Monday, April 27, 2020

I think it's almost spring.....




Our Location: 
Summer Spot, near South Baymouth, Ontario, Canada



I do believe spring might be closer as the temperatures are starting to warm up, the buds are starting to show, although our 'green' front lawn isn't showing much colour yet, but I think I see twinges and hints. 


 Taken with my phone, this photo was taken as I climbed around the top rim of the level above us. You can see the waters of Georgian Bay off in the distance. 

 Again, taken with my phone. This shows the area of our back yard, where our fire pit is located. 

 If you look carefully between the trees, you can see Riley down there in a chair. She is sitting in our front yard. The Igloo is to the right.

Things are very quiet here in our little corner of the Rock. Not much happening and we like it that way. Chatted with my sister, my daughter Courtney, friend Linda and friends Ron & Sharon this past week. Always nice to catch up with folks. 


How cold is it you ask?

The white stuff in the shade is frost but the stuff in the sun has melted.

 And in a few places, a bit of snow remains.

All of the above photos were taken with my phone. 



Our chives are doing well. 

 Rhubarb is doing well too. 

Taken from the rim of the back yard.


I hope you are all well, staying out of trouble, and staying healthy. A little cabin fever is normal but if you are holding the chocolate hostage, I think you can call someone about that. Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time... take care, be safe, stay healthy, 

Deb

Friday, April 17, 2020

A few photos....




Our Location: 
Summer Spot, near South Baymouth, Ontario, Canada

(I uploaded the photos again, I'm not sure why they didn't load the last time, they looked fine in the preview. Hopefully this works.)
Well below seasonal norms is the way the weather folks are talking about our stretch of weather for another week or two, possibly into mid May. However, they are guessers and we shall see how well they guess. 

We have been puttering around for a few minutes each day but really not accomplishing anything of note. We spend a great deal of time looking out wishing it was warmer and less windy but soon that shall not be the case, or at least we hope!  Soon we hope to be putting out our summer stuff and clearing up some of the mess left behind by winter but until we get some warmer, drier, less windy weather, we'll just have to keep looking out and wishing, and hoping, and.......you remember that song right? 

A few photos, all taken with my phone so forgive the blurry ones please. 

 We refer to this area as "The Green" and although you can't see it, the whole area is covered with frost and sparkling in the sunlight. 




 You can see the small slash of sunlight on the path. 




Water frozen in the ruts off at the side of the path. 




If you look carefully you can see at the very edge where I broke the ice and the water bubbles under the rest of the ice. The heavy frost on the area around the water is also evident. 


 The small line shows where I melted the frost on the lumber. Everything was white and sparkly this morning.



We refer to this as the frog pond, although it's used to water the cattle that roam free here from the long weekend in May until after we leave in mid October. As you can see it's frozen at the outer reaches and a very dark blue indicates where the water is deeper.  One couldn't walk on this ice, it's paper thin.



 A bit of snow here and there still.



 Ducks on the water at our favourite swimming place.



 Way over there across the water is the reservation known as Wikemikong, (Wick- quem- i- kong) however everyone simply calls it Wiky. 



I know the photo is blurry but I wanted to show you folks that patch of dark blue out there. I haven't been to the village of South Baymouth yet but I'm guessing that very dark patch of blue is either ice or very very frigid waters coming into the bay from Georgian Bay/Lake Huron. You can easily see the colour difference. It is against the far shore which is the Wiky shore. If I had visited the Village I would know if it was ice or water as that flows directly past the Village and the ferry docks. 

 So a few photos that I've managed with my phone while taking a short walk this morning. One of these days maybe I'll carry the big camera but then again, it may just be a wishful thought. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you are all well, healthy and not suffering from social with drawls or cabin fever. Remember folks, we are all in this together. Let's keep our cool, behave ourselves, and respect each other. 

Until next time....take care, be safe, stay healthy, 

Deb

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Finally home.....



Our Location: 
Summer Spot, near South Baymouth, Ontario, Canada

 


Hello folks. I’ll bet you thought I forgot about you but you’d be wrong. You have all been on my mind and today is the day that I let you know Riley and I are safe, sound and parked in our summer spot and we hope you folks are all doing just wonderful as well. We left Buttercup Ridge on Easter Sunday and arrived here before 5 pm. It was a day of mist, rain, almost rain, a few snow flurries but NO WIND.

 
I just love this bowl. It sits in the formal living room at Buttercup Ridge. It always catches the sunlight and looks amazing. 
 
 
 One of the spare rooms at Buttercup Ridge.
 
 
Throw pillows, blankets, robes, towels, etc throughout the house all bear the wonderful stitching!!
 
 
An uneventful drive, we stopped a few times to stretch and grab some food but other than that we kept on motoring. Leaving Buttercup Ridge before 8 am we managed to pass through Orilla around 10 am, thru Sudbury by 1:30 pm and were up the big hill, turned around and leveling by the time our first visitor arrived at 4:30. We had the feet down and were just putting the slides out when our second visitor arrived around 4:50 pm and were bringing things out of the Dogsled when our last visitor arrived at 5:15 pm. They came and left individually and never overlapped, a quick hello, nice to see you, chatter, chatter and off they went. Once they all left we were having some dinner and settling in by 6 pm. Social distancing is of course observed here and there were no hugs or close proximity standing.
 
 A very empty hamlet of Omemee, Ontario


 
 
Janet and Dennis arrived home on Monday night after four days of driving from Indian Wells, CA. A very long drive for certain. We are happy they are safe, sound and healthy back on Buttercup Ridge. On Saturday morning Riley and I headed into Cobourg for two reasons, shopping for us and them. They are now in 14 days of isolation with a full fridge and plenty of food and medications to last them until they are well past that time. We too are pretty much stocked for a  month or so. Milk and bread can be purchased by my SIL Barbara while she is at work and brought home to us.

 
  
Raindrops on the window.

Here on the Island there are only 2 reported cases ( reported about three weeks ago) of Covid-19, although there are a growing number of cases in the areas surrounding the Island. So we are happy to be settled in here although the cold is not enjoyable, we will manage. Of course the nice weather happened in the beginning of April and now the last two weeks will be quite a bit below seasonal norms. Yeah us.

 

 
The photos today are a bit of a collection, some were taken on our drive north, some while still at Buttercup Ridge and the last two this morning with my phone and they give you an idea of the empty roads and the ‘no sign of spring’ along the way, as well as our current weather.
 
 
 
 
A few notes of interest for those that pay attention to such things. Fuel prices in the area around Buttercup Ridge were in the 81/82 cent a liter mark for DIESEL. That translates to APPROXIMATELY $3.28 a gallon. I bought my diesel at the local reserve there. A stop in Parry Sound, Ontario (Muskoka-Cottage country) had us filling the drinking bowl at around 97/98 cents per liter. That is APPROXIMATELY $3.92 a gallon. A further top up at the turn off from Hwy 17 to Hwy 6 which we travel to reach the island had us seeing $1.14 per liter, APPROXIMATELY $4.56 per gallon. We are set for fuel for  quite a while as we drive  very little here.
 

 Most of the small inland lakes in the Sudbury area are still frozen but not with enough ice to hold a person up.

 
For those that are interested in the temperatures, BRRRRRR comes to mind with day time highs reaching 38 or 39F/  approx 3 or 4 C but with the cold west wind those aren’t the true temps. Night time lows dip well in to the ‘oh my God it’s cold’ numbers and one is good while in bed but hates to step out of bed in the morning. Although Dave, (Our View from Here) we aren’t as cold as you are out there in the cold plains of Saskatchewan.

 
 
Some of this sh*t is still on the ground and it's noon thirty! 
 

A couple of other notes as well to pass along. Since we are now in our summer location and not really doing anything of interest I will be posting occasionally now. I’ll try for once a week but can’t promise. We are on a different time pattern here, more structured and I spend a great deal less time inside and usually take very few photos. I seem to find things to occupy my time and keep busy. So if you don’t hear from me often, don’t be alarmed please.

 

 
 
 
A birthday wish to my brother Rick who celebrates tomorrow. I won’t give any numbers but he’s older than me. Haha. Happy Birthday big brother, we hope it’s a fantastic day. Also a birthday wish to brother Rick’s youngest son Jesse. He celebrates on the the 28th by turning 24. He and his lovely lady recently became proud parents of a fur baby, a very nice chocolate lab. I believe the puppy is named is Remy. Also a birthday wish to my nephew Allan. Allan is my sister’s only son. Allan celebrates on April 21 st and will be celebrating a 30 something birthday. Happy Birthday guys. We hope you all enjoy your special day.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are all happy, sane, and healthy and remain that way. Hopefully we start to get back to some sort of normal in the next few weeks or at least by summer time. To quote an Anne Murray song,’We sure could use a little good news today.’

Until next time…take care, be safe, stay healthy,

Deb
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Time is getting shorter here at Buttercup Ridge....




Our Location: Buttercup Ridge, Roseneath, Ontario Canada


A week has past since I last posted, my but how time does slip away from us. I’ve been reading your blogs folks, not necessarily commenting  but liking some and simply keeping up with others. I like that little like button, but I can’t figure out how to check to see who did the liking. Haha, oh well, it’s nice just to know someone took the time to read, and I thank all of you for your continued interest.  Today is a bit of a catch up, a bit of humour, a bit of a rant, and a bit of nostalgia, it’s a full post folks. 




We gathered all those sticks from the yard to be used in the fireplace over the summer. Fireplace on the left, pizza oven on the right.
 

Our 14 day quarantine is up and we’ve ventured out to the small hamlet of Harwood for some very wonderfully sweet, cold drinking water from an artisan well there. We didn’t see anyone, talk to anyone nor did we touch anything. The water simply flows from the well pipe, no on or off switch, lots of space for any size jug without it touching any piece of the pipe. Kind of like hands free. Perhaps next time I’ll remember to take a photo.

 
 
 Fun times here at Buttercup Ridge. 

 
 
 
 
 
Back at Buttercup Ridge we’ve been working inside and out, cleaning up a bit of  the yard  and gardens as well as the house (since we’ve been here over two weeks now I thought it needed a bit of a spruce up). We’ve noticed Mike and company at the barn most days (he comes twice every day but we don’t always see him), Wendy the gardener stopped by for a few minutes yesterday but we kept our distance while chatting. The oil truck came to fill up the tank but again we conversed over a good distance. Other than that, not a single interaction with anyone during our time here. Alma the housekeeper here at Buttercup Ridge hasn’t been around since we are here to keep an eye on things anyway.
 
 


I cleaned up part of this garden just in time for the snow to cover all those wonderful green shoots. 
 
 
The weather has taken a nasty turn as you can see from the photos. This morning when I opened the door tiny snow pellets were pummeling my face, they have now turned to big wet flakes of snow that leave rain drops in their wake. Great packing snow for snowman building. The ever present wind is once again making itself known as it climbs steadily from a light breeze to registering in our minds as winds. As I finish this post the snow has stopped but it's cold, single digits. 


 We are tucked up very close to the house and for the most part, out of the majority of the wind.


 I told you were close to the house.
 
 
While talking with Janet over the last while (they are still in Indian Wells, CA), their flights have disappeared into thin air, no notice, no memos, just seemed to disappear. Aliens or conspiracy? Haha. It is neither. They aren’t too upset by this fact as they have made arrangements to drive anyway. It was necessary for them to stay where they were but have now managed to arrange things to come home 3 weeks earlier than planned. No they aren’t sick, they don’t have the virus and they are being very cautious.

 


 

An interesting article I read ( a while ago) about  statements made by a provincial government official in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. I’m always amazed at how some people think and wonder if they realize how little they know about what they speak. I don’t recall the exact wording of the article but it was in reference to people who travel and live in RV’s, 5’ers, trailers, etc, in other words snowbirds and full timers. This government official doesn’t want people like us to be staying in campgrounds, as he feels we can’t self isolate there, and mentioned that those same travellers should use only pay at the pumps fuel stations so we don’t have to go inside as we travel homeward. My favourite was this one: we should use the drive thru for getting take out food. Now I can only speak for myself but truly I found this to be one of the more humourous articles I’ve read in a long time. Really a drive thru? I have enough worries sometimes making the sharp corners with the Dogsled, I couldn’t imagine the Igloo making them. I have a cousin that used to be a long distance hauler and even years ago complained that he couldn’t use the drive thru window because they wouldn’t sell him anything when he walked up to the window. It seems this is still the practice at some fast food places. Really? In this time of worry, stress and economic hardships, they won’t take your order unless you drive thru? Yes I’m certain they have reasons for such foolishness but during these times I think common sense needs to prevail. Seriously people we as a society need some common sense when our nations are depending on supplies being brought to us by truckers who are finding it difficult to get food and use a bathroom. Businesses won’t allow them to use a drive thru window if walking or use the bathrooms at many locations. Truly if I were driving a big rig, I think I might be tempted to take a crap at the drive thru window after I walked up and was denied food.
 
 
 This is about half of the area of the side yard and we've cleaned it up over two days. Leaves, pine needles, pine cones and walnuts. Truly a lot of work but it looks so much better, even with the snow.



That pile of sticks from one of the earlier photos is over there between the pizza oven and the fire place. 
 
 
As a Canadian, and a full time RV dweller I must say I find the Canadian government, as well as the provincial governments to be doing a pretty decent job overall although I think they could do better in a few areas but one area in particular bothers me. They pleaded, yelled, threatened and begged us to come home early from the warmer climates and I understand why they did such things but I must say they didn’t take into account all of the folks that live in a home wheels. They didn’t think about the reality of us coming home at such a time. They offered to keep hotels, motels and such types of living facilities open but they didn’t open up spaces for us to live in our homes, they consider campgrounds NON ESSENTIAL, and in fact have been keeping them closed and delaying their openings, yet they keep the beer and liquor stores open. While some campgrounds are opening to help snow birds and full timers, they run the risk of big fines as being open for NON ESSENTIAL business. How better to self isolate than to be in a contained environment like a trailer. Do you know that places like Quinte West and Gananoque, Ontario  are  now offering health care workers campers/trailers for free (both private people and dealerships) to help them keep isolated from their families but yet be at home in the yard or driveway, instead of sleeping in the garage or the car? How can government officials feel that we are a health risk by staying in our own homes instead of a hotel/motel? Really people, open the campgrounds and let us nomads in to keep us as safe as those in stix ’n brix places. I would like to assure those in government that the space between rigs is greater than 6 feet/2 meters. We are no greater risk than anyone else, but we will be if you don’t give us a place to put our feet down and live comfortably during this time of stress and worry.  We need places to dump our tanks, get our water and use electricity to keep warm. We need to have people around us that can help us by doing all those things we can’t do for ourselves for 14 days, get groceries, and propane and our medications. Campground owners, managers and workers will do that for folks when family and friends can’t be around. It’s absolutely no different than family dropping off the needed supplies while returning folks are in 14 days of being alone. Truly I believe if you are going to break the newly imposed rules that are meant to keep us safe you will do so no matter where you live, be it in your stix ’n brix house in your own neighbourhood or in a campground, a store or fuel station. We can’t fix stupid but we can make it easier for everyone to get through this very stressful time with some of our sanity in tact. 
 
 



 
 
So there you have it, we’ve been keeping busy and are happy to be out of quarantine even though we didn’t do anything different except drive for 10 minutes to the well. A little fact for those that think about these things, we crossed on March 23rd, and yet didn’t arrive at Buttercup Ridge until the 24th. Did our time start on the 23rd or the 24th? We stopped for fuel on the way to Buttercup Ridge which the border guard knew about and said it was fine. We didn’t enter any buildings though and so we debated about which dates our quarantine was actually in effect. Did it really matter? No, we didn’t leave the farm anyway, but it is a curious thing for those that are keeping track of their time alone. However it is a mute point, since April 6 and 7 have both passed, which means our time of sticking to the rules of not leaving the property has officially ended. However if one is keeping track, our plates entered Ontario, Canada around 2:30 pm on Tuesday, March 23rd. It was officially recorded at customs.

 
 A bit fuzzy but you get the idea. This sits just inside the front door here at Buttercup Ridge and makes me smile each time I see it.
 
 
A couple of other things I would like to mention before I sign off. Happy Birthday to Aunt Eileen. My father’s youngest sister. She celebrated the big day on April 2. We hope she had a most joyous day!! Also a belated Happy Birthday to Joan, who celebrated on the 5th. She is married to my father's youngest brother. We hope also had a wonderful day Aunt Joan. Another birthday greeting goes out to our friend Steve Mitchell. I meet Steve while travelling and staying in the southeast years ago when I stayed in his park at Albany, GA. Happy Birthday my friend, hope you have a wonderful day. Happy Easter to one and all, may you find warmth, love and comfort in places least expected during this holiday season. Keeping a good distance from all who love and care for you as well as those you don’t know is one way to help ensure that we will be around next Easter too.

 
Happy Easter Images, Stock Photos & Vectors | Shutterstock
 
On a sad note, the passing of singer songwriter John Prine at the age of 73 leaves me remembering a nice time Richard and I had when we journeyed to Kalamazoo, MI many years ago to see Mr. Prine in concert. A beautiful old theater with great acoustics that allowed the concert to feel intimate and personal.  It was a very good concert and we had a great time. Maybe not well known by the masses but he was well known by many big names in the business. A few of my favourite songs include Dr. Abbey, Paradise, Souvenirs and  Please don’t bury me.  Give ‘em a listen, you may like them.

 
Map of Manitoulin Island, Ontario
 This is our summer location, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. If you look toward the bottom right you will South Baymouth. The ferry docks there and we can see it from our favourite swimming spot. We spend most of our spring, all summer and most of the fall right there about under the "U" in south. We come and go by way of Little Current, where the swing bridge is located near the top right right of the photo. 
 
 
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you are all healthy, warm and looking forward to a less restrictive time in the future. Again I wish you all a Happy Easter.


Until next time...take care, be safe, stay healthy,

Deb