Saturday August 22, 2009 - Margie's 50th Birthday Party!

Today was another day at the cottage. We had a forecast for thunderstorms but we only had some rain when Garth was cooking our steaks at dinner time and then again when we left to go home.

We arrived at the cottage shortly before noon to find a note saying everyone was out in the boat. We went down to the dock and it wasn't long before the boat came along with everyone waving.

Then it was lunch time - hot dogs and chips on the back deck.

After lunch I took some bird photos - this bluejay was on top of the cottage


Nick and Becky were playing with a football out in the water. Nick is diving off the raft to get the ball. Quite a dive!

Some of us had an afternoon nap and Betty and I went for a walk.

Gordon and nephew, Nick shucking the corn for dinner.


An old dock down by the boathouses

Margie will be 50 tomorrow, hard to imagine. She still looks like a teenager. We had blown up some balloons and attached them to her chair.


And here we all are at dinner in the dining room at the cottage

Margie models the fancy box-link bracelet that Betty & Garth and Gordon & I gave her


The night was topped off by fireworks done by John and Nick.



The end of a great day!

Friday August 21, 2009-Ladies Day Out

Today my sisters, Betty & Margie, my niece, Danica and my niece-in-law, Becky picked me up at the RV park for our ladies day out. First Becky wanted to see the RV as she has never seen it. She was impressed!

From there we went in to Lindsay to a little clothing shop that usually has some really good bargains but Margie was the only one who got anything and she got a top for $2.00. Then to Giant Tiger next door to pick up some stuff.

Danica was our driver today so we then headed to Fenelon Falls. Fenelon Falls claims to be the Niagara of the Kawarthas. We had lunch at the Fallsview Restaurant which overlooks the falls. It's pretty but the falls are noisy!

At the Fallsview Restaurant, on the left - me, Margie, Betty and on the right in front is Becky and peeking out behind her is Danica with the Falls in the background.

After lunch we walked around the little town and went in to some of the shops. Betty bought a pair of shoes and Danica bought a small back pack but the rest of us didn't buy anything.

From there we continued around Sturgeon Lake to Bobcaygeon where we again toured the shops and this time none of us bought anything.

We were lucky in that we had some dark clouds but only a couple of drops of rain. It turned out to be quite nice in spite of the forecast.

Around 3:30 we arrived back at the cottage in time to have a nap before dinner.

Some photos of the two cottages

The back of Betty & Garth's cottage - this faces the road

Back and front of the guest cottage


Margie and John made most of the dinner. They were making spaghetti so Gordon needed gluten free pasta and I can't eat tomatoes so I had brought an Alfredo sauce for me. All these food allergies are complicated at a dinner like this. She also made garlic bread, sausage and caesar salad.

Dinner at Betty & Garth's cottage

We retired to the guest cottage for desert which Danica had made, some nice squares and shortly after Gordon and I headed for home. Tomorrow is another busy day at the cottage.

Margie & John's wire-haired terrier, Jasper

Far too much eating today!

Thursday August 20, 2009-More Shopping

It was cloudy and warmer this morning when I went for my walk. Since it looked like rain I didn't venture out onto the road but stayed within the park.

After breakfast I got ready and went in to town. I had some items to pick up. While I was there I found Gordon another vest at Giant Tiger in a dark beige colour. It was on sale! So, now he's set for vests. I had some research to do on some things I'm thinking of buying for gifts so I can't mention it here. LOL

When I was out I bought a new outdoor mat for $6.67 at Canadian Tire. With it you got a $5.00 gift card so the mat wound up costing $1.67. Such a deal! I had been using our old indoor mat and it wasn't very good for outdoor and always seemed to be sopping wet. This one is stiff like an outdoor mat should be so maybe I won't have so much grass and stuff in the RV now.

I took this photo of the Scugog River when I went to dump the old mat in the garbage can.


I got home around 12:30 p.m., spent some time on the computer till I heard naptime calling. It turned in to quite a long nap.

Now to be prepared for a series of thunderstorms coming through the area this evening.

This weekend is our cottage weekend held annually at my sister's cottage at Pleasant Point which is on Sturgeon Lake. I expect my posts will be very late or possibly even done the following morning.

Wednesday August 19, 2009 - Seeing the Countryside

Overnight our 'cold' front came in so it was much crisper this morning at 16C (61F). It was a relief from the humidity.

After breakfast we got ready and went back to Peterborough RV to pick up our new sewer hose system. There are no clamps on this one, everything is glued together.

Here's another barn that we saw on our way

From there rather than go back through construction we headed north to Lakefield. Lakefield is a pretty little town and is known for Lakefield College where Prince Andrew (Duke of York) went to school in the late 70s.

This is looking toward the downtown

Since it was close to noon, we only walked by the lake for a bit and then went downtown to The Thirsty Loon. We've eaten there before and like it because they have a large verandah with tables for outdoor dining.

Gordon had a burger (no bun) and fries and I had shepherd's pie (shown below). It really was a lot of food.

This is the verandah

After lunch, we walked around the town for a while.

Some pretty flowers in the park

This is a memoriam to those in the area who lost their lives in the first, second and Korean wars.

We were driving back toward Lindsay when I saw this sign out of the corner of my eye. So, we turned around and went back. They have quite a lot of gluten free things. Gordon bought some shortbread cookies (which he said weren't very good), three butter tarts and a loaf of white bread. He tried a slice of the bread in the bakery and he said it was pretty good.

On we went through the countryside and took another barn photo. I actually took quite a few but not all of them turned out very well.


I had changed the bed this morning so when we got back, I took the laundry to the campground laundromat and got that little job out of the way.

It was a lovely sunny day with little humidity and a high of 28C (82F).

Tuesday August 18, 2009-Some Time with my Sister

I was up earlier this morning as I was meeting my sister in Lindsay at the library. One Tuesday a month in the summer they have a book sale. I don't usually buy anything but this time I found six books! Gordon dropped me off for 10 a.m. and I found Betty already in the library amongst the books.

After that since the day was kind of rainy, we went to the mall. Betty decided she needed a pedicure and I had a few errands to run. She wasn't all that impressed with the pedicure place so I'm glad I didn't get one. It's pretty hard to go somewhere else after you've been to "The Spa" in Ottawa. It costs a lot but they do it up right!

From there we went to the Durham Cafe for lunch. It was a pretty good lunch although my western sandwich was pretty dry as I only put very little ketchup on it due to my reflux disease. Anything with tomato bothers me. The beef and barley soup was very tasty though.

Betty then dropped me at the grocery store and I called Gordon to come and pick me up. I got some groceries then to the liquor store to buy some wine and home for the day!

I didn't even take my camera today since it was rainy and I didn't foresee that it would be required.

When I got back I submitted my Rainbow and Lightning photo to National Geographic so we'll see if anything comes of it. Thanks to Dee and Jake for the encouragement

Monday August 17, 2009 - HHH!

Today was hot, humid and hazy! Thank goodness we don't often get days like that up here. Our high probably wasn't as high as it's been the last couple of days but the humidity made up for it.

After my morning walk and breakfast, I suggested that we go to Peterborough to Peterborough RV to get a new sewer hose combination. We had bought a new one when we had the head of the bed raised there a couple of years ago and it was time for another one.

There was construction on Hwy 7 which is the main route to get there so after we had ordered the sewer hose, we decided to head south to get out of the construction and see if we could find a different way back to Lindsay.

We stopped at Lang Pioneer Village at Keene, Ontario just to have a look. Gordon is interested in going back to photograph the village.

Very pretty mill on site



From there we headed south and west through the country taking photos of barns and fields.

Rice Lake in the haze


Lots of pretty barns and fields









You can see the haze



We arrived home in time for a late lunch and a nap. We had a brief thunderstorm but it didn't amount to much. We had hoped it would bring in some cooler air and it might have lowered the humidity slightly.

Sunday August 16, 2009 - The Good and the Bad

First the good - Today is our youngest granddaughter's first birthday. I took this photo in April and she has grown so much! She started walking a couple of weeks ago. Happy Birthday Iris!

Now the bad - it was three years ago today that we had to put our poodle, Bib to sleep. It happened here in Lindsay and I see the vet's office almost every time I go to town. Sure wish I had chosen a different vet further away! He was such a handsome looking dog even though he did have a few personality problems. I still miss him.

Photos from my morning walk

A boy fishing in the misty river
This trailer is ready for Hallowe'en a little early

Yellow wildflowers

Dead tree
A lot of wild carrot


We spent a quiet day around the RV. I sat outside and read. There is a large copse of trees behind us and therefore we get shade almost all day. When I got sleepy I came inside for a nap! It was another day with 33C (92F) temperatures. The last week has been trying to make up for the cool temperatures of the rest of the summer.

It was nice to spend a quiet day after yesterday.