Clearing the barn in Sundridge

Quite a busy day, all things considered. We all got up reasonably early, and before doing anything else, drove to High Rock to take in the morning sun and admire the stillness of Lake Bernard. High Rock is a lookout, formerly owned by Mary S. Edgar, who wrote hymns and possibly qualifies as Sundridge’s most famous person, which says a lot. She donated the land to the village on her death. Well, she probably donated it before her death, but it took effect after it. It’s quite a nice place, and Lake Bernard is where Mrs. Ottawacker’s sister Nelly had her ashes spread. As it was the day before her birthday, it was more than a little poignant.

After that, we stopped off at Foodland and got some groceries for the day, before heading home and having breakfast. Sally, one of Mrs. Ottawacker’s two other sisters, came round just as we were getting it ready. In Scots Gaelic, there is a word “sgiomalaireachd”, which means someone who pops around at mealtimes. I offer the two pieces of information in this paragraph without commentary.
 
Then we got to work. The main task for the day was to clear above the garage, which is attached to the main house and has a mezzanine. The ground floor of the garage was used as Vagn’s workshop, which the top was used, as far as I can tell, to store every item the family has ever owned since 1975. Surprisingly, it was pretty straightforward – probably because of the work Mrs. Ottawacker had done a month or so ago. The only things that were being kept were photos and books, papers and pictures, glassware and crockery… Soon enough, by mid-afternoon, there was a pile to take to the giveaway place at the municipal dump, and several large containers of recycling. So, we took it.
 
Then, off to Lake Bernard for a swim and to cool down. Sally took Ottawacker Jr. for an ice cream, while I decided the LCBO would be a good place to get cold beer. Dinner. Yahtzee. Collapse into bed.