Some Photos and What We've Been Doing

Little Blue Church, Prescott, ON

On Sunday we headed to Prescott as Gordon wanted to visit Fort Wellington and Windmill Point Lighthouse as his birthday trip.

First we went to Windmill Point Lighthouse. It was supposed to be open on the weekend through September but although it was a beautiful day, it was closed.

Then on to Fort Wellington, he did the tour, I waited in the car. History isn't my thing.

This Little Blue Church was my father's favourite church in the area so we stopped and took some photos there.

After that we headed back home.

Today (Thursday 22 September), it was a lovely afternoon so we decided to go for a drive to see if there were any Fall colours.

We didn't see a lot of colour. It may still be too early.

Fall scene

Wetlands area 

More wetlands

And still more

Dead tree

As we were driving along a back road we saw this huge turtle crossing the road. When he saw us coming he turned around and went back the way he had come.

Crossing the road the way he had come

Once he got across the road he stopped in the grass along the side and looked like he was going to pull into his shell but he didn't.

Really big turle

Traveling the back roads

We decided these were cypress knees

 They are not cypress knees as we have no cypress trees in this area but we can dream.

The sumac has turned red

Curvy back road

Great blue heron enjoying his spot on the lake

Cove Road is very pretty with it's canopied trees

We had a lovely afternoon and I had put some pork tenderloin in the slow cooker this morning so dinner was ready when we got home.

Another Birthday!

What a beautiful day for my birthday. It was sunny, warm with a slight breeze and a clear blue sky. My very favourite kind of day.

We decided this morning to go to Kingston about 1 1/2 hrs away. We had gone with Dee and Jim in June but it was way too busy, no parking spots, too many people....


First stop was Lower Brewers Lock. This is the last lock on the Rideau Canal System that Gordon hadn't seen and photographed. While there we found this Great Blue Heron. He was being very nice and letting us photograph him.

Here he doesn't look so nice but he was scratching.

 Then he took off but didn't go far.

He just started walking around the grounds and by the locks.

 Then he landed on the bridge that crosses the lock.

 And then he went down by the water looking for fish. All this time he wasn't far away from us. We had enough photos of the heron by this time.

 From there we went to Swiss Chalet on Bath Road (not the same one we went to with Dee and Jim) and had our chicken fix.

This is the main buiding at the Collins Bay Institution (Penitentiary). It's such a nice building. Looks like someone's castle.

On to downtown Kingston.  The Kingston Penitentiary is located right next to Portsmouth Harbour so it looks like the inmates have their own fleet!

 This is a photo of the sun shining on Lake Ontario for Dee.

 While we were there the Coast Guard came in.

 This is my absolute favourite shot of the sailboat.

 We stopped downtown and took a photo of the old railway station that is now the tourist bureau. It was under construction when we were there with Dee & Jim.

 There is a pretty fountain behind the tourist bureau.

 Next stop was Wolfe Island. We're getting on the ferry.

 Old Fort Henry taken from the ferry.

 Heading toward Wolfe Island. You can see all the wind turbines on the island.

 Our arrival.

Many, many wind turbines.

We had a great day. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Updates

Yesterday's goose photo described it as being a cross between a Canada goose and a white faced goose. The Birder's forum that Gordon uses to identify birds says it is  a feral Greylag (barnyard) goose.


After my research yesterday on the cause of my headaches, I remained off dates since yesterday morning. Today the pressure behind my eyes is gone although my eyes are tired. Hopefully I've solved my own problem. I should know that most of my physical problems are food related!

Egrets in Ottawa!

We had to go to Ottawa today for an eye appointment for me. I've been having really bad headaches for about three weeks almost migraine like.

So, we went early. We had heard that there had been Great White Egrets at Andrew Haydon Park and Mud Lake. And they were right!

Here are the ones at Andrew Haydon, actually there were three.

It's so exciting to finally see egrets up here! We haven't seen these beautiful birds since early spring 2009 at the Texas Gulf Coast.

On to Mud Lake. The ones we spotted there were too far away to get any good photos and it started to rain so we didn't try to get closer but I think there were at least three there. I sure hope they keep coming back!

While there we saw this different looking goose. Gordon thinks it's a cross between a Canada goose and a white-faced goose. It was quite comical.

Looks like it's doing the Texas two step!

The eye doctor checked me thoroughly and couldn't find anything that would cause my headaches. He suggested I contact my family doctor so that's next on the list.

In the meantime I did some research. I've been eating a lot of dates in the form of purchased larabars and home made ones and apparently that's a migraine trigger! Another possibility is a sinus infection but right now I'm thinking it's the dates. Larabars have become quite a treat for me.

Cottage Weekend 2011-Two Birthdays and Another One Today!

This weekend was our annual (except for last year) trip to Pleasant Point near Lindsay, Ontario. Every year, Betty and Garth host a weekend for our family.

Just before we arrived it was announced that there was blue green algae in Sturgeon Lake and although it was at the other side of the lake no one wanted to take the chance of going in as it's nasty and toxic. Luckily Betty and Garth have ultra violet light on their water system so their water was safe although we didn't use any more than we had to and they always use bottled water for drinking. So that was a bummer for people who wanted to swim and canoe. Danica had wanted to swim across the lake but decided against that as well.

This year was very different from the last number of years because there was a baby in the family. The last baby was Danica, 23 years ago. Unfortunately a lot of the photos I took inside the cottage were very dark and some blurry so I don't have a lot to post.

We arrived late Friday afternoon, unpacked and Betty, Garth, Gordon and I went into Lindsay to Swiss Chalet for dinner.

When we returned, Nick, Becky & Jack had arrived followed by Margie, John and Danica a while later.

Photos all about Jack!

Saturday is a blur. We didn't do a lot and it seems most of the weekend revolves around food. You're either preparing it, eating it or cleaning up after it, it seems. Saturday evening, Betty and Garth always prepare a big dinner, this time it was steak, baked potato and corn except for me. I had steak and broccoli since corn no longer agrees with me and gives me pain for days. Two birthdays were celebrated, Margie's which is next week and Gordon's 65th in mid September.

After dinner, Nick, Becky and Jack headed for home. It was too bad they weren't able to stay for the weekend as originally planned.

Anyway, Sunday came and packing ensued and after lunch we were on our way home arriving around 4:30 or so. We each got our own dinner and were in bed shortly after 7 p.m. Getting old is tiresome!

After tai chi this morning we accompanied our instructor to the former Rideau Regional Hospital. It was recently sold to Galipeau Construction, a local construction company and has been renamed the Gallipeau Centre. We're looking for a larger place for our tai chi and they have a huge gymnasium that would be ideal. Too bad it's out of town though.

This afternoon we had been invited by my cousin, Ethel to go to Broadview Manor where her family were having a get together for her mother, my aunt. She is my mother's youngest sister.

Little did I realize it was for Aunt Joyce's birthday. We stayed for a while and met Ethel's siblings and their spouses, some of whom I've seen at funerals but for the most part haven't seen them for years. It's always good to reconnect with family.

RIP Doug Dubrouillet (1941-2011)

Although Gordon and I are no longer card carrying members of the fulltime RVing community, we still keep in touch and read blogs of those who are.

Today we received sad news of the passing of Doug Dubrouillet. We met Doug and JoAnn at Usery Mountain in December 2008 and again at Doc Justin's RV Park in Tucson. Doug was a lovely man with a dry sense of humour, a love of food and sleep, especially sleeping in!

Over the past few months Doug had suffered a lot of pain and he and JoAnn had made the decision to come off the road and had settled in their park model in Panama City, FL. He will be greatly missed by his family, his faithful standard poodle, Fillmore, his friends, his Facebook friends, and all of the RVing community.

RIP Doug. We all mourn your passing. I know you'll be up in Heaven still creating Doug's Pro Fantasy Football team.

Doug & JoAnn (on left) at Coyote Pause, Tucson, AZ

Last Night's Sunset Photo

I sent last night's sunset photo to CTV Ottawa News and it was featured on tonight's weather. That's my 10 seconds of fame!

Tonight's Sunset

We had an interesting sunset tonight. Here are some photos. The end photos kind of looked like the state of Texas!

The Long Awaited Visit

When we were fulltime RVers we would stop in Ohio to visit Gordon's kids and the grandkids on our way south and again on our way north. The last time we saw them was April 2009 so on Sunday, Michelle (Gordon's daughter), Eric (her husband) and the three kids, Grace, Faith and Luke arrived for a visit.

Below is a candid shot I took of Grace at the pool.

This is also a candid shot of Luke.

 Faith pretty much posed this one!

This photo was taken this evening at Stewart Park in Perth, Ontario. It's a beautiful setting for some beautiful people!

Gordon's daughter and her husband.

Luke's ice cream is almost as big as he is!

And Faith seemed to enjoy her bubble gum ice cream!

It was a short visit but we were sure glad they could come up and see us since we won't be able to go to the U.S. any time soon!

Tomorrow they head to Niagara Falls area.