ALGONQUIN PARK

Algonquin Park has always been a favourite park of mine. I have many fond memories of canoeing and camping there over 50 years with family and friends. It was only natural for me to take Richard to see a part of Ontario I enjoy so much. Richard is from Liberia, Africa where we met 12 years ago when I did some work there with the YMCA

He was fascinated with the displays at the visitors' center and since it was early in the season we didn't have huge crowds to contend with.

Usually by the middle of May all the ice is off the lakes and the snow is gone, so  I was surprised to see snow in some of the campsites. Yes, there were folks camping and many still using tents. Just goes to prove we are a hardy bunch here in Canada.

Another must destination while in the park is the Opeongo store and canoe rental.

They have canoes and kayaks of every shape, size and colour available to rent or buy.

Our final stop of the day was the Logging Museum near the east gate of the park. It depicts the logging operations in Algonquin from the earliest methods to present day operations. Here Richard checks out a bunkhouse used by the loggers back when everything was done by manual labour or horse and the men worked from 5 a.m. until the sun went down.

It was a great day and Richard thoroughly enjoyed his time in the park.

Hope you too get a chance to spend time in Ontario's largest park so close to Toronto yet a world apart. You won't be disappointed, especially if you plan your trip when the fall colours are at their best.

Safe travels everyone and thanks for stopping by.

BBQ and CAMPFIRES

Food brings people together and Greg was our chef extraordinaire at the BBQ last weekend.

Chicken, asparagus, potatoes all done to perfection.

While Greg looked after the BBQ his daughter Jessica looked after the pizza oven. The pizzas were so good we put her back to work Monday morning so we could have a pizza breakfast.

If I'm invited to a BBQ you know it will ............... RAIN!!!!

It came down hard for a while but fortunately our cooks were under some shelter.

Most of the weekend was spent catching up on what everyone has been doing.

Sean calls this my "situation jacket". Rain is one of those situations it is designed to deal with so I was wearing it. At least I was dry.

It was a great weekend and a great way to kick off the summer A HUGE thank you to everyone who worked and contributed to make all this happen.  We will miss the "lots" but we still have lots of other venues to gather in. Maybe we should all fly to England for a weekend with Kari and Alastair.

Enjoy your day and safe travels everyone.

COUSINS

What happens when cousins get together; FUN!!! There were lots of games to play and the water area was the most popular. Here Kayla holds the nozzle while Abby dashes through the spray.

It wasn't long before Kate joined in and was as wet as the older kids.

Water soakers were put to good use and Emerson perfected the technique of spraying everyone in one shot.

Isabella had good balance while ..........

Owen did a nice hurdle over the tightrope and

Kate was content to just try and jump over it.

Lilly showing how to do a back walkover. Wish I was that flexible.

It was the perfect afternoon to be outside having fun with your cousins.

FAMILY GATHERING

Last weekend my sister Annabelle and her husband Jack hosted a family gathering near London Ontario. It was a fabulous time together and I'll post pictures of the party over the next few days. It was extra special for us as Sean and Maggie were there.

It seemed everyone arrived at the same time. The weather co-operated, at least at first, and we enjoyed getting reacquainted with everyone.

Most folks drove to the party site but a few flew like Sean from Calgary and Kari and Alastair who flew in from England just for the weekend.

Greg (foreground) organized the party  and made sure we had plenty of delicious food to eat. Thanks everyone for sharing especially the elderberry pies which I overdosed on.

Some family members we hadn't seen in 10-15 years so the gathering was certainly overdue.

It was so good to be surprised by Sean's presence as he didn't tell anyone that he was attending. My family hadn't met Maggie and so she got overloaded with a host of new names and faces to learn. The best news of the weekend was the announcement that Maggie is expecting and we will be grandparents sometime in November YEA!!!!!!

OK, enough good news for one day.

More tomorrow

COMPANY FROM LIBERIA

Richard is visiting from Liberia. I met him when we were there 12 years ago doing humanitarian work in Africa. This is his first visit visit to Canada and we are delighted to have him.

Last night we enjoyed homemade pizza on the deck. The weather was perfect and we chatted for an hour. Of course the food was delicious and Rob enjoyed serving the pizza.

After pizza Oma made "SMORS" not the healthiest of desserts but the kids sure enjoyed them and so did we.

She also served birthday cake but I was too busy eating to take a picture. Kate did sing a heart touching "Happy Birthday" all by herself.

Today we head to London with  a stop at the Mennonite market near Kitchener.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 19th.

Safe travels and thanks for stopping by.

NEW COVERS

This morning we removed the old cloth covers on our tomato beds. They were a temporary fix as they drooped onto the plants which wasn't good for the fragile tomato plants.

The new covers are larger and have their own hoop structure to keep the fabric off the plants. They will provide frost protection and yet still allow moisture to seep through and water the plants.

As you can see the plants are doing fine under these covers.

These beds are convenient to the kitchen and the BBQ which means we will enjoy plenty of garden salads this summer as well as burgers topped with our own tomatoes. Now all we need is the sun and some warm weather.

Safe travels everyone.

MOTHER'S DAY

Friday I hauled our trailer over to Abe's garage to get the brake controller installed.

It was an easy installation as most new vehicles now come with the wiring harness already to connect to.

Yesterday the sun was shining and we decided to celebrate Mother's Day early. The plan was to do some shopping and go out for lunch then head north for a drive to Barry's Bay.

On the way home we discovered the Lutheran Church north of Maynooth was holding their annual spring supper so we stopped and joined them. Church suppers are very popular up here and always serve an abundance of turkey or ham with all the timings as well as a huge variety of homemade pies.

Our final stop was to see the hobbit house Durl built for Linda's garden. It was so exquisite and looks perfect in the garden setting. Now Linda just needs to find the right hobbits to live there.

Not sure what will happen today but we thoroughly enjoyed yesterday.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

PLANTING TOMATOES

Today it is raining but that didn't stop Mary. Rain for her simply means a better planting day as the soil is moist and ready for new plants.

Mary started these seeds back in March and now they have a healthy root system and are ready for transplanting.

The plants will have plenty of room in the new beds as we are allowing 12-14 inches between plants.

Holes are dug, plants are ready.

Before the plants go in Mary's special homemade fertilizer has to be added.

 Each plant gets buried to a depth above its bottom leaves.

In total we have twenty plants. If we avoid any killer frost we will have a bumper crop of tomatoes this year.  

Mary also planted basil, and marigolds in the same beds. In a few weeks we will have lots of green covering the soil. Now all we need is sunshine and some warm weather.

Time to sit by the fire, enjoy my coffee and get dried out.

MODIFICATIONS

I'm ready to travel, but it's still too cold and our gardens aren't in yet so Mary is busy modifying our camper.

Today it's new curtains. I think these will enhance the interior considerably and make me even more anxious to find a spot by the ocean.

Like I mentioned earlier, it's cold out and we covered our new plants with these fabric tunnels. So far they seem to be effective and our lettuce is surviving.

We now have six raised garden beds and four water storage tanks collecting rain water off the roof. Our inherited greenhouse will be assembled once the party is over and our company has gone home. There always seems to be lots to do back here in the bush.

This morning we picked fiddle-heads and enjoyed them for lunch.Then we sat and listed all the wild food we can collect or catch just outside our door. The list didn't include items from our garden, as that food isn't wild, but did include: elderberries, cranberries, blueberries, chaga, stinging nettle, dandelion, birch water, maple syrup, watercress, splake, etc. In total we were able to list almost fifteen items we enjoy from the forest and nearby lakes.

All this talk of food has made me hungry; time for a snack. Mary made delicious sourdough chocolate muffins this morning and I'm having hunger pains just thinking of them.

Safe travels everyone and thanks for stopping by.