51% of the way

Last Thursday I finally had my shot (haha) to get on the vaccine bandwagon.

At 6:50 pm, Glosette girl and I arrived at our scheduled appointment. We sat in our car until the PA system called for people in our group to come up.

After being called into a large vaccine distribution centre at the Nepean curling rink, we dutifully waited in line. 

It was pretty empty as I think we were close to the end of the day

We were eventually ushered into a cubicle where we waited for our shots. To tell you the truth, it was a bit nerve wracking, but having Glosette Girl with me was nice. Most people were there by themselves.

Waiting was a bit tense

Finally, around 7:15 pm we received our shots. We had to wait 15 minutes afterwards to make sure we didn't have any side effects. 

Muscle girl

Muscle man

Fortunately it was all smooth sailing. We are now on our way to vaccine freedom! I think the news announced that around the time received our shots just over 50% of Ottawa's adults over the age of 18 had received their shots as well. Maybe we pushed Ottawa over the 50% line!

C'mon Ottawa, we can do it!

A Hidden Oasis

Right by Dow's Lake, I recently discovered a hidden oasis that I never knew existed even though it's hardly more than a 5 minute drive from my house: a huge field filled to the brim with dandelions!

It's all ours!

When I visited with Margot and Glosette Girl, despite it being a beautiful day, it was almost completely  empty. I think what makes the area so secluded is that it's surrounded on all sides by trees and less obvious than the arboretum, or Commissioner's Park where throngs of people come to stroll and see all the tulips at this time of year.

It may not be fancy (some people think of dandelions as weeds) but for our gang, it was perfect! Who wouldn't want a big open flower-filled field to run around on a warm spring evening?

Wait a minute...who is taking this photograph...

Sadly, I think this area is slated for development in the next couple of years. But I'm glad I had an opportunity to enjoy this spot before it vanishes. Ottawa is a great city for green spaces, but I'm always happy when I discover a new spot that I've never visited before.

...ah, there's the culprit!

Cats of Hintonburg

These days, the main evening activity around here is...walking! And that provides us with the perfect opportunity to meet all our neighbours.

There's Milo:

And Charlie:

And Nala:

And, of course, Max. Can't forget about Max*!

They are shy at first, but once you get to know them they do a good job filling us in on the local neighbourhood gossip. Of course, none can compare to our houseguest, Panda!

What are are you lookin' at?

* All names have been made up for privacy reasons.

Beachcombing in Ottawa

I love it - we found another secret of Ottawa this past weekend. I really thought I knew most of them but the pandemic is inspiring us to explore every nook and cranny of this city.

This time, it's a very long and pretty beach. For a landlocked city thousands of miles away from any ocean, Ottawa actually has a number of beaches. There is Britannia beach and Westboro beach, near my house in the west, and the beaches of Petrie Island in the west. All of those beaches are on the Ottawa river. There is also a beach at Mooney's Bay, on the Rideau River. But all of these beaches have an artificial, dredge-like quality to them. They aren't really my cup of tea.

So it was a nice discovery when Glosette Girl, Margot and I found a long beach at Constance Bay, which is just within the Ottawa city limits, about 40-minutes from Hintonburg. The beach goes on and on and a lucky few souls have houses that back onto it.*

Only in Ottawa do the words "tuque" and "beach" go together

Even with cloudy weather, the beach makes a nice place for a stroll with nice views of the Gatineau Hills in the background.

Visiting this area really made me think about how, even within a single city, there are so many ways to live from posh, urban hipster, suburban and then, with Constance Bay, cottage-like. Its also enough to inspire me to move and try another way to live. But that just may be my pandemic cabin fever talking :

*maybe not so lucky as this area is prone to flooding.