Country Living!

There is - as I am certain you already know - that pithy adage about being keen on what life dishes out, grasping the moment and all that sort of spirited encouragement about wherever it is that you currently find yourself. As crusading as it may be, I hasten to say that I have no reluctance to adopt the campaign. Frankly, life in the country is good!

This afternoon found us tooling about the countryside in an arena which is relatively uncommon for us - the mineral haven of Lanark County, specifically the Township of Lanark Highlands. The Township comprises tiny hamlets and villages with endearing names like Clyde Forks, Elphin, Flower Station, French Line, Marble Bluff, McDonalds Corners, Quinn Settlement, Tatlock and Herrons Mills. It was impossible not to be moved by the burgeoning greenery and glistening ponds of Spring run-off throughout the landscape. I was however able to bear the deprivation of the mosquitoes which instantly materialized during a brief stop along a secluded dirt road!

Our relatively brief sojourn took us in a circle southward through the "back roads" to Perth, then northward again along Hwy #7.  Before entering the comparative urbanity of Perth (the County seat) we purposively lingered nearby in The Maberly Bake Shop:

The Maberly Bake Shop
Bakery Café Restaurant
Proprietors: Bonnie & Ross Palmer
21980 Hwy #7
Maberly, ON K0H 2B0

(613) 390-1293

Without disclosing the full extent of our indulgence I will report that I took away a substantial apple pie with crumble topping and a triple-loaf of robust white bread.  Oh - and a blueberry/strawberry salad which later nicely complemented my own homemade soup. As I am now on the other end of my appetite I can happily inform you that the salad, bread and pie were superb! Mrs. Palmer afforded the warmth of country cooking even before we left the shop. It is a delight to encounter one such as she who is so patently enthused by what she does. As the interlopers from the city increasingly catapult into the neighbourhood I have no doubt that she and her husband will have barely a moment's calm throughout the ensuing summer and into the fall. There is also the weekend temptation of barbecued hotdogs and hamburgers!  What could make for a more perfect outing!