More Local Attractions

As usual the Big T was up before the sun. I thought we could take advantage of this disturbing habit he has and go throw a fishing line into a little creek down the road from my house. We gathered the gear and drove there. The grass was waist high and soaked with dew. There was no trail to safely get down to the creek so we bailed. Neither of us wanted to deal with wet legs. That’s how I know that he’s not a fishing guy. We returned to the house and got cleaned up to start the day proper. The day started with a rip over to my greasy spoon, they added a patio to be able to provide a dining service to their valued customers. I noticed a few other upgrades as well while we were there. The staff were also markedly different and it leads me to believe there may have been a change in ownership. Thankfully the quality of the food was maintained. We were under a red umbrella outside which coloured the photos oddly but we had a great breakfast to start our day off right.

Full of food and hope we returned home to continue on our itinerary. The next job was to start to clear space for me to store the boat in the garage this winter and work on it. We had to move the winter tires out to the garden shed and lock that up. We moved some other items up on the shelf above the garage door and cleaned the space up. I’ve got a nice pile of stuff to take to the dump next time I go up North. We added some more caulk to the dryer exhaust vent. It didn’t go smoothly because there was a hardened chunk of caulk in the tube that restricted or blocked caulk flow. There will be another chapter or two in that project, which was the one I was the most worried that I would foul up. With these items done we moved ahead on the calendar to the big ticket. Half the motivation for their visit. We went to the Woodstock Antique Mall. Where dreams come true more often than not! It is three floors that are jam packed with treasures. There are nice things at reasonable prices, it’s a rare gem amongst most antique places which are mostly over-priced junk. Despite my feet hurting from all the walking around I made sure to walk every aisle and look at as many of the items as I could. I bought several gifts for birthdays and such as well as picked up a couple of items for myself. Below are some photos of things I didn’t buy but thought were interesting.

Maybe could have purchased the Arc of the Covenant.

This painting is beautiful and spoke to me. The price is fairly reason able as well. If I find a spot to fit it on the wall where I can gaze at it, I’d probably consider pulling the trigger on the purchase.

Get a load of this nightmare fuel. A smashed face dolly.

After three full hours of exploring the treasures and wonders of the antique mall we departed and on the way to the Harbour stopped at Winners to give mother another shot at getting her special face ointment. She got it this time, the last bottle. She would have got two if they’d had it. She said it was very picked over at both the locations we went to, a symptom of seasonal tranistioning, slow delivery and COVID-19 in general. She was pretty happy. While she was inside shopping, we got a note from the Big T’s sisters saying they were interested in something he’d sent a photo of. We decided to turn back and get it at the antique mall, then it’s done. They’ll get it quicker than if I brought it up next time I journey North. We returned to the Harbour to make ourselves a healthy lunch with some of the food we had previously purchased. Big T again shared a photo. After we cleaned up lunch we took a few minutes to sit down and enjoy some air conditioning. The next item on the itinerary was to head to the mini golf course to play another round. We play every two years when they come to visit. It was very hot out and that definitely affected play. Mother started strong but faded on the back nine as the heat got to her. The Big T ended up beating me by one stroke on the strength of this three aces, including one on the last hole to win it. We were planning to get iced cream and shop for flowers but nobody was working in the booth and the flowers were starting at forty bucks so we decided to order in some Chinese food and have a few drinks instead.

There were rumours about a Chinese take out place in the North end from my students for years and this would be the time I’d finally give it a whirl. We called in our order to China Wok and in short order it was at the door. We ordered a dish for everyone and an appetizer then a couple more dishes just to be safe. Easily enough food for five people and it was cleaper than our lunch the previous day. And much more filling. We indulged in some well earned Pink Whitney with our Chinese feast, which is mostly pictured below, I think the egg rolls were out of frame. Both parents were hesitant about the PW. I was not, having had it prior. I ripped a glass of it out of an old candle against the wishes of Glade. Mother seemed to enjoy hers, or said she did, after she topped it up with pink lemonade. The Big T did the same but didn’t like it, he was expecting it to be sweet and not 30% alcohol. I’m not sure I’ve ever had sweet pink lemonade, it is usually tart. Despite that, it was an overwhelmingly filling meal and we needed to sit and digest before moving on with the day.

For the second evening in a row I threw on some Try Channel videos which were enjoyed by most if not all, not sure mother liked it. Once we were able to move again we slithered downstairs like snakes with bulls in their bellies and watched The Old Guard on Netflix. They liked that. With the film ended it was time for a last lawn task before dusk. I did the actual task and the Big T managed the hose for me. I’m not super pleased with the results. It will take a couple of weeks to know the extent but I have real fears that mistakes were made in that half hour in the fading light. That was the last thing on the itinerary that we could do so with no direction they both just went to bed. I assume they were tuckered out from two big days of activity and adventure. I stayed up and snuck in a quick skirmish in C&C to make sure I still had it. I was going to show them what it was so they’d know what I was talking about but they both just shut it down. I followed suit but as I was getting close to slumber I got some texts and a followup call from the Chef. We hadn’t talked in a week so I chatted with him. It was later than planned when I finally found sleep.