At the Wakefield Mill, Gatineau

 When John and I attended the wedding of his nephew James to Casey McLeod in the Gatineau Hills

 James' parents Tom and Kim put us up at the Wakefield Mill Inn in La Pêche, Québec.

The Wakefield Inn, the former Wakefield Grist Mill, is beautifully situated on a tributary to the Gatineau River, with a bridged dam, a lovely waterfall and lots of woodland and paths to discover.

Part of the Wakefield complex of guest rooms and conference rooms, is the old MacLaren House. The MacLaren family originally owned the grist mill.

When John and I and his brother-in-law Peter arrived the first day we headed down to the little village of La Pêche to dine at the Mouton Noir (Black Sheep) Tavern.

Happily John's older brother Ron and his wife, Betty, also arrived and joined us for dinner, jokes and toasts.

At the Mill we easily settled into our room.

The view from our window was of the Gatineau  Forest looming above the main road parking spaces.

The next morning we wandered down the grounds that follow the mill stream.

Pairs of Muskoka chairs offer quiet spaces of contemplation.

This is the pair of chairs right beside the stream where we chose to chat

and read our books.

With a charming view of the stream.

On the morning after the wedding, the groom's parents joined us for a wonderful brunch with almost too many delicious offerings. Our delightful driver, John's brother-in-law, Peter Reynen, needed lots of grub to sustain him for our ride back to Toronto and then on to Kincardine for Peter.

Peter and his GPS guided us back through Ottawa to the #401 highway

and in a few hours Toronto appeared in the distance. What a wonderful weekend!

Walk in the Gatineau Hills

The road beyond the Wakefield Mill splits in two at the dam.

Both directions are rewarding dead ends -- one going to the old cemetery, the other into the Gatineau Hills.

 John and I chose the road along the river

 and eventually came to the entrance to a nature trail into Gatineau Park.

 We both love woodland floors.

 John seemed to concentrate on the anthropomorphic qualities of the trees.

 whilst I shot the ferns and flowers

 like this clump of golden rod thriving in a clearing.

 Eventually we headed back to the service road

 with its ditches full of wildflowers

 and berry-laden shrubs.

There is nothing so restorative as a walk in the woods.

Madsen Hangs Some Shelves

We invited friend and local factotum Zack Madsen to hang some shelves for us tonight.

 Zack declined Bill's offer of help.

 The wooden shelves we'd bought from IKEA went up quickly.

Masden put them fourteen inches apart for our collection of 70's and 80's vinyl albums. 

We're so happy with the results.

Then we relaxed on the balcony. We could admire our fabulous new shelves.

Thanks, Zack Madsen. (Contact info available.)