Playin' Catch Up

Whew! It's been a busy summer so far - not much time for posting so I thought I would share what we've done in photos. Grab some coffee and sit back and visit with us for a while :)

We've taken many road trips to Amish Country which is only a 20 minute ride from us. It's gorgeous country farmland and it's my "Happy Place". I hope to move there some day but for now I'm happy taking car rides there to de-stress. I can get lost on the back roads for hours! Good thing Miss Pearl likes it too :) 

This particular day the men were at their small school chopping wood for the winter. I asked if I could take some photos and they said yes. I didn't take any photos of the men themselves though, as I know they don't like that so I stuck to horses, buggies, and beautiful scenery.

This guy was raking hay the old way and right next to him in another field was a guy doing the same thing but using a tractor. This way appeals to me more and it sure was a lot more quiet than the guy using the tractor!

My Dad, Miss Pearl and I went strawberry picking - photo taken with my phone.

Miss Pearl and I went pickin' raspberries one day...

and met some friendly turkeys while we were there

We did some of this...

and some of this....

We also took a trip to Ottawa to see my eye doc last weekend and stopped at a gorgeous one room school house museum (coming in another post). Doc said everything is going good with my eye and she was pleased with the results of the operation. 

I've been doing some sewing and hope to have a few new finished items posted soon. I love how they're turning out.

It's a long weekend here in Canada so it's gonna be another busy one. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Playing Catch Up...

It's been ages since I've posted....I've been super busy...but it's time to catch up. Please know that I've been reading all your blogs and keeping up to date with everyone even if I haven't commented much.

There will be some very random posts in the next couple of days that may or may not be in any particular order so here goes!

I was published in my first Gooseberry Patch Cookbook! How cool is that? I think it's great of them to send you a free book when they use one of your recipes. There are a few in this one that I plan to make.

We've done a bit of this lately....it's been a really easy winter for us compared to others! Hailie loves being out in the snow. We made snow angels and a snowman last week too.

And we even got to go out ice fishing this winter. My brother bought a new hut and my Dad took us out. Hope to get out this weekend as it's the last weekend for pickerel fishing and it's supposed to be a gorgeous weekend with temps in the + and sunny!

My Dad, Miss Pearl, Lynn (my brother's girlfriend) and brother Vic. We didn't catch any fish that time but had a great day on the lake!

Well that's it for now...more random posts to come :)

Christmas is almost here!

It's been a while since I've posted but I've been super busy with life and of course getting ready for Christmas...my favorite time of the year! Here are a few simple decorations for our home.

Miss Pearl was really getting into decorating the tree this year...too cute. She's not so sure about the guy in the big red suit though. She wanted nothing to do with him at the mall...hehe

Finished tree....hard to get a clear shot of it at night.

Some of the snowmen I made a few years back.

 We have no snow and not much in the forecast so we may end up having a green Christmas. I want snow for Christmas!!!! 

This next photo was taken a while back when we had our first snowfall but it's all gone now :(

Hope you're all ready for Christmas....I still have more shopping and baking to do but I'm almost ready!

Fresh local corn and more photos

Yesterday we went for another road trip to our small Amish community and I was so happy to see that some of them are now selling produce from the end of their driveways and homes.

We stopped at one homestead that had a "Sweet Corn" sign at the road and drove down the long winding driveway to see a beautiful large barn and house that can't be seen from the road at all.  I was greeted at the door by this young Amish woman and when I asked if she had corn available she said "Yes, but I'll have to go to the garden to pick it". I almost jumped for joy - I've never had corn that fresh before!
As she headed to the garden, I went to the car to get Miss Pearl and Shelby as they had both spotted the horses in the field and wanted to take a closer look. It just happened to be right beside the garden where the woman was snapping the corn off the stalks. I was almost drooling with every snap I heard - couldn't wait to get home to taste it....and Boy. Was. It. GOOD!

Shel and Miss Pearl getting ready to peel corn and of course Koko had to inspect! LOL

Miss Pearl choosing which cob she wanted for herself.

 Here are a few more photos to enjoy of the beautiful countryside around us in Northern Ontario.

Company from BC and Hockey Night in Canada...Redneck Style

This past week my beautiful Niece Monique and her Husband Dylan came from British Columbia for a visit. Monique's family and Dylan's family all live in Ontario so they got to see everyone when they came down. Now we just need to convince them to move back here - they love the west coast though so it may not happen for a while. Monique is pregnant with their first child and she is going to be a GREAT Mom!.

Monique, Dylan, and her Dad (my brother) Vic.

Miss Pearl took to her like a bee to honey! This was the first time they'd met and Hailie would not let her out of her sight!

We went fishing, swimming, and enjoyed the Waterfront park in North Bay. The weather was perfect! 

On Wednesday night we enjoyed the Hockey Game - redneck style! We decided to bring my brother's big screen TV outside to watch the game and have a bonfire. Some friends came over too so it's a good thing we had it outside - none of our living rooms were big enough to hold everyone.

As a side note, I was and still am very ashamed at how terrible some of the people in Vancouver rioted after the game. Shame on you! Canadians are more sportsmanlike than that! The sad thing is, they probably would have done the same thing if Vancouver had won the cup. There are always a few bad apples in a crowd that size that seem to get the others going. The VPD have made several arrests thanks to digital photos that everyone took with their cell phones, ipods, etc. I think they should be made to pay for the damage they did as well - but they'll probably get a slap on the wrist and probation! 

I am very proud of the volunteers that went out the next day to start the clean up and help shop owners get back to some kind of normalcy. Now, that's the Canadian way - helping each other! 

 Monique and Dylan live in Vancouver and I think they were thankful they were in Ontario when that happened.

Congrats to Boston for playing a great series and winning the cup!

A day at the Beach!

Today was a day for relaxing and family time. We decided to head to our favorite beach just a couple of miles down the road from us. It's at a resort that is run by friends and has a gorgeous sandy beach. First we had lunch and then some play time. My brother took us out for a ride on his boat later which was a perfect ending to a great day. We headed home around 4 PM and then I told my parents I would work the store for them so they could go out and enjoy part of the day too - they went out fishing on their boat that's docked at the same resort. They work too hard so it was nice to see them relax a bit too! They only caught a few Perch and a tiny Pickerel that they threw back but I'm sure they enjoyed their time alone.

I REALLY needed an afternoon like this - I miss living by the water more than I can put into words - and if I ever  when I win the lottery, the first thing I'm going to do is buy a house on the lake!

This is Grandpa with Miss Pearl in the tower overlooking the lake.

Shelby made a new friend right away and we soon found out that that dog would never get tired of playing fetch in the water. He literally did it for hours and was still wanting to play.

Grandpa and Miss Pearl watching a duck.

Miss Pearl with her Aunt Shelby making a sand castle. Shelby's so good with her and I'm very thankful for that - she's very patient with her and loves to play which is good cause this Grandma has a hard time keeping up!

Time to cool off - the water was actually pretty nice considering we've had some chilly nights.

Some play time on the swings.

Time to pack up and go home. 

I wish I had taken some photos of the boat trip but my eyes were on Miss Pearl the whole time. She doesn't sit still long - maybe next time. 

Pool time fun, wicked storms, and no more gazebo

We had the hottest day of the year so far on Tuesday - it was 30C and gorgeous!  Hailie spent the day in the pool and when Aunt Shelby came home she joined in for some more fun. They ran through the hose and played in the pool - I need a bigger pool if Shel's gonna continue joining Miss Pearl *smile*

Then the storms came through late Tuesday night - I've never seen a lightening show like that in my life. The wind was blowing  the rain sideways and the treetops were trying to kiss the ground. We lost our power for about 3 hours - some were out all day yesterday so we were lucky! Our internet was down all day yesterday so I wasn't able to get online - it's funny how you miss your internet when it's down- even if I only have a few minutes each day to use it. 

Then I woke to this on Wednesday morning...

It's hard to see in this photo but the roof is ripped to shreds.

The siding came off the peak of my parent's store...

and landed on my car. Only one tiny scratch on the back door....whew!

It's still pretty windy here but at least the sun is shining, and we are very thankful that we don't get the terrible tornadoes that the south gets. We only get one or two every few years and they're usually pretty small. There was talk of one touching down somewhere the other night but I haven't read anything official about it yet.