The Not So Nightly News

Link to The Day From Hell

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:23:00 +0000

For those of you that don't know the saga of how all this happened, click here.

Immigration News

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:45:00 +0000

After over three years my immigration status in the U.S. has been resolved in my favour. Below is the message I received from my immigration lawyer this afternoon.

"Just received order reopening and terminating your case with prejudice to the Department. Congratulations!!! You won!!!"

And this is what he posted on Facebook to the general public.

"Just received order from immigration court in Cleveland, Ohio reopening and terminating deportation proceedings on behalf of one of the most patient, understanding, and deserving clients that I have ever represented. So happy to FINALLY get this result. #VICTORY"

There is still some paperwork to be done but at least I'm free to cross the border again. We definitely won't be going any time soon though.

Merry Christmas 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 20:54:00 +0000

New Toys!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Yesterday we blew the proverbial wad and went in to Ottawa to Gordon's friend, Leroy's house (he's an apple value added retailer) where I picked up my new 13" MacBook pro laptop (no retina display) and my new ipad (not the mini). The photos below I took off the web but my new menagerie of computers look just like it, well, except for the picture on the MacBook.

We spent nearly 3 hours with Leroy as he set both of the computers up for me. I can't believe I'm as good with getting them set up as I am. I remember years ago when I worked at Nortel having to get the IT guys to come and help with the simplest of problems. Mind you Nortel had a huge network which complicated things. Last night I got a bunch of things set up including Java so that I could access the RV-Dreams chatroom. I don't use it every night the way I used to but it's nice to go in and have a chat with the RVers. They were a part of my life for five years.

This morning Gordon did some backing up and I transferred files from my old MacBook (anyone want a 5 1/2 year old MacBook laptop). I got my ipod nano working, got the printer set up, got Adobe Flash installed and now I'm pretty much set!

We've decided that with our food problems we won't be doing any more traveling so decided to spend our 'travel' money on new toys. Gordon gets his new system in a week or so. I'll let him tell you about it then.

In the meantime, I've started a new blog where my plan is to take a Photo A Day. There might be some boring ones and ones with a lot of white in them (coming soon) but it will be what it will be! For anyone interested, click here.

22nd Wedding Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 02:50:00 +0000

Our anniversary started out bright and sunny so we took a morning drive to find some roads we hadn't been on. While we were out the clouds came in and all of a sudden, no sun! So we headed for home to have some lunch.

Interesting shape to this old barn

Redneck mailbox holder

Nice farm on a hill near Athens, ON

I had made reservations for dinner for our 22nd anniversary at Gads Hill Place in Merrickville. They are are known for being quite accommodating for food problems. We haven't eaten out much lately mostly due to the problems I've been having with food. I'm getting tired of cooking! It's so nice to sit down to a meal that someone else has cooked and that doesn't happen for us any more.

Our official 22nd Anniversary photo

When we arrived we found the waitress to be very knowledgeable. She had checked their menu and could tell us what was gluten free and dairy free or what they could adapt to make it so. I wound up with grilled scallops and shrimp on rice with braised cabbage. Different and very good. Gordon had a chicken breast in a tarragon sauce with rice and carrots. He's not much for sauces but said it was good.

Interior of Gads Hill Place

Our table

Our dinners

Gordon just getting ready to leave

It was cold when we came out of the restaurant. I need to buy warmer slacks 'cause it's not going to get much warmer till about April!

22nd anniversary is now over, on our way to 23!

Settling Down for Cold Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:04:00 +0000

We haven't had much going on such we got back from our PEI trip. We've gone out to take Fall foliage photos a few times. I didn't think it would be pretty this year because of our dry summer but it actually was quite beautiful.

On one of our trips we stopped at Kilborns at Newboro as Gordon has wanted at Tilley hat for a long time. I didn't know of anywhere around that sold them and as we were approaching Newboro there were all these signs for Tilley hats. This place is only about 30 minutes away from us so in we went and out he came with his new Tilley outback!

So much more classy than a baseball hat! Now if he'd just smile!

We had a late Thanksgiving at my sister's. Thanksgiving weekend, my niece, Danica couldn't make it home as she had something going on and my nephew, Nick was working so we all gathered at Margie and John's a week later. Of course my great nephew Jack also attended. He's growing into a little boy, not a baby any longer!

Nana & Jack

I had two appointments at the Riverside Hospital to have laser surgery done on my eyes, the right one first and a week later the left one so now that's over. Apparently some people eyes cloud over even after cataract surgery is done and the laser has to go in and clear it up. I remember my Mother having it done. It's quite a trek to the Riverside Hospital but thankfully we got it done before bad weather hit and both days were partly sunny and quite warm for this time of year. My doctor said it was lucky I had come in to see him when I did as if you wait too long the laser surgery is not successful. I had gone in to be checked for glaucoma which is being monitored closely but that's an entirely different problem.

The day after our return from PEI I went to see a naturopath as I had not been feeling well for a long time. My family doctor had recommended that I see one back in 2009 so I decided to follow her direction. The first thing she did was take me off dairy products and I felt better almost immediately but of course, with me, things aren't that easy. I've gone up and down over the past five weeks or so. She has tried me on supplements that appear to be giving me severe migraine like headaches so I took myself off them to see if I feel better. My energy level seems to be better. I'm hoping that I will continue to improve.

Danica started medical school in September and had her White Coat Ceremony on the 15th which was the day of my first laser eye surgery so we couldn't make the trip to Hamilton (some 6 hours away) to see her receive her first white coat. Her Mom & Dad and my sister, Betty and her husband (from Toronto) were able to go and photos were posted on Facebook but it wasn't the same as being there.

Danica with her proud parents

And with her godmother, Betty

Receiving her white coat

We also went with Margie and John to see the annual butterfly exhibit at Carleton University.

Nothing is planned in the near future and with the leaves falling it's going to be a new season here, what my husband calls 'Drab' so probably not many photos either. We do have an anniversary coming up shortly so maybe a photo will be posted then!

Last Half of our Trip to PEI

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:47:00 +0000

11 Sep

My walk down to our beach.

We headed up to North Cape this morning. I wanted to get some photos of it while it was sunny however they were bringing seaweed up from the beach and the stench was too much so didn't get many photos. I also wanted to look at the gift shop.

Who called this meeting anyway?

In the afternoon we visited Gordon's photography friend, Rosemary who lives just down the road from the motel.


Bluejay in her yard. There were a lot of them!

Here's our motel

Island's End Motel (with me taking the photo)

For sunset we traveled about an hour south to West Point to have a look at a lighthouse. Most of the lighthouses on the island are now decommissioned so Gordon was disappointed with that.

This lighthouse is now privately owned and has been made into an Inn.

Sunset from Hwy 14 on the way back from West Point Lighthouse

12 Sep

We headed out early this morning for Summerside and Borden-Carleton. More tracking down of lighthouses, looking at gift shops, lunch at Subway and some grocery shopping. We each got a PEI baseball cap. We also got another look at the Confederation Bridge from a different perspective.

Zinnias at the downtown boardwalk in Summerside

Indian Head lighthouse at Summerside

Blue jay along the boardwalk

Nice feature in Summerside. It goes for a long way.

Seacow Head Lighthouse

Confederation Bridge from Seacow Head

Old shingled school near McCallum's Point

Anne of Green Gables statue at Borden-Carleton

Both of us were tired when we got home so just relaxed for the evening.

13 Sep

The tide was out when I walked down to the ocean (it's actually the Gulf of St. Lawrence on this side) so I got to walk a bit more on the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day, no humidity.

It was a laid back day. Did some laundry at the motel in the afternoon, sat outside for a while and read. Drove up to Seacow Pond Harbour and took some boat photos, looked at the windmills and some barns. Out for sunset.

Seacow Pond Harbour about a mile from us

Fisherman looking out to sea (with me)

Just generally did what a vacation is for!

At sunset we went back to Stompin' Tom Connors Road to the beach.

Lobster traps

Heron at dusk

Steps to the beach

Sunset from the beach

14 Sep

I had my last walk down to our beach area this morning. I picked up a little beach rock to bring home with me.

Our last full day here on the island. I have mixed feelings about leaving. We didn't see the whole island as planned, just too far to travel nor did we go to Nova Scotia but what we did see was fantastic and we might be back. We didn't do much all day but went to North Cape for sunset.

15 Sep

We left around 6 a.m. Atlantic time, returned via the Confederation Bridge again and made it to Edmundston around 2 p.m. with a stop to photograph the longest covered bridge in the world at Hartland, NB. It had started to rain just before we arrived there but managed to stop or nearly stop so we could take some photos.


Here we go back over the Confederation Bridge again

Hartland Bridge still in use


It is loooong!

We decided to stay at the same hotel in Edmundston that we stayed at on our way to PEI as it has a small (very small) kitchen. Gordon went out to photograph butterflies while I unpacked the coolers. Traveling with food is such a pain!

We had sun, cloud and rain but it was warm and humid.

Cloudy skies did give way to rain

We spent a quiet night getting ready for the longest leg of our return journey.

16 Sep

Happy Birthday to Gordon! One reason we decided to go this week is because it encompassed both of our birthdays. So this was a trip for us!

We left our hotel around 6:15 a.m. but turned the clock back an hour due to Atlantic time so we arrived home around 2:00 p.m. I'm still unpacking. Packing and unpacking are two of my least favourite jobs. Thankfully we had an uneventful trip back and it was mostly sunny and nice (once the sun came up) for the whole trip.

Here's some scenery on our way through Quebec.

First Half of our Trip to PEI

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:07:00 +0000

We did a rush trip down because we wanted to stay ahead of the rain and wound up also doing a rush trip back because Gordon's back was acting up.

7 Sep

We left home around 7 a.m. and arrived at our hotel in Edmundston, NB around 5 p.m. It was a very long day especially getting through Montreal. Traffic was horrendous and our GPS, Miss Pinky had no clue where she was going. Montreal is forever changing their roads! So we followed the signs for the Champlain Bridge to get to the south side of the St. Lawrence River. It was mostly a beautiful sunny day with a bit of cloud thrown in for good measure. Miss Pinky got confused again trying to find our hotel in Edmundston but after some backtracking and a phone call to the hotel we found it.

We stopped about four times, probably not as much as we should have.

Neither of us slept much and we were on the road around 7 a.m. the next day as well.

8 Sep

It was foggy and misty when we left on Saturday morning. We eventually got some sun and it turned into a nice day. We stopped often, once at a cute little Tourist Information Centre that looked like a covered bridge replica. The longest covered bridge in the world is in that area.

We had a nice lunch at Skipper Jack's in Moncton then headed on for the Confederation Bridge to take us to PEI. I was a bit concerned as I'm not a bridge fan (crossing them) but it turned out to be a non event. The bridge was completed in May 1997. Before that you had to take a ferry to get to the island. It is 12.9 km (8 mi) long and it took us about 10 minutes to cross. The concrete sides are high so you really can't see how high you are above the water. Mostly it's like a causeway with a higher part for ships to go under. We took some photos of the bridge from Tourist Information Centre before we crossed.

Anyway we arrived on the island and took more photos of the bridge from the PEI side as well as some photos of the park. We drove around the little town of Borden-Carleton a bit. They have quite an interesting shopping area there that I hope to get back to.

We stopped in Summerside to pick up some groceries not knowing what there would be for grocery shopping, especially with our food problems where we were going. We arrived at Seacow Pond around 5:30 and got set up in our little motel room complete with kitchen, living room, bedroom and full bath. We are out in the middle of nowhere but I can walk to the red sand beach from the motel and it's a short distance to North Cape lighthouse where Gordon can get both sunrise and sunset photos so we drove there last evening for sunset.

9 Sep

Happy Birthday to me! I was thinking of a Beatles song on my birthday. Wonder why. I can't believe I'm that old! After our morning walk to the beach between showers and a nap, we headed out to find some fuel for the car. No 24 hour gas stations here! Then we took a little drive and wound up in Miminegash where they have a pretty nice little harbour.

We also took a drive to Alberton with some stops along the way. We saw a lot of great blue herons and some pretty beach scenery. Lots of red side roads.

10 Sep

Woke up to rain but it moved on quickly. Needed some stuff from the grocery so went into Tignish to the Co-op. They sell pretty much everything there from hula hoops to garlic to toilet plungers. Got most of what I needed. Back to the motel to unpack groceries then took the Black Marsh hike at North Cape. Talk about Stinky Beach! Reminded me of Goose Island SP in TX except much worse. There was a backhoe bringing all the seaweed up from the beach and putting it in a pile. Yukky! I didn't mind the smell of Stinky Beach in TX but this was awful!
Quite a bit of rain on and off all day and into the night.

Went out for sunset at Skinner's Pond, home of Stompin' Tom Connors. Beautiful beach and dunes! Boy was it cold and windy though. Lucky I had on my new raincoat!

Joyce Cozens 1927-2012

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:09:00 +0000

Left to right - My mother, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Ruth when they were young

My Aunt Joyce, my Mother's youngest sister passed away Wednesday August 29th at the age of 85. We had just attended her birthday party two weeks before. Since moving to Smiths Falls we have been getting to know her daughter, my cousin, Ethel who is the nearest girl to me in age. Unfortunately over the years I haven't seen my aunt that much, pretty much only at funerals but I remember that we used to visit them when they lived here in Smiths Falls when I was a kid. By the time I moved here it was too late to get to know her again. Keep that in mind people. If you want to know your older relatives, do it before it's too late.

Aunt Joyce was born in Morrisburg, Ontario, the youngest of six children. She married my uncle, Lesley Cozens in 1950 and had five children. They lived in Smiths Falls area for most of their married life.

The funeral is tomorrow.

Goings On

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 15:52:00 +0000

On Saturday a couple of weeks ago there was an Olympic Homecoming for the 3 Perth area Olympians Sultana Frizell, Nick Tritton and Ian Millar at the Crystal Palace in Perth. They were led by the Piper and the Town Crier to the Crystal Palace, followed by a few words from the area Mayors and Reeves then a few words from the athletes with an autograph session to follow.

The Tay River goes through Perth. This is where it comes into downtown.

My main reason for wanting to go was to see the Town Crier. We've been wanting to see him do his stuff since we moved here. Brent McLaren is the Perth Town Crier and is also Deacon at St. Frances de Sales Church here in town.

Bagpipes announce the small parade.

The Town Crier in full dress

I did get a new refrigerator this week. The came with the house and was very old, wouldn't level properly and couldn't move it without damaging the new floor. The man and helper who delivered and took the old one to the curb spent 1 1/2 hours getting the old one out and the new one in. I had negotiated with Sears for FREE delivery (they usually charge $65).

I also went to Ottawa for a more in depth eye test for glaucoma at the opthamologist that did my cataract surgery. He will need to do tests every six months for comparison.

Other than that my younger sister Margie had a birthday and we had coffee with my cousin, Ethel and her husband, Randy one day and Jasper, my furry nephew returned for another few days visit while Margie and John and another couple went to Ocean City, MD for a few days.

We also went to Ottawa to the annual barbecue that our financial advisors put on. This year the featured performed was Rich Little. Rich was born and raised in Ottawa and has strong ties to the city. He truly is a great performer.

Rich Little does George Bush Sr.

My Aunt Joyce passed away last Wednesday. I will do a separate blog on that in a day or two.

This Week's News

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 20:57:00 +0000

On Tuesday Gordon finally got my shelves up in the corner between the closet and the window. That space was just wasted so now it has a purpose. I could use a lot more of those "purposes" in the basement.

On Wednesday we joined Aunt Joyce's family at the Broadview Nursing Home for her 85th birthday party. A couple of the kids and their spouses were missing but we were joined by another cousin, Carol and her husband, Eddie (on left closest to the camera). Carol had come to mother's funeral but I don't recall much about that day so it was good to see her again even though we didn't get to chat much.

Aunt Joyce's 85th birthday

On Thursday August 16th it was six years since Bib passed away. I still miss him. He was my sweetie puppy but we are both glad that we elected not to get another animal. We just don't want the responsibility any more.

Also on August 16th our granddaughter Iris turned 4 years old! We haven't seen her since she was about 8 months old.


Iris Olive

August 17th was my Mom's birthday. If she were alive today she'd be 94!

Our tree has now been marked for removal. You can see the big red H on it which stands for Hydro. Since the tree's branches are infringing on Hydro (electric) wires and the tree is leaning into the wires, Hydro will cut it down but they won't take the wood away. Hopefully even though it is soft wood it will be of use to someone. We have no idea when they will come to take it down.

August update

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 01:21:00 +0000

I'm afraid it's been a hot, dry boring summer here in Sensational Smiths Falls! During the day it's too hot to do much of anything and the heat and humidity have left me feeling sick and tired most of the time. We have had some rain over the last few days but not enough. We're still on 20% water conservation.

On August 1st our furry nephew, Jasper came to visit us for a week while his parents were moving our human niece, Danica to Hamilton, Ontario where she will be attending medical school at McMaster University. She and her Mom had gone down earlier in the month and found her an apartment and she had her Dad had gone down for a few days to paint it.

Jasper making himself at home on my recliner

He's a real lap dog.

This morning we dropped by our old home base, Tranquil Acres. All sites but three are now seasonal. The three spots are not for transients but for friends and relatives of the seasonals to come to visit.

The office and rec room


The gates - they were always tedious as you had to get out of your vehicle to open them and then close again.

I opened and closed the gates twice today for people so they wouldn't have to get in and out of their vehicles.

We've parked in all these spots at one time or another

Froggie in the Mississippi

The Canadian Mississipi

Our 5er is still here

These are the sites for visitors. We've spent time in all of these sites too.

Hummingbird moth on the phlox

Black eyed susans

Lots of fungus on this log

Dave and Shonagh weren't around so we made ourselves at home and walked around. It was nice to be there recalling memories.

July is Nearly Over!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 00:07:00 +0000

Saturday July 21st Lions Club Steel Band in the park at Smiths Falls. Every Saturday in the summer they have a different band. This one was pretty good and it was good to hear a steel band again although I was disappointed they didn't play Yellow Bird. We used to hear steel bands all the time on our Caribbean cruises. All musicians were under 18 years of age.

On Wednesday we had two birthdays in the family. Gordon's sister Carol in Cincinnati and my Aunt Ruth who is in Brockville. We decided to go and see Aunt Ruth since it was her 90th birthday. While I'm glad we did it wasn't a pleasant experience. It's so hard to see people you love go through dementia.

Aunt Ruth reading the card and looking at the photo that we brought.

Friday night we took a drive through Murphy's Point Provincial Park and then back through Narrows Locks. I thought we might see some deer but the only thing we saw was a partridge, so no photos, nothing new there.

Since we moved in to this house we have had a problem with an infestation of box elder bugs apparently from the Manitoba maple tree in our yard. This Manitoba maple is also responsible for our sewer problems that we recently had corrected. Last week someone came from Hydro One and said that the tree had to be cut back as it's infringing on the electrical wires. At the time we said to do a good trim but I think we'll get in touch and have them cut it down. The man said they would do that if we wanted. I will be sorry to see it go. No more long lazy afternoons on the swing under the tree. Out in the hot sun won't be fun but those bugs are really annoying! Gordon is outside about once every hour during the day spraying them with sunlight soap and water and while it does kill them, those suckers breed worse than rabbits!

I finally got all my new curtains for the dining room this week so the old blue ones came down.

And my new 'granny' curtains went up. They remind me of something you'd see in a grandmother's house but we both like them and we both really hated the blue ones.

This past Saturday we went to see another band in the park called Vine Rhymes. They had a little bit of country, folk, blues and even poetry reading.

Today was the annual Rolling Thunder Car Show. Smiths Falls has the best car show we've been to, bar none! It was pretty hot this morning but we managed to hang in long enough to walk around and see them all. The photos are just ones that caught my eye. I didn't really have a favourite this year.


We used to have a 51 Chev like this one, only blue where I grew up on the farm.

Very clean engine!

Austin Healey. These are neat cars.

While we were in the park there were two adult osprey in the nest with 2 young ones. When we came toward the nest they flew away trying to get us away from the nest. In the photo below one of the adults is just landing back in the nest.

That's my update!

July News

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Last weekend was family cottage weekend at Betty & Garth's cottage on the shores of beautiful Sturgeon Lake near Lindsay, Ontario. We were short a few members of the family, namely Nick, Becky & Jack. Nick is to be best man at a wedding in Toronto this weekend so he was unable to attend.

It was good to get away and we always enjoy the cottage. This is the first time it's been held in July and it was hot, hot, hot! I think arrangements are in the works to either go back to late August, or even September. June was mentioned too.

Anyway, I took very few photos, the ones below being about it.

Betty & Garth in the living room of their cottage

Danica is playing a tune at sunset

Gordon took the paddle boat to see a nest of osprey

Sunday morning Gordon and I went over to Double M where we spent a month every summer when we were fulltiming. We had hoped to see Daphne (the owner) but she wasn't around.

Heading home on Monday we ran into a lot of construction and lost about 1/2 hour but we're retired so it doesn't matter!

Wednesday I had an appointment with the opthamologist that did my cataract surgery nearly two years ago. My eye doctor has been checking me for glaucoma and decided I needed to see the big guns as my tests had been inconclusive over the past few months. I had the test done and it was determined to be 'suspect'. I'm to return and have another test in August and then every six months so he can get a pattern of what's happening. I also have developed cloudiness in my vision (not really noticeable to me yet). He had told me it would probably happen so I have to have laser surgery in both eyes in October. It's apparently pain free and easy but I do have to go to the Riverside Hospital on two different days for it.

We haven't had much rain this summer and right now we're on 20% less usage and according to the paper we will probably go to 30% this coming week. There is rain in the forecast for next week so let's hope it comes to pass. The grass is yellow and crunchy and the flowers are looking quite starved for water. I do give them a sprinkling with my watering can every few days but it's not enough.

That about wraps it up for what's happening here in Sensational Smiths Falls!

Wednesday Trip to Jones Falls Lock

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:12:00 +0000

On our way to Jones Falls Lock

It was such a lovely sunny day with no humidity and a cloudless sky so we took off for Jones Falls Lock.

It's just up ahead!


Steps from the parking lot to the lower level leading to the road to the lock.

Butterfly on a leaf

Jones Falls Lock

You can see the gates need to be replaced. We saw the replacements at Doors Open a few weeks ago. The replacement will be done this Fall.

Gordon wanted to see the blacksmith shop (on the left in the photo below).


Our destination on the left.

Some serious trail climbing to get there.

The blacksmith was in residence.

The Smithy at the door to the blacksmith shop.

I had to traverse two of these to get there and back. Not my favourite thing to do.

Swamp iris

Sweet william growing along the trail.

By the time we got back to the lock I had shaky legs and we were both hungry and thirsty so we decided to try our luck eating at the Hotel Kenney. (Warning: this site contains a fairly long video.)

Hotel Kenney at the lock. Established in 1877.

We were early for lunch so walked around the hotel and took some indoor photos. It's quite an interesting old hotel. In the parking lot were all kinds of vehicles from various U.S. states. I was amazed that someone from the U.S. would have found this place but apparently it's quite popular with fishermen and people just coming to relax.

I thought this pig was kind of neat.

The living room and the lobby of the hotel.

The front porch (enclosed) with lots of rocking chairs.

This is a phone booth.

The bar/library.

Self portrait

I love rocking chairs (photo by Gordon)

We had asked at the front desk if they had anything gluten free and the lady was very knowledgeable about it. She said she could fix something up for us. I told her about my food problems and told her today was my 'salmon' day so that's what they fixed for me with a nice salad with avocado and dried cranberries just like I would have fixed myself at home. Cudos to Hotel Kenney!

Lunch in the dining room overlooking the lock (photo by Gordon).


The official greeter, Lennox.

Arriving home just before 2 p.m. I took myself to my swing with my book and spent a couple of lovely hours there.

New sink and counters

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:44:00 +0000

Kitchen counters are called Deepstar Bronze. If you click on the link you can see it better.

Kindred granite composite sink - white

You can see a strip between the old tile and the new counter backsplash. This is what we need to get our floor installer (also tile expert) in to work his magic. On the window side, he can use trim or tile might look nice there too. We'll have to see what he comes up with.

Happy Birthdays!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Today is my nephew and Godson's birthday. Happy Birthday Nick!

Also Happy Birthday to my friend Laura!

Today (Monday June 25th) our new sink and counter tops went in. They look wonderful except the counter back splash is not as high as the old one so we'll have to get the guy who installed our floor to come in and find a fix for that.

Photos to follow.

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:43:00 +0000

The chiropractor seems to have fixed my shoulder problem, at least for now. I do still have spasms in my ribs and numbness and tingling in my left hand but hopefully that will go away soon. The shoulder feels soooo much better. I haven't done much yet as I'd like it to have a few days before I start doing anything strenuous.

Haven't done anything about the fridge yet. We had another expense today. The last several days we've noticed water seeping out from under the downstairs toilet. We're thinking, Oh, no, what now? So we called, Donnie, our plumber. He was stumped for a while but finally located the problem. The hose from the air conditioner was just laying there leaking condensation. I guess when they redid the plumbing no one noticed the air conditioner hose and didn't route it to the drain. Anyway, that's fixed. What's next?

Our basement windows went in on Wednesday and they look great. Unfortunately the caulking smells really bad but that should be gone by tomorrow. Then we need to paint the trim pieces.

Friday was a beautiful day, humidity mostly gone and the sky had some interesting clouds so after Gordon finished at the dentist we took off for a drive. Below are a couple of barns we saw that looked interesting with the sky.

The following photos of lupins, daisies and butterflies were taken at a new condominium subdivision being built near Murphy's Point Park called Otty Woods. The lupins and daisy combination in front of the pine trees was gorgeous!

This was another back road that we traveled down. Lots of hills but not a lot of scenery.

It was a nice little outing. We hadn't been out for some time and today was perfect for it!

Before we went for our afternoon drive, I was out weeding and now my shoulder is aching again, not as bad but I had such high hopes!

More Visitors

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:58:00 +0000

This was family weekend. My sister, Betty from Toronto via the cottage at Lindsay arrived early Saturday afternoon to stay with us for a couple of days. My cousin, Terri and her son, Benjamin arrived from England at my sister, Margie's in Ottawa late Saturday afternoon.

After Betty arrived I gave her the tour of Smiths Falls and we looked around downtown. She even bought a pair of pants at Vickie's. Betty has lost a lot of weight over the past 1 1/2 yrs so she brought me lots of clothes. She is a shadow of her former self. Saturday evening she and I sat out on the swing and chatted for a couple of hours. It was a beautiful evening.

As you know I've had trouble with my shoulder resulting from a pinched nerve. The last time I saw the doctor last week she put me on Lyrica. I started at 1/day so Sunday I started 2/day. Consequently I spent 5 1/2 hours reading and napping outside on the swing while Betty went to Ottawa to go shopping with Terri, Danica and Margie. I can't walk very far due to the drag on my arm.

Monday afternoon Betty, Gordon and I piled into our Squirt and headed for my sister, Margie's house in Ottawa. I had brought my food with me as it was my 'fish' day. It's been a long time since we've seen cousin Terri and an even longer time since we've seen her son, Ben so it was great catching up with them.

Back row: BIL John, Husband Gordon, Cousin Ben
Front row: Sister Margie, Me, Niece Danica, Sister Betty, Cousin Terri, Nephew Nick, Nick's wife, Becky and Great Nephew Jack.

Ben with Jasper (the dog)

Terri

Great nephew, Jack, has grown since we last saw him at Easter. He's now walking and has 3 teeth! He's a really cute little guy.

Betty left this morning (Tuesday) heading back to the cottage so we're alone again.

I went out looking at refrigerators today. Ours works ok but it's really old and is not an energy saver. I also have a chiropractor appointment today to see if he can work more on my pinched nerve. The joys of getting old!

Visitor from the Canadian West

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 23:16:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago there was a tweet on Facebook that someone from Alberta was coming to Brockville, Ontario to visit a relative. We scrambled around with our calendar to see if we could make a visit with us happen. Usually we're wide open but the last couple of weeks with the flooring going in and preparing for my sister to arrive this coming weekend and my cousin coming from England to see us it's been a busy time. That on top of doctor's visits and my bum shoulder. Anyway, today was the day!

The visitor is Brenda Brown. I had no idea she had relatives within about 40 minutes from our house. We chatted back and forth about her coming to us or us going to her. We decided that Gordon and I would go to Brockville. Arrangements were made for us to pick her up at her nephew's house.

After picking her up we headed west on the Thousand Islands Parkway to Gananoque. Picked up some coffee and water at Timmie's and went to the park. Here are Brenda and I at the St. Lawrence River.

We spent an enjoyable couple of hours together, then dropped her back at her nephew's place and headed for home.

Although we've known each other through the rv-dreams chatroom, Facebook and one brief meeting in Kerrville, TX in 2009 it was great to get to know her better. She says next time JB is coming with her! Hope to see both of them soon!

New Floors

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:56:00 +0000

Since Tuesday of last week we've had a contractor here from shortly after 8 a.m. to sometimes as late as 7:30 p.m. installing new floors in our kitchen, dining room and bathroom and putting in new stairs to the back door.

We had looked at flooring at Rona (our Canadian Home Depot), gotten the quote and found that the contractor was able to start right away. He thought it would take 4 days. So far it's been 5 1/2 days and there are still a few things left to do. I have to say he's done a beautiful job.

We decided to go with vinyl. It has changed so much over the years. This is sheet vinyl and he managed to use one piece to do the kitchen and dining room so there are no cuts. It looks like wood and feels like wood with the texture of the flooring. I love it!

While he was doing the bathroom we decided to get a new toilet since the old one had been leaking and despite a couple of supposed fixes, it didn't stop leaking. Now we have a brand new toilet but elected to keep our wooden toilet seat.

Here are some photos:

This is the old dining room floor prior to our moving in - ugly cheap laminate, impossible to clean without showing marks

This was under the laminate

New floors-one piece through dining room and kitchen

Bullnose goes all around the railing and steps

Old steps were covered in the same laminate as the floor and they were cracking

New steps hand made by our contractor

Kitchen floor when we moved in (up until Tues)


Old linoleum under ugly blue tile

You can see the new kitchen flooring above in the dining room photo.


The bathroom had old white linoleum, not properly cut.

Our house had baseboards but no quarter round so we now have lots of quarter round. Looks great!

Next- basement windows
After that - Kitchen counter, granite composite sink and taps

A Tai Chi Celebration and Flooring?

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:36:00 +0000

Yesterday, Monday June 4th was a chilly day for this time of year with some sprinkles and lots of cloud. However this week is the celebration of Kingston's 35th anniversary of Taoist Tai Chi and Smiths Falls is part of the Kingston branch. Yesterday was the day that Kingston and the surrounding towns piled into a bus, headed to Smiths Falls complete with the Taoist Tai Chi dragon and conducted their celebration here hosted by our group. First on the agenda was for the dragon to walk a few blocks from the Seniors Centre where the tai chi group meets to Kinsmen Park in downtown Smiths Falls beside the Town Hall.

I have to say that Gordon and I were not part of the group. We have not attended since I got this pinched nerve in my neck (degenerative disc disease confirmed by CT scan) so we just attended to take photos. Because I had been on my feet so much in the last two days we only stayed for one demo of the 108 Taoist Tai Chi moves and then continued on our way.

Here comes the dragon!

Along Beckwith Street (main street downtown)


The head of the dragon - it's quite impressive

Some of the tai chi moves

They were having a luncheon at the Seniors Centre as well but it was Chinese food and neither of us can eat it.

From there we headed to our local Rona (a very much smaller version of Home Depot) where we had received a quote to replace our dining room, kitchen and bathroom floors. We got everything set up and the installer dropped by last night and they're starting this morning! So last night was spent getting the kitchen cleared out as that's where they're starting - fridge, stove and dishwasher has to be removed. So we're living amidst all this for the next four days but it's going to look so good!

Stay tuned for photos!

Doors Open Smiths Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 01:37:00 +0000

Today (Sunday) as part of Doors Open Ontario we decided to take advantage and see parts of our own town.

Our first stop was the Station Theatre.

This is the front of the theatre

The stage and seating from one (of 2) of the boxes

This really neat bridge is on the upper level and goes to the intermission refreshment area

This is looking toward the desk at the entrance from the old railway station (now part of the theatre).

The bridge from ground level

The Station Theatre was built over many years whenever they had the money to complete a part so it is completely paid for. It's a very interesting building. One more thing on our list is to get to a play.

Next up was the Rideau Canal Gate Shop. The Rideau Canal is a UNESCO Heritage site. We've lived here for 2 years and had no idea that the gates to all the locks on the Rideau Canal are built right here in town.

This line is where the gates are built

They had hoped to have the wood there to show us how they're made. They are made from Douglas fir and comes from British Columbia so it's somewhere in transit.


These gates destined for Jones Falls locks were moved outside in preparation for the setup however Murphy's Law prevailed.

Another interesting thing for me was the host was Al Smollett, a guy that was part of our group when I worked at Nortel, Corkstown.

We definitely want to go back when they're in production and you can make arrangements to do that.

The third stop was the Gallipeau Centre, formerly the Rideau Regional Hospital. The hospital closed in 2009 after some 58 years in operation as a hospital for severely disabled young people both physically and mentally. The Gallipeau Centre is planning to turn this into an apartment complex complete with doctor's offices, shopping and much more. The first apartment models are scheduled to be opened this year.

This is the entrance to the Gallipeau Centre. Very pretty.

The auditorium


The pool

While this is within the town limits, it is quite a ways out. I sure hope it goes over well!

Part of the Gallipeau Centre is Hart Laundry Services. The laundry was part of the Rideau Regional Centre and also had outside contracts. Larry Hart ran the laundry at that time but retired when the hospital closed and was brought back out of retirement to run the laundry again. It's a very interesting place. The machines they have are run by computer.


Larry Hart showing us how laundry is dropped by computer from every 1.5 min. to 2.8 min. then goes through the 'continuous' laundry machine. They can dry 220 towels in 18 min.

After lunch we headed over to our local radio station Jack 93.2.

This is John, our morning guy showing us that everything is computerized. They don't even need someone there for it to run. If a problem occurs, the computer calls one of the engineers to come in.

I was really happy to find out when we moved here that the local radio station is an oldies station.

Next stop, three churches.

1. St John the Evangelist Anglican Church

2. Westminster Presbyterian Church

3. Trinity United Church

Neither of us were aware that there is a Mausoleum just outside of town. This 19th-century stone vault containing the remains of Alexander Wood, one of the founders of the famous Frost & Wood agricultural implement company.

Although there were a few more places to visit we were both running out of steam so our last stop was the Heritage House Museum.

Baking biscuits in the wood fired oven


Note the front and back of the house are identical.

Some interior photos depicting life in upper middle class 1861.

This house boasts a two storey privy

This is the upper level

That's quite a rolling pin!

The unique mirror image facades are a distinctive feature of this home’s design

We really enjoyed our tour today. Everything is free at Doors Open and it was nice to see that a lot of people were taking advantage of it but thankfully nothing was overly crowded.

When I got home it was nap time for me!

We Visit the Diefenbunker

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:32:00 +0000

Yesterday, the Diefenbunker was open as part of Doors Open Ontario! So we took off just after lunch for the one hour drive to Carp, Ontario. It was cloudy with threatening skies, a perfect day to go underground. The Diefenbunker was named after the Prime Minister of Canada at the time, John Diefenbaker.

The Diefenbunker was built in the 1950's to protect the government from nuclear attack. This once secret bunker is now a museum and National Historic Site of Canada.

I have to say that I'm not a great history buff, probably due to an inept history teacher who failed to make history interesting to me anyway. We arrived and were told that the next tour was in 1 1/2 hours so rather than wait for the tour we were allowed to go on a self tour so we didn't see as much or learn as much as we would have if we had waited. Oh well, maybe next year.

This is the entrance to the underground bunker

The blast tunnel leading to the bunker

Radioactivity

A dry toilet-not nice

One of the many hallways

One of the offices - note the dial phone


Cafeteria

One of Gordon's friends used to work in the Diefenbunker repairing communications equipment. Lots of old technology there!

A Saturday Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra Merrikin) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:57:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I woke up one morning with a debilitating pain in my shoulder. I put up with it for about four days until it started radiating down my arm so finally headed to the chiropractor who ascertained that it was coming from my neck. I had very little range of motion in my neck that day. He managed to loosen up my neck but despite a couple more trips I still have the pain in my shoulder. It improves a bit here and there and then flares up again. Consequently I haven't been walking since that causes pain or doing much of anything else unless absolutely necessary. Thanks to my husband, the cleaning gets done and I'm able to prepare meals.

So, yesterday being such a beautiful day we decided to go for a drive. We headed west toward the little village of Maberly taking a small detour to go through the hamlet of Brooke (which isn't much). However we did see a landart exhibit called Fieldwork.

The Ah, Ooh and Wow were all we saw of it but apparently there's more farther on. I wasn't up to walking to see it. It's out in the middle of nowhere but is an interesting idea.

We saw quite a few barns but this one I particularly liked.

We also took a rather pretty road that looks like you're driving on white sand but actually it's gravel.

These two llamas came running toward us as soon as we got out of the car. I guess they wanted some company.

Up close and personal with one of them.

It was a pleasant couple of hours and nice to get out and see some scenery on such a beautiful sunny day.