Tuesday, 30 August 2011

Back Home Safe and Sound

Boy that was an experience!  We’ve been home for several days, but have had things to do around here and getting the rig spiffed up (still needs an outside bath) for storage.  That’s why I haven’t blogged for a few days.

There was a huge system that went through while we were parked at 50 Point Conservation Park.  Last Wednesday dawned bright and sunny but quite windy.  I brought all my awnings in.  But I had been watching the weather on the internet and the local news.  A very bad weather front was moving in and it was HUGE.  More tornado watches and warnings were predicted.  We watched the weather all day long and then the tornado warnings started to be issued all around us.  We were on a watch which is different than a warning.  They said a watch is just that, watch.  But a warning is ‘seek shelter’.  Needless to say we were getting nervous.  I had a quick exit plan formalized in my head.  #1- Grab Jackson & Arthur.  #2 – Grab purse, laptop, camera. #3 – Get the heck out the door and into the car and vamoose!  Fortunately it didn’t come to that, but we did have a tornado warning.  I stayed up till almost midnight watching the sky and the weather on TV until we had an all clear.  But we did get the storm.  OH MY!!!! What a storm it was too.  The lightening was everywhere, the sky was constantly bright and I have never seen lightening strikes so huge.  And the rain, that was something.  Thunder, thunder and more thunder.  Good thing, Jackson and Arthur aren’t bothered by it.  In fact, Jackson slept through the whole thing.  By around midnight the worst or it had passed through as I watched the radar I could see that we were now in the ‘normal’ rain category.  It did rumble, lightening and rain on and off during the night.  Thursday morning was sunny, bright and fresh.

That is as close to any tornado warning I ever want to get.  It was a little nerve racking.

The ‘beast’ is now parked in our driveway and very shortly we are going to give her a good bath and then winterize.  As we are not leaving until the end of November I just don’t want to take any changes of a freeze up.  After that is done we will drive it to the storage lot where we keep her.

Also very soon it’s time to close up the pool.  I really hate doing it as it does signal the end of summer and looking at a covered pool just isn’t as pretty as seeing the sparkling blue water.  And poor Jackson, he stands there and looks so forlorn at the covered pool.  He really loves swimming in there and I feel bad that he can’t.  But it must be done.  Can’t run it all winter!!!!  The nights are getting cooler too, fall is definitely in the air. 

We are going to have a rear guard installed on the rig.  You know those flaps that hang down from the back end of your MH that protect your car from stones etc.  We have had several stone chips on our brand new car (well it was brand new a couple years ago).  I investigated having a bra put on the car but can’t find one anywhere.  So decided that we need this flap installed on the rig.  We will have that done once we take it to the storage lot.  The company will do it for us. 

Well that’s it for now..take care.

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Out and About Again

First, let me welcome a new follower.  Welcome americantraveler


We decided we wanted another wee trip out before we winterized and closed the rig up until the end of November when we head south.
We headed out this morning for 50 Point Conservation Park in Grimsby, Ontario.  That is just outside of Hamilton.  We came here last year and really enjoyed it.  It is located at the far west end of Lake Ontario.  It really is a beautiful spot.  There is not a lot of ‘kid’ things to do here so consequently it’s pretty quiet.  There is a large marina here also and some really expensive boats moored there.  Since the last time we were here, they had added a new campground which has 50 amp service and wifi.  Great additions. 

Last year we walked Maggie and Jackson down to the lovely beach they have and they had a ball in the water.  This year, unfortunately, Jackie had to swim by himself, but he didn’t seem to mind.  There were lots of other dogs there for company.

If you ‘mouse over’ the pictures there is a title for each one and if you click the photos, they open much larger.
MarinaPondToronto Skyline
I am really liking the new blinds we installed.  I think they give the place a little homier feel.  Once Ken figured out how to install the first one, the rest were not so bad, just a little difficult trying to install them under the existing valance.  Not much manoeuvre room.  I started off buying custom made blinds at Home Depot for the main living area.  I like them because they don’t have any little holes that let the light in.  But then I found these great Levelor blinds at Lowes that are cut to fit, and about 1/2 the price of the ones I had made at Home Depot.  And boy are they blackouts.  Very, very dark when closed.
New Blinds
These are the cut to fit Levelor
New Blinds #2Other new blinds
                                                              These are the custom made ones.


Tuesday – Had a nice quiet night’s sleep.  Very quiet and dark here at night.  This is a good thing!


We went for a nice walk down to the beach.  Jackson had another good swim.  No dogs down there when we were there, but that didn’t stop Jackie.  It’s a beautiful day here but they are calling for rain later on this evening.
Dirty Happy DogHappy DogIts a tough life
Well until later then..take care.