Sundae Sunday

There were so many things available to do this past weekend but the weatherman was threatening rain again. We decided to choose an activity we wouldn't have to pay for, just in case. We spend the day in the country and were highly rewarded in the process.  We discovered something called Sundae Sunday. 

Two family farms, the Avonmore Berry Farm and Kemmatten Dairy Farm, opened their doors to the public this past weekend to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday and Canadian Agriculture.

Our first stop was at the berry farm. They are actually much more than that as they also have an apple orchard and fields full of a wide variety of different vegetables. Besides visiting their lovely shop where produce and baked goods are sold, on this day you could take a guided walking tour of the fields. There are play areas for the kids too, including a hay mow with ropes set up for them to swing and hang from. Great fun, I'm sure! The main event this day was the strawberry sundaes.  For just $5 you received a large bowl of ice cream covered with an equally generous portion of fresh strawberries grown right there on the property. 
 

While eating this heavenly treat we were entertained by two McDonald brothers. Hamish, the young fiddle player, is only 13 years old but already an accomplished musician. His brother, Alec, who didn't appear to be more than a couple of years older, had a surprisingly rich and mature voice. They said they were normally part of a four-member band called the County Lads, but they were fantastic all on their own and I  expect them to go far in the music business.

While they were playing some of the red-shirted volunteers for the day gathered in front and gave us a little demonstration of their Scottish dancing abilities. One girl, after some coaxing, proved the Irish can dance too. Once she got started she had a wonderful time.

When the musical entertainment was over we moved on to the dairy farm. Everyone was issued blue booties to prevent tracking disease into the barn. The cows were housed in a nice clean modern barn with mechanized back scratchers, manure scrapers and a hay pusher that travelled back and forth pushing the hay the cows scattered into the aisles back where they could reach it. 

Out back there was a large assortment of very large John Deere equipment, all nicely cleaned up for viewing. The milking parlour was unfortunately empty at the time we were there. But we were all treated to a pint of milk (chocolate, in my case) and a good serving of St Albert curds. Oh, they were so good! 

We had a lovely day that didn't cost anything except for the gas to get there and the $5 each for the sundaes. We also went home with a pad and some new pens, plus a couple of large shopping bags.  It was a great way to spend the day and we definitely got more than our money's worth. All the money raised from the sale of the sundaes went to the local 4-H, Junior Farmers and Lions Clubs.

I've Run Out of Time

Well, I said I'd try to take you along with me on some of my rambles, and I managed to get some of them in here, but not everything.


If I didn't mention The Basket Case in Morrisburg, I'm giving it the highest rating for where to have lunch, or even just dessert. It was the first time we've ever been there, and you can be sure it won't be the last. 

If things like Whiskey Apple Cake, or Raspberry Port Cake (it's chocolate) don't tempt you, then maybe a nice piece of quiche and a lovely salad for just $6.99 might get you in the door.  As you can see, the walls are lined with local art, and there are other lovely gift items at the front of the shop too.  Well worth a stop, even if you aren't hungry.

We did locate a Stone Cold Creamery in the Tim Hortons across the street from where we saw Sir John Eh? on Friday night. (our previous search) The play was in an old stone church and it was quite hot in there, so an ice cream treat seemed like a perfect way to end the evening.  It's a good thing we were hot, and that the ice cream was good. These treats cost us over $11....but now we can at least say we tried them.
We had the medium size in a waffle cup.  You can get a smaller one, in a normal paper cup for somewhat less.  Mine was raspberry ice cream with blueberries and strawberries mixed in. Hubby's was vanilla with crushed oreo cookies, chocolate chips and chocolate syrup. There were lots of other choices and apparently you can even just tell them what you want and they will mix it to your specifications.


We also took in the Sheep Dog Trials, down near Kingston on Saturday. This was an extremely well organized event, and if you have never been, I recommend it. There were more than just sheep dogs there, and if you wanted something a little more exciting, there were wolves and tigers and eagles and other interesting things to see.  I'm not sure I'd have put my small child in the front row. This tiger may have been just a young one, but those kids still look too much like tiger food to me.

I've run out of time and while what I've shown you is not everything I saw and did over the past couple of weeks, I hope you enjoyed going along for the ride

Out and About

When I started this blog I said I'd report on the various places I go, other than when I'm out geocaching.  Apparently I have not been very good at that, as I'm often out somewhere and not telling you about it.  I'm going to make an attempt to rectify that.

Saturday we spent the morning hauling poplar branches to the dump. We had to have some large limbs removed after recent wind storms. There's still a lot to move yet, but 3 trailer loads was enough for one day. 

We decided to head to Perth, just to wander around, but when we got there we thought, since we had not been to Balderson for quite a while, we would go there instead. 

Things have certainly changed.  The Balderson Cheese Factory is where we used to take the kids for a nice ice cream treat way back when we still had kids at home.  They don't make cheese there anymore, but they still do sell cheeses and ice cream and other good food stuffs.  Two "small" cones, consisting of two large scoops of ice cream each, can still be had for just $5. 

What has really changed is that they have turned the old cheese factory into an Amish Store.  It's an amazing place.  We really enjoyed wandering through all the rooms and seeing all the interesting things they have to sell.  There were chairs in a wide variety of styles and I sat in several of these.  Who knew a simple wooden chair could be so comfortable!  The prices were high but I doubt these things would ever fall apart.

If you had a new baby, how could you resist a rocking chair and a cradle that are linked together.  You rock, and the cradle rocks too. Fantastic!

In the kitchen displays I noticed they had what looked like an old wood stove, but it was really an electric range.  I'm not sure that's "Amish" but it was certainly interesting to see.

The thing that fascinated us the most was the clocks.  Some where regular clock faces but you could also see the works behind the glass.  Others had their faces split in two or more pieces and when you pressed a button they would open and spin around while playing music.  I've never seen anything like that before. 

There were several different styles and once you got one working it would attract other people who would then press the button on another one.  While this was going on you would have no idea what time it was, but honestly, you really wouldn't care.  It's a genuine conversation piece.













We also discovered that within the shop there is a  nice little restaurant. Of course, by then we were already full of ice cream, but we'll remember to check this out next time we go.  They are even open early enough for breakfast.

We did stop at Stewart Park, in Perth, on the way back home.  There had been a wedding there earlier and the photographer was still taking pictures. The general public was also enjoying the water and shade. It's always a nice place to go to relax.