Back to normal life…?

We said goodbye to our little island (off the Island) house on the hill, braved the little Ramea ferry, drove the scary Burgeo road, and made it to the Big Ferry that would take us back to Canada. Our first stop in what was to be a 9,000 km sojourn across the country (and back again), was Truro, NS. Here we visited friends Chet & Margie, who had also moved into a new house with a great back yard. Always great to see them both, along with all their kitties.

After Truro, we made it to Ottawa where Ann did some hair-styling , before Mom & Kathy headed off to Sault Ste. Marie for a fall-colours train trip, and a much-needed little vacation for Sis. We stayed to look after the aging Ham-cat , and do a few repairs to the condo . Hammi is 18 now, so nearing the end, but he’s still doing his thing, and still cute as ever .

Our fall schedule was pretty tight, with a relatively narrow window to get out west, do a house-sit in Medicine Hat, spend some time in Calgary, and then get back to Ontario for our Christmas house-sit near Ottawa. On our way west we spent a night with Lewisporte sailing friends Tom & Clarissa at their Sudbury home. It was odd to see them as landlubbers, but their kindness and sweetness was the same, as was their incredibly cat-like cat, Chia.

After Sudbury we spent a few days in Selim. Visiting our good friends Cathie, Joe and Piper, feels like coming home. It’s a place where we can be completely comfortable, and even somewhat helpful. Plus, Piper is soooo cute!

Continuing on our whirl-wind journey, we managed to spend a few days with grand old sailing friends Paul & Julie of Thunder Bay. They were preparing their own continuing Bahamian adventure on their new boat based in Florida. And of course, we had to stop in to see Ben, Sherilyn, and their sweet but rapidly growing girls, Olivia & Molly.

As I say, it was all too fast. But we’re so blessed to have such good friends everywhere we go. The time with all of them is precious, which always makes it feel too short 😢.

Before arriving at our house in Medicine Hat, we visited Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park , and passed by, and through, a massive migration of snow geese. Pretty incredible.

Arriving in Medicine Hat, we got reaquainted with our lovely home owners, Gail & Pat, along with their two sweet kitties Sasha & Allie , along with their two more … boisterous little dogs, Zoe & Bailey . Although we’ve house-sat here twice prior, this was the first time with the dogs. They are both very cute, and Zoe (Zoe-Zoe) is the sweetest ever. Bailey is more like … a fine stinky cheese; it takes some time to appreciate and understand her.

Our days were filled with daily walks, a bit of snow shovelling, and basic relaxing. Pat & Gail’s house is very comfortable and easy to be at. The location close to the South Saskatchewan River is lovely, but it is the critters that make it fun indeed.

One of the big reasons we came back out to Medicine Hat was so Ann could attend her year-delayed Bruce Springsteen concert in Calgary. She abandoned me for three days to go to the musical extravaganza, which was apparently amazing. Peggy & Phil went with her, since they are the brave ones.

Ann came home to a a Zoe-Zoe greeting:

Our time in Medicine Hat came to an end all too soon, and we said goodbye to the cute critters. Hopefully we’ll see them all again someday — yes, even Bailey. We then headed up to Calgary for a short visit with the growing western family, with the addition of the human Zoe-Zoe, our second grand-niece thanks to Monique and Phil.

The visit, like everything during this western trip, was too short. We did manage to get in quite a few pool games. I created a website for our new little Town of Ramea , and my love turned 62!

With the days ticking by, we found a weather window and pushed off the Calgary docks, heading for Ottawa once again. Unfortunately the gathering storms meant we had to leave on Ann’s birthday, which is why we had to celebrate a day earlier. It was a good choice though, because we ended up with storms to the aft of us, and storms just ahead, while we sailed on through in a the relative calmness of the eye of the hullabaloo.

We pulled into Selim, being greeted by happily barking Piper, smiling Joe & Cathie, and jackfrost nipping at our tire tracks. The next morning our car was covered with snow, as was everything else. We spent much of the afternoon clearing the driveway, the big tarp shed, and various paths around the yard. I’m sure getting handy with snow-blowers!

We spent a few days, refugin’ with our friends, but with an eye on the calendar, and the weather, we said our goodbyes, and pushed off again towards Ottawa. We had a quick stop in Sudbury to see Tom & Clarrissa again, and other than one idiot truck driver who almost ran us off the road, the rest of the trip to Ottawa was uneventful.

It’s always nice to come back “home” to Mom & Hammi , and that old sister as well, who turns 50! this year. We wanted to get her something special, so all pitched in to buy the newest, baddest X-Box game console. And because we were going to be away for her actual birthday day, we gave it to her a bit early.

Of course, December is the birthday month, and another aging one is Colleen. We had a lovely meal out at a local restaurant — one that suites everyone, including Connor’s need for PIZZA! Colleen was pleased with her new sweater (picked out by Ann). Unfortunately mom was still too sick to come out.

The days were short in Ottawa this time. We had to be at our Iroquois house by the 18th. This will be the second time we’ve sat for Brenda & Dave. They are both incredibly kind and warm, which is perfectly matched by lovely and cosy home, as well as their very cute kittes: Ville & Nash … Nash-Ville.

We were thrilled to come back to Dave & Brenda’s place, in part because it is both lovely, and very close Ottawa. We wanted to host Christmas dinner for Mom & Sis. Hammi the ageing cat can’t be left alone for long, so they were only able to come down overnight, but it was a great meal, which kinda capped off the wonderful time we had in the little house on the St. Lawrence River.

Our days at Iroquois were fairly short. We plan to head back up to Ottawa for less than a week, and then head down to near Chatham were we will return to the small farm we looked after in the spring. This will be our longest house (farm) sit for the season, and best of all, comes with three wonderful dogs, two small horses, and at least two (possibly three) barn cats. Jane & Phil are rescue-animal people, so all their critters have their own special stories. But we love them all, and are really looking forward to returning.