Company,, Yay!

 Our bunky is finished, so what else to do but invite someone over to try it out! Actually, our friends from London, Kathy and Derrick, were the initial reason for us remodeling the shed in the first place. We knew they wouldn’t let us down.

A picture from one of our gatherings at our old home

So Thursday they arrived just before the noon hour for an overnight visit and we couldn’t be more excited.

Our guests arrive

Clemson greets old friends

These are longtime friends of ours and when in London we went back and forth for dinner every month. We knew we’d miss that part of our friendship moving up here.

We had a nice lunch of fresh buns, turkey, ham, lettuce and cheese after a tour of The Ridge. We relayed stories of how things were when my sister and her husband bought 2 years ago and the changes Bill and I have made on our own. It is an unbelievable transformation for sure!

Once the few dishes were placed into the dishwasher, we loaded up our 2 kayaks in the back of the truck and headed over the 3 concessions to the Acreage, Donna and Gerry’s summer place.

Kathy making it work

Bill enjoyed the smooth sailing as well
 

They have a much nicer pond for paddling and we knew our friends would love this. The day was perfect, because I’d requested it be so, and we unloaded the floaters and ventured the pond for a couple of hours. Bill and I were in the paddle boat at the same time. Unfortunately, I don’t entirely trust all my belongings in a kayak or paddle boat with me, so didn’t have my camera or even phone to snap all the photos I would have wanted.

It was great fun and to add to the excitement when we decided to swap our ‘vehicles’ Derrick chose to take a swim. Well, not on purpose for sure but let’s just say he got his clothes washed at the same time! We all got a tremendous laugh at his expense and even though I have no snapshot of drenched drowned Derrick, the picture is etched in my mind. We were all grateful that none of us had our cell phones in our pockets at this point, especially the water boy! 

Bill took Derrick back to The Ridge for a change of clothing while Kathy and I remained paddling around the pond in the kayaks. It was so relaxing just floating and looking for ‘wildlife’ as Kathy called it. When the boys got back, our guests hopped in the paddle boat and took it for a spin around the pond.

We came across 3 small painted turtles and soaked in the sun while waiting for the guys return. Once loaded up again, we came home for a much needed glass of red wine and a coke for Bill. We were able to show off Donna and Gerry’s Acreage which they have heard so much about over the years.

By the time 6 o’clock rolled around I was inside preparing dinner. The T-bone steaks we picked up from a local butcher, Bentinck Packers, were huge so I knew a simple baked potato and mushrooms would be ample…….and it was. Bill had them done on the Q within 20 minutes and by the time we finished, there was no room for dessert. They were delicious steak and we’ll go back to stock up before we leave for the south.

I found a recipe on line in Pinch a Recipe for a trifle so decided to use up a couple of packages of frozen peaches and strawberries and whip this up. With a little bit of substitution (who has mascarpone cheese anyway?) dessert was chillin’ just like Patsy!

Bill got a fire started before dinner as there was no wind at all and Kathy took it on after dishes were loaded in the dishwasher. 

What a little firebug she is! Derrick lovingly called her “Pyro” throughout the evening. We had a great campfire that lasted in traditional ‘teepee’ style until almost 11 pm. with a brief interlude while I served a dish of trifle

Looked better before we all got into it! It was delish!

Enough left for another round

and a glass of Oceania sherry from Michigan for everyone.

Kathy and Derrick are true urbanites and didn’t get into the camping scene like we did so we made the offering of our bed to them if they wanted it.

 

We were so pleased when they insisted we keep our own bed inside the Suite and opted to sleep in the little cottage after all! It was a cool night and had picked up a small heater and placed flannel sheets on the bed. They said they were toasty without the heater and without any extra blankets.

Beautiful 3/4 moon beside a still turbine

They adopted the whole country living, utilizing the outhouse and sleeping in the bunky like regular campers. 

Relaxing after breakfast

Friday morning Bill made bacon and eggs for everyone on the Q and we took a drive to Welbeck Sawmill, the old mill and the new store.

A very unique saw mill - tours available

No one was around but it was open to guests to walk through

Lots of leaks in this old wood pipe tunnel

Began in 1860

Love the smell of fresh cedar

From the road

Derrick staying far away from the water

It was an interesting tour of our immediate area including Durham our little town of 2500 inhabitants. 

Great friends

Our company left by 2 after getting set up on Google Hangouts, a couple of selfies and pictures of each other.

Bunk mates

"Bye guys!"

Sad to say goobye.........'til we meet again

It was sad to see them go as we know we won’t see them until the spring. However, we all know that this was the first of many visits to our summer home. It was a wonderful visit.

I hope you enjoyed these beautiful days as much as we did. Please feel free to comment and thanks for reading.