Monday, September 24, 2018

VACATION RECAP

Happiness is,  being on vacation! 
Rob and I were on vacation last week. No major trips, just time spent at home, a few day trips and one over-nighter. Here's a quick recap of our week.

Friday, Sept. 14th- My work day ended at 3:30pm, and a little spa pampering after work was the perfect start to vacation. 


Relaxing facial at Sugarmoon. 
Saturday, Sept. 15th- Saturday was Rob's 49th birthday! The day started off with coffee and presents. After lunch we had Birthday Cake, Black Forest, his favorite. Then we went to Mountsberg Conservation Area for a "Raptor Encounter". We've done them many times before, but it had been a while, and it's what the "birthday boy" wanted to do. After that always fun experience we went to V's Schnitzel House for dinner, before returning home for a relaxing evening. I enjoyed his birthday immensely! 

The birthday boy with "Shadow" the Barn Owl.
Me with my little buddy, "Echo", an Eastern Screech Owl. 

Sunday, Sept. 16th- Today we went to visit our foster donkey, Petunia, who is actually a mule. She resides at the Donkey Sanctuary of  Canada. We sponsored her last year on our first visit, and want to make sure we get over at least once during the months they are open to visitors. It's a great place to visit. On our way home we stopped at the Aberfoyle Mill for a late lunch/early dinner. One of my favorite restaurants. 

Hanging out with "Petunia"!
What a good looking Mule she is!

Monday, Sept. 17th- Today was a mostly restful day at home after running a few errands, one being me finally trading in my seven year old BlackBerry for a new cell phone.

I'll be figuring it out for years!
Tuesday, Sept. 18th-  Today we headed to Niagara Falls for the night. When we first got there we went for a walk, but our growling tummy's soon had us heading to Margaritaville for lunch. After lunch we checked into our hotel early, and went to the arcade for some fun followed by a bit of shopping. We had dinner at Di Giorgio Italian Eatery before hitting the Casino.

Having fun in the Mirror Maze at Fun Zone.
Pac Man, always a must for us!
First play at the slots after entering the Casino, and this was on the $25 credit from our hotel package! 
Wednesday, Sept. 19th- Breakfast was at Ihop before heading home.

Thursday, Sept. 20th- The first part of the day was appointments and grocery shopping. The fun came in the afternoon when we finally went to visit our friend, Michele, at the wild bird seed store she's been working at for a while. We bought a few things at the store,  Caledon Mountain Wildlife  and then made our way to Michele's for a lovely pizza dinner and longer visit with Michele, and her husband, Mark.

Michele's home away from home. 
New cute feeder bought at Michele's store. 
Michele gave us this awesome picture she did of my sweetie, Molly. What a thoughtful gift!

Friday, Sept. 21st- Another low key day at home, but the kitties and backyard wildlife are always entertaining.

One of our backyard regulars. 

Saturday, Sept. 22nd- Another day, another road trip! Today we ventured down Port Rowan way to take in the Canadian Raptor Conservancy's Open House. Late lunch, early dinner was at the Country Fork in Port Rowan, it's worth the drive from Toronto! We went for a walk around the Port Rowan Wetlands before heading home, and I finally found a Monarch Caterpillar!

We enjoyed the Open House, educational and entertaining. 
One of four Monarch Caterpillars we found. 
Sunday, Sept. 23rd- Last day of vacation started with a 2 hour nature walk in the morning, at one of our favorite places close to home. Rest of the day was spent enjoying being home.

A coyote watches us walk by from a hilltop on our walk. 
  
It was a grand vacation! Can't wait for the next one!

Sunday, September 16, 2018

TASTE OF THE KINGSWAY

Enjoying a fruity drink at Taste of the Kingsway. 
On Saturday, September 8th, Rob and I attended "Taste of the Kingsway" for the first time. But it wasn't the possibility of enjoying some delicious food that had us going, it was the opportunity to listen to some great, live rock n roll.

We haven't been out to see live music together in years. My body is so adjusted to my early mornings for work, I have a hard time staying up past 10pm. (Hey, I'm up at 4:30am week days for work, WITHOUT an alarm clock!) When I go to concerts now I usually take 2 days off work, the day of, and the one after to recover. LOL! So, when I found out Destroyer was playing a 90 minute set, starting at 4:00pm, I knew we had to be there! (Destroyer is a leading Kiss tribute band, if you didn't click on the link)

We arrived around 3pm, walked around the festival to check out all the vendors, and then made our way to the stage area where Destroyer would be playing.

Rob makes furry friends where ever he goes.
We had great views for the show
We enjoyed a couple craft beers from Great Lakes Brewery while watching the show.

Cheers!


They put on a great show!
We had an absolute blast! Looking forward to seeing them again in the future.

Copied from Destroyer Facebook page.
 Oh, and the food, worth going for that too, we took home some cannoli's and perogies.

Thursday, September 6, 2018

OUR LABOUR DAY

Can you spot the Ruby-throated Hummingbird?
Rob and I braved the heat and humidity to get our "nature fix" walk on Monday morning. We went to one of our favorite areas close to home. The Golden Rod is in bloom and was full of bees. And though we didn't take any photos of them, we were accompanied our entire walk with many Monarch Butterflies. In fact, I have never seen so many Monarch Butterflies at one time in my life. It was magical. We never know what we are going to see in terms of wildlife when we visit this area, and that just makes it more fun!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird resting on the fence , we saw a few on our walk.
American Toad, I was going to kiss him to see if he'd become a Prince, but he hopped away. 
Pearl Crescent enjoying the sunshine. 
I found this Brown Dekay Snake much to Rob's delight. 
I picked him up to move him off the main trail so he wouldn't get run over by a bike.
Of course the wildlife sightings in the backyard are always great! 
No zoom needed, the planes were flying  low past the house during the air show.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday Monday!