When I'm Gone, Just Remember I Said This First!

The world needs a new philosopher. Ta da... Here I am!

"It doesn't matter whether the glass is half empty or half full... but how much is left in the bottle!"
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A Forgotten Watercolour

"Water Watercolour"                           Click on it to enlarge it.

I was going through my old files and I came across this watercolour that I don't think I ever posted. I like the texture and colours as the sun plays off the gentle waves in our marina.
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The King of Insults

Welcome the new king of insults:

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Buttermilk Junction 1937

Just as a little kid likes to colour, so do I.  Hope you enjoy my "artsy" coloured black and white for today. Click to enlarge.

 

Spring arrives in Buttermilk Junction during the Great Depression.

 

"Buttermilk Junction", Martin County, Indiana

Photographer - Lee, Russell, 1903-1986,
Created / Published 1937 Apr.

 

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John and Cheryl

A stylized, fun rendition of our dear friends John and Cheryl at their winter wonderland in Mull Bain Lodge near Bracebridge. Click the pic to enlarge it.
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Benz Meets Friend?

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Mull Bain Lodge Poster

Just for fun!
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Can You Make My Dixie Better?

"Can You Make My Dixie Better?"

My "artsy" picture for today is especially for my dentist, Dr. Ted Gillis. It's from an old black and white of a dentist's chair. I added the little boy, the dentist and Dixie the cat; then coloured the whole scene. It's another one of my Rockwellian fun pictures. Click it to enlarge it.

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On The Way Home

Notice the stop sign, new aluminum door, farmhouse bay window, air conditioner, Canadian flags, mailbox, yellow hydro pole guy wire, all had to go. Upper windows needed divided panes and more before I even started adding things.

The two hour ride home from Niagara Falls was extended to three and a half hours as we took our directions from Jill Garmin and stayed off the major highways. The fallen snow was more widespread than I had seen on the weather radar so we enjoyed a continuation of our marvelous snow-drive. By the time we got nearly home there was no new accumulation.

A whimsical and fun, imaginary collage of how this place could have looked 80 years ago.

As we neared London, I snapped a picture of a defunct general store in the small crossroads hamlet of Avon. My "artsy" picture for the day shows, from my imagination, the store as it might have looked 80 or so years ago. In the snow mood, I brightened it up with a little more white. Click it to enlarge it.
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Queenston Gem

The heavy new-fallen snow made this cute old home in Queenston even more appealing. I'll call it my "artsy" picture for today.
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Tourist Trap and Winter Wonderland.

For Christmas I gave Wendy a voucher for a night at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Niagara Falls. I picked the day after Valentine's day thinking it would 'kill two birds with one stone', Christmas and Valentine's all in one. I paid little attention to the fact it was Family Day, one of our dumb holidays the Liberals conjured up here in Ontario. I did consider that it being the end of a long weekend, it wouldn't be too busy on the Monday. Wrong!  In spite of the next day (Tuesday) being a work day the hotel was extremely crowded, especially with kids running everywhere.

 Arriving around noon, we checked in easily and handed our car to the valet parking attendant ($35+tip). We decided to use our $20 coupon at TGIFridays located off the hotel lobby. Two x $20 hamburgers (cheapest thing on the menu) plus HST tax (13%), "tourist improvement fee" (10%) plus tip. I didn't feel "improved" but at least we had the coupon. Big deal! I found out later, back in London, that the TIF (10% Tourist Improvement Fee) is not a legitimate tax but a trumped up fee put on by the hotel. Apparently you can refuse to pay it. (???)

We had a $25 voucher for the Fallsview Casino (strange name since the casino has no windows) and since it was only a block away we strolled over to raise some capital at the slot machines. After a hefty line-up registering in, we settled in at a 1 cent one-armed-bandit which fairly immediately consumed the $25. Each time it paid off we printed out a redemtion slip until the $25 credit was gone. Six dollars in cash was all that we had from our gambling experience which was almost as much fun as making a withdrawal at an ATM. Wendy also had 4 x $5 casino chips that we received the last time we stayed in Niagara Falls seven years ago.  We happily redeemed them for cash and pocketed the "winnings".

The Deal as advertised:
 
At a hotel soaring high above the dramatic roar of Niagara Falls, uncover a deal that includes $50 in dining and a choice of extras for families or couples.
 

• $86 (CA$119) per night in a Fallsview room, a savings of more than 55% on current rates; +$14 for spring break and Easter dates

• Complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast and evening reception including two alcoholic drinks

• CA$30 voucher for The Keg Steakhouse & Bar, plus CA$20 voucher for TGI Friday's Restaurant & Bar

• Family packages include Niagara Falls Fun Zone attraction passes

• Couples packages include wine touring passes and casino slot play credit

The large hamburgers at lunch served the purpose of spoiling our appetite for dinner. Thank God!  The Keg Restaurant on the 9th floor showed a menu in the lobby without any prices (bad sign). Since we were still burping our Big Blue (blue cheese) hamburger from lunch at Friday's, we luckily never got a chance to use our fabulous $30 dinner coupon. I can only imagine how much a piece of Prime Rib would cost, especially after the 45-50% in extras.

The view deteriorated as the night approached.

After cashing in our 2-Free-Drink-Voucher for a couple of nice Caesars at the lobby bar reception, so busy with kids and tourists (beware of a kids-stay-free hotel) we couldn't get a seat, we spent the evening in our "newly renovated" luxury suite. Wendy watched the Grammys and I surfed the internet on our free wifi. A major snowstorm had now moved into the area and the falls view was completely obliterated so we couldn't even see the light show. No one can do anything about the weather but this seemed to be the topper.

A "cardboard" omelette and a white view of the falls.

Bright and early, with snow still falling, we made our way to the 9th floor and the Breakfast Buffet. The food was predictable and cardboard-like, but it was "FREE". As you can see the view was, well... white!

You can see water costs more than beer and the prices were unbelievable so we didn't use these "conveniences". ENJOY???  Obviously this card was left over from a program that was abandoned some time ago since there was none of these items, except the tokens, to be found anywhere in the suite. I wonder why?  Duh! Good thing Wendy's wine (from home) had a screw cap!

With all the negatives I was feeling a little like I'd made a bad decision in coming to Niagara Falls. All those feelings were erased this snowy morning. After checking out of the hotel we drove down to the falls and then followed the river road up to Niagara-On-The Lake.

An enchanting vintage home in the village of Queenston on the way to Niagara-On-The-Lake.

There were few cars on the road (thank the Lord for all-wheel drive) and we enjoyed one of the most beautiful drives we've ever had. The snow was magnificent and it painted everything so clean and white.

 

Only us and a snowplow on the roads. Very quiet and beautiful.

After all the downers of the Niagara Tourist Trap we were finally rewarded with enchanting and magical scenery as the car floated almost silently through the new-fallen snow. After all it finally made me happy that I'd decided on a trip to Niagara.
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Black Cat

I don't smoke but I like this old ad.  Looks like our cat Benzy.
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Millions Of Diamonds In The Snow

We paused in Port Stanley to admire the Lake Erie view from one of my favorite spots. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you may be able to see the millions of sparkling glitters as the snow reflects the brilliant sunshine in the crisp -19 C air.
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Be Mine!

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Coywolf In Our Back Yard

A coywolf is a cross between a coyote and a wolf. You can read about them here.

Here's the email I sent to our Neighbourhood Watch representative:

Hi Mary-Beth,

Just thought you and the Neighbourhood Watch might like to see these pictures I snapped this morning of a healthy-looking coywolf. This guy looked like he was stalking something as he came off the Highland golf course and disappeared from view, south into our neighbour's back yard. Be careful with your pets. We never did find our black cat, Dash, lost in August.

Tim and Wendy

UPDATE: He's back, Saturday, 1:36 pm; same place as yesterday. This time we saw him chasing squirrels and heading south to our neighbour's yard.
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Mull-Bain Lodge near Bracebridge

We were privileged to receive an invitation to visit Mull-Bain Lodge. Mull-Bain is the combination of part of the last names of the owners, our friends Cheryl and John and Mark and Louise. The cottage is located about 20 miles east of Bracebridge and for us it's a pretty long drive. Over 4 hours of driving but the scenery is good on the back routes and the roads were bare and dry.

The map (shaded area) above shows the huge 104 acre piece of land on which the cottage is located.

One of the many road signs guiding us to the cottage. 

We arrived just before 3 pm on Friday and were pleasantly surprised by how much snow there was. There was no snow in London and the fields were bare on the drive up until we turned onto Hwy 118 in the last 20 miles of our journey.

  
John and Cheryl, our hosts for the weekend.

I brought my Ron Popeil, Showtime 6000 rotisserie with me and we cooked a nice 10 lb. pork butt roast which crumbled into "pulled pork". Pete and Donna also arrived Friday and brought a huge amount of buns and bread. This picture shows the pulled pork but there was seemingly no end to the treats, snacks and gourmet meals that Cheryl had for us. My dieting had to take a break this weekend as the food was so abundant and delicious.
 

Barry came over from Waubaushene on Sunday, about an hour and a half drive. Unfortunately Holly could not attend as she was officiating at a spelling bee which had been previously scheduled.

Donna ready for takeoff?

 

Pete surveys  the lake from a dock on our walk around. We covered a half mile or so on the lake and walked back on the road. You can see that the snow is not deep so the walking was easy.

This is a view of the cottage from the frozen Wood Lake. The wood stove kept the place toasty warm. We talked, ate, watched movies and played games every night until midnight. After a perfect weekend, we reluctantly departed for home on Monday morning around 11 am. It was so good to see everybody again.

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Hmmm, Very...

"Two-Faced?"

What can I say? 
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