Christmas Surprise!

When I went to get the mail today and saw a Christmas stocking hanging on the handle of the drop off box at the post office. "How nice," I thought. "They are actually decorating the post office this year!" As I checked my mail I noticed a note attached to the stocking and stopped to read it on my way out. The note invited me to help myself to an ornament, which I immediately did, thank you. Then it went on to say to move the stocking to another location and to let the Cardinal Youth Centre know where it went.  Fantastic!  I happened to be heading out of town, so I grabbed the stocking and headed for the car.

I'm a geocacher and have done this sort of thing with trackables found hidden in some of the caches I've located.  Normally you take a treasure and replace it with something else, so the cache is never empty. I have a great collection of things I've found over the years. The trackables aren't meant to be kept though. You are supposed to redeposit them somewhere else as quickly as possible and log where you picked them up and where you dropped them off so that the person who originally purchased the thing can keep track of it's travels.  This stocking was just like that only I didn't go looking for it in the first place, I just happened upon it.  This find made my day.

The idea is to leave it somewhere for someone else to find and to do so without letting anyone catch you.  The stocking, when I found it, still had 4 ornaments left inside. They were all hand painted by the kids at the youth group. One had obviously been dipped in shaving cream and acrylic paint. I've done that sort of thing myself in the past, but never with Christmas ornaments (but you can count on that happening sometime in the future!)

On the way to a nearby town to do a wee bit of shopping, I thought over where I could leave this Christmas stocking. I didn't think a store would be a good idea as people would just think it was part of the merchandise, or someone would think it was being stolen if it was seen being carried away. Where could I leave it where it wouldn't get wet and where I knew it would be found quickly. I smiled as I came up with the perfect place. After finishing our shopping we often drop by the local McCafe for refreshments. I could leave it there.  I stuck it someplace where it was likely found even before I left. I didn't see that happen though as I didn't sit where I could keep an eye on it.  I'll find out when I see the find posted online.....hopefully.

While making my choice of ornaments I discovered that one of the others was broken. It was a delicate glass ornament and as I was afraid someone might cut themselves on it, I disposed of it, and all the shards I could find in the stocking. That's when I discovered there was also $4.55 cents tucked down in the toe.  I imagine someone dropped the coins in as a donation to the Cardinal Youth Group but as I doubt anyone will ever even send them back their stocking, I guess the last person will end up with the loot as well as sock.  I bet they will be thinking it's a lump of coal in the toe!

However it works, I think this was a really great idea and I will be putting it forth to some of the groups I'm involved with next winter. Hopefully we can create and track the travels of our own Christmas stockings too. It seems like a great way to spread Christmas cheer.  If all else fails, I may have to enlist my grandchildren to create some Christmas balls for this sort of project.  I can hardly wait!

Note:  I have since learned that the Cardinal group is hoping to hear where the socks end up so they can come and collect the donations. Apparently other socks have money in them too.  Please keep this in mind if you find one. Thanks.

Recreating Memories and Creating New Ones

When I was little, I lived in England.  I remember my parents once took me to see a Pantomime of Mother Goose. That has stuck in my mind as a wonderful event.  I was probably just six at the time, but I remember that the leading lady was really a man, the characters wore wonderful costumes, and that at some point the characters came off the stage into the audience.  It was quite the experience, and one that I have been wanting to reproduce for my grandchildren.

Pantomimes have become more popular at this time of year around our area, and I thought I was going to get my chance last year.  I have two grandsons.  Their parents were convinced that the younger one would never sit still for the performance, so we thought we'd take the older one and the little one some other year when he might be more manageable.  We made the mistake of telling the older one what a pantomime was, and he declared that just silly and he didn't want to go.  Luckily, I had not purchased the tickets yet.

These two boys are celebrating their birthdays this week. One is turning 10 and the other is turning six. I decided we were going to take them both to the Pantomime for their birthday this year and I just wouldn't mention where we were going, to either the kids or their parents.  All they knew was that they were spending the day with Nana and Grandpa.  Even their folks seemed happy with that as they had other things to do, just like the rest of us at this time of year.

The day came and we ended up with the boys earlier than originally planned on, so we moved our planned meal with them after the show to lunch time instead. We went to Smiths Falls for the Harvey's Family Meal Deal, where they happily got to choose exactly what they wanted on their burgers.  During lunch I was repeatedly questioned about where we were going. Eventually they managed to pry the fact that we would be staying in Smiths Falls and that where we were going was over near the railway tracks. Of course they immediately thought we were going geocaching and could not imagine what we would be doing when I said we weren't.

We took them to The Station Theatre. The sign instantly had them thinking we were going to a movie, and it took a bit of convincing that other things happened in theatres other than movies. Of course, that's exactly what I wanted them to experience, and what better introduction to live theatre than a pantomime.

Jack and the Beanstalk was presented in a way that only lightly touched on the original story, but the additions of a King and Princess, an Eco Fairy, a cowhand named Simon and the giant's henchman, Slimeball certainly added to the fun. The giant was gigantic, and the cow was adorable. There was a chorus of cockroaches too.....just because.  Jenny Jasiak played the part of Jack, while Mike Adams took on the role of Dame Trot (Jack's mother) with great vigour. For me, it was high school student, Slade Stoodley as Slimeball that really stood out. This young man is extremely talented, and will go far if he pursues an acting career.

My youngest grandson had no trouble sitting through the performance. Though he never did boo the bad guys he laughed a lot and loved the antics of Daisy the cow.  Just as in my memories, the characters did leave the stage, and at one point Dame Trot actually sat on my older grandson's lap.  I'm sure he'll remember that as he ages!

When asked later if they would want to see another play like this, they both gave me a quick Yes!  It might just become a family tradition.  I'm already looking forward to next year, when the Smiths Falls Station Theatre will be presenting Puss in Boots.

I'm grateful to my long time cyber buddy, Tim Bisaillon (in a cockroach selfie pictured here with the king) for helping me get some photos to include with this post. The other photos were taken during a technical rehearsal by theatre volunteer Simon Lunn


 

Vacations Altered, Not Spoiled

My vacation is over, and for the third time our intention to get to Nova Scotia has failed.  Not that we have never been there, but in recent years we just don't seem to make it to our planned destination.

The first time we tried, we thought we'd do the Lighthouse Tour along the Atlantic shore of Nova Scotia. We ended up doing what I like to call the All Saints Tour, along the New Brunswick side of the Bay of Fundy.  (St. Stephens, St Andrews, St. George, St John and St Martins).  That was a lovely trip, but we needed to try again to get to Nova Scotia. 

Last year we decided to take the American Route, which we had never done before. We took our time and enjoyed Vermont and New Hampshire, and then the weatherman mentioned a big storm closing in. We thought we'd best get out of the mountains before that happened, and looked east, only to discover there was going to be a big storm out there too.  We looked back towards home, and the weather was going to be fine, so we headed for home and finished off our vacation doing day trips. That was also a lovely vacation, even if not the one we planned.

The thing is, we are getting older, and we want to do the Lighthouse tour before the lighthouses all disappear. They are no longer needed, now that the ships are equipped with all the modern technology....GPS's and such.  Many of the lighthouses have now been decommissioned, and I don't know how long the public can keep them up. Also, this year we had a reliable vehicle, so it seemed a perfect time to make another stab at it.

We were all packed to go, but once again, the weatherman got in the way. Perhaps if technology didn't allow me to see the day by day forecast anywhere I choose to look, we might have just gone and ended up there in the rain. But that would have cost a lot, and would have been no fun. We don't go somewhere to sit in a hotel and watch the rain. We like to explore....outdoors!

With the trip cancelled, we set about amusing ourselves with one of those Staycations you hear so much about.  First we went to Cornwall, and visited with a relative who has recently taken up residence in a retirement home. On the way ate at a favorite little café in Morrisburg, run by some humorous older ladies. It's aptly named The Basket Case and I highly recommend it. On the way home, we decided to try the new Shirtless Joe's, in Kemptville. That was a long full day away from home and definitely vacation time for me since I didn't have to cook or clean up afterwards.

Then we went in the opposite direction, to Picton, by way of highway 15. It was a beautiful day and we had plenty of time to view the scenery along the way as we found a great deal of this route was under construction. We discovered that it must be part of the job requirements to be a young blonde female if you want to work as a flag person these days.

The annual craft show is held on a Thursday at the Picton Fair grounds, as the venders all head to Barrie for the long weekend. (Mmmm....we haven't been up there for a long time. Maybe next year...if we don't get to go to Nova Scotia for some reason.)

The craft show has 200 vendors, in three buildings and also lots of tents set up outside.  The first time we went it took us a long time to work our way through the offerings as so many of them were new to us. This time it didn't take nearly as long, and we didn't find anything to bring home.  Well, I did see something I would love to have had, but I somehow managed to talk myself out of spending the money for something so purely ornamental.


We took the ferry across when we left, and followed the St Lawrence route back to Kingston. After supper at Montanas,  we looked up a friend who runs a karate dojo, and then another who used to be one of our own students.








 

On Saturday we took in the Crosby Flea Market. If you ever want to stock up on books, that's the place to go. Many of their other items are also lower in price than you'll find them for anywhere else too. I picked up a few things on this visit, including a lovely tea set for just $5.  As you can see, it goes perfectly with my kitchen.  Who can resist a bargain like that? We tried to eat at the nice restaurant that used to be in Portland, but it's been closed. We settled for some fries from a chip wagon and then spent the afternoon geocaching along the route home.

The next day we went to Rideau Carleton for dinner and the races. This is something we enjoy doing, but it was the first time we were ever unable to get a program for the races.  Somehow we managed to win every race we bet on anyway. The waiter brought us a program that someone else left behind, and we didn't do nearly as well with all that vital information at hand. Once again, too much information managed to spoil things a bit.

Monday the weather was nice so we decided to go off geocaching again, this time along the St Lawrence between Maitland and Brockville, before stopping for supper in at Swiss Chalet in Brockville.

Wednesday we took the 1000 Islands Cruise from Rockport.  This quaint village was once the hub of activity in an era when millionaires made their summer homes amongst the islands. These days it seems to attract artists and tourists.













 
We had a 2 hour stop over to explore Boldt Castle on Heart Island. Things have sure changed there since the last time we visited.

 Much more restoration work has been done and it's still ongoing.

 You can now go all the way up to the 4th floor, though the top two floors look much like the castle did when we went before.

The bottom two floors are all nicely restored and furnished now.










I was a little disappointed that we could no longer go up into the old "Playhouse" but I think there are likely too many people now to make that possible, traffic wise, on those narrow stairways.








The following day we took our oldest grandson geocaching, as he's been asking to go. We started him on this 6 years ago, when he was only 3. He gets exclusive use of my old GPS now, and really seems to enjoy the experience. We stopped in Manotick for Pizza part way through the day.

We had one day to do our own thing, as my hubby went off golfing with one of his brothers and a friend, while I joined a friend of mine for tea at her home.

 The following day we decided to visit our favorite local Chinese buffet, The King Star, on Hwy 15,  and got home just in time to receive visitors from Cornwall.

We finished off the vacation by going to brunch at a place we had heard about but never been to before. Woody's Place, in North Augusta. There was a wide variety of things to choose from, though you wanted to leave room for some of the very tempting desserts that were on display on the bar. 

I had a great vacation as I hardly ever had to cook, and I certainly didn't do any housework during those two weeks. Of course, I'm scurrying around now trying to put the place back in order. 

As it turned out, the weatherman was wrong. Friends in the east insist the weather was fine and we could have gone after all. But we don't regret our decision. We enjoyed our explorations, our socializing and eating entirely too much food.  Staycations work just fine.

Mother Nature Paints Too

Thanksgiving weekend has traditionally been the time for our last walk in the woods. The weather is often good, and the tree colours are lovely.  This year I didn't think it was going to happen, but it did.

I don't often have family here for Thanksgiving, but this year seemed to be the time. We scheduled the meal for Sunday, and decided to take in one of the art studio tours on Saturday.  There were three available to choose from.  One was in the Westport area, one in the Almonte area, and the third in the Perth area.  We decided to do the Perth Autumn Studio Tour as it was the only one of these we had not done before.  It took us up highway 7 as far as Maberly, and then down some back roads.  That's when the colour started to get better, and the terrain more interesting too. Some of those roads had major hills and curves.  Hubby commented that he thought the snowplow driver would have fun back there!

While most of the studio tours we go on take us to the artist's homes, this one took us, more often than not, to their barns. There were often four or five artists displaying their work at each stop, which mean there was not as many stops. That also likely meant less running around in the back country.  There was quite an assortment of different kinds of art, as well as the usual painters.  Dunn Sohn works with wood, and creates not only interesting shaped cutting boards, but also turned and sculpted pieces as well. My hubby was quite taken with his rocking chairs. They certainly had some nice lines.  Scott Dobson created fascinating Garden Elements out of anything from old fence posts to shutters, or a combination of the two.  John  Schweighardt is a stone carver.  He not only creates stone statues for outdoors, but also the most beautiful bowls and sinks you are going to find anywhere.  There were a number of potters, print makers and woodworkers, a weaver, a jeweler and a canoe maker as well as the usual painters.  Of the painters, I was especially taken with Wayne Williams, who not only uses both watercolour and acrylics, but also incorporates a bit of collage here and there, just to make things interesting. I intend to incorporate some of his methods into some of my future artistic attempts.  I already have a subject in mind to try it on.


Of course, while out hunting down art on back roads, we had also loaded some geocaches onto our GPS to find along the way.  I was sure that one in particular was going to be right at one of studios on the list, but when we got there, it was still .2 miles down the road.  Apparently a place known as Fieldworks was discovered by some other geocacher during a previous studio tour, and he decided it would be a great place to hide a cache.  When we got to the studio where I thought it was going to be, we were talking to one of the artists, who asked us if we had been to Fieldworks yet. When I told her we were planning to go there, as we were geocaching, she said the guy who had placed that cache had just gone out the door. It was too bad we missed him by such a short period of time.  What we did spot while talking to Susie Osler though, was a strange old stove.  I stooped to take a picture of it, and she said she thinks I'm the first woman ever to do that.  I mentioned that I like to blog my adventures and show unusual things found along the way.  If you have ever seen another one like this stove, do tell me about it.

So, off we went to Fieldworks, not really knowing what it was, but really just looking for the cache.  Well, hey, this is when I actually got to do my annual walk in the woods after all.  At this site, which is both a large field and some woodland, artists come and erect "artistic installations", for lack of any other way of describing them.  There are weird and wonderful things scattered throughout the site.  Just go for a walk and see what you can find.  Not all of it will make sense, but there are some very inventive minds at work here.  The displays are changed or added to seasonally, so there will always be something new to discover, and I'm sure we will find the time to go back and explore the site again and again.

While we saw lots of art created by people, Mother Nature had definitely been out with her own paint brush as well. That's what always makes Thanksgiving weekend special to me.

Geocaching from Cornwall to Kemptville

I mentioned that we went geocaching last weekend, along with visiting some Doors Open sites the Cornwall area. I had hoped to get back to you about all that earlier this week, but I've been a bit under the weather. Hopefully you will forgive me if I post a lot of pictures.

Across from the Cornwall Jail was another Doors Open site at the Cornwall Community Museum.  It had a strange mix of stuff among it's collection.  Some of it was really old, while other things were very familiar to me. For instance, while there was some furniture that was likely from the early 1800's,  the bedroom set was the exact one that my parents had, all the time I was growing up, so it was more like something from the 1940's.  I really could have used the apple peeler that's attached to the front of the table in this picture this past month or so.  My apple tree has had me very busy.

We started our geocaching in the park there, where we found a real assortment of birds gathering by the shore.

Being in a park, they must be pretty used to people, as you could get pretty close.







 They were probably all waiting for someone to throw them some food. 

Up the trail a bit, after we had turned away from the St Lawrence, we discovered a nice clear little stream..

We followed that upstream and found it quickly turned into a series of pretty little waterfalls.

And it wasn't long before we discovered the source of this nice clear water. It was all coming out of a culvert.  I'm not sure how far the water flows underground from here, or where it actually comes from as we couldn't go much further in that direction.

We discovered that there was construction under the Cornwall bridge, and that's where the GPS wanted to take us.  We decided we had found enough treasures at this site anyway, and moved on.




Our next stop on the Doors Open tour was the St Lawrence Power Development Visitor Centre. 
While interesting, it doesn't actually let you anywhere near the big power dam.  So after exploring their displays, and looking at the dam through binoculars, we went downstream just a bit to the site of the old canal....the one that was in use before they flooded the seaway to make the current shipping route.

If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you will see that the old canal gate has long since rotted out.  The water is all at one level through this canal now anyway, since the flooding of the seaway that put villages underwater,  got rid of the rapids in this area.

The old dam at the canal is still there to walk across though.

And the old gears that used to control the water flow are really quiet interesting to view.  There is a series of them, all across the structure.  I love that they have been painted turquoise.




We did locate the cache at this location, by the way, and went upstream a bit from there to look for another one. However there was a fisherman right where we needed to go to hunt that down, so we'll look for it some other time.  I'd happily explore this area further some other nice day that we happen to be in the vicinity.

On the way home we picked up a few more. There was one at a site in Winchester Springs, where there used to be a hotel and spa, because of the healthy natural spring waters.  That's all gone now, which is a bit of a shame, since reportedly Sir John A. MacDonald even gave a speech from the balcony there at one point. The area where the cache is hidden is a bit of a mess, so I don't have a picture for you from there. There is a lovely mural and plaque there though, to fill you in on the history.

We stopped and found another cache  in Winchester, at a hidden graveyard.  My hubby, who works in that town, and actually lived there for several years in his youth, didn't even know this place existed.  The graveyard is tucked into a field behind a local business.  There is no outward signs to tell of it's existence. While some of the stones are standing in the field as one would expect, there is also this row of stones tucked under some woodland growth. They seem too close together and were probably moved there.  One wonders if someone planned to use the field for another purpose, and if the bodies are still where they were originally planted.

We took a back road to Hallville, to avoid the ongoing construction on County Road 43.  We decided we might as well try for the Hallville Hollow one again, though we had no luck last time we went looking for that.  Just about when we were going to give up again, it suddenly made it's presence known.  This cache manages to evade many seekers, but really, it's just where it should be, and it is not even a tricky hide.  I guess it just blends into it's surroundings rather well.  It wasn't me that found it.

Our last cache of the day was a quick little park and grab along the highway on the way home.  That would be a great way to end the day if we had not stopped and looked for one near Walmart.  Basically there were too many people around, and I suspect this one is in some kind of sneaky container.  We'll have to check that out some other time....though I doubt there will ever be a chance when there is nobody around.

Geocaching Helps Us Find Real Treasures

 It's been a strange summer. Normally we do a lot of geocaching, but this year it was either too wet, or the mosquitoes were in attack mode, or the poison parsnip was everywhere we looked and we didn't want to take the chance of brushing up against that. We did get out a couple of times though.

Yesterday we went to visit friends at their cottage, and picked up a few caches on the way back. Nothing special about any of them. Except for one at a totally unkempt graveyard, they were all along the fence line on the road we were traveling. 

But last time we went out, we discovered a few treasures, and I don't mean the ones they hide in the caches. Just outside of Brockville we found a  beautiful garden that's open to the public. They call it the Garden of Hope and Serenity, and if you visit, you will quickly learn why.  This is someplace we have driven right by many times in the past, without knowing it was there. It was well worth the stop, and I'm sure we will return again in the future. 

Closer to Lyn, on the same day, we made another amazing discovery. Tucked back in the bush, out of sight, is a beautiful waterfall that we would never have even guessed existed, if we had not found it on one of our geocaching treasure hunts. We found ourselves at the top of it, but you can be sure we will go back and find a way into the bottom sometime, as I believe there is a cache down there that we didn't get to.

The waterfall and the garden were both wonderful treasures, and one of the main reasons we love to go geocaching. It's not what you find in the cache, it's what you find along the way. 

It's Finally Geocaching Time!

The Thousand Island Spring Arts Show and Sale was held in Rockport Victoria Day Weekend. We decided the weather was nice enough to finally get out to do some geocaching, so we headed in that direction, armed with a GPS full of coordinates.  

Rockport is always a busy place, but it was over run with people on Saturday. We found an area designated as event parking and set off to see what we could see around the village.  I found John Shea, whose art I've admired for the past couple of years. His paintings are uncomplicated, and striking because of it.  Nearby was another artist whose work taught me much about the use of colour.  Tricia Wilmot Savoi has mastered the art of getting my attention, and that of many others. What more could an artist ask for?  I'm ready to abandon watercolour for a while, and see if I can apply what I learned just from looking at her paintings.  Somehow, I doubt be able to duplicate the effect, but I'm stirred up and willing to try.

We would have stayed in the village longer, and even done some geocaching there, but the people were so desperate for parking spots, they didn't care if they blocked each other in or not. We decided to make our escape while we still could. 

We crossed the 1000 Islands Parkway and explored a few other artists, including a photographer, a glass artist, and a guy who made concrete plaques and mushrooms.  He reported that sales were going very well for him.

We hunted down our first geocache nearby, near, but not in a cemetery. It was just a micro though, and so, after signing and replacing the log, we journeyed onward.  We found two other caches on this day, but found more interesting things where we didn't actually find the caches.  As I've said before, it's not the treasure, but the hunt that makes it all so much fun.

We made a rest stop at the Jones Creek property of the 1000 Islands National Park.  It's too early in the season for the main building to be open, but signs directed us to a compostable toilet along the nearby trail.  I think this site was worth the stop. I know of a two story outhouse at a nearby museum. This one in the woods is not a two story one, but rather just a second story one. I've certainly never seen that before. I might add that it's a great idea though as it's a very clean place, unsmelly place..

View from the top.  Notice the trail well below.

 Traveling back along the 1000 Island Parkway, we saw a couple of families of geese, as well as some interesting islands. Some of them were not far from the mainland.

 While looking for geocaches, we found this old drain. It is inscribed "The Kings Highway 1938".  It's big enough I suspect the area wild life use it go get to the other side of the road during certain seasons. 

One of the great things about geocaching is you often learn something you didn't know before. We found out that the 1000 Island Parkway was originally built to be Hwy 401.  After the eastbound lane was completed they abandoned the project and completed it further north, leaving us with the beautiful scenic roadway we have today. There is a bike path on the north side of the road, which would have been the westbound lane and runs between Gananoque and Long Beach. The path was laid by Bell Canada and covers a Fibre-Optic line that runs through the area.

There is a place where it is very obvious that the bike path was supposed to have been a roadway as both bridges were built before they the people in charge of this project changed their mind. 

The parkway is on the right, and the bike path is on the left.  Enlarge the picture by clicking on it for a better view.

 

 

 From the right hand side of this bridge, there is a view of where an older one once stood.

We finished off our day at Tim Hortons.  So did everyone else, from the look of things.

Some Treasures Don't Fit in Cache Containers

It seemed like a good day to go geocaching, so we headed out with no particular goal in mind, but with the GPS loaded with a whole slew of caches off to the east of us.  We approached the first one from the wrong direction, which made it next to impossible to reach without a lot of backtracking, so after determining where it was located, decided to leave it for another day and moved on.  The second one was really not hard to find because it was in a distinctive container.  The instructions were not to photograph it, and after seeing it, I understood exactly why.  It would make it entirely too easy for anyone who ever saw that picture to find it and that would take the fun out of the process.

Then we went to Hallville.  There is a cache there, that is supposed to be at eye level, but even though I stood at ground zero, that one eluded me. I'll put a watch on it and see if I can get some clues as to where to look.  We found better treasure at this location though. The General Store has a little cafe at the back. Besides subs and other lunch items, you can get home made tarts and other goodies.  We chose the last cherry tart and a scrumptious butter tart.  We were delighted with the floor show that took place while we sat and ate these treats. A young girl was in the process of mixing up some more pastry dough.

When we were finished there we drove off down some back roads, but one cache had been discontinued while another was simply not on the road we were following, and we came to a dead end. There was a really interesting house at the end of that road though, and we never would have seen it if we had not been out looking for treasure.

A look at the gas gauge reminded us that we really shouldn't venture any further without getting some gas, but as we headed toward Kemptville my hubby spotted someone he had not seen in many years.  She was out in her garden watering plants.  He pulled in to say hello, and we not only stayed to have a little visit, we took her for a ride to show her how to look for geocaches herself.  While chatting we discovered we have a lot of things in common.

This might not sound like a very successful day. Though geocaching may be about hunting down caches, the best treasures we find are often not those that are hidden in the cache containers.  We saw wild turkeys in someone's driveway. We had wonderful tarts and got to see them being made. We spotted an interesting house in an out of the way place.  We spent some time in the company of a lovely lady. The best treasure of all for this day is that I may have made a  new friend.