Week 4 - The Cottage update

We've had an eventful week! As I had told you, we were going to spend last weekend at Sinead and Chris's cottage up at Grand Bend on Lake Huron with the Bonthron family (hereafter to be referred to as the "Grand Benders" - no offence intended). We had such a good weekend! it was so nice to relax and enjoy the weekend with extended family - Chris's aunt and uncle Shelley and Al were there and also Chris's dad, Brian, Brenda, their brother in law Alex and his kids Mia and Alexa. It was a long journey (took us 6 hours but includes two stops for petrol, food etc) but it was well worth it as we had a great time. Sinead cooked us up a lovely breakfast on Saturday of "strata" which is a like a full Irish in a pot - it was yum! On Saturday night Chris and Al treated us all to their B-B-Q ribs and home fries which were absolutely amazing!! our contribution was to make Caesar salad using Brenda's recipe for the dressing and we also had fresh corn on the cob. After dinner, we went over to Al & Shelley's cottage where they have a fire pit and we toasted "smores" - these are made by toasting marshmallows on a long skewer then when they're all mushy you sandwich them between two biscuits and add your favourite chocolate (the girls made them with Reeses peanut butter cups) and eat - delish!! and of course excellent for diabetes - NOT! I had to have one - it'd be rude not to? and all in all, it was a great night with lots of fun so a big "Thank You" to the Grand Benders for all of that .......


Other news for the week is that we got a car on Tuesday - its a Ford Taurus station wagon - 10yrs old but only 15k on the clock and in great condition as it was owned by an elderly couple who didn't really go anywhere. The main advantage is that it has those extra dinky seats in the boot so Patrick can sit in there and the girls have more room in the back - it was a bit of a squish on the way to the Cottage last weekend so next trip everyone will have more room ....... Paddy is the only one insured on it at the mo cos we're waiting on some papers from home to arrive for me but hopefully that will be sorted before the week is out.

I have an admission - after all my saying that I was having no diffs with the driving, I actually reversed into a neighbours car on Friday (in the rental)! We were trying to get away early for the journey to Grand Bend and I have to admit I was fairly hassled!! Luckily it was only a small scratch on his car and he was really cool about it - he more or less said sure its an old car and you wouldn't notice another little scratch! There was more damage to the rental car - the rear bumper was pushed in and it had a good scrape - but the neighbour actually popped the dent out for me - he was really nice!! When we left the rental back I was cowering in the new car which we had just collected, but the rental people walked around the car and didn't notice the damage so I got away with it - phew!!

Laura had her first few hours at work - she's allowed work part-time til her work permit comes thru and she really enjoyed it - they seem like a nice company and she's looking forward to getting stuck in there. Ellen and Patrick continue to settle into new schools, homework etc. Our current routine is that Paddy drops Ellie off to school (she has to be in for 8.15) on the way to work and Patrick and I walk to his school which takes 15 to 20 mins - depending on how many squirrels we see along the way as we keep stopping to watch them. I can totally see where the expression "squirreling things away" comes from 'cos they always have something either in their mouths or in their paws - its a great start to the day. Ellen then walks home at 2.30 when she's finished (I know - its very early!) and I walk with Patrick at 3.30pm. So we'll keep that up as long as the weather allows, which will hopefully be for another 4 - 6 weeks. Everyone keeps saying "wait til the winter comes" so we're waiting with great expection for the massive snowfalls!

On the home front - some further cabinets have been installed in the kitchen so its looking better but still some work to be done on replacing the sink and sorting out the oven. At the moment only the gas rings on top work so my limited stove-top repertoire is wearing a bit thin............. I don't have my cookbooks yet either as they will be coming with the rest of our bits 'n pieces in another 4 or 5 weeks so if anyone would like to send me any suggestions other than Spag bols, stir frys, eggs, pasta I would be very grateful!!! We also had phone, internet and t.v. installed this week so everyone is delighted with that. After some initial set up probs we now seem to be fully up and running and look forward to easier communications with everyone.

Paddy is enjoying the CYA - the president is arriving this week for a couple of days with him so he will have a busy week ahead. They are also preparing for their AGM next month so plenty to keep him occupied. Breaking news - I have joined a Gym!! so now that I've gone public with that, I'd better make it work! so far so good and I'm enyoying the workouts - you mightn't recognise me next time we're home so be prepared! Paddy, Ellen and I are also hoping to start ice-skating lessons together this week and Patrick will join the junior class (Laura can skate already) so that should be fun!! We have to get some kit first today to get us started but I'm really keen that we learn as they put a skate rink in front of the Town Hall from December onwards so we want to be able to take advantage of that and enjoy it. Laura has a 21st party tonight and Patrick has a school friends party tomorrow so that's it for this week from all of us here! Keep the news coming folks, it's great!