#MicroblogMondays: Serenity now :)

It's been a rough couple of months around here:  

• a tumble down the stairs at the zoo in mid-May that sent me to hospital in an ambulance (!) and left me shaken up (but thankfully not too badly injured), 
• eye surgery in late July, which took longer to recover from than I had anticipated,  
• gallbladder removal surgery in mid-August (and recovery from that!), 
• isolation to try to avoid catching covid (which would have postponed the surgeries), 
• nevertheless catching a nasty cold that lasted for two full weeks (just as I was starting to feel fully recovered from all my surgeries...!), 
• no summer visit home to see my parents & sister :(  (because of all the above), 
• dh's own health issues (a bad flareup of both seasonal allergies and skin eczema), which meant we couldn't even have the balcony door open on nice days this summer  :(    
• hot, humid weather for much of the summer (which meant we couldn't have the balcony door open much anyway...!), and 
• the (not unexpected) deaths of two of dh's elderly aunts, one week apart, and thus two sets of visitations & funerals to attend over the past two weeks (mentioned here and here). 

But things are (finally!) looking up!  :) 

We (dh, BIL & SIL and I) spent this past weekend with dh & BIL's cousin, his wife & their teenaged son at their beautiful cottage (actually more like a large lakefront home -- 7 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, all the modern conveniences, and a spectacular view!),  where we also spent a weekend in mid-September last year.  We took walks, sat on the dock, ate some amazing food (and ate, and ate... lol), drank wine, chilled out in the hot tub, played board games, took a scenic drive, enjoyed the fall colours (just starting to emerge), and poked around some local shops, and enjoyed each others' company. 

It was just the tonic we needed.  :) 

Highway 28 in the Kawarthas region of Ontario. 
The fall colours were just starting to emerge in a major way. 

The dock below the cottage. A wonderful place to just sit and chill.  :) 
(Figuratively & literally, lol -- temperatures took a nosedive
and plunged to 3C overnight Saturday/Sunday while we were there!) 
The stone patio area is about midway between the cottage & the lake
and includes a fire pit. 
(About 45 stone steps total to climb up & down between the cottage & the dock!) 

And by this time next week (knocking wood, loudly!), I will be back in my home province, celebrating (Canadian) Thanksgiving with my parents & sister, after not seeing them since last Christmas. :)  (I may or may not be doing a #MM post then, depending on how busy I am there...!) 

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.