We decided to take a break from catching up with our Florida Posts to share our first spring in Sarnia. When we left for Florida, the trees were bare, birds were mid- migration, and the weather tried to decide what season it wanted to be.
We came back to a new city. Trees were in bloom, birds started new families, and the air was warm and scented. People were swimming in the lake!
When driving to Canatara Park, we find ourselves now stuck in a traffic jam caused by the Canada Geese gosling.
They own the park (and perhaps the city) and tend to just rest in the middle of the road if they get tired or just feel like it. We heard accounts of police officers stopping traffic in the city and directing the geese to safety.
They are pretty cute and fuzzy and there are a million of them all over the place. This is just a small sample.
We left Florida’s white sandy beaches behind, but look at this,
and this,
or maybe this.
We missed our blue coast
and are happily watching cargo ships go by,
or the yacht club’s Wednesday evening races.
especially on a stormy evening.
We discovered a new kind of squirrel,
well, maybe not kind, just colour combination.
Talking about discoveries, the hostages found this cool artifact in their rock garden by the side of the house. It’s a very cool and very old projectile point that may be about 10,000 years old. I love that my daughter recognized it for what it was!
A fellow campervanner came for a visit with his daughter and it was fun to compare vans and share food and stories.
We did some work around the house and in the garden
Parker has grown and is a teenager now,
while Penny is going to button school (very reluctantly) to learn how to communicate.
We promised you a visit to the Great Lakes Model once the model is full of water, so here we a few pictures.
Tony looking over the Niagara falls.
The city is preparing for National Indigenous Peoples Day, and one symbolic gesture was this sidewalk painted orange with white feathers.
And last but not least, it’s tick season again, and this was the first gross tick that we found on us. It was a dog tick and not a deer tick, so at least we don’t have to take antibiotic for a month again.
This post turned out to be more of laundry list type update, but at least we are caught up with our spring update.
Have fun, everyone, but be safe out there!
so pretty
Thank you!
So much to comment on. I love the great Lakes. I love the Canada geese they’re so like swans around the lake here.And I love the coloured gravel at the beach and all of it
I also love all of it, but these Canada geese are nothing like swans 🙂
I must’ve made a mistake because I’m not anonymous so I’ll try again
I knew who it was 🙂
I was in bed and using my new iPad. I still don’t know how it all works.
You just weren’t logged in to your account.
It looks like you picked a lovely place to live. Your grand puppies are lovely too. Enjoy 😉
I think so too! I hope all is well!
It brought to mind a song, “geese is the word..”
Sorry, couldn’t help it.
No place like home, huh? Travel makes you see it with new eyes.
Haha, I forgive you. This place has a special pull for us. It’s our new home, and new hometown, so we are definitely seeing it with new eyes!
It’s interesting to see all the little things that happen around you and make sense of them.
It is!
Nice to travel, but nice to be home too. Looks like you made a good choice for your new home. Love the 2 tone squirrel. Stay well. Allan
I think you might be right…we love our new place! I’ve quite a few of these squirrels around town. looks like a cool genetic blip.
Wow so much going on around that new home. I would think rubber boots are in order when you’re our walking around all the geese.
and also for wading into the water to pick more rocks…but yeah, we already found suspicious residu on our shoes.
As always, you teach us about things that I have never heard of before in an enjoyable way. Perhaps I’ve been living under a rock, but I had to Google what Button School was. I’m also fascinated by the coloring on those squirrels.
Thanks, Pete! I should have expanded a bit about the buttons. It’s fascinating how some dogs are able to express their thoughts and feelings by pressing these buttons. Penny is still learning “eat” and “outside”. She gets the concept, but protests it for some reason. It’s king of funny.
Beautiful photos because such a beautiful slice of nature to live with!
Exactly why!
Lovely spring update. It’s been a beautiful and long spring and it’s great that you’ve had a chance to catch up. I’m still intrigued by the Great Lakes model. Perhaps a little summer road trip will be planned in that regard. Thanks for sharing!
Let me know if you do! We can go for coffee or a hike or both 🙂
That sounds fantastic! I certainly will.
It looks like things have come quite alive in Sud… Sarnia! I love the early days of Spring when buds appear on trees and things bloom – and the heat is not quite oppressive yet.
Your garden and the coast looks wonderful. I do love the effect of stormy weather on the usually calm still Ontario water.
And that squirrel is very interesting. I’ve never seen that colour combination before. Wonder what’s going on in nature!
Now you will never forget where we live 🙂 There is also an albino squirrel in town, but we haven’t seen her yet. Her name is Pearl!
That squirrel is a questionable character. LOL. All your photos are lovely, except the tick eee.
Haha, I know!
The goslings are so cute! Ah, spring has definitely sprung back in your neck of the woods, a relief now we’re passing into summer!
I never get tired of spring!
Funny how you left one beach (in Florida) to go to another beach (in Sarnia). I can’t believe people are already swimming in the lake!! And yup, those Canadian Geese are everywhere. Sounds about right.
I thought that the water was still too cold, but there were quite a few people in the lake! I think I will wait a little longer 🙂
Hi Tony and Margie! We just found your blog and we’re so glad we did. It appears that we have a lot in common, but we don’t have pretty dogs to travel with us. Your photos made us want to jump in the car and head to Sarnia! What a beautiful place – and it has lots of water! We live in West Texas and we’re in a drought, so not much water here. We thought the great lakes park was interesting, but that squirrel was the most unusual one we have ever seen. Looked like someone dipped its tail in dye. On a side note, the Canada geese winter here, and they take over our parks too, but we don’t get the pleasure of watching the babies. We look forward to back roading (our favorite) with you through your blog posts. Happy travels!
Hi Mike Kellye, So nice to have you here! I just followed your blog too and you are right it does look like we have lots in common. Let me know when you roll into Sarnia, or maybe we’ll see you somewhere on a back road 🙂
Ticks are so gross. So far they have left me alone, but they love Bruce. We have found 3 ticks on him. One was just crawling on him and the other two had bitten him and had to be pulled out. Ugh! I love the pictures of the sailboat and the model of the Great Lakes.
They really are gross! At the beginning of the pandemic both Tony and I had to take antibiotic for almost a month. I don’t want to repeat this again…
I hope neither Bruce or I don’t have to experience having to take antibiotics to prevent an infection. We are now giving Nox a tick and flea repellent. It seems to be working. Before we started, we found some ticks on her. Poor little dog.
Beautiful home, wonderful camper, all seems well in your world and I’m glad because you deserve the best. Cheers, Muriel
Thank you so much, Muriel. And yes, all is well here. Have a wonderful week!
Loved the gosling traffic jam! And the painted feathers on the walkway. The Great Lakes with water is also fascinating.
Thanks for coming along!
LOVE your puppies and I adore goslings… I have a goose of my own that has my heart ❤️. It’s wonderful to travel but coming home feels pretty amazing too doesn’t it?
Yes, you need to go away to come back home. The geese are hilarious as they completely take over this town in the spring. They walk around as if they rule the place, which they kind of do 😊
I love geese so much and they have the most incredible personalities