The next couple of months went by all too quickly. We moved into our little nook at sis Kathy’s place and spent our time hangin’ with Mom, Kathy, Hammi, and occasionally Colleen & Connor. It’s wonderful that this vagabond lifestyle of ours now lets us spend more time with family.
Of course no sooner did we arrive in Ottawa that Mom and Sis took off for their little rented cabin in the Prince Edward Country woods. They left us to look after the little Hammi monster 
, cook our own turkey 
, and do a little painting 
.
As Halloween approached one really fun thing we did was make Connor a Jack-o’-lantern, or as it became named, a Jack-o’-Connor.
Time went on. We celebrated birthdays (both late and early), we had fun playing in the park, we got in our various health checks (at least one of us is still perfect 😉 ), watched lots of movies, went to a concert, and drank copious amounts of beer and wine.
While in Ottawa Ann took in the Rememberance Day ceremonies downtown 
, she visited Kathy’s office at the National Gallery 
, and we both spent a couple of lovely evenings with new sailing friend Mark 
who also happens to live in Ottawa. We first met Mark when he sailed into Corner Brook. Then we followed him around Newfoundland and reconnected in Lewisporte. Funny how life happens.
But like sands through the hourglass, so too were the days of our lives in Ottawa 🙂 . Eventually the time came for us to pack our little car, and head off into the western sunrise once again. Our first house sitting gig began December 5th, so we were somewhat pressed for time.
We left Ottawa and headed north. A winter storm was brewing, so instead of our normal stop in North Bay, we pressed all the way on to Sault Ste. Marie. And it was a good thing we did. The winter storm dumped about a foot of heavy wet snow. It closed the highways, and forced us to stay put for two nights. We even lost power for a few hours in our little rented cabin. Luckily it came with a wood stove.
The storm abated and we headed north, first to our good friends Cathie and Joe near Rossport, and then on to Thunder Bay. It’s always such a joy spending time with Joe and Cath. They live in a little Shangri-La on the shores of Lake Superior. And they are always so welcoming.
We arrived in Thunder Bay and reconnected with long time sailing friends Paul & Julie. We were able to spend a couple of nights reveling in their warm hospitality, and also made good use of their car jack and torque wrench to make the switch to winter tires on our car.
Our tires, and indeed much of our other landlubber stuff, continues to be stored at Ben & Sherilyn’s farm west of Thunder Bay. It’s always a joy to reconnect with these wonderful people. And best of all, we get to spend time with the cutest little girls: Olivia and now Molly.
With time ticking away we had to say goodbye to our north shore friends, and keep pressing on towards Alberta and our new temporary winter home in Cochrane. Although we both are sad not to be heading back to Penticton this year (and we miss Maxi the grouchy cat 😉 ), we’re excited about the coming weeks. We get to look after a small farm which includes,
One small dog (Rocky):
Two parrots (Merlin & Jade):
Five cats; Indoor cats, Oscar, Ayla & Luna, and then ‘barn cats’ Sassy and Mukluk:
And finally, there are two horses (Tucker and Ibn) and two miniature donkeys (Mercedes and Angel):
This whole barnyard of critters is normally overseen by our hosts, Carol and Pete. They’ve packed up their RV (taking two other dogs with them), and headed for warmer climes. And they’ve graciously left their animals and their wonderful home in our hands. It’s all a bit of a handful, but we’re loving it.
