Sunday 21 July 2019

Happy Anniversary

Our 28th year anniversary was yesterday and our tourism-y daughter prepared a detailed itinerary for us, which was good, since I'm always quite indecisive about what to do and where to go. The weather, which had been very hot and humid, calmed down a bit with the day being overcast and the temperature dropping a bit. Here are the highlights:


Jones Falls

So, here's the couple, doing the bad selfie thing. We started out with a walk through beautiful craggy limestone and ancient cedars to see a waterfall. The setting was magical - I love trails like this.


Dappled sunlight, woodsy smells, birdsong, things to climb on - lovely!







Next, we moved onward to a restaurant to enjoy one of husband's favourite things in life... a charcuterie board!!


His favourite, stilton, was part of this. There seemed to be more 'crustini' than cheese, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. I had a baguette sandwich which was very, very good. This place is all about cheese, so the sandwich had brie cheese in it. Who puts brie cheese in a 'ham and cheese' sandwich? Well, it was delicious!

This was the restaurant. The interior is nicely done, all brick walls and wood shelving.

After lunch, we drove a ways to a magical, wonderful place. I love a good garden tour and this one did not disappoint. The place was called Keppel Croft Gardens and it is the result of forty years of slogging done by a couple who had an amazing vision of what could be done with their property.


This is the Garden Ruin, the owner created in a couple of stages. There are many details that don't show in this picture, but it helps to create a little microclimate area and divides the space up into another outdoor "room".


They created Keppelhenge in an open area in a field. They have little signs on the base of each stone telling that the sun sets here on the winter solstice, etc. They do a summer solstice event here. They are very much into astronomy and have created a wonderful inlaid "calendar" of sorts on the ground. I forgot to take a picture of it, unfortunately.


I so admire people who can envision. They have taken four acres and created spaces and rooms and paths. People are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch and there are many spots where you can have a seat and enjoy. The gardens are in a bit of a lull at the moment, as the June flowers are done blooming and some areas were a bit beaten down by a recent hard rain, but the structures themselves were enough to keep me intrigued. The owners use rock (because there's enough of it available in this area!) and concrete to help create planters and barriers and groupings.


Husband was inspired to try creating some concrete work, as he always is when we see sites like these. Unfortunately, we decided we had to cut our visit short because we were being eaten alive by mosquitos and deer flies. That's summer in Ontario. If you feel like having a deeper look into this wonderful place, I'll direct you to their website which really tells the tale of all the work they have put into this - forty years- that's dedication. There isn't even a charge to get in, but donations are accepted (which, of course, we did).

After that, we had an ice cream cone at the local, and only, corner store. No pictures. And then eventually we meandered down Lake Huron to a restaurant we hadn't tried before for supper. The rain was coming down in buckets. I wasn't impressed by the restaurant at all (do NOT flip over the burnt naan bread and expect me not to notice!), so I won't bother mentioning the name. However, husband's meal was o.k. and the day in its entirety was great, thanks to daughter getting it all organized for us.

Today will be a day of digging in the dirt and maybe a bit of reading. I'm ripping out the "strawberries gone wild" portion of my vegetable garden, which really should be called the "strawberries, twitch grass, dandelions, and bindweed" bed. It's been a tough slog, as I am digging it all by hand so I can find every fat white root and eradicate as many of those perennial weeds as possible. The next step is to, and it is NOT going to be pretty, take an old, ugly, blue carpet and lay it on top of the soil, leaving it there for the rest of the season, over winter, and into early spring of next year in order to kill off anything else I might have missed. I will weight it down with some of the many rocks that are piled up here and there on the property. What I'd really like (Mama Pea, this is because of you!), is to have raised beds there with proper crushed stone pathways in between. Still not sure what kind of wood to use. Pine will rot over time, pressure-treated will likely leach deadly chemicals into the soil to be soaked up by root vegetables, and cedar is too expensive. What to do, what to do?

Anyway, I've been up for two hours and I'm starving, so I'm signing off for now. Have a great Sunday, all!

45 comments:

  1. Happy Anniversary! :) What a nice day, you both look great! Those gardens are really cool, I love that little picnic nook. I can imagine the mosquitoes and deer flies, we have them rampant in the back yard and it's worse because of the humidity. I built my raised beds out of pine, but they are just temporary ones, not sure what kind of lumber is the best to use. Oh, I put Brie in my ham sandwich! :)

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    1. Oh, now I am not surprised that you put brie on your sandwich!! You are the "cheese queen"!

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  2. You look very young and pretty Jenn. That charcuterie board is to die for!

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    1. Yes, he just loves everything cheese and meat and pickle.

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  3. Happy Anniversary to both of you!
    Thanks for the garden tour. Looks like a really fun and inspiring place to visit.
    Humidity is off the charts here this morning. I think the bugs, and there are a lot of them, are waiting at the door to attack us as we go outside.
    Ugly weather, swamp like, more like the low country of South Carolina than western MA.

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    1. Thank you, Elizabeth! I wish we could have stayed longer to see more of it.

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  4. Your hike was so wonderful and the garden a treasure. Happy Anniversary..

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    1. I think the "hike" (it wasn't really all that far) was the best part of the day!

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  5. Nice countryside. Happy Anniversary.

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  6. What a happy day to celebrate being together. Beautiful.

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  7. Happy Anniversary Jenn. You and your husband look so cute . Your daughter did very well organizing your day out together. The garden was nice, too bad about those pests. Blessings for many more years together. xoxo, Susie

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    1. She's great at doing this sort of thing, and she knew what husband and I would both like (cheese for him, gardens for me).

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  8. Happy Anniverary and good luck with that 'concrete work' in the dreaming/plannng stages.

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    1. He is a man of many ideas - most are on hold at the moment, but some day!

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  9. Well, first of all, happy anniversary! I love every single photos, especially the ones of you two! It looks like you got more into one day than most get in a weekend. Love the garden especially and I think I might have gone for that chacuterie board, too, though I would have fought with your husband over the Stilton! What a great daughter you have!

    I can relate to the mosquitoes. We've been getting loads of rain here and they seem to come out, especially in the woods (and in my bedroom at night. Only one but he's loud! Maybe it's a fly.)

    Here's to another two or more-plus decades of being together. This post is making my Sunday smile!

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    1. All it takes is one mosquito in your room at night! Daughter is very thoughtful that way - she'll be the perfect employee to someone's media / tourism / promotion company some day!

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  10. Happy, happy (belated) anniversary wishes! Oh, how I wish I had someone like your daughter to organize outings for us. (Seems it's always up to moi to make the specific plans and, for me, that takes a certain joy out of it . . . although my dear husband always readily goes along with whatever I do plan.) I would love to be handed an itinerary for a special outing, and you certainly had that.

    Enjoyed seeing that couple's creations. We took a rock wall building class once and I've always wanted to do some building in that vein for landscaping around our place here. As with so many things, that's still on the back burner and a bit far down The List.

    Raised beds with gravel pathways between! Oh, be still my heart. As you know I've got the raised beds, but the grass (some might call it mowed weeds) walkways between are not easy to keep looking good.

    Thanks for taking us on your anniversary day celebration!

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    1. There are many rock walls in that neck of the woods because it's very rocky - lots of limestone.

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  11. Happy Anniversary! Glad you had such a wonderful day! That garden is beautiful -- I love Keppelhenge, LOL!

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    1. It was really cool - the summer solstice celebration that they host looks pretty interesting.

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    2. I mentioned to husband that I was wondering if I put my hand on one of the rocks, maybe I could time travel! (Gabaldon anyone?)

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  12. What a fantastic place to visit. Love those gardens and the imagination they had to create such a delight. Would love to vist a place like that and see the kepplehenge .
    Happy anniversary to you both and hope you have many more years together and many more anniversaries outings like this .... with some fine cuisine.
    Aren't children terrific!

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  13. Happy Anniversary! You both look good..and its great to have someone else who knows you bot well to organize!

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    1. She's been to most places of interest in the area as part of her jobs for the past two summers, so she's a great source of information!

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  14. Happy Anniversary. You did well to be out on such a hot day! We live a little ways north of Barrie and I did NOT go out yesterday. We have raised beds in our garden. Hubby built them out of larch ( a variety of tamarak). He works at a lumber mill, and they have it there. It won't last as long as cedar, but is way less expensive. We've had our beds at least 10 years, and they are needing to be replaced, but are still working fine (if you don't mind the odd sliver or two).

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    1. Hmmm, not sure if we can get that here. Might ask around at the sawmills (a lot of them are Amish / Mennonite sawmills). Thanks for the good suggestion!

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  15. Happy Anniversary. Looks like a good place to go.

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  16. Congratulations! Love the photo of the water over the rocks. As we absolutly cook in the states, this is refreshing. Had to laugh at the "crostini" board you had...we just had one that was the opposite with only 4 pcs of bread. Love the whole idea of a cheese board to linger over but need to talk to the ones making them to even it out! https://littleblackdomicile.com/2019/07/21/the-sunday-spy-7-21-19/

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  17. OH I must check out that garden that you wandered in. Your daughter did an excellent job at creating a lovely day for your anniversary (belated wishes). She could probably do things like that for many people & get paid for it; not everyone wants Europe! (col). ... Mary-Lou =^..^=

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    1. Oh, you should, it would be a nice little day trip for you! (Big Bay)

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  18. Happy Anniversary Jenn, it looks like an action-packed and enjoyable day!

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  19. Happy anniversary. Are we sure that's really you, and not your daughter? Of course we do; it's just great to see you so young and vibrant.

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  20. Happy Anniversary! Maybe you could combine your ideas and have cement for your raised beds! The falls look so nice and cool. The hot, muggy weather is supposed to break tonight here - hope for the same in your neck of the woods.

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  21. Happy anniversay to you two! Looks like a good day all around.

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  22. Happy Anniversary! Your daughter arranged a wonderful itinerary for you two. It looks like it was just a delightful day!

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  23. Ha Ha to your hands on the stones - I think with my luck I wouldn't meet a Jamie type ... plus I doubt I would remember much of any health class to survive in the old days ...

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  24. What a wonderful garden - I am also an admirer of people who can take a vision from thought to reality. I wish there was something like that, here. What a great gift - the gift of an itinerary! Planning is not one of my fortes, so having someone else do it would be wonderful. I hear you on the deer flies - they are brutal! Happy (late) anniversary wishes - you two look fabulous!

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  25. Belated Happy Anniversary wishes, Jenn, and kudos to your daughter for planning a great itinerary, except for the mosquitoes, which can be annoying.

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