A freezing Finale!

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It brings us great sadness to inform you that this is our last blog entry - this year at least. We fly home tomorrow, so as we sit in Starbucks, central Toronto, we will recall the stories of our last couple of weeks in Canada...

So, we got a taxi to the bus station after packing and saying goodbye to our sweet little hotel above the sex shop, and for half the price of the taxi that took us there, making us realise how ripped off we had been on our first day in Montreal! We had a relatively long journey taking us from Montreal, back to Ottawa, then onto a connecting bus to Actinolite, a town on the route back to Toronto. We were now on our journey back to where we started, essentially back home, so we were trying to make the most of our last couple of weeks.
We were met in Actinolite by a healthy looking woman in her forties (later to find out she was actually late fifties), and a strong looking Dutch girl called Loes (pronounced 'Luce') - another Wwoofer. We jumped off the bus, into her car, and began the conversation we were very familiar with - where we were from, where we'd been, the weather, casual jokes about the English accent and our strange pronunciations, etc. Denise was very friendly, and we both automatically liked her. We were to spend the next week and a half with her, and her husband John was to return on our final couple of days there. We couldn't have picked a better place for our final farm!

Denise and John's house was beautiful, a largely self-constructed wooden Eco-home. Big wooden beams held it together looking over a gorgeous lake with deserted beaver dams, a solar panel warmed the house most days, and a wooden stove in the kitchen sent extra heat around the rest of the house. We were staying in a cute little bedroom downstairs, woken by the rising sun and the congested cats every morning (more about that later).
Over the next few days we really settled in well. The feel at this place was different. Unlike the other farms, which were very much a 'here's a job, this is how you do it', we were learning a lot more here. Denise was so enthusiastic to tell us why we were doing what we were doing, and the benefits of the very 'green' lifestyle that she lead. We learnt the different techniques of composting, gardening techniques, how to harvest certain vegetables, different routines to get Into from day-to-day, and the biggest thing - the pro's of vegetarianism. Although I come from a vegetarian household back home, I was never dedicated, and didn't know enough to be able to say no to the temptation of the taste of meat. Edd has always eaten meat, which is why his experimenting with being vegetarian now is so amazing! It just proves how much of an influence on our lives staying with Denice had. We are both vegetarian since being there, and both feel much healthier. Lets hope it lasts back home!
Mornings on the Farm were lazy, we read our books, drank copious amounts of green tea, and then eventually started the day of chores. We would go up to the blueberry fields and weed until the weather got too bitter, we would stack the wood inside for the winter (something we were pro's at by now), fill the bird feeders to satisfy the hungry goldfinches, and we were cooking a lot of interesting organic, vegetarian meals. In fact, I reckon if we had stayed any longer at Denice and Johns, we would end up walking around naked and drinking only tea made from tree bark. We were turning into right hippies!
There weren't any livestock, obviously, but the house was surrounded by Canadian birds, and she had four cats - the children she never had. Two of the cats had some sort of permanent illness, where the symptoms were similar to a human cold. There noses were always snotty, and Denice cleaned them with handkerchiefs regularly. If they jumped on your lap at the dinner table for a cuddle, you'd have to be careful for the sneezes, otherwise your delicious vegetarian meal would be covered in cat snot... Lovely! They kept us amused.

Another one of the days Denise took us to Kingston. Loes left before us, and we dropped her off at Kingston bus station. Whilst Denice did other things, Edd and I wandered around the city. Kingston is a university town, so the shops were really interesting, and although it was cold and rainy, it was nice to have a break from the blueberry work and to buy things we didn't need.
The end of our stay came far too quickly! It was great to meet John when he returned back. He was equally as kind and interesting as Denise, and as a wildlife cinematographer he had lots to talk about regarding the film industry, and interesting stories about near-death experiences with bears. Loes also taught us some (useful?) Dutch phrases if we ever found ourself in Holland. It was amusing, because unlike me and Edd, Loes was absolutely apposed to being vegetarian - she likes meat, and that was that. It was stupid to use solar panels if you were freezing cold, and why should you use the same teabag as this morning? She was a really funny girl to share the experience with. We will definitely keep in contact with Denice and John.
After about ten attempts to email local farms to spend our last few weeks there, we were running out of luck and had to contact people that we had met in the local area around the Toronto. The nearest people we knew, were our friend Jimmy's parents that lived in Belleville. We had gone there briefly in September, then stayed with them in their cottage by the lake. We arranged to stay with them, and Jimmy came back for the weekend too, along with his sister. We arrived in Belleville on 26th November.
Jimmy has become a really good friend of ours, and his family are so hospitable towards us. They absolutely love England, so we spent that weekend listening to The Beatles, watching Mr.Bean's Christmas episode (has to be done) and going to see the new Harry Potter film. We could've been at home!
On the sunday we did a day trip back to the Cottage with Jimmy and his Dad. Whilst his Dad wandered off with his new gun to shoot game, the three of us ventured through the woods - a totally different view to how it was three months ago. Snow covered the ground, and the lake that we canoed on was completely frozen over. It looked incredible! We took turns to go out into the middle of frozen ponds in the woods - obviously it was me that the pond broke on, and I slid on the ice backwards, landing on my arse, leaving a butt groove in the ice that had broken through. A comical event, apparently! We were all slipping over, it was so cold and icy up there.

After our weekend in Belleville, we came back with Jimmy to stay with him and his housemates for the next week before we fly home. It has felt great to be back in Toronto, and it's all very christmassy - although we forgot how expensive it is living in the city! We're still vegetarian, although i'm not sure if Edd will be able to resist Christmas turkey...
We can't wait to come home and see everyone. We're definitely ready to come home, although our trip has been fantastic, and to do it all over again but in Western Canada really appeals to us. Thanks for everyone that has been reading these blogs, it makes it worth spending hours in coffee shops writing them!
See you all soon, let's hope our plane isn't delayed/cancelled because of the chaotic weather in England at the moment!
X

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Comments

[Loes]

Hey Ruby & Edd, Nice to read what you guys have been up to! You know what was funny? At the day I arrived in Quebec my new host cooked a vegetarian meal, because she didn't know if I eat meat! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Off course I survived it. One day more or less doesn't matter that much after 11 days of vegetarian meals. Enjoy your last day in Toronto and have a safe trip tomorrow! Take care, Loes