[TBD]: 2021

Sunday 27 June 2021

Another weekend away, another post

That week went by pretty quickly. Lots of working from the hotel and meetings but back on the airplane Friday afternoon for some pre-testing as we get ready to fly this week.

This weekend was another where I was looking for things to do outside of the hotel room. After spending a good part of Saturday getting caught up with work, it was nice to get outside for a short run near the hotel where I found a snapping turtle munching on some weeds on the shoulder of the road:

In the afternoon, I ventured out to go for a walk along the canal and lift locks. I got there just in time to see one boat coming up to one of the swing bridges:

A short walk along the canal brought me to the Peterborough Lift Lock which is one of two hydraulic lift locks on the Trent Waterway canal system. It is astonishing to me that they made this structure back in the 1900's and it is till very much in use these days. Plus, the mechanics behind the lift is pretty cool, just look at the size of the piston (or ram?) - it is huge!

The view from the top of the hydraulic lift lock

After sweating through my shirt and getting back to the car, I grabbed some snacks, some water and my book and went to find a spot to read by the lake:

Sunday was a lazier day with a short 30 mins drive to Selwyn Beach Conservation Park for a hike in the forest and then a snack along side Chemong Lake. It was hot, 24 felt like 34 (at least).

The beach park

The hike through the trees

Playing with phone camera settings

Chemong Lake

After my snack, I got back in the car and took the long way "home", around Chemong Lake and past Buckhorn Lake and Pigeon Lake (through Bobcaygeon, which the Tragically Hip named a song after) and then back into Peterborough.

Once back at the hotel, it was time for a quick chat with Lola while I got a little bit of work done and then a short nap before heading back out to find a spot to read my book by the lake. However, as I pulled into the parking lot at Beavermede Park, it was starting to rain. So instead of going to find a spot to read my book, I took my nectarine and went for another walk around the park and to the lower lift locks before heading back to the hotel feeling a little refreshed from the rain.

I'm looking forward to a busy week ahead so that I can get home as soon as possible and start my next 14 day self-isolation and then enjoy some summer. At least this time, I can spend time outside in the yard. Plus, I have my own sunscreen now since I was criticized for not buying some sunscreen earlier on my trip when I was spending so much time outside.

Sunday 20 June 2021

AA on the road again

I knew this trip was going to be in May/June of this year but I was really hoping we would be through this pandemic and almost back to normal. Unfortunately, that is not the case and has me stuck here in Peterborough for an extra couple weeks instead of being able to fly home and then come back. I guess I can't complain too much, I haven't travelled much in the last year and half so maybe this is payback?

Lola was able to load up the car and go camping at Hecla with our friends this weekend, all by herself. For me, I was looking for things to do instead of work and what better way to spend a weekend than outside enjoying the warm weather.

Saturday was spent hiking along Jackson Creek park and the Trans Canada Trail. A short 5k hike (round trip) on a gravel path which looks like it used to be a rail bed offered some scenic views of the creek, many trees, a spillway and lakes.

Lily Lake

I was summer smart - I brought a water bottle with me to stay hydrated and decided I probably shouldn't go "off roading" in the trails in the trees for fear of twisting an ankle. I am getting old (and maybe wise). Actually, the reason I decided to stay to the trail was mostly because there weren't any vantage points to get from the trails in the trees not like when I went in the trees in the mountainside near Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany...

Sunday I decided to venture out to see Lake Ontario and headed to Prince Edward Wildlife Reserve, about 2 hrs away. I also decided to take the scenic route to get there, going through many small towns and past hundreds of horse and small dairy barns all while staying on paved roads until the last 5 km to my destination.

I wasn't really looking to see any wildlife, I just wanted to go and hang out by the big water for a bit. I brought a small picnic lunch with me and my book to spend some time in nature. Lunch was good, watching the seagulls in the water, looking at Point Traverse Lighthouse and listening to the waves crash on the shore that was covered with zebra mussel shells.

A lookout point, looking back at another point along Prince Edward Bay

Point Traverse Lighthouse

The view at lunch

Shells

After lunch, I took a small walk along the shore to see the other side of the point where the waves were definitely larger. After crunching more shells under my feet along the walk back to the car, I stopped at "the beach" at the other end of the point and read a couple chapters of my book, ate a snack and watched the birds and a couple sea-doos go by. It was a very relaxing day.

The Beach (looking South)

The drive back was equally adventurous as the drive out - going through Belleville and then along numerous county roads, past many farms and eventually back to the hotel.

I'll have to keep searching for other places to go for hikes in the evenings after work since I will be here at least one more week, and then some.

Sunday 28 February 2021

Freedom

Today was a great day with the end of my quarantine. I was able to come upstairs much to the delight of Lola who was equally excited to be able to spend time with me again.

The first thing moved upstairs - the Keurig

After moving everything back upstairs and getting some laundry done, I was back to spending time downstairs as Lola scrapbooked with MBM.

No screens needed to have a face-to-face lunch

After lunch, we made our way to Niverville for a three year old birthday party. The kids were sure excited to have someone else to play with today and made it a busy afternoon.

It’s nice to be back to “normal”. And Lola was not disappointed to have me wash the dishes today.

Saturday 27 February 2021

Quarantine Day 13

Last day in the basement and quarantine!

I’m looking forward to getting back upstairs and back to a “normal” life. Today was pretty laid back, we were up late playing games last night so it was a late morning, getting out of bed at 10:15 and watching some movies this morning.

Lunch was great - breakfast and my favourite beverage, tomato juice. Ok, one of my favourites but it very well could be the #1.

This afternoon was equally relaxing with video games and then getting outside to shovel again. Hard to believe that it was snowing at -20*C but since when has it been normal?

I’m out of practice in framing my shots

Supper was delicious - chicken, lemon potatoes and Greek salad. And a cupcake for dessert. And then it was time to enjoy a coffee and read more of my book (The Bourne Identity, it’s nothing like the movie), a quick shower and now watching curling and talking to Lola waiting for the Jets game to start.

Two weeks have gone by pretty fast. It’s a good thing there was lots for me to do, it made the experience much more bearable than if I would have been stuck in a hotel with only a few things to keep me busy and occupy my time.

Friday 26 February 2021

Quarantine Day 12

Happy Friday!!

Work was routine for a Friday, planning to finish early but working late. Supper was delicious - Pizza Friday. I was able to get outside for a bit to shovel the snow that fell this afternoon. Talking to Lola, the last time I was outside was on Tuesday when I had to get my phone from the delivery driver.

This picture is a week old, I didn’t get one today during the day

Now, I just finished doing laundry and am watching a movie while I wait to see if we are going to play some games tonight. Hopefully we don’t have to wait much longer, I’m starting to get tired already.

Thursday 25 February 2021

Quarantine Day 11

Yikes, I almost forgot to blog today. Good thing Lola reminded me. It was a busy day with work, lots going on. St one point I had to send this picture with the caption:

This is very appropriate for days like today

As the day went on, the chilli for supper was wafting its way downstairs.

Supper was delicious (so was lunch). Tonight was a pretty relaxing night watching the Jets beat the Habs. Good thing too since the group chat with the Montreal boys was starting to tilt not in my favour based on the start of the game. But I knew the Jets would pull through.

Tomorrow we are hopefully playing some games with our Texas friends so I’m going to keep this post short so I can get a good night sleep. Games nights don’t end very early.

Wednesday 24 February 2021

Quarantine Day 10

Today was a sad day - it was the end of the beef and barley soup that was delivered on the weekend. That soup was sure delicious.

Today was routine otherwise - work, lunch and soon to be supper before watching TV remotely with Lola. The trash talking has also started with colleagues in Montreal for the Jets vs Habs game tomorrow. With a new head coach in the picture for Montreal, we will see how they stand-up against the Jets which seem to be playing pretty well lately. Hopefully they can keep up that momentum.

I'll leave you with this funny picture of Lola using the new "memojis" on the iPhone 11 and 12. You can use them when FaceTiming (like we did) and have the head and lips move with the audio. The head is a little bigger than real-life but still, technology is crazy...

Tuesday 23 February 2021

Quarantine Day 9

Instead of starting off the same, I’ll just jump right into the events of the day. I got s new phone today from work, my other one was certainly showing its age, not lasting a full day on wifi on a single charge. I had to run outside to get the package from the Purolator driver which was fun when I was also in the phone. I made it and got the phone setup tonight.

I got some more 6 year old artwork and some stickers from, I’m assuming, an almost 3 year old. It sounds like the kids were very excited to see Lola in the morning this morning and then again after school. At one point, the three year old (L) brought the iPad out of her room after resting from her minor surgery to sit at her little table just as Lola was sitting at the dining room table. Pretty cute.

Supper was good, left overs from our delivered anniversary meal from the weekend along with my final piece of gluten free carrot cake. Apparently there is one piece left upstairs but I’m told it’s not mine. Lol.

After finishing setting up my new phone and then a couple miles on the bike, it’s now time to watch some tv with Lola.

I also got a summary of my activity from the past week from Fitbit, I’m not sure how I got some many floors climbed:

Monday 22 February 2021

Quarantine Day 8

Not much to report today - was pretty routine with work. Got my test results back (negative!) and enjoyed lunch and supper with Lola. Lola is off to Niverville for the night to babysit tomorrow morning while our friends take their other kid into the city for surgery on her thumb. So I'm all alone tonight, in the basement.

Luckily, Lola is always looking out for me and didn't leave me without any food for lunch tomorrow. I could likely have survived with granola bars, cereal and dried pasta. Beyond that, I would have made a mess trying to get into canned soup with my tools downstairs and am not too sure how I would have made tomato soup with the Keurig. But I won't need to find out any time soon.

Sunday 21 February 2021

Quarantine Day 7

Well, it's been a week of quarantine. The time went by pretty fast. Lola can't wait for me to move back upstairs so that I can resume my dishes duty but she has been keeping up and doing a fine job so far.

Today was pretty laid back - some video games in the morning, another COVID test early this afternoon, some BodyFlow this afternoon along with a quick virtual visit and then supper. There was also some time to read my book, play Scrabble (on the app) and do some laundry. Now that I look back at it, it was a little busy.

Disinfecting the alarm after I had to disable it this morning to leave the house at 11:30

Definitely needed the stretching

Once again at the drive-thru test site, there was no one in line when I arrived but this time there were four other vehicles when I left. Still a very convenient service - hopefully my results come back as quickly as last time and with the same result.

Supper was delicious - Lola's parents wanted to bring us supper and it did not disappoint. The perogies, meatballs, chicken wings and carrots were excellent. I'm looking forward to left overs for lunch tomorrow! We also had a short visit this afternoon when they dropped off the food. Lola was outside with them and I was able to stay in the warm and cozy indoors talking on FaceTime.

Tonight's plan - read some more, watch some tv and then the Jets game. I doubt I will make it through the entire game with another 9pm start but hopefully I will see enough of the game to know the outcome.

Last night's Anniversary Dinner - sushi!

Saturday 20 February 2021

Quarantine Day 6

I'm feeling reminiscent today, thinking back over all the years Lola and I have been together since it is our 11th Anniversary. We have shared lots of great memories over these years and have many photos documenting our adventures. Here are just a few from over the years (wow this took a long time to collect from previous blog posts).