Sunset


The weather was much the same as it's been for a while but it was humid and cool again.

The Weird Weather Isn't Letting Up!

When I first woke up this morning it was bright and sunny but by the time I got myself out of bed it was only partly sunny however I managed my walk around the park without getting wet. Almost as soon as I got back inside though,it started to rain. Here are some photos I took around the park this morning for those of you that like to see different RV parks. This park also has a lot of tents down by the water but I didn't take photos of that.

Photo #1 - puddles from all the rain
Photo #2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 - seasonal sites






Photo #8- one of the seasonals has a cow theme going on - they call it their 'udder place'


Photo #9 - washrooms, showers and laundry
Photo #10 - boat docking


The rest of the morning was spent doing my exercises and reading. I even managed to make a few bracelets today for the first time in ages. Yesterday when I was surfing trying to find a place to teach me beading I found the Kawartha Lakes Beading Club which is nearby in Cameron. I've exchanged emails with the head of the club (it's free) and they have lessons every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. so I've made tentative arrangements to go a week from this Saturday. You can bring your own beads or buy from her. Should be fun!


After lunch I got my act together and went into Lindsay to get some groceries. Other than that, it's been a quiet day, just rain, sun, cloud then rain, sun and cloud all over again.

Gordon did get a nice photo of a Great Blue Heron this morning. To see it, click here.