I know what I did last summer

For posterity and rememberence.. here it is.

Work continued on the house, painting the doors black, (almost) finishing the front porch, and Bill’s latest biggest and least fun project, work on the cottage foundation.

We’ve so enjoyed our new outdoor space, with many friends and family gatherings, in good and bad weather.

We went on 2 long weekend trips here in Ontario.  We love road trips, especially on back roads where we are driving for miles through corn or wheat fields by ourselves with the windows down.

The first road trip on Civic Holiday weekend, was to Goderich and Chatham.  We stayed at 2 very unique and lovely Air BnB’s.. the first with a heated swimming pool and a short walk to amazing sunset views over Lake Huron. I had a hard time leaving the first.. i lived in that pool all weekend.  Bill just dipped his toes.. he’s not a water baby like me.

 

Got a little sunburnt and bleach blonded.. but so worth it.

We spent considerable time in Goderich itself, walking the boardwalk, enjoying the sunset there, and a couple of great meals out.

One of Bill’s favourite new discoveries… “Flippin’ Eggs” a greasy spoon diner at the end of the Goderich airstrip.

 

We spent most of our time in Chatham with good friends, visiting their life group on  Sunday morning in the backyard.. the first of 2 times this happened for us this summer, and we also had a lovely evening stroll along the river watching the sun set.

the drive home on Old Hwy 3 at the end of the weekend was spectacular with storm clouds looming over farmer’s fields.

We went to another seminar at 13th St Winery, this one for heirloom tomatoes.  VERY yummy… I love 13th Street and all the cool outdoor art installations.  It’s really become a destination…. that’s only a couple of kms from home.. very convenient!

I joined the ranks of David’s Tea snobs.. and made my first couple of on line orders.. I don’t know that I’ll ever enter a shopping mall again, i so enjoy letting my fingers do the shopping, and will even more so now with a cup of yummy tea beside me!  (pic here butterfly pea flower

We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary very simply.. a gorgeous bouquet filled with my favourite colours..a fish n’ chip dinner at a local restaurant, and then watching the sunset over Lake Ontario at our local beach –  Charles Daley Park, where we spent so much of our dating time & first year of marriage.

On Labour Day weekend, we took an early morning drive on the Thursday to Prince Edward County in Eastern Ontario, where we broke fast on the lake at the Drake Devonshire.  What a feast for the stomach and eyes!

we toured,

tasted

and took in many great views along the shoreline of Lake Ontario in the County.

We discovered a lavender farm that makes it’s own honey,

and visited a couple of wineries, a sheep/goat cheese factory, and found ourselves on one of our favourite modes of transportation.. a ferry boat.

We spent the weekend at our cousin’s home,  (pictured here my gorgeous dear friend & cousin Hope, with an extraordinary piece of art she brought home from Africa last year)

Hope served us amazing meals, and we had great fun together touring around, and visiting their life group where we made new friends.  I learned I am a pretty great shot at throwing axes.. a new discovery!  We ended this evening with a gorgeous fire under a very star lit sky.

Highlight of the weekend was the 1000 Islands boat cruise and tour of Boldt Castle.  One needs a passport to stop at the Island which is on the US side of the St. Lawrence Seaway.  It was certainly worth the visit.  We saw some amazing island homes on our journey there and back.  Some for sale, and one sinking in despair.

 

We stopped in at “the Point” a piece of property that’s changed hands a few times in our family, and now owned/stewarded by my sister Wilma & her husband.  It’s such lovely amazing parkland on a beautiful small lake filled with pike, bass, perch, sunfish, snapping turtles and water snakes.. not to mention the amazing loons, osprey, and of course Canadian geese. (snakes pictured on rock are actually fake, to deter the geese – but wow! they fooled me!)

One of my favourite memories of this summer though, will be the night we celebrated my sister Sue’s birthday, ending with an after party on our deck in a thunderous rainstorm under the tarp.  I don’t think i can get the video to load here. .but the photo

and the faces in it say it all.  My family.. Mi Familia.. I love you to the moon and back.

There’s so much more to the summer of ’19.. but looking back today on the last of it.. it was a pretty amazing one.

Bill and I are starting out this coming Monday night as “life group” leaders in our home.. finally seeing to fruition the beat of our heart when we embarked on the renovation/addition on our home.  The most interesting thought we keep coming back to, is how we feel God led us to visit 2 very different home/life/small groups this summer that were never part of our plans.. they both just “happened” while were were vacationing away from home.  We learned a lot, and were encouraged on this new road.

We look forward to what Fall 2019 has in store and sharing what we can here.