Stouffville and Thornhill

Whew, what an amazing trip down memory lane today!
Lisa and I woke and had a leisurely morning catching up on each other's news, drinking coffee, flipping through magazines, eating toast...finally showered and left the house by noon. We went straight to Stouffville where we parked at a plaza (the plaza where A&P used to be but is now a rubbish huge junky store called Giant Tiger) and set out on foot exploring all the areas I remembered from when we lived there. Most of my memories were of pushing Grace or Tara around in strollers! We visited the park on Rupert St, then Glad Park School where Grace spent a year in Jr Kindergarten, then the old house on Ninth Line - it looked unchanged and sad. The front lawn was unkempt, the front garden that I tended so lovingly and filled with perennials was overgrown and untidy, the paint on the side of the house near the air conditioning unit was pale and peeling. It was quite depressing. In fact the overall feeling I had walking around was of a town past its prime. Interestingly the old part of town, down near the post office, was still pretty with the cute old houses with their painted front porches. Glad Park School was tired looking with a faded flag and faded plastic playground equipment and lawns overgrown with weeds. It is only 13 years old but it was like no one had painted or improved upon it since it was brand new. Shame on York Region school board. We ate a nice lunch at East Side Marios then on impulse drove to Thornhill! It was fun to go there together as we both had the same vivid memories of growing up there, and of course that's where we first met. We went down the street I used to live on and then her old street, then we visited Stornoway Public School then Thornlea Secondary School. Again both schools looked like very little had changed since we attended - I swear it's the same paint on both buildings! Obviously the school boards aren't putting any of the taxpayers money into maintaining their older buildings. I took lots of pictures!!
I drove Lisa back to Uxbridge for 5pm and the jet lag was definitely rearing its ugly head. I could have curled up for a nap but turned around, after a tearful goodbye, and drove the hour back to Peterborough. Susie and Glenn had a lovely dinner ready of shish kebabs on the BBQ with rice which went perfectly with my chilled white wine! We're going to watch Survivor then Susie and I are going to make my mum's tourtiere pie recipe for Sat night dinner at the cottage. I've never made it, it has always been Susie's thing. I hope I stay awake!!

Uxbridge

After a restful afternoon at Susie's and a lovely dog walk with Lucy I set off for Uxbridge around 4pm. I was a bit worried about driving on the right but it soon came back. I was surprised at how cheap it was to fill up the car with gas and then happily found a new Doritos flavour to enjoy - Intense Pickle! Yummy. I made the drive easily in under an hour, sticking closely to the speed limit as I couldn't remember how far above 80km/hr I could safely go without being caught. I listened to Susie's Taylor Swift and then John Mayer CDs and just enjoyed the peace of the drive. I didn't manage to meet up with anyone ahead of going to Lisa's so I passed a bit of time in Tim Horton's - coffee and free wifi!
Lisa and I are now back from a lovely meal at a local restaurant called The Tin Mill where I had a Bloody Caesar to drink, then caesar salad followed by ribs then strawberry rhubarb crumble. It was very good!
Tomorrow the plan is to visit Stouffville and go out for lunch. I look forward to walking around the town and seeing all the changes! It's been raining a bit today but tomorrow is to be mainly sunny and 20C.
My head is buzzing and I feel quite dizzy so I think the jet lag has caught up with me. Time for bed!

Morning!

Very comfortable night in Melissa's lovely bed, on/off sleep pattern all night. Early morning I fell into a coma-like sleep, never heard Glenn up at all but woke at 8am so I had time to chat with Susie before she went to work. I'm feeling a bit zoned out but it's so nice to have the morning to myself to rest and reorganise my suitcase and prepare for my drive after lunch to go visit with a few people in Uxbridge before meeing Lisa at 6pm. She and I will go out for dinner, I'll stay overnight and tomorrow we'll spend the day hopefully in Stouffville before I drive back to Peterborough again. Weather is more cloudy today but still warm, high of 19C. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and high of 22C! Such a treat to have this burst of warmth and sunshine after Yorkshire's recent torrential rain and floods. The leaves are turning colours and I'm told the colours will be even better up at the cottage, though I may be just a bit early for the full splendour. Time to eat and shower! It's so nice having Lucy here for company, she's so affectionate and keeps looking at me adoringly, like I'm here just for her. Too cute for words!

The longest day...

I made it! That may go down in the record books as the best, smoothest, most enjoyable journey ever. Huge praise to Air Transat and my upgraded Club Class seat. Excellent service, I was really taken care of, plenty of delicious food and drinks! I had sparkling wine, red wine (x2), port, and an Irish coffee...but water too plus a huge treat, Clamato juice! It was fun to see the Canadian brands again, like Lactancia butter and Christie's crackers. Then the pilot wishing us a good "vacation", ha! Haven't heard that in so long. I slept for a couple of hours, headphones plugged in, and was lulled by the turbulence. Sat beside a very nice lady who chatted now and then but not too much. When we landed in Toronto it was bright and sunny and 19C - hot! Had to shed all the layers I'd come dressed in. Susie and Glenn were there to greet me, big hugs all around. We drove to Peterborough in good time, just over 2 hours including a stop at Tim Horton's!! Medium coffee and a box of Timbits - I can hear Grace and Tara exclaiming in jealousy! Susie's house is beautifully decorated, I haven't seen it in several years and the changes are impressive. Lucy was so happy to have a visitor and jumped and barked and ran back and forth. She's so cute but seems so small compared to Finn! We just at a spaghetti dinner, I think it may be my fifth meal of the day? Lost track! It's 8pm here, which makes it 1am UK time so I'm a bit spaced out. Looking forward to chilling in front of the tv and heading to bed for 10pm. Tomorrow morning I'm by myself, time to relax and catch up on rest until Susie and Glenn come home for lunch. Then I'll take Susie's car and head to Stouffville and Uxbridge for an overnight visit with Lisa. Hope I remember the roads to get there! Susie is going to program her GPS so I should have no problems. Must remember to drive on the right!! Yawn, time for more water and yes, more wine. So nice to be here!!!

Tomorrow!

Whew, this packing stuff is taking over my world. Thank goodness I've done it a few times recently and know what to bring and what to leave behind. Luckily I'm staying with Susie so there will be plenty of home comforts and I won't be stuck if I run short on shampoo etc. But what shoes to bring to an Ontario autumn holiday?? Just so hard to know - running shoes, boots, sandals (just in case!) and canvas shoes....what will I wear kayaking on the lake? 
I cannot believe it's tomorrow!! I loved my last visit with Susie so much when she was here in November for her birthday and am so pleased I'm spending quality time with her again less than a year later. And for Canadian Thanksgiving!! I haven't spent Thanksgiving weekend in Canada since 1999. To be up at the lake, at the cottage, during the prettiest season, my favourite season, is a huge treat. Something to truly be thankful for.

One week countdown begins!

And suddenly, after months of planning, here it is one week to go! It has been more than 10 months since I have seen Susie and I can't wait. I'm so pleased we're managing to see each other once a year. I fly out to Toronto from Manchester on Tues 2 Oct at the civilized time of 1:15pm, landing at the local time of 3:15pm. Time to start packing and looking at weather forecasts!