Sometimes life throws a curve ball at you and you're in a fog and not really paying attention. That's been the case this past week. It's been Crowe, Crowe, Crowe, and we almost missed it!
If you caught last Saturday's post, you know we drove to Crowe's Landing. What I didn't mention was we also drove to Bridgenorth, and passed right by the A.E. Crowe Fire Hall, named in honor of John's grandfather, Al Crowe.
The tiny apartment they lived in on the main street (below) has now been transformed into a real estate office, but it still retains some of its original lustre...if only in our minds! The ground floor of this building originally housed John's grandpa's welding and machine shop. It had a concrete floor and was the vintage version of today's man cave. I'm talking grease, dirt and NO women allowed.
The upstairs apartment where they lived, was John's Grandmother's domain and she ruled that roost. I always said she reminded me of steel wool...kind of squishy and soft, but tough as nails.
Grandpa emigrated to Canada from England on his own and unaccompanied by an adult at 13-years of age. That in itself is truly amazing. That he forged out a life for himself and did it with a quiet dignity, says so much about who he was as a man. He lived to be 87 years young.
'Steelwool' Lydia was opinionated, feisty and one tough cookie. She died in her 99th year...but no one in the family is entirely certain that's how old she was. She lied about her age to E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E, including the Canadian government...did I mention she was feisty?!
Grandpa emigrated to Canada from England on his own and unaccompanied by an adult at 13-years of age. That in itself is truly amazing. That he forged out a life for himself and did it with a quiet dignity, says so much about who he was as a man. He lived to be 87 years young.
'Steelwool' Lydia was opinionated, feisty and one tough cookie. She died in her 99th year...but no one in the family is entirely certain that's how old she was. She lied about her age to E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E, including the Canadian government...did I mention she was feisty?!
Fast forward to this afternoon when John and I headed east of Havelock and then slightly north to meet with the son of our January housesitting gig homeowners. Guess where the house is located?
Yup, on Crowe River.
While we've visited this region of eastern Ontario for the past 45 years, we were unaware there WAS a Crowe River. We were also oblivious of its beauty. It just kept going on and on, and made today very special.
We're thrilled and excited to announce we'll be housesitting in this area in January 2014, and even more excited to be taking care of Maya, a beagle with personality plus. We've yet to meet her co-hort, Holly, but we've heard she's quite the black lab herself! This winter will be fun, fun, fun!
But, back to the Crowes. Guess what? Before sitting down to write this post I remembered that Ruth, of Travel with Kevin and Ruth fame, the same Ruth who stayed overnight with us last week in Elliot Lake, is also a Crowe. John and I were, as the Brits would say, gobsmacked.
What is going on with this Crowe thing? Whatever it is, we're hanging on for dear life and enjoying the ride.
Holy Crowe! Life. Is. Good!
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