Parties, Poutine and Pensions

I have no excuses or reasons why I haven’t been blogging other than there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day – or at least enough hours at the end of the day that I’m not too tired to sit upright at the computer and actually process a complete thought. Now after reading this you may think to yourself that the time of day has nothing to do with it. Point taken.

We left Pharr, Texas on March 4th, traveling slowly north and arrived back safe and sound in Ontario in early April. We were able to relocate to our summer place near Long Point in early May.

All of those little white dots in the ravine are actually trilliums.

Pretty obvious why the park is named Trillium Court?

The white trillium serves as the emblem and official flower of Ontario as well as the official symbol of the Government of Ontario. To add, for our U.S. friends, it is also the official wildflower of Ohio.

“While it is a popular belief that it is illegal to pick the common white trillium in Ontario, in reality they are only protected in provincial parks and land owned by conservation authorities. However, the rare ‘drooping trillium’ is protected by law in Ontario because of its very small Canadian population.”

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We’ve been super busy catching up with our families and friends. There have been birthdays to celebrate.

New Cash for Life Recipient! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Just to clarify that – Our friend Shirley just turned that magic age that qualifies her to receive a monthly cheque from the government. Her hubby Dennis planned a wonderful surprise party complete with a delicious catered steak dinner for about 30 of us.

 

More Birthdays with more amazing food . . . including home made poutine and pizza. The birthday boy’s favourites.

 

Happy Day for Josh VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

That was actually a double celebration – The Cowboy’s brother Gerry, better known by his nickname ‘Buck’ will now be better known as Pastor Buck! We’re extremely proud of his achievement and we were there for the love and support. Oh, and the food.

Pastor Buck and his beautiful daughter Erin, a successful lawyer.

(I’d say this family’s got all the bases covered.)

 

 

 

My brother Ken & Mary Ann enjoying some fresh home made maple syrup – made by my father-in-law.

 

 

More family love . . .

Yup, there’s Ken again. This time enjoying a cook out at our place.

We’ve been searching for treasures at village yard sales with sister-in-law Lorraine & Bob. This one was in Petrolia.

 

And of course we found food there too:

Another of our favorite past times  is Flea Markets. Now Trails End in London is about an hour’s drive for us and we do need to keep up our strength.

 

 

So a quick stop about half way at PB’s chip wagon in Ingersoll is definitely in order.

 

 

 

Trail’s End Farmer’s Market

More treasures and all that shopping is wearing The Cowboy down.

 

These 2 photos were taken at another village yard sale last Saturday in Port Rowan. What a zoo! Lots of good bargains though.

One other event definitely worth mentioning is a wonderful treat from my daughter Cindy for Mother’s day – tickets to an Elvis tribute! What a great time including a delicious buffet dinner.

Cindy’s sister in law Ann, Cindy, and Cindy’s Mom in law Marie on the right. A very special ladies night out!

So, if you haven’t nodded off by now, you can see we’ve been keeping busy. We’re spending a lot of time working on our site here too. The Cowboy has his Man Cave looking pretty good – more on that in another post.

Some of my friends have been prodding me to not just update this blog but to post some pictures of my garden creations. I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures and promise to post more shortly.

This retired bowling ball has now become a gazing ball in one of my flower beds.

And these dishes have been upcycled to some pretty glistening flowers.

More to come and I may even divulge one of my inner most secrets - my addiction to Pinterest.