Easter Sunday excursion

For our Sunday excursion this week we went away for the night with our good friends, the Lewises. Here is a summer pic (borrowed from their website) of the Quarterdeck Beachside Villas in Summerville Beach on the South Shore.

The weather was cool but gorgeously sunny so we had a nice long walk on the beach.

We found this injured seal on the beach that was being bothered by some dogs so we got an old sheet and assisted it back to the waters edge. The shadow is Karen clapping here hands to try and get the seal to look at the camera. I am standing in the water - glad I had boots on!

Our villa had 2 bedroom upstairs. This is our bedroom with a tray for 'Tea by the Sea'.

Lealand and Gary on the lower deck.

Karen on the upper deck - the two bedrooms shared this deck - notice the gorgeous view!

What a magical place - the sound of the waves and the moonlight on the water - we were so lucky to have such great weather. A short, but very nice get-away!

Happy Easter!

The weather cleared off after supper and the sun actually came out so we decided to go out and take some bunny pictures since tomorrow is Easter. I'm holding one of our babies here. He was in an hurry to get back in the cage because it is cold here!

The bunnies are enjoying the sun just before it sets. I don't know if they've heard the weather forecasters calling for 6 more weeks of winter weather or not. We're getting a little sick of the snow and cold - so imagine if we were actually living outdoors!

O.K., so I did chum the bunnies up with some bread to get them to gather around. . .


These two look like an old married couple just snuggled up together.

Callie gets a little freaked out when the bunnies swarm around her so she likes to get up high and look down on them. The bunnies are not one bit afraid of the cats - they hop up to them and sniff them - it's quite funny to watch.

As you probably know, the bunnies are sort of our cottage branding and we admit we are a little bunny crazy - so Gary has taken it a step futher and designed a bunny coat rack for cottage #2.

This Sunday's excursion . . .

For our Sunday excursion this week we went to visit our good friends, Tony & Paulette, to see their newly renovated kitchen. Their kitchen is gorgeous! Their daughter, Haila, made good use of the new kitchen and baked us some delicious peanut butter cookies - Yum!

Here Tony and dog Charlie pose for a photo. You might not recognize Tony without his tool belt - he helped Gary with the garage addition last fall.


Our our way home we took a detour to see why a local road was 'closed except for local traffic'. Humm, I wonder why? This sink hole is about 3 feet deep - wouldn't want to slip off the pavement here. We didn't get the snow that Ontario and northern New Brunswick got - we got heavey rain instead and this is just some of the damage caused by the rain - lots of flooding in fields, basements, and some roads.

What a difference a day makes . . .

This is what we woke up to yesterday morning - a little snow and everything coated in ice and school cancelled. I'm glad we didn't have anywhere that we had to be so we didn't have to try and scrape this crap off the car windows! Is this what everyday is for you Tim? If so, YUCK!

Even the blades of grass were each coated in ice.


Can you believe that this is about 8:30 this morning? Snow gone (thanks to the pouring rain last evening), sunny and quite warm.

About 3:00 this afternoon we had 5 deer below cottage #3. I tried to get around the cottage to get a better shot from the other side and when I peeked out, they were gone.

Some random pictures

Reilly and Gary have a bonding 'moment'.

It was sunny on Sunday so we went for a little hike behind Upper Clements Wildlife Park.

This one is for Joseph - a pileated woodpecker let us have a good look. Click on the pic to see it better.

We've had a lot of deer visiting this winter. We usually have 2 to 5 that spend some time below cottage #3. Again, click on the pic for a better look at these two.

Finally an up-date

I've been a little slack on updating my blog - due to winter blahs perhaps? Anyway, we've had snow, more snow, then rain, and more rain, etc., etc. Below are some pics of Upper Clements Park (next door to us). The rain has caused a lot of flooding there. Looking a this picture with the ice in the lake, its difficult to imagine it as the busy summer attraction that it is.

One of the flooded path ways - way too deep to cross! The wooden structure to the left is the roller coaster.



Shanty Cove is pretty much flooded as well. I hope Captain Kid Ryerson found a place to stay for the winter! Golf Island (mini golf) is behind Shanty Cove and is completely covered in water.

Gary is always complaining that I alway put pictures of him on the blog and none of me (my blog so I get to choose - right?) Anyway, he took this pic of me - notice the headset. My friend Karen and I spend about 4 to 5 hours a week on our treadmills while we talk to each other to pass the time. It's been too cold/wet/slippery to walk outside, so the treadmill is a great option at this time of year.

Finished projects and other stuff

Well it seems that Gary is better at getting things on his 'to do' list than I am. Here he is working on a chair/table combo that we got for Christmas. He wanted to stain it before assembling it to do a really good job on it. Lots of pieces - 66 to be exact. Two coats of stain on all sides before assembly - he now hates burgundy stain!

Now for the best part - imagining sitting out in the sun with a glass of home brew!

Yesterday morning around 7:30 a.m. - if a red sky in the morning is for sailors to take warning, what is this?

On Sunday we went on another little trek - hoping to do a little hike at Delaps Cove Wilderness trail; however, it was too icy to get to the trail so we went to the Habitation - a National Historic site - a replica of the origional fort built in 1605 (first permanent European settlement in North America) instead. Here Gary points out the wooden pegs that were used in construction.

This shot shows more of the Habitation. In the summer it's open with interpretative guides who dress in period costume.

Where did the water go? On our Sunday drive we went through Parkers Cove and the tide was out and these boats are actually sitting on the ground.

Another winter adventure

Yesterday we went on another little winter adventure - this one to Mickey Hill Pocket Wilderness. It was really cold, but we bundled up and had a great little hike. Here Gary seems to be contemplating the meaning of life.

Frosty water!



A winter postcard - the bridge at the end is the old #8 highway.


Brenton getting that perfect shot.


Gary hamming it up again using some 'old mans beard' that he found.


Ma and Pa Kettle enjoying the winter walk.

A really nice bridge over the water - at least its not 250 steps down!

A neat suspension bridge - we were a little nervous walking on this. It had quite a snow load on it and was making some loud creaking noises. Here Gary reassures me it's O.K.??

Today we woke to freezing rain and snow - school cancellations and terrible road conditions. It's exam week here, so now the exam schedule is screwed up. Hopefully things will improve by Wednesday when we are scheduled to take the non-biological grandbabies and parents to the airport for their trip to Germany.

Keeping busy

Gary returning home from 'tidying up' a neighbors' driveway. Love that tractor!

Gary has stated making home brew again this winter. Here he is bottling up the latest batch.



Capping it.


. . . and the best part, tasting it! Looks like a good batch.

Back to winter

As promised by the weatherman, we were blasted back to winter on Monday. Well the snow is good for some things - Aaron enjoying a sled ride.

Phew, it's sure tiring pulling a small child around on a sled - all my aerobic classes and treadmilling don't seem to help a bit!

Aaron gives the bunnies some bread, while holding his own snack up out of their reach!