I’m not really sure how Linda balances everything she does.  Just like at Hollanbec Farm, I’m in awe of how productive one person can be.   Like Heather, Linda has multiple children, lots of animals to look after, church or community involvement, and more.  Of course their wonderful hubbys (shout out to Henk and Tony) help a lot too, but from a “women of the household” perspective I’m amazed by these hardworking women.

In addition to all of these tasks, Linda was so wonderful in showing us and all the other volunteers the area.  Our first outing was a tour of the beautiful Trent Hill.  We loaded up in two vehicles and off we went.  Our first stop was a quick view of a donkey refuge and then an elk and buffalo farm.  We then made our way to the GIANT Toonie!  We also went on a little walk to see the Loch System in the area (these are all over Ontario and pretty darn sweet).  We also went on a really neat suspension bridge.

The fun was not over!  We toured the cute little town of ahhhh. . .I can’t remember the name,  and had a yummy lunch. . . oh, and our first butter tarts.  Holy cow!  Ontario, what an indulgent and crazy delicious little pastry you are known for!

We continued our caravan to a nearby brewery where Mr. Plate and I did not sample the beer, but enjoyed the architecture of the old church it was in and seeing their mini hops garden. Last but definitely not least we went to a local Maple Syrup Farm.  It was so cool, they had quite the operation.  They had a pretty elaborate tubing system that delivered the syrup to their production tanks without hauling any buckets.  The owners were the cutest old couple and the wife made a lot of maple syrup products.  They also had a pretty neat museum on site showing the history of maple syrup production.

The lady gave us an awesome deal because she kept throwing in maple candies and coloring books and stickers for free.  She was a bit smitten by Little Plate.  Aren’t we all?  🙂  Speaking of Little Plate, she was absolutely wonderful the entire day even without a nap and us loading and unloading her from the car over and over.