October 8, 2012

 Ruthven Park  - Historic house to tour for me, cars for Paul

Cool but pleasant day for  wandering rows of cars in a park setting.  Decent hot dogs and grilled sausages for lunch.  No coffee to be had though.  I should consider taking a thermos.  I like my noon time coffee!

Back addition to the original house.  I took a good look around when I got bored with the cars.

We took the house tour and P. managed this shot from the top of the spiral staircase.   We found out after that he wasn't suppose to be up there.  Luckily we had the head curator giving our tour and benefited from her knowledge of the house. They are preserving not restoring so it is quite different from the standard historic house tours. Turquoise kitchen no less.

 Family cemetery.  

Always something to catch your eye when walking the paths.

Path to the Grand River

River path along the Grand.

I think this will be my last car show for the year.  The next two that Paul has noted are swap meets and are being held in dull no-appeal- to -Elizabeth spots.     Wonder what next year will bring?  Perhaps a few new venues of interest.

OCT 10:   Our 42nd anniversary.    We went to an afternoon book reading and meet the author at one of our library branches.  Finally something decent at a location NOT downtown.  If you haven't read any of books by Peter James and enjoy mysteries I can recommend the Roy Grace series.  They should be read in order because of continuing character story lines. 

Out for dinner  to give Thai food a try at Siam Dish.  It is a small place and the food was excellent.  We had been holding onto a coupon since last year's Locke St. street fair when they were just starting to convert an older house into the restaurant.

Hang on to your hat Kathleen...

.... I'm updating for you.

There have been a lot of car shows since Niagara-on-the-lake.  I stayed home when it was 'only' cars.

Aug 26.   Doon Heritage Park   About an hours drive away on a very warm day.  I went for the heritage buildings, the museum and lunch out.

Cadillacs in the park

Home sweet home for some lucky family.

After wandering the street of shops and prowling through houses and barns this train was the last stop before the museum building.   Great displays inside, well worth the visit.

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Sept. 02   Marshville Cars and Craft show 
About an hour in the opposite direction to the little town of Wainfleet and Marshville Heritage Park for more cars and this time a really really good craft show.   I bought a really great new summer hat, drooled over beautiful jewellery and let Paul wander the cars alone.

I happened o mention once that this was a model of vette I liked.  I get dragged to see everyone on display now.  I'm keeping my mouth shut these days.   

Lots of interesting things to see other than cars.  I'm trying my hand at knitting again but with needles.

This apparently is THE model cadillac that Paul likes the very very best.  He had a long chat with the owner, I found an empty lawn chair and sat.

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Sept 09.  Another weekend another show.    Rockton
This time he went alone.  The weekend was a bit wet and there was nothing but cars to see. 

This caught Paul's eye

As did this.  Note the cow in the background.  Rockton is a small farming community not far from us and this coming weekend holds the last country fair of the season.   It is always held on Canadian Thanksgiving, which is early this year. 

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Sept 16. Bronte Park  British Car Day
Paul waits for this one every year and every year he goes alone.  The weather is always perfect for this show.   

He might not want this model but he loves this colour.

An idea of one small corner of the cars and crowd.

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Sept 20  Hamilton Harbour.   We had visitors.

Paul aboard the HMCS Ville de Quebec.  This frigate is a sister ship to the one my niece sails as Logistics Officer. Ahead is the HMCS Haida the last of the tribal class , a floating museum in our harbour.

Replica boats  1812 era.  Off the shores of the lake are two ships from the war   The Scourge and The Hamilton   

USS Hurricane.  A coastal patrol ship that has travelled all spring and summer with the Canadian ship visiting cities along the St Lawrence and the Great Lakes, again as part of the commemoration of the War of 1812 

It was a damp Thursday.  The crowds were not huge but there was a decent turnout considering it was a wet weekday.

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Sept 30.   Welland for Paul and a walk for me.

My washing machine broke down 2 weeks ago.  This is NOT it's replacement.   I now have a lovely high efficiency front loader.   

Welland Ont. is near Niagara Falls, again about an hours drive.  According to Paul there was a good turn out of cars and the hot dog he had for lunch was excellent thanks to the hot peppers.

He seems to have a think about taking photos of rusty vehicles.

I went for a walk and this is what I see from the end of my street. We live on the Niagara escarpment and are near walking trails.

Which path to choose?  They both end up on the same trail just past the little island of trees.

some leaves are changing

Looking out over the city towards the bay and Lake Ontario

The bay  and out to the lake.  Ocean freighters and pleasure boats use both.  The area to the right of the apartment buildings is where the ships we toured were docked and to the left are marinas, parks and restaurants an area still being reclaimed from industry and developed for public use.. Across the bay is the city of Burlington. 

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Thanks for giving me a bit of a nudge to get me organized K.     I find that I am using the computer less and seem to be keeping in touch more with Facebook than with this blog.   It would be nice to know what's new with you.

I am making small easy items with my crochet hooks and stash of yarn and have started working on a knitted scarf.  I swore I couldn't knit ( remembrance for childhood attempts ) and have found that with some guidance from the girls at the knit/crochet evening group I am actually making it work.

click on photos to see larger             links are in grey if you want more info

Saturday outing

Once again the call of older British cars, this time in Niagara-on-the-lake.   I went for the chance of a lunch out, which I got, and an opportunity to wander the town.  

with some MGs

We found free parking at Fort George again this year ( visited the fort last year ). It was a short walk over an open field to the grounds of the Shaw Festival theatre where the cars were set up near the patio and gardens.    Paul mingled and talked and talked and try to supply me with far too many details until I found a nice shady tree to linger under while he took his photos and talked and talked.

We ate lunch in the theatre cafe and walked the few blocks into the centre of town.   We stepped into a few of the stores but found like I did on holiday that the chance of  actually finding something new or unique is gone.

I did however find the Starbucks. A new addition sine we were last in town.    I do enjoy their frappuccinos.    I had a white chocolate mocha.  Paul stuck with a small hot coffee and pronounced it slightly better than the last Starbucks coffee he had.

 Starbucks fitting nicely into the streetscape in a period building

We did spent a little time in one shop.  Seems I could have stayed in Ontario and bought some of the same souvenirs but then I would have missed out on the scenery, the food, the history the.......

The Irish Shop ( there is a Scottish shop in town as well ) where I did see some of the same postcards and magnets that are sold in Ireland.

We stopped at a roadside stand and bought a basket of local peaches that we are now enjoying on our morning cereal.

For you Kathleen

Yes I've been lazy and even though it's late, I'll share one of our day trips with you K.

Mid June and Paul noticed a piece in the paper about an open house at the Paletta Mansion in nearby Burlington.  What caught his eye was the bit about English cars in the parking lot.   The house and grounds were open for touring, they were serving tea and strawberries on the terrace and had a vintage hat display in one of the upper rooms.

I thought it would be a good idea to see the cars first but Paul opted for the house and then the gardens and we ended up walking the wooded path as well.  By the time we got back the cars were leaving and Paul missed his chance to take photos.    NOTE....he takes zillions of car photos and never seems to look at them again.

We parked in the centre of town and did a bit of a walk trying to decided where to have lunch, there are lots of choices.   We ended up at the Dickens pub when Paul recognized some of the car owners sitting on the patio, from his quick walk passed the vehicles at the park.

We sat next to them and Paul had quite a chat.  I listened, sort of.

Great food but a sip too much beer.  I needed a nap when I got home.

the house

looking out to Lake Ontario from the path through the woods

stream running down to the lake...almost dry

wild life, saw a few birds but they didn't stand this still

Morgan next to our wagon in the parking lot

my pizza, Paul's spicy shrimp dish is in the background

shared a large pitcher of beer

Early evening, just as I was finishing my nap and thing about making supper, my friend from the gym called with the news that the place had closed down.  When the girls arrived for the morning session they found a note on the door announcing it's demise.    Thankfully the owner was honest and all money withdrawals were stopped, prepaid funds returned and instructors paid.

One of the more energetic members refused to let the closing break up our morning class group and she organized an email list and before we knew it  we had summer evening classes at a park  (  I don't go ) and Saturday morning classes at a church right near my home.   The church hall is hot but we turn on fans and open windows and managed a good aerobic work out.    With luck the Saturday mornings will continue well into the fall.

ps K.  I keep checking your blog for news.

Oct 7 - Oct 10

Perfect almost summer-like temperatures and clear skies for Thanksgiving and our anniversary weekend.  On Friday we headed out to Ball's Falls Conservation area for the annual craft show.  We went for the historic buildings and scenery as well as the chance to see what might be tempting to buy. Good quality crafts and interesting food samples but we didn't buy anything other than lunch.  

Out building and one of the many harvest displays.

Automatic washing machine .. driven by a small  engine.

1911 Military Band Organ

the works

Side of the mill, the front is currently under renovation.

They still mill flour and it is for sale $3.00 a bag

The falls.  At the base we could see salmon spawning in the shallow rocky stream.

me

The Ball family home is open to tour.  I liked these birds ( pheasants? ) staring down at the dining room table and the muted wall paper.

Interesting linoleum pattern in the kitchen and pantry.

After getting lost but happily stumbling on a winery where I purchased Cranberry fruit wine, we finally found Jordon and had coffee on the patio and then dinner inside at  Inn OnTthe Twenty.  

Photo doesn't do justice to my dessert.  Lemon tart with blackberries and blackberry sorbet.

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Saturday Paul cut the grass, I did some laundry and hung it outside to dry and made a quick grocery visit for brussel sprouts (I never serve turkey without them) and whipped cream.

Sunday was turkey dinner at our place with my sister Barbara, Stephen and Chawana.

Monday our actual anniversary and we have been doing small chores around the-.   Paul is currently outside watering the grass seed he put down on the front lawn and as soon as I post this I'm going to join him outside to enjoy this weather.    Sunny  28C.