Oxford Renaissance Faire

Met "in the middle" in Woodstock with Keith, Tanya and Grayson this weekend to attend the first annual (hopefully) Oxford Renaissance Faire. A bit too much sun for us fair(e) types in a land of no shade, but otherwise a rollicking good time. Hope they're back next year.

Live celtic bands, jousting, stage shows. I even came second in the Name the Brew contest with my "Faire Warning" submission.

I'll let the pictures tell the tale.

Mead of Honour - a fine brew!

Up Yer Kilt!

Nero's Fiddle performing in the Boar's Head Tavern

The knights warm up their horses....

...and the squires protect their melons!

Medieval Slap-Chop

Sir Timothy prepares to joust

"Full Metal Jousting" with the Knights of Valour

Lances are broken! Shields are shattered!

MUD SHOW!

Grand Finale Mud Dive!

Jane gives Lickity Splicketty some tips....

Birds of Prey

Our Nation's Capital

The weekend saw us in the Ottawa area. Have been there a few times before for work, but never with time to explore. Barely scratched the surface of all that the area has to offer, but still highly enjoyable. It helped that it was a Sunday, and very quiet.

Walked the downtown area around Parliament Hill and took in spectacular vistas of the Ottawa River, Rideau Canal, and Gatineau, Quebec on the opposite bank. Visited Byward Market for a great coffee and fresh homemade bagel, and some local strawberries. Drove past 24 Sussex, though the PM didn't appear to be expecting me.

Crossed over to the Quebec side and climbed up into the Gatineau Hills. Returning to Ontario, headed south to the quaint village of Manotick on the Rideau, then west to tiny Ashton, where a brewery and pub have set up shop in the old mill.

Next time hopefully I'll hit a few of those famous museums, starting with the Canadian War Museum.

Supreme Court of Canada

Parliament Hill

A tale of two cities - Ottawa, ON and Gatineau, QC

Legislature

One of many bridges to Gatineau

Locks at the Rideau Canal

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Rideau Falls

PM's house on the left - 24 Sussex from Rockcliffe Park

Old mill and dam at Manotick

Ashton Brewing Co. and pub in The Old Mill at Ashton

In search of Red Fisher

Went for a leisurely cruise on Saturday, up to the relatively quiet eastern shores of Lake St. Clair. You have to go out of your way to find Mitchell's Bay, but there it is.

More importantly, I have it on very good authority from My Boss that Mitchell's Bay was the home of the Red Fisher show and the fictitious "Scuttlebutt Lodge". He apparently spent a lot of time there as a Game Warden. Anyone roughly my age and who grew up with only local Canadian TV stations to watch will know what I'm talking about, when I say "Red Fisher". Younger fans of the spoof Red Green Show may also appreciate the sentiment.

Also found a cool new walking trail in the area, thanks to the Laprise family, who converted part of their farmland to public trail and boardwalk along the water. As luck would have it, we even met The Laprises themselves, as they were attempting to put the canvas roof on the "Flintstones Car" in a high wind while we walked the trail. They were very forthcoming with information and back-story, and we were very forthcoming with "thanks for allowing the public access to your beautiful property".

Cool spot all around, will have to return.

Para-gliders taking advantage of the wind in Mitchell's Bay

ADVERSITY - don't let anyone tell you that you cannot grow a tree through a rock!

Lakeshore Trail - formerly the Laprise Farm!

Cool carvings and wildlife signs along the trail

Boardwalk onto Mitchell's Bay

Baby turtle season!

Jane in the Flintstones Car

Mitchell's Bay and environs

Darkest Night

Got home from work at 5pm on a Friday night to see Jane sitting in the Juke in the driveway.....given the wave of thunderstorms passing through, I astutely queried "is the hydro out?". Indeed it was, and apparently had been since about 3pm.

Well it stayed out. For quite a while. Making lemonade out of lemons, we fired up the barbeque and grilled up some corn on the cob, fresh local asparagus, and Jane's special chicken stuffed with mushrooms, garlic, onion, and wrapped in bacon.

As the evening wore on, we moved the Juke to the front lawn so we could listen to our audiobook in the rain from our covered porch - still working through Stephen King's "The Stand". Darkness fell and still no juice, so we went old school and broke out some candle-powered lanterns.

Sufficiently dark, it became apparent that all of our neighbours had lights....so apparently it was just us! Jane continued to try the Hydro One hotline but kept getting kicked off by their automated system.  She finally got through at 5am (weird, huh?) and a crew was in our driveway by 7am.

They quickly diagnosed the problem. A raccoon had climbed our hydro pole at the end of the driveway and gotten fried between the transformer and the breaker. As we are the ONLY people on our little spur off the main hydro line, only we were affected. We were just happy it wasn't something stupid that WE did without knowing it. Felt pretty bad for the raccoon, though it least it was likely quick and painless. We have also confirmed that it was not any of the raccoons from our own barns....we've seen all known adults and their babies since.

Dinner by BBQ

Redneck Jane

Tales by Lamplight