Month: June 2023

After a great breakfast of pancakes and sausages and coffee, Jane and I took our chairs to the nearby rocks to take in the beautiful Georgian Bay vista.

There are still a lot of empty sites, but we expect an influx later today. We are all set to celebrate Canada Day tomorrow.

The day started out with a bit of excitement. Challenge might be the better word. The battery was dead on the car and I couldn’t open it. I had to use the manual key in the fob to unlock the driver’s side door, which set off the car alarm – it was 7 a.m. Sorry everyone!

I had inadvertently left the fridge plugged into the car outlet instead of the site electrical hookup. Once it was open, I was able to get the car charger I carry and get the car started to recharge the battery and we were back in business.

Later we met up with some friends, Scotts and Marianne, who live nearby and had lunch with them at the restaurant in Killbear Marina.

On the way, Jane spotted a fawn by the side of the road so we stopped and she got a video of three other deer browsing just off the road.

Scott, a very talented artist, had some of his paintings on display there and I bought this one of a blue jay.

It was great seeing Scott and Marianne and it was great to reconnect.

Today after breakfast, we took our folding chairs to the beach to enjoy the sunshine and watch everyone having fun there.

We went for a nice walk up into a rocky area not too far from us and then spent some time just enjoying the scenery.

And we spent some time at the Park interpretive centre looking at the exhibits and learning a lot about the park history.

We had an enjoyable dinner and then just relaxed. Whew!

It’s been raining off and on since our arrival yesterday. Luckily, though, we got everything set up in between rainbursts.

We had a great sleep last night. We were warm and dry inside the tent.

This morning we had coffee with toast, bacon and hash browns for breakfast. We used our cast iron pans which work so well on our propane stove.

Later, in the afternoon, we took a spin out to the nearby General Store to pick up some milk and, after checking out Blind Bay (which we didn’t like), we returned to our campsite for a mid-afternoon snack.

It’s burgers for supper tonight.

We arrived at 2PM which is check in time at the park. We registered and headed straight for our site in Harold Point, #631.

We had our tents set up in about an hour and everything organized.

We are about 100 yards from the beach and we are very happy with this site.

This morning I began stowing our gear in the car to be ready for our trip tomorrow to Killbear Park. It’s calling for rain for the first few days but we are prepared for that. Of course, it’s better to set up camp when it’s dry, but we’ll manage.

Our check in time is 2PM so we will probably leave here between 11:30 and noon.

There is a fire ban on because of the dry forest and there is a hint of smoke coming from the forest fires in Northern Quebec.

Today I began retrieving all our camping gear from storage in the garage loft.

Most of it was up in the garage loft so I gathered it up on the floor and tomorrow I’ll load everything into the car in readiness for our trip to Killbear Provincial Park starting Monday. We’ll be up there for seven days.

Last night Jane and I went to dinner at a nearby restaurant called The Urban Dish. We both enjoyed ourselves immensely on the outdoor patio. It was a very nice atmosphere, quiet enough that we could converse in normal tones.

Today we turned our attention to our upcoming camping adventure happening this upcoming Monday.

Jane went grocery shopping while I reviewed our equipment lists of things we need.

It looks like we may have a couple of days of rain, but we will adapt as we usually do.

As the photograph depicts, I bought two cards for MY Jane. Identical cards. How did this happen, you ask.

Well, yesterday I looked for a card that I had hidden weeks ago. I couldn’t find it, so I rushed out to get another one. I spent about 20 minutes looking at all the cards at Shoppers until I finally found a suitable one.

I decided to hide that one until this morning. That’s when I found the first card. Turns out I picked the exact same card as the first time.

Happy Anniversary MY Jane.

This morning I did some work on our drip irrigation system so that when we are away for extended periods the flowers won’t die. I added a couple of quarter inch hoses to the flower pots in the backyard and the hanging basket at the front entrance.

Normally we water them manually but now that won’t be necessary because we cab activate the drip irrigation system from our iPhone regardless of where we are in the world.

Today we went see a Buddy Holly tribute show at the Kings Wharf Theatre in Penetanguishene with our friends, Jim and Annemarie. We first had lunch at the Boatworks in Midland.

Here we are trying to figure out how to pay for parking. At one point the Deputy Mayor of Midland even got in the act trying to help us.

It was a great show with wonderful music and awesome choreography, after which we visited with Jane’s cousin, Helen.

We topped the day off with a Dairy Queen sundae when we got back to Barrie.

Last night MY Jane cooked up a delicious Fathers Day dinner – BBQ steak, double baked potatoes, shrimp and Caesar salad followed by caramel cheesecake for dessert.

It was scrumptious. Happy Father’s Day to our sons in Toronto, happily involved with their children.

Earlier in the day, Jane worked on sorting the camping bins and finalizing menus for our week-long camping trip which begins next Monday.

This morning began with a Fathers Day breakfast delivered to our front door as arranged by Chris, Tonya and Max. And what a huge meal it was. So big tat I only ate half, the remaining half will be for tomorrow.

After completing a second straight sweep in Yahtzee against Jane, we headed off to Brandys to spend the afternoon on Georgian Bay.

Just after setting out in Shenanigans, we realized we were short a life jacket so we popped in at the Picnic Island store to see about renting one seeing as there are about six of them in the garage at home.

The owner, Jason, kindly agreed to loan me one at no charge as long as I promised to bring it back, which of course I did.

We then toodled over to a location called The Oaks and spent the afternoon there where we had lunch and idled the afternoon away.

A great day and back home for a Bbq steak dinner with shrimp and double baked potato and a special dessert.

This morning, when I first looked out the kitchen window while having coffee, I realized how nice the back yard looked. So I ventured out and took several photos of the flowers.

We are soon to be headed down to Steve and Sara’s for a Fathers Day BBQ. It’s shaping up to be a great day for it.

We have a 7 day camping trip scheduled 10 days from now for Killbear Park near Parry Sound. So, today I decided to do an inventory of our camping gear.

I got the bin down and reviewed everything thing inside. It looked complete, but Jane will review her spreadsheet tomorrow to confirm.

This morning, right after breakfast, Jane and I took a spin down to Minets Point. On the way, we stopped by Tim Hortons for coffee and a sour cream glazed donut.

We spent about 20 minutes there watching paddle boarders and kite sailing.

Nice change of pace.

A few weeks ago I spotted a neat signpost idea which displays the names and birthdates of our three grandchildren.

So I ordered one made and it arrived today. It’s printed on canvas and is high quality. It did, however, take quite awhile to finally arrive.

Today was the first step in bringing the creature down south to account. However, I am not optimistic that this will happen. I say this for a couple of reasons, the first of which is the corrupt judicial system in that country. It is corrupt because judges are either Democrat or Republican depending on their party affiliation.

Secondly, he has a history of playing the delay game. He used this ploy when dealing with contractors in his real estate dealings. After they did the work, he would insist on only paying so many cents on the dollar and daring them to sue in which case he would drag things out in the courts. Contractors in a tight cash flow situation would inevitably cave to his demands.

He keeps using the same methods over and over so it’s not a stretch to expect the same in this situation.

We can only hope that justice will,prevail. But don’t hold your breath.

Since last Thursday Jane has been experiencing pain in her right leg and today went to see her family doctor about it.

He confirmed it was indeed sciatica and prescribed some pain medication and physiotherapy to address the issue.

So, on the way home, we picked up the prescriptions and returned home.

Today I undertook to make a concise video reflecting the last few days in which I did some work in the backyard and also the front yard.

Much of the work involved raking up maple tree helicopters and replacing the wooden planter at the lamppost.

I ended up with a two and a half minute video but it’s took a couple of hours of editing time.

The peony bush beside the garage is blooming while the one in the back yard are just starting.

Overall, the back yard is in very good shape and our goal of trying to cover the fence with greenery is succeeding.

This morning, once the rain stoped, I took apart the wooden lamppost planter and began working on putting together a brick one.

We then to Lowes and got two clematis plants and some chicken wire for them to climb on and planted them in the new planter.

A big improvement over the wooden one and no maintenance required.

The planter that I made a few years ago using cedar is falling apart and needs replacement.

Not only that, it has to be resealed every year because of weathering which is a pain.

So, today Jane and I went to Lowes and found some appropriate sized cement blocks to construct a new planter that will withstand the weather and not require ongoing maintenance.

I will work on that tomorrow.

Today I called Tim Hortons customer support because I had lost my TimCard.

The person on the other end of the line was typical of the support people you are forced to deal with. They don’t listen, they interrupt, and they mumble.

Fir what should have been a two minute call turned into a half hour torture session. Typical of all these large corporate businesses these days.

This morning, after breakfast, Jane and I decided to clean up the samaras or maple keys as they are sometimes called.

After that was done, we went to the nearby Zehrs garden centre and got some Impatients to plant in the bare spots in the backyard flowerbed.

I also swept up the driveway of all the maple keys that came down from our other big maple.

Jane came home this morning after babysitting Max yesterday while Chris and Tonya went out to dinner to celebrate their anniversary.

Jane said Max had a great time watching some of my Tik Tok videos especially the ones with special effects.

I had a Doctors appointment this morning and everything is fine. I just have to continue with the blood pressure medication.

And I did some research into wireless microphones to improve the sound on videos.

Today I spent some time putting together a 10 minute video that encapsulated my three day, two night solo camping trip to Beausoleil Island in Georgian Bay Islands National Park.

It’s my first effort at doing something like this and I used my tripod and I phone, activating the camera by using my Apple Watch remote camera feature.

It took me a couple of hours to do but the result was pretty good.

I do need more practice at ensuring sound is of a better quality, though.

This afternoon, my old friend from Temiscaming, Jim Burd (Burdie) came up from Midland to spend the afternoon with me.

We had a great time reminiscing about our good times growing up there.

Later in the afternoon we took a leisurely dinghy ride back to Honey Harbour.

Jim wants to check out a boat launching place in this area so he doesn’t have to worry about being in big water with his small boat.

There has been intermittent cloud cover but it’s been mainly sunny today.

I discovered some changes up in Chimney Bay. They have moved the dock from the Oaks and that spot has a nice little sandy beach.

I am nicely settled in now. Got the tarp erected and the tent put up.

By then it was time for lunch so I had a hot dog and a small blueberry tart for dessert.

Went for a quick swim and removed slippery algae from the rocks near the dinghy.

Had a call with my Temiscaming buddy, Burdie, and he is coming up for the day tomorrow. I’ll pick him up at Honey Harbour around noon.