The Morning After, Brunch, Special Birthday, More Wedding Memories and a Community Loss

Sunday, Aug. 6^th first off we want to say a big Happy 89^th Birthday, Dad! We can only hope to reach this wonderful age and that our health remains good too. The sun was peeking in around the edges of the blinds when I got up at 7:30. I woke at 7 but just wanted to lay there and stretch before putting these creaky ankles on the floor.

We woke up to an awesome day!

I hadn’t indulged so much last night that I needed to worry but I usually drink a glass of water before bed just in case. Nothing worse, in my opinion, than waking up with a self-induced headache. It only causes regret regret and more regret. This morning we are invited to brunch at Rob and Pat’s with a few friends, family and I’m sure the wedding party.

I wouldn't walk any further for fear of getting lost

An old truck at Elvis' place down the road

 It was such a lovely morning that I walked down the lane, North Line and down Baptist Church Road to the ramshackle home of our resident ‘Elvis. He is getting quite a collection of classic vehicles over there. So, I snapped a couple of photos, turned around, wandered into the corn field and then headed home.

Rob and Pat have a beautiful back yard

At 10:00 we drove into Durham to help set up the morning lunch. It was almost another full course meal with bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, chicken, hash browns, roast beef, fruit, toasted buns – need I go on? Tons of food topped off with coffee, orange and tomato juices and chocolate milk for the great nieces.

Rob sets up the front porch for guests

Pat with her beautiful greetable smile

George did the cooking

Bill lights the burners to keep the food hot

This is where my hostas came from

Everybody pitching in - Grandson Mark cracks eggs

Pat's ornament reminds me of Los Algodones

Mr. & Mrs. Carlisle
(looking great the morning after)

There is no good time to receive devastating news so Pat pulled me to the side and told me as gently as she could that one of my favourite people in the community of Durham was killed the previous day in a farm accident. The thrashing machine vs Stan Doherty was shocking news to me.

I will miss you Stan

I’ve only been doing my laundry at the Durham laundromat for a few months and seem to always meet someone new. Stan was a regular though, always on call and always popping in to clean up, sweep, wash floors or fixing a machine. He and his wife have owned the venue for 40 years and from our first meeting, he stole my heart in a ‘fatherly’ kind of way although he couldn’t have been much over 65. I will miss him dearly and send condolences to his family.

A glance back at Rob and Pat's home with their
Cedar Creek rv for guests

There were about 15-20 of us and still plenty of food to go around at brunch. We said our goodbyes around 12:30 and drove to The Acreage to say good day to Donna, Gerry and Mike. The boys were busy recreating the logs on the front of their wood shed. We stayed for just over half hour and moseyed on home to clean up for a birthday celebration near Stratford.

The working boys taking a break

Dad turned 89 today and Carol invited the sibs to dinner in Sebringville. Dad was surprised to see all of us as we settled outside for appetizers and drinks around 3:30. It was a lovely day until the sky darkened and dropped about 10 minutes of rain overall. We had taken the warning and moved inside for the rest of the evening.

Clemson peeks out at the street from the doggy porthole

another beautiful back yard
Brian and Bruce hustled to cover the pool in the rain

Carol had prepared a lovely dinner of roast beef, potatoes, veggies and Red lobster rolls. Yum. A couple of Dad’s great grandchildren dropped in with their family to say Happy Birthday and Ethan and Colton helped him blow out the candles on his cake. It was a nice visit with Bill and his sisters sharing memories of old times with the birthday ‘boy’.

Dad opens his gifts

Gathered for dinner

A little help from his great grandsons

Carrot cake for dessert

We left around 8:45 which meant for a sleepy drive home for me. We had to forgo stopping at the Acreage to join in the bonfire since it would be closer to 10:30 before we arrived and I was geared for bed. These late nights are not my norm and it takes me a while to catch up. I’m not the party girl I used to be.

Lovely sky tonight

We’ve had some amazing days, bang bang bang over the past week and I wouldn’t trade a thing. Things will settle back to normal tomorrow with our rv friends moving out of The Ridge. I’m sharing more wedding photos, some of my favourites that I had to add.

A close knit group of rv'ers
the best of friends

Little Joseph dances with his tractor

The candy bar

A Wind Harp - very  neat!

Heirloom salt and peppers that Sandra and Bill used on the tables

You just can't hold some ladies back
Pat having a great time!

Special moments
Sandra and her Dad

Even Rob gets a bit out of control - ha ha!

Daughter-in-law Karen teases Rob with a butter tart

I hope you have enjoyed the weekend. Thanks for stopping in!