January 1 – Feb 2nd 2014 - Niagara on the Lake
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| 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 10th
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.
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| Farwell meal together at the Angel |
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| Bon Voyage ... we'll miss ya! |
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| The happy dishwasher/cleaner uppers |
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| Hard at work with the reward waiting |
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| Setting the table |
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| We won't miss the ice!!! |
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| 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.
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| 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 1st.
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 27th 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 2th 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.
