Camping Meal Preparations

Hard to believe on a day like today when it's barely above freezing that in less than a month, we'll be on our first camping trip. The first trip is to three Ontario provincial parks, and we'll only be gone just over a week. 

Our big trip is down to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We just finished doing all the bookings and we'll be gone a month. It was an adventure booking the Nova Scotia provincial parks as they lock the web site for the 15 minutes prior to the time reservations open, then you're assigned a random number that is your place in line to get onto the web site. The first morning we tried to book a park, my sister got in right away, and I had a five-minute wait. As a result of that reservation system, we didn't get any of the sites we wanted but we did get into all the parks we'd hoped to, except one, so we had to change our itinerary a bit. 

So, I've been doing a bit of meal prep, it makes it easier when you have part of the meal done. So far, I have made savoury breakfast muffins and egg bites. The muffins tasted delicious both warm and cold, the egg bites on the other hand will need some added flavour, maybe hot sauce. The muffins have sausage, onions and cheese. The egg bites are made three ways, bacon and cheese, basil and tomato and mushroom and onion.

Savoury Muffins

Egg Bites

I've also prepared some evening meals. I made Donair meat; I still have to make the sauce.  I've also made the filling for Quesadillas. The Donair loaf doesn't look attractive but with all the spices it sure tastes good. With the Donair meat, we've found when camping that Donair pizzas are easier than making individual Donairs. We use Naan bread for the crust, the Donair sauce as pizza sauce then Donair meat, tomatoes, onions and mozzarella cheese for the toppings. I'm thinking maybe I'll make some pulled pork too. That makes an easy supper, you can either do tacos or sandwiches and pulled pork freezes well. 

Quesadilla filling

Donair loaf

We do eat quite well when we're camping. Not all our meals are elaborate, sometimes it is just hot dogs and chips. Occasionally, we do eat in restaurants, especially if the weather is bad, but if you do that very often it gets expensive. 

I'll need to get my camping grocery list put together soon so that I don't forget any of the key ingredients for the meals. I once forgot the shrimp to make a Shrimp Sambuca. 

I sure hope the weather warms up in the next few weeks. Camping is not as much fun if it's too cold.

Total Eclipse

As most in North America know, we had the opportunity to witness a solar eclipse this week. Where I live, I wasn't in the path of totality but was in the partial eclipse area. At first, I thought that's okay we'll see something right? Well yes and no, without glasses you won't see much at all, if you're close to totality the light will change, and the temperature will drop but you won't see much at all. I'm sure am glad that I drove down to see the totality. It was awesome!

I was going to go to a campground that's pretty much straight south of me on the St Lawrence River called Riverside-Cedar but they had it gated off right at the highway so you couldn't get into the entrance parking lot. I had left home with plenty of time, so I decided to drive somewhat further east to the Long Sault Parkway, thinking I'd be able to park along the parkway. Nope, they had that blocked off too, but you were allowed to park and walk in and onto the parkway. I got one of the last parking spots as before finding a spot I decided to walk the dogs and when I got back to get my chair and jacket they were turning people away.

Just a word about dogs as so many posts said to leave them at home and to even close the drapes or shades so they wouldn't get anxious. Teddy and Liam didn't even seem to notice. They laid relaxed by me most of the time. The only thing that got Teddy excited was going in the water and cookies. During the totality they did start to bark but only because another dog was barking. I think if your dog showed anxiety, it would be because you took them to a crowded, noisy location.

Not looking at the sun!

The next thing that surprised me is that the sun is so bright, you never actually see the moon. When the eclipse started, that is when there was just a little bite out of the sun, I hadn't seen the moon at all. Even with the glasses all you see is a black shape in front of the sun. It's no wonder that primitive people thought perhaps the world was ending. As we got closer to totality, the light changed, and it started getting cool. I was glad to have the jacket to put on over my fleece.  Birds that had been warbling away, were now quiet. 

With just my cell phone camera I couldn't get any good shots. I tried with the glasses held up to the lens but all I got was a less brilliant sun. This shot was taken when we were getting pretty close to totality over 90%.

I hoped I would get a picture of the corona but even then, the cell phone camera just doesn't cut it. And I was so awed at the totality that I didn't think of zooming in or trying video. Totality was so cool, everyone cheered or oohed and awed. Not sure I saw Bailey's Beads, but I did see the Diamond Ring. That was spectacular. It's shortly after that you have to start wearing the glasses again. In the first picture below, you can just make out the moon if you enlarge the photo.

Cell phone picture of totality

Sunset in the afternoon, looking towards the Southeast

These next pictures were taken by a friend, who is a photographer and has good camera equipment. She was somewhere further east of where I was but like me was very close to the St Lawrence River.

It was magical, eerie, fantastic all at the same time, no picture you see will give you the same impression as being there. If you ever have the chance to see a total eclipse, it is certainly well worth the trip. 

Seventh Heaven

Teddy turned seven years old yesterday. He's now been with me longer than anyone else. For those who don't know, Teddy belonged to a friend's cousin but sadly there was allergy issues, so he moved around to various family members. He was living with my friends when I lost Beckett, and they contacted me to see if I would take Teddy. At first, I said no, but about a month later, I changed my mind. Teddy came on a trial on 9 Mar 2020 and then COVID lockdowns hit, and Teddy stayed. He probably would have anyway. We celebrated his third birthday in lockdown. 

I made peanutbutter oat cakes for Teddy's birthday. The batter for this recipe is very dry so the cakes crumbled quite a bit. If I was to make them again, I would add yogurt to the batter to moisten it up. The cakes are topped with yogurt and bacon.

Of course, Teddy also got presents for his birthday. I had to go up to the pet store for wet dog food and one of Teddy's favourite things was on sale. 

We did the table pictures first, then Teddy and Liam each got a pupcake. Afterwards, Teddy got to open his gifts.

Teddy was pretty cooperative about looking at the camera, so I didn't have a whole bunch of outtakes. 

Then it was time to try out the favourite toy, a big Chuckit ball. Teddy came with a smaller one of these balls and he loves them. And of course, Liam loves it too. 

I think Teddy had a good birthday. I hope he thinks he's in seventh heaven. I always wonder if he misses his people. Happy Birthday Teddy, here's to many more.

Alba Gu Bràth

This year's big trip is to Scotland at the end of August.  It's a self-driving trip beginning and ending in Edinburgh. Both of my father's parents were born in Scotland. My grandfather at 7 Thistle Street in Kirkintilloch which is outside of Glasgow. You can street view the address, if you like. My grandmother was born on a farm called Clachaig in Kilmory on the Isle of Arran. We'll spend two nights on Arran so hopefully we'll get to stop by this farm. I tried contacting the Arran Museum as they have a genealogical centre but my emails bounced back; I also tried contacting the farm but haven't had a reply. 

Last week we bought Explorer Passes from Historic Scotland, the passes get us admission to Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle and Urquhart Castle, all places we were planning to go to anyway.  We also booked our tickets for Stirling Castle as they are timed entrances.

During Easter, a post popped up on my FaceBook feed that the RCMP Pipes and Drums would be attending the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I clicked on the link in the post, and it was the Tattoo website.  The Tattoo will be on when we arrive, so I checked out the website and there still were plenty of tickets. They weren't cheap, but then we thought it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, so we went ahead and bought tickets for the night after we arrive. I couldn't get the ones I wanted as the website won't let you leave a single seat, but the ones I got should be fine.  

Royal Edinburgh Tattoo 2023 - Far Side of the World

There's something about pipes that just stirs the soul; but maybe you need to be Scottish.  Anyway, I sure hope it doesn't rain as you can see from the video it is outdoors and they've never cancelled for weather, just COVID.

Come On Summer

Yesterday we booked our first camping trip of the season. Starting with one night at Balsam Lake provincial park on 19 May because it's just too far for me to drive to Awenda Provincial Park in one day.

Podrick at Emily Provincial Park, Summer 2022

The sites we have at Balsam Lake are crap but they're pull-thru and near the bathrooms, so they'll do for one night. Since they're pull-thru I won't have to worry about when my sister and her husband arrive. We have four nights at Awenda starting on 20 May, the holiday Monday, hopefully most people with kids will be heading home. Awenda is located on Georgian Bay, only 10 minutes' drive from Penetanguishene and 20 minutes' drive from Midland, Ontario. The park has four beaches, one designated as a dog beach and 30 kilometers of trails. 

It's supposed to be a gorgeous park. When I was still tent camping, I lived quite close to this park but never had the opportunity to go; it was always filled up in the summer months. Hopefully we'll have nice weather and will be able to do some hiking, if not swimming, although I would expect in May that the water would still be very cold, so maybe wading. There are historical locations to see, if we have rainy or cooler days. Discovery Harbour in Penetanguishene and Sainte Marie Among the Hurons in Midland. Both of these attractions are dog friendly although I would assume like Upper Canada Village the dogs can't go in the buildings. 

We'll stop in Emily Provincial Park on the way home for two nights to break up the journey. Emily was the first park we stopped at on our trip West. It poured rain one day that we were there, so we didn't see much of the park. The second day we were there we drove to Peterbourgh to see the lift lock and were lucky enough to see it in action. 

Lift Lock in Peterbourgh, Summer 2022

I'm still planning on going east this summer. I had thought to go through the States but there doesn't seem to be a good East/West route, most highways seem to run North/South. There's also very few State Parks in New York with campsites with electricity and none in Vermont. So perhaps going through Canada like I did in 2019 is the best idea. I'll have to get moving on those bookings soon too. 

We also booked the flights for our trip to Scotland this week. Things are getting real.

COME ON SUMMER!

Downs and Ups

I think I've posted before that Liam has an eyesight issue that makes it hard for him to judge his take off point for jumps. It's believed that either the dog is near sighted or has a depth perception issue. I think Liam is near sighted. 

When we first started competing in agility he always tried to go to the back side of a jump. I think because then he was close to the jump and could now see it clearly. With time and letting him figure out what worked best for him he became better at doing the jumps from the correct side. In Dec, we were at a trial, and he reverted to going to the backside of most jumps. Needless to say, I was very discouraged, he tries so hard, and he does love to play, but I decided we needed a little break, and I didn't register for the January trial. I made up my mind if he did the same thing at this past weekend's trial we wouldn't register for any more indoor trials.

Yesterday, Liam did very well. He did all his contacts although his two on two off wasn't really there, he did his weaves, got the entries and didn't pop out and, for the most part, took the correct side of the jumps. In his first event, an Advanced Standard, he took down the bar on the last jump but other than that it was a very nice run for him. 

The next Standard wasn't as good. Liam got a refusal on a tunnel and an off course for taking the backside of a jump when he should have taken the front side. He still had nice contacts and didn't hesitate on the scary teeter.

Our last event was a Starter Snooker, since there was no teeter and no weaves, I knew Liam should be able to do this if he could only keep the bars up. Snooker is a game where you have to successfully take a red jump before taking another obstacle, you have to do this three times using a different red each time and then you run the numbered obstacles 2 through 7, and at Starters you have to accumulate 37 points in 60 seconds or less to qualify. We did red, then the A-Frame, obstacle 6, then red, then tunnel obstacle 7 then a red and the tunnel again before beginning the close. My only worry was getting Liam by the frame and to tunnel numbered 2. But he was a very good boy, he came with me and kept all the bars up. 

Liam - Starter Snooker Video

We got a qualifying score with 50 points. Liam now only needs one more Snooker for his Starter Games title. 

So, it was a shame about the one bar down but good news about all the bars he kept up. Liam and I will keep trying and having fun playing agility, although we are thinking about giving Hoopers a try. 

Nothing!

 Well, we're in that blah period with Christmas season over and it's not yet Easter with no real sign of Spring. We're having sort of a non-winter here though, there were some record high temperatures this past week, but we're bound to get some more winter before Spring really arrives.

Liam and I are in agility classes, and we go to practices on some Sundays, but we haven't been to a trial since Dec. We do have one coming up this weekend. Teddy isn't in any classes at the moment, so he only gets our walks and some scent work in the basement.

By this time the past two years we'd been making camping plans and reservations. There was a sudden death in one of my brother-in-law's families and they're waiting to hear when the memorial service will be so they're holding off on making reservations. I've made suggestions to my youngest sister, and she seems agreeable but so far, we haven't booked anything. When entries open for the Spring agility trials, I'll have to make a decision on what to do, last year our camping trips were planned around my agility.

We've made the booking for this year's big trip. We'll be going to Scotland at the end of Aug.  The same sister that I share a cabin with on the river cruises is going but it's another sister and her husband that are joining us. It's a self-driving vacation and we'll start and end in Edinburgh. We haven't booked the flights yet but are watching the prices if they start to go up, we'll book those. It seems we'll have to prebook most of the castles and things we want to visit so I've been doing a travel plan; haven't got much input from my sisters on that. 

I took down all the Christmas decor both inside and outside so there's nothing, no snowman outside to decorate for Valentine's, St Patrick's and Easter.  I hung the hearts I bought to decorate the snowman and bought a new garden flag and a heart that stands, so there's something out there.

Perhaps next time I write there'll be something to really write about. Tata for now.

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Burns Day

 

 

Albert

So, another Christmas has come and gone, but I have to do one last post about the season and that's about my tree, Albert.   He didn't particularly grab my attention. I always look for a tree with a nice top and a fairly thick trunk. I try to find one that also has a relatively straight trunk, which Albert doesn't have. He has a bend in his trunk which meant that getting him to look like he was standing straight could be tough. But having looked at most of the other trees on the lot, I decided on Albert, although he wasn't Albert then.

Last year for the first time, I named my Christmas tree. Last year, one of the friends that helped decorate came up with the name, Gaston. All this past year, I thought this year's tree would be Friedrich; but somehow that didn't seem to suit this tree. I was out running errands one day after bringing him home when the name came to me, Albert. And so, Albert he became, and it suited him.  

As you can see in this picture, Albert leans somewhat but I assure you, he is standing straight in the tree stand. The slight bend to the left is at the bottom of his trunk just above the stand. You can also see that he has a bit of a bare spot to one side too but since the tree goes into a corner that's sometimes an advantage. Standing in the corner, Albert stood straight and tall but viewed from the dining room, you can see that he leans into his work.

Again, this year, I had friends come over to decorate; it makes things go so much quicker. I love to reminisce about the decorations. I have ones my parents gave to me, ones from family and friends, ones from places I've traveled to, ones for each of my dogs and some I gave to my parents that have now returned to me. 

To Mom with Love

Very Special Dad

Ode to Albert

The best place in the house to see the tree is sitting on the stairs. I often put music on before going to bed and just sit and watch the lights.  It brings back lots of Christmas memories. 

Despite his imperfections, or maybe because of them, Albert was a beautiful Christmas tree. It's always hard to take down the ornaments and put the tree outside. Albert got to stick around for a while as he missed his ride the first time, so he hung out by the porch for a week.

On the porch

Waiting for a lift

You were a wonderful Christmas tree, Albert. Thanks for the memories! You were a work of art!