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....

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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.

Ottawa......

We spent a few days in Ottawa last week.  We normally go to the States this time of year, but with what has been coming out of Donald's mouth recently, even I couldn't justify visiting the States, sorry 😟

We have been to Ottawa before but it was probably 25+ years ago.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in downtown Ottawa.  I chose that hotel as it was reasonably priced; I booked through Expedia.  We stayed in room 530 and it was an accessible room, which although we hadn't booked turned out to be a good room to have.

The room was very clean, as was the rest of the hotel. In fact the cleanest hotel we have ever stayed at.

There were numerous grab bars in the bathroom.

The tub was lower down, which made it super easy to step into, when having a shower.

The breakfast, was included and it had a variety of items on offer, both hot and cold.  I will say this was also the best breakfast's I have had in a hotel.  There were three woman (staff) on duty replenishing and keeping everything tidy in the breakfast area.

There was underground parking, which did cost an additional $25 per night, but it was very secure, no one could get into the parking garage without a guest card.  I managed to lose our guest cards one day, so called the hotel right away and they canceled them and reissued others, with no issue and no charge.

If you can walk 20 thousand steps per day, this is the perfect hotel for you, as within a 10 to 20 minute walk you can get to Byward Market, Parliament Buildings, National Gallery of Canada,  Rideau Mall, and Notre Dame Basilica  

The History Museum was probably a 30 + minute walk and The Museum of Nature a 40+ minute walk.  We did not move our car the whole time we were there, and walked everywhere.  I will say my poor feet suffered and by night I was super tired, but the weather was superb while we were there.

Now the negative parts....LOL  The mattress needed replacing, as it was super soft.  Pillows also needed replacing, no support at all.......our own fault we should have brought our own with us.  The a/c was super loud, so we had to turn it off at night, so we could sleep.  Luckily the weather wasn't stinking hot.  All those are minor things which probably wouldn't bother some people.

The biggie though, and probably one of the things most people complained about was the actual location and/or what was located across the road from the hotel.  We followed the GPS and it took us the fastest way which happened to be on Murray Street.  Going down Murray Street you go past many homeless people, which is very off putting to say the least.  It turns out diagonally across the street from the hotel is the Homeless Shelter and numerous agencies that cater to them.  

So, the staff advise you at the hotel to avoid that street, which was easy to do and just don't interact with the homeless.  We never had an issue at all with them.  The majority were so out of it, they probably had no idea we were even close by.  I remember commenting about the homeless when we were in Savannah, and this was just the same.  

There were a lot around the mall; again you just ignored them.  In the market there were a few begging.  We only had one approach us directly and his hand was in a bad way.  I would have paid for a cab to the hospital but I knew I was wasting my money.

If you are very sensitive to be in such an environment then this hotel is not for you.  We don't go out after dark, so we didn't find it a problem for us, and I have seen it before in other big cities.

The roads surrounding the area are also pretty busy, so you do hear a little bit of traffic noise, but not enough to keep you awake; but if it has to be super quiet for you to sleep, again this hotel is not for you.

Would I stay at this hotel again; yes.  It's just unfortunate about the homeless situation, and the staff hear this all the time.  I will say again though, I have never been in such a clean and well presented hotel like this before, really nice.  There was a pool and gym also, but I didn't go to either.

I have many more photos and stories to share about Ottawa in the coming days..........

New Bird Feeder

When my mother came over in the summer, she brought over this bird feeder in the shape of a British telephone box.  The only problem with it was that it was just painted and with the winters we have, it wouldn't have survived the winter.

I finally got around to buying some clear coat to seal the painted surface, so it could with stand the winter weather; or at least last a little longer. 
Very simple to do and took only three spray coats to seal it.

I do need to replace the string  with some wire as it will be easier for me to reach the hanger with a stiff wire, rather than the twine.

Sunday.........

 

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Hubby's birthday today, celebrating with family, so a happy day for us.  Hope it's a lovely day for you!

Sorry for the lack of interaction this past week we have been away in Ottawa. Things will be back to normal on Tuesday.

New addition to our Front Porch......

For Father's Day, our son and family, bought him an "Adirondack" chair for the front porch.  As you can see it is a Football/Soccer themed one, in honour of the 2026 world cup.  It's made of a super heavy duty plastic and weighs a ton!!!  Which doesn't make me as worried to leave it on the front porch and someone walking away with it.

As we liked it, son suggested he would buy us a matching Canada one, as our Christmas gift.  We said yes and it arrived a couple of weeks ago.

I generally find these Adirondack/Muskoka chairs uncomfortable; however these ones are not as far back and the legs suit my shorter legs....LOL

They are Canadian made and very unique.