Canada Day 4 & 5- A long way for Little Fish

After a great night's sleep in our guest suite, and a leisurely breakfast, Margaret, her daughter, Ellie, and I were off to visit as many thrift shops as we could cram in to our schedule. I have to say it was the most fun and successful thrift shopping day I have ever known. We all made some great purchases and found wonderful deals.  My favorite was the pair of "Not Your Daughter's" black jeans, tags still on, for 1.50!!  Perfect fit and  my favorite brand. I came home with many new work outfits for several seasons, as well as clothes for Samantha and Kristi.  It didn't hurt that we had a divine lunch at a French cafe in uptown Waterloo that day, as well.

Tradition has it, that when LM visits Waterloo, he goes on a fishing expedition with my niece, Emmy and her boyfriend, Matt, and this year they drove out to a dam area of the Grand River in Fergus, Ontario. It was an incredibly steep walk down to the water and after almost 2 hours of fishing, Emmy was the only one who made a catch - a tiny 2" fish.  Fun and a great deal of exercise was had by all, though.

My fisherman makes his way up the dam access stairs.

                                            Emmy and LM on the "dam" stairs.

That evening, in lieu of the promised fish, we shared a lovely family dinner at Sole' in Waterloo.

                                                                             SISTERS!

                                                         The wonderful LM had to be included!

                                                            Fishing buddies.....

                                          Jerry and Margaret - we so love your new lives and spaces!

                                       Beautiful, talented, warm, and funny nieces - Emmy and Ellie
     We miss you already - thank you for everything, but most of all for being there to greet us when we arrived.

Picking up from his visit 2 years ago, LM arrived to visit Brenda with a full packet of Whiskas Temptations....notice he's on his knees.

                                                        The lovers unite

Margaret's new dining room has the perfect wall to hang one of her quilt masterpieces and their beautiful dining table came along, too!

The feline charmer at work.....note Brenda's lovely napping blanket on the floor.
Some of the lovingly tended flower beds scattered throughout Luther Village. I regret that I didn't photograph the amazing community gardens. Take my word for it that they are truly spectacular and works of artful love.

Margaret and I spent some treasured time going through her collection of projects in progress, and her fabric collection.  The piece below is really fun.  Each coffee cup represents a Kitchener-Waterloo coffee house that the girls have enjoyed through the years. The designs are the actual logos and hand drawn by Margaret.

My favorite is Cafe Mozart....sadly, no longer in business, but on past reunions with my sisters, we all enjoyed their treats with great abandon. I can still picture the boxes of Austrian pastries, with this very same logo.

Brenda relaxes and gazes so sweetly. A lotta fur on one tiny body.

One more picture of my grandmother's chair.  Brenda's napping blanket looks lovely on that arm, I think.

My very favorite picture of Brenda....nestled in her "Mommy's" bed covers. Ah, those green eyes.

Speaking of treats, we did go out to Conestogo to visit my favorite little bakery in the world and acquire some maple tarts.  I have a little supply tucked away now in my freezer, to be cut in tiny pieces and enjoyed once in awhile. The Mennonite ladies were all busily baking that day and the air smelled like my Mum's kitchen in days of old. .   

Sittler's garden....the day was a little foggy and made the garden seem to smile with happiness.

Our last day found me back at another Thrift shop sale, and in the evening Margaret, Jerry, LM and I enjoyed a very nice dinner. Bittersweet, as we made our way back to our guest suite for one last, but short, night. That good-bye was not complete until we were checked to be sure LM was not smuggling Brenda away to Cape Cod.