The Not So Nightly News

Mystery Solved!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:12:00 +0000

After receiving my quilt, I contacted an avid quilter, Paulette of Sweet P Quilting and Creations. She came through for me with this link, click here. Paulette put it on her blog and her readers came through for her. It's called the Mohawk Trail Quilt. The thing that amazed me was the price quoted!

A Special Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:37:00 +0000

Today I met my cousin and her daughter at the cafe at Davidson's Court. Ethel had brought me a special gift from another cousin of mine that I haven't seen in years. This is a quilt that my mother made for Carol Ann and she had never used so thought I might like it and I do! When we sold the house I had sold or given away a lot of my quilts so I'm very glad to have this one. Now, I wonder, can any of you quilters out there tell me what the pattern is?

Have a Safe & Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:03:00 +0000

Our Year in Review-2011

To me, our first winter in our house was a blur. I remember some snow but mostly we just got through it. Gordon enjoyed doing some winter photography. I wasn’t happy about not being able to walk every day due to snow, ice and unplowed sidewalks. We have now discovered that our new community centre has a walking track which we’ve used quite often in inclement weather.

I do remember a winter drive we took on a loop road to the Ompah area. We were supposed to do it in warm weather but we only did part of it this summer. It is a very pretty drive even in winter.

On March 1^st, our great nephew, Jack was born to my nephew, Nicholas and his wife, Becky. He looks a lot like his Daddy. We’ve seen him a few times, mostly at family gatherings and is growing up to be quite a boy!

In April, we started Taoist tai chi and we continue to go twice a week having only missed a couple of times when we were away. It’s supposed to help with balance and all kinds of ailments including arthritis and joint problems and a few of our members can testify to that. If nothing else, it gets us out to meet some of the locals and gets us off the computer and out of our chairs.

Also in April, Gordon bought a Fujifilm FinePix F550 EXR compact travel zoom camera and I inherited his Panasonic Lumix ZS7 compact travel zoom camera, so now I have two cameras. I’m starting to feel like a photographer LOL!

In May we changed the living room carpet. I couldn’t stand the deep burgundy one that came with the house. It reminded me of a funeral home and just couldn’t keep it clean. We now have a nice light coloured carpet and are very happy with it. It sure brightens the place up! We also put on a new roof which we knew had to be done. Gordon did some outside work, including painting our little shed.

RVing friends, Dee & Jim arrived for a visit in June and stayed for a couple of weeks at our local RV park. We had fun getting to know them and taking them on tours around the area. In July, Gordon’s daughter and her family visited for a few days. It seemed like a long time since we had seen them. The grandkids had really grown!

Gordon fought a box elder bug infestation all summer. I think we went through six or seven bottles of Ortho Home Defense. For a while, he was out killing them off every hour during the daylight. Hopefully we’ll have a cold enough winter to kill them off as we’ve had them now for two summers.

August found us back at Betty and Garth’s cottage near Lindsay, Ontario for our annual cottage weekend. We hadn’t gone in 2010 because of my cataract surgery.

Also in August, our niece Danica came out and had dinner with us. She was playing soccer here that evening and they won their game! Also in August we discovered that egrets had come to Ottawa so we went to Ottawa a few times on errands and wound up taking photos of the egrets at Andrew Haydon Park and Mud Lake. We were excited to see them come to us since we can’t go to them!

n September we took a day trip to Kingston to celebrate my birthday. It was a beautiful hot, sunny day and we enjoyed spending the day there. Kingston is a beautiful city.

We took many Fall foliage drives in September and October and took many, many photos. Our Spring was wet, our Summer hot and dry and our Fall warmer and drier than usual this year. There was even talk of a green Christmas however Christmas Eve and Christmas Day came through and we had our white Christmas.

At the beginning of October, we made another trip to Garth and Betty's cottage to be with them for our Canadian Thanksgiving.

For our 21^st anniversary in November, we tried a new restaurant called Calamity Janes in Addison, Ontario, about 20 minutes drive from us. It was an excellent dinner. I had emailed them about our food problems and they were able to accommodate us so it was very enjoyable and nice to get out for a good meal.

I am still fighting with food problems and plan to see a naturopathic doctor in the new year to hopefully be able to find some alternative foods that I can eat. I’m very restricted in what I can eat right now which doesn’t allow for a lot of variety. Consequently I’m always hungry as I think I’m missing something that I need. It’s also causing weight gain as I’ve turned to cookies, something I rarely ate in my lifetime.

Betty flew to Ottawa for Christmas and stayed with Margie & John. As usual, Gordon and I drove in for Christmas dinner at their house. It was an enjoyable day but unfortunately the worst of a snowfall was coming down as we started for home and a 50 minute drive turned into two hours, but we made it.

As I sit here writing this, snow is again coming down hard and we’re supposed to get really hammered overnight.

We’re enjoying living in the little town of Smiths Falls and getting to know it better. It’s not like a lot of small towns where everyone knows your business. We know our neighbour right next door but not really well so it still feels as if we’re in the city. There is pretty much everything here that you need on a day to day basis and Ottawa, Brockville and Kingston aren’t far if we need something we can’t find here. Our doctor is still in Ottawa and we wouldn’t give her up even if there was any taking patients here in town, however we have found a dentist and a chiropractor here that we like and the hospital has been remodeled so I’ve had various tests done there.

We’re fixing up the house little by little so it’s feeling like home!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:14:00 +0000

Today we got some sun, so we went out and took our annual Christmas card photo. We are lucky that very close to us is The Country Christmas Shoppe complete with two female Siberian reindeer, Star and Spirit. We were lucky that they wanted to become part of our Christmas Card.

Merry Christmas to all from Gordon and me and Star and Spirit!

Out and About

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:46:00 +0000

It was such a beautiful morning we decided to go for a little drive. We ended up going south of town around the Frankville area checking out back roads.

The scene above reminded us of Texas as did the two below (without traveling 2000 miles). The sky was so pretty!


This was quite a herd of goats. It was much bigger than seen here.

We saw lots of pretty red barns this morning and one yellow one.


This is called Mother Barnes Homestead.

Mother Barnes was quite a colourful lady. You can read about here here.

We weren't out very long but it was an enjoyable escape from the confines of the house and it was just too beautiful to stay cooped up.

Smiths Falls Santa Claus Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:16:00 +0000

It was a warm, grey day for our Santa Claus parade but I think everyone in town was there. The main street was lined up forever. We stood on the corner of Elmsley and Beckwith Streets and had a good view of the parade coming toward us and turning the corner. The Macy's parade it's not but for a small town it was well done.


The Gordon Pipe Band playing Jingle Bells as they passed us. Nothing like Jingle Bells on bagpipes!

Our mayor, Dennis Staples

Chimo Cheerleaders (elementary school)

And finally, the jolly old elf himself!

Someone's little dog was doing tricks on command.

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Not a lot has been happening here in Sensational Smiths Falls. We've had a few day trips here and there, mostly for appointments.

However, November 5th is our anniversary so I thought it warranted a blog. We've been married 21 years today. Here is our wedding photo (again).

And our 21st anniversary photo taken at the restaurant:

This year we chose to go to Calamity Jane's at Addison, Ontario about 1/2 hour away from us towards Brockville. I had emailed them last week and were very accommodating with respect to our food problems. The food was excellent although pricy but it's only once a year!

And one taken at the house before we left:

We had a lovely evening.

Fall Foliage

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:33:00 +0000

This has been an absolutely gorgeous weekend in Eastern Ontario and in fact throughout most of Canada from what I've seen.

Anyway, yesterday and today Gordon and I went out to enjoy the beautiful Fall colours.

Yesterday we went south and west of Smiths Falls. Here are some photos.

Today we were late leaving since tai chi only ends at 1:30 and we had to stick around to lock up then go home and have lunch. So we headed north and west today to one of our favourite roads, Fall River Road. We like this road because of all the zig zag rail fences but today the colour was beautiful. In some places it looked like the trees were on fire. Here are some photos.

This has been one of the most spectacular years for colours that we've seen in quite some time and we haven't had a lot of rain and wind to knock the leaves off the trees so it's been very enjoyable.

Some Photos and What We've Been Doing

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:49:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 00:42:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:43:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:02:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:44:00 +0000

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)

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:28:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 22:34:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 02:25:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 01:37:00 +0000

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.

Rolling Thunder Car Show

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:08:00 +0000

The Smiths Falls Rolling Thunder Car Club put on the best car show of any we've ever seen. Unlike last year I didn't have a real favourite but the ones below caught my eye.

It was a beautiful day for it - sunny 23C/73F and no humidity....

If I had to choose one, this might be it! I think it was a 1937 Hudson

A Trip Down Memory Lane

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:46:00 +0000

This was Thursday nights's sunset at Kilmarnock

We headed out this morning around 9:30 a.m. Below are some barns we saw along the way.


Public School, Dixon's Corners, Ontario

I was getting into familiar territory here. My younger sister went to school (photo above) here. It's now closed and being used for storage.

Monument to the McIntosh apple, Dundela, Ontario (founded by John McIntosh).

This was the largest field on our farm and the farthest away from the house

I spent a lot of time at the house shown above when I was in public school. My best friend, Carol lived there.

This used to be the one room schoolhouse (above) that I attended for 8 years. When it closed, it was purchased by my teacher's daughter, Sylvia and her husband and fixed up as a home. She still lives there, in fact, she's sweeping the porch as we drove by.

This is the house where I grew up and spent the first 17 years of my life. It's now in a state of disrepair. It was such a beautiful house!

This is where my teacher, Mabel lived just west of our place.

My grandmother's sister's house in Williamsburg. I spent a lot of time there too.

A plaque to Dr. Mahlon W. Locke in Williamsburg. Dr. Locke was known all over the world and people would come for foot manipulation. Williamsburg was the closest town to our farm.


St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Williamsburg, Ontario

This church is the one I attended while I lived at home.

On to Morrisburg where we had a picnic by the St. Lawrence River.

This is the closest I can get to the U.S. without going to jail. I'm sitting on the dock at Morrisburg and the trees across the river are at Waddington, NY.

The car you see is traveling on US route 37. I took this photo from the dock at Morrisburg.

My sisters and I had this tree planted in memory of our Mom & Dad in 2002 after Mom passed away. There is also a plaque at the base of the tree.

The house above is where I was born in Morrisburg. Although it has been a funeral home for years, when I was born it was a birthing home. It used to be brick.

This is where I went to high school, good old MHS (Morrisburg High School). It closed the year I graduated and students were bussed to Iroquois about 12 miles west of Morrisburg.

The prettiest church in Morrisburg is St. James Anglican.

Mom and Dad lived here after they sold the farm. Mom lived here till about three months before she passed away.

I used to work here for the Municipality of Morrisburg.

We stopped at the locks at Iroquois but there were no ships going through so no photos were taken. The lock there is so much bigger than the ones here as they are for freighters whereas ours here are mostly pleasure boats.

At Carmen Galop Park, Iroquois

Fort Wellington, Prescott, Ontario.

Boathouses at Galop Canal Marina, Iroquois

Freighter and lighthouse at Prescott

And looking across from Prescott is Ogdensburg, NY


This used to be a windmill

This is the site of The Battle of the Windmill.

This lighthouse is also in Prescott but is an ice cream parlour.

The Marina is in Prescott, Ontario and the buildings across the water are in Ogdensburg, NY.

As you can see, I grew up very close to the U.S.


There were two large suckers swimming around the marina.

Here is a map of our route today.

From Prescott, we traveled to Brockville and then home. It was a long day but fun and we had beautiful weather for it.

White Faced Ibis and Corner Cabinet

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:20:00 +0000

On Sunday since it was such a nice day and we had gotten some of our work done (painting) we decided to go in search of the white faced ibis. I found out about it from a local birder's blog that I follow. So off we went to the town of Carp, Ontario. Unfortunately we didn't find any white faced ibis (photo below from Bruce's blog) but we had a nice drive and had a few photo ops.


The White Faced Ibis

A lounging cow

Carp River

Liked the windows in this old shed in Carp, ON

Hay bales shoot out of the baler into the hay wagon

A lovely old log barn

Yesterday when I was out looking around I went upstairs at Vickie's, a local ladies' wear store as I learned (from Facebook) that she was selling used furniture there. When I got to the head of the stairs, I saw it! The corner cabinet I've been looking for so today I took Gordon over to see it and he liked it too. It was small enough to fit in the back of the Squirt so it came home with us. I don't have it entirely set up yet, that will come.

It fits into the small corner by the kitchen perfectly. I wanted to display my Grandmother's china.

Rocks, Osprey and Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 01:14:00 +0000

Here in Smiths Falls we have a dump but it's not for garbage, it's for plant material, leaves, grass, tree branches etc. Gordon trimmed the trees this week so we had some stuff to dump but we've also been picking up free rocks there to line the flower gardens so after tai chi that was our job today.

We picked two trunk loads of rocks and brought them back and just put them near the beds. After I had a nap I went out to arrange them and I think they make a big improvement.

The rocks are lining the flower bed under the front window

And on the corner flower bed

And behind the garage

I like them so well I think we'll need a few more to put around my weeping fig or whatever it is and maybe some larger ones to plant a little bed by the shed where Gordon removed the ramp. It's left a bare spot that calling out for a couple of big rocks and some little plants. All in good time.

Tonight we went out at sunset again and saw these osprey in their nest.

Then on to Kilmarnock to our sunset site where this loon was sitting.

And some sunset photos.

That's all folks!

The Last Couple of Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 12:55:00 +0000

Since my last blog, Dee and Jim have gone and in fact are now back in the U.S. The day they left I was scheduled for a colonoscopy and endoscopy both of which turned out fine. Unfortunately we didn't get to Changing of the Guard. The first day was June 28th and it wasn't a very nice day and after that I was preparing for my procedures so that's one thing they will have to come back to see.

While Dee and Jim were here we also had Elaine and Rick (photo in my sidebar on the right) from New Brunswick stop by. We met briefly in the rain at the Walmart parking lot. They had just purchased a new diesel pusher north of Toronto and were on their way to see relatives at White Lake before returning home.

On Canada Day (July 1st) we went to the Canada Day festivities here in town and in the evening parked ourselves by the canal at the easement just across from us and watched the fireworks. Gordon took photos which can be seen here. I succeeded in getting lots of mosquito bites even though I used repellent. They bit me through the pants I had on but at least I killed a lot of them!

On Wednesday, Glenn and Sylvia came to visit (see photo on the sidebar to the right). Glenn was born in Fort Covington, NY which is about a two hour drive from us. They return to Fort Covington every year so they came to see us. We showed them around the area including Perth and Merrickville, had lunch at Chuckles Jack and all too soon they were headed back.

Since then we've gone out for a couple of sunsets which eluded us when Dee and Jim were here.

We've been trying to get some things done around the house and have gotten some painting and staining done.

Tai chi has been taking up a lot of our time it seems but we're enjoying it. We've graduated the beginner's class having completed all 108 tai chi moves and are now in the continuing class where we're learning form.

Yesterday we went to look at a small china cabinet for the dining room and although it looked like it would work from the ad on Kijiji when we saw it neither one of us thought that we'd like it. So, we kept our money!

That brings you up to date.

A Day in Ottawa

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Today was a busy day. We started out at tai chi but left at break time. Dee and Jim came over about 12:30 pm and we headed for Ottawa. We made a few stops to pick up some things but our first scenic spot was Andrew Hayden Park.

Keeley Falls with a Japanese Lilac beside it

Sailboats on the Ottawa River

Little lighthouse

From there we stopped at Hog's Back Falls.

This is a pirate tour boat

Then on to my sister's place. My nephew and godson, Nicholas turned 26 today! He has grown into a fine young man, husband and father.

Happy Birthday Nick!

Here are some photos of his son, Jack.

Sandra & Jack

This is one photo of Jack I managed without red eye!

Great Uncle Gordon and Jack

And here's a picture I painted a few years back. When we sold the house to go fulltime RVing, I gave it to my sister.

After a visit there we drove downtown via the Ottawa River Parkway, saw the Parliament Buildings (I'll leave the photos of these things to Dee as I didn't take any photos) then across into the province of Quebec to see the Museum of Civilization, back into Ottawa where we took the scenic route down Elgin Street where Gordon and I often used to go for breakfast on Sunday mornings.

We took the Driveway back to the west, through the Experimental Farm to Merivale Road where we had dinner at Swiss Chalet and from there south till we could pick up the freeway to get home.

It was a long day but Dee and Jim seemed to enjoy seeing Ottawa.

Perth and Balderson

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:14:00 +0000

Scoon, the pig looks over the local Meat Market and Deli and has been the subject of much controversy here in town but it looks like Scoon will be reigning for a long time!

Last night's sunset

Old shed in Balderson

Rusty old stove

Little red barn in Balderson

Stewart Park, Perth

Another view of Stewart Park

Stewart Park

Tourist information, Perth

Beautiful tree with a field of hay


Close up of above

For what's been happening this week, see Dee's blog here.

When we left Smiths Falls early this afternoon the weather was nice but as we approached the little town of Perth about 12 miles away it was pouring rain. It continued to pour so we drove through town and continued on to Balderson, Ontario.

I had never been in any of the stores there but their Amish Store was great! They had everything from jam to kitchen renovations to furniture. The furniture was beautiful but very expensive! From there we stopped at the Balderson Clothing store. It's a huge store, it would be great if I was still working or going somewhere but I'm not so was able to leave without spending any money.

From there we went back to Perth, stopped at a couple of grocery stores and then at Stewart Park. It had quit raining so Dee also got to take some photos. We drove around downtown a bit, stopped at the tourist bureau and a few times on the way home for some photos.

We've had some severe weather but most of it has been centered on the Ottawa/Gatineau area. So far, we've been ok except for a couple of cracks of thunder and lightning last night which knocked out Jim and Dee's wifi at the campground. We've been lucky!

Trip to Kingston and Some Locks

noreply@blogger.com (Sandra) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:24:00 +0000

Today we left Smiths Falls at about 10 a.m. and headed for Kingston, Ontario.

We took the scenic route and stopped at Chaffey's Locks on the way.

On our way from Chaffey's Locks toward Hwy 10, this little fawn was standing in the middle of the road. It was soooo cute!

On Dee's bucket list is a wish to see all the great lakes. She already had Lake Michigan and on this trip so far she's seen Lake Erie so today we headed to Kingston so she could see Lake Ontario. She got her photo however the place was so busy, there was nowhere to park so we just drove around the city. We drove to Fort Henry but they won't even let you in the parking lot anymore without paying the fee. We tried to take the ferry to Wolfe Island but missed it by three cars so rather than wait an hour we left. All in all, a disappointing trip to Kingston. For those of you that don't know, Kingston was the original capital city of Canada. If you want to know more about that, click on the link.

The only photo I took at Kingston was of Jim and Dee at Swiss Chalet. Thanks Jim and Dee for treating us to lunch!

On the way back we stopped at Kingston Mills Locks

And then at Upper Brewers Lock.

When we got back we fixed Jim up with a booster for his computer as he's having trouble connecting with the wifi at the RV park. Hopefully that will help him out.