Ay Up Me Duck: May 2015

Well……. some days it feels like spring. You have to live in Canada to appreciate this:

Today it's 12C so NO excuse not to do this:

Well….. MAYBE not in the woods by myself. After all, this IS Canada:

and I have a healthy and well-founded respect for Mother Nature.

I don't want to end up here:

A walk around Callander will be perfectly fine!

A perfect little cottage for one (or two…)

Callander's claim to fame: the birthplace of the Dionne quintuplets

and the Museum was the home of Dr. Dafoe, the doctor who took care of the quints after delivery and during childhood. Of course by the time he arrived at the scene, the quints had been safely delivered by two midwives, Madame LeGros and Madame LeBelle. The museum was closed today but is worth a visit and maybe, one day, if you're lucky, I'll take you inside:-)

Knox United Church

They have a lovely Evensong service here in the summer with local musicians, soloists, choirs and lemonade and cake!

The War Memorial in Peace Park to honour fallen local heroes of the Great War, World War II and the

Korean War

One of the many older homes, great style!

They don't build them like they used to!

St. Peter's United Church.

The United Church of Canada is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1925 as a merger of four Protestant denominations including the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church

And just across the road, St.Alphonsus of Liguori RC Church.

I must admit I'd never heard of him before, he seems to be a somewhat obscure Italian saint!

And in the church flowerbed, look what's blooming…..

Lily of the Valley

Alongside the church this lovely home. I love the way gardeners take advantage of the natural features of the land to plan their gardens. Lots of rockeries here and there:

This rockery belongs to this gorgeous heritage home:

It's got an old-fashioned swing hanging from the tree bough. A perfect playground for kids.

Past a babbling brook

More beautiful heritage homes

And of course, this iconic building:-))

Which will soon find a new home here:

so that future generations won't be doing this:

Down to the new dock, lots of people fishing:

A view of the South Shore:

The old Harbour Office, now Chris's Man Cave, as the sign on the front door says!

Back heading south on Main Street:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who cultivates dandelions!

Look who I met! Kim….. she lives around the corner from me and also teaches Tai Chi

Here she is showing her moves; she's a great teacher and I'm really enjoying her class!

Probably my most favourite house in Callander, built of stone and backing onto the lake.

I could live here quite happily:-)

A great view!

Time to head home:

The Fiddlers Inn

The Ram's Head Restaurant

Another heritage home along Main Street

I just liked the look of this growing in Kim's front garden!

Of course, the best home in town……. there's maybe a bit of bias here!

The flowering trees are heirloom crabapples and attract a lot of deer in the fall as the apples ripen and fall to the ground.

And just to prove that spring may have actually sprung:

one of the fir trees in my back yard and, guess who was sitting under the tree??

(No, it wasn't George Clooney!)

If you look closely, you can see him in the shadows.

I've never seen rabbits here, EVER , so this was a nice surprise! I do have a resident groundhog who has yet to surface, lots of deer, chipmunks and the occasional racoon. But, I have never seen rabbits here before. Now, if you're interested in this kind of thing, a rabbit symbolizes fertility

and also growth in artistic areas and new projects.

Taking into account that I was born in the Year of the Rabbit as per Chinese Astrology, I am taking the appearance of this rabbit as a very auspicious sign! And please don't worry:

And……….. later on:

a glorious sunset over Callander Bay. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Talk soon

Zoe

A few weeks ago I left here:

Heathrow Airport, London

To arrive at Lester Pearson Airport, Toronto

The planes got progressively smaller as I headed up north:

Here I am, sitting in the back row of a 9-row plane, with a delightful 94 year old passenger who was returning from Florida

And, so, where did I end up??

If you're Canadian, please ignore the geography lesson!

Callander is located just to the right of Sudbury in the Province of Ontario (the pink bit!) Actually it's about a 75 min car ride from Sudbury unless you're in the back of an ambulance with lights and sirens and then you can make it in 40mins! Honest!

It's also very close to the Quebec border. It takes 2 VERY long days to drive across the Province of Ontario, driving 12 - 14 hours per day.

Here's a map of Ontario. North Bay is our closest city, about 15mins away from Callander.

Callander is located on the shores of Lake Nipissing. It owes its existence primarily to the logging companies that settled around its shores, taking advantage of the abundant white pine that grew in the area. George Morrison, one of the first pioneers, opened a store and a Post office and named it after his parents birthplace, Callander in Scotland. Besides Scotland, early residents primarily claimed ancestry from England, Ireland and France. Of course, the very first people in the Callander area were of Ojibway and Algonquin descent and have lived around Lake Nipissing for about 9, 400 years!

Today Callander is primarily a bedroom community of North Bay with a population of about 3800 and is also well known for it's fishing and boating. There are numerous fishing camps in the area that attract tourists, especially in the summer months.

It's hard to believe that 2 weeks ago, I left this:

To come to this:

Cold, overcast skies and rain! (We DID have two gloriously warm days last week, honest!)

Callander Bay and Lake Nipissing with not a leaf to be seen!

And, today, I headed up Main Street:

The Post Office where I pick up my mail

If you look to the left, there's a portrait of Lizzie. It always kills me that there's more portraits of the Queen in Civic buildings in Canada than there is in England!

By the way, I mailed a letter to Ryan Air telling them what brilliant service they provide!

The Municipal Offices and Fire Hall

Here's a closer look at the Municipal Offices with the Callander logo

Across the street, the Callander Medical Clinic with lots of great docs, a dentist and hygienist, chiropractor and massage therapists. I only go there once a year! Which is good!

One of the few apartment blocks, looking over the lake

The stuff on the right- hand side of the road is salt-sand used on the roads in the winter to provide extra traction in icy conditions. It gets cleaned up eventually.

Noon Memorials

This always makes me smile and think of the nursery rhyme:

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary

What does your garden grow?"

I don't think it meant gravestones!

And it's not as daft as it sounds as I often see Robb hosing off the headstones in the summer!

Can you believe that, with all the mineral resources in Canada, and with this part of Ontario being located on Pre-Cambrian rock, that these are imported from China! Apparently it's more cost effective to ship from there and price is the bottom line with many consumers. Crazy.

It looks as if Robb's new spring collection is in. A sobering thought to see all those blank headstones.

The first signs of spring! I have a deja-vu feeling!

This is where I was heading to:

For a yoga session with the lovely Nicky:

Don't let that smile deceive you! She can be ruthless and make you hold poses for a lifetime. Or at least it seems that long to me! And then she says "don't forget to breathe" as we're all gritting our teeth.

My favourite Nicky sayings:

"Leave your ego at the door"

"It's YOUR yoga"

"EVERYbody can do yoga"

And that's completely true! I still can't touch my toes and I'll be in Yoga 101 for ever but I DO feel

so much better for practising and it's all thanks to this lady!

And, on the walk home……..

St. Teresa's Elementary School

Harley and Ralph doing yard work. They cut my grass too.

The playground and beach were deserted, but not for long!

A colourful display at the coffee shop

And, no walk would be complete without a visit to the Callander Library:

Helen, our CEO/Chief Librarian

Kim, Assistant Librarian and Raising Readers Co-ordinator

Because we all know:

Helen and Kim organized the Forest of Reading Celebration last Saturday at the Community Centre and did a fantastic job!

The Forest of Reading is Canada's largest recreational reading program and run by the Ontario Library Association. It is geared towards readers in Kindergarten to Grade 12, with several programs targeting adult readers, ESL learners and French speakers. The readers get to chose the winners of each category by voting for their favourite books. The main objective is to encourage a love of reading in persons of all ages as well as to introduce students and patrons to high quality Canadian books.