A Few Days with Lynn

Tuesday 20 September – Ottawa

My cold is still around today so I have decided to stay at home or I might not recover as quickly as I should. My voice has returned a little today but is very husky.

Again a slow start as Lynn did not leave for work till 11am. It was so lovely to have fires on and washing done and just sit around on a misty damp morning in the woods. The leaves are just beginning to turn here.

Lynn and Elaine left and I decided it was best for my cold if I stayed at home and rested for the day. Of course I did not stay in bed but spent time on diary, blog, photos and email and recharged all batteries including my own. I was also able to take some pics of Lynn's trees and garden plants and of course Nutmeg and I had some long chats.

Elaine had a great walk through some of the interesting parts of Ottawa. She went to the Parliament buildings, the By Market, the Notre Dame Cathedral, across the bridge and ended up at the Museum of Civilisation where she had arranged to meet Lynn at 6 pm.

I had dinner ready for us when they arrived home. While Lynn worked on a lecture after dinner Elaine and I downloaded her photos of her day and she took me on a virtual tour of the experiences she had had.

Some of our washing is actually dry but the jeans will probably need another day. The temperatures are still quite reasonable (max about 20 C) and I am still happy dressed in a singlet and blouse until the evening when I put on a cotton jumper.

We've seen a grey/black squirrel and a chipmunk in Lynn's yard so far.

Wednesday 21 September – Ottawa

This morning I have my voice back! I have a bit of a cough but it all seems to be loosening up and progressing well.

Lynn went to work at 7:30 am to give a morning lecture. We stayed home to do the dishwasher and pick all the remaining basil ready for freezing.

When Lynn returned home at about 1 pm she had a quick lunch (we had already had ours) then she drove us further north along the Gatineau River to a small town called Wakefield. There is a steam train that runs up and down the line for tourists but it has not run for most of this summer because rain has washed out the track in places. We stopped at a beautifully restored covered bridge almost 100 m long. We did grocery shopping for dinner and bought bread at the bakery then stopped at a spring to refill Lynn's water bottles. Apparently Lynn's well water has a bit of uranium in it so it is not suitable for drinking.

Back home via the scenic route and came to another covered bridge, again recently restored. This one was about 30 m long.

At home we sorted things for a picnic dinner. Sylvia (who stayed at our place when Lynn stayed some years ago) came over so we headed into Gatineau Park. Sylvia and Elaine parked near our dinner cabin then went for a walk through the woods to Huron lookout while Lynn and I drove to Champlain lookout, back to Huron lookout and then to the dinner cabin, Shilly Shally. The views from the lookouts were misty but beautiful and the colours in the autumnal leaves are beginning to look magnificent.

We enjoyed our gourmet picnic dinner by candlelight in the cabin then walked back out of the woods to the car in the dark. What an incredible experience it all was!

Thursday 22 September – Ottawa

We woke to misty drizzle this morning but as Lynn had organised to take the day off we were not deterred from our intended jaunt though we did have a slow getaway. Home-made blueberry waffles with maple syrup was a gastronomic experience.

We drove along the north side of the Ontario River to the Quyon Ferry (http://quyonferry.com/ ) where we crossed to the south side. It was only a tiny 5-car ferry and pulled into the wharf sideways. There were lots of Canada Geese feeding in the shallows.

Lynn prefers to take the minor roads so I navigated to our next destination by zig-zagging along minor roads. We stopped at Fitzroy Provincial Park (http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails-a-z/fitzroy-provincial-park/ ) to find a 'rest room' then had a quick tour of Fitzroy Harbour before continuing on south to Almonte. There we found the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum (www.mvtm.ca ) Lynn had found for us to visit.

It is a great little museum. There was an historical display upstairs, active weavers on looms downstairs, an exhibition by two quilt artists and a gift shop where I bought some scraps of fabric and a beautiful star heat mat.

We drove back into the old village and had lunch (quiche and soup) at a little cafe called Foodies (http://foodiesfinefoods.ca/ ). We then strolled through the village and actually found two quilting shops where I bought some fabric for my Fall project – Textile Traditions (http://www.textiletraditionsofalmonte.com/ ) and Quilting Quarters (www.quiltingquarters.ca ).

 

We then took minor roads through farmland again towards Richmond where we headed for The Country Quilters (http://thecountryquilter.ca/Welcome.html ). I had found this shop on the internet. It was really very nice and had some beautiful quilts on display. We photographed one in particular that reminded us of our picnic dinner in the woods.

W then found a coffee shop called Never Too Latte (http://www.nevertoolatte.ca/AboutUs.html ) where the coffee was weak but the white chocolate and raspberry scones were fantastic. We also had their chocolate banana bread which was also good.

This was followed by more minor roads until we met the Rideau River and Canal (http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/ ). We stopped at one of the many locks along the canal, the Black Rapids Lock 13 and enjoyed a little wander.

 

It was then time to head home via Route 73 alongside the canal, through town for me to see some of the sights I missed on Tuesday then home by about 6 pm. The max. temperature during the day was 27 C but it was down to 21 C by the time we arrived home. It had been a very hot drive so it was great to get home to some cool air. On the way home I saw two ground-hogs feeding in the green pick on the side of the road.

Lynn and Elaine then went for a walk with Nutmeg while I caught up with diary and dbegan preparing our gourmet left overs for dinner.

The leaves are beginning to turn colour beautifully and Lynn's house is bliss to live in surrounded by woods.