Jan 1 - Feb 2 2014 - Niagara-on-the-Lake

January 1 – Feb 2nd  2014 - Niagara on the Lake

Derek made scrumptious scones

Without going to too much detail and complaints, January was a bit slow in the Taylor family. Janice spent most of the time trying to contain the constant pain in her arm and hand and getting frustrated with the lack of good medical help from the orthopedic surgeon at Niagara General. While the staff were polite and wait times were not overly onerous, the actual time spent with the orthopedic surgeon was minimal and frustrating to say the least. We won’t go into more of the details about lack of care, but will continue expounding on our activities.

The first week was spent cancelling visits from friends who were planning to come and visit us… Janice was in too much pain. Then another bombshell came in the form of a call from Janice’s dermatologist… diagnosis of Malignant Melanoma on her neck which required immediate removal. So Jan 10^th local surgery was performed in Burlington. It is a very scary experience being told that you have the worst and most deadly form of skin cancer … another push towards re-evaluating plans.

Farwell meal together at the Angel

Bon Voyage ... we'll miss ya!

The happy dishwasher/cleaner uppers

Hard at work with the reward waiting

Setting the table

We won't miss the ice!!!

We will miss the Artists Cottage

Other than the health issues that attempted, and failed, to dampen our spirits, we managed to find much enjoyment during the month. We had visits to and from family and friends and were thrilled to be able to spend some time with them... it was a bonus of the extended stay we were forced into. Fortunately the cottage had not been rented out for the month of January so we were easily able to extend our stay, they were very gracious about it. Despite the town’s terrible snow clearing, we fell in love with NOTL, meeting lots of locals who went out of their way to give us advice on finding a possible property there in the future, when we finally decide to settle down. The health scares over the holidays has made us both think more seriously about finding a home base of bricks and mortar, which has been far from our focus during our year+ adventure.  NOTL is a distinct possibility if we can find a place within our price range. Unfortunately, the beauty of the town, the theatre, restaurants, stores etc, all contribute to property values that are sky-high anywhere within decent walking distance to the town centre. We will continue to keep our eye on the market there as we travel around.

Almost cleaned up

Spending extra time with two of our sons, Braden and Grant, was also a bonus, and they were kind and helpful, for which we were both very grateful.  We went to the Festival theatre twice during our stay to see movies… they have a movie and documentary movie series throughout the winter and we saw a couple of great movies. Derek and I went to see Philomena on Jan 25 and Grant came with us to see Nebraska on Feb 1^st. Both movies were excellent and filled the theatre to capacity.

W enjoyed a few visits to the Angel Pub and got to know the lovely manager there. She is a wonderful young woman who is driven and intelligent and an excellent manager. She also kept us apprised of properties in the area.

So as the end of the month approached, 4 weeks after the dreaded fall on the ice, the orthopedic surgeon wanted to put a new cast on for at least another two weeks. After explaining our dilemma about not being able to go back to our ‘home’ until the cast was off, he agreed to put a splint on instead, providing I treat it as if I were in a cast, or even more careful. So splinted and smiling we left the hospital on Jan 27^th and planned to leave town in a week. The week was filled with trips to storage, visits with family and packing up. Braden and Grant, our lovely sons came on the last weekend and were invaluable in helping us pack up and clean the cottage, which we were determined to leave in as good a condition as we found it. We tearfully said goodbye to them on Sunday 2^th February after a final meal at the Angel.. and we set our sights on leaving Monday morning to head down South and leave the endless snow behind for a while. We left Niagara on the Lake as planned, grateful for the time we spent there, still a little angry at the town for their contribution to my fall (ie: not clearing ice or fixing their faulty sidewalks that gather water and freeze over, to catch people unawares!!) but we also left excited to continue our adventure for a while longer and distinctly more aware of the precious gift if life and health.