My Prince Charming ?

We closed up the cottage the other day. It's always a sad time, saying goodbye to the place for the next few months. Besides getting the chores done - packing up the perishables, the freezeables, bedding and clothing, etc., we turned off the power, winterized the water pump and put away all the water toys and canoe. We hung up the snow shovels in a tree. [One winter we got to camp to find they were frozen solid into the ground. We had to 'shovel' with our feet!]

It was quite cool outside, but not raining, so we had a campfire and just sat and stared at the flames for awhile, neither of us talking. It amazes me how long we can stare at dancing flames and jumping sparks. Very mezmerizing.
By the time our campfire had turned to coals, the camp was warm enough to go inside. We took the wood-stove out when we were doing our renovations, so until next summer all we have for heat is a construction heater. It works great, but it takes awhile to heat up the whole camp.

I bought some Roman style, roll-up blinds for the four new windows. Each window is 6x4'- that's a lot of window! I didn't want our place to look like an aquarium with the possibilities for looky-loos and shady snoopers to peek inside - [ not that there any such characters on our lake!!]. So, we installed the blinds mainly for privacy. Also, because there's so much window I didn't want the cute little chickadees and nuthatches to break their necks thinking they could fly through them! So, after the blinds were installed we took a walk in the bush. Our last one of the year. The smell was divine! There is nothing like the fresh, damp, biodegrading smell of fallen leaves and moose poop. No really, it smells like nature. I'd love to bottle that smell and in the middle of winter take the cap off the bottle and take a good whif - so it can take me back to the middle of the bush, at least in my mind.

I took a few photos of water droplets on the leaves. Just a few of them turned out. I was feeling very uncreative lately in the photography department. Must be the rain. Or the lack of GREEN. Or the lack of anything ALIVE!! But, just as we were ready to pack up the recyclables and the empty beer bottles we saw a big, honking TOAD!! This dude's body [or dudette - how can you tell?] was about the size of my fist. I thought for sure he was going to scurry [do toads scurry?] under the camp, but he hopped up onto a rock as if to say, "I'm here for my photo shoot". He sat for me and posed while I took shots from several angles. What a guy!! Don't you wish your guys were that cooperative?



I named him George. Anyway, I started thinking it was a sign. This guy was my good luck charm. First of all, I thought toads and frogs would have already hunkered down for the season, here this one was right out there enjoying the near zero temps! I just kinda knew that it was going to be a great autumn and an even better winter. I knew that our camp would fare the loneliness just fine until we next returned when the ice is safe for crossing. I felt that I was going to have a better year, healthwise. I can't explain it, but George made things feel right.

That evening, back at home there was a clear sky and a gorgeous full moon. I went to Google and look what I found on the first hit!!

The ancient Chinese revered a mythical creature known as the Chan Chu or "Toad God". This toad is believed to be bring good luck, prosperity and wealth to its owner. Frogs have traditionally symbolized good luck and prosperity.
The Chan Chu is said to appear every full moon close to the people who are about to receive good luck regarding money!!

Maybe I should have kissed George!

My Bad Day

I had one of those days. You know the kind -- when nothing goes right and you just wish you could either start all over again or fast forward to bedtime.
It started out fine, good breakfast, great latté, finished a great novel.
My daughter Lauren called and asked if I could drive her to work today. She's leaving for Ottawa with a friend right after work and she needed to bring her bags to work. She usually walks or takes her bike and couldn't do so with her suitcases. "No prob", I say! So, five minutes before I had to leave to pick her up I went to get the car keys and.... no car keys!! We have two for the car. DH has one [on his key chain - at work] and guess who had the other one? Lauren! Arrggh. So, she had to walk to work afterall, bags and all.

I needed the car today for some errands and a hair cut. So, I thought this would be a good excuse for me to take the dog for a long walk, listen to my mp3 player and pick up the key from my Lauren's work. Twenty five minutes there and back, sunshine and fresh air sounded good. I was tired of the tunes on my player, so I wanted to delete them and add some of Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe stories. Love listening to him! First of all, I couldn't find the USB cord for my mp3 player. Finally found it, but couldn't remember how to upload new stuff to it. Finally figured that out but it was taking FOREVER to upload just a few stories. I gave up after 3. No problem - that would give me a good start - about 45 minutes worth of listening.
I loaded up my pack-sack with pooper-scooper, wallet, umbrella and mp3 player. Good to go. Now, Gracie loves going for walks, but without her Halti [gentle, leader collar] she's a complete idiot on the leash. I usually put it on her because she's way more easier to control with it on, especially if we meet up with other dogs, however she HATES it so much and is always trying to rub it off somehow. She flops down on the ground, snout on the grass/gravel/ground and with her butt in the air pushes her self along with her back legs as she slides her face on the ground. I told you - idiot. So, to spare her the discomfort of the Halti today I decided to to just go with the regular collar. Bad idea. The walk was not pleasant. Tug, pull, tug, pull, yank, tug, pull. That annoys me. And to add insult to injury it was windy today. I HATE the wind. And this wasn't just a gentle breeze - it was full gale force in-your-face winds. After walking in it for an hour I felt like I had just been abused. Now I was really annoyed, wind-blown and sweaty, [it is unseasonably warm today, 20ºc and I was overdressed] and I was now getting an ear-ache and headache from the wind.

But, back home once again with the key I could now go do my errands with the car. Had to take some acetamin for my headache first. And change my clothes. I left for the the mall with the intention to buy blinds for the four windows at camp. I planned my time so I could buy the blinds and then go to my appointment for my hair cut. I found the blinds, but there were only two sets, not the four I needed. I had to struggle to get them out of the racks. They're 6' blinds and they were stacked at the BACK of the racks. I stumbled my way to the cash with them, [they were heavy and awkward] I asked if there were two more sets of blinds anywhere in the store? Nope, but the other store in the Valley has them. Good, they will transfer them to this store for me. I went to pay for the two that I had. NO WALLET. I had left it in the pack-sack from my walk earlier. OMG. Could my day get any worse?
I had to leave the blinds at the store, on hold so I could pick them up tomorrow. Good thing that parking is free at the mall, so I was able to leave fairly quickly.
I got back in the car and rushed home to get my wallet so I could make my 3pm appointment. I saw an empty meter on the street, turned into a driveway so I could back up into the parking spot and just as I was backing up, a van drove up from the other way and took my spot!!! I'm normally a pretty laid back person. I don't get excited or frustrated easily. I'm usually quite calm. It took a lot of self restraint not to back right up into that van.
So, I put my money in the meter and go to the salon. I get there and my stylist is running 1/2 hour late and would I mind waiting?
N-O P-R-O-B-L-E-M!!

The salon is next door to where Lauren works, so I gathered my wits and enjoyed an espresso and cookie while I waited. By the way my day had gone so far I was sure I was going to either choke on my cookie or bite my tongue or something. [the caffeine actually calmed my nerves!]

Fast forward an hour and I left the salon with a brand new, radically different haircut and style! I'm still not sure what happened. I'm usually not that brave when it comes to my hair. I've had longish hair for as long as I remember and today I bit the bullet and said "do what you think would look good"! OMG what was I thinking? But really, it's not so bad. It'll take a little getting used to, but it's okay. Hair grows back, right?

I had 5 minutes to spare on the parking meter and I made it back home in one piece!
There's 6 hours I'll never get back!

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I know this pic doesn't have anything to do with my day, but it makes me smile!!

Bear!

This is the time of year for bears. There have been a lot of nuisance bears in town. There was one in my neighbour's yard a few weeks ago.
Since we've had our cottage, we've sighted a few bears, but never on our own property. I know they're out there, but thankfully, they haven't come around. When we walk back in the bush, we're sure to make lots of noise. At camp, I always freeze my meat scraps until we go home and I always rinse the recyclables and NEVER leave garbage out.
The cottage across from us is on an island. There seems to be more bears over there as we've seen them in their yard a few times. The bears never seem to be there when the neighbours are. I don't know if that's a cooincidence or if they stay away if there are people near by.
Just a few days ago we saw one at another cottage on the island. It was chowing down on grass or something. I hung around for a good 20 minutes or more.
I got DH to take me over in the boat so I could take some photos of it. I had my 50-200mm lens with a 1.5x teleconverter. I didn't get the greatest focus, but I was glad to get the shots I did. This was the closest I have ever been to a bear. We were about 30 feet away I think. You can see in the eyes that it's looking right at me!! I took about a dozen photos, and these were the best.
After we got back to camp, we saw it right across from us at the neighbours again, munching on her potted mums and Mountain Ash tree. Then it made it's way to the next camp. No hurry, no rush. Just searching for something more to eat.

Thanksgiving, Banana Boats and Fun!

I love spending Thanksgiving at camp. We've had some great temps, but no sunshine this year. It was overcast and cloudy, but no rain. We started a campfire Sunday morning before our guests arrived. Sipped coffee and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. Usually in the summer, we don't have campfires that often for fear of forest fires. But the wind was calm and the bush was already damp from a few days of rain, so it was nice not to have to worry about sparks. We gathered benches and chairs and circled them around the fire pit.
Doug had to take several boat trips to and from the Marina to pick up our friends and family. [We NEED a new boat!!] With only 5 life-jackets and comfortable seating for 4, it makes it tough! There was 14 of us all together for a wonderful Thanksgiving day.
I took lots of pictures, so I'll post more in a day or two.
We made banana boats in the hot coals. This was our lunch! We didn't want to be too full for turkey dinner!

Before:

After:

It's Thanksgiving weekend and I love turkey!
We're having our turkey dinner at the cottage on Sunday. Fourteen of our family and friends will be joining us and the forecast is for WARM temps!! I can't wait.
My little oven at camp isn't very reliable, temperature wise, so I didn't want to take any chances in ruining a turkey so I'm cooking a 15 lb one here at home today. It smells heavenly in here right now. I'll slice it all up here, then wrap it nice and tightly. Then on Sunday I'll warm it up slowly just before we eat. I'll do the potatoes there. I think I'll mash up a sweet potato with the spuds this year and whip them with lots of butter! Mmmm. My sister is bringing her famous buttery, candied carrots. Others are bringing more veggies, V8 juice and snacks. My girls are bringing a bottle of Chai liqueur. That should go nicely with the Pumpkin Crappe dessert I'm going to make. I also bought the cutest little, tiny apples [Paula Red] that I'll be making Candy Apples with for everyone!
I'm hoping to have a campfire where we'll roast some marshmallows and make banana boats!
If the weather holds out, I'd like to set up the table outside. It'll be so nice to enjoy our meal in such peaceful surroundings. There are hardly any people on the lake this time of year, so it's the breeze, some birds and us!! Just hope the smell of the turkey and fixings don't attract any unwanted critters!!

Decisions, decisions...

I get tired of my furniture very quickly. In the 29 years of our marriage, D & I have had 7 different living room sets. That's an average change of 1 in 4.2 years!!
I've gone from plush to pastel, from plain to plaid, from sofa-bed to reclining. Looking back, I have to wonder 'what was I thinking?' I guess at the time, I thought I had made a sound choice.
When I get a new sofa, I LOVE it. I sit in it, I read in it, I admire it. But after a short time, I don't care if I eat food on it, or drink red wine on it. Then I get to the point where I start trying to disguise it with throws or pillows!
I also have a bad habit of changing the layout of my furniture. I do this pretty often. I get tired of the same ol' and need to rearrange things. DH has to laugh, he'll come home from work and find things anew once again.
Well, I'm at that stage again. We're looking for new furniture and it's so HARD!! We just brought our old loveseat to the cottage. The sofa is going to go in our rec-room in the basement. The old cart we were using as a coffe table also went to camp, so at the moment my living room has a recliner, a TV cabinet and the dog's bed!! I need to find something new soon.
I've been to every [affordable] furniture store in town, twice and three times! I keep going back to McQueens. They have the nicest selection. But that's the problem - I like so much! So now I have to decide what is going to suit me best for the next, oh, 4.2 years.
We've got a traditional dining room set in a dark walnut colour. I think I'd like to match something with that. I'd like to get two love seats and one recliner. Maybe an accent colour like dark burgundy for the lamps and recliner.
Oh, the decisions.....
This is the one I'm leaning towards now, [but in loveseat, not sofa]....

What do you think??

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful place to go to. Our cottage, [camp] brings such peace and tranquility in our lives. When we're there, our hearts are content and free from worry.

The weather has been so cool this week, well below normal for this time of year. But even a bad day at camp is better than any day at home! It rained a few times, but we had lots of inside work to do. Our addition is almost complete and we opened up the wall between the main camp and the new room. It's awesome!

I did a lot of brushing again. Give me an axe and I go nuts. I love cutting dead branches and lower limbs on trees. It opens things up and looks so neat and tidy. [I think it's an OCD thing of mine.] Had a few campfires and burned some of the brush. But first I had to cut up all the pieces to just the right size. I'm picky about that.
And I'm so anal about things being out of place or untidy. I even pick up the acorns that fall because they're scattered all over the place like specks of dirt on a floor. If I could, I would even sweep the ground! That's another story though...

The water temperature has gotten too cold for swimming. Gracie only went in once, although it's probably fine for her - it's just that it was so rainy anyway. Doug jumped in after a sauna, but not me. I wasn't brave enough.

We went for a walk on the Shoe Tree Trail. I brought the GPS with me and then I marked the trail with fluorescent tape on branches. I'm usually pretty good with my internal compass and have a good sense of direction, but we often get turned around back on our trail. Now with the markers, it's easy! It's so pretty back there, deep in the woods. The leaves are just beginning to fall and the sun dapples through the trees in spots. It's so quiet back in the bush. Saw one partridge, but that's it!

So, we're back in town for a few days to get some more groceries and building supplies. Having high-speed internet here at home is SO nice after dealing with dial-up at camp. When I'm there I can't even check out the gallery at TwoPeas because photos take forever to upload!

Thanks for dropping by and for those of you that take the time to comment, I appreciate it!

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I took quite a few pics but none that I was overly thrilled with. I'm still struggling with my macro shots taken with my 100mm. I seem to have better success using it without the 1:1 adapter. Perhaps I need to use a tripod more, but I just hate lugging it around with me. This one was taken with that lens.

I'm THRIFTY, not cheap!

I am cheap. There, I said it. Actually, I like to consider myself thrifty, frugal, prudent or even conserving, but somehow the word cheap sounds so, well, cheap! My family has accused me of this trait for many years and razzes me about it constantly. Well, geez, they're going to thank me some day, I know it.

I took out a whole whack of old slides the other day. Most of them are from my Mom's collection, over a thousand I'm sure. Then a few boxes from my M-I-L's. They had been sitting in my closet collecting dust for so many years and I felt it was time to dig them out to have them copied to DVD. Being the ever thrifty person I am, I wanted to save myself a buck and try to do it myself. I did some research to see if it was possible to scan them on my flatbed scanner. I found a few directions, went out and bought the necessary supplies, all to find that it did not work. I wasted a lot of time, but spent only $9 on a fluorescent light, [which I returned]! No biggy.

After that initial failure, I figured I would bite the bullet and have them copied professionally. Walmart could have done each slide for pennies each, but my slides were so old, they would not fit in their scanner. Bummer. Costco doesn't do slides anymore. Bummer. Black's Photography does slides for $1.99 [wow, pricey] but my slides wouldn't fit in their scanner. Bummer. So, I found a place downtown that could do them for $2.00 per slide. I figured it would cost me at least $200 to do the ones I wanted. Only problem is my slides are so old and dirty, I had to disassemble each one to clean the glass inserts. Big job, but I figured worth it. So I began the task of cleaning old slides. For those of you over 50 years old, you might remember the slides I'm talking about. Thick plastic case, two glass inserts and the slide.

As I was having lunch one day with my daughter's boyfriend the other day, he said to me, "couldn't you just take a picture of them while displayed on the projector?" What a genius!! Why didn't I think of that? Long story short [ya, right] that's exactly what I did! I saved myself a couple of hundred dollars by doing it myself! I think they turned out wonderfully! I'm in the process of editing them now [hundreds] but thought I'd show you a few of my favourites.

So these are essentially, SOOC from the original camera and then from my camera after taking the picture on the screen. With a little tweaking in Photoshop, I think the results are pretty darn good! And I saved a buck again! You wouldn't call that cheap would you??

SOOC, on my projector screen:
This is me, about 45 years ago at Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario


SOOC



My dad, sisters and me - circa 1962



CIAO, and thanks for visiting!

Words

I like words. Words are my friends. I think I discovered my love for words when I was 11 years old and wrote my first poem. I was hooked. Thirty-eight years later, and I'm still fascinated with the written word.

I love to read, I love to do crosswords, I love to write poems and stories, I keep a daily journal and I like to think I'm pretty good at grammar and spelling. Nothing drives me more crazy than words used incorrectly, spelled wrong or with poor grammar. I'm no english major, and I don't care if someone doesn't speak right, but if you're going to write it down for other people to see - make it right!! Look it up in the dictionary if you have to, but make it right!

As much as I enjoy reading a good book, I'm not into classic literature like Shakespeare. Dostoevsky, Orwell, or Bronte. I've never read Crime and Punishment, War and Peace or Wuthering Heights. Sure, I've heard of those timeless authors and famous books, but give me a good Dean Koontz, [my fav], J.K. Rowling, [she's a genius I say!!], Johnathan Kellerman or Patricia Cornwell novel and I'm consumed for hours in their tales! I don't like Romance books or Sci-Fi. I don't care for Non-Fiction unless it's about True Crime or Forensics, [another one of my interests]. I like characters like Kay Scarpetta, Lincoln Rhymes, Alex Delaware or HARRY POTTER!


My favourite poets are Rod McKuen and Emily Dickinson.

I enjoy doing a Crossword puzzle while sitting on the dock at camp in the early morning. Listening to the birds and the sound of the waves is so tranquil - great place for thinking! I like word games like Password and Balderdash and Scattergories, oh, and I LOVE Scrabble. No one else in my family is a fan of Scrabble, so I don't get to play it as often as I'd like!



When I first started writing poetry, I was totally into free verse. Reading back over some of my poems now, it seems I was into weird as well! What was I thinking?? Now I have fun writing in rhyme! Maybe it's because when I was younger, my vocabulary was smaller and I couldn't think of enough words that rhymed!

As some of you may know already, my favourite poem of all time and such an inspiration to me is DESIDERATA, by Max Ehrmann. When I first read his words when I was about 13 years old, they had a profound impact on me. It all made so much sens!! Does anyone remember the recording of this song by Les Crane in 1971? Kinda cheesy, but I love it!



To this day, I'll often turn to those words to remind me that the universe truly is unfolding as it should. And as Max says,

"With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. "

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Thanks for visiting Cheers!!

And you've got to have friends....

It has always intrigued me how easily some people make friends. I know that some people forge a friendship in grade school and remain close with that/those people well into their adult lives. Some people meet in a casual capacity later in life and strike a bond and become close friends for the remainder of their years. Other people make dozens of friends throughout their lifetime. Some close, some casual, some fleeting. Friends come and go.... and for me, they mostly go! I don't know how I've had such bad luck with friends. I'm easy to get along with. I'm kind and compassionate. I think I'm funny. Since I was very young, I have lost touch with so many of my friends, mainly because they have moved away. Some of the closest and 'bestest' friends I had as a youngster moved to other cities with their families. That was way back in the day before email or MSN or instant messaging. As young children, our only means of communicating over the miles was through snail mail. [Long distance phone calls were expensive and reserved for family only]. And as young kids often are, we weren't very reliable in keeping each other up to date and before you know it, we had lost touch and moved on.. At least 3 of my Grade school 'best friends' moved away.
Once in high school I had many buddies that I would spend my free time with, chat with on the phone, go shopping with and do girly things with. Two of those friends were particularly close, but one I considered to be a best friend. But once again we lost touch. It's a long story but it is still today one of the biggest regrets I've ever had.
Some psychologists might be able to give me insight as to why I've never been able to secure a lasting, close bond with a friend. I know I couldn't have helped it if someone moved away, but with relocation, strained relationships, and having some weird friends along the way, I have since become very hesitant to open up my heart to just any body. Don't get me wrong, I've got many acquaintances and many social friends that fulfill both DH's and my lives but I will always regret losing that one, best, do-anything-for friend.
If you have one of those friends, tell him/her how much they mean to you. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

*ETA - just found out today that two of our closest friends are calling it quits. I am so saddened by this news.

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Here's a few photos of the friends that are a part of our lives today!!

My FURRY Friends

Life just wouldn't be the same without the animals in my life!

First and foremost, our darling Vegas Grace [Gracie] who is our BEST friend! I don't have enough room in this post to brag about her!!



Then there's Finnigan [aka Mr. Finn, aka Finny], my daughter's cat. He just left our house to move in with her in her new apartment!! When he was a kitten, he and Gracie would cuddle and snooze together. They'd play fight and chase each other all over the house. So cute.

And this is Mally, my sister's Shitzu/Maltese. Mally is a little shy and insecure. She mostly sits on my sister's lap and watches life from up high!


This is Indy, DH's buddy's dog. Poor Indy had some issues as a young dog [snapping, biting, barking] but he's okay now! Whew.



Now, Spencer is a friends dog. He's old and crotchety. In the first minute he visited us at camp he chomped down on Gracie's nose, gave her a good bite as if to say, "this might be your place, but I'm boss around here." Poor Gracie, being the ever gentle soul she is didn't know what the heck was going on. Needless to say, she let him be boss and totally ignored him the rest of the weekend. He's actually a sweet dog - and still loves swimming, for hours!!!



Sadie-Lynn is Spencer's little [adopted] sister!! She doesn't like swimming so much.

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And I have been tagged to list 8 things that you might not know about me!

1. I once met Colin James. Doug and I took him to a lake for fishing. We enjoyed a BBQ together. Then I drove him to the airport after his gig. Very cool day.
2. I am ANAL about recycling. I will NOT throw anything away that belongs in the Blue Box.
3. I hardly ever wear socks. I hate how hot my feet get. Even in winter, I usually only wear moccasins inside, with no socks.
4. I hate white noise. I don't like the sound of fans, heaters, blowers, etc., or any noise that is persistent and steady. Drives me INSANE. I don't like listening to radios or music before bed either.
5. I have three tattoos. The initial 'D' right above my cleavage. A sun/star on the nape of my neck. A design on my right calf. I designed the first two and my daughters designed the other.
6. I desperately wanted a third child ... probably until only a few years ago!
7. I skipped Grade 2. Being a New Year's baby, I didn't start school until I was almost 6 years old. [There was no such thing as Junior K back in my day and you had to be 5 to start Kindergarten]
8. For as long as I remember I have had a secret desire to be a TV or Movie actress. hee hee.

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That's all for now! Thanks for visiting.

The Men in my Family... [err, the MAN]

I didn't realize at first that I had posted only women in my last Blog post! [BTW, thanks for the nice comments. My mom is always thrilled when someone comments on her photos! I'll be sure to tell her about these comments too!] And I'd also like to say that this week's theme is fun. I'm enjoying looking at everyone's posts.


So today, the men in my life. Both my Dad and my DH's Dad have passed away,and we have more women than men in our family. Besides one brother-in-law, the only guys in our family are two nephews, two nephews by marriage and 4 great-nephews. I don't get a chance to capture the guys very often because they're either not at the family events, or they're off doing their hunter-gatherer huddles around the BBQ grill! You know, where they stand in a circle around the meat and grunt! ha ha. In winter, you can usually find them in front of the TV or hovering over the food in the kitchen. Because I have no pictures of the other men in my family, I'm going to post of few of my darling DH!

Speaking of grunting by the grill......
Almost looks like he's trying to grill his face!

Doug is a musician. One day, when he was 31 years old, he said, "I'm going to learn how to play the guitar!" The rest is history! He plays lead guitar in a local band. I took this when he was jamming by the campfire and applied a filter to it!

I don't know if it was a midlife thing or what, but he bought himself a Yamaha VStar Classic motorcycle for this 50th birthday! Somehow, I never pictured him as a biker -- but one look at this photo and you can tell he's definitely not your average biker dude!! What a guy!


And this one from today is DH trying to change the oil filter. One thing led to another and he ended up with broken parts and even an extra part!! Needless to say he was not a happy camper, uh... biker! Not sure if he'll get it back together for his road trip on Sunday.

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Thanks for stopping by.

My Family [well, a few of them!!]

I am so fortunate to have almost all my family living in the same city as me! Out of an extended family of 26 people, only 2 live across country and another 6 live about 5 hours away. Even though we all live close by, we don't get together very often, so when we do it's usually quite an event. But even then, we're always missing somebody! Busy schedules prevent us from always being able to be at the same place at the same time! At Christmastime, we try to all gather on one day for a family dinner. It's hard to plan for a day when everyone can be there, so when that does happen, it makes it an even more special event!

We had a nice gathering this summer for a BBQ and party. Most of these photos are from that day. I imagine the next time we'll be together will be Thanksgiving and/or Christmas!

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I've been catching up on everyone's Blog posts from the last week or so. I haven't left comments everywhere, but I wanted to say that I am enjoying the peeks!! Thanks for visiting mine!

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This is my Mamma! She's 83.


My big sister...!


My niece...

My nephew's girlfriend...


My great-niece...

At Camp

Hey, everyone!
I've just spent a glorious 6 days at the cottage and it was WONDERFUL. It started out sunny and cool, but then the temps went up to the mid 20s [C] again! We had one day of rain, so we did some inside work. Had a few campfires. It was surprisingly not windy, as it usually is this time of year, so it gave us a chance to burn some brush I had cut last time we were there.
We had a few saunas, and the lake water is still quite warm, about 70º F.
I've been reading a lot. I'm reading a Steven King novel, 'The Dark Half'. I used to be a fan of his years ago, but after discovering Dean Koontz, I kind of put King on the back burner of favourite authors. I'm almost done the book. It's okay, but it not wowing me like I hoped.
I usually like to sit on my lounge on the dock, but as Fall approaches, so does the change in sun pattern. In the summer, we have full sun on the dock until evening. Now by mid afternoon, the dock is in complete shade. Bummer. As much as I love the sun, I DO wear sunscreen. So now I put the lounge in the back yard. It's not as scenic, but comfortable just the same.
We finished putting the steel roof up on the addition. Doug installed the door and insulated around the new windows. Next comes the fascia and soffits and then we can open up the wall between the old camp and the new addition. Whoo-hoo, can't wait. D starts his second set of holidays in 3 days, so we'll be going back to camp for three weeks, give or take!! I'm hoping the heat-wave will return just for us!
Still having some abdominal pains. Meds aren't working as good as I thought they would, but I am MUCH better than I was earlier this summer. I'm so hungry though. I guess that's a good thing since I had lost so much weight, but I hope I don't eat so much and end up gaining more than I lost. It's fun eating though! Bring on the junk food!!
Dial-up at camp is SO SLOW. I try not to be online more than 1/2 hour per night. I've only got 10 free hours a month here. It sucks because I can't upload or download any photos. Takes way too long. So, I catch up over on TwoPeas once I get home.
We were invited to a corn roast at a cottage around the bay. I've heard that this group of people have the party every year, taking turns on who's cottage, so I kind of feel honoured that we've made the list this year! Doug had to work until 5pm, so we missed the afternoon celebrations, but arrived just in time for the Corn Roast and Pulled Pork. Met about 40 other fellow cottagers. I've already forgotten most of their names, but I've got pictures!!

Meg and Jay were at camp for the long weekend. Gracie was SO happy to see her favourite human friend!! Meg's friends joined us from Maple, On for two days, and Lauren brought two of her friends who are on their way to a new life in Toronto from Vancouver! It was a fabulous day!
Hope everyone had a great long weekend!
CHEERS

Here's my charming hubby. I swear this man will fit into any crowd and make friends in an instant!


This man was just one of many taking part in the Horseshoe Tourny! Wish I could remember his name!!


Friends, a setting sun and a bottle of wine! Need I say more?



This is Meg's boyfriend, Jayson. DH couldn't be happier that he's a musician too! They had a great time jamming together by the campfire.



Here's Meg doing her lesson preps on her laptop by the campfire. She just got hired a few days ago to teach grade 10 math, grade 12 math and grade 10 civics. She starts tomorrow, so she needed to 'work' while at camp!


And friends and family would not be complete without our best friend, Gracie! Just look at that face!!!!

Lauren and Meghan

LAUREN

This one was taken when Lauren was at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. I had a point and shoot then and now when I look back on the photos from that day I wish I could go back and reshoot with my Pentax!! These girls had a small dance group they formed and called themselves "Stir Crazy". This has always been one of my favourite dance shots. We had gone for a hike on our favourite winter trail, and I [with a new Point and Shoot camera] wanted to try some freeze shots with it! First shot and this was the result!!

MEGHAN

In 2000, the Performing Arts Department presented CATS, the Musical. Meghan was so thrilled to get the role of Victoria, [the white cat on the left]! What a wonderful show, such talented kids.

This shot was taken on almost the same trail as the one above, but taken last fall. I still didn't have my Pentax at this time, so oh... the possibilities NOW!! Thanks again for peeking at my old stuff. I'll be at camp for a few days, so likely not able to post for a bit. I need to get out in the bush and find something interest to photograph while I'm there! Have a great week!!