Friday 13 November 2015

Gray skies on November 11th feel right!

Overcast, chilly air, bare trees and a silver sunset sit well in my annual day of Remembrance and Gratitude.  As a baby boomer, I share memories of parents, uncles and aunts in WWI and grandparents and relatives in WWII with many of my generation.  As memories of conflict haunt us and war looms large every day for others, we can be thankful to keep at least one day a year for reflection.

POPPY BLOG

Chris and I are beginning our fifth year of adventure in our motor home.  We had a busy summer in Ontario staying in a number of parks: The Pinery, Lake Huron, Albion Hills, Highland Pines near Fergus, Sibbald Point on Lake Simcoe,  Caledon East at friend’s property, Homestead RV Park, Bayfield, Awenda Provincial Park on Georgian Bay and the Driveway of good friends in Cambridge.

P1050003

P1040977    P1040994

P1040987

P1040969

P1050265 P1050258 P1050259

P1050935

P1050916

P1050923

P1050411

P1050335   P1050290

P1050333

P1080714  P1080724  Tulip BLOG

P1090030

P1060250

P1060258    P1060267

P1090031 

P1050087      P1090058

P1060143

P1060153

P1080745 P1080808 P1080856


On April 8, we welcomed the birth of baby Genevieve, daughter of Al’s sister Liz and husband Curt.  We got to visit the sweet wee baby and her parents at the wedding in July.

IMG_0558.JPG Genevieve BLOG

genevieve blog


On May 16, we lost a wonderful friend, Francis Michael Hopley, the beloved husband of my cousin Marilyn and dad to Sam and Dave in England.  We miss him so much but cherish the memories of his zest for life, worldly knowledge and sense of humour.

Mike BLOG


Danielle arrived in June when we began preparations for the celebration of Dani and Al’s Wedding, July 12 at Hedgerow Farm.

P1050957   P1060231   P1060094

Dani and Al blog 2   dani and al blog    P1060272

   P1060292

P1060277

IMG_0946

 P1060300

150711-187

                                                            See lots more wedding photos on Facebook

 

I travelled to Australia for a second wedding bash and a two week visit to the fabulous island.  Thanks for the hospitality Dani and Al and Dot.

P1060351

P1060361   

        P1060376     P1060350

P1060473

P1060405

P1060401        P1060489

P1060419

P1060450

P1060503

P1060548          P1060495

P1060422

P1060642

P1060764  P1060715

P1060677

P1060651       P1060617

P1060727    P1060621

P1060861

P1060851

P1060934

    P1060883      P1060881

P1060925

        P1060900      P1060908

P1060954

P1060957

P1060993     IMG_0912

We enjoyed this summer’s especially great weather hiking, biking and visiting family and friends. We also began a search for a parcel of land where we could have a paved driveway, power and a small outbuilding; a place to stay during our spring and summer in Ontario.  We spent a few days in New York City with Mark and Dina where we saw the sites and enjoyed many special meals together.

P1070551

P1070559

P1040953

P1050636

P1040929

P1070453

P1070513

P1070471

P1070311   P1070314   P1070312

P1070401

       P1070414      P1050033

P1050007       P1050102

P1060130

P1060160

            P1060206     P1060119

P1060167

       P1070243       P1070280

       P1070199        P1070281

P1070688

P1070618           P1070648

        P1070625       P1070921

P1070731P1070672P1070998

        P1080024     P1080011 

P1080026

P1070638            P1070617

P1070821                P1080079

P1080077

 

P1080117P1080134

P1080435        P1070681

P1080393P1080423

P1070689      P1070864

P1080174

P1080199

P1080203

    P1080214         P1080258

P1080249         P1080283

P1080269

P1080385

P1080368

P1080354

P1080380

P1080552      P1080554

P1080569

P1070724

P1070644

In September, we visited friends in Bayfield who showed us their lovely small town, Lake Huron Shores and hiking paths in the Hullet Marsh.  Touring the small community where they live, we discovered a few places for sale and a few days later, to our surprise, we were making an offer on a small house there.

P1080790P1080855

P1090140

We moved in at the beginning of October and continued living in the motor home in the driveway.  We were welcomed on our first morning with an early snowfall. 

When we became full-time Rvers we sold and gave away most of our possessions so we will have to spend time in the spring looking on Kijiji and in second hand shops to furnish our home.  Luckily, I stored many dishes, cook wear and keepsakes which will make the place feel like ours.  We emptied our storage locker and I unpacked the bins finding many treasures that I had not seen for over four years.  The fall weather in Ontario was spectacular so we were able to do a lot of work outdoors.  I emptied the gardens and made them ready for spring plantings.  We raked many loads of pine needles and trucked them down to the community compost dump around the corner.  The homes are situated in a former pine forest and a blanket of five inch needles is to be expected each fall. No longer, full-time RVers, we will look forward to having our own place to return to in the spring.

P1090136 

P1090120    

   P1090125      P1090129

          P1090135     P1090130

We did chores in the house and prepared for our trip enjoying a couple of campfires in the backyard. A week before out takeoff date, Dixie became seriously ill and we spent a few days nursing her back to health. She had a severe case of Pancreatitis and spent two days on IV at the Vets as well as a battery of medications and a new diet regimen of low fat foods from now on. It was very frightening and we were so glad to see her getting stronger and showing more signs of herself. Her red and white blood cell count returned to normal and the Vet gave us the ok to travel.  For anyone with a geriatric dog, especially a female, be warned that it can take just one fatty treat to irritate the pancreas.  If we had known this, we could likely have avoided the suffering that our dog went through and a huge vet bill.

NOVEMBER 8, we headed smoothly across the border and continued for a trouble-free drive down to West Virginia.  The day was bright as we passed many forests bared for winter; crossed many winding rivers, many with Sunday fisher folk in hip waders standing hopeful in the current; quaint American small towns with their steeples and smokestacks competing for attention, grand and fallen farm homes and barns and on into the melodic rolling hills, green and brown, dotted with grazing sheep and cows.  Sadly there are many deer along the route that fall victim to traffic and countless brown bodies lay still at the highway’s edge.  By early afternoon, we were heading in to our favourite Stonewall State Park where we will stay for a week.  The park’s trails, lake, deer and solitude are familiar and we settled in for some quality down time.

P1090153

P1090154

P1090160

P1090156

P1090166

P1090198 

P1090169  P1090202

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.