Last week we decided to go over to the base and have lunch. The base, or Land Forces Central Area Training Center, is only a couple of miles from here but we have not been on it. It is actually just beyond Ted's Range Road Diner we have talked about for several years. Someone said that the lunch was good and cheap and so we decided to go.

It is an open base for the most part except the artillery and tank firing ranges which give it the reason for being. We have watched the base over the years undergo many ups and downs in funding and right now they have a really good funded infrastructure and with Brigadier Fred Lewis as its major command commander. Fred's dad was a close friend of Bill Martin's here in Meaford, so we have watched Fred progress from Royal Military College to a well earned generalship over the years. The local commander is a LTC Cummings and we talked to his public information officer about our visit.

Here's the chow hall line and we were warned to arrive early to avoid the rush. Actually it is a very large mess hall and combined ranks club and quite new and attractive. In the chow hall we had the choice of a hot meal line, a soup and salad line and a pasta station. We elected the hot line but after seeing the soup and salad fixins regretted not going that direction ... but all was excellent.

Very few soldiers were there and yet a very attentive staff with good chow. The hot line was $7 or the soup and salad only was $5 ... so a good deal for a good meal. We both had a hot turkey sandwich with gravy and potatoes enhanced by the salad bar. We will likely go back before we leave.

As the troops lined up for entry there was a large NCO barking orders to the troops and it provoked an instant flashback (not really good) to my own basic training ... could it be the same guy ... probably not!?

In continuing the pub crawl adventure we went up to the Tyrolian Village near Collingwood. We were interested in the caves and zip line there (more later) and after that exhausting investigation we needed to stop for refreshment.

Windy O'Neill's is a traditional pub with all the pub fixins and atmosphere and the ski slopes are about 200 feet from the front door. In the winter this would be a super hangout place.

 Jo-Anne had a steak pie which was advertised to be in a puff pastry. It wasn't and was very disapointing as it was in a traditional pie crust. The contents were ok but the crust ... however the Stellas were reliable ... cold and fresh.

However I had a chicken wrap which was one of the best I have ever had and the home fries were excellent. The wrap had bacon, lettuce, and tomato and a really great sauce ... nice ... all in a really fresh flour tortilla.

To make up for the Village fare we went back to our favorite vinyard, Coffin Ridge. Here's Jo with a glass of the Back From The Dead Red which is our favorite and some special four year old goat cheese ... not sure ... either the goat or the cheese was four years old ... but good anyhow.

And here is a shot of the plate we have shown before. The total was about $42 for the wine and the bread/cheese plate. We were sitting in 72 degree weather looking over the vinyards toward the blue Georgian Bay ... c'mon folks what is wrong with this picture, eh?

All of the ingredients are local, from the goat cheese to the breads. And the wine of course is made from the vines about 100 yards in front of our table.

We did get the Martin house on the market around the first of July and here is a realtor picture of the place. The realty agency is Royal LePage and they have listed it on the MLS through the Realtor.ca site. The agent is an old Army friend of Bill's and one of the best in town so that gives us all a pretty good feel for the process.



In addition to that site there are a lot of similarities between the two country's realty processes. Here they charge 5% as opposed to our 6%. On top of the 5% though they charge the HST tax (provincial and national) of 13% so it works out about the same. In a small town like Meaford they also have less closing costs. I think the total will be about $700 total for the seller. While nothing to do with selling the place the property taxes here are lower, being about $3000 a year on a $200,000 property ... significantly lower than Texas. Everything else though is pretty much the same as at home and the contract reads almost the same as the one in Texas. We have had three showings so far and are hoping for the best. We go over almost every day to clean and throw out stuff ... oh, yeah, and play dominoes and have a bit of wine ... well ya gotta have a little fun, eh!

On Monday, the 11th, this rig rumbled into the slot next to ours. While we have seen a few of this type of combination we haven't been quite so up close and personal.

No small pickup truck involved here. These folks have a Volvo cab with a 500 horse engine, pulling a Double Tree Suites 5th wheel ... what a neat outfit. To quote, "We don't even know the trailer is back there." No kidding!

From our patio you can see over the rear wheels of the semi cab the motorized rack that lifts the Gold Wing motorcycle from the ground up onto its resting place. They've removed the second set of rear wheels that are normally seen on a semi tractor.

Actually the cab itself is classified as a non-commercial RV in its own right complete with double bed, TV, fridge and microwave. Not a bad combo especially in light of having to do repairs on either half of the rig because you always have a bed and TV, eh.

Although I just talked about all the wildlife in our yard, here are a couple of new additions from just last night. While extremely dark as it is about 9pm, I shot the pic with the ASA3200 setting on the camera. I'm looking out of the front window of the Flying Scotsman and he is about 6 feet below me.

I then hit the flash and while I got a lot of flashback you can still see our new raider. We've seen his paw prints on the side of the RV for some time and wanted to see the owner.

And look at those ears! This guy is already about a foot tall to the tip of the radars and yet he is still a very young jack rabbit or hare. Buster and I have seen his parent and that one is huge.

Also the coyotes have been particularly loud the last couple of days ... way before full darkness and way after it is full light ... don't want to run into the pack while walking ol Buster, eh.

For a while we have neglected to talk about the backyard critters that we love so much. So far this is the best patio we have had for critter watching and all of the following visitors were within about 15 feet of our lawn chairs. For starters is Alvin, actually one of seven so far we have counted, and I have fed him a peanut or two and was able to stroke his fur without him being bothered a bit.

Then there are the cute little goldfinches which must summer here by the thousands.

This is a nice shot of our catbird of which there are two who munch mostly on dried raisons and other fruit. Again these guys are so bold that you can almost touch them, but not quite.

The perinnial land barons of this park are the kildeers who greet us every year. This pair had four eggs, again right in the driveway, and we waited about a month holding our breath ...

and two new youngsters joined the family. Here is an adult (male or female share the parenting) and one of the new chicks who is ready, running, and eating within hours of birth.

And our red squirrel who not only is cute but really adaptable as he manages to get into the squirrel proof feeder.

Lastly is a new species to us and that is the hairy woodpecker named for the brush of fuzz around his beak. Again, all of these critters are within a few feet of the lawn chairs ... really great fun!

During the second week of May, when Leigh and Brooks were here, they took a series of pictures of Grandpa and little Ev.

This is a great one of Everett Lee Whittington, aged 6 months, and great grandpa William George John Martin, aged 88 years.

A couple of happy guys!

We had another really busy week last week and not a lot of pictures to show for the effort. We did accomplish multiple missions though and all were a success.

The biggest event was last Thursday which was "Tooth Day." Jo-Anne had a root canal and Buster had a broken tooth extracted. Jo-Anne's bill was about $900 and ol Buster was about $1,100 ... Friday morning I looked under both pillows to see if the Tooth Fairy had left a couple of grand ... but alas ... so much for fairies.

Because we needed to have Jo-Anne over in Barrie for Thursday we decided to spend Wednesday and Thursday nights there in a motel and elected the Monte Carlo Inn as before ... you've already seen enough of me naked in tubs for now so no more pictures. And because we were to be over there for two nights we decided to combine that trip with Jo's dad to spend another couple of nights in another retirement residence. This time we dropped him off at the Waterford residence home in Barrie and he had a really nice orientation and visit for the two days. Now he has a couple of choices to look at and decide the pros and cons of each. In the interim, the house went on the block and we had the first showing on Saturday, so we are crossing our fingers that the process won't be too drawn out.

In keeping with our pub crawl through Barrie we found a new place as good as the Bull and Barrel we talked about previously. This one is Jack Astors Bar and Grill ... if you say the name kinda slow you will see why he has a donkey as the bar logo. I guess it is a chain ... but it was still outstanding. Jo-Anne had a bowtie pasta that was, "to die for" and I had a humongous (sp) burger which was fresh and excellent; both washed down with some draft Stella Artois.

And lastly here is another really neat shot of the grandkid Ev doing what he does best and that is being a happy little spoiled kid. I wonder if he is anticipating that next bite of creamed spinach, eh ... probably not!

First of all HAPPY 4TH OF JULY  to all our friends in the US who are enjoying this wonderful weekend. While we broke away from Britain with a revolution which is celebrated this weekend, Canada celebrates its 144th birthday as a nation as well on the 1st of July.

 Our little town of Meaford, population 4,400

had its annual Canada Day celebration on  Friday.

The town hosted a small parade on a truly Chamber of Commerce weather day. It was 68 degrees, 30 percent humidity, and wonderfully clear. Above is the local Legion trouping the colors in front of the town hall.

And then for the Rotary guys in the crowd (Dad and Dave Hammond at least) ... this antique car's wheels have the Rotary International logo on them (cause you can't see it cause it's so dark, eh).

And the balance of the event which was the clown tractor and then the local biker club. There is a lot of volunteerism and pride here in a small town and it shows in the effort put forth to make this kind of event happen in this day and age.