Purdon Conservation Area and Perth

It was 11C, windy and partly sunny as I did my 2 miles this morning. I saw abundant wildlife – my deer, although she wasn’t on the road, she was lying in the grass by the bush area and all I could see was her head. While I was looking at her a Baltimore oriole flew by and then as I was approaching my turnaround point, I saw something that resembled a dog in the ditch but it was definitely not a dog so a wolf or a coyote. It didn’t have hair around its face and it looked a darker brown so my guess was a small wolf. It didn’t stick around

When I got back we got the tanks dumped so we’re good there for another couple of weeks.

This morning I was looking for somewhere to go so when I got on the computer I was checking out the Mill of Kintail which is close to us and came across the Purdon Conservation Area. We were there last year but were too late for the orchids. They are supposed to be in bloom from mid June to mid July so we decided to go today. Lucky we went today as they are just about finished.Since the day was quite cloudy it was good for shooting photos of flowers but not much else. Below is the 'Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid' and the 'Pitcher Plant'. The Pitcher Plant catches insects almost like the flycatcher plant.

Below are more of the Lady's Slipper Orchids

And one lonely bog or water iris

We had packed a lunch today so decided to stop in Perth on our way home and have our picnic lunch at the park in town along the Tay River. It is a very pretty park and another place we want to go back to. Today was quite chilly for a picnic. I think we got to about 17C (63F).

On our way home we went down a side road that we've been talking about checking out to a place called Scotch Corners. Scotch Corners is a couple of businesses and about five houses but there is some pretty scenery along the road, some wetlands and old barns so we're glad we took the detour.

We also stopped at the local grocery to pick up a couple of things as they are closed tomorrow for the holiday.

So again, Happy Canada Day!

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!

Italian Potluck

It was pretty chilly this morning even though it was just before 9:00 a.m. when I set out. The sun was shining but it was windy and a north wind at that with the temperature at 11C (52F). I walked south on Appleton Side Road to the Trans Canada Trail and then walked west for about 10 minutes before turning around and retracing my steps back to the campground. It took about 40 minutes.

After my morning routine, I read for a while then prepared the ingredients to make my Spaghetti Bake for the campground potluck tonight.

The potluck was a little late starting but there was lots of food. The weather was fairly cool down by the water where the potluck was held but it’s a pretty spot. It’s good that I made a gluten free Spaghetti Bake as the theme was Italian and there wasn’t much else that Gordon could eat. I got a lot of compliments on the recipe including from my husband. I didn't take any photos at the potluck, didn't even take my camera.

We got back to the RV around 7:00 p.m. to a mountain of dishes. This cooking takes far too many dishes!

Another At Home Day (except for groceries)

There’s a new RV/camping site on line now called RVThereYet (cute name). It’s got lots of interesting links as well as RVers blogs, info on finding campgrounds, campground ratings and something called CampFree (you have to have a Paypal account to take advantage of this). Here’s the link:http://www.rvthereyet.cc/

I really didn’t want to get up this morning. I put an extra quilt on the bed last night as my feet have been cold when I wake up but this morning I was warm but I knew I’d have a monster headache if I didn’t get up. It was 16C (60F) and cloudy with quite a high wind coming from the north so it wasn’t all that warm! The radio said there was a 70% chance of rain this morning in Ottawa. We don’t seem to get all the weather that Ottawa gets. Looking at the radar the weather seems to come more from the north down the valley towards Ottawa and we’re west of the city. Works for me!

Around dinner time last night we had more heavy rains so much so that both the internet and TV went out for a short time. We had a few rumblings of thunder and then sunshine so Gordon went out to see if there would be a rainbow. He said there was a partial one and he took some photos but I haven’t seen any of them on pbase yet.

Late this morning I sat outside with my blanket as it was quite cool and windy but came in at lunch time and transferred myself and my book to the couch.

Around 3:30 p.m. I realized tomorrow is our potluck here at the campground and I needed some mozzarella cheese so off to the grocery store. I went into Carleton Place the back way through Appleton and took some photos in Appleton.

Photos of the Mississippi taken from Appleton

I tried to sit outside again when I got home but it can't decide whether it wants to rain or the sun wants to shine so I gave in and came in to do my Nightly News.

An At Home Day

I woke up to rain on the roof. Do I get up and walk or not? So I lazed around for ½ hour, the rain stopped and I got up and walked. Since the skies were threatening I went a shorter ways north, then east and then west so I got my 30-35 minutes in that way. It was 14C (57F) and cloudy but at least it didn’t rain on me.

After breakfast and my morning computer time, I defrosted the freezer. It needed to be done badly but I don’t like doing it when it’s too hot so today was a good day for such things. The owner of the campground mows on Thursdays so when he was done mowing around our RV, I went to get the electric mower to do my usual trim up but it wasn’t there so I’ll do it another day. I did a bit of sewing and washed my cloth purses and hung them outside under the bullnose of the RV to dry. Other than that, it was my usual reading. I’m running out of books. I stopped at the library here in Carleton Place one morning this week but it doesn’t open till 2:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday so I didn’t want to stay in town that long. I’ll have to go back and see what they have. I can take books out on my Nepean Library card which is nice.

We had some thunder rumblings this afternoon and a bit of rain and temperatures reaching 23C (73F) with some humidity. The sun came out later in the afternoon. All in all it wasn’t a bad day unlike what had been forecast yesterday.

More Around the Campground Photos

Wednesday

This morning was 17C (63F) sunny and windy. Below is where I walked this morning, all 5,159 steps of it. I finally remembered to wear my pedometer. This walk takes me about 35-40 minutes.

Eastbound on the side road

Southbound on the farm road

Westbound on the Trans Canada Trail (the old train tracks)

Northbound on Appleton Side Road

Gordon was nearly out of coffee this morning and as I can't buy Folger's instant in Carleton Place, that meant a trip to Ottawa. I had to go in to drop something off anyway so I headed in around 11:00 a.m. to do a bit of shopping. I stopped at Michaels to see what was new there - nothing I couldn't live without, Hazeldean Mall where I got the coffee and another pair of running shoes. It seems that Zellers is one of the only places where I can buy Folgers instant in Ontario. I think Loeb might have it too but I wasn't going there unless I had to. I then stopped at Walmart to pick up a few things and the Loblaws at Centrum Centre where I had planned to get my 1% lactose free milk in 4 litre size. I can only buy the litre size in Carleton Place. Turns out the Loblaws only had 1% in the litre size as well and I didn't feel like making any more stops so I bought it and will have to stop again Tuesday where I know I can buy it (Food Basics).

Other than trying to find a switch on our hot water heater (our electric switch has never worked), nothing much else happened today. I sent an email to Glendale this morning and was told where it's supposed to be but no luck finding it!

Today was a really nice day for the most part. This morning was really sunny. It clouded over this afternoon and we got a little bit of rain but then the sun came out again. There's no humidity and our high was about 22C (71F).

Thank Goodness for the Wind!

If it weren't for the wind today it would be really hot. It's quite humid as well but even so I sat outside this afternoon under the big tree and read. We're supposed to have thunderstorms later so Gordon put the awning up in preparation for increased winds.

I had walked this morning, done the laundry and gotten groceries so it felt good to relax!

More Campground Garden Flowers

More Appointments and Errands

This morning was quite a bit cooler 17C (62F) and only partly sunny. I walked further than usual this morning. I’ll have to measure it in the truck to see how far it is though.

We had an appointment with our doctor to get the results of our medicals and everything turned out well. After that we had lunch in the Food Court at Bayshore, ran some errands, went to the chiropractor and then came home as it was starting to rain and Gordon thought he forgot to close one of the vents and indeed one vent was open but it hadn’t rained very hard so it wasn’t a problem. That’s something we have to remember to do but as you get older you can’t remember anything!

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading and napping. Looks like the weather this week isn’t going to be very nice, cool and wet after tomorrow late in the day. This is supposed to carry on till at least Friday.

By the way, I finally got another blog visitor counter to work!

I didn’t take any photos today but I’ll leave you with one that Gordon took last night. He actually got up out of bed to go out and take it.

Saturn (dimmest spot), Venus, & the Moon

Baird Trail & Visiting Neighbours

Got up late this morning, about 8:50 a.m. I had such dreams last night, all active with me participating so I feel like I didn’t sleep much. It also rained during the night and I got up to close the window so it was warmer inside than before and I think that contributed to it.

Anyway it was 22C (72F) when I got up. It also looked like rain again so I only walked as far north as River Road on Appleton Side Road and back.

I had a nap this morning and after lunch we found the trail near Middleville that we looked for yesterday. It’s called the Baird Trail and it was quite pretty with a lot of pine trees and a boardwalk through the wetlands. We didn’t see much except for some butterflies but I thought I saw some bear tracks……..

When we got home John & Jean were sitting outside with Sarah so I went over and talked to them for a while then back to make dinner!

Happy Anniversary Margie & John!

and

Happy Father's Day!

To see Gordon's post, click here.

Photos Along the Baird Trail

Breakfast, Ottawa and a Drive in the Country

I got up a little earlier this morning as the campground was cooking breakfast for us starting at 8:00 a.m. So I walked then, came back, got ready and went for breakfast. It was quite a good breakfast for $5.00 – homemade scones, toast, sausage, eggs, bacon, coffee, juice and fruit.

Around noon we went into Ottawa. One of the stores where I buy gluten free things is Rainbow Foods and when I was there last week they were advertising a gluten free day which was held today. We got to sample different foods and all of them were very good including a bread and pizza. They were out of the bread mix so we’ll have to go back in later next week. It was also very hot today and the pizza was frozen so we’ll have to take the cooler in and get some as Gordon has been missing pizza.

We did a couple of errands as well and then started back taking a detour through Almonte and trying to find a nature preserve around Middleville. We never did find it. We’ll have to get instructions to get there another time.

The photo is one I took this afternoon on our little jaunt.

Low Key Day

More campground photos

View from my lawnchair

My neighbour, Jean walked with me this morning. We walked down the side road (Cram Road) eastbound, then south and then west on the farm road back to the Appleton Side Road. As we got back to the campground entrance we saw another couple walking south toward us. They had just been to see the turtles that are laying their eggs along the gravel shoulder. We chatted for a while. He still works at Nortel and works for the Northern Telecom part the same as I did. He said it’s not as great a place to work as it once was and hopes to be able to pack it in in a year or so.

After my usual morning routine I went outside to sit and read and was out for over four hours. I also walked around the park and took more photos. It was so beautiful outside today, no humidity and nice sunshine with blue sky and fluffy white clouds. It’s very peaceful here.

A very low key day!

A Hawiian Luau in Ottawa!

I’ve been eating too much of the pie I made lately so I’ve been combining running with my walking. Today I walked/ran the 2 km. to the lights at Hwy 7. It still took ½ hour. The day was beautiful with lots of sunshine a southwest breeze and (67F) when I started out. By the time I got home it was (71F).

Dave (owner) was mowing the lawn this morning so after he did what he could I mowed around the RV again. Our neighbour, Jean came over and wanted to borrow the mower after I was done and instead we sat outside and talked till about 1:15 p.m. Then I had to come in and get ready to go into Ottawa to our Hawaiian Luau sponsored by our financial advisors, Canada Retirement. They have a couple of these get togethers yearly, one in June and one in December which we’re never around for anymore. They are always well put together with lots of free food and booze. They have a band and dancing, not that we ever take advantage of the dancing part. It’s really very well done.

We didn’t stay long. We usually don’t know anyone although I did see someone that used to work at Breconridge today. On our way home we stopped at Bruce Pit where we used to take Bib for walks. It’s a local doggie spot where you can let your dog off leash to run although we never let Bib off leash. Gordon saw a heron on our way by so had to stop and take photos.

We arrived home and had a piece of pie. It’s almost gone, thank goodness! As long as it's here I have to eat it! I've been asked by someone who commented on my blog for a recipe hint. It's made with brown sugar, milk, and butter. I use cornstarch instead of flour because of the gluten. Don't know if that helps or not!

This is our neighbour, Sarah

The pig on the spit

We were to dress in our best Hawaiian outfit, everyone received a leis at the door

My Hawaiian outfit - my nephew gave one of the leis last year and I got
another one at the door

Visiting at My Former Office and "A Bear"?

It was about 10 degrees cooler this morning than yesterday but I also walked 1 ½ hours earlier than usual.

A few weeks ago I had made arrangements with Najat, one of the admins I worked with to come in to the office to visit and have lunch so today was the day. Thanks for lunch, Najat! I went in a bit early as I had some things to do and arrived at the office a little before 11:00 a.m. I got to see lots of people that I hadn’t seen since last year and one that I hadn’t seen for two years. Quite a few people are no longer there, some on maternity leave etc. I didn’t get to see Peter, my former boss but might go back again later this summer. I left around 2:00 p.m., stopped at the Real Canadian Superstore that I hadn’t been in before and picked up a few things.

On my return to the campground there was a sign on the gate “A bear has been spotted in the campground”. Wow! Who would think there would be a bear around here. All I’ve seen the last few days are turtles laying eggs in the gravel on the shoulder of the road and of course, lots of robins and red winged blackbirds so now I’ll be on the lookout for the bear!

No photos today. I was going to take my camera into the office but decided against it.

Tuesday Accomplishments

• Walked quite a ways considering it was already 25C (77F)
• Went into Ottawa to pick up Gordon’s repaired camera lens (after 6 weeks)
• Dropped by to see my sister at her work
• Went to take photos at the Ornamental Gardens (part of the Experimental Farm)
• Stopped at Bayshore and got a price for my glasses and decided to order them
• Picked up a prescription that I had phoned in last night
• Picked up a couple of things at the fruit market
• Returned home to Tranquil Acres
  

The truck thermometer was registering between 31C and 32C (88F and 90F) on our way home this afternoon. It was a hot one in the sun!

Photos taken at the Ornamental Gardens

About the Pie

The pie had to cool at least three hours so we just tried it - it was really good, it set pretty well but it was very sweet! I got a thumbs up from the pie taster (Gordon)!

Pie.......and Other Stuff

This morning was cloudy and humid and 20C (68F). Although I haven’t felt up to par the last couple of days I managed to do my morning walk.

We reached a high today of 28C (82F) with sunny breaks off and on.

This morning I packaged up the meats that I bought yesterday into freezer bags (the containers they come in usually take too much space in the freezer). I also made a bunch of hamburger patties.

I’ve been getting bored with lunch meats so decided to experiment with chickpeas. They actually make quite a good sandwich filling. I mash them, today I used garlic salad dressing instead of mayonnaise (that I used a couple of weeks ago) and some seasoned salt and finely chopped green pepper. I used finely chopped onion last time too but I’m not a big (raw) onion fan so didn’t use it this time. It’s quite nice for a change.

Gordon made an appointment at the Dodge dealer in Perth for our 126,000 km checkup and was able to get one this afternoon so while he was gone I finally used the gluten-free pie shell that Michelle had given me when we were in Columbus in April and made the world-famous butterscotch pie. There seems to be a problem with the butterscotch setting enough so we’ll see how it turns out. Just taking it out of the oven it didn’t feel as if it was set. The only thing I can think of is that we substitute cornstarch for flour. I’m wondering if using amaranth flour might work. I’ll have to do some research, not that I plan on making it again. My oven just doesn’t heat up well enough or hold the heat to bake. My husband looked happy when he came home and saw it cooling on the counter!

Good news! They even washed the truck at the dealership. That's a first for us with the truck!