My freckle fell off!

Smallest was able to tell left from right at a fairly early age. I guess we just took it for granted that once he knew it, he wouldn't forget it. However, it seems the only reason he knows the difference these days is because his left hand has two freckles on it (he calls this Potato Man) and the right has one freckle (he calls this one Pirate Potato Man). This morning, the weather forecast said rain till 10am, sunny till 2pm and then more rain. The clouds were thick and the lake was incredibly clear. We decided on a place to go for the afternoon and then went on a walk after breakfast along our lakeside road. I told Smallest which way we were going and he looked at his hands and said "oh no it's gone!" I don't think freckles fall off do they? - silly bear.

It started raining not long after we started the walk, at first no-one was bothered by a bit of wet and we were slightly sheltered under the trees. It was nice being nosey looking at all the other cottages and seeing what wonderful views they had. There were some amazing places and some very titchy wee houses. We gave up in the end as we were getting wetter and wetter and came back and played UPSET.

Around about lunchtime we got our fleeces and drove to Paisley. Huffle had researched this place and he said it was "a pretty town on a river, must be lots to see". In essence, it was a town and it was on a river. It wasn't particularly pretty but we did find a nice bakery where we bought some nice things for later.

There didn't appear to be a lot to do but as we were hungry (aren't we always?), we chose a place called Back Eddies. An odd looking place but the menu looked interesting and suited each of our individual needs. Once inside, we went through to the back which was a dining room, music room, shop full of pickles, chutneys, jewellery, seeds and all sorts of strange things. Mainly organic, Fair Trade type things. The coffee was roasted on site and was lovely. Smallest had hot chicken on bread with gravy and home fries (roast potatoes) which he loved (right up his street). Small had a homemade cheese burger. Huffle and I had soups and toast. We chose curried vegetable lentil soup and Brazilian Black Bean soup. It was nice to eat healthily. Too many restaurants are chips, fries, burgers etc., this was lovely.

We walked to the Mill hoping to see an old working mill or at least to be able to see what it was like when it was a mill but it was just a shop selling all sorts of expensive things. Upstairs was an exhibition place where they were showing Quilts. We were only allowed to touch them wearing white gloves - we didn't bother. They were amazing pieces of work though. A man we assumed worked there wore the shortest, flimsiest shorts ever and he wasn't young or worth ogling at, it was almost obscene! Huffle said "there comes a point where the wife would look at him in the morning and say 'No Roy (always Roy) get changed or you will scare the customers away'."

Rain was due in 1.5 hours so we decided to drive to Port Elgin Harbour, have an ice cream, walk around and hopefully kill a few hours. We did have our ice cream and we sat on a bench on the harbour and people watched and boat watched. There was a family in a small put-put boat happily sailing around. They passed us and then turned around and we wondered where they were going. They sailed off towards some big boats and we thought they might be getting back on their proper boat, however, not long and they had turned around and comeback again. I found this extremely funny. They obviously weren't allowed out of the harbour wall and were just put-putting about.

We watched a small train peep peep along the harbour and to the park. The driver wore dungarees (very authentic) and waved frantically at all passers-by even though they didnt wave back. The drivers' mate ran ahead in front to the crossroads and waved a flag so traffic wouldnt cross. We walked to a shop and bought Smallest a body board so the boys now have one each. The shop was very interesting and sold really old postcards of the train (I swear they were from the 1970's and some of them had stains on them eeeuuuuggghhhh - I didn't buy anyone one, don't worry). As the sun was coming out and it was starting to get much warmer, we headed back to our house and on to the beach.

Huffle and the boys played football while I sat and read and it wasn't long before the kids wanted to go in and swim. It seemed very cold in there but they had a good laugh and a great splash around. We sat on the beach eating our Paisley pastries before the rain started. It didn't take us long to get all our stuff together and run back. There we made a fire, draped all of our wet and damp clothes everywhere, showered the boys (Smallest actually said he liked the shower now - egg boy!). Actually talking of Egg News, the owners Dad came round to see if he could do anything about the water. He is coming back tomorrow morning to flush out the boiler. He seemed very nice and at least they are trying to solve it. I will keep you updated.

No sunset tonight and more rain forecast tomorrow. I have told Huffle that if this holiday is going to be majority rain, next year we will be holidaying abroad, maybe America, anywhere as long as it has guaranteed warmth. We really struggle when there is not a lot to do. The boys asked for a beach holiday and so far it hasn't delivered too much beaching!!!!! We are here for two weeks by the way.

Smallest also blogged today. You can find his post here.

 

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Butt Wash*

All slept well. Some of us even had a lie-in. Pancake breakfast (if only from a packet, not bad though) with lashings of fresh fruit and maple syrup started our day of lovely sunshine. A quick change and a grab of chairs, drinks, football, sunbrellas etc and we made our way to the beach.

It was pretty much deserted which enabled us to choose the premium spot today. We all played Jackers, and football. Huffle and I relaxed in our chairs and watched the boys go in the lake. Smallest had some bodyboarding lessons from Small (a little bossy but informative), though Smallest preferred to surf.

The sun was out and the breeze from the lake made the heat very bearable. However this meant that everyone else moved to the beach too. No-one will park their stuff near to us, both Huffle and I thought. Oh yes they will. Huffle thinks they look at us and think 'that looks like a family having fun, if we sit next to them we will have fun too'. So family after family joined us, smoked over us, shouted near us and sat on our sandcastles after doing what Huffle calls the illegal 'stop and chat'.

We had a full morning of beautiful sunshine so I went back to the house to get some lunch and brought it back to the beach. The sun went in for a few hours and it started to get quite cool, which put a lot of the families off and we were soon on the beach all by ourselves again. We sat it out, reading, playing, swimming and then suddenly the sun popped out again and it was really hot. The clouds gradually disappeared. We buried the boys in the sand until a lady who worked in the Coroners Office walked past and told us not to do it as she had seen cases of kids crushed to death! Morbid! We unburied them. Smallest has had many falls, twists and hurt bits today. All on the same leg he said!

We went for a long walk along the beach a couple of times and the boys and Huffle went off to get a pizza for dinner leaving me all alone on the deserted Beach. Poor me - peace and quiet. I blogged, photographed and generally watched the lake across to America. I even managed a wave to Brenda,Truly Scrumptious and MrGator.

Huffle smugly brought our pizza back to the beach as people were starting to casually wander back on to the beach. We tried to sit there until the sunset but the boys were tired and getting tetchy with each other.

We dragged ourselves away and walked back to the house. Everyone had eggy showers - the owner emailed us back and said there was nothing we or they could do about the smell. They changed the boiler but apparently it was the well. I can't believe how bad it is. Smallest asked if we could ask the people across the road if we could use theirs instead. Ha ha!

We did manage to see the sunset. It was amazing. Once the sun went down there were tiny black (silhouetted) shapes on the horizon. They seemed to move though Huffle said it was the sun moving and not them. Was it the other side? Was it Brenda waving back? Was it just clouds? Very strange.

*a woman and her small child walked past me today, she had just dunked them quickly in the lake and she said "Butt Wash!". Oh thanks for that then!

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Egg Hair

Last night I went for a walk to have a better look at the sunset and a bit of a nose at the other cottages and houses.

It was quite chilly, so once we put the kids to bed, we built a fire. There was a lot of smoke puthering from our chimney but it soon warmed us up. We moved the sofa closer and toasted our toes.

Oooooooohhhhh lovely

 

The weather was cool and cloudy with lots of rain forecast this morning and we decided today was the day to go to the cinema. Huffle and I had a lie-in but were still tired most of the day. After breakfast and a slowish start we ventured out to Southampton where we picked up some pastries and drove on to Owen Sound for the cinema. We were a bit early so hat trying on was the order of the day. We watched Despicable Me2. The boys loved it. It was very funny.

When we came out the sun was out and we headed to a waterfall we went to last year but because they hadn't had rain for ages (last year obviously not this bloomin' rainy year) it was dry.

The walk to the falls took us through a forest, along a stream, over a bridge and then we were there. Last year we walked across it, this year it was falling well and Huffle wouldn't let us go too near to the edge.

The boys climbed rocks, fell off rocks, ran in mud, slipped in mud, ran around with sticks and cracked a few rocks. The rocks and trees reminded Huffle and I of Hobbit Land.

We were all hungry and had missed a meal somewhere so we headed back to Southampton for fish and chips. As the sun was still out, we drove back to our house and went straight on to the beach. It was practically empty (well it was 6pm). We set up a couple of chairs, watched the kids bravely go in the lake and played football and catch. Huffle and I collected wood for the fire later.

The kids had a good run around and we went in for showers in the eggy water back in our house. For some reason the hot water smells of rotten eggs. This morning I washed my hair (eggy hair) and so far we have avoided using the shower because of the smell. It is so bad that Smallest stood in the shower this evening, saying "I don't want to wash my hair in case eggs come out!". We have emailed the owner to see if we can do anything. It is really really bad.

Once the boys had had their eggy showers, I made a fire with our beach wood, the kids watched TV and then went to bed.

 

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Wavy View

Through window first thing this morning

Our day started with an explore of the beach outside our house. It was cool and blustery and the waves were quite high. We walked along the beach until we hit a part that was almost cut off by water. The boys just paddled through, I tried to jump but landed in the water and Huffle danced around trying to assess whether he could jump it or not. Funnily enough we all got wet feet.

The kids climbed a high sand dune while Huffle and I watched on. We walked a long way and into the Provincial Park. It was a lovely stroll through a wooded area, along the lake. Every now and then we would peep out and make our way onto the beach (a more naturalised, rocky, wild beach).

Once our tummies started to rumble, we turned around and walked back. The lake had come in slightly and the jump was a little longer. I jumped too short and got very wet. The boys just paddled through again, in fact Smallest went in up to his bottom, Small wasn't far behind him.

It was a very good walk in which we assessed the beach for future outings (preferably when the weather gets better - note I said when, not IF!). The sun was poking out and it started to get warmer, in fact Huffle put his shorts and sandals on and took off his fleece.

We drove into Port Elgin, parked and found a place to eat. It was okay, not great but it did a job. We checked out the cinema to see what time Despicable Me2 was on ready for a rainy day, unfortunately it wasn't on. Has it finished already? After a peruse along the shops, we drove to Port Elgin's Harbour and Beach.

We wandered along the boardwalk, had a quick go of the swings and walked along the harbour wall, watching silly people jumping off the wall into the lake and watching the fishermen get their lines all tangled.

On the way home we popped into the supermarket again and then drove home. We passed some rain and some very dark clouds.

In the house we played Carcassonne and Sorry Revenge. Smallest blogged and Small journaled.

I love sitting looking at the lake and I don't think I would ever tire of this view.

 

 

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Sassenachs Welcome

The boys were very excited this morning. We had breakfast and I cleaned bathrooms, tidied up rogue belongings, locked windows and generally picked up things people had forgotten. Huffle had the task he loved most, packing the car. It wasn't long before I heard that well used sentance "ask Mummy if she's packing the kitchen sink". He sent Smallest to ask me this question and I sent him back with "yes, do you want to put it in now?". He managed what he calls the Krypton Factor Dexterity Test with ease and we were off by just after 10am.

The boys started with playing on the IPads for half an hour, then half an hour of sitting looking out of the window followed by a film each by which point I gave in timing them and tried to enjoy the scenery.

The boys in the back and a Moose statue in Orangeville

We stopped for a wee stop, a play on the park, an ice-cream (which was a small one scoop but was actually three!!) and a stretching of legs before carrying on with our journey.

We hit a few rain spots but nothing too bad. All the way there it was forecasting storms, steadily getting worse the later it was in the day. We missed most of the rain (while outside).

We made it to our house at around 2pm (which is the exact time we were allowed in the house). The house is small with three bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen/diner. The whole house overlooks the lake. There is a patio and a garden, a small track and then the lake is directly in front of us. It boasts amazing sunsets but there will not be a great one tonight as there wasn't much sun!

Our holiday house and the view.

We explored the house, chose our bedrooms, made the beds, emptied the car, emptied our bags and went out for dinner. We drove to Kincardine. A very Scottish name with a very Scottish theme. Every Saturday they have a parade (yes a parade!) of a bagpiper piping up the street. The first sign we saw was.......

We stopped for something to eat here but they were just about to close. It looked lovely, they had scones and Yorkshire Tea and we said we would come back. We walked along the Main Street and decided upon a Sports Bar. We watched the Blue Jays get beaten by Houston Astros, ate our dinner and walked off towards the harbour.

There was a Family Day happening at the harbour so we went along to have a look. We all played a game, the boys and I won a pin badge and Huffle won a walking stick. Smallest stopped to hold a Corn Snake which he I'd was trying to tie his arm in a knot but which was actually looking for a warm spot!

We went on the beach and found some giant chairs.

Then we went back to the Family Day to learn some circus skills. I was taught how to juggle with four balls (I can't do it yet, need to practice), we all learnt how to use the Diablo and were pretty successful (Small has one at home so we can practice) and we tried to spin a plate on a stick, which none of us could do.

The boys got tattoos, we listened to music and then we left to get some essentials for the house, did a shop, went to the Beer Store for more essentials, Bulk Barn for Porridge and then back home, unpack, put away and a nice pot of tea watching the lake and listening to the storm that finally caught up with us.

Huffle met his friend whilst shopping

The boys watched TV. Without their normal channels full of kids rubbish, they ended up watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. They were glued!

We put the boys to bed, read to them and retired to watch the sun set ish over the lake while the thunder got louder.

The forecast says the storm will go on until 3am but I am hoping it has stopped NOW.

 

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The day the cable died

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT PEAR - Peaches and candles? Ummmm. no-one thought to give you a pear? Would have sent you one but it may have gone a bit squishy!

For a few days now we have been having problems with our satellite signal. The boys are the ones that noticed because they watch the TV most. Huffle and I mainly watch from the PVR (pre recorded programmes). So Huffle rang our provider last night and did lots of tests, then they said someone would visit today and check it for us free of charge between 12 and 5pm. He did actually telephone Huffle and told him he would be there at 11:15 bit Huffle told him they agreed 12, so 12 it was. We got home from knitting just before 12 and he was patiently waiting on the drive for us. I think he was German, we had difficulty understanding each other! It turned out our cable from the satellite dish to our house was broken and he had to dig up the grass. He mended it (the cable not the the grass) but it still didn't work so he re positioned the satellite dish (which does actually point to a high hedge of cedars!). When that didn't work, he shook his head, muttered German stuff and unplugged the TV, boxes and all wires. Then he went back outside and found another part of the cable was damaged. Still it didn't work! More shaking of head and German mutterings, climbing of ladders and then finally he found another piece of cable that was faulty. What a mess he left! As he sat in his car reporting his findings, I asked him if that was how he was going to leave things and whether we had to put the grass back and bury the wires. Yes (yavol).

We were awoken again in the night by Mr Robber Raccoon, knocking over our bin. I shone a torch at him and he hid underneath the fence. All we could see were two shiny eyes poking through the fence. Did he forget he visited us yesterday and couldn't get in the bin? Was he just being an opportunist because it was bin day today? After that, we all slept well.

The boys got some more holiday stuff together this morning while I found towels, bedding and sorted through my clothes. Then we all went off to knitting, me armed with Huffle's Christmas sock and the boys with the IPads. There were only a few of us in today so it was a nice relaxing morning. I managed to knit lots and El put me on the right tracks again. We had to leave early so we could get back for the Satellite man.

We had lunch, packed some more and then we went off to the local town to post a parcel and have a cheeky ice cream on the park.

Gelato from the Deli

We had a few games of Pooh Sticks on the bridge

Once back, the boys went in the pool while I ironed and skyped LizzieDotDot. We had a catch up and the boys briefly spoke to her and Bomberdill and Bernard.

The boys played on their DS' while I continued to pack, clear, tidy and when Huffle came home, me and him went in the pool. We can now both do handstands under water (with the boys goggles on!!).

Small and I made homemade oven chippies and fried eggs and Smallest and Huffle did BBQ chicken and then we all ate. Yum yum. The house is upside down, the garden has piles of chairs, footballs, frisbees and bucket and spades. The boys are nice and clean and ready for bed though it is only 6:30pm (however they are outside on the drive playing basketball in their PJ's).

Everyone is running around, emptying bins, clearing out the fridge and packing the car. We are hoping to leave just after breakfast. IPads, phones, MP3 players, cameras are charged. Key has gone to Mrs Royal for safekeeping. Huffle has put back all the wires in the grass and Smallest watered it for him to hopefully knit the grass together again.

OH MY GOD, WE NEED A HOLIDAY!!!!

 

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Fly Pong

Another night's sleep interrupted. This time by a Raccoon knocking over our 'animal-proof bin' Ha! Huffle shone the torch on it and it showed its burglar type face and ran away. We both struggled to get to sleep after that and I think Huffle even went downstairs for a while, too much on his mind. Silly man! 'My mind is racing around like two squirrels in a wool sock' quote from sugar bear

Suffice to say I have been tired all day. We had a slow start which included sweeping, swiffing and mopping, washing and drying and the boys sorted out some clothes for holiday. Then we got on our bikes and rode to the library. Why is it that the day after you get on your bike after a long absence, your bum bones really hurt! Our books were changed, we ordered a new one for Small, picked some new ones up, and rode to Cog's house where we invited him to ours for the day. All four of us biked back home. The boys all jumped in the pool and I knitted for a while. I felt really sleepy. The sun was very hot. I got burnt a bit yesterday so I made sure I was in the shade, covered up and fully suncreamed.

There was lots of silliness in the pool, it was only 22* getting to 24* by the end of the day. We had lunch by the pool and then an ice cream. More silliness and then we went and played in the garden. I managed to tidy up the front a bit while they rode their bikes, played football and hide and seek.

Smallest's friend Ew came and we all went up to the pool. His Mum, little sister and I dipped our feet and legs in and watched the boys play. His Mum and I had a good chat, I like her. She has recently had a baby and she slept on happily until Cog splashed her with water and she woke up with a stir.

Eventually we all played in the garden again on bikes, scooters, with football, basketball and generally running around. Ew and his family walked home and we got on our bikes and took Cog home.

Once we were back, the boys played on the Wii and I made dinner. Huffle came home, also very tired and we all played Table Tennis and Ping Pong Fly. We have a few flies in the basement that are making their way up into the house. I hate flies more than anything and we all had a good swat at them.

The cases are out ready for us packing. Need a holiday now. Want to go now. Pleeeaaaasssseeee can we?

 

 

 

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