A COVID Picnic in November

with this unusually warm and sunny weather in the last weekend of November we were able to get together with family for an outdoor picnic

Every time I say that we’ve seen the end of the good weather for awhile we get these amazing days. So we decided to make the most of it and I organized a picnic lunch with my daughter and her family who live in Hamilton. They thought it was a great idea and they drove to Toronto to spend some time with me and my husband.

I quickly drove to the deli up the street and picked up fresh buns, cheese, coldcuts and a few jam filled Polish donuts. I made up sandwiches and packed our lunches in separate bags and with masks on we started to walk to Col. Sam Smith Park which is about a kilometre from the house. After awhile we took off our masks and stayed socially distant from each other.

It was a lovely walk and we found a bench to sit on and Gaelan’s family sat on the rocks so we could enjoy our lunch. It’s these small pleasures in life that make for memorable moments and help make the isolation of COVID bearable.

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Water, Water Everywhere – November 24, 2020

thanks to Jez for hosting Water, Water Everywhere https://jezbraithwaite.blog/2020/11/16/just-before-the-rain-water-water-everywhere-51/

Which do you like better….portrait or landscape?

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A Gift From the Weather Gods

the last five days have felt like the end of summer and not the beginning of winter

We have been blessed with the most beautiful weather and the autumn colours are still with us. What a glorious combination. I’ve been walking in my sandals and short sleeve shirts and a lightweight jacket when the sun starts to go down.

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Friendly Friday Photo Challenge – Quiet Places

thanks to Amanda for hosting this week’s Friendly Friday Photo Challenge https://viewfromtheback.com/2020/09/25/friday-photo-challenge-63/

Whether it’s close to home or up at the cottage, my quiet places almost always include water. Pictures #1, 5 and 6 were taken right here in Toronto and the others from Georgian Bay.

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A Tribute to Shirley

…Shirley was a long time cottager up on Big Sand Bay

Shirley O’Donnell passed away a week ago today. I saw her one last time back in August when we were both at our cottages. She looked well but clearly her health was not good. Her log cabin cottage was the envy of the beach. Over 40 years ago she had the logs of the cabin floated over to Big Sand Bay and rebuilt on top of the dune. Every summer she and her two children resided in this rustic cabin. She only had electricity installed in the last decade and like us used an outhouse for most of her cottage life. Several years ago she had a beautiful little building put up next to the cabin with a composting toilet and an outdoor shower.

On the weekend I got up early Sunday morning and took a walk to Shirley’s place and started to take photos of the view and the special little touches that made her place so special. The mist coming up over the lake was very mystical and I almost felt like Shirley was looking down on us and sharing the morning with me.

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An Evening Walk on the Beach

after arriving at the cottage we had a quick snack and then decided to explore the beach

Now that the days are getting shorter my daughter and I knew that we didn’t have a lot of time to walk on the beach before darkness set in. After sitting in the car for over three hours we needed to stretch our legs. We fuelled up on some tea and homemade apple cake and then headed down to the beach. We were pleasantly surprised to find the the water level had gone down somewhat since our last visit so walking on the beach was considerably easier than it was two weeks ago.

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