Daycation to Burnstown's House and Garden Tour

They had a House and Garden fundraiser in Burnstown. There are 15 members of the United Church who have been supported by the community. The proceeds were for this church. We had lunch at the Black Bird Café. We've had lunch, and bought pumpkins at the Neat Coffee Shop. Included on the House & Garden Tour, were several stores, and the radio station. Unfortunately, we couldn't go into any of the homes.
The radio station is in an old garage building. We were unable to take the tour there, though, since they had a band playing and didn't want to disturb the band. Sadly, the strawberries at the church were premixed with whipped cream and hubby couldn't eat any, as he's off dairy with stomach issues.

The mighty Madawaska river runs through the town, with many fine cottages and boats. It is a very busy 4-way corner. The police were present, bless their hearts, working hard with boat and trailer. There are many crazy people on the waters, and many drownings and incidents this past weekend, the big July 1st celebration for Canada.

One garden had a lovely goldfish pond, smaller than mine, with Koi. The big farmhouse building had had a fire and all the gardens had to be replanted. Most of the host/volunteers were dressed in period costumes. We live near the town of Perth, which was settled in 1816. This township was settled in the 1830s by Scots, as well, and you can see some similarities in architecture and construction.



On the way home, we stopped at the Waba Cottage Museum.
This is located on the edge of White Lake. With beautiful gardens, it is a busy spot, with many boaters. I've been taking photos with my videocamera and it has a built-in GPS, which helps me locate places we visit.

The present museum building is a faithful reconstruction of the house built in 1835 by the founder of McNab Township, the controversial and colourful Archibald 13th Laird of McNab (c.1781-1860). The museum has many fine pictures, photographs and artifacts.

The government appointed Archibald administrator of a township. He promised to settle it with Highland clansmen, hoping the scheme would enable him to return to Scotland to regain his possessions. His first Scottish settlers arrived in 1825. He brought them over, over-charged them for passage, and was a horrible person. Unfortunately, he was a bad one, taking money and not spending wisely. He brought the Feudal Lord rules from the UK, and apparently was terrible. He left a wife back in Scotland.

Upper Ottawa Valley by Clyde Kennedy, White Lake: The Later Years

Archie, himself!

The feudal reign was ended, but McNab sought revenge. He enlarged the dam by his sawmill at White Lake to prevent water reaching the grist mill constructed by John Paris on the Waba Creek, which drains the lake into the Madawaska River.

In 1835, Archibald had a small stone house erected on the shore of White Lake. Here he lived for a number of years with his common-law wife Catherine Fisher, their son Allan, and their daughter Kitty. It took 18 years of peaceful resistance, petitions, court battles, and legal wranglings to oust the only Feudal Lord English Canada has ever seen. The Laird returned to Britain in 1852; married another, younger woman in Paris whilst in his 70s; Catherine remained in the house until her death in the 1870's. The museum curator was quite informative, on this hot, sunny afternoon.