Julia's Story

Once upon a time there was a smart young girl named Julia who lived in a country far, far away.  Julia wanted an adventure and wanted to work with horses so she did lots of planning and then more planning and finally bid her parents and Prince Charming Auf Wiedersehen and headed for the wilds of Canada.  Julia spent 3 months working at a ranch in northern BC and all was well.  Then Julia spent 3 months working at the racetrack in Vancouver and all was well.  Then Julia came to Collingwood.  All was not well.  The accommodations promised her were not furnished as stated.  The farmhouse had cracked walls, ceilings and windows and questionable water supply.  It was left a mess by the previous tenants.  (Caitlin, Connor's girlfriend Sabrina and I had spent the previous day cleaning so Caitlin could move in.)  The owner (we will call her Cruella) had given incomplete information to the barn manager and then headed to Florida.  She was expecting a girl from out west and not until the new year.  I guess Germany is west if you go far enough.  The manager tried to give Julia the full time hours promised but after the evil Cruella returned and said they were over budget Julia's hours were cut and another girl laid off.   So basically Julia was left underemployed and homeless.  She moved in with us for a month. (And Caitlin decided she couldn't live in the farmhouse either.) We enjoyed having Julia but she needed more money than the few hours the barn provided so she found a job cleaning condos and moved into staff accommodations.  Not her plan but she took it all in stride.  We hope to still see Julia a lot over the coming months so you may see her occasionally in my blog.  Julia will be in the area for another two months then she will be doing some exploring in the states before returning home.