Monday, January 25th - more winter enjoyment...

Fortunately for us, we escaped the massive storm that struck the eastern seaboard of the United States this past weekend. Once again we dodged that bullet. In fact we had a beautiful weekend.

Friday was Lloyd's birthday so a belated best wishes to him.  Never let it be said I don't know how to show him a good time. I invited him out to the Rec Centre Friday night for our Capture the Queen of Hearts weekly event. I bought him some tickets, some wings and a diet coke (no beer as he had to work later). Now seriously, does it really get any better than that?

Unfortunately his tickets didn't win nor did his team win at trivia. But it's the thought that counts, right?

Saturday after work, I stopped in at Brenda's for a tea and to make some plans for Sunday.

Lloyd and I were supposed to be going out for supper on Saturday evening to celebrate his birthday but instead we ended up staying home and cooking.

Sunday morning, after breakfast, I met up with Brenda and Meghan to try out my new snow shoes. I had picked them up on Saturday on my way home from work. I've never been on snow shoes in my entire life, but it was much easier than I anticipated. In fact after we were out for about an hour, we were pleased to report that not one of us fell down.  All in all, a successful venture.  I did find it to be a bit more of a workout than cross country skiing so that's a bonus.

Snow shoeing isn't exactly the most graceful sport but it was fun

After skiing I headed home to get changed and ready to go out for supper. Our friends Charles and Laura had invited us out for the evening. A lovely meal was enjoyed and good company all around, as per usual.

Tristen also had a great weekend. He attended a speed skating meet in Milton, ON and won a silver medal. Well done, T.

Be sure to tune in next Tuesday for an update - we're expecting twins in a couple of weeks! We'll have all the details for you next week...

Tuesday, January 19th - getting out and enjoying some winter

Well, the weather department actually got it right last week. They predicted a big storm on Wednesday and it actually happened as predicted. So much so that our dealership was closed for the day, along with  pretty much the rest of the island. It was really nice to have a day off in the middle of the week. 

That was pretty much the most exciting thing that happened this past week. 
Brenda and I turned Thursday into a movie night and of course, Friday was our weekly Capture the Queen of Hearts fundraiser at the Rec Centre. 

Saturday was work and then a quiet, relaxing evening in front of the TV as we waited for a big storm to descend. Storm warnings all day advised us to expect 15 to 20 cms of snow overnight. It was to be finished around midnight so we made some tentative plans for Sunday. Good thing we didn't cancel anything because in the end, we didn't see a single flake of new snow.

Right after we all had breakfast at our respective houses, Brenda and I headed out to the woods for our first  cross country ski of the season.  She had gone out earlier in the week to chop away at some of the trees that invariably wind up across the pathway throughout the year.  She did a great job and the mild temperatures, no wind and sunshine made for a great day and a great end to the week.

Heading into the woods

Lots of animals tracks could be seen

We made it to the river, but didn't venture too close as the ice isn't safe just yet

A beautiful day to be outdoors enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest

We called it an early afternoon as Ethan was arriving home from  globetrotting with his sister and the family was getting together to hear all about his trip over supper. I'm sure he had a great time and will likely be traveling more in the future.

Tuesday, January 12th - a very quiet week

We're both still feeling the residual affects of the recent cold so it was a very quiet week.

After sharing our first Friday pizza of the year with the Van Gaals,  I made it to the Rec Centre for the new year of Capture the Queen of Hearts. The trivia went well and the kitchen staff won, for the second time in a row - and there's only two of them. Well done Cathy and Brenda!

I worked on Saturday and after I got home, Lloyd and I went out to a local farm and picked up a bale of hay for the bunny.  I checked at the pet store last week and a small chunk of a bale was $20.00. Didn't make much sense to me when I could get a whole bale for $2.50, not to mention we got to meet some more neighbours.

On our way back, because we were there, we stopped in at the local restaurant in Peakes and had a beer and some wings and fries. Needless to say, that became supper. Good thing because neither of us felt like cooking.

Sunday was a beautiful day and it would have been better had I not felt quite so crumby.  Lloyd went over to Bernie's to look at a computer and then we joined them for brunch in Morell at a new place that just opened called Holy Cow, Burgers and Wings. It was our first visit and we all enjoyed our breakfasts. We'll have to check it out again for burgers some time.

Monday our weather was absolutely gorgeous - upwards to 10' with sun off and on all day after rain overnight. It got slightly cooler as the day progressed and rumour has it that there might be a snow storm on Wednesday. We'll just have to wait and see- it is Canada and it is January so we shouldn't be surprised at what Mother Nature has in store for us.

Tuesday, January 5th - Belated Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a lovely New Years Eve and day. We enjoyed the company of some friends at their house on New Years Eve right before a wicked cold struck on New Years Day. Good thing I had the day off, I suppose. It's finally subsiding as is Lloyd's which arrived on Sunday. Apparently it's going around and it seems like I was kind enough to also share it with my good friend Brenda. (Sorry about that)

I had promised some photos from around the resort property but never did get around to it so here they are.

The Manor House on the property

The General Store

The kitchen garden outside the Manor House

A beautiful dining room - I could live in this house!

The gray skies didn't dampen our spirits

The coffee shop

I realize I missed getting photos of the tennis courts, the mini golf,  activity centre and indoor pool, 

all of which got good use while we were there.

and finally it was time to say good bye. I think a great time was had by all.