We're back home!

Where to start?

We called Mom when we got home today. She went for her checkup including an MRI and other tests she wasn’t sure of their names. She will get the results in a few days, hopefully. Cassie gets home tomorrow and will stay with Mom for a couple of weeks before moving in with Lizzie, her little sister. Everyone is so excited to have her home again. It’s been a LONG year!!!!

Craigs visit to the cottage

On Wednesday afternoon, the 10th of June, a hot and sweaty Heather arrived at our door to say that there was a tree at the first hill, blocking the road! Moments later, Mike and Fran drove up. Mike had been able to jump on the tree and break it in half so he could move it out of the way. Bern and Mike went back with the chain saw to clean up the rest. We unpacked tons of food and supplies and got down to the serious business of relaxing. We had a wonderful time watching movies, reading, eating - all the things expected in a cottage vacation. We celebrated Fran’s 59th birthday on the 12th - Heather treated us to ice cream treats at the Ice Cream Parlour - yummy. There were no calories involved, of course, since it was in celebration of a birthday - everybody knows that, right?
The weather was lovely, but the bugs were horrible. Fran got a bad bite above her eye which caused the tissue around her eye to swell up. We dosed her up with antihistamines, but it didn’t look much better by the time they left on Sunday.

Bern left Thursday evening for Barrie, where Dave lives. They left early the next morning to drive north of Timmins for their annual fishing trip. Unfortunately, they were unable to go back to the camp they enjoyed last year and went to a camp that (according to the internet advertisement) offered room service, wonderful rooms, tasty food and lots of fish. Well, they were very disappointed to discover the only room service was what you provided yourself; the bedroom was furnished with bunk beds handmade from plywood. Bern couldn’t sleep for worry that Dave, in the top bunk, would end up on top of him!! The food was gross and Dave caught one fish - it was a beauty, but not exactly worth the money he paid for the three days they were there. In spite of all that, they had a good time.

The Craigs left on Sunday afternoon. As evening approached, I decided to close the sliding door to the deck. I looked up to see a beautiful, big doe on the front lawn. She was gorgeous! What a treat to watch. I got lots of pictures, but as the lighting wasn’t good, I only got a few “good” pictures of her.
She was out there for about an hour - and every now and then, she would glance up at me in the window and just watch me as I watched her. If I had any apprehension about staying here by myself, it was dispelled by the thought that God was taking care of that forest creature and He was most certainly taking care of me, too. Very cool!

Trip to Massey

Bern got back on Monday around 7:30 p.m. We went into Burks Falls on Tuesday and Bern did the laundry while I went to the library to check email. We picked up water at the hardware store and then went for lunch before we came back to the cottage. The next day, we set out for Massey. It’s always a treat to stay with Jim and Jackie - we hadn’t seen them for two years and had lots to catch up on. They’ve had a rough spring this year. Jim’s sister, Hazel passed away three weeks ago - she was such a sweet lady and I will miss seeing her. Their son Derek was diagnosed with skin cancer and by Easter had had two surgeries to remove the cancerous tissue from his chest and side. The prognosis is good.

We visited the cemetery in the morning. I got a couple of horrendous bug bites - I thought they were black fly bites, but as they swelled up and one started affecting a gland under my ear, I’m thinking now they were deer flies. Oh well, they are healing up, finally. We stopped in to see Lil and she and Bern went over some old photos together. Next, we got to visit with Bern’s cousin, Jocelyn (Pudgy) and her husband Andre. It was really nice - I really haven’t had a chance to get to know her over the years. For one reason or another, we just never had the chance to get together. We always went to see her Mom (Aunt Dee), sister Lucienne, and brother, Joe when we were visiting Massey. Her Mom and brother have since passed away and Luci was away. Bern, as you know, is involved in his family’s genealogy - and so is Jocelyn, so they got to talk and talk about that while we were there. Anyway, we will definitely make an effort to spend more time with them.

We visited with Joe’s son, Julien (Choo) and his wife, Lisa and their kids. Little Emily was born with many challenges. Her spinal cord never connected with her brain. She is blind, a paraplegic and has to be constantly monitored. She has a breathing tube that has to be suctioned all the time and she gets water and nourishment through another tube to her stomach. I honestly don’t know how Lisa does it. She is always so upbeat and treats Emily with so much love. I told her she’s the picture of “God won’t allow more than you can bear”. She said someone said she has big shoulders. She said God must have her shoulders and butt mixed up!! Anyway, Emily is five years old now and will never get any better. They take one day at a time and are thankful for every day.

Bern’s cousin, Wayne and his wife Lise, and Craig and Bonnie and the kids came over to Jim and Jackie’s house to play cards. The kids, who are delightful, by the way, watched a movie and ate treats. The grownups played a game of cards - Bern won, so he was happy - and we had a great time. The next day, Jackie and I took off for the afternoon. We went to Espanola to our favourite “dollar store”. I spent $8, got a bagful of neat household gadgets, and felt very satisfied at having shopped!!! We had lunch and then stopped in to visit with George (Jim’s brother) and his wife, Rita. It was good to see them again, too.


Sunday morning, we packed up and headed back to the cottage. On the way, we planned to see Ted and Lynn in Sudbury. We stopped to get gas and have lunch (and get gas!) before we went to Ted and Lynn’s. While we were having lunch in this little tiny diner next to the gas station, Bern said he wished he had his cousin, Freeda’s address so we could visit her - she also lives in Sudbury. I glanced up and who was sitting across the room with her sister, Suzanne??? Freeda!! We could hardly believe it! Of course, we sat with them for awhile and had a little chat. Freeda just turned 83 and is a little fire cracker. She just finished taking Spanish lessons at the local college and looks after her sister full time. Suzanne has Downs Syndrome.

We finally got to Teddy and Lynn’s, had a lovely dessert and cold drink with them. They will be coming to see us in Welland on July 2nd for a couple of days. The trip from Massey to the cottage takes about 4 hours, but with all our stops and visits, it took 6 ½ hours. We decided to stop at the Ice Cream Parlour for a celebratory Fathers’ Day banana split. Worse luck - she was out of bananas! So, Bern said in that case, he’d like a strawberry sundae - she was out of strawberries, too! So, we both had one scoop of ice cream each on a cone and called it a day!

And, today we came home.