Sunday November 8, 2009-Yesterday's Milestone

On Saturday night, I finally got 100,000 hits on my blog. It's taken since January 2006 so I'm no Tioga George but it certainly is a milestone for me. Mind you, because of technical problems I've started counters over a few times but I'm so happy to finally reach 100,000. Thanks to all my readers!


What a beautiful sunny warm day Sunday turned out to be! I was almost too warm on my morning walk.

Gordon had gone out before sunrise and on his way back had stopped at the flu clinic when they opened and gotten his bracelet and was told to come back at 9:30 a.m. so I got ready and went with him but stayed in the truck. It took under an hour for him to get the shot and wait his 15 minutes to see if he was going to react.

After that we went home to pick up Gordon's camera and while there moved Nancy's outdoor furniture to the garage then we headed out to Richmond Lagoons about 5 miles south of us where Gordon went at sunrise this morning. The lagoons were filled with geese at sunrise and still had some but not nearly as many as when he was there earlier. We walked a bit beside the lagoons but decided it wasn't very interesting so took off to another trail we had seen but not been on.

Richmond Lagoons



Monaghan Forest trail also isn't terribly interesting but it was something different.

Trail at Monaghan Forest



After that we headed home for lunch.

I had wanted to go to my hometown area around Morrisburg, ON all summer but never got there so today we went.

This house used to be my schoolhouse. It was a one room schoolhouse where I went to school for the first eight years. My school teacher's daughter lives there now.

This was the farmhouse where I spent the first 17 years of my life. Unfortunately the people who own it now have let it go downhill. It was such a beautiful house!


This is the plaque that my sisters and I had done after my Mom passed away in 2002

We also planted this red maple tree in their honour. It's right by the path in Morrisburg where they lived in the latter years of their life and is right by the St. Lawrence River.

More of the path and the river

This is where they moved after they sold the farm. It was originally owned by my mother's parents.

And Morrisburg even has a Tim Horton's!

This is an old barn in a corn field that we saw along the way

And boats at a marina all stored for the winter.

What an absolutely gorgeous day. We actually reached a high of 19C (67F).

Saturday November 7, 2009-Visit

It was another chilly morning for my walk but the sun came out later in the day and we actually hit 10C (50F).

This morning I went grocery shopping with Nancy. Saturday is definitely not a great day to do groceries. Way too many people!

After lunch I found my niece on MSN chat and found out that her Mom was going to be home so I went over to see them. I hadn't seen them since we got back to Ottawa after our trip to the Fort Erie area due to colds, flus etc. I was able to spend an hour or so there before heading home before the sun went down.

Here's a photo of the sunset on my way home.

Friday November 6, 2009-Shopping

It was ccccold this morning with a wind but it's going to get worse so I'd better get used to it!

After my walk and breakfast, we decided to go over to the flu clinic that's close to us to see if Gordon could get his H1N1 shot. The sign said they were full for today so we'll try another day.

So, we went shopping for winter boots for Gordon (photo shown). We went to Tootsie's first. They had the same boots that he had before we started our odyssey however we decided to continue looking so we stopped at Mark's Work Wearhouse. Their boots were really expensive. So off to Sears. They had 40% off boots. Gordon found a nice pair that are rated for -50C (-58F) so he's all set.

While out we picked up an extra large double double coffee for Nancy, 2 timbits for Max, a small black coffee for Gordon and a boston creme donut for me at Tim Horton's.

I had a long nap this afternoon. The sun we were supposed to have this afternoon didn't materialize. We had planned to go and do a trail if it did so it was a low key afternoon.

Thursday November 5, 2009-Our 19th Anniversary

It was colder this morning somewhere around 0C (32F). My face got cold on my walk but other than that I was dressed warmly enough.

After breakfast we decided to go out and see our little home on wheels are there was some stuff we wanted to pick up. On our way out it started to s***. YUK!

That haze you see is snow

Big fat flakes

Geese on the Mississippi River at Appleton, ON



We found the RV to be fine, no mice in any of the traps but the batteries are nearly dead. The lights were very dim when we turned them on to test them. We picked up what we needed and headed home.

And our poor little house on wheels


After a nap and a shower, we got ready to head out for dinner.

Nancy took our 19th anniversary photo in front of the fireplace


We would up going to Zola's in Bells Corners which is only a couple of miles away. They have gluten free pizza so Gordon was happy and he ordered a four cheese pizza. It was snowing again.

Snow on the windshield


Gordon's four cheese pizza

I wound up having veal marsala. It was a very lovely presentation and they substituted more veggies instead of potatoes.

My veal marsala

Our restaurant photo

Some Greek decor at Zola's

It was an excellent anniversary meal!

Snow on Nancy's lawn when we got home

Wednesday November 4, 2009-Hair

I forgot to say that yesterday Gordon sent the email to the US Embassy in Ottawa that he'd been preparing for a week. We did get a response saying they had received it but apparently if the answer is found somewhere in the links that they sent you, they might not reply. It appears that their main job is dealing with visas so who knows?

Anyway, it was much colder today but was bright and sunny this morning. We had a high of 4C (39F) and this morning when I went for my walk it was 2C (36F) with a wind chill of -6C (21F) but I was toasty being dressed for the weather.

Gordon had gone out on a photo shoot with his friend, Jim before sunrise and came back late morning. He was so tired he slept most of the afternoon.

After lunch I got my act together and went out and got my hair coloured and cut and then picked up some groceries and some things I couldn't do without at Walmart.

The rest of the day and evening was quiet.

Tomorrow is our 19th wedding anniversary!

Tuesday November 3, 2009-More Trails

It looked kind of gloomy when I got up this morning so didn't go for my walk.

Nancy had interviewed a lady to start housecleaning today so it hadn't started raining and the sun was peeping out here and there so when she arrived we headed out to do the Pinhey Woods trail which is in the southwestern part of the city behind the Nepean Sportsplex. We did see some birds but they weren't as friendly as the other trails. I guess no one feeds them on this trail. This is a pretty trail with lots of tall pine trees. I just love listening to the wind in the pines. We had gotten a ways on the trail when the sky darkened and we got a few spits of rain so we headed back to the truck.

Tall pines at Pinhey Forest



Once back in the truck the sun started to come out again and we could see blue sky so we headed to a trail that we've passed before but never taken. It's another Stony Swamp trail. This is a very long trail. The birds were friendlier here so since I had taken my sunflower seeds both Gordon and I took turns feeding them. They are so cute! We were both tired when we got back to the truck. It's not as pretty as some of the other trails either but Gordon had seen a lake nearby on the map however we couldn't find the trail that went to the lake although there is one that shows on the map so we'll have to go back another time. There are quite a few parts to the Stony Swamp Conservation Area. You'll recall that we had done another part of it on Sunday.

Gordon with the red-breasted nuthatch

A part of today's Stony Swamp trail



We got home after 1 p.m. and the cleaner was just finishing so we got some lunch and I read a bit and had a nap.

I made my meatloaf recipe for tonight, then decided to do Carrots Cosmopolitan and boiled potatoes for Nancy and Gordon and brown rice for me.

Monday November 2, 2009-Another Trail

Today was another beautiful day so I had my morning walk and breakfast and then Gordon and I took off to walk the Old Quarry Trail which isn't far from us.

Along the Trans Canada Trail this morning

The trees look so pretty against the blue sky

Part of the Old Quarry Trail

Boardwalk through Stony Swamp

Trail through the trees

Chickadee on the ground


What a beautiful sunny day to be out in nature. Gordon took some photos of me with the birds landing on my hand.

This is a red breasted nuthatch

And these two are chickadees


I finally went out this afternoon and bought some bird seed to take on our hikes so the birds won't be disappointed.

Oh and we stopped at Timmy's for coffee after our hike. Since my reflux has been doing well, I decided to have one. The first in about three years!

This afternoon I also got some groceries and picked up some stuff for Nancy.

Sunday November 1, 2009-Beautiful Sunny Day!

Well, even if my deportation has caused us to be depressed, at least it's driven up my blog readership! No, I didn't do it on purpose!

When I got up this morning the sun was shining brightly and it was 5C (41F) so off I went on my walk. After breakfast Gordon and I took off to the Stony Swamp Trail. I've been there before but I can't remember being on the part of the trail where we were today. We saw all kinds of little creatures today but there were lots of people there. It's nice to see the trails being used but I sure wish people would be quieter. Noise scares away the creatures!

Stony Swamp trail

The trees are looking pretty bare

Red squirrel close-up

Female Hairy Woodpecker

All the ducks in a row


Beaver lodge

Red-breasted nuthatch

Bluejay

We had gotten pork tenderloin out of the freezer yesterday and it turned out to be four of them in a package so Gordon barbecued them all and we'll freeze some. It was yummy!