.: August 6 & 7, 2011 :.
August 6th this year marked the first anniversary of our ownership of Twin Ponds. Although the weekend was not a long one, it was exceedingly enjoyable.
Our drive up on Friday was punctuated as usual with a stop in town for a few supplies. Unfortunately, most of what we bought was accidentally left in the grocery cart. When we got back to the car, Jasmine was misbehaving and she totally distracted us. So we basically drove off and threw away about $40 (we checked in with the store on the way home, but no one turned our stuff in -- there's a shocker).
Anyway, we arrived Friday evening around 8:30 which gave us enough time to relax and play a couple of games of cribbage on the veranda before turning in for the night. The weather was perfectly warm and there was almost no wind. Having put the shopping incident out of our minds, it was a perfect start to the weekend.
I arose early Saturday morning intending to head to the nearest store and shortly after pulling out of the driveway he encountered D., our neighbour. He and I drove up the road a bit and D. introduced me to our Mennonite neighbour, E. - a very nice fellow with a cute-as-a-button 4-year old daughter. There wasn't much to chat about though, so I excused myself and proceeded down the highway to the store, where I found replacements for all the items we had left in Orangeville.
I also stopped at a hardware and procured the lumber that was needed to remediate one of the (four) picnic tables left by the previous owner on the property. This hadn't been discussed with Sim, but I wanted to surprise her with the thought of having a fully functional picnic table to eat at. I spent the morning pulling the rotten wood off the old table and reassembling it with the replacement lumber. It didn't take long before it was ready to be sanded and stained, most of which Sim did. Before we knew it we had what looks like a practically brand new picnic table that will host meals and entertainment for years to come!
Earlier in the week we had arranged for Bob the Pond Consultant to come provide us with some expert advice on clearing up the murky waters of Pond Superior. He arrived late, but it quickly became clear that he was very knowledgeable about ponds and water in general. As it turns out the murkiness is because of the fish themselves, so our intentions to clear up the water for them, although good, are misplaced. Be that as it may we do not really want to get rid of the little guys, so we opted for the time being for some water dye (which has more than a cosmetic effect, we were pleased to find out). Its effect on the water was immediate and profound. We can't wait until next weekend to see what it looks like completely distributed throughout the water.
Apart from that we did not do very much work. I moved more brush out of the area we are clearing for the septic bed, but it was very hot and even more humid, so we spent the rest of the afternoon at the ponds just relaxing.
By early evening it was time for supper, so we started the barbie. It took a bit more time than usual because by that point there was no wind whatsoever. I finally had to start it with gasoline (*poof*).
Finally the food was ready. Neither of us had had lunch so were both starving. The meal was fantastic. We had seasoned pork chops with baked potatoes and niblets corn. What made it most special was that it was the very first meal we ate on our new picnic table. And how appropriate that it was on our first anniversary!
After we cleaned up from dinner (the table and dishes, not ourselves) we drove over to our neighbours' place and asked them if they were interested in celebrating our first anniversary with us by having a toast of champagne. They were flattered and impressed that we chose to share it with them and the six of us (Jazzle and Bubs were there too) sat out on their deck enjoying the company and conversation. As usual time flew by and before we knew it almost 3 hours had passed. We therefore took our leave and headed back to the chalet to settle in for the night.
After washing up etc. we started to watch The Ninth Gate, but I got tired not even halfway through, so we shut it down and went to sleep. I was so tired in fact that I slept until 10:30 Sunday morning, which is very unusual for me.
We didn't do much on Sunday. I went along the path past the bridge to chop down the vast overgrowth of foliage, but it was literally like a jungle so after 20 minutes he came back and got what he needed to go swimming. Pond Superior was characteristically perfect and it wasn't long before Sim joined me.
Unfortunately, by 1:30 or so the skies clouded up and it started to rain, so we packed and cleaned up and headed out, stopping at the neighbours' to say goodbye for the week and drop off a brochure from Bob the Pool Consultant.
On the way home we decided to get a raft for the pond. Bob had suggested that adding a permanent raft to the pond would be a great way to breathe life into it. He said in his experience doing so turns a pond into a party. That sounded pretty good to us! Despite Bob's offer to provide us with free plans to build our own out of wood, we opted to purchase a fabricated one instead. They're not only more durable and require far less maintenance, but it's also a good way to avoid some splinters in unpleasant places. The raft we chose will be anchored in the middle of the pond so we can use it to jump in the water and to lounge in the sun. More on that in the weeks to come.
Despite the rain at the end it was a fantastic weekend. A happy anniversary indeed.
