North country

We have been enjoying the more rustic charms that Canada has to offer, spending time with friends and family in the North country over the last couple of weeks. We started off with a week with Maggie's parents at their home near Cloyne, Ontario, that ended with a brief visit with my cousin Dave and his son. It was a great opportunity for our sons to play with their cousin, and I hadn't had any significant time to talk with Dave since we were teenagers, since he has spent much of his adult life in the United States.

Over the years Dave's father has frequently built 'Rube Goldberg' type contraptions with motors, a variety of bells and whistles and ball bearings, to amuse the children, and he made one this year for his grandson to take home. We were given a demonstration, and the "Wacko-matic" fascinated everyone...

Then we bid Maggie's parents, and cousin Dave goodbye, and headed off to Lake St. Peter to spend the long weekend with Ronda and Adrian and their daughter. The boys were happy to get there in time to help Adrian with a little construction work, and we were lucky to have fantastic weather. Unfortunately this year the fire ban precluded the use of fireworks, but we really didn't mind. There was lots of time for tubing behind the neighbour's ski boat, fishing, swimming and canoeing, plus many fantastic meals, including a particularly killer prime rib roast, and quiet conversation into the wee hours of the morning.

There's been lots of good fishing, and Malcolm was happy to cook and eat the bass he caught off the dock with a small Rapala lure. Duncan also has caught his fair share of fish, but nothing yet that he has elected to cook and eat. He's had a lot of fun playing with the various neighbor kids - and their dogs - that are part of the cottage experience, and has filled out his time in the hot tub, swimming in the lake, and going tubing.

We've also taken a break periodically to head off on short trips. I went into Cloyne last week to sing through my Mozart Nozze di Figaro, and then Malcolm and I went golfing at the Hunter's Creek course, which was really nice, despite the rain that forced us to take a little pause part way through. Malcolm did very well, and we had a great time on the course together.

This week I took a solo trip to Campbellford to meet with Bruce, who was in the area giving some voice lessons, and then we had a great lunch with Brian Finley, to enjoy a relaxed visit now that the rush and stress of the Westben Festival is over. On the way home we stopped in at the Churchkey Brewery, to have a little tasting, and I bought a "growler" - a brown 1.89 litre refillable glass jug - of their cranberry maple wheat beer. Maggie and Sheila and I tried it, and liked it; the sourness reminds me a little bit of a lambic beer, very refreshing in the hot summer. Bruce opted for "Holy Smoke", which is flavoured with peat smoke, a bit like an Islay Malt whisky.

I was thrilled to see an orange '69 or maybe early '70s dodge charger in the parking lot of the former church where the brewery is housed, and didn't miss the opportunity to grab a quick pic for the collection.

We returned to the Rose family cottage yesterday evening, and will visit with them until we head to Perth for lunch with friends tomorrow, and then on to Kingston for a visit with cousins, and then a reunion with members of our wedding party, who introduced us in Kingston, seventeen years ago now. We're looking forward to some BBQ, swimming off the pier, and a visit to the Mustang Drive-in north of town, up by the junkyard. Who knows, there might even be some go-carting involved... Yee-haw!