Lots to be Thankful For

Again, I am a little slow in updating but I’m sure you don’t want to read about our normal routines. But, we did have a nice Thanksgiving on Sunday. It was my brothers family’s turn to host while the rest if us brought various plates and bowls of delicious food to compliment the turkey! We were surprised by a visit from Jim and Sandy from Waskada Mb., Larry’s in-laws. We had a nice time catching up as it has been many years since we saw them last. The rest of us came from Orangeville, Toronto and Kemptville, Ontario.  We sat 23 adults and children for dinner. It was a great time.  This was our 27th Thanksgiving together, wow.  We have seen the Ellis children grow, marry and have children, what a treat watching as our next generation grows up.

On Thanksgiving Monday, John & Di,  Ray & Donna and Jack & Barb from St Thomas arrived here at the campground to spend a week with us. What can I say, mucho train played, some Sequence, lots to eat and drink and many, many laughs. On this trip, there was no rig repairs done – too cool to put anyone under a rig for a day like last time! Each morning, someone hosted coffee complimented with Baily’s! On Thursday, we toured around Dundas and Ancaster to view the fall colors. Of course I thought I knew where we were going but made a wrong turn for a different adventure but it all worked out anyway with no one the wiser! After our ‘color tour’ we dropped into one our favorite eateries – The Royal Coachman and had an early dinner – hey after all, we are almost all seniors now! But it just made more fun time for Train!

On Friday, the gang descended on our rig for a hitch up breakfast and Barb & I thought would be a good time to try out a new recipe! It passed the test and all was devoured so it must have been ok! Now that they have been fed and watered, GET OUT! It was great fun again and we look forward to the next time we can all get together.

  Our grandson (Mack) had an early football game so we headed out to Toronto as soon as the gang left  to watch him play. He was benched for a couple of weeks suffering from a concussion but he played the whole game and they won. A few more wins and they could be in the High School finals at the Rogers Centre in November. After the game, we picked up his brother Nate and they stayed with us for the weekend. Of course you know Barb had an agenda of crafts and games set out for them while they were here.

We had to stop at the grocery store to get all their favorites for the weekend – boys seem to eat a lot!  Mack is not used to an early rise but Saturday morning, he didn’t have much choice – I am up by 7ish

 

 

making coffee. By mid morning, everyone was fed and groomed and the ghost craft was well underway. It wasn’t the best weather-wise so indoor activities were best. We did get out both Saturday & Sunday for a walk around the park (at least 2Kms) for some exercise. Any spare time was filled in with Train and Sequence. It was a fun time with the kids – a good grand parent fix before we head south.

The following week, things slowed down considerably with doctors appointments and various tests. Barb went to her last Landscape Quilt class and her finished piece looks great don’t you think? After, we went to the Escapee Chapter lunch here in Burlington at Tuckers Market and had a very large and good lunch and all from under $25.00! It was not a big crowd but we had fun anyway.

We have a few appointments left before we are clear to ‘take off’ but the count down has begun. I’ll try to update the blog with our last activities here this year so come again in a couple of weeks. Hope all is well wherever you are.

Not Much Goin’ On

It is Oct 2 and I am spinning around trying to find where the summer has gone! Time is just zipping by – is it an age thing since we turned 65? The colder temps and the turning leaves remind us that we have to get into the trip planning mode, do the doctor and dentist appointments, find a place for all the ‘stuff’ we’ve accumulated over the summer and start the clean up process – putting things into the nooks and crannys of our ‘basement’ storage. Whew, I’m exhausted and feel’n the stress of it all just thinking about it – better sit awhile until the feel’n goes away!

We are each finishing up on some of our  projects so we don’t have any UFPs (Unfinished Projects) as we travel. We are not looking forward to sitting in Chanute for a week during repairs but it is still less expensive than buying a new unit so we are trying to decide what to do while there – travel the area, take a trip to see more of Kansas etc. I guess it will depend on the weather and how curious I will be on what’s being done.

We were supposed to go golfing with neighbors here last Monday but Barb took a bee sting in her right elbow sometime on Sunday and her arm swelled up and hurt too much to even think about swinging a golf club. Her elbow swelled to about the size of a tennis ball. Monday was a quiet day – no golf, no sewing machine, some napping and TV – now that;s a drastic change!

We had Alex, one of our granddaughters ask to spend a weekend with us and we had some fun with her. Of course there was some shopping, cooking and crafts going on. Barb & Alex made a couple of Halloween ornaments and paper bows. The girls took time out to each have DIY facials and we even managed to get a short bike ride in before it rained.

 

 

We’ve had a quiet couple of weeks insofar as outings and excursions so not too much to write about here. Hoping all is good where you are and Happy Thanksgiving to all those that are celebrating this weekend.

Making Plans

It was Grandparents Day here last Sunday so a belated Happy Grandparents Day to all Grammas and Grandpas out there!

Holy cold batman – where did the heat go? We woke this morning and were tempted to put the heat on but instead, Barb just pulled the covers up and said not to expect her until the day warmed up! I’m afraid my wardrobe will not include shorts anymore! You would think that our lives would be slowing down after all the festivities and return to normal but…..In my last post, we had awning problems during a fast moving storm and it was rolled up wet and had to be dried out so we gently pulled out the awning to get it dry but still have not ‘macgivered’ a way to secure it for travel but we did fix the umbrella for next year. As for the glass table, we’re thinking to build something out of tubular metal for a top but we’re still in the planning stages – not a big priority, the whole set was less than $100!

On Wednesday, it warmed up enough that we got  the boat wet again and the repair to the seat strap help perfectly – it was injured during our family picnic at Christi Lake. We had company watching us closely. That evening, we ventured over to Niagara Falls to go to a dinner theatre that we had booked in early August to celebrate our arrival into the 10% group. We went to ‘Oh Canada  Eh’! It was a great time and we would recommend it to anyone. We were a little early so we went across the street for a cocktail while we waited for the doors to open.

Our waiter was part of the cast and they served us when they were not on the stage. Of course, he bribed us – we had to cheer for him and he would bring us more food! And it worked, we cheered loudly when he was up there. The meal was excellent – soup, salad, mixed vegies, potatoes, roast beef, haddock, chicken and as our waiter called it - maple ‘squirel’ cake! It was all you could eat, served family style and when a platter emptied, it was replaced with a full one. The entertainment was excellent, a good value for your ticket purchase.

 

 

 

We had another road trip on Friday to view some of the Elgin County Barn Quilts. It was not a nice day with the rain and wind but it did not hinder our day. We had hoped to view 11 Barn Quilts but we had some difficulty with the addresses provided – one street number was transposed and a couple of the others just were not where they were listed to be. In total, we only saw 7 of the 11. After, we visited with John & Di for some Mexican Train, dinner and more Mexican Train. We decided to stay over so we could continue with the ‘train’ into the wee hours! We had a great time, thanks John & Di.

I had decided to move our mail from Incredimail to Thunderbird as our email client. It has been an ongoing process for the past couple of months when I had some time to sit at the PC long enough to pull everything together to enable me to make the move. Incredimail uses their own file extensions so it’s not just an easy task to save and import to another email client – it has been frustrating to say the least but I have learned lots and reclaimed some disk space (which is what started this whole process).

While Barb has been busy working on her quilt projects,  I continue installing the vinyl screw covers on the bedroom and entertainment slides. These covers sure clean up the look of the rig. I also made some progress on the new rocking chair – not having worked on one in awhile, I have to refer to the book on the process and tips to ensure it is done correctly.

Well, that’s another week of our lives, we hope all is well where ever you are….

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.