Summer with a pandemic…

Well it’s been a long while since I have written on my blog, 5 1/2 months in fact, so I believe a post is well overdue. 

We moved into our Air BnB apartment ( May-October) and it was lovely, for the time. After it became apparent that we were definitely not going to be able to get to Florida, or anywhere else this winter, we had to decide if we were going to stay in our lovely, furnished basement apartment, or find something that will house us until we can travel again. We, in a COVID world, started to look at apartments for October to October, as we decided a one year lease was the way to go. That of course, meant we would have to start purchasing furniture and everything else needed for an apartment…. At the risk of sounding cheap, we did not want to spend a fortune on furnishings that we would basically get rid of next fall when we would, hopefully, continue to travel. We don’t want to be those people again, you know, the people with STUFF. So the rest of the summer we went to yard sales, kijiji, Facebook Marketplace and Restores looking for furniture, dishes, pots and pans, towels, sheets, etc, etc, etc…. We did buy quite a few brand new things like pillows, television, but 99% was used, much to the chagrin of our children. As we are quick to point out, we spend our lives in time shares and hotels, and other people have sat, slept and eaten on the furniture and plates there! 

So, I am pleased to say we have a beautifully decorated apartment with artwork that has been complemented on, a gorgeous living room sofa and chair that we absolutely love, a lovely bedroom with the most comfortable bed I have ever owned and a view with includes the CN Tower and the city of Toronto lights. We are happy with our choice of building, that, when they open again, have amenities to die for ( gym, pool, hot tub, sauna, movie media room and golf simulator). Sadly, we also bought winter coats, boots and snow tires, somethings that we have not needed for the last 6 years. 

So after a summer of mini trips;  two days in early June to Niagara Falls before everything was open, but the falls were “open” ; three days in July when our grandchildren visited us and we walked, biked and spent time with them doing crafts and making a Tic Tac Toe game for their parents for their 10th Anniversary; and more recently a fabulous three day trip to Blue Mountain for our friends 50th Wedding Anniversary. We stayed at our friend’s sister’s place on Georgian Bay and felt like we were in a resort. Lots of fun at Blue Mountain Village, an apple farm, a bonfire on their beach and eating way too much. 

Thank goodness, we have had no instances of COVID in our family or with any of our friends. We have both been healthy this summer and in the past couple of weeks have seen our doctor, gotten our pneumococcal pneumonia and flu shots, and are ready to hunker down for the fall and winter. We hope that you are all healthy as well and, even though travel will not be in our future for awhile, we are near our family and loved ones.

Safe “not” travels and Cheers, 
Lynne and John