Ay Up Me Duck: Shakin' Up North!

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.