Lady Fest Begins, Bill and Clemson – Bachelors for a Few Days

Tuesday, July 25^th meant the start of my sister’s time together. We were to meet at Chatsworth around 10. I slept really well after going to bed around 10 or so, waking up at 6:30, stretching and creeping quietly out of bed. Bill and Clemson slept another half hour or so and joined me downstairs. The blinds were open and the sun was pushing through one patch of low lying eastern clouds.

Owen Sound

I had my tea, read blog posts and went through my check list for packing. Once I was confident that I had everything I would need, I brought the Corolla over closer and loaded her up. Saying my goodbyes to the boys for a few days, I drove #6 to Gayle’s. Traffic was good and the weather couldn’t be better!

I was the first to arrive, that is our trademark (Bill’s and mine) we always seem to be early anywhere. It isn’t planned, we are just that kind of people, I guess. John was outside cutting the grass when I arrived and Gayle had just hopped out of the shower. I brought my many things inside and placed them in the hall waiting for the others to arrive and decide on sleeping arrangements.

Gayle and John's Cedar haven

There is what we call the Garden Room, nice room just off the patio to the yard, on the lower level. Queen bed perfect for two. Then down the lower level hall is another room, Gayle calls the Double Room simply because it has a double bed. Beyond that is the Girls Room. This room has a bunk bed set up and two single beds and it is where their granddaughters sleep when they visit.

Lovely home back in the trees

Upstairs is the Master Bedroom and it is huge. When John vacated, this is where I moved my things and set up camp with Gayle. The others worked it out downstairs. Cathy, Audrey and Donna arrived about 20 minutes later, on time. 😊 We caught up as sisters do and fell into normal conversations.

It only looks messy because of my stuff all over the place 

Today we drove in Gayle’s little Chevy Cruze to Owen Sound to the Artist’s Co-op. This is a neat little refurbished mercantile store which has been transformed into a venue for local artists. Beautiful work on display and for sale. Many framed paintings, framed photographs of the area or otherwise and also a lot of homemade craft projects. Wendy, who lives in this city, joined us here.

This apparatus across the ceiling was used in the mercantile to
send money up the tube to the office and change was returned
the same way

I picked up a card and a small hand-held game to show our granddaughters and we moved on to Elsie’s Diner for brunch. It was around 12:30 so busy but it was no time at all and a table for 6 opened up for us. I ordered Elsie’s breakfast with 2 eggs, hash browns, peameal bacon and rye toast. It was very good and filling. I rode with Wendy for the rest of the day in her little RED car. She jokes that when asked what kind and what year it is, her answer is a shoulder shrug and “it’s a red car”.

We began our shopping spree. The thing with us girls is ‘second-hand, second-hand’ all the way so The Mission Store was first. We poked around there for an hour and I found a few things and the girls found a few things for Mom too. Most of us left with a bag of goodies and a smile on our face.

Tuna, Blue, Bolt

Next stop Value Village (if you say it with a French accent) it feels quite classy. Again, we shopped around for an hour or two, bumping into each other down different aisles occasionally. You name it, we saw it and probably tried one or two on just like it. The shoe aisle seemed to be the popular place today as 3 of us found one or two pair of shoes/sandals before we left.

Munsch

We drove back to Wendy’s little house on 11^th and settled in for a drink. The apple cider drink she served was quite tasty and I’ll have to look for it when next I need to stock up on coolers. The afternoon flowed smoothly with our own silliness, jokes and laughter at Morgan’s birds but mostly at the household cats. Munsch is the black one with the lion haircut and Jet is the soft little calico type one.

Jet watches the birds 

As it approached 6:30 we left to drive to Shorty’s Bar and Grill for dinner. Again, with reservations we were seated almost immediately after a short wait outside on the curb. Supper at Shorty’s was another great meal. This time I ordered a Philly Cheesesteak. Delicious meal!

We left for home, Gayle’s home in Chatsworth and did our typical Fashion Show without the modelling. Showing off our purchases and oohing and aahing. Some things never change with this gang. Gayle had started the family Scrabble game on the dining room table so we each played a turn on that before watching Baroness Von Sketch for half hour. I’d never seen it but I found it quite comical.

Before Wendy arrived

Off to bed around midnight, oh my! No wonder this didn’t get posted until this morning. I had a fantastic day and look forward what tomorrow brings. I hope your day was a great one.

Not very much choice here but room for improvement!

Thank you for reading! You may comment if you feel so inclined.