We have arrived at Buttercup Ridge Farm....

  

Our Location: 

Buttercup Ridge Farm, Roseneath, Ontario, Canada

The last few days have been busier, colder, wetter and although windy, not windier than the desert. We settled into Valens Conservation Area for 4 nights. It was only supposed to be 3 but with snow/rain mix we opted to just stay put. It is not a park we will ever go back to for a number of reasons but mainly because there are too many trees. I like trees but I like a wide space to make a turn with more than a foot spare on one side and 8 inches on the other. The Igloo kissed a tree and I take responsibility for it, not much damage, knocked a marker cover off, and put little scuffs in a few places. Ah the joys of tight spaces. 

County Road 9, but this isn't the steep hills.

Very little new green out there in the country side.

We visited with daughter Bradey, hubby David and their two sons, Auston and Lincoln. The boys are growing quickly and are full of energy. We visited twice over the days we were in the area and the last day we just stayed home. The weather was not fun and I had no desire to go outside at all. While out and about in the little city of Brantford, Ontario I managed to slip into a TD bank and fix the pin # on my debit card that hasn't worked since Feb. That was a relief. 

We are coming up the drive at Buttercup Ridge.

It's a bumpy ride but the grass is very green.

This morning we hooked up and pulled out before 10 AM, stopped at the dump station and headed out EAST bound toward Toronto. We had a little mix up and had to do a couple of loops to get on to the 401 East and while I would normally drive all the way on the 401, we opted for the pay highway #407 for a couple of reasons and so we rolled along easily on the top of Toronto and by passed all the traffic. It was a smooth ride and we followed the highway to the end where we connected with County Rd 9 which we took all the way to the end of the laneway here at Buttercup Ridge. The far end of CR 9 is not one we enjoyed, too many steep hills and slow downs at the bottom of those hills for our liking. We will remember that next time, we hope. 

I would love to park right there but I don't know if all of the equipment is out of the barn yet.

So instead we parked here, but the ground is soft and we may have to readjust after a day or two.

We arrived here about 12:30 pm, found the place we wanted to set up and started settling in. Judi, Dennis and Janet's niece came out to chat for a while. She and Winnie her dog were off for a walk and not long after her mother Jackie showed up. We haven't chatted with Jackie yet. Judi is living in the house for the next number of months as Dennis and Janet will not be returning home from California this year for health reasons.

The view out the window.

The farm house, Judi and her mom are up there.

Cold is how I would describe the wind here in the rolling hills of Northumberland County. Mostly cloudy skies and temps around 55F/12C but the wind makes it colder. We are settled in for at least 10 days, possibly more, so I won't be blogging every day, we won't be doing anything worthy of writing about. Just a couple of notes to add, Rick (sister's partner) is home again, doing okay and apparently feeling some better. Welcome home Rick. My brother Rick celebrated a birthday on Sunday, and our cousin Daisy celebrated hers the day before on Saturday. Happy Birthday to both folks, we are pretty certain they had a good day!!! An early happy birthday wish goes out to nephew Allan who celebrates on the 21st. Allan is my sister's only son! Happy birthday Allan.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Until next time...

Take care, stay safe, 

Deb

Errands again.....

Our Location: Buttercup Ridge, Roseneath, Ontario

The last couple of days have been cold, windy and wet. However I am certain better things lie ahead. After all it is almost the end of April and spring is here, so it will get better soon. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it folks. 

On the nearby Reservation. Not sure what the drive thru is for though.

The last couple of days have been errand days with a number of things getting accomplished. Tuesday had us doing errands in Cobourg. A visit to Staples to have something printed, a visit to Bill Spencer Chevrolet Dealership for the oil issue with the truck and of course groceries at Walmart. We left the city of Cobourg with printed paper in hand, a few groceries and of course an appointment for Wednesday at 4 pm for the Dogsled's oil issue. This is the same dealership I visited last fall for this vary same oil issue. They also repaired the chewed wires.

We are staying near this little town of Roseneath.

Back home we puttered around and did a few more little chores inside but noticed the sharp increase in wind outside. As we are nestled among some very nice pines and a row of cedars we have been pretty shielded from the light breezes. However with wind gusts in the  30 mph/50 km range I was a little worried about those very same trees. As the night grew darker the wind seemed to pick up more and the gusts were longer in duration. We pulled in the slides and moved into the house for the night. 

Some of our views today as we drove the back roads to a couple of errands.

Morning found us with windy conditions but not as windy as the night before. First thing I did was to look out the window, the Igloo & Dogsled waited patiently for us, in the same conditions as the night before. Good to know. With all the rain I was worried the pines may not be able to keep a firm grip in the ground and come toppling down, but it seems I worried for nothing. 

You can see the dull kind of sky we've been having for a while now.

  Wednesday found us once again under over cast skies but not as foreboding as the day before. Morning routines accomplished we loaded up two propane tanks and headed off to the northeast town of Hastings. There is a fuel station that fills tanks and exchanges smaller tanks. I opted to have both filled instead of an exchange just for future reference. I find that the filled tanks do not last as long here in Ontario since they don't bleed the air out of the tank. Exchange tanks usually last a lot longer. However exchanging the bigger tanks is hard to do in all areas. To fill both tanks cost me $52. 59. They charge by the gallon and it was a dollar a gallon. 

The rolling hills offer a good view of the country side.

  
 From Hastings we headed a bit south but mostly east to the town of Campbellford, Ontario. We wanted to go to the G.T. Boutique (Giant Tiger) for the sale they had but alas it was the first day of a new sale instead. Most places the sales start on Thursday, but not there. I looked at the flyers and thought I'd made certain of the sale dates but I guess I missed that one. Oh well, we were in the area anyway. A cute little place for certain, and we even found a No Frills (grocery store) to pick up a few items that we needed. 

Interesting shop in small town Ontario.

 

A sticker shock for us is the price of celery here in Ontario, coming in at $4.95 in all of the grocery stores we've been to in the last few days. Green onions also a shocker at $1.75 for three bunches. I haven't looked at the chicken or turkey yet but I will in the next few weeks. Eggs are approx $2 - 2.50  per dozen.  Milk was also a lot higher in price although at this moment the Ontario price alludes my mind. We needed milk when we arrived in Brantford and I remember being shocked by the price. 

 

Main Street in Campbellford, Ontario.

 

After the quick stop at Campbellford we once again turned our nose for home near Roseneath. We took the country circle tour and included the small town of Warkworth on our site seeing drive. The country side is getting ready to spring into spring, the red haze as you look over the vast stretch of rolling countryside is easy to see. The tulips and daffodils  are starting to show themselves now and the buds on the trees are beginning to appear. Yeah!!!

I'm not sure of the name of this river but it runs through Campbellford. 

 

Back home I chatted with Tammy as she was cleaning up the main flower bed around the house. We met last fall while she was getting the flower beds ready for winter. She is a super nice lady. We also had a quick visit with Alma, she is the part time housekeeper here at Buttercup Ridge. During the winter months she comes by once a week to check on things, collect the mail, etc. She dropped by to ensure all was well. 

 

Approaching the small town of Warkworth.

 By 3:20 pm I was out the door heading for Spencer Chevrolet Dealership in Cobourg once again. Long story short, they think the folks that did the warranty work in Sierra Vista, Arizona didn't put the filter on quite tight enough, or perhaps the Dogsled is just using more oil while it tows. According to Jackie, lady service rep at the dealership it's common for 'newer' trucks to use more oil while towing in hot conditions. I explained it wasn't hot in the desert over the winter but she insisted it's hotter than here. A losing battle and I wasn't going to argue with her, it would not get me anywhere.  I find either of those things a bit too tough to swallow but we shall see how things go over the next few months. The oil was right on the money from the last oil change in Ohio. I have documented proof of that as they put us up on the rack to check out any possible leak. The area around the filter was wettish but not evident of a leak. Which is why the dealership here pushed it off to the dealership in Sierra Vista as not having seated the filter properly. Ah isn't this fun? Even though the warranty is over Jackie seems to think as it's an on going issue with documented proof that if there is still an issue GM might step up and do the right thing. We shall have to wait and see.

 

Yep, that's the name Warkworth.

 

Back home by 5:30 pm we spent a bit of time enjoying a movie before I called my dad to check on conditions back on the Big Rock in the middle of Georgian Bay. Still some snow in shady places, still some very cool overnights, down to around the freezing mark, a degree or two either way. Lots of water around in a few places as well, although the flooding seems to be receding. We can probably reach our summer spot without any trouble. Still cold winds in the day time but like here when the sun shines it's a wonderful day. I think we'll be here at Buttercup Ridge for another 4 or 5 days before we head out toward home. 

 

I think he's been there a while.

 

So that was our busy couple of days. I know I should have broken this into two posts, but oh well, I didn't. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have had a wonderful couple of days. 

 

It has the Mercedes star on the front.

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

 

Deb