Weekend drive in the country

I have always loved drives into the countryside. Doesn't matter what province. Having grown up here, my husband and I know quite a few of the roads in Ontario but it's always nice to find something new.

I took this by just sticking the camera out the window. That's the antenna in the middle. 

The name of this road is Green Lane.

Fields of mown hay.

I think it's wonderful to see farms that are still being worked and they are not too far from the big city.

A field of something being grown.

We didn't stop and look. We have enough stuff in our house.

There were signs for Strawberry Socials, Strawberries and Salad or Strawberry something all over. Usually on church notice boards. This one was in front of...

a house that was once home to Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables books. L.M. Montgomery was a minister's wife and the church where he was a pastor was right across the street from this house. We didn't go in and I'm not altogether sure you can tour it.

This is one of the plaques outside the house.

Here's the other one. This one was put up by the federal government while the other one is a provincial government historical plaque. Seems sort of overkill to me.

We saw some horses...

some cows...

and a lot of bikers out for a ride on a wonderful warm day.

Checked out a new quilt store in Lindsay, Ontario that's only been opened for about a half a year.

The owner, Sandra Falconer, kindly let me take a few photos. 

They gained about a foot in floor space when they renovated and loads of height since there were false walls and a false ceiling.

They did a super job with the renovations and if I am in the area, I will drop in again. There used to be a Fabricland in town but it closed down and so it's nice to know that quilters in the area have a place to go to.

When we pulled up to this chip truck, there was only one customer. When I went into the quilt store, there was only one customer besides me but when I left (after about 15 minutes) there were many more people that had come in. I guess we attracted a crowd.

We had eaten here before and, although the chips and gravy were OK, next time we will try another chip truck. These weren't fresh cut, homemade fries.

We kept driving through small towns.

We saw some gorgeous old brick houses. These red brick houses are the norm in southern Ontario.

Some newer houses mimic the old style.

We saw more farms.

And an old cemetery.

We drove through more small towns.

Someone turned right instead of left and look, there in the distance, is that water?

A little off course and we ended up at Lake Simcoe. Oh well, it wasn't too far from home. Just head straight south.

For some reason this fellow...

juggles on the street corner. We have seen him before. 

And through it all, Baxter slept in the backseat.

The hairy beasts got tamed

This is what Baxter looked like before his hours long clipping which was done in two sessions since he was stressed. He is a senior and this time we found that a couple of his previous groomers didn't want to deal with him. There was never any problem before. We have found a wonderful new (to us) groomers who really, really care about the animals. We will be bringing him back before he gets to the unmanageable state.

Don't mind the flyers on the floor and the unvacuumed rug. These were taken before I left to visit little Luc and I always like to leave the house clean when I leave.

Here's Baxter as he looks now. This is his summer wear. We know that he is losing his eyesight and the groomer found out that he has a hard time with depth perception. We have about four steps that he has to manage off the front porch and we have to keep his leash taut - otherwise he slides down or he thinks he can fly.

 Pixel has a nickname, it's fluffy kitty.

 Her sister Digit is known as skinny kitty but...

no longer. Since Pixel got clipped, she is now skinny kitty. Her groomer only does cats and I was told that the groomer wanted to keep her because she had never had such a good cat while she worked away. For those of you who don't know, the owner has to hold their cat while the groomer works. My husband took little Pixel in while I was away. She was matted and needed to be done. A nice summer cut for her too and another groomer we will be going back to.

Hairy beasts no longer but sleek animals.

Baxter

Before

 This was what Baxter looked like before May 1st and before he went to a brand new groomer. This is the third groomer he has had since we got him a year and a half ago. It's not that he is a problem, it's just that we like to see what the various groomers in the area are like, their prices and how they treat the old guy. Kinda looks like the dog in the 1959 movie "The Shaggy Dog." Go look that one up all you young'uns...

After 

Looks like a brand new doggy, eh? This groomer was the only one to give Baxter a neckerchief. He wore it for a few days and then I took it off him. I will put it back on for special occasions. I really do think he feels much better with his winter coat off although the temperatures are a bit cool right now. This groomer didn't keep him all day (like the second one we brought him to) nor was it really pricey, like the first one. Maybe we'll return to this groomer when he needs to be clipped again.

Pixel

Well, it's almost spring and it seems that a lot of pets have been visiting their vets. My little Pixel is my long haired kitty. She and her sister Digit are now 13 years old.


My little sleeping Pixel. As you can see, she does have quite a long coat on her. She may look big but when you pick her up you realize just how little she weighs.

This is my favourite picture of Pixel because I actually got her little tongue in the shot as she was lapping up her milk. Digit doesn't drink milk and, sometimes, Pixel refuses to have any, even though she will sit beside the fridge and wait until I put some milk in a dish. I don't know if it's the type of milk she doesn't like after she sniffs it or if she is just fickle. Over the past few months we noticed that her coat was getting quite matted. Since she doesn't like to be brushed, I tried to cut some of the mats off her. Some of them were quite close to her skin and when we brought her in to see the vet to get her check-up, the vet suggested we bring her to a groomer. Now, not all dog groomers do cats but after trying one a bit farther away from us, we brought her in to the one just down the street from us. That groomer is the same one that trimmed Baxter last year. My son Eric brought Pixel in one afternoon when all the dogs were gone and this is how she came home looking.

 Please don't laugh.

 It is called a lion cut and I do think that Pixel likes it. She did seem a bit strange to Digit and Baxter at first.

 They have now gotten used to her new "do" and so have we.