Colourful Wedding

Autumn arrived early, with late August into early September featuring warm days with cool nights that persisted throughout most of the month - our favourite time of year! Birds and butterflies were everywhere as tomato wagon continued to roll.

We managed to make a Sunday night concert at Two Creeks, to see The Mudmen for the first time in forever - unfortunately, one of the Campbell brothers had broken his ankle, so it was The Mudman! They were still really good, though the new singer's country background definitely added a bit of a twang to their Celtic sound.

With Vincent still requiring management for his diabetes, we cancelled plans to spend an autumn week back at the cabin with Keith and Ashley. Luckily, Keith was able to come and visit instead, and spent the week with us relaxing and hanging out on the back deck amid some great fall weather.

We did board Vincent at Noah's Ark to make a quick overnight trip to Barrie to visit our friends and plan another joint vacation for the spring.  :)

Since he did so well, we boarded him again for a few nights later in the month, so that we could head to eastern Ontario and attend my niece's wedding. What a perfect day for an outdoor wedding, on a beautiful horse farm owned by my sister's friend. We got to visit and catch up with a bunch of folks, enjoy the fall colours, and witness the marriage of two very special young people. 

We mainly took full advantage of the stunning seasonal conditions to get a lot of work done around the yard, including an overdue round of tree trimming resulting in a van-load of brush to the yard waste depot.

The Mudmen rock Two Creeks

Beautiful fall colours in eastern Ontario...

...and a little fall colour back at home!

The wedding of my eldest niece 

The Happy Couple

Tender moments

A hungry visitor to the back deck

Some tree work and a load of brush

Bird seed leads to random sunflower!

August Archive

August went by in a blur. Every weekend was occupied with an art show, or an opportunity to visit family some distance away. Work was busy. The ongoing tariff wars with our neighbours continued.

We endured a few heat waves, which we combated with frequent dips in Lake Erie in the evening hours. So much of Canada was hot and dry and crispy and brown, but in our area we got enough rain and moisture that everything stayed green and yes, the grass kept on growing.

We received some great news - after four months of living in the hospital, a bed opened up at a long-term care home for Jane's dad. We took a two-day trip to get all his stuff moved in an set up, and then welcomed him the next day to his new home. He is already doing noticeably better after only a short time in the new home, surrounded by his own belongings and exceptional staff.

We also received some bad news - after noting how much he was drinking, we had Vincent tested and it turns out he is diabetic. This has quickly turned our life upside-down with twice per day blood tests and insulin injections. Moreover, with controlled feedings and six other cats who can no longer graze, it does make travel more of a challenge. He's taking it like a champ, and we're exploring local options to board him so that the others can carry on as normal if/while we are away.

Tomato season is also upon us, with tandem wagons everywhere. I have been harvesting our own bounty every few days, to freeze for whenever Jane has the chance to do a big batch of sauce and salsa.

John also got us hooked on Prado - a step-based app adventure game. It definitely got us walking more, even if only around the property. The three of us formed a party and along with Vincent has quickly re-defined our daily routine!

Evening sun casts a warming glow

A few scenic storms but at least we got some rain!

Jane swimming in Lake Erie to beat the heat

Dave in his new digs at the long-term care home

Vincent adjusting to the new routine - literally climbing the drawers for food (and insulin!)

Sugar cat chillaxing

He's back to his old jerk self!

Monarch caterpillars enjoying our milkweeds

Our Tower of Fallen Fruit is as tall as a windmill!

Movie time on the back deck

Experiencing tomato season from the Renny's patio

Muskoka Bound

We made the trek northward for a series of visits with friends and family. After a stop in London to visit Dave at his new digs at Victoria Hospital, we carried on to Orillia for lunch at Montana's with my dad. We stayed with Keith and Ashley and got in a nice visit with them as well.

On Saturday, the three of us headed further north to explore Muskoka, journeying through my old stomping grounds and past Huntsville to the Burks's Falls area. After a nice swim near Port Sydney, we visited a great café and tourist info centre overlooking the falls, followed by a visit to the Screaming Heads art installation to the west.

It's a great spot and highly recommended - all kinds of weird and wonderful cement structures in the fields and woods of Muskoka, complete with a hippy commune vibe. It was a hot and muggy day, but otherwise we greatly enjoyed exploring the 67 acres of artistic embellishment. Apparently they also have weekend festivals with music and bonfires and so forth - check it out!

We also took the opportunity to explore two local museums - one an historic one-room schoolhouse, the other an old farmhouse with a garage full of vintage antiques including a horse-drawn hearse.

We visited my dad again on the way back south. We also opted for the scenic route home on Sunday, travelling due west past Stayner and then cutting a diagonal south and west through rural countryside to London to visit Dave again. What a great weekend!

Jane and Keith swimming in Port Sydney

Screaming Heads near Burk's Falls

Great installations!

Great cafe with a view in Burk's Falls 

Wiseman's Corner Schoolhouse museum

The old swing bridge

Watt Farm outside Burk's Falls

The old Burk's Falls hearse

Fish Fest!

It was once again time for Wheatley Fish Fest, with a long weekend of fun in store. In typical Wheatley fashion, things got interesting early - on the Thursday eve of Fish Fest, there was another gas leak and another evacuation of the downtown. About 60 homes and numerous businesses shut down - again - and people were literally staying at the local arena. Turns out they were just "testing the system" and had shut off the venting system. Without telling anyone.

Friday night kicked off with a Tragically Hip cover band named Grace 2 playing at Two Creeks Conservation Area to an excited yet PTSD-influenced crowd. Early in the show, a fire truck and ambulance flew past with lights and sirens blaring - as the entire crown turned in anguish. They quickly announced that it had nothing to do with the gas situation - it was "only" a fatal car accident down by the harbour as someone has lost control and crashed into a greenhouse retention pond. Otherwise, great show by a great cover band and local brews from Top Dog!

On Saturday we set up the booth down at the harbour - with many more vendors this year, there were "aisles" of booths and about 40 tents. It got really hot and uncomfortable, and Jane dunked herself in the lake numerous times just to cool off. Behind us, they had fish tote races across the harbour, and then the Firefighters water barrel challenge on the other side of the slip. One of our vendor friends kindly gave Jane a "hairy coo" stuffy, which made a number of appearances over the rest of the weekend!

Later in the evening, we went to the arena for the annual fish fry and broasted chicken dinner, with Jody Raffoul and his band rocking the rink afterwards. We ran into several of my co-workers, past and present. We also enjoyed a great dinner with Heather, including a few beverages. 

On Sunday we set the booth up again, this time uptown at the main village intersection, right on the very ground where the explosion occurred in August 2021. Around us were vendors and food, a ring toss tournament and a very well attended car show. The main event was the big parade that came down the main drag, right past the booth.

At different times I managed to sneak off to Joe's Bar AND the Renny's patio for beer, given that I could see the booth at all times and know when or if to return. After the show ended, we packed up and left the van to walk across the street and get takeout dinner from Renny's.

Later in the evening, there was a boat parade along the shoreline, followed by a great fireworks show. We LOVE being able to be a part of our little village and our BIG celebration!

Set up Two Creeks and waiting for the band

Grace 2 rocks Two Creeks

Set up down at Wheatley Harbour

Jane disappears into Lake Erie to cool off!

Firefighter Water Barrel Challenge across the harbour!

OV and a Hairy Coo!

Dinner at the Arena with our Hairy Coo!

Open Door booth "uptown" on Sunday

Village ring toss game in the street

The new patio and outdoor bar at Renny's

Car show!

Fish Fest finale!