Anniversary Weekend: Saturday

Although the date is out by half a week, this is our Anniversary weekend. We were married on the Saturday of the long weekend, forty-one years ago. At least minor observances and celebrations are in order. Often, the weather is quite nice as it also promised to be on this weekend. However, despite generally favorable predictions, there was some possibility of showers here and there, now and then.

Saturday: with an eye on the weather, which turned out to be rather glorious in the end, we relaxed for most of the morning before getting in the car, stopping at Tims, and driving west with the Brooke Valley Studio Tour in mind. First, we stopped at gardens near Perth that we hadn't previously visited: Rockwall Gardens. You can see why that name is appropriate in the photo of moi walking towards the rock walls of an former dairy barn. It was a unique find, and I'd love to go back from time to time as the seasons change.



Back on the highway, we eventually came to the Brooke Road turnoff and soon found ourselves on a dirt road in the forests of Lanark County, where gardens must be fenced from critters (but what a fence!) ...



... and worksheds are quaint and rustic ...



... and interesting and curious abandoned shacks lurk. (Note: this photo might be worthwhile seeing large here.)



Our first stop was for lunch at the house in the photo below. For the studio tour, the family moves their furniture upstairs and sets up tables both inside and outside.



Cuppa contemplates what sort of fare to expect this deep in the woods, but it hardly mattered because we were enthralled with the atmosphere as well as the cause. You see, the family with the help of the Grannies of Lanark County Against AIDS (my best remembered version of their name), the proceeds would go to fight AIDS in Africa.



Cuppa quietly contemplated that we might expect sandwiches and/or grilled burgers in such an out-of-the-way setting, but as it turned out, the food was fabulous. It's the wrong angle to appreciate, but my perogies and sauerkraut were scrumptious, far better fare than what I might expect to find in many a city restaurant — at decent prices too. How they managed to turn their house into a restaurant for the weekend is beyond comprehension, but they did.



After lunch we ambled to the neighbouring house which featured many crafts, including very interesting wicker furniture although one was required to bring one's own gorgeous model.



And then onto the next house ...



... where, believe it or not, we were treated to a concert by three fine musicians, but featuring a, symphony-quality bassoon player who talked about Mozart and Beethoven as if he was personally acquainted. Remember, we were still in the woods. How wonderfully weird!



It turned out to be quite the marvellous day. You don't always know what you're going to find when you head out to hitherto unknown locales (I think there's a lesson here, but I'll leave it up to dear reader to draw it — or not), but this expedition proved to be topnotch.

Where will this couple do today, I wonder, on yet another glorious day in May?