Mostly About Doors

Today we drove to the little town of Perth about 12 miles from us. I wanted to go to Foodsmiths which is a specialty food store where I can buy some gluten free items and bulk items. I also wanted to go to Metro while there as they had blueberries on sale. I wouldn't have driven there just for the blueberries but since we were there....

While there we walked around downtown and I went into a few shops. Perth has some nice little stores, didn't buy anything but it was fun anyway.

I did take a liking to some of the doors I saw downtown though.

There are a lot of interesting doors in Perth and some very nice architecture as well. I'm hoping to go back and take some more photos when it gets warmer.

And a dragon column (there was one on each side of the door) for a Chinese restaurant.

We Met Jack! Tonight We Saw Beaver and the Supermoon

Today was the day that we were going to visit Nick and Becky and meet the newest member of our family, Jack.

This is Jack, isn't he a doll!

 What a little cutie he is and it's not just because I'm his great aunt. Even Gordon thought he was cute! He was having his lunch when we arrived and although we stayed a couple of hours he slept the whole time. He makes lots of noises when he's sleeping but he seems like a really good baby. He was 19 days old today!

Me with Jack

 Nick and Becky are doing well and Becky is looking good! We also got a tour of their house. It's a cute place and they're getting all settled.

Nick, Becky & Jack

Jack with his Mommy & Daddy

Jack with his parents, grandparents & aunt

I'm so glad to finally see the baby!

On another note, it's too bad we can't see the twins in Ohio as well as the remainder of the U.S. family. The good news is that Michelle, Eric and their family are planning to visit us this summer.

Tonight we went out to see the Supermoon. On the way there were two beaver on the ice right where we take our sunset photos in the summer. Unfortunately mine isn't too clear. It was getting pretty dark.

One of the beaver

Supermoon

Then on to see the supermoon!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

There's no Irish in my family that I'm aware of but anyone can be Irish for a day! A special Happy St. Patrick's Day to my brother-in-law, Garth who is Irish and proud of it! Unfortunately Garth and Betty don't have a computer so they won't see it but the thought is there!

This Morning's Conversation and Result

Gordon: When it clears today I want to go for a drive.

Sandra: Where do you want to go?

Gordon: I don't know, I thought we might just follow the Tay River.

Sandra: O-Tay! (Humour)

The sun came out here around noon so we headed west. Unfortunately the sun didn't follow us but we did follow the Tay River. We followed it backwards from where it empties into the Lower Rideau Lake to it's inception at Bob's Lake near Bolingbroke. So, we traveled a lot of back roads today and the car looks like it's been mud wrestling!

The Tay River emptied into Lower Rideau River

This is at Bowes' Mill - the old mill is on the left

This is another old building at Bowes' Mill - has a gas pump in front of it but building is vacant

The Tay

Probably a Bohemian Waxwing-there were a lot of them around

The Tay

The Tay

The Tay

Common Mergansers & 2 geese in the distance

Merganser closeup

And they're off!

This was a lovely well-kept old barn-there were more outbuildings painted the same

A Canada goose along the Tay

Aliens or snowmobiles?

We really were on back roads today

The Tay River begins at Bob's Lake at Bolingbroke

Here's a little map of our drive today. We did backtrack quite a bit so it's not exactly where we went, but it's close.

We found a lot of very scenic back roads today. We returned home via Sharbot Lake where we'd been a couple of weeks ago. I didn't realize the town was as large as it is and very scenic being on......Sharbot Lake.

What A Difference Between Saturday & Sunday!

Saturday

Sunday

A New Member of our Family

On Tuesday March 1st at 8:05 a.m. a new member of our family was born. My nephew and godson, Nick and his wife, Becky became the proud parents of Jack. Jack was a big boy weighing 8 lb 9 oz and is 21 inches long. The birth of Jack makes me a great aunt!

Here are some photos:

This is Jack!

This is Auntie Danica with Jack

And my sister AKA Nanny with Jack

And the proud Daddy with his brand new son

We all welcome Jack to the family!

I'm Severely Ticked Off!

OK, so I had decided I wasn't going to write a blog anymore but I wanted to write this because I think it is highly unfair.

We are customers of Bell Mobility (cell phone) here in Canada. We decided to buy our phones and go on a pay as you go plan so we wouldn't get a monthly bill. We bought our cell phones mid November 2010 after our Verizon contract was finished. We could have continued with Verizon but at $90.00 US per month, it was just too costly. I only have good things to say about their Customer Service. Unlike Bell!

Shortly after we got our phones I started getting unsolicited text messages. I should point out that Gordon and I never use texting on our phones. I should also point out that Bell charge for any incoming text messages. So I went in to the Smiths Falls office and was told they couldn't take texting off my phone. (Verizon had removed it at my request.) Yesterday we went to Ottawa and were told the same thing at the Bell store but he gave me the Customer Service number to call. So this morning I called them and was told they could indeed take texting off but I would have to pay for any incoming text messages to my phone regardless. Does that make sense to anyone? Does it make sense that I have to pay for unsolicited incoming messages? He suggested I call the people texting me and tell them to stop or text "Stop" to them. I called the number that sent me the text message "Hey" two days ago. Turns out it was a young person, probably high school age. I told her to stop texting me and she said that she didn't. I told her the message had come from her phone and maybe she should keep better tabs on it. To her credit, she did apologize.

If we hadn't purchased the phones and phone card already, I'd be tempted to tell them to stick their phones where the sun don't shine however we do need cell phones for emergencies. The alternatives are Telus who also charge for incoming text messages and Rogers who doesn't however their service area is sometimes in question routing you to US towers at times.

The service rep at the Bell store in Ottawa did send a "stop" message to a couple of spam messages so we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, after I hung up I sent an email to Bell explaining the situation and asking for a satisfactory conclusion. Do you think I'll get anywhere?

Quick Trip to Ottawa

Today we headed in to Ottawa to pick up Gordon's passport. When he took the paperwork in a couple of weeks ago it cost him $11.00 to park. Since I went with him today we were able to park at the meters and it cost $1.00 and I was able to walk around the Byward Market a bit.

Byward Market outdoor stalls

Another part of the market

In the market looking toward the Chateau Laurier Hotel

Chateau Laurier Hotel

Parliament Buildings taken from our moving car

Canadian Edifice Building

National Archives

Plowing the sidewalk in front of the War Museum

Ottawa River Parkway

Another view of the Parkway

Bate Island

Shirley's Bay Birding Area - many noisy squirrels there

Birds on a feeder

Chickadee

 

 

We didn't stay in the city long. We had one errand to run at the Carlingwood Mall, then stopped at Mud Lake but only the same two Mallard Ducks were there so on to Shirley's Bay and then headed for home arriving shortly after 1 p.m.