March continued doing its thing, deviating back and forth between Spring and some late winter weather. On a particularly windy day, both strong and from exactly the wrong direction, the roof tin on the garage started flapping and bending, threatening to tear a whole sheet off from the eaves right up to the peak. I could only reach the bottom corner, and only when the wind subsided enough that the flap slammed back down onto the roof.
I climbed as high as I could go (did I mention how windy it was?) with Jane securing the ladder, and did my best with little leverage to hammer some nails into rotten boards and pulled nail holes. It held about as long as it took me to climb down. In the end, I managed to affix two sturdy clamps along the edge, and they miraculously held for two days until someone more capable (and better equipped) arrived to properly fasten the metal back down. Crisis averted.
We broke the van out of captivity, and Jane took it to the local rec centre....and forgot to turn off the lights while she swam for two hours. Dead battery. Luckily that annual CAA membership came in handy and they arrived promptly to get her going again. He also really loved the van!
With better weather we made an overdue run to Kingston area for some family visits.
The next weekend we were visited by Keith, Ashley and Kristen. Originally, we were supposed to go over to Detroit for a Red Wings-Bruins game, but we cancelled in light of all the political tension. We opted to stay local instead, and they rented a nice Airbnb not far away where we could hang out (sans cats) and use as a base camp to show them the area.
We hit The Grove in Kingsville for lunch, then carried on to Amherstburg to explore Fort Malden, Navy Yard Park, and some shops. On the way back, we visited Point Pelee National Park to walk the marsh boardwalk, climb the new observation tower, and make the sandy hike out to The Tip. It was a great visit, but unfortunately they had to head back into the ice storms that were ravaging central and eastern Ontario - thick layer of ice on everything, trees down, power out for days. They grabbed a few generators here, to take back there and help out a few people without heat or power.