Down to the Beach

One day last week I took myself down to the shoreline, thinking I should check it out now that summer is over, kids are back in school, and crowds are a little less.  They're going to be starting further restoration work soon, to avoid future flooding during times of high water.  I guess I'll see what they've done next spring.

It was a sunny warm day and a few mothers and young children were at the tiny sand beach.

You can see the outer harbour breakwall over the large boulders they installed after the last high water episode.

In places I can barely see the bay anymore.

When I got down to the parking area they already had one section fenced off, presumably to stockpile supplies they'll need for the shoreline work.

There was one lone kayaker headed back into harbour, with one of the distant islands silhouetted behind him.

And one big tree trunk washed up along the shore.

The distant shore at Cape Rich on the army base was looking a little hazy.

It looked like a more secure wheelchair mat tacked down on the beach, but I still wasn't going to risk it with my heavy chair.  I expect this may have been my last trip down to the far end of the shoreline for this year.

Misty Meadows Market II

The inside at Misty Market Meadows is just as interesting as all the veggies on the outside.  The store is well laid out, open and spacious, with counters where you can pick up baking, sliced meats, or a sandwich to go .  Big quilts high on the walls and a selection of dry goods that would appeal to Mennonite shoppers.  Mrs. F.G. and I picked up a sandwich and ate at one of the picnic tables outside.

I like the quilts on the walls, and this one struck me as quite beautiful, and an amazing style of piecing.  This would not be an easy quilt to create!

My favourite are the straw hats for the men.

While the women would go for the large quantities of flour (this is in the Mennonite culture).

And I would go for the baking (And I did).

As you'd expect there was lots of maple syrup.

After that it was the long drive back home.  I've always wondered about the tiny hamlet of Hopeville.  I expect its founders hoped it would become bigger than it has.

I've never known where they get the 88 people for the population of Wodehouse, since there are only 4 houses.

Then we drove on home under beautiful sunny skies.

Misty Meadows Market I

Shortly after we drove through the woods and saw the New England Asters we reached the Misty Meadows Market in Conn.  It features veggies and flowers outside, and a range of food and dry goods inside.  We've been stopping here since it was a Mennonite gentleman with a horse and buggy at the side of the road; it's nice to see what it's become.

Fall mums are popular around here, and they had lots.

These are not watermelons!

But these are peppers, of various colours.

Fresh peas.

A whole wall of onions.

And a big bin of corn.

Finally a bouquet of fresh flowers.

Continuing Our Drive to Conn

We pick up our drive to Conn at our favourite point, the drive through a mile of woods just west of Hopeville.  We always enjoy this bit of being lost in the forest, just one concession after the church at Swinton Park.  But first, what we saw in that concession.

On the left as we drove south was a field where the wheat had been harvested and now the straw had been raked into windrows for bailing.  The intermediate step, spreading the straw out to dry in the sun, is often called 'tedding', a term we learned watching the 'Veggie Boys' on You Tube.

On the other side of the road was an enormous new barn, complete with circular liquid manure pit out front on the left.  You can still see the old barn standing beside the tree in front of the silos..

Then we were into the woods, our favourite bit of the drive.  With no homes on the entire concession, winter snowplowing is set aside and the trees flourish right out to the road.

Looking out one side we could see the large round bales of straw, following the wheat harvest.

In the field on the other side they were growing corn.

And along the roadside once it became more open again Mrs. F.G. got out and nabbed pictures of the beautiful White Asters.

And not too far away, a few blooms of New England Aster, one of my favourite fall wildflowers.  There used to be a healthy patch of them just a block from our house, but I fear that monstrous ditch trimmer may have done them in!

A Tuesday Afternoon Drive

Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day and Mrs. F.G. suggested we go for a drive.  After some discussion we decided to head south, driving to Conn to visit the big Misty Meadows Market, a place we go almost every August.  It's a drive we can do using almost entirely interesting back roads, and the market makes a great destination, so off we went.

Shortly out of town we crossed the Bighead River, at a low water level at this time of year.

And after a bend or two and up and down we headed up the steep slope of the Niagara Escarpment.

We continued on down almost to Flesherton, but cut off on a back road to avoid the construction.  Straight ahead of us at the bend the corn was high in this field!

Our route took us down County Road 14, but then we cut off again, going past a huge silo and long hog barn far in the distance.  A few years ago Ontario brought in rules regulating the location of new hog barns, which result in them being built at the back of farms.

On south past our favourite beaver pond, 

and over a branch of the Saugeen, now at an extremely low water level!

One more concession and we were headed into the hamlet of Swinton Park, with it's giant grain elevator 

looming over the corn field.

And then the unusual church on the corner, where we once visited for a strawberry social.  Really interesting architecture, the bell tower still intact.

Sail Georgian Bay Does Well!

Most days when I go down to the harbour I see the boats of our local sailing school, Sail Georgian Bay, in action.  Often they're beyond my view out on the open bay, but when the waves are too choppy they're in the inner harbour, practicing their skills.  It turns out that they have more skills than I realized!

                                                                                            Credit to The Meaford Independent

This is the picture that appeared in our local newspaper, the Meaford Independent, celebrating the end of the sailing school season, and based on the Independent's article, a successful season it was!

As part of their efforts to expand interest and skills, the club introduced a racing program this year, held their own regattas, and competed in the Port Credit Yacht Club's Four Sisters Open.  Competing out of town for the first time, against eight other clubs they placed an astonishing 3 among the top 5 finishers in the Whitesail race!  It was an encouraging result for the local group, the only sailing school in the local region.

This picture was taken back in July, showing five of the boats, operated by teams of two.  There are eight boats altogether, and 7 of the 8 weeks in the program were sold out this year.

More recently I was down one day and one pair had fallen behind leaving the dock, turning the wrong direction in a gust of wind.

They were hurrying to join their sailing mates a little further out.  Coaches ride in a separate boat, shouting instructions, but ready to go to any emergencies.  I've always admired our local sailing school but now I have reason to be really proud of them!

The Seasons They Are A 'Changin'!

The early signs of fall are all around us.  I can't believe the beautiful summer I enjoy so much is nearly over.  It feels like it's over already.  For now I see the changes in the garden, in the weather, and on the drives we do through the countryside.  In 6 weeks I'll see it in the coloured leaves of our real fall here.

The garden has changed from Day Lilies, Lavender and Clematis to Echinacea and Zinnias, of which these two are just samples.

And other less common flowers like these Helenium, one of my favourites.  It's one of the Sneezeweeds, a name which doesn't do justice to its delicate beauty.

And yes, the Day Lilies, star of the show for our garden, are pretty well over.  These very dark purple ones are about the last.

Elsewhere, as I ride down the Collingwood St. hill, and as we drive round the countryside, the goldenrods are stars of the late summer show.

And all manner of different trees and shrubs are laden with berries, as I showed you a couple of posts back.  These are Mountain Ash berries, at the edge of the parking lot by the new physio clinic I go to.

The very few trees showing a little colour here are still few and far between, but come October they'll be the stars of the show.

The biggest changes are two I can't easily show you in photos, the colder (and here wetter and rainier this year) weather, and the later/earlier darkness.  In the morning and evening these make a big difference.  Please just give me some hot sunny weather yet!