They say you can never go back. Things won’t ever be what you expect or wish for. Well we had reason to return to the Toronto area, namely my husband was invited to receive a very special award. It had been three and a half years since we left our 10 acre farm, and I said I would not be going to see it. Yet, everyone else was joining my husband there, so I grudgingly went along. I knew there would be changes and assumed they would all break my heart, but I was wrong!
The house looks very much the same. A close look shows the much needed new roof. I missed the fact that storm windows were added to the upstairs rooms.
But let me start at the beginning. To get to the farmhouse you must cross the bridge overĀ the creek. Now the new owner is an engineer and so of course he planned the new construction well. I had fears about hating it, but certainly not so. It looks just fine!
We passed the pond on the way to parking the car. It is totally cleaned up with new stones surrounding it. We used to enjoyed the turtles that lounged on the dock there, but they needed to tidy it up for their daughters to swim in. And they do use it! So that’s just great!
The barn has not changed outside, but inside, my husband says it is a great place for sports. I didn’t manage to go inside. The girls practice archery and axe throwing! (Seems to be popular these days too!)
I toured the inside of the house and only good stuff had changed: a new much needed fridge, a great farm photo taken in winter hangs in the diningroom, and in the front library, a fireplace which makes great sense. This used to be the farm kitchen back in the 1800s.
It was a very windy day, and as we looked around the gardens we couldn’t help but notice a major tree had fallen! It turns out that it had fallen a few weeks earlier and had not yet been cleaned up. This was the pergola I had made where clematis grew and I was astonished and saddened. On the other hand, I was also delighted not to have to deal with it myself!
This is how it looked in the summer of 2014. Just the other day I learned that the tree was all cleared away and the new vegetable garden already planted!
In terms of the gardens I was delightfully surprised: The Berberis was trimmed, the first of the bloodroot was blooming, the apple tree I grew from seed was looking great, and, as usual, the groundhogs were busy making enemies of themselves.
We visited the town of Fergus with our friends (Jim is seen below with Ric) and enjoyed the new bicycle art pieces there. I bought a pair of shoes, then we headed to Elora where my oh so good friend Elizabeth prepared us a most wonderful lunch. We shopped a bit as well and bought fresh bread at the fabulous bakery there. Elizabeth got to join us at the farm as well. We are so happy that they love the farm and have worked hard on the important things. It is wonderful that children now inhabit this special spot once more.
Then it was back through a windstorm to Toronto. The next day our son Adam (from Boston) met us and spent time with his Dad while I met my longtime friend Lynn and we visited her daughter for tea and then shopped at a few favourite spots together before changing for the big awards dinner. Here you see (left to right) Lynn, moi, Ric, friend Georgia and son Adam after we scarfed down our dessert.
We met up withĀ friends, a hockey buddy and an IBM buddy too.
Gradually it dawned on Ric that he was expected to give a speech, so he wrote 4-5 words on a scrap of paper and gave a good description of the fun he had over the years working in Computer Science. Short and sweet, recalling students and people fondly. It is quite the honour to receive this lifetime achievement award with 3 other top notch people.
Of course I was particularly thrilled that our son could join us, borrow a suit, and attend the event between a working trip to Haiti and his present work in Chiapas, Mexico.
And then we flew back home (with a few clematis plants from the Toronto Botanical Gardens) to get back to basics with Phoebe dog, Vita cat and the grand children.
*****
From Our Island 