Well, Holly has requested the re-telling of the SWAT story.. so here it goes as I remember it! We purchased our acrage this past Fall and took possesion on a Friday. We signed our papers and went home to pack up some supplies. Dave went up to our new place on Saturday to get some wood cut for our firepit and to set up the tents.




Our friend Steve came over on the Monday to help Dave. The plan was that I would be there by dinner time with our kids, and Steve's family would come down at dinner time too for a little cookout.



Here's where Dave takes over the story because he was there:




With the fire going for the cookout, Steve and Cheryl said they had a surprise for their kids and they walked around the corner and down the driveway to their van...a couple seconds later they came back looking a little freaked out. At their heals was a team of OPP and RCMP Swat cops...and I mean swat cops with machine guns and everything. All the kids took one look at them and went "COOL!!" thinking that was the treat.




The head guy walked up to me and handed me a "search warrent" to check the property for drugs and weapons that were supposed to be hiden around on the land somewhere - this explained very quickly the good deal we got on the land purchase.







They explained that they knew we were the new owners and not responsible for anything they would find - here's where all the adults finally "exhale" and start to breath again. They had just found out that we bought the property which explained the automatic weapons....I think they might of been expecting some sort of gun fight - thank God they could recognize a family firepit when they saw one and quickly relaxed.



In a way it was both disturbing and comforting...disturbing that all the kids thought we would surprise them with a potential gun fight and comforting to know that Canada's best is hard at work.




As we made small talk, and I quickly reassured them that my tie-dye shirt had nothing to do with the drug sub-culture of Canada and more to do with environmentalism. They checked the property for any "stashes" of drugs or guns...did I mention that we had unknowingly bought a property that might contain guns and drugs - holy crap!!

(How can you not trust a face like this........ )




Anyway, they explained how they already had numerous officers hiding in the perimeter of the property ready to pounce had we given them the reason. After a short discussion, and our complete cooperation they left as orderly and efficiently as they arrived...and here's where Steph comes into the picture.





Ok (steph talking now), so I arrive at the turnoff to our property and notice a large collection of police vehicles, from unmarked sedans to a very large Paddy Wagon parked on the side of the road. Here is where I think to myself, wow, something big is going on around here! Glad I don't have to worry about such things!




I arrive at our driveway and drive in. I am greeted by 3 dogs, 1 husband, 2 good friends, 4 kids, and a whale of a tale! That's when it occurs to me that the BIG event had happened right here! I always miss ALL the good stuff!!



So there it is, the story of our fist days at our new digs. As a side note I will mention what occured a few days later....



Cheryl works in the public school system in Bancroft and as she arrived for work there were some officers at the school to do an anti-drug talk with the students. As she walks up to the front door one of the male officers says "How's the weather in Coe Hill?" She stops and in a bit confused... until it dawns on her... he looks a bit different in street clothes and not carrying a weapon. So our humble apologies to Steve and Cheryl for any rumors that might be swirling around Bancroft about our upstanding, non-drug taking friends.