Happy Anniversary

Our 28th year anniversary was yesterday and our tourism-y daughter prepared a detailed itinerary for us, which was good, since I'm always quite indecisive about what to do and where to go. The weather, which had been very hot and humid, calmed down a bit with the day being overcast and the temperature dropping a bit. Here are the highlights:

Jones Falls

So, here's the couple, doing the bad selfie thing. We started out with a walk through beautiful craggy limestone and ancient cedars to see a waterfall. The setting was magical - I love trails like this.

Dappled sunlight, woodsy smells, birdsong, things to climb on - lovely!

Next, we moved onward to a restaurant to enjoy one of husband's favourite things in life... a charcuterie board!!

His favourite, stilton, was part of this. There seemed to be more 'crustini' than cheese, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. I had a baguette sandwich which was very, very good. This place is all about cheese, so the sandwich had brie cheese in it. Who puts brie cheese in a 'ham and cheese' sandwich? Well, it was delicious!

This was the restaurant. The interior is nicely done, all brick walls and wood shelving.

After lunch, we drove a ways to a magical, wonderful place. I love a good garden tour and this one did not disappoint. The place was called Keppel Croft Gardens and it is the result of forty years of slogging done by a couple who had an amazing vision of what could be done with their property.

This is the Garden Ruin, the owner created in a couple of stages. There are many details that don't show in this picture, but it helps to create a little microclimate area and divides the space up into another outdoor "room".

They created Keppelhenge in an open area in a field. They have little signs on the base of each stone telling that the sun sets here on the winter solstice, etc. They do a summer solstice event here. They are very much into astronomy and have created a wonderful inlaid "calendar" of sorts on the ground. I forgot to take a picture of it, unfortunately.

I so admire people who can envision. They have taken four acres and created spaces and rooms and paths. People are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch and there are many spots where you can have a seat and enjoy. The gardens are in a bit of a lull at the moment, as the June flowers are done blooming and some areas were a bit beaten down by a recent hard rain, but the structures themselves were enough to keep me intrigued. The owners use rock (because there's enough of it available in this area!) and concrete to help create planters and barriers and groupings.

Husband was inspired to try creating some concrete work, as he always is when we see sites like these. Unfortunately, we decided we had to cut our visit short because we were being eaten alive by mosquitos and deer flies. That's summer in Ontario. If you feel like having a deeper look into this wonderful place, I'll direct you to their website which really tells the tale of all the work they have put into this - forty years- that's dedication. There isn't even a charge to get in, but donations are accepted (which, of course, we did).

After that, we had an ice cream cone at the local, and only, corner store. No pictures. And then eventually we meandered down Lake Huron to a restaurant we hadn't tried before for supper. The rain was coming down in buckets. I wasn't impressed by the restaurant at all (do NOT flip over the burnt naan bread and expect me not to notice!), so I won't bother mentioning the name. However, husband's meal was o.k. and the day in its entirety was great, thanks to daughter getting it all organized for us.

Today will be a day of digging in the dirt and maybe a bit of reading. I'm ripping out the "strawberries gone wild" portion of my vegetable garden, which really should be called the "strawberries, twitch grass, dandelions, and bindweed" bed. It's been a tough slog, as I am digging it all by hand so I can find every fat white root and eradicate as many of those perennial weeds as possible. The next step is to, and it is NOT going to be pretty, take an old, ugly, blue carpet and lay it on top of the soil, leaving it there for the rest of the season, over winter, and into early spring of next year in order to kill off anything else I might have missed. I will weight it down with some of the many rocks that are piled up here and there on the property. What I'd really like (Mama Pea, this is because of you!), is to have raised beds there with proper crushed stone pathways in between. Still not sure what kind of wood to use. Pine will rot over time, pressure-treated will likely leach deadly chemicals into the soil to be soaked up by root vegetables, and cedar is too expensive. What to do, what to do?

Anyway, I've been up for two hours and I'm starving, so I'm signing off for now. Have a great Sunday, all!

Waterfalls and Wine

Yesterday was my birthday, the big five-two. I'm not much of a birthday person. I don't like get-togethers. I despise birthday phone calls, I don't require presents, and I cringe at the thought of being sung to, especially in public. So... both "kids" were working yesterday and husband and I decided to do something during the day. Our daughter, the communications major, put together a day for me (she's working this summer in tourism), knowing her mother well (i.e. no ziplining, no big city travel, no crowds).

In the morning, we left to drive to a very pretty part of Ontario, to go for a late breakfast. We ate outside in the shade in a little village. I had the vegetarian crepe (not a vegetarian, but the "innards" sounded yummy - onions, goat cheese, mushrooms...). Yes, I took a picture. Note the flowers as decoration!

After breakfast, we drove to a lovely conservation area that includes a waterfall. We've been to this waterfall before but it's been a while. Being in nature makes me contended. It was a scorching hot day, but we were in amongst the trees. And when a hot flash hit me, I just leaned against the stone wall which was nice and cool! (Why, why do hot flashes come back when you are quite sure they were all done? Happy birthday.)

You can see the wall to protect people from their own stupidity. I love the old cedars.

The gnarled root systems with all of their glorious texture and hidey holes make me imagine gnomes and fairies and other magical tiny beings living amongst them and emerging when all of the people go home.

This is one view of Eugenia Falls.

Here is a better view.

This is probably the best view. Don't ask how far the drop was. I read the info, but forget it now and I'm a terrible judge of distance. Suffice it to say that I would not want to look over the edge.

And now for your amusement, here is a selfy (selfie? the ie ending doesn't make sense...). Is there anyone, besides a Kardashian, over the age of 25 who can properly execute one of these things? I ended up looking like an elf and husband looks like he's trying to read the small print. Good god.

Now, onto better things... we then drove a short distance to another waterfall, different in nature and size. This one assumed that you were smart enough to stay away from the edge as there were no walls. We were also in amongst beautiful old trees with limestone rocks and a pretty river.

The river was shallow and there were many, many butterflies flitting around.

After a bit of a walk, we came to the falls. I could have walked right out to the edge if I wished. I did not wish to. I'm not great with the edges of talls things and have these irrational thoughts like, "What if I just inexplicably threw myself over the edge??"

These falls were not nearly as large, or as big of a drop as Eugenia. They are called Hoggs Falls. There was actually a fellow at the bottom fishing. We didn't wait long enough to see if he caught anything.

I'm pretty sure gnomes and fairies live here, too. There is nothing like the sound of water.

After the waterfalls, we were directed, according to daughter's itinerary, to drive to one of the many wineries that are becoming established in the general area. There are also many craft breweries and cideries as well.

This is the view from their parking lot. Just a gorgeous valley and the picture doesn't do it justice. It was so hot, the earth seemed to shimmer.

The winery was named The Roost, because the owners, after being part of the banking / advertising world of the big cities, including London, England, decided to 'come home to roost', establishing this winery on the wife's home farm. They've done a fabulous job creating a beautiful setting in the building itself.

After enjoying a wine tasting, we decided on this red and brought home two bottles.


We shared the charcuterie board in the shade with a glass each. (Isn't the whole charcuterie thing such a trend now? It used to be called wine and cheese. Now it's like a competition to find the weirdest crackers and the thinnest slices of meat.)

We toodled around after that, enjoying the drive and ended the day with a dip in the pool. We had cake with the kids (purchased... oh the horror! But I'm not baking my own cake. I gladly make a birthday cake for husband and kids, but I draw the line at myself). We amused ourselves by noticing the cicadas emerging from their outer shells and then administering to son, as he didn't quite escape from the wasps that he disturbed as he was shooting baskets in the driveway. They had been making a happy little wasp nest in the hollow post that the basketball net is attached to. He's fine - only one sting.

This was the perfect birthday. No party. No attention. I didn't announce to people at the restaurant or the winery that it was my birthday. I was out amongst the trees and the water, and then back in an air conditioned car. As a bit of an introvert, and a private one at that (who has a blog, I know, but I pick and choose what I share), it was lovely.