Tilting at Windmills

In between art shows, we made a whirlwind tour of eastern Ontario before winter truly arrived for good. This included a visit to The Farm on a glorious fall day, to help my uncle move some wood up to the house for the winter.

With the family farm (circa 1860's) up for sale, it is also hard to know which visit will be the last visit, to a place I have been going to my entire life.

After a great round of family visits, we arrived home to a bevy of angry cats - having been locked in the house for several days in our absence - and a newly-erected windmill out the back.

Gorgeous November afternoon

Another load of wood headed to the house

Bay of Quinte from the bridge at Desoronto

Our own personal windmill....As The World Turns!

City & Colour

City & Colour came to town recently, and we made the trek to Windsor to catch their show at the casino.....and it was well worth the drive. Dallas Green is as great live as he sounds in the studio.

We opted for our usual seats in the mezzanine, and threw in a Costco run to take advantage of the trip into Windsor, where we found Caesar's rather busy for a Wednesday night. Plans were quickly put to the question when we arrived a full two hours before the main act, yet were given an estimate of an hour to an hour and a half wait for dinner at Spago.

Luckily, we got in after about 45 minutes and enjoyed a delicious meal of spaghetti and meatballs (Jane) and ravioli (me) along with bruschetta and salad.....plus a few beverages to wash it all down. Like their other two restaurants in Windsor, the food is SO good.

We left just in time to make the show, and they even put Jane's leftovers in the fridge for pickup afterwards. Once at our seats, Jane's knee began to ache after all the walking. She offered to get me a beer as an opportunity to stretch her legs for a bit.....but one must wonder what people thought of me, sending my hobbled partner on her crutch to fetch me a beer!

The show was a nice blend of electric songs and acoustic tunes, combining their new album and many of their past favourites. During the show, not one but TWO couples got engaged, while Dallas Green struggled to decipher their names over a raucous and supportive crowd, in order to congratulate them.

Great show - I would highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance!

Dallas Green and his angelic tones

City & Colour at Caesar's Windsor

Sarnia Show & Sale

With a van full of art, I took Friday off and we headed for Sarnia and a three-day weekend at the Big Sisters Show & Sale, held at a local high school. Friday night setup is pretty chaotic, with many MANY vendors crowding the same entry doors and narrow hallways.

This year, we opted for a long and narrow hallway booth, rather than a square booth at the back of the gymnasium. We were also closer to the front doors, and definitely saw a lot more people come through the booth. All in all, it was a successful show. We even had a soup-in-a-jar vendor beside us all weekend for some rather pleasing aromas.

Jane did find the school washrooms rather low to the ground, as she was still recovering from knee replacement, so we had to keep finding the school maintenance staff with keys to the "adult" washroom in the front office

We also tried to make a bit of a getaway out of it, and rented an Airbnb near downtown for some R&R in the evenings after long days at the show. The cozy confines played host to some HGTV marathons, accompanied by delicious local pizza (Giresi's) and local craft beer (Refined Fools).

We got home from Sarnia the night before winter came calling, decidedly early. We got about 4 inches of snow but were spared the worst of what most of the province got, and even Detroit airport registered 9 inches, by far a record for early November. Luckily, it didn't stick around for more than a few days before we returned to our regularly scheduled fall programming.

Around us, construction crews continued to frantically assemble windmills with what little time they had remaining....

 Port Huron, Michigan across the river

 Sunny Sarnia Waterfront

 Cozy Airbnb for the weekend

 Local craft beer goodness

 Working day and night to get those windmills up

 Assembling the sub-station tower

That's three dudes up there on a chilly day! 

Novermber 12th?!?!?

Fall Farrago

It's been a fun few weekends of autumn glory, with lots of winterizing to be done around the property but also some time for other pursuits.

We visited the national park for an art show amongst the oTENTiks, both to check out the art but also to scout the event as a possibility for next year. This year's iteration came too soon after Jane's knee surgery to consider as vendors, but it seemed like a cool idea all the same......and apparently you can also rent your oTENTik for the weekend and stay right there.

We spent a weekend in Grand Bend, playing boardgames and exploring some local food and drink options, including a visit to River Road Brewing - a great farm-based brewery in the Bayfield area that grows their own hops right on site.....the One Lonely Scotch Night ale was particularly good! Fueled by such libations, we saved the world from certain doom Mansions of Madness, and solved a murder in Awkward Guests....before retiring for the evening to watch Seven.

Behind us, the windmill and substation are being assembled in our neighbour's field, as part of a cadre of windmills being erected in our general area.

Art at the oTENTiks

Pleasant drive through Point Pelee National Park

Beautiful day for the Boardwalk!

Welcome!

Point Pelee

Our maple ablaze with fall splendour

Cleaning up the remnants of a misplaced Mulberry

Our windmill begins to take shape

Fun weekend in Grand Bend with local beer and sausages

Van full of brush headed to the county yard