Welcome to August!

This side of July, Christmas seems like it's just around the corner.  Maybe due to all the special days and activity between August and December.  I mean, back to school, Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving (my birthday!).
We took a bit of a vacation this year, and tried something new:  we decided to rent a cottage.  After much looking on the net (MUCH, with no help at first) I narrowed choices down to about 6, then BEGGED the family to check them out.  I will say, this one was in the lead...until I found out there were leeches in the water.  To me, no big deal, we could still canoe or use the rowboat, just no swimming.  But to a 16 year old girl, NO WAY was she going anywhere near water with leeches.  (That she knows about!)
So, she chose one in Owen Sound that was listed on RentCottage.  The house looked nice, a little private, but not overly so.  Four bedrooms, bath, laundry, nice wrap around porch, sounded great...and we got a 'last minute' savings and wound up paying $1,200 and change for the week.

This was the south side of the house, the porch where I had my morning coffee almost every morning and watched the ducks, geese, kingfishers and cormorants.  Not to mention the little chipmunk and vole that I spotted on a couple of occasions.  There is a private marina for members only, behind me as I took this picture.

A view of the sunset over the bay, and below, a shot of the moon over the marina.  If I'd had a tripod with me, the picture might have turned out a little better, the moon didn't just shine on the water, it glowed.

While there, we did go out and about just a bit.  The owner of the house had told us about a market every Tuesday in Keady, so on Tuesday, we headed out.  No pics, sadly.  The market was huge!  Others may be used to that, but I'm used to markets on a much smaller scale at festivals and the like.  The parking took over a large field, and there was row after row after row of vendors.  There were the resellers that you normally see, and many handmade, antique/vintage booths, and food!
Afterward, we stopped at a quaint little diner in Kilsyth where the owner was very friendly and chatty.

  After finding out where we'd been, he commented that some of the produce sellers DID grow their own, but some bought in Toronto, then hauled it there and claimed they grew it.  Ya gotta love honesty in a seller.

We also took a very short trip up the road to Indian Falls Conservation Area.  Indian Falls is a 'tad' smaller than its cousin farther south on the Niagara Escarpment, but beautiful nonetheless, and made for a nice hike.

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^^ The falls from the trail along the escarpment .
And from the top of the falls--->>










Across the bay from us and a little north was Hibou Conservation Area, the brochure at the cottage boasted a swimming beach, so off we went.  The beach was large, more so because there were only 2 other families there.  Once we got in the water, that made about 5 people swimming.  The bottom alternated between smooth rocks and sand, and was very clear, not at all like Lake Erie where you're afraid to put a toe in the water and health warnings on beaches abound.

In town, we checked out a few shops.  Sadly, no one would let me go in the yarn shop.  Our youngest daughter and I did visit a secondhand book shop.  I don't think our town library has that many books!  Paperbacks on wire racks along both walls, on racks in the centre, all stacked 4-5 deep, piled on tables, under shelves, towering stacks along the counter, I swear it would have taken weeks to go through them all.  And the owner was great, chatted with us a bit, a total contrast to the guy in the first bookstore we stopped in who barely spared us a glance or even a word when we finally went up to pay.

To go back to the cottage...actually, I really would like to go back!  The house was finished in 1919 by the grandfather of the two men who currently own it.  Bill and Bob were awesome 'hosts'.  They did respect our privacy, but as owners, suggested places in the area to visit, and Bob even treated us to a boat ride toward the end of the week.
The house is for sale.  Once we got home, my curiosity took over and I looked it up on the realtor's site.  Asking price:  $995,000.  I tried digging through my couch and loveseat, checked the washing machine and even the car and still come up short.