The Parties Over

In our last posting, we were just ending the surprise party in Ellicottville, John, Di, Ray & Donna left early on Monday while Terri, Barb & I hung out a little longer with a plan to play some golf. It started to rain and didn’t let up so we decided to go into Ellicottville for lunch and we tried a place – the Kabob Kafe and it was very good and worth a repeat some day. We were on the road back to Ontario by 6PM. The border was not busy and we crossed easily with the usual questions. It rained the whole way and our golf clubs got soaked – with Terri, Kasey and our luggage in the back seat, the clubs were relegated to the truck bed to face the inclement weather. Tuesday, we had to dry out, dry the clubs out and rest up – we were whipped! What a weekend. Thanks to Terri & Mark for pulling this together and to all who joined us in making our entry into the 10% club memorable.
We have a number of cordless power tools but the 2 battery packs have finally given up and cannot be replaced. If we throw  the packs away, we waste a drill, circular saw, jig saw, brad nailer and a work light. I was commiserating with friend Barry (from Winnipeg) while they were at the Plantation this past winter and he suggested I rebuild them. He said there are several sites online where one can order the replacement batteries from. So, goggling I go, and behold I find a site that sells with links to other sites that explain step by step on DIY. To give you the ‘reader’s digest’ version, I paid $66 and a few hours of my time to bring new life to the power tools and keep them out of the landfill sites.
Wednesday was a road trip to Oshawa, I found another rocking chair to cane and we drove out there to pick it up. On the way, we stopped off at Larry’s for a short visit. After picking up the chair, we met Larry at one of our favorite fish and chip restaurants in Pickering.
The weekend was quiet except we went to the theatre on Sunday and saw War Horse. It was in the theatre district in Toronto and it has been awhile since Barb & I have driven in downtown! We left the rig at a time that we thought would get us there, pick up the tickets and go have some lunch. Well, our plan was a little off – we didn’t know that the Blue Jays were at Home, the Toronto International Film Festival was starting up, the waterfront was busy so we were really pressing for time. We had 30 minutes before show time and we were still on the QEW, parked waiting to exit the freeway! To cut this panicky story short, we were lucky to find parking and got our tickets with only 10 minutes to spare so no lunch! What a spectacular show. After a few minutes, the puppeteers that worked the horses disappeared – it was an amazing play.
We left the play just dazzled by the show. Did I say that it was really a good show? Since  it was a birthday celebration, why not have dinner out so we went to one of fav’s – Royal Coachman. We sat on the patio and had a pleasant dinner with the sun setting – it was a great way to end the perfect day.
Monday, we had Terri & Mark in for my birthday dinner and end the great 65th  birthday celebration.  We would like to thank Terri and Mark for making this such a wonderful event.  You guys really gave us some wonderful memories and showed how much we are loved, thank you.
Well now we will get things back to normal –  Barb sewing etc and I can get another chair caned. Wednesday, we climb back on our  bikes to rid ourselves of all the extra  pounds we put on during our respite and got another 5KMs done – small steps right? The park manager came around late in the day to congratulate us for winning second place for the Outstanding Site Award! Wow, our teeny tiny site was second best and we didn’t even know  there was a contest.


 








Thursday brought us heading toward London to join John, Di, Ray, Donna & Jack at the Escapees monthly luncheon. On the way we toured a few more barn quilts in  Oxford County. It is an interesting trail that took us through the SW Ontario country side, along roads that the average traveler would not have taken unless they were sight seeing. After lunch we visited with our cousins, Gerry & Anne and sat on their deck until the yellow jackets and flies drove us indoors. On the way home, we toured through more of SW  Ontario’s fabulous country side and finished the barn quilts of Oxford County.

Friday was a quiet day, Barb – you guessed it was sewing and I was working on my new rocker. Saturday was not a good day. We left our awning out and the umbrella up when the very quick storm went through the campground before breakfast. The umbrella lifted like Mary Poppins and shattered our glass table top. I jumped up to get the awning put away before it was damaged but I was too late. We need to replace a couple of arms and the front bracket was pulled out of the trailer wall – good thing we were going to Chanute this fall to get that area repaired but how will we travel with the front awning arm loose?
While we ponder ways to ‘MacGyver’ temporary repairs we hope all is well out there where ever you are.

Speechless

There is no way for me to tell this story without just leading you through it. In our previous post, I mentioned that Terri & Mark invited us to their cabin in up state New York for a golf weekend, kicking back and just cooling our jets to celebrate Barb & I turning 65. As usual on Friday nights, we are all going to meet at the at the Gin Mill for dinner. We had to stop at the Duty Free for a nature break and of course, Terri says “Dad, you can’t pass up this deal – 3 bottles of your favorite for $39.00!” And she was right, I couldn’t. We all arrive at the ‘mill’ and the place was hoppin busy and we progressed toward the back games room. As we start to clear the doorway, we see Pat & Carolyn sitting at a table and I thought, wow, what a coincidence to meet up with them on their travels this far off the beaten track! All smiles and surprise, we move further into the room to say something witty and we now see 4 other friends – John & Di and Ray & Donna and it sets in, this is a set up but Barb & I are dumb founded and completely ‘shocked’ to see everyone there! We were speechless for several seconds and then the party began! Wow, what a time. There was another group of ‘seniors’ at a table behind us and they too welcomed and congratulated us and they were also Canadians. For awhile we were wondering if we knew these people and our forgetter was working now that we are in this new group called Seniors.  Friends of Terri & Mark; Mary and Stavros joined in our celebration even though they were down celebrating their own wedding anniversary. 

What a night at the ‘Mill’!

After dinner and a couple of wobbly pops, I needed to wash my hands after my plate of wings and as I was approaching the washroom door, one of the ladies from the other table also was about to go in so I asked her if she minded that I go in to wash my hands and she held the door for me. To my surprise it was the ladies washroom that we were in – yes, she came in with me and that should have been a hint right? But I thought it was a one washroom restaurant. As soon as I opened the door to exit, her husband was right there to defend her from the ogre but he had a knee brace so I think I could have out run him if necessary. The evening progressed much the same as we left there and went back to Terri & Marks hide-away. Terri went up on Thursday to decorate for the surprise as we were greeted with party decorations. We all continued the party until the early hours of Saturday morning. When we woke on Saturday, the decorations were still there so I knew I didn’t dream about the fun times.

It seems to be a tradition that when John & Di and the cronies are there, the Baily’s flows for the morning coffee, so the morning was happily spent chatting on Terri & Mark’s deck with that ‘sweetener’  near by for the morning brew.

Another nice surprise was the arrival of Larry, my brother  from north Pickering who drove down to enjoy the weekend and celebrate with us. Barb was busy when he arrived and didn’t see him. As Larry was standing near the patio table, Barb came out with another coffee urn and stood beside him and didn’t really see him until he nudged her and then the big hug and welcome. I guess getting old means poorer eye sight!

Most of the crew decided that it would be fun to wander into Ellicottville to browse  through the shops etc. In the heat of the day, John, Larry & I waited on a couple of stores then decided it would be cooler to wait at the ‘Mill’. The rest had a great time wandering through the shops and even purchased a couple of items. There was an art and craft show happening at the end of Main St so the 3 of us caught up with everyone there. Once all rounded up, we decided it was time for ice cream and even our largest – don’t take that as a slam John – critic took part and had one too! After a quick trip to the liquor store, we were on the way to the cabin – hey the beer was getting cold!

After a delicious platter of cheese, crackers and more chat, dinner was served to a bunch of hungry party goers. We were all having a blast and lots if discussion going  on and I’m sure we solved all the worlds problems in one evening. The high light of the night was Barb & I releasing a couple of Sky Lanterns. Mark picked them up in town and are a simple paper like bag with a small flame apparatus attached underneath that we ignited, holding onto the lantern until it inflated and we could feel it tugging upward in our hands. We let go separately and watched it rise up until it disappeared in the night sky. It was an exciting experience. Thanks Mark.

 

 

 

After breakfast on Sunday, Larry, Pat & Carolyn decided to head back home while the rest of us had another coffee! So not to lie to us about a golf weekend, Terri, Mark, John & Barb & I went to the driving range to smack some balls. Terri even gave a few lessons; one to John and one to Mark.  The white things were flying everywhere but we had fun anyway. Then we got to enjoy watching Terri hit balls.

We met the rest of the crew at the EBC for lunch. Do you see a pattern here? Anyway, we were out on the patio and still having a great time not to mention ordering a beer sampler so we could all try the beers brewed here. Unfortunately, Mark had to go to work on Monday so he had to head back home while the rest of us broke out the Mexican Train for a round or two!

 

Wow, what a great weekend celebrating  our ‘coming of age’! Now my main issue is to find out why retailers only allow seniors a discount on 1 day during the week – Wednesday let’s say. But we’re only talking 10% here so why can’t the retailers give a senior their 10% every day they are shopping? Anyway, Barb has pushed me off my soap box so I’ll wrap up here but not before we say thanks to everyone that came to join us and of course to Terri & Mark for pulling off this wonderful surprise party.

Did Anyone see Where August Went

Wow, zip and it was gone! We started the month by touring the area Barn Quilts which tell a story of the regions activities  during the War of 1812. We finally got the boat wet on Christi Lake Conservation area, checked out few more waterfalls in the area and Barb cleaned up a few quilt projects.

 

 

  The memorable moments in August started on Barb’s birthday. We enjoyed her favorite breakfast then jumped in the boat and zipped around the lake again. Terri and Mark insisted on taking us to dinner to celebrate Barb’s entry into the special group of people. They hosted us at Spencer’s, on the waterfront in Burlington, a very nice eatery. They presented Barb with roses and a gift basket from Laura Secord. Barb had an Elk burger and I had a Buffalo steak – the food, atmosphere and the company was fantastic. It was a wonderful day.

 

 

On Sunday, we asked all our kids to gather at Christi Lake to help celebrate both our birthdays – mine is only a couple of weeks away. We took our boat and Terri & Mark brought both of theirs so we would have  enough  for all to have fun on the water. The weather was perfect and Barb & I went over early to select the perfect picnic spot that was close to the beach area for the grandkids. We got busy decorating the tables and getting the BBQ set up. We didn’t have any time to kick back before our kids started to arrive and the party began. Swimming, boating – well some of the older grandsons couldn’t keep the canoe up right - enjoying the company and of course, have lunch. Barb took Terri’s kayak out for a spin and zipped down and back on the lake like a pro! Even the Golf Ladders got some exercise. It was great fun and a nice celebration but as always and too quickly, the day comes to a close and the clean up begins.

 

 

To slow things down a little and do more touring, we set out to Norfolk County to view some more Barn Quilts. Our tour took us over to Nanicoke, one of Ontario’s largest electric power generating stations and a deep water port for the Erie Steel Works.  Port Dover is always a cute little port town where thousands of ‘bikers’ converge on Friday the 13th. We stopped off at the Kernal Peanut farm to get some fresh peanuts. And yes, John, we did mange to find a location to get an ice cream cone.

Barb & I even hit the driving range a couple of times because Terri & Mark invited us down to the cabin for a golf weekend and we did not want to embarrass ourselves on the course again – the last time we golfed with Terri and Mark, we hadn’t played for about 18 months and both of us had a hard time breaking 100. This was going to be fun and we were both looking forward to the ‘golf getaway’ and hopefully regain some of our golf skills! That weekend came and went by so quickly and I will regale you with those activities in the next posting so stay tuned.

Hope all is well where ever you are…. 

Where Does the Time Go!

It’s been quiet here. Barb has been working on a few quilting projects and I have fixed a couple of items that have sat long enough. All this ‘work’ and no play makes us boring so on Tuesday, we finally got the boat wet. We put in on Christi Lake, a conservation area close to our campground. We had a nice ride and left the boat inflated to make it more convenient for next time.

Wednesday was a busy day for us, Barb needed to renew her drivers license and  health card so I took the opportunity to update the sticker on the truck. Mark’s mom was in town so Mark invited us over for dinner and hey, a free meal, we’ll be there. The rest of the week was dampened by the rain but we certainly needed it. The wet weather outside encourage us to get even more accomplished indoors – Barb and her sewing and me – well, no chairs to cane so I guess I’ll take the top off the job jar.

While I was sitting contemplating the head on my beer, I can’t believe how time has passed. It seems like yesterday that we were arriving back in Ontario with plans to visit friends in Michigan and at the Finger Lakes in New York but now all that is history. We were anticipating the visit from John & Dianne and now that too is in the past. It seems like my loving bride and I  just tied the knot and we are still on our honeymoon. I can’t believe that we retired in 1996! And most of all, it is hard to believe that we have been on this ride of full timing for 12 years. Wow, where does the time go – it seems to zip by when your having fun!

We’re now becoming ‘seniors’ and I know all to soon that too will be in the past but at least with this milestone we will be eligible for our ‘seniors discount’ not to mention we are on that preverbal slipper slope!

Hope all is well where you are….