So far this summer is flying by. My sister and her hubs are here now from Vienna, and we’ve been having a great visit. Played a few board games, the kids are behaving, went to the beach, downtown Ottawa (the market and of course I indulged in some fabulous deals at the International Cheese shop - Wow!) Emma bought herself a little dream catcher (she has always coveted mine!), and we indulged in poutine, shwarmas and beaver tails! What can I say!
Today we drove up to Gatineau Park and spent the day at Lac Phillippe. It was fantastic! The water was great for swimming, there were very few other people, we had a delicious picnic (I did not eat a whole wheel of Camembert –only almost!) and the kids made a few friends beachside, so they were occupied and not bugging us for attention. Went for a swim at the pool tonight after we got home cause I didn’t get in enough swimming today and I skipped it yesterday. I have to do penance for the poutine and camembert, obviously!!
We are also in the midst of an Ikea do it yourself type of kitchen reno. The house looks like a cyclone hit (what else is new? It actually always looks like that!). I’ll try to take some before and after pics, and post (if we survive the reno!)
We will be heading off to North Bay in a bit, to visit Todd’s mom, and then soon after my parents will be coming to visit again. Then off to Silent Lake.
The garden is growing like crazy, tomatoes all over the place, although none appear to be even close to starting to color up yet, except for my old Galina-that’s-not-really-Galina-but-some-kind-of-cross, which is still putting out tomatoes. So far, the leader in tomato production and plant growth is a Cannabec Rose, that Kathy, from the fabulous blog Iwetmyplants, gave me. Looks like it might be a real winner in my garden this year!
Lots of lettuce, and a few accidental-out-of-the-compost zucchinis that I didn’t have the heart to pull, because we actually love bbq’d Zukes, but I forgot to plant any this year so why look a gift Zuke in the mouth? Quite a few raspberries now to, according to my little taste tester! The black and the reds, which are apparently very tasty, both.
Well, hopefully things will slow down when we come back from Silent Lake, and I’ll have some pics of some gorgeous tomatoes ripening up.
Bev said,
July 22, 2008 at 6:23 am
Hi there,
I was googling Aylmer and came across your lovely blog and have been enjoying it this morning. I am in Ottawa with a friend as we are looking for possible work. We are from B.C. It is lovely to be in Ottawa again as my folks (now deceased) retired in Ottawa from Timmins, Ontario. Their favorite drive was to Aylmer and one year I accompanied them there. What a lovely place! This was quite a few yrs. ago - is it still so pretty and smallish? I sure hope we get there as I so want my friend, Sara, to see it too. You seemed to say there is a bus that goes? Would you let me know? We are not sure as to how long we will be here depending on whether there is work or not in our fields.
Thanks so much. By the way, your gals are beautiful!….as are your great pics.
Bev
sammyqc said,
July 25, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Hi Bev.
Thanks for the compliments! Aylmer is still a fairly small, pretty little town, although there has been a lot of development going on in the last decade or so, and we have been losing green space at what seems to be an unbelievable rate.
Since the amalgamation of all the small cities into the city of Gatineau, Aylmer seems to get the shaft more often than not, but that may be more my perception of things, who knows!
The beach is still very lovely, the bike paths are great, and I know my neighbors! Aylmer is still a nice little town.
There are buses, you would have to check the STO website for an accurate schedule. Once you are downtown Ottawa, there are maps in the bus shelters that can give you a good overview as well.
Sam.