Bracebridge, ON

Remembering our mother in Bracebridge, ON....a quilt is on display in the Bracebridge Library upon which my oldest sister ensured our mother was memorialized: In Loving Memory of Edith (Jane) Harrison :) 

                                             

And here is my other sister and one of my brothers pointing to the quilt - it looks like my sister has her pointing finger in my brother's ear!

Earlier this summer I posted a photo of a flower (a mix of white and fuschia Dame's Rocket) that showed polymorphism - two differently coloured flowers of the same species which had morphed into a blend of the two colours -

Apparently hydrangea can morph as well - white.....

...plus pink...

...equals a beautiful mix of the two colours!

These flowers were out front and along the side of our Airbnb in Utterson.

While out walking one day we came across some photo-worthy subjects - a sweet book-reading nook in an artfully bent tree...

 And below - she's no dummy! A creative garden display :)

In Gravenhurst we tried out some craft beer at Sawdust City Brewing Co. I wanted to get my photo taken in a huge Muskoka chair beside the brewery but the shorts I was wearing were made of a slippery material so I didn't dangle my legs over the edge for fear of sliding right off. Getting down was easy as I turned around and slid down on my bottom.

Here's my sister and I having a good laugh about something that I can't remember...

 And the three of us outside the Chinese "all you can eat" buffet - I definitely got my money's worth! We all did!

And there you have it - another year, another adventure in Bracebridge...I'll show you my purchases in my next post if I can remember what I bought! Yes...my memory doesn't work as well as it used to!

Back from Bracebridge

Bracebridge is in the area of Northern Ontario known as Muskoka - it's known for its 1600+ lakes and rivers as well as tons and tons of rock, as opposed to soil.  Farming is next to impossible so the area has become famous for being "cottage country" instead. For the second year we stayed in a large red brick house that was at one time the General Store of Utterson, about a 15 minute drive from Bracebridge where one of my sisters lives.

 She can only drive short distances due to a back injury suffered many years ago so we go to her instead of her coming to London.  Some of you many remember me writing about a nephew who had a severe motorcycle crash - it's this sister's oldest son. He received 23 "major traumas" to his body and is recovering still - 5 or 6 years later. He is also diabetic (discovered when he was a little boy) which also hinders his recovery. 

So she is struggling somewhat as he has his own home but can't look after it so my sister, in spite of her own injury, looks after him a fair bit as he is in a wheelchair at present. 

But we had a great visit and made the best of things. However, we'll have to look for a different Airbnb next year...my brother and I loved the old house in Utterson and developed a routine of walking each morning past Long's Lake...but part of the reason we stayed in Utterson was that there was a variety store and take out food place right across the street from the house and we LOVED their greek salads and french fries (not to mention their fantastic butter tarts and ice cream) - BUT THEY HAVE CLOSED!! Darn!  There's only about 6 houses in Utterson so it's understandable that they couldn't make a go of it.

My brother makes me laugh as you can see...

I was extremely fortunate this year to receive no black fly or mosquito bites!! They went after my brother instead - thanks bro! 

 The house has a large front porch and we each bought some salads and roasted chicken and basically had a picnic every evening on the porch. We explored downtown Bracebridge as usual and bought books at the used book store. We always check out the Re-Store as well and found a few treasures. Of course no hot and humid summer day would be complete without a mid-afternoon pause at the many pubs serving local craft beer!

We were early to bed so that we could get in our brisk morning walks and much needed showers afterwards! 

 We walked on a paved road but there wasn't much traffic except for one day when a long line of old classic cars drove by us on their way to Gravenhurst for a boat ride (the people not the cars!)

I showed my sister my yoga app and we worked through the positions that have helped me with my bad back. She wasn't in worse pain the next day so I hope she'll keep it up. Each day the sun shone brightly except for the day we drove home - we drive on the back roads in order to avoid the major cities, like Toronto, which got flooded from heavy rain for the 2nd time in a few days!

It's a bit further and takes quite a bit longer driving on the back roads but the countryside and villages are gorgeous and much less stressful. 

I'll have a few more photos tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Internet Woes

Thank you my dear friends for your most supportive and helpful comments on my "reaching out" post from the other day. Staying connected is of vital importance I am finding. I have already implemented some of your suggestions but as I am using my iPad and have none of my photos on it I'll be posting about those things in another post hopefully in the not too distant future.

I really really really want things to get back to normal internet wise. But this is PEI!!  Normal in P E I is when the internet company shows up and "tests the site"!  Ok, admittedly I didn't really understand what that meant, now I do.  This particular company uses towers to transmit the internet signal (please forgive my lack of technical jargon) and proceeded to go up to my roof line in a cherry picker.  No signal.

It seems that my forest was blocking the signal! In this day and age they can't work around the trees? Nope, cut 'em down! Cut them all down! Actually their solution was to hire some guys to install a 35-40' tower at the edge of my property that might then allow a signal to reach little ol' me. Ummmmm no thanks.

So then on my cell phone I chat with an agent of Bell only to find out that wifi and "regular" internet are two different things and I can't afford wifi! The lovely agent said to try Bell Aliant and see if they provide service in the boonies.  To make a long story shorter I discover there is a Bell Aliant dealer in my local Home Hardware store so off I go. Well, I purchased a one year monthly contract (nothing seasonal available from Bell) but do not yet have an appt with them to come and hook things up. Sigh.....I'll call  THEM on Monday and see if I can get things moving, however I'll be away Tues. to Friday so things don't look too hopeful.

By the time I get things hooked up it'll be time to go back to London and I'll be providing free internet to the spiders and chipmunks over the winter months. Sheesh!

Sooooooo, today's post is brought to you courtesy of the only Starbucks on the island in Charlottetown. I'm headed to my sisters place so came early and had a spree at Indigo books as I had $120 left in gift cards. First thing I nabbed was The Globe and Mail newspaper-finally, news of the outside world! I also bought 5 bargain books (already on sale but if you buy five you get an additional 50% off!) I know how to work the system and get the most for my money. I also got a huge wicker basket for my overflow of books (50% off), a couple of books not on sale....GASP!, a blue glass pitcher with matching glasses, a passport holder, a monogrammed  keychain ($2.00), and I forget what else. One of the bargain books was the latest Reader's Digest of home repairs! Stay tuned for some DIY projects:)

So now I must head off into the wild blue yonder. I've been more positive the last couple of days thanks largely to you good folks. Oh, and exciting news! I met another blogger-"I am Sam!!  Many of you know her from her blog. She's wonderful and I'm so glad we finally met. One of these days I'll be coming to visit all of you! That road trip ideas is still in the back of my mind:)

March Challenge: Take 3!

Thank you Carla for setting up this challenge. The March Take 3 challenge involves deciding on a personal goal (in the area of health/fitness), a decluttering goal and a financial goal. To learn more about this challenge go HERE!

So...let's

Finance Goal:

• Get my taxes done and hopefully get my refund before the end of March. This money has to work hard for me. I am taking Living Rich on the Cheap's advice and buying a nice area rug for my living room that I can take with me to PEI. Sooner or later I will be putting my condo up for sale and a gorgeous area rug in the living room that will set off and protect the new dark bamboo floors will fit the bill. I also have my eye on a tabletop candelabra for the patio area to replace the one HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED took with him when he moved out. I saw one on Amazon that should do the trick. 
• Save $3500+ (rsp interest, part of my tax refund? and payday savings transfers from my paycheques). That will put me within $17,000 of reaching my savings goal by the end of August. I am very determined.

Personal Goal:

• I road my bike 3 times last week. I'm happy with 3 x weekly until such time as I can start riding to work everyday. Right now that seems impossible but I'm sure the snow will all melt by April...May? So I will continue to ride my stationary bike a minimum of 3 x weekly, more if possible.
• This Friday March break begins. I've only been juicing for breakfast due to working so over March break I am going to juice 2-3 x daily since I'll be at home. To help with this I'm going to pick a few new juice recipes and get the shopping done for that by Friday. I want to be in great shape for RETIREMENT!

Decluttering:

• I'm already on top of this one BUT I have a big job for March which is removing the laminate flooring in the basement. I will have to hire a junk removal service to haul it all away. Good riddance!! 
• Remove the wallpaper borders that still remain in 4 rooms during March break so that painting can begin!! 
• Believe it or not I have totally decluttered ALL rooms in my house! BUT when my sister told me how much it was going to cost to move her stuff to PEI I've decided to get rid of whatever I can't fit into my truck - maybe I'll pull a trailer too, haven't decided yet. Or maybe whoever buys my house (could be students since I'm close to both the college and the university) will want/need some furniture. So I'll be selling or giving away what's left and I'll buy new/used/antique once I'm in PEI. As it is I've been living in PEI for 2 months a year and have managed just fine with what I have there. The idea is to live a more simple life and the thought of reducing what I have doesn't bother me in the least.

So that sums up my March goals - we'll see how it goes. I may try to exceed what I've laid out here as an extra challenge to myself since these goals are what I planned to do anyways, challenge or not. 

Thanks Carla for inspiring me to think through my goals!