THE BEST LAID PLANS AREN'T

MON 16 JAN 2012 6:02pm Very mild today so I got out to start putting the board and batten on the back of the garage, the part we can see from the kitchen window. It's going to look really good, better than the old metal. And in the spring we're going to put up a couple rows of eave-trough on the wall and plant lettuces in them. Got this idea on line somewhere. Sounds like a plan.

Other than that it's just a quiet, relaxing time. Looked at lots more of Dave's great pictures of Peru. I'm thinking you have to be in good shape just to tour that country. Changed my FB picture, to a nice one of me and J taken on Christmas. Did some more ancestry stuff. I never get to these things normally. Not that I'm terribly busy, I just think I am. I guess it doesn't take much to overwhelm me.

WED 18 JAN 2012 1:31pm Came into town to pick up a parcel. It was a genuine Cowichan toque with a whale on it. It is from Michael, of course, being back in Victoria. The Coast Salish women of southern Vancouver Island knit sweaters and hats that are very prized. Thank you, Michael, I'll face the rest of the winter on the Back Porch in style.

My Cowichan toque

Yesterday was a holiday that just snuck up on us. I wanted to treat J to breakfast so we went to Pt. Rowan but the place was closed. So, we decided to head for Dover, and the coffee shop. That was good. Then we went to Len's for some scrap leather to put on the bottom of slippers so they don't wear out as fast. Then we felt like driving a bit more and headed east, through Nanticoke and Lowbanks, (where we had a quick search of the beach for glass, but nothing much), and on.

Saw the sign for Crystal Beach and decided to see what it was like now, long after the demise of the amusement park. It wasn't too far down the road. Most of what was the park is now houses built to resemble an older style, very colourful, looking a lot like Disney World, actually. Driving to the beach access there is a stretch of vastly different eating places, from the very chic Italian restaurant to the Paddy Wagon pub, and everything in between.  As you pull into the beach parking there are a couple of derelict buildings, and as you walk out you can see the old covered pier, also in bad shape. I remember eating on it once years ago. It was nice to be out over the water, and it was in the shadow of the huge wooden roller coaster. The Fun House was the best, so ancient and creepy, and perfect. But, that is all a memory and we carried on.


Stopped again in Port  Colburne, a bit of a time-capsule on the Welland Canal, and went to Nickel Beach. We had been there before and liked the feel of it. It's been a park since 1922, so there is a long stretch with no building on it other than a change house and a snack bar, both built to last, out of cinder blocks. There is a wide beach, backed by a hill. We saw a path up and explored it finding that the hills are actually very large sand dunes, with lots of vegetation growing on them. Off  the right of the beach you see lake freighters tied in to a big industrial complex.

Did I mention we were just going out for breakfast so I forgot my camera, and heavy coat, and water to drink. We always go out prepared, but not today.

Anyway we ended up in Fort Erie, sitting in the car, eating pulled pork, vegetables and dip and fruit bought from a grocery store, and coffees, looking across the Niagara river at the twinkling lights of Buffalo, N.Y.  Talk about a restaurant with a view.


It was calm all day, but as we sat there a terrific wind came up suddenly, rocking the car. It was wild. That's when we turned around and headed home. The best unplanned adventure in a long time.