I am spoiled!

 That was quite a day, Wednesday. I had had a bad day, the stress was getting to me. So much bad news, stuff going on here [Our eavestrough replacement], and I needed to depressurize. JB suggested lunch out, and I concurred. 

Off we went to Carleton Place to visit Boulton House. There was a barrier. We had to turn around. Gillian GPS wasn't as helpful as we thought, navigating the streets. We laughed, Plan B. Who knew?! 

The streets are under repair, as well as the bridge. You know the saying, only three seasons: bugs, snow and/or construction.

Once we sat, it was a lovely day to be out and I tried to relax. This is my happy place, sitting on a patio in summer. You can see the pub across the river. It's a bit too chummy for us right now. This place has a larger patio. 

Drinks ensued. A virgin ceasar to celebrate summer and my usual vino blanco. I accidentally wrecked my new haircut, as my bangs were driving me nuts, hanging in my eyes. I cannot texturize it the way Jamie can. At least I can see!

He looks fierce, doesn't he? He is my personal assistant, my grocery shopper, errand doer, dishwasher, and my rock. We take care of each other these days. He had a deconstructed burger, since he cannot have dairy or yeast. They always offer a gluten-free bun or vegan bun! I had scallops with pesto tagliatelle.

There was much action at the bridge. Good to see hard-working people gainfully employed to maintain infrastructure. You want your bridges to have a good foundation!

There was action on the dam. It didn't look all that safe to me. 

Carleton Place swimmers from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This struck me as a dear home. 

We drove home on the scenic route, via Tennyson Rd.

It's a nice community, but the homes are a bit too close for our tastes. Many are complaining about whackadoodles using the lakes as Nascar tracks, fireworks, and noisy cigarette boats driving too fast. There are many incidents on the lakes. 

Our travelers are home!

I was watching their flight details with baited breath. Their Amsterdam flight was an hour late leaving, which meant they wouldn't make their YYZ Toronto to YOW Ottawa flight (#458). Caitlin was wonderful and texted me to keep us in the loop! They made it through customs quite quickly. I noticed that 458 was still there, according to FlightAware. They got there and the gate was closed. Their seats had been sold, but they could see it on the tarmac! 

Our four intrepid travelers were automatically booked on a flight leaving after midnight (00:38)! There was another YOW flight (#460) meant to leave at 17:40, but delayed to 18:40. They got booked on that one. Next it was delayed to 19:05, and again that was changed to have them leave at 20:05. There was another later that night, but they were booked on 460. The airline booked them on #460, and our kids arrived safely in Ottawa after the one hour flight. All is well. 

There are so many delays, due to many factors. Airlines reopened too soon, without sufficient staff from baggage handlers, to all other staff. The airlines laid off a lot of people who need new security checks, etc., some found jobs elsewhere. Employees are still falling ill with COVID, too. Numbers are up everywhere. 

Farewell to Amsterdam!

 They left Ottawa July 5th and went to  => 🛫 Toronto => 🛫New York City => 🛫Istanbul => Athens ⛴ => Heraklion => 🚘Chania => 🛩 back to Athens => 🛩 Istanbul => 🛫Amsterdam => 🛫Toronto => 🛫Ottawa. Home July 28th. We'll have the girls the second week of August. I don't know if we need to dream up some exciting activities, or if they'll be glad to chill out. We sure couldn't top their travels!