The Travels of the Agnew Family

Once again my mom managed to do a good job celebrating her birthday. Ed, my brother, my cousin and her husband and I met for lunch in St. Jacobs the Sunday before mom's birthday. On the Monday a friend took her out to celebrate. On the Tuesday I went arrived in Burlington and we went for a drive and out for fish and chips. On Wednesday, her actual birthday we met mom's sister and another cousin for lunch. It seems like youngsters and oldsters know how to celebrate.

I spent a couple of days in Burlington this week with my mom. When I got home we headed to our friends cottage in Sauble Beach for a couple of days. It was good to get away.

The first day was spent geo-caching. I think we found about a dozen different caches.


We ended up in Wiarton where we enjoyed a picnic lunch.


Zaph insisted on having his picture taken with a statue of Wiarton Willie. Willie is a world famous ground hog that predicts the amount of winter left on February 2nd each year.




Now that's a stick.


The snake was crossing the road, luckily Rob managed to miss it with the car.

Our friends Victor and Anne are still working on their new home --- they've been working on it for about 4 years and will continue working on it a while longer. This summer's project was to finish the concrete deck in front of the house. The pour wasn't perfect so the deck needed a bit of help. Unfortunately, Victor was busy with work and finally found time in September. Ed volunteered to help and in the course of a couple of weeks there was a beautiful deck.

The street party was a success --- at least 50 people and 1 dog. Yup, Zaph was there having a marvelous time. There are only about 6 kids on the street and luckily they all love dogs. Zaph could be found either in the middle of a game of "dog in the middle" or in midst of the kids. Occasionally he sat in front of adults trying to look very hungry.



Ed and I couldn't believe that we hadn't seen his sister since we came home in April, but we hadn't and it was September. So off to Toronto we went. On the Saturday we wandered around downtown Toronto and went in a few stores but managed to not buy anything but a treat to eat. In the evening the three of us (Ed, Sonya and myself) went out for dinner with some of Sonya's friends. As it was a beautiful evening we enjoyed dinner on a restaurant patio. On Sunday we drove down to the "beaches" to enjoy lunch on a patio and walk the beach.


Ed, Zaph and Sonya


The boardwalk makes for easy walking.



In my "trying to pack everything into one trip", we left the beaches and drove to Kendal to visit my cousin Bob and his wife Wendy on the farm. The farm was originally owned by Bob's mom and dad (my aunt Jenny and uncle Len), so it always brings back memories when we visit. Zaph loves it there as he gets to run free and chase the barn cats. As usual we had a wonderful visit.

I had an appointment in Burlington on Friday so Ed and Zaph headed south with me and we packed lots of shopping and visiting into the trip.

First stop was a visit and lunch with my mom. Lee Valley and Princess Auto were must visit stops on Ed's list. Off to Brantford to visit my old boss and friend Kathleen and her family. Kathleen and family live on 35 acres and share their beautiful spot with 3 horses, 4 mini horses and a whole slew of cats. It was fun to watch Jess put her horse through a training run. Saturday morning we left Kath's and stopped at another Princess Auto .... two in two days that seems a bit much but it made someone happy. After a visit to two kitchen stores .... believe it or not Ed was looking for something though I did find a couple of things I couldn't live with out, we stopped to visit our friends Jack and Lori for a hour or so. Nice to catch up. Next stop Lee Valley ... yup a second one. Kath's husband Stephen had shown us something he had picked up at Lee Valley that we could live with out (recycle bin hangers). Last stop Colin and Margaret's trailer in Elora. Colin cooked / smoked bacon wrapped Shrimp for dinner --- took about 2 hours to cook (think the fire wasn't quite hot enough) but they were very good.

Today is our 2nd annual "street party" --- hoping the rain will pass quickly. Our street joins the two sides of the Boulevard and between the two of them there are about 30 houses. We get permission from the town to block our road and everyone comes out and has a good time.


I went out in the rain this morning and took and couple of photos of my gardens. I never remember the name of this plant but it's happy.


Zucchini flower.


Sedum