…on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024







…on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024







…despite the warm and sunny weather
I brought home all the bedding to wash and the canned and bottled food. There is no heat in the winter so any food left behind would freeze and cause the bottles and tins to explode. All the clean bedding, pillows and paper products age packed in sealed containers or bags so that any mice that might find their way into the cottage don’t chew them up for their nests. Luckily in the last few years there has been little evidence that mice moved in.






It’s very difficult closing the cottage in September. Many believe that this time of year has the best weather. Warm during the day and cooler at night….perfect for sleeping. Normally I wouldn’t close until mid October but this year we have a family wedding to attend and Thanksgiving is going to be at our daughter’s place.
All the outdoor furniture is brought indoors and the propane tanks are turned off and the BBQ is covered and moved closer to the building.
Good-bye Christian Island. See you next year!
…thanks to Becky B for hosting Seven for September Squares https://thesquaresofb.com/2024/09/30/seven-squares-30/
On my way to close up the cottage this weekend I stopped at Harris Farms. The pumpkin displays were amazing and they let the cows out on the pasture next to the displays. The children loved being able to get this close to the animals. One of them let her bladder empty and a little girl shrieked ‘look Mom, they pee’.


…sunny, warm and quiet
After the Labour Day Weekend it gets pretty quiet at the cottage. Once the kids are back at school the rush to get to the cottage diminishes considerably. Lucky me!






…thanks to Becky B for hosting September Seven Squares https://thesquaresofb.com/2024/09/03/seven-squares-3/
On this past weekend, my family living in Canada got together before everyone headed back home. Winnie is starting grade four at a new school in Moncton, NB and her mom Gaelan is continuing with her masters studies. Brendan, Andrea and Josie continue working from home and in person and Kevin and I are enjoying our retirement. Olive, A & J’s Frenchie, sleeps most of the day but brings us all a great deal of joy when we get together.

…after making sure that someone I know was going to be close by
It’s getting harder and harder to find people to go up the cottage with me to open up but I have to admit that It’s actually getting easier and easier. I’m more worried about falling and not having someone close by to check up on me.
Of course the weekend I chose to open it rained all weekend. I did, however, manage to set up the BBQ, put out the deck furniture, rack the leaves and sweep the the deck. Inside the cottage there was very little to do. For some reason, the mice stayed away this winter (hooray!) so I just had to wipe down the dust and put away the groceries that I brought along. Luckily I had a new book with me so I managed to get a good start on that.







Naturally, the sun came out today when I was getting ready to leave. The next visit will be easier and I will actually start the refrigerator. This time I just kept my food on icepacks. Maybe I’ll even go for a swim but I’m sure the water is freezing.



…and my husband pointed out that we’ve around for over half of them
I attended the University of Guelph from 1971-75 and I met my husband Kevin there in 1973. College Royal is the annual open house that the university hosts in March. Many of the departments open their doors with displays and interactive demonstrations that highlight some of the work that goes on in the halls of academia.
One of the more popular attractions is the farming area that bring the public and farm animals together. The University of Guelph started out as an agricultural school but quickly brought in other avenues of study, such as Family Studies, veterinary studies, economics, hotel and food administration, visual arts, sciences, just to name a few.









The last two photos show the cow that has had a portal surgically placed in her side to remove rumen from one of her stomachs. The rumen has healthy bacteria that is needed for some sick cows to regulate their own gut bacteria. It may seem cruel but the cow doesn’t seem to feel a thing when the demonstrator went in with her arm to fetch some of her good gut bacteria.
It was a beautiful day after the snow and rain stopped and we were able to walk around the campus to take in some of the sites.







One of our last stops before going to the dog show was checking out the community art show. I had entered four of my pieces, just for fun, and was most delighted when I found a white third place ribbon on one of my pieces.



At the beginning of this piece I mentioned that we’ve lived through more than 50 College Royals. We certainly haven’t attended that many but over the years we participated in quite a few. When the kids were little we took them there a couple of times and we went back when Andrea our eldest daughter attended the university and now our granddaughters are studying there and we’ve shown them around on at least two occasions.