Fort Henry

Fort Henry is a very old fort in Kingston, Ontario. Built in 1832, Fort Henry is a nice place to visit and you can have dinner there and be served by a "servant soldier". We had a very nice dinner in the "Officers' Mess".

After World War 1, the fort fell into disrepair and was restored in 1936. Fort Henry is now designated as a National Historic Site.

Kingston, Ontario is a very historic city. There are some very fancy castle-like homes there. These historic homes have turrets and ornate decorations on them that give them a grand feeling.

Reid's Dairy

Reid's Dairy is a very popular milk company. It also has tasty ice cream. The factory is located in Belleville, Ontario and is open to the public.

Stores that sell Reid's Dairy products are everywhere! They even bag milk under the brand of Neilson. In this picture they are bagging milk. After it is in the bag, the bags go into the green plastic crates. The crates travel along a conveyor belt and take a trip to the distribution centre where they are loaded onto trucks and distributed all over Ontario.

Life of Aboriginal Peoples

The life of Aboriginals is an amazing and spiritual one. I visited a native village. Its exhibits and reproductions of longhouses show the lifestyles of Aboriginals 500 years ago. The Ontario Museum of Archaeology is in the middle of a residential area. Surprising for its kind!

The Aboriginals lived in longhouses. The longhouses were usually about 20-40 meters long. The inside of a longhouse had rows of beds and 3 firepits that were used for cooking. The Aboriginals had a very interesting life. There were originally 14 longhouses in the village. The village had a palisade and lookouts to watch for enemies. Near the entrance there was a maze so it would be hard for enemies to enter into the village. Aboriginals still exist today throughout Canada.

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Castle Kilbride

Castle Kilbride is an amazing work of the Victorian-Italianate style of architecture. It was built by James Livingston in 1877. He was a very successful business man in the area. This mansion lies in Baden, Ontario.

The inside with the grand hall is spectacular. Even the "smoking room" was grand. Every room in the house had a grand feeling.

There was a belvedere at the top. It was painted green and red. It has a slate roof. The belvedere was there so that the man of the house could watch over his fields - in this case, flax fields.

The library, with its painted tassels, look as if they were real. Laura's toy collection is displayed in the cellar. The interesting floor lamp is a piece of art.

In 1988 the house had deteriorated and it was abandoned. The furnishings and toys were sold off in an auction. A heritage group restored the house to its original splendor and it was designated a National Historic Site. Most of the furnishings and toys were brought back to the mansion. Only 65% of the original furnishings remain while the remainder are from the same period of time but not original to the house.

The house is amazing. You can try going to visit there. It is open from May through December. You can see all of the beautiful furniture in the house.

The Wonders of Vinegar!

Vinegar can be used for a lot of things. Vinegar is very useful actually and is an eco-friendly cleaner. Try these experiments and you will be amazed:

• Drains - Use 250 ml of vinegar once a week. Let it stand for 30 minutes and then flush it with cold water. This will deodorize your drain.
• Microwave ovens - Boil 60 ml of vinegar and 250 ml of water in a microwavable container. Let cool and then wipe the oven clean.

Vinegar was discovered over 10,000 year ago. Vinegar is a good cleaning fluid but it is also tasty on french fries!

Siamese Cats

Siamese cats have always been in cartoons as twins and the cartoons are kind of right because they are crazy cats!

Here is a picture of my crazy Siamese cat!

Spider Webs

This spider web is a spectacular "art of nature". The kitchen for a spider - and it is also a spectacular scene.

The spider web catches the light from the street lamps at night. The performance and the speed of a spider when an insect hits its web is a beautiful sight.

Nature is beautiful!

The Welland Canal

The Welland Canal connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and provides a transportation route for large ships to pass through. We saw a large ship and we followed it all the way from Lock 4 to the end of the canal. It was fun to follow it. The navigator even sounded his horn and waved a BIG hand at us from the "bridge". The ship is on its way to Italy.

Winter is coming soon and the St. Lawrence Seaway will close to boat traffic so all of the ships are hurrying to get through the Great Lakes and out to the Atlantic Ocean before the waters freeze.

Fort George

Fort George was an important military site during the War of 1812. There were many battles fought there, including the ferocious Battle of Fort George between the British forces that were stationed there and the American forces that were just across the river at Fort Niagara.

The fort was captured and over-taken by American forces in the spring of 1813 and then taken back over again by British forces later the same year. After the war it was abandoned by the British and fell into ruin. In the 1930's, restoration began. It was designated as a national historic site in 1921.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/on/fortgeorge/index.aspx

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is a great place. You can visit the falls - you can go behind the falls and even ride a boat called the "Maid of the Mist". The Maid of the Mist is named after an ancient aboriginal woman who fled her village and road over the falls in a canoe. Her name was Lelawalo.

The Niagara Escarpment is a long, high, steep rock cliff that runs from Manitoulin Island in the north, through Ontario to Niagara and into the United States. Niagara Falls is the point where the water in the Niagara River flows over the edge of the Niagara Escarpment. The Niagara River connects two of the Great Lakes - Erie and Ontario.

Niagara-on-the-Lake

Niagara-on-the-Lake is a nice little town. It's historic and it even has a memorial tower in the middle of the street for all of the Niagara-on-the-Lake citizens who died in the wars.

It was the first capital of Upper Canada from 1792-1796. The Americans took over the town during the War of 1812 and burned it to the ground when they retreated in 1814.

The whole town is laid out in a grid pattern with 4-acre blocks - actually, it's a lot like Savannah, Georgia in that way!

The picture is of the Prince of Wales Inn. It is a luxury hotel. I have not stayed there yet, but someday I will! You can also go into the Prince of Wales hotel and learn about its great history.

Bird Kingdom

The Bird Kingdom Aviary is a very nice place to visit. There are birds "high and low". There is a huge room where birds fly everywhere! Some of them are exotic and rare. The room is like the "rainforest". There is also a room for small birds to fly around, a reptile exhibit with quite a few ducks too, and a section for nocturnal animals like bats and owls.


There is a historic house in the building and it's called the "Javanese Tea House". It was carved completely by hand out of teak wood.

Fernando is an iguana that sits on the floor in the reptile exhibit, near the exit. He's a very friendly iguana. There was also a small iguana at the entrance and he was friendly to pet.