Monday, July 9th – Happy Birthday, Clemson! Forgotten Picture, SisterFest Begins

Now that the most important thing has been taken care of, we’ll get on with our day. Silly little bum doesn’t even know he is 14 years old! 

A few pictures over the years of our
birthday boy

I was up to greet this beautiful day at 6 and Bill slept until 6:30. I was in bed early last night. By 9:30 I had crawled under the sheet and I heard my phone downstairs. Bill answered to find it was my son, Patrick calling in response to my queries about the upcoming weekend so we chatted for a bit and then I was off to Dreamland.

My stuff loaded ready to go

I opened blinds and with the windows open, it was a refreshing 64F inside. I was excited for the day and the upcoming week with my sisters. The only thing wrong with that excitement is that is what brings on a bout of shingles. Lordy o Lordy. Anyway, it is second nature to me now, I just wish they wouldn’t come so often. Too much excitement in my life, obviously!! Ha ha. I made my tea and finished posting my blog from yesterday. 

A picture from yesterday
Mom and her girls
Left to right
Sister-in-law, MaryBeth, Gayle, Cathy, Audrey, Mom, Donna, Me

When our drinks were done, Bill went to Durham to the H.H. with a few things on his list for weekly projects and I went out and filled the watering can 4 times to water my potted plants and vegetable garden. I’m hoping that will suffice until I return on Thursday, Bill has enough things to do. He will be spending some time at the Acreage with the brother-in-laws and some time here. They try to find at least one ‘group project’ to do either there or here in between the comradery.

Love this window display

When I finished that, I got cleaned up and finished packing my bags. I say it in plural because we seem to have sold all of our small suitcases. Duh, not sure how we managed that but I found a few medium-sized carryalls would do for all my treasures. With my laptop, camera bag and tripod, it looks like I’m going for more than 4 days!

Gayle's welcome table

Lots of food choices that will provide us brunches each day

 At 9:45 we were loaded up and on our way to the Acreage. Bill followed me in Ptooties with Black Beauty. He is bringing Gerry’s utility trailer back so he can load the dock at the Ridge and deliver it to the Acreage. Audrey and Donna were just walking down the wooded lane to the front where their suitcases etc. were. Once loaded we kissed the guys goodbye and I drove to Gayle’s in Chatsworth. None of us had eaten yet so Gayle began bringing out the food. What a spread!

Such interesting shops to explore

Connecting with our last and youngest sister in Owen Sound, Wendy agreed to meet us at Value Village at 1. This part of our time together is tradition. We always hit 2 or 3 second hand stores. It is fun and a lot of laughs because we all go in saying “I don’t need anything” but usually walk out with something, and sometimes many somethings. Great fun. The rest of the afternoon was spent in Owen Sound, walking through some quaint shops in the downtown area.

Interesting repurposed guitars

The Artists’ Co-op is their community art gallery represented by 45 members displaying their talents. We always enjoy a walk through each year. A new shop for us to visit was ‘barebirch’ where creativity thrives in interior décor. Way out of our price league for most things but if you find something, it will be unique! We wandered until our tummies told us it was time to find somewhere to eat.

Now this would have been a luxury steam iron back in the day

The belt chair

Wendy had mentioned a ‘pub’ across the river from the Harbourfront Museum where she works. We were pleased with the simple atmosphere at Mudtown Station. This is an historic station that has had a rebirth in the life of a pubhouse restaurant. Jenny our server was a delight and we enjoyed the meal so much, it will be added to our annual ritual for a few years. When we left there, we headed to Wendy’s home for a cool down and chit chat for a couple of hours.

Beer battered white fish and deep fried garlic scapes

We all had Mojitos! a very refreshing drink

Of course, the first thing on the agenda when we got back home was to take turns modelling our purchases. Yes, there are no exceptions, we pester until you actually try them on to get an opinion from everyone. Today, the theme seemed to be summer dresses as all but Gayle brought one home. We had great fun and continued chatting until midnight. We also have a Scrabble game on the go that we all take turns to play on.          

The place probably looks like it did years ago
I like it when things are left the same

Our first meal out together

It was a great day! I hope you enjoyed one too. Thank you for taking the time to see what we’re up to! Your comments are always appreciated.