Grandkids 2025 - stage 2

With the car loaded to the max we arrived at the cottage late morning. The rest of this post is just photos of "cottage life". Meals were kept simple, Cigi still napped, kids had baths or showers every evening (so as to remove as much sand as possible) and there was a nice balance between activities and relaxation.

Maya sketching (she was practicing drawing faces) and Avery sunbathing.

 

A hammock was the preferred place for reading a library book

or just lounging

or "supervising" the early morning swim. One of the joys of the cottage is the early morning when we have the beach to ourselves.

We had still days and wavy days and everything in between.

Supervision from the cottage,

a shade tent or

a chair by the water. Walking the sandbar was a good activity for my sore knee but I also walked the cottage road a couple of times and checked in with friends who still have cottages there.

Ruby, 

Sammy and

Fiona (she ran, then swam) visited.

In the evening,

some

ball

fetching.

Outside the cottage now has a metal roof and

a "tiki bar" (dubbed the spider haven by Chris) 

but otherwise looks much the same.

Inside still feels light and airy and the colour scheme is the same. 

Rather them "Mediterranean" its now more

"Beachy Boho"

Cottage still life.

Wednesday I returned to Port Dover to sail and stayed over. Rasta demanded multiple tummy rubs to make up for his alone time.

I returned, through rain, to a windy day

and more visitors (Kristin, Noah, Leo and Terri) there to take advantage of

the wave

jumping

opportunities.

Grandkids 2025 - stage 1

Avery and Maya flew in, unaccompanied, to Hamilton Airport. Very convenient for me and a small manageable airport for them. The only downside was that the flight landed shortly after midnight.

It took them awhile to get adjusted to the time change but I didn't mind as it gave me a peaceful coffee time in the morning.

Beach time was the first priority

 

after some shopping for sand toys and pool noodles.

We also got in a game of minigolf (Avery won even though Maya got a hole-in-one)

and went blueberry picking. They of course turned it into a competition but that meant I got lots of blueberries to freeze and use in my breakfast smoothies.

We went to the library and they read the books they had chosen for half an hour every day (usually when Cigi was down for her nap). I had limited them to 2 hours of screen time a day which they rarely used up (Avery negotiated a system of banking the unused screen time). They built forts, played legos, watched movies. We shopped at Picards Peanuts and Lens Mills Store.

Saturday was the start of the 2 day, Hewson Regatta, and as I had the kids Rick raced with his 2 daughters. The kids and I met up with them at the Yacht Club for dinner. They came in first in the long race on Sat and the 3 short races on Sunday.

 

Cigi arrived on Saturday and Chris and Jason carried on to the Long Point cottage for the weekend. We went straight to the beach.

Avery, when not swimming, was into digging pools and filling them with water.

Cigi and

Maya, were more into making sand ice cream cones, when not swimming.

Sunday we hit the park before playing mini golf again. 

Then, after nap time, back to the beach. This is know in "Dover" as "the drinking tree" as it is rooted beside the beach but leans into the water as if taking a drink. Cigi was fascinated with the idea and kept asking to see this picture. Both days at the beach were very crowded  but they didn't mind as long as there was sand to play in and warm, shallow lake water to swim and play in.

 

Sunday we packed up, I could barely see out the back of my car as we were loaded with luggage, food and sand/water toys. We were headed for Long Point for 5 days renting the cottage that George and I had built in 2008 and I had sold in 2020.

2025 Summer Garden Update

 I have been here for 5 years now and the garden is looking the way I envisioned it. The bank to the lake, which was taken back to clay when I had the new sea wall blocks put in, is covered again with Crown Vetch, Sweet Peas, Thistles, Teasles, Wild Mustard and Sumac. It is full of butterflies, birds, bugs and, at night, fire flies.

The front garden is a mass of colour. Unfortunately I don't know the names of many of the plants as I have purchased them from driveway sales, grown them from Steve's seeds or purchased them from Northland Nursery (without taking the pictures of the hoop frame label).

Along with the Orange (ditch) Day Lilies I have a variety of Hybrid Lilies.

 

The Day Lilies come in the common orange as well as a burnt red and a bright yellow.

Daisies and

Coneflower

are in bloom right now.

It wasn't until I put the photos on to my computer that I noticed how many of the flowers have bugs on them. Insect habitat.

The Hydrangea are also starting to flower.

Only the second year for the Oak Leaf Hydrangea and the first time it has flowered.

Some other varieties are not quite there yet.

One of my favorites;

Butterfly Weed.

Tomatoes and Peppers are coming along, though the chipmunk has chewed two of the peppers and taken them off the plant. I now have chicken wire around that plant to try and protect subsequent produce. Chipmunks are cute, especially the babies that have since grown into pesky adults.

I have been taking my camera out onto the front porch, in the morning, with my coffee, trying to get a photo of a Hummingbird. I am not currently feeding the birds and so the morning coffee is much quieter but not as entertaining. Young Female Red Winged Blackbird looking for food.

This Hummingbird sits on the Lime Light Hydrangea and defends her territory - the front flower bed and 2 feeders on the front porch. If another Hummingbird tries to feed there she squeaks and dive bombs and drives it away with aerial acrobatics. 

Colour Mandela finished and hung in the hallway.

Next on the frame - Moonlit Fox, designed by Carolyn Stich.

Buck Moon and Yucca flower.