A Fun Mother's Day

Each year, the London Free Press publishes a "Shunpiker Mystery tour" for Mother's day.  A Shunpiker is someone who likes to travel on the back-roads. We have been on many tours over the years--sometimes it has been cold and wet and other times, it has been warm and sunny. Today, we were blessed with a warm and sunny day. My father, my in-laws and my husband and I ventured out after lunch for this year's tour. Our first stop was the Canada Southern Railway Station in St. Thomas. This old building, built in 1873, has been lovingly restored over the last several years for office/retail space as well as a lovely room which can acommodate receptions. The renovations are still underway and we have been there several times to view the progress being made.  The above picture was taken in the "Men's waiting room".  The ladies waited in a separate room so they would not have to listen to the men cussing!

Next, we went to Steed and Company Lavender Farm where we sampled jams, jellies and salad dressings made with lavender. They also sell lavender chocolate as well as soaps and other toiletry items. I felt relaxed just walking through the shop--the lavender smelled heavenly!

We also saw the lavender growing --not in bloom yet. We will have to pay another visit later in the summer.

I loved this windchime which was hanging outside the shop.

The Gay Lee Dairy Heritage Museum was our next stop on the tour. The museum houses a large collection of milk bottles, butter churns, and other dairy farm artifacts.

(Click on the above picture to read about these cream top mild bottles)

The last stop on our tour was the Erie Shores wind farm where we saw 66 wind turbines in action and read about how they work and how the electricity is transported to the grid.

I took this picture of a pussy willow bush coming out into leaf at the side of the road.

The trilliums were out too. For those of you from other places outside Ontario, the trillium is our provincial flower and it grows wild in the woods in this area. Most trilliums are white, but there were some burgandy and pink ones as well.

After the tour, we went out for supper in Tillsonburg and then drove home. A great time was had by all.