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Monday 18th May.

I saw an advert for golden retriever puppies in the Mercury (for $100). When I called, the woman said that they were not actually golden retrievers, but lab-cross. And, she didn’t actually want $100 for them - but $250.00. She had a lot of other puppies and they were $100! Well, when I got out there she was a very sweet lady (with 8 children) and a small farm. Reminded me of "The Darling Buds of May"... this lady was an exceptional person - if ever there was an excellent sales person I think she came on a par with the best. A friend went with me. It was such a lovely day, I thought we would enjoy the drive.

On the way back we stopped for lunch at the Stone Crock in Elmira. What a delightful spot. Click here for map of area - Use "BACK" on browser to return. I certainly recommend this restaurant. Prices reasonable and pleasant ambiance.

Today is Victoria Day in Canada. It is a holiday. But many of the shops are open anyway. I went to White Rose nurseries. They now have our Garden Soap and Hand Cream at the check-outs. That’s good.

I met a young couple in the White Rose. He was English (according to his accent). They said they would like some instruction on computers and the Internet, so I gave them my card and hope to hear from them.

I had the first reply to my Webpage that I had made up for the "Convenient". I have been dividing up the Webpages and giving each its’ own title and "META" labels, so each may be found easily by the search engines in its own category.

On Saturday I went to a one-day course on design, presentations and animation at the Conestoga College. That was interesting, but they had the air-conditioning off for the weekend and it was about 90º

Bit too hot for me here now! It was about 80 today and is forecast to go up to 85 tomorrow.

My cousin and his wife arrived on the 11th. I met them at Pearson International and took them to the Town & Country Restaurant for the buffet there, while we waited for the evening traffic to calm down. It was a miserable evening, pouring with rain. The Town & Country is on the east side of the Dixon Road. It has a really excellent buffet. If you are not so hungry, you could visit the Swiss Chalet Chicken Villa, or the oriental restaurant, which are in the same mall.

I had borrowed a futon from my niece for my guests. Futons are so useful. The futon was easy to assemble and my neighbour helped me to get the mattress in from the car..

We had all decided to visit Niagara Falls and had booked (after consulting the Internet) at Days’ Inn. There are some good sites for hotels at the end of this page. (Use Back on your browser to return here).

While waiting for my guests at Pearson International, I had found a map of Niagara Falls and interesting places to visit. That came in useful. My cousin had also a "TripTik" from the CAA.

On the way there we went to see the Welland Canal locks. They have built a big restaurant and visitors’ centre since I was there (Good heavens - that was about ten years' ago. How time flies!).

We all had a very good couple of days. On the way the weather improved and then was very pleasant. On the first evening we took the shuttle bus down the hill and watched the coloured lights on the falls. The Days Inn there was excellent - I had a good room with a lovely view. There was an indoor pool. My cousin and his wife had a jacuzzi in their room. I paid $52.10. with the C.A.R.P.. discount. For the two of them it was only $52.10 (it certainly pays to have someone to share). Of course it came to $59 with all the taxes. they enjoyed the falls very much.

At Day’s Inn we decided to arrange a tour with the service provided in the front foyer. They wanted $80.00. However, they then said it had to be cash in USA$ and would not accept Canadian credit cards - which I would not have used anyway because of the excessive exchange rates charged on cards. We then were told that there is a new "people mover" bus service there now, which only costs $3.00. for the day. The bus does a continual circuit of all the places of interest along the Niagara Falls tourist area. So, instead of $80. We only paid $3! We decided against the Maid of the Mist and under-the-falls tours, but we went to the whirlpool (and my cousin went on the Aerocar), rapids and butterfly/botanical gardens.

Niagara at the top of the Falls

At the end of the 13th I drove them back to Guelph. We stopped for supper at a Holiday Inn and had a nice steak for $9.00. each. Unfortunately my cousin fell asleep and I missed my turning, so we came back via Milton and the 401! We were back by 8 p.m. and a friend came to collect them to begin their journey to Timmins.

I went to the Humane Society today to look at the animals. They have a couple of pedigree dalmatian puppies. They said after the movie they had such a lot of dalmatian puppies brought in because people bought them and couldn't manage them. Anyway - their loss is my gain. I have chosen a pup which seems quite "laid back". They make better guards than golden retrievers too. They said I could have it on a week's trial. She said it is a myth that all dalmatians are deaf .. well, I know that isn’t true because I have spoken to many owners who assured me that their dalmatians ARE deaf. I just hope the puppy is not. Having said that, I didn’t decide definitely because of all the trouble my relative had with her two dalmatians. Thursday 7th May 1998. Day after day of perfect, sunny, pleasantly warm spring weather. The lilac is beginning to bloom and the trees are thick with foliage and tiny flowers.

Yesterday I spent a pleasant hour or two constructing an Ames hose cart, out in the shade of a pear-tree. It could be annoying nowadays that just about everything one buys needs to be constructed from a kit. However, I actually enjoy making things. Unfortunately the first Ames kit I bought did not have the package with instructions and hardware. So, I had to put it back in the box and drive all back to the store. It must have been a "coffee-break" kit.

The May flowers are out, masses of periwinkle, daffodils and tulips in profusion.

Had to get the hose out this morning. The soil is beginning to get very dry. Guess we'll be onto the usual water restrictions soon. In a country like Canada one wouldn't expect the need for water-use restriction .. but according to authorities the area of southern Ontario is already as heavily populated as England and what water is not used is polluted.

Days’ Inn