Bytown........

 Bytown was the original name of Ottawa.  It was founded in 1826 and was located where the Rideau Canal meets the Ottawa River.  Here is a link to more history on Bytown.

There is a museum there now and we visited it.  Following are some photos from there.

Here is a link to the Bytown Museum.  This was the cheapest museum to visit, and it is the smallest.  However, I did find it very interesting.

I had hoped you would be able to read the info on the photos, but I don't think you will be able.

There are eight locks from the Rideau Canal down to the Ottawa River.  The building in the top left of the photo is the hotel Chateau Laurier.  Hubby wouldn't go into the lobby, so we didn't go inside of it. BOO 😒

This is looking down towards the Ottawa river.

It takes a boat 1 1/2 hours to travel through the locks.  Boats are charged $2 per foot ; size of boat to travel through the locks.

They were cleaning out the garbage from the locks and doing maintenance on them when we were there.  The guy we were talking to did say they had a few boats due to go down the locks later in the day.  It was a a bit quieter than normal he said for a weekend.

Also for some reason I forgot when going down the hill to the museum, I would have to get back up!!!!  Those steps were flipping steep!!

Some random photos........

Thought I'd make a post with some random photos about random things........

I was in Costco this week and saw these two arcade games.  Sent a photo to our son and told him the boys would love them.

Son: "If only we had a generous grand parent that would want to buy that for our kids."

Me: I totally agree....if only 😉

Local store was clearing out some coffee.  I bought a package one day to try it out.  Rather strong but okay, so went back the next day and bought another 8 boxes.......coffee is so flipping expensive nowadays.

Walmart has finally stocked up on socks, so been buying packages of these ones.  For only $3 for three pairs they're a good deal.

I mentioned about the deal at Indigo where if you bought one book you could get a Murdoku book for $10; they're normally $24.99 each.  So I picked up 3 for $10 books, as they have restocked those with new ones.  I did try the first puzzle and was totally confused 😕

Indigo also had buy one get on for half price on their puzzles.  So picked up two; and with that I have spent the last of my birthday gift cards from Indigo.

Hubby's favourite birthday card was from the grandsons this year.

8 year old picked it out and wrote it.  While five year old put all the stickers in it...LOL

So there you go, random photos about random things.

Can't get this song out of my head for some reason..........

 

It was written in 1949 by Kirsty MacColl's dad, Ewan MacColl.  Kirsty MacColl sang with the Pogues, The Fairytale of New York.  The Pogues released a very popular version of Dirty Old Town as well.

The Gentlemen Series 2 - Netflix

 

Just finished watching this series and loved it as much as the first series.  The only problem is, by the time the third series is made, I will have forgotten what has happened prior!!!  The joy of getting old I guess?

Busy week........

It's been a busy week since we got back from Ottawa.  As it was yard waste week, I wanted to get the last of the summer plants thrown out.  We didn't have rain while we were away and I didn't want to bother anyone with getting them to water the remaining annuals, so they died.

I threw out the tomato plants.  If you remember I got them from a neighbour.  Mixed feelings about them.  Got a few tomatoes from the plants, but they were heirloom varieties and honestly not overly tasty.  I think I will stick to the regular varieties in future.

The trees are starting to change colour and drop leaves.  It is however, very lovely weather wise.  My perfect type of weather, cold overnight and warms up nicely through the day.

Hubby had a small procedure done on his hand.  It was a day surgery and we were home by lunch time.  So that's the end of the golf season for him for 2026.  We had scheduled it for the end of the season, so he didn't miss out from his golf.

I still haven't managed to catch up with anyone's blog yet, and for that I am sorry.  I promise to do better.

I did manage to get a couple of Ottawa posts done and am reading all your comments.  I have many more photos to share.

I am heading to Indigo on Saturday as there are a number of good things happening, including a deal on these Mystery Puzzle Books.  I have never "read" one of these, have you?  I am thinking of getting the Murdoku one, as I love Sudoku.

I am hoping things will settle down in a day or two....

(image credit)

Canadian Museum of History (Photo Heavy!)

 This post contains 19 photos, just a heads up!!

The first full day in Ottawa we walked over to the Canadian Museum of History which is over the bridge in Gatineau, Quebec.  Took us probably 35 to 40 minutes to walk there.  It was a glorious day, so a very enjoyable walk.

Canada Post had a display of all the stamps issued since 1851.  Below is a bust of Sir Sandford Fleming who designed the first stamp.  I could not take a photo in this exhibit with a glare from the lights.

Stamps issued the year I was born.

Notice how the bottom left one, is both 7 and 8 cent stamp........

In the main hall there were many totem poles.  They were super tall and all we flat on the back side.  I just assumed they would all be round?

This was neat to see and again it was huge. Must have weighed a ton weight.

You can read more about the artist here.

Right across the road from the museum was Bobino Bagel.  They were so good, and the soup was the best soup I have had in a while.  It was supposed to be pumpkin soup, but honestly I thought it was corn?

They made their own bagels in house.

Would I go to the museum again...........no.  We enjoyed the postage stamp collection, which surprised both of us, as I don't have a lot of interest in that sort of thing normally, but this exhibition was interesting.

The museum is super heavy on indigenous history and artifacts.  The French and British have a lot to answer for on their treatment of indigenous people.  I think as we were brought up in the UK, we did not learn a lot about Canadian history, so I for one didn't fully understand everything that happened.  Not everyone has the same interest in all things.  You'll see more of what I am talking about in future posts, especially the one about the National Art Gallery of Canada.

Am I glad I went, yes.  I did feel though that they need clearer directions on what direction you should go around in all exhibits.  Also a paper guide book would be super helpful.

Perth, Ontario

We decided to take the "scenic" route to Ottawa when we went last week.  Which meant we went round the top of the lake through Orillia, onto Bancroft and stopped off at Perth.  I had seen online that Perth, Ontario was a very pretty town.  Now what we didn't take into account was the lack of bathrooms; people of a certain age need to use the toilet a bit more frequently!!!  Also driving in rain...ALL DAY was not ideal!!!

It was indeed a scenic route and we passed places we hadn't been before.  We arrived in Perth sometime after 1pm, and it was raining and cold.  Due to this Perth wasn't looking it's best.

We had lunch at a place called Gather.  It was okay; overpriced and we wouldn't rush back to there.  We had Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower soup, home made bread roll (best part of the meal) and lemon with a herb butter, and a coffee.  

There were a couple of cute stores I stopped in at.  I took this photo of the calendar tea towel, as this was a blast from the past.  We used to have these growing up in the UK.  I haven't seen one in years.

Although I didn't take any photos I also called in at The Book Nook Bookstore  A really lovely woman running that store.

Perth would be a place I would like to visit again when the weather was nicer.