Thursday, July 28th - it's been a busy few days with those folks from away..

I'm on vacation so not usually really sure of just what day it is. Patti and the three younger kids (Tristen, Meghan and her friend Jill) were to arrive on the late flight Saturday night. Unfortunately that didn't happen. There were apparently some very disappointed members of the group who got home very late and had to get back up very early the next morning to try for the morning flight. Turns out it was worth the wait as they were all put into first class.

They arrived at 11:00 and by 1:00 we were all at the beach over at Lakeside.  It was a pretty quiet day as everyone was tired out from their travels. James arrived on the midnight flight that evening so I sent everyone off to bed and went into town to fetch him. He also had to fly first class, poor fellow. I almost didn't recognize him as he seems to have grown at least a foot since the last time I saw him, which wasn't that long ago.

The next few days seems like a bit of a blur. So far some of us have shopped, because the weather was threatening rain, we've been to Anne of Green Gables, Mariner's Cove in Cavendish,
the beach at Tea Hill, Island Hill Farm, Boom Burger, and even more shopping, as well as a late night bonfire on the beach.

Except for one day with a bit of rain, it has been very hot most of the time so perfect for the beach.
Today (Thursday,  I think!) they have all gone to Shining Waters and / or Sandspit.  I chose to sit this one out and stay home and relax. They should be home around 7:00 tonight when we will be heading over to Lakeside with some wood and hotdogs to have our dinner over another bonfire.

The week has been a blur of activity but I think for the most part, everyone is having a great time. They've discovered our movie program on the TV
so that has led to many late nights watching movies with buckets of popcorn and several late mornings. But we are on holidays so that's what it's for.

Lloyd on the other hand isn't doing much relaxing! He's been busy attending bull fights, festivals, etc as well as showing off his skills on the dance floor! The following video is one of the festivals he attended. It's quite long but if you fast forward to about 26 minutes, and watch to see how it's supposed to be done, then you will see Twinkle Toes himself showing how it's not done !

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g7puXTqjuzY
 
But he's having a great time and I'm sure he'll have lots of stories when he gets home.

We've actually talked on the phone a couple of times and he tells me he went fishing and caught three barracudas.
Now that's some fish!

Thurdsay, July 21st - a little late but I was BUSY!

Well, the first day of being farmer McDenny went well. I was up early on my first day of vacation. I got a few things done before Lloyd got home from work. By the time he had arrived, all the animals were fed, the goat was milked, the milk chilled and in the fridge and all was well.

He had a couple of hours before time to take him to the airport so he caught a bit of a nap. I dropped him at the airport at 11:00 for his 11:45 am flight to Toronto. He had a nine hour wait in Toronto for his flight to Lisbon but one of his friends from the Guelph airport came into the city to go for supper with him so that broke things up a bit. 

I had several errands to run while I was in town because I didn't plan to come back in until the weekend. It was a bit cooler and you could tell it wasn't a beach day. Not a great time to be in town because traffic is crazy. All the tourist use the cooler days to come in to tour the city as it really wasn't a sit in the sun kind of  day. A great day to get done what needs to be done and get out of there!

I bottled thirty bottles of wine at the brew your own place before leaving town so we are well stocked.  When I got home I spent the time doing some cleaning up around the yard, just putting a few things away that got missed on the weekend. While I was out there Meghan Van Gaal came over with some of her friends who are visiting from Toronto. They had a little boy who was quite happy to see the animals, so much so, that he didn't want to leave.

I continued working away until I ran out of steam. After a bite to eat, it was time to feed the animals again. Once everyone was fed, watered and put away for the night I headed back inside where I received a call from Brenda advising that they had fresh strawberry short cake, did I want to come over? Are you kidding me? Of course I did. So a lovely dessert and a cup of hot tea was a great way to end my first day of vacation. 

Today is supposed to be VERY hot so sometime this afternoon will be a beach day for Brenda and me.
Check back later in the week for more updates. I'm waiting to hear that Lloyd has arrived at his final destination in the Azores, but I suspect he's not there yet. I'll keep you posted as he promises to send photos.

One last word, I received a text from granddaughter Meghan, who is currently camping with the family. She got word that this year she will be doing 2 duets with her competition dance team. Last years was absolutely beautiful so I know she's pretty pleased about being chosen to do 2 numbers next  year.

And also in the same family, James will be performing at the Hillside Festival in Guelph on Friday evening. The rock band that he plays pipes in one song with, is playing. Too bad bagpipes don't figure in more pieces of rock music - guess he'll have to start changing things up a bit!

Tuesday, July 19th - one more sleep...

...until I take over here at Old McDenny's farm! Lots to do this morning so check back tomorrow for a report on day one!

Tuesday, July 11th

Last weekend the kids spent some time up at Greg's parents in Port Elgin. Tristen tried his luck fishing in Southhampton....











... and his efforts were rewarded with his first fish!
Well done, T!







The rest of the week here on the island was pretty uneventful. Brenda and I did get out for a bit of a bike ride one evening but after that the weather was mostly cold and wet.  The Cavendish Beach Music Festival was this past weekend and I think you'd have to be a pretty die hard fan to withstand the cold and rain for 3 days. Although I think Friday really wasn't too bad up in that area.  There was quite an exodus of campers and tourists this morning across the bridge from what I was told by a fellow who had come across in the opposite direction.

The good news is summer is returning again this week. I had last Saturday off but thanks to a cold that Lloyd very graciously shared, I didn't enjoy my day off nearly as much as I could have. On the other hand it was great not having to go into work when not feeling very well. A four hour nap on Saturday afternoon helped immensely.

Saturday there was another busy day getting the last of the steel panels on the barn. Lloyd has the trim pieces for the roof and the corners on order and they should be here soon. He can pretty much finish off the rest by himself, a little at a time. We hope to get as much done as possible before he leaves for the Azores, which is quickly approaching. I know he's really looking forward to his trip, as is our neighbour, Frank. The two of them should have a great time. Frank has a lot of family and friends there and is eager to share his culture with Lloyd who is really eager to immerse himself in this new environment.

 The first residents of the new barn are the laying hens. Remember those tiny balls of yellow fluff not so long ago - they have really grown. They have a temporary pen inside the barn until their new permanent spot is closed in. They have perches inside the pen but they seem to like being on the top edge. Hopefully no one falls off or ends up as supper for a fox.

Tuesday, July 5th - belated Happy Canada Day weekend!

And what a weekend it was!

It started off on the right foot with a lovely evening on Thursday sitting on a patio on Victoria Row with Brenda and Meghan. Not a late night but a great way to kick off a long weekend.


Friday was the holiday and we were fortunate to have it off work.  It was a really, really warm day, perhaps not the best day to be working out in the sun, but that's what Lloyd and several others did on Friday. Work progressed really well on the little building. Because we had a few helpers early in the day, the decision was made to put the roof on first, while help was available.

In the evening, I went out to Lakeside with Brenda.  A stroll on the beach and some local fireworks were just what was needed to end an otherwise busy day.







Saturday was another nice day. Lloyd and company had run out of screws for the metal panels on the walls of the barn, so I was delegated to pick them up as I was going into town to shop, anyway. Oh, by the way, while you're going, we also need pig feed, chicken feed, goat feed, etc, etc - better be taking the truck this trip.

Saturday was not quite so hot so working was a little better. The two side walls were completed by the lunch time, when it was called a day.

Time for a little nap and then get ready to go out. We were attending the second feast in the barn at
Island Hill Farm.  The first one was in the winter when the two oldest kids were here and it was probably the coldest night we had all winter. This time was much better. We took a couple of friends with us and had a great time. The food was wonderful, the setting was unique and a great time was had by all.  I met the chef in charge of the food and advised him that I would like to be in the kitchen next time and he was totally okay with that. Now I can't wait for the next one.

It was so great having an extra day. I still had one left! Lloyd was up early on Sunday to go for a bike ride with Bernie. Brenda and I were planning to go but it was a bit cooler and very windy. Instead we took the little car and headed into town. I needed to pick something up at Michaels and then we headed out to Summerside. There was a big bike rally there on the weekend and we thought we would check it out. We were almost there when we met two old bikers going the other direction - Bernie and Lloyd.

We toured around Summerside waterfront, stopped and had a coffee at our favorite spot in town before heading back to our area. All in all a really great day.

Just time to make Lloyd some supper before he headed off to bed as he had to work at midnight.

A productive, but at the same time, somewhat relaxing three days - almost like a little mini vacation.