BASS LAKE

PACKING BEGINS

2011-10-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

The leaves have begun to change colour and a good many have fallen to the ground. It is cooler now, but still very pleasant to be here.

Packing in earnest today.

LAST NEW YORK DAY

2011-10-03T03:50:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK

NEW YORK SATURDAY

2011-10-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

We had a full agenda for today and even with a later start thought we would get to do it all and more.

We had breakfast at Starbucks on Broadway then took the subway clear across the city - destination being to Ground Zero.
How terrifying it would have been! Today we could see through the fences only a brief look at the area now in construction. It will be a beautiful memorial. We toured the church where firefighters caught a moment of rest and where now many memorials and wishes are displayed.

We walked on,heading on we believed to the shore where we would take the harbour tour. Battery Park turned out to be a location for such tours but not the one we wanted. We continued walking along the shore, a beautiful walk, eventually asking a policeman for directions. After over an hour of walking and finding the location we sought, we learned that the boat no longer left from that dock.
We also now knew that we had taken a very long walk to get to this destination that was only a few blocks from ground zero where we had been!
Here we had lunch, discovered the Winter Garden with full grown trees on the inside, glassed dome, marble floor and broad semicircular stairs that led to a magnificent window overlooking Ground zero. Wow!
Our Plans had been to visit the battleship Intrepid (museum too) and to ride the hop on hop off bus. There was a delay - a visit to Toys are Us, and rain, that increased, cold and wet. Plans were abandoned. We did some more shopping, saw someone selling ladies bags out of a white garbage sized cotton sack , spoke to a rep from the City Sights bus and learned
how and where to get the bus for tmorrow's night trip to Brooklyn. We walked several blocks looking for Carnegie Deli to try the big sandwiches, but since the guys had had rubens for lunch we opted for dessert only. Humongous pieces of cheesecake and apple crisp. Too much to finish.

Soaking wet, cold, we walked a number of blocks and combed more stairs to fond the right subway train that would get us back to the hotel.
With much walking and also climbing stairs throughout our holiday, still not conditioned. Sore!

The highlight of the day was the church memorial at Ground Zero. The Harbour Tour by foot rather than NY boat was good. The rain and umbrellas on crowded streets not so good.

Addendum: Through the Internet at the hotel, we learned that the Intrepid museum would not be open on Sunday.

Lorna

MORE NEW YORK

2011-10-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

HAYDEN PLANETARIUM

2011-10-01T00:33:00.000-07:00

A very busy day!
We were up at daybreak, cameras in hand, to record our arrival at New York City. The statue of liberty, lights on, glowed against the still dark sky.

The Eurodam docked at it's NY pier and we disembarked at 10 am. Just over an hour's wait to secure a taxi, and we were headed to our hotel just off Broadway.

We walked to Central Park and along a border street to the Hayden Planetarium. The imax was fantastic - a visual of 'The Big Bang'. There were exhibitions to see, and not easy to comprehend.

Once saturated with our earth and it's beginnings, we waited for our hop on hop off bus which arrived full and left us behind. Another similar bus asked us aboard, honoring (ignoring really) our ticket and we had a tour of NY which ended near Times Square.

Before long we were booked for the Sunday off Broadway play/musical 'The Million Dollar Quartet'. We claimed our seats at the box office, then grabbed a burger and figured out the subway/metro a nd rode it to a stop near our hotel.

We have wifi!

NEW YORK CITY

2011-09-30T23:57:00.000-07:00

SALEM, Mass

2011-09-30T23:51:00.000-07:00

HALIFAX, NS

2011-09-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

SAUGENAY, QC

2011-09-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

Quebec in September

2011-09-30T23:32:00.000-07:00

BOATS OUT & THANKSGIVING DINNER

2011-09-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving Pumpkin Decorations

Another bright crisp morning here at the lake. Morning temp 4 degrees celsius!

The Wood fire was lit and stoked keeping the cottage cozy for the day.

The Dorey is out of the water!
Rodger and Larry bring the can [Keeper Fish]
from the water too.

It was take-the-boats-out-of-the-water day and Rodger and Larry did the honours. Strange, it seems that we just put them in. How quickly four months have passed.

Thanksgiving celebration today with a turkey dinner here.

Tables set for Thanksgiving Dinner

The big boat proved to be more work than was initially thought. The car could not get leverage on the damp ground and after much struggle, and nearly having the boat float off the trailer, it was decided to wait for Marty's son in law to arrive with a four wheel drive. Soon after that decision was made, Judy and Dave arrived, and Dave felt his vehicle could do the trick and it did. What began at 11 a.m. concluded at 6 p.m. and Larry and Dave arrived just as we were ready to put the Thanksgiving Dinner on the table. Gage was unable to come to the dinner as he was asked to work into the next shift as someone had called in sick.

Decoration for small table

Judy brought beans from Janice's garden in Orono and wine, Rodger brought one apple and one pumpkin pie, and Suzanne brought mashed potatoes.

The turkey was tasty as was the dressing and cranberry sauce. Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots completed the meal.

Mmmmmmmmm good.

Decoration for the big table.

IN CLOSING MODE

2011-09-16T08:06:00.001-07:00

This week has been cool and mostly sunny. There is an orangeness to the sun as it slants across the deck in the evening. The soy has changed to a golden colour and the fields glow.

Quite a lot of finishing up of things has been done here. Only the roof canvas of the gazebo remains on the deck. Removeable cushions are stacked just in case it gets warm enough to sit out there, which really means when the wind is not whipping up the hill from the lake. So far only the dock, bathed in sunlight, provides a comfortable sit even with the wind. The cupboards are bare now and the remaining dry goods are boxed ready to transport back to Sarnia.

Yesterday, we went into Brockville to do our last laundry at a laundromat [we think], to do some shopping for items for our cruise and to purchase a turkey and all that goes with it for our Saturday pre Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner. Out on Oak Leaf road, we came to a stop to allow a dozen or so wild birds to cross the road. There were three young ones and a very worried mother. As they crossed over, she turned and ran back in front of us again and a gobble of birds scurried up over the side of the road from the tall grass and they all ran to the other side. It seemed they were gone, but more birds began rising from the grass and they too crossed the road. Could it be that the worried bird was the mother of them all. She ran back and forth across the road after all the others were safely hidden in the grass on the other side and then finally she joined them and we moved on.

No turkeys in the Super Centre! None! Not even frozen. I'm told they will be in on Monday. No gourds or squash either, but I did get some small pumpkins for a centrepiece and will collect some leaves, pine cones, later.

I shopped at a strip mall across from the Super Centre/Walmart complexes, and found everything I wanted right there. When I commented to the clerk at Reitmans that this was a great mall, she was excited to tell me that Michaels will open soon as well.

The sky here is a canvas.
Don't be fooled, the horizon
here is straight despite its appearance
in this photo.

We drove to town with the intent of taking County Rd 5 the Temperance Lake Road and across to the highway to Brockville, but missed the turn and so drove on to Lake Road. Ah, we came to another road [Seely] and one of us wanted to turn right, while the other wanted to turn left. We pulled out the GPS and Larry was right, turning left was what we needed to do. We passed through the village of Lyn where our grandsons have had ball tournaments in the past, where I visited an old acquaintance with my Australian cousin when she visited here a few years back and where my parents had lived in their last years. The house has changed. There is an addition on the back and it may be painted a different colour. I have an emotional attachment to this place as it is where my mother died so long ago in 1983. My dad, the next year.
This village is the home of Burnbrae Farm, egg producers.

We warmed the cottage with a fire at night.

Today: Friday Sept 16th: 4 degrees celsius We live in a refrigerator!

Logs are burning in the stove and we are wearing lots of clothes. Hurricane Maria is heading down the same route we will take in a few more days!

Turns out the hurricane, Maria, was not as bad as people feared though I am sure not too pleasant. We had a rib dinner at Suze's for Larry's birthday and followed that by another smuck-the-girls game of euchre.

Another fire in the woodstove required when we returned to the cottage.

SUNDAY and ROCKPORT

2011-09-12T05:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday September 11, 2011

Bev and I went to the closing of the Pleine Air Weekend at Rockport. Travelling down County Rd 5 to Mallorytown, one has to cross the main CN rail line. As I approached, the lights were flashing and a freight train could be seen idling on the tracks to the east. There were about five vehicles in front of me and at least one vehicle waiting on the other side of the crossing. We waited longer than most of us cared to do so. No other train appeared and the freighter did not move. Eventually, the first car on the far side of the crossing drove around the gates and continued its journey. A few cars on my side, turned around and headed back the way we had come. There was no way I was going to cross while the gates were down and decided to take a chance that I could find my way to the village via Junetown Road. When I arrived at the corner called Rockfield, I knew I was on the other side of Mallorytown and had my bearings again. As I approached the village of Mallorytown, ironically, the CN bells were ringing and the gates were down. I waited for that same idling frieght train to pass. In my growing up years in Brockville, we were held up at crossings while walking to school, and driving somewhere with my parents, and it had become the habit to count the number of cars on the freight train. My count this time was 95.

Mural: Andress Boatworks

Closing Pleine Air Rockport 2011

I took some photos of a few of the outdoor murals before going to the closing. Another beautiful day, the river so blue, boats shining white and bright - a splendid place to be.

There were three prizes for the people's choice winners. Bruce Sherman received the 1st place and 3rd place awards and another artist received 2nd place. Her work was a large sketch of the dock's iron 'hitch' where one ties up a boat. At this event there were a lot of strangers, some old friends, some local artists I've met or taken classes with and some surprises from the past such as Janet G. of Grenadier Island summers and also a few of Bev's relatives.

1st Choice: Tugboat with Tar Island in the background.
3rd Choice: Andress home at Rockport
Artist: Bruce Sherman

2nd Choice: Dock and Tie up
Artist: ?

It was a really fun weekend to have these artists on our shores, to be able to watch them paint and to have a chance to become acquainted. An excellent opportunity for Pleine Air painting with weather that couldn't have been better.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS AND LINKS

We left after the presentations and went to the used Book Store near Bev's. Definitely a place to return to.
On my way home, turning onto McAvoy Road, I was again treated to a magnificent sky, I think the first time I have seen the clouds puffed up in this way. On the radio were people sharing the events of Sept 11, 2001 experienced in Newfoundland. Lots of appreciation.

Sky from McAvoy Rd, south of Athens

It seems there were some siestas while I was gone, but when I arrived back at the cottage, dinner preparations were under way. We enjoyed another tasty bbq'd meal on the deck and afterwards, a few games of Euchre. Suze and I got smucked. The gazebo was getting dark and the moon rising, perhaps a full moon this night, when we dealt the last hand.

ROCKPORT - SPENCERVILLE - COSTNER

2011-09-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

We left the cottage just after lunch, headed for Rockport, a small village on the St Lawrence River about a 20 minute drive from Brockville, about 35 minutes from Bass Lake. It is in this village that my sister-in-law was raised and where her family operated a lodge and marina, Hucks. Here too, is where my friend Margaret and her family lives. We spent most of out late teenage summers together. As it has on other visits, there was a pull backwards in time, and a sense that I had come home.

Our route took us through Lyndhurst where we found road crews working the weekend shift in an attempt to complete the main road through the village. Next Saturday is their big event, The Turkey Fair! We were detoured through the Jonas Street route that led to Red Horse Lake Road and on to the highway that would take us to Scenic Hwy 2 and Rockport and the St Lawrence River.

St Lawrence River at Rockport - Tar Island in the distance,
Overlooking Tour Boat Dock

Outside the village, on the edge of the road was a sandwich board advertising "Artists at Work". As soon as we turned onto the main and only street of Rockport, we saw a pleine air artist making a painting of one of the old houses. This was why we were here and once parked went on a search for more 'artists at work'. We walked toward the restaurant and the pub, discovering a beautiful viewing area of the river and islands, but no painters. The tour boat landing area was crammed with people waiting for their opportunity to board and begin their cruise, probably heading for Boldt Castle, perhaps only to circle the island on which it sits. Border issues now limit the activity we took for granted when growing up. [We used to boat to Hart Island, tour the unfinished Boldt Castle, drive down the man-made canal past the Boldt farm. No fees. On return to Rockport, we would advise Canadian Customs that we had landed and returned from the US.]

We moved on past the only store, touristy, and found another pleine air painter painting another house. A brief chat and some photos and some information! He directed us down a path at the back of the Andress Boat Works [may not be called that now] where we would find other painters, and an old tug boat. Six adults and one child were painting near what I learned was called Fish Rock. [Margaret and I baked in the sun on that rock many years ago.] We chatted with the artists and they let me take photos of themselves and their work in progress. From Phil we learned that this was to become an annual event at Rockport. I met Wendy who was the organizer - so much to be excited about - but that will be expanded in my Art Blog, not this one.

Me with Pleine Air Artists, Rockport
Fish Rock in background.

We had to move on. There was an Open House at Kerrys Point, the other road that leads off of Narrows Lane Road. My family had a small cottage on the main road, nearer to the Narrows. Grange and Marg, our grandson's other grandparents, celebrated their 50th Anniversary. The day and the setting were perfect. Their daughter Lisa and husband Pete were the hosts and knowing that Pete's mother would be there, I had brought a small b/w photo of her, taken at her uncle's cottage probably about 1955. Pete was quite pleased to have the photo and came with me when I showed it to his mom. Gert, her family, her uncle's family and my parents had been friends and neighbours in Brockville as well as at Narrows Lane Road. Larry reacquainted with a few old DuPont employees he had known in the 60s, and I came across a few artists who had been in Andrea's classes at the college.

I think this is the lead band because it is
possible to get a view of people on stage.

The rest of the day included a roast beef dinner at Suzes, a pick up of show tickets at North Augusta [located through kijiji] and on to Spencerville and their Fair. Suze and Rodger had VIP tickets to the show and this allowed them to attend a meet and greet with the star of the show, Kevin Costner. He and his band, Modern West, were the main performers for the Spencerville Fair. The meet and greet did not really turn out to be what most of us had expecedt. Kevin came to a door and basically stood there saying a few words about preferring music to movies. S and R were at the back of the 100 person crowd and had no visual, no connection. However, they certainly lucked out with seating for the show itself. We thought we had too, because we went into the entertainment tent early and sat at a good location. Sadly, we did not know that standing room was to be between us and the stage! Booo! We were basically trapped and had a fire occurred....

In an attempt to see over the standing crowd, others stood by their tables, or on the tables and further blocked the view of the performers on stage, sometimes even the video could not be seen when seated. The lead band was too loud for our ears, the Costner performance was good with viewing problems as already noted. I wouldn't have wanted to miss it.

What a wonder-full day!

2011-09-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

ALONE IN THE WOODS BY THE LAKE

Many of the cottagers have packed up, shut down their cottages for the winter, and left for their non-summer lives. Those living within a few hours of this lake will return for weekend or day visits when the sun shines and the leaves begin to change their colour. Some trees have begun to change already, the air is crisper and clear and a bit of a breeze ruffles the tree tops. A gorgeous day!

September at Bass Lake 2011

Yesterday I went to lunch with Cheryl, again to the Ivy Club on the edge of the St. Lawrence River. We had a good time together and said our goodbyes till next summer. A bit of reading was followed by bailing the water out of Dorey and taking her out on the lake. We headed toward the far end of the bay and as we passed Bail's cottage, saw red flashing lights in their backyard. I saw what appeared to be a fireman/inspector checking out the house. Perhaps there had been a malfunction in their security system. Dorey and I continued our ride further down the bay to the construction site for the new cottage which is replacing the old one that had burned to the ground last winter/spring. We rowed back to our little bay, through the first narrows and into Todd and Christy's bay before returning to our dock. Larry was there to help me disembark. We went into Athens to have 'Luna-take-and-bake-pizza' with Suze, Rodger and Dayton. Afterwards, we walked with the dogs to Main St and past Suze's old place on Wiltse Street, disappointingly not looking as nice as it had when she lived there.

Today:

There is a blue jay in a tree nearby. It is different than the ones we see in SW Ontario. At my feet lay Storm, protecting me as he would protect his Suzanne. Walker is napping on the couch. Both dogs are awaiting Suze's return.

l-r: My Mom, Mabel, dtr Mabel, Dorothy on Eliza's steps

The old family photos that Bev brought to Suze's on Sunday have been somewhat identified, sorted, and re-photographed digitally but the originals lay on the table hopefully to draw out their stories a bit further. A photo of my mother and two of her sisters, Mabel and Dorothy, intrigues me. It offers lots of information and yet produces many questions. Since my mother is dressed for playing tennis, I have spent some time on the internet looking at women's sport fashions, particularly from 1929-1932.

Suze came back to the cottage around 12:30 and we went down to the dock to sit in the sun and chat, read, etc. She dove in the water a few times and I retreated to the shade. We heard a splash near the shore and decided to investigate. A large frog was sitting on a rock half in' the water and half outside. Then a skinny grass snake crawled over the rocks on the shore, passing a second one going the opposite way. Walker the dog decided to investigate and went to the stairs nearby, frightening one snake into the taller grass at the edge of the horseshoe patch. As it made its way through the grass, smaller frogs hopped out of it and into the water. A happy moment for the frogs I'm sure.

Suze and I took the canoe out for a ride along the shore - one woman was out on her deck enjoying this beautiful day, more construction being completed at the new cottage, and another machine whirring away at one of the cottages on the high level at the end of the lake. Small waves rippled the glass like surface of the lake that we had begun our canoe ride on, so we headed back to the dock.

Later Suze, Rodger and Gage came and prepared fahitas and quecideias for our dinner. We ended the evening with a game of Screw, Rodger being the winner this evening.

2011-09-07T03:57:00.000-07:00

LABOUR DAY WEEKEND

The summer weather has not ever completely returned. There has been sun and warmth but a stronger wind has blown up from the lake, a bit too chilly for sitting there for long.

The routine of visits to the surrounding villages and towns for groceries, laundry or to exchange books at the library continues. This first weekend, the last hurrah of the summer, Labour Day weekend, will be shared with Mark who arrived on Thursday evening. Wake boarding is his summer sport and plans were laid for that activity throughout the weekend.

Friday morning was a golf game for Mark, Larry, Gage and Rodger and this was followed by a gathering of some of the summer clan to celebrate Rodger's birthday. It was a surprise. Dave and Cheryl, Dolores and Ron, Dave, Lisa and Tommy all joined us in the mid-afternoon. Tommy caught fish at the end of the dock and so startled his grandmother, Dolores, by bringing it in a net and practically putting it in her face so she could have a look at it. Gage tried wake-boarding and was successful after a few tries. Dayton was sad/mad because he was not allowed to try because of his deviated-septum operation.

Ron, Suzanne, Rodger, Larry, Cheryl,Dolores, Dave, Lisa, Mark

John, Clare and family were next door for the weekend, along with their friends and their children. At their dock and at ours, there was boating and swimming and wake-boarding and on the dock absorbing the sun's rays. Lots of splashing and laughing. Had a brief visit on Saturday. They left on Sunday.

Saturday, Mark, Suzanne, Dayton and I went to Brockville to get Gage from work, to do a bit of electronics shopping and to see the new movie, a prequel to the "Planet of the Apes". On Sunday, we were back to Brockville to get the external modem exchanged - but that was not happening, and ended up purchasing a new one, checking out some notepad options, etc at Staples. Back to the cottage and some more wake-boarding for Mark. Monday was cooler and rainy. We all went to Newboro to shop/look around the Kilgour store. All those summer shoes were on half price, so I came home with two pair. Dinner at Suze and Rodger's. Bev joined us there and Dave and Judy also.

One evening, Mark, Larry and I sat and talked on the dock. The number of stars in the sky and a very obvious milkiness in the Millky Way was observed. We saw at least three falling stars, two satellites and several planes.

Back at the cottage, a little fire in the stove kept us cozy.

DAYTON'S OP

2011-08-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Branch cutting in trees
at property line.

Awakened this morning [Wednesday 24th August] to the sound of thumping. The Hydro branch and tree cutters arrived at Tom's next door at 8 a.m. and were set to work. They started on our property by 10 a.m. and as I type, now nearly noon, we have lost scores of branches from several trees and also lost one whole diseased tree. The trees are tall and the hydro guys are way up near the top of some of the tallest ones. One guy just came down and performed his version of circque du solei as he neared the ground.

Dayton and Suzanne went to Kingston General Hospital for his deviated septem operation. There was a bit of a delay but the operation went well. Just when they were leaving for home, he began vomiting and it was necessary for him to remain in hospital for further observation.

Around three p.m. I went to Delta to return the library books and then to Athens to pick up Gage and take him to his work in Brockville. Since this was at the Super Centre, I also picked up a bunch of fruit and vegetables to get us through the weekend.

Weather conditions have become the main topic of discussion and the most frequent stop on the computer has been the weather radar. South of us Hurricane Irene is rolling toward Florida, now categorized as a No. 3 It is expected to hit the coast of North Carolina.

Weather conditions in Sarnia and all of southwestern Ontario have produced Tornado Warnings, and in the northern reach have produced hail. The storm swept across all of Ontario and hit here around 2 a.m. [Thursday] shedding about a half hour of thunder and lightening, strong winds and heavy rain. Lanie was her usual frightened self and that kept me awake to watch and wonder at the potential for something more severe than what occurred.

It has been hotter in other locations like Sarnia and even Brockville, but here an uncomfortably cool wind rips up from the lake min-morning and stays. Temperatures remain low, the highest being in the lower 20s. A different climate.

AUGUST THINGS

2011-08-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

Quieter days, with wind blowing off the lake. This past Thursday, I thought I'd take the dorey out for a wavy ride, but first wanted to secure the screening on the dock gazebo. There was no movement, but my eyes were drawn to the rocks along the shoreline, a few feet from where I stood on the dock. The second look, left no doubt that I was indeed being watched. The snake was copperish and seemed to have a diamond pattern along its back - a back that went on forever I might add. The snake was doing a cobra-look-alike and seemingly facing in my direction. I left my task, and returned up to the cottage. A reading and napping afternoon followed. After our dinner, we went out in the motor boat to the other end of the lake, to try to catch a good view of the sunset at the other end of the lake. There was not a magnificent view, or else we missed it. Nice evening ride though.

Walking Stick dropped in.

Friday was to be Christy, Zoe and Christopher's last full day at the lake. I walked over to their cottage with Lanie, just in case there would be no other time to say goodbye. They were not home nor were they packed so I assumed departure was not imminent: Larry continued working on the ceiling repair, then sought out and repaired the shower stall leak, and followed that task, with wrapping the beaver protection fencing around the trees near the shore.
Suzanne had a bad day today. Don has been ill for some time and she has always sat with him at lunch and chatted when she goes there. This day, he was very sick and had been ill all night, but despite his weakness and pain, he wanted to see her. She put on her great smile and greeted him, her heart breaking for this couple. Don is dying from bone cancer.

The Grothiers were having a friend's party and we were invited along with Dave and Judy to join the group for martinis. The usual crowd: Bob and Judy, Dalt, Jim, Ted and Barb, and two other couples, Chuck Abrams and Louise [familiar] and Howard and Jean. Howard is from my Hubbell Street neighbourhood and was a good friend of Nelson's during the Narrows Lane Road summers. We got reacquainted and Jean and I had some conversation. She had given my mother a perm and also did her nails, said my mom was a Lady and liked to look nice. Yes, that is true. Got caught up with Judy D. and noted that she was in much better health that the last time I talked with her. Barb was lying down when we arrived. Later she got up and I thought something had changed with her and later learned that she has stenosis and is on morphine.

After the Grothier martinis, we brought our cooked whole chicken over to Climenhages to be warmed on the bbq and shared at dinner.

Yesterday, Saturday, began with warmer weather and sunshine, and some humidity as well.

Delta - the Mill on the left, heading toward
the grocery store and the library

I went to Delta to check out the Paintings auction. It was at the large corner house on King Street where for years a lot of items were available for sale - all appeared somewhat junky to us, and the items spread down the driveway, into the back yard and also filled the large front porch. Likely there were gems there for someone with more patience than I, but now the house is being sold and the items removed. Many of the paintings had been sold by the time I got there and what was being put up for bids was receiving none, or at best $2.00. Not a large crowd and I suspect most were dealers. Bored with that, I walked to the church sale down the road. This was better. I picked up an Elvis book for Larry which told his story up to 1976. Also picked up two other books for me to read but when I got them home, found no interest after a few pages. The dishes: A platter, a spaghetti bowl, 2 casserole dishes, a glass fruit bowl, some demi-tasse cups for the girls to have for a tea party. A glass square vase. Skewers, package not opened. An oil painting. Pretty good bargain for $7. I also went to the library to update my ipod and to the grocery store before returning to the cottage.

Delta Millstream

Larry worked on the ceiling again. Final goodbyes to Christy as they headed out to the Ottawa airport. The sky clouded over, and some rain mid-afternoon. Suze had been in a ball hockey tournament for the usual fundraiser for Cornfest and was on the couch with a book, a rising bruise on her forward and a strained ankle supporting a hot bag. Soon she snoozed for a bit. We later went to Athens for a great lasagna dinner a la Rodger and finished up the evening with a game of cards. At the end of the game, I was in my usual place, lost and last. Whyever do I think cards are fun!?

We had taken the computer with us and I downloaded a two month supply of upgrades to my ipod that would have taken something like 80 hours on dial up, but with wifi, only 25 minutes. Sure miss wifi.

Oil Painting from
Delta Church sale

Storms overnight and a nervous Lanie. This morning, Sunday the 21st day of August, it rains. Bev called and suggested that I join her at the theatre in Kingston to see the movie "The Help". I was feeling somewhat lethargic and also uncertain whether or not we were committed to attend a Band concert at Fort Henry with J and D. [Cancelled due to rain plus no tickets available.] I called Judy and she also was non-committal, but now I definitely knew that I wanted to go. Judy came along too and somehow we were able to get to Kingston via Hwy 15 and Bev via the 401 and meet up at the theatre before the movie began. The line up for tickets was quite long and accounted for the delay that got us seated just after the movie began. The show was great and we three who had also read the book were thrilled with it. During the show, there were rumbles of thunder that at first seemed to be part of the movie, but we soon realized that that was not so. Pretty heavy storms passed overhead while we enjoyed the film.

A tornado touched down at Goderich.

Some shopping and some food followed, then the return home. Another cooked whole chicken came to our dinner rescue and D and J joined us at our cottage. We completed the evening with yet another game of cards. It behooves me to report that I had good cards, good luck, coming in 2nd, a comfortable place. Guess that is why I play cards.

SUMMER'S ENDING

2011-08-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

The weather changed, giving us some chilly mornings and some wet days, and summer activity slowed down.

The hole in the roof was located, new shingles applied, and the ceiling patched, awaiting the drywall compound application.

I have frequented the Delta library more because of the weather and took the opportunity to do some updating on my ipod. I really need to take in the computer too though in order to update everything though as it would take numerous hours to do so here at the cottage.

In my travels to Delta, I have been fortunate to see two deer. The first was leaping across Holton Road but had totally disappeared by the time the car got near the crossover. The second was on our own Williamson Lane, near the Cliffview cottage lane. It stopped in the sparser wooded area and as I slowly drew near and parked, it was watching me but did not leap away. The other wild life was a brood of turkey vultures with their mama crossing Holton road. Otherwise, there are repeat visits of the monstrous turtle to our dock area and chipmunks.

We sat on the deck reading the paper, looked up and saw Mike swimming by. Seemed unusual this time.
Todd has returned to the DR and soon Dave and Judy will be looking after the children while Christy goes to work in Ottawa.

I went to Lyndhurst on Friday to meet with Suze at the Green Gecko and was perhaps the first to arrive but decided to park outside The Post and wait near the bridge for her to arrive. Apparently there is another way into Lyndhurst which she took and we did not meet up right away. Lyndhurst main road is all chopped up, with a jack hammer banging away at rock in order to get to the base level required for the new road. Noisy and dusty. We both purchased necklaces and scarves. Another scarf was purchased at Brockville when we went in to get groceries later in the week. This scarf will sit on the table in the cottage.

Lyndhurst Construction

New Scarf Tablecloth

Historic Lyndhurst Bridge

On Sunday we went into Brockville for groceries and a few other bits of shopping before returning to the cottage. I baked the angel food cake and drizzled it with lemon pie filling for icing, added blueberries for decoration. Karen, Scott and Marshall arrived before Suzanne. We greeted them. Marshall, gave a friendly hello and was eager to get to the lake to fish and swim. He and Scott swam. Suze arrived and greetings were given. Lots of catching up in a short piece of time. After dinner, we visited at Judy and Dave's and then they left for Athens. Rain began in the evening but Marshall did see the giant turtle and a large bass that he tried to catch.

Marshall and Scott

Karen and Suzanne

Monday continued overcast, the sun peeping through from time to time. Feels like September, looks like it too. Welcome emails today from Valerie S., Hazel and Liz. Starting to think of Sarnia life again. Larry and Tom did the annual Amnesty Day garbage delivery in the morning. Judy and the kids came for a visit in the morning and when Larry returned we started the kids doing the Scooby Doo puzzle. They grew tired of that so Larry and Judy began to add a few pieces, also with some difficulty.

Yesterday, Tuesday, we began our exercise program again. I walked over to Christy's and found Judy and the children there, stayed for a cup of tea and talk before walking back home. That was it for me. Larry though did his warm up walk and followed through with the weights. Later in the day Suze, Jordan and Dayton arrived, followed later by Gage, Rhonda and Rodger. We had dinner late out on the deck and by 8:30, it was dark. Fall is arriving in leaps and bounds.

This morning's temperature at 8:30 a.m. = 13C.

SARNIA FRIENDS

2011-08-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Steve and family left before noon - so quiet.

On Sunday, we went out to Westport searching for some bargains and did not come home empty handed. Suzanne and I did a mini fashion show on the deck after returning to the cottage. Fiona and Tim and family arrived from Quebec City. Slow moving traffic due to heavy rain showers through Quebec delayed their arrival. Everyone took off for the dock and swimming, exploring, etc. A late dinner and an early night to bed, with the guests sleeping in the trailer and S.and R. back at their house as they had to go to work in the morning.

Emma, Toby, Maggie

Monday morning, Tim and Toby were up early and quickly grabbed a bite to eat before heading off to catch the 'big fish'. I went back to Westport with Judy and Christy and was lucky to find a matching top for the skirt that I had purchased the day before. An outfit! Once again, we all found something that was a bargain. While searching through a bin, I looked up and saw a person I recognized, but she was out of place standing there scrutinizing the rack of clothing. It was Jane from Sarnia. Imagine the surprise. She is usually in the area at this time of year visiting some friends - same place, same time, she said.

Tim's big burger

Back at the cottage, Tim had gone out for groceries and had the makings for a big burger for our dinner. Quite a procedure, of his own devise, with all kinds of goodies mixed into the beef and then formed into a massive burger. When cooked, it was placed on two loaves of bread and sliced, condiments added, and delicious! That evening after Suzanne and Rodger had returned home, the Crosslands and ourselves played a game of Screw Your Neighbour which was quite fun for everyone. Jeff and Amy joined us after dinner to share in Dayton's special birthday cake. Dayton seemed to be enjoying himself as he delivered the pieces of ice-cream cake to everyone.

Tim made scrambled egg wraps for our breakfast on Tuesday morning, left all their groceries for our use, took care of the dishes again, and packed up their belongings and they too were gone before noon. In the evening, I went to the Delta library and updated my ipod using their wifi service. Found some city walking tours that can be used without wifi once they are downloaded. Quebec City and New York City ones are now on my ipod.

Larry had begun tearing out the damaged portion of the ceiling in the main room trying to find the source of the leak. He did find it. It began at the peak of the roof and rolled down to the stove chimney where it passes through the ceiling. A very black line showed the water's passage through the top layer of the insulation.

On Wednesday morning, he checked from the roof, floating water over the shingles from a hose, at the peak outside. Later when I returned, he would head out to the lumber store for some shingles.

My day took me to Elgin in the morning, where I set four machines to cleaning our bedding, towels and clothing. The people there were quite chatty this time. A pleasant gentleman from Hilton Head was there to get the washing part done and then dried the items at their cottage. His parents are in a residence now and can no longer take care of the cottage but do not want it sold, so they spend six months there each year. The cottage had actually been struck by lightening and rebuilt as a small house. When my machines were done, the dryers were available. A very pleasant surprise.

Later in the day I headed into Brockville to attend a doctor's appointment and learn the results of the stress test and the ultra sound. Short answer: Heart tests are normal. Best defence is to continue with current meds including the beta blocker. Whew!

LAST DAY

2011-08-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5TH

Another dock and hot dog tubing day and...........

Steve and Val lunched at the Ivy Club and did some antique shops while the three kids and I went exploring down the cottage lane, collecting items that they found interesting. There were photos taken at the large rock midway down our lane as well.Rodger's brother and family, Dave, Lisa and Tommy, stopped by mid afternoon - dessert being birthday cake by Suze to celebrate Dayton and Quinn's birthdays. Dinner itself was fantastic, thanks again to Rodger - steaks, bbq veggies.

John, Clare and family arrived next door at their parent's cottage and came here later in the evening for a visit and game of cards.

Grandsons on the hotdog tube

Grandchildren on the Rock

In the morning, all the belongings will be packed up in the van and Steve, Val, Quinn, Amy and Joanna will return home.

It will be so quiet!

TO TOWN AND BACK

2011-08-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday August 4th

In the morning I went to Mensen's farm to purchase some corn, potatoes, green beans and two tomatoes. After washing and cutting the beans, it was time to get organized for my trip to Brockville General Hospital for an Ultra Sound of my heart. A beautiful day for a drive, I took Lower Oak Leaf all the way to County Rd 5, then along 5 to Temperance Lake Road. After the rain, everything was looking lush and summer green, the lake blue as the sky. I went to the hospital even though I was early, just to be certain of getting a parking space on Charles Street. Parked in the same spot as the last visit for the Stress Test and began walking toward the hospital main entrance. The parking places were being filled up as I locked the car.

The gentleman who had parked behind me had almost caught up to me when I came to the end of the sidewalk and instead of crossing over the entrance road to the other side, I walked in a straight diagonal line towards the entrance. As I stepped up onto the sidewalk, the gentleman said " I took the high road and you took the low road". I agreed and said that I wanted to walk in a straight line and he mentioned "the Hypoteneuse", to which I replied, "yes!... the same distance". or something like that. A very pleasant and humourous encounter.

Inside the hospital, I visited the Gift Shop, looking for something specific for a little boy. Someone came in trying to get money back for a necklace that her friend [currently in the washroom] had apparently purchased at the shop a few days earlier, but there was no receipt. The woman attending the shop did not recognize the merchandise and her co-shop attendant who knew more about the merchandise and the operation of the shop, was somewhere unreachable at the moment. Probably that was resolved, but I didn't hang around to find out. I went to the reception desk, picked up my 'number' and went to sit in the waiting area. A short wait.

The ultra sound was simple enough and the sounds that accompanied this were quite noisy and interesting. I tried to listen carefully to see if there was any difference from one area to the next but did not detect any. Hopefully that means all is well enough though I may need to continue with the Beta Blockers. Next Wednesday evening, I meet with the doctor.

The woman performing the ultra sound had been raised in Quebec City and she told me about her upcoming visit to that area later in August. She and her husband are going to kayak up the Saguenay River and she said we should see lots of whales there. Her two sons are going to stay with her sister and will get to watch the training for the Cirque de Solei from one of the bridges - maybe the Beauport. Will check this out for our Sept visit.

Shopped for some groceries, checked out some of the summer sales, and purchased a snorkel and mask for my use, then drove back home to the cottage. The water sports were in full swing.

Val, Joey and Amy Tubing

Larry and Steve refuelling

Larry attempted the Hot Dog tubing today and had sore knees for several hours afterward. The younger kids including Joey, with her mom or dad, go tubing too. Some tried water skis as well. After a short visit at the dock, I went back up to the cottage and prepared the potatoes and had everything ready to go on the stove or in the oven, when the power went out. Rodger came in the door just as I was flicking a switch to see if it were really so, and yes, no power. He was nonplussed and simply said we would use the BBQ. He did, and we had a cooked potato/bean/corn and cold ham tasty dinner.
All in all, the power outage lasted about two hours.

All but Joey and Val, headed out to Athens to watch the boys' ball game. Not too exciting, lots of errors, and they were creamed. This is the last game for the season I think.

And so to bed!

RAINY DAY + COUSINS

2011-08-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

The morning began with sunshine. I ventured out in the dorey under blue skies heading toward DuLiland with sketch book and pencils on board. So serene and quiet in that bay. The beaver lodge appeared abandoned or else those busy beavers were having an extra few hours of sleep. The radar screen at Environment Canada had shown that a massive storm cloud was on its way and when the wind picked up, I rowed back to the cottage.

There was a trip to Westport planned and I went along with Steve, Val and family. The rain began midway there and continued until late in the afternoon. The deck gazebo got some use by the adults for reading and the kids re-enjoyed their movies that had been rented the night before. They had all gone to Brockville the night before to see a movie, but when they arrived they soon learned that the show was sold out. They headed for the bulk food store and came home with an amazing amount of candy.

Candy Table laid out for the cousins to enjoy.

Cousins Jennifer, Scott, Brittany, Emily and Corbin arrived around 8 pm and the excitement began, slowly at first, with the guys heading to the dock and the fishing rods, however, later inside, we were treated to a mini concert with the younger kids performing their songs and bringing the evening to an end.

Hair Dressing

Reading

Sharing Photos

CIVIC HOLIDAY II

2011-08-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY
- Breakfast of scrambled eggs by Bryan.
- Jake and Quinn fishing at the dock
- Steve, Val and Joey took Gage to work, shopped for groceries and back mid-afternoon
- Dock Time/Tubing on Hot Dog/ Ezra and Judy for boat ride/ Kate for visit/
- Suze, Rodger, Dayton, Alanna in p.m.
- Fiona and Evan arrive from Ottawa
- Dinner of Tacos per Steve and Val
- Cards in evening

MONDAY
- Awakening to another bright sunny cool morning with promise of 'hot' to come
- Charles, Christy, Ben and Noah arrived late morning and stayed for lunch. They come from NYC via a cottage near Lombardy.
- Afternoon water tubing [hotdog] - first for Fiona - followed by some snorkeling - swimming - fishing - dinner - and the shuttle bagpipes on the dock - also drum - and another night of cards followed by star gazing. Kids slept in the trailer. FE for canoe ride, VQA canoe ride, E late night swim

CIVIC HOLIDAY I

2011-07-31T06:55:00.000-07:00

Everyone arrived about the same time - 6:30... unpacked, kids to the dock, a meal of lasagna plus, and beds ready. After the younger ones were in bed, we started a game of Screw Your Neighbour. Suze had gone to Brockville to get Gage from work. Lights out and in bed before midnight.

Mess of people on the Dock

Saturday morning we awoke at different times, found our own breakfasts and off to the dock again. Amy and I went out in Dorey, rowed to the next bay to say hello to Zoe who was also trying to catch a fish at her dock, checked out some shoals, removed the football that was wedged into the rocks and roots on the far side of the lake and found our guys who were fishing from the big boat just a few cottages away from our dock. Quinn had already caught a 12 inch bass and had taken it to the weigh-in dock. Perhaps he will have a chance at a prize but there seems to be some strong competition in his age group this year. We brought Joanna on board from the big boat and rowed off toward D and L's property at the far end of our bay. A large pine tree had fallen into the lake sometime over the winter and we observed its roots which for many years had kept it upright despite the rock and little soil at its base. We checked out the beaver dam and saw a loon flying overhead. These two items were new experiences for Amy.

Meanwhile Rodger, Suze and Val were getting the old gazebo on the dock as a surprise for Larry. When they returned, Rodger began the process for getting the new larger gazebo up on our deck. All hands soon pitched in and this huge and perfect gazebo graces our deck and will provide adequate space for all of us to be inside. The one on the dock just may be usefull in the evenings too to sit by the water and watch the darkness descend...play cards perhaps!

Steve. New Dining Gazebo on the deck.

Bryan, Kathleen, Jake and Rylie arrived after 2 p.m. along with their puppy, Bella. The younger boys continue fishing most of the day. Rylie joined the
jump-in-the-lake crowd and mastered all the tricks. The kids and grandkids next door also joined in the merriment in the late afternoon. At 5 p.m. we loaded up the vans and went to the designated property for the bbq and fishing awards. Quinn came in second to everyone's delight and Zoe received a trophy in her age category too. All the kids wanted to get back to the cottage so we skipped the games and they picked up where they had left off, fishing, swimming, etc. Ezra became the official horseshoe pitch raker and took his job very seriously. There were some water gun skirmishes with Dayton and Rylie being the main shooters. When Dayton hid behind me, Rylie found himself a little embarrassed and I found myself rather wet! lol

Somehow, everyone settled down and had a agood night's sleep.

Today's pictures:

Rylie and Dayton Water Fight

Amy's first jump-in-the-lake

Joanna Fishing

Zoe, Quinn, Jake

Quinn receives his trophy.

Ezra and Joanna

Steve

Suzanne and Valerie

Horseshoe Guy!

TIMES PAST - FORWARD

2011-07-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

A quick run out to Delta this morning to pick up some goodies for a new salad - mostly nuts, some rice and some kidney beans, some mandarin oranges, oil and lemon and herb. Very good. This salad was served along with a Hummus Chick Pea Spread/Artichoke and Asiago Dip, Spinach Dip and Roasted Red Pepper Hummous Variety pack and vegetables and sliced cooked chiken. Add Boiled eggs, cheese sticks, store bought salads of cole slaw and potatoe salad and the lunch was actually a culinary delight.

Ted and Val from Sarnia came around 12:30 for lunch and a visit. Judy joined us as well. Years ago in Brockville, Judy and myself, along with our babies, John and Suzanne, visited Valerie and her toddler, Stephen at their house. A few years later Ted and Valerie were living in sarnia. We followed about seven years later and got together a few times then more recently, we seemed to be in the same place quite often. In the course of our conversation, it was amazing how these three families connected through friends and or relatives that each of us knew. Six degrees of separation?

Judy, Dave, Larry and I headed out to Brockville for dinner at "The Mill" and to attend the Elvis Tribute "Blue Suede Shoes" featuring Roy LeBlanc. The meal was very delicious - chicken wrapped around some cheeses and asparagus - plus potatoes and a stuffed tomato. There was a phone call for me at the restaurant and it sent fear through my body. Who? What? It turned out to be Suzette my hairdresser her letting me know that my message had just shown up on their answering service. She has time for Judy and I tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Yikes! The Mill is in easy walking distance of the theatre [Brockville Arts Centre] and we arrived and grabbed our seats in good time.

Roy Leblac won the Elvis championship at Collingwood in 1999 and in 2003 he was named "The World's Finiest Elvis Impersonator". The show was very good and ran the musical gamut of Elvis' career. The band was terrific. Lots of memories. Elvis died the year we moved to Sarnia, Aug 1977.

In the ladies room at the art Centre, there was a framed copy of the 1967 playbill for the production of South Pacific. I had been a part of the crowd in that play and in that same theatre though it wasn't as fine then as it is now.

CLOUDS AND LUNCH

2011-07-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

Rained off and on throughout the day Monday. Larry and Dave went to Brockville to look for sunscreen/tent/gazebos to shelter those who hang out at the dock. L. was also on a mission to find a better television. He was successful, but Dave could not get a better deal at the CT store before Thursday. My day was spent getting the two bedrooms ready for our upcoming weekend guests. We will be bursting at the seams and looking forward to it. The 32" TV and stand plus a 10 x 12 gazebo arrived at our place mid afternoon. The TV was in place by 7 p.m.

Tuesday was a repeat of Monday weather-wise and we eventually decided it was a good Elgin Day for doing laundry and getting groceries. Dark clouds drifted by, some of them dumping their water on us, others rumbling on their way to Brockville. Activity-wise, an ordinary day, all in all. I started playing the "learn Spanish" tapes again and in the evening finished reading another book.
We are at the mid-point in our stay in this area. Always there are a few slowdown days and they have arrived. Savouring!.

Wednesday had lunch with Cheryl and tried out a new place off of Highway 2 just west of Ivy Lea, called Ivy Lea Club. Click here to check it out. Beautiful! The restaurant is at the river's edge and looks over the St. Lawrence River and some of its islands. Good lunch, good time, good friend.

This was originally going to be an 'art' day but schedules were changed last minute and time slipped away. There is still an oil to complete and some sketching to do. No ride in the dorey today either. I did continue with the Spanish tapes, still introductory level.

In photos:

This rock and garden is at the entrance to the restaurant.

This colour of rock is particular to this area.

Every day this week there have been voluminous clouds,

white and fluffy, edged with dark stormy ones, drifting overhead,

creeping up over trees, some times dropping a bit of rain.

Sometimes, they fleetingly present beautiful sculptures.

On the road to Cheryl's, Lyndhurst to Lansdowne and

on to the Thousand Islands Bridge via Hwy 2 and

our destination, the Ivy.

The view from our table at the Ivy Restaurant.

The boards in front are shading another

eating area below us, at river's edge.

BOAT AND BAT

2011-07-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY JULY 24TH

A calm, restful, summer day at the lake. No humidity. Swimming weather.

Suze and Rodger had stayed overnight in their trailer and we all woke rather late to a beautiful fresh warm sunny day.

Rodger wanted to purchase tickets to a show in Spencerville as a surprise for Suzanne and came up from the dock under some pretext or other to make some phone calls. He was eventually able to find some tickets to the wine and cheese at the Kevin Costner Show Wine and Cheese in September! Yes, Kevin Costner! We were late in deciding to try for the same tickets but will go to the show.

Larry and I went out in Dorey, but this little boat is really made for one and it is not to Larry's liking at all. He rowed and I sat at the back. It was a short ride. I really enjoy rowing around in this little boat and later took it across the lake to view the shady side of the shore. Lots of shadows and rock formations of interest. I drifted by a couple in their yellow canoe, discovered they lived in the cottage next to Duane and Lianne's property. We had a pleasant chat.

Surprise! Around 11:30 p.m. I left the bedroom to get a drink of water and as I stepped into the main room, something flew past me, dipping and circling the main room, and flying very fast as it did so.
Larry opened the doors, and the BAT flew out the back one.

HOT DAYS IN JULY

2011-07-23T15:17:00.001-07:00

Another scorcher today, Saturday July 24th

July 21st New Thermometer

Lots of water time, learning how to correctly use the snorkel and mask, and how not to breathe in the water.

Larry and Rodger, veterans of the sport, Suze and Dayton seemed to take to it naturally, but I must admit I did struggle with water in my mask, sucking in instead of blowing out, and cramps in my toes inside the fins. All in all, though, I think I may be hooked and will keep on practicing.

Today I used Gage's equipment cause he was at work, but I have thoughts of the pink mask and snorkel at the Dive Store in Brockville.Oh my!

Below is a photo of Joe who came to visit with Laurie and two of her sons. This is when the use of snorkels began.

Joe!

We finished the day with a movie "Limitless" which was quite good. Loved the opening scene and the streets of NYC.

SNORKEL GEAR

2011-07-23T03:58:00.000-07:00

Snorkel Day at the Lake: SATURDAY JULY 23rd

We went back to Brockville to take Gage to work, to retrieve my debit card from Cdn Tire and to purchase some snorkel gear for Suze and the boys.

The Dive Shop, located on Water Street had three sets of fins of the right size and we purchased them along with some dolphin earrings, of course. I took a few pictures of the waterfront [St Lawrence River] from the diver's park across the road.

Rodger grilled the tenderloin to perfection and we enjoyed a delicious dinner on our deck. Dayton was busy today ..... off at the Delta Fair with Alanna and friends. We had a game of 'Screw your neighbour' in the early evening, joined by Dave, Judy, and Bev

* A few days ago, when Dayton dove into the lake from the dock, he landed on a fish. The fish must have spiked his fins to protect himself and Dayton received a cut on his forehead. What are the chances!!!

St Lawrence River at Brockville.
Across the river is NY state.

City Hall and Clock Tower
Brockville

JULY DAYS CONTINUE

2011-07-21T05:07:00.001-07:00

Me taking out Dorey for a row.

Lots of hot sunny days this past week which meant being on or in the water much of the time. A nice warm, but cooling, breeze runs up the hill from the lake and is very welcome by mid-afternoon. Baby Max and family spent a few days here and it was delightful to wake up and be greeted by his beautiful smile each morning [and throughout the day too]. Such a contented boy. He is almost walking, certainly can stand unaided for a short time and otherwise scoots around the floor enjoying everything he finds.

A very old giant snapping turtle visited our dock area this past week. We have seen this old fellow a number of times but always further along the shore. He did not linger long here, a dined and dashed sort of thing, though likely 'dash' is not a good description. A creature from the dinosaur age.

Our oldest grandson's dad has a new friend and things seem to berunning along rather well with the relationship. A bonus for the boys I hope. Her name is Amy. He is working steady these days, another

added bonus.

Gail and Walter visited Judy and Dave on the weekend. Walter was interested in the Steam Show at Centre 76 in Athens. Sunday, Larry took them out for a boat tour of the lake, Max and family piled their

belongings into their car and were on their way home around noon. Gail is one of the swimming buddies who has been actively arranging their trip to the DR. The original date was the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and that simply would not work for me. There is a chance they will find another flight for later in the month. I am semi-committed, but still hesitant.

Everyone is snorkelling these days. Larry's new fin has him face down in the water and Duane took his underwater camera along on his snorkel tour. Now it seems this is an activity that the oldest grandsons and

their mom would also like to get involved in. Looks like there could be another trip to Westport very soon since Dave was able to get a pretty good snorkeling set there on Monday.

Bev was here on Saturday.

Heather was here on Sunday

Monday was our trip to Brockville, for Larry's tooth to be repaired, and to go to the jewellers to get an estimate on a replacement costfor my lost diamond engagement ring. We have a photo, not reallyclear, and no details re clarity, colour or size so a guestimate was given. At this store, there was only one ring that was close in appearance to my original ring, and twice the price of the guestimate.

A visit to a second jewellery store was absolutely ridiculous. They claimed that a diamond ring purchased in 1965 would be replaced at1965 cost, no inflation considered. No one added the words 'antique'

or 'vintage' to the descripton either. We will wait. I am still hopeful that it will show up in some obscure place in the cottage or car.

Yesterday, Judy went to Brockville with me for my Stress Test. Quite the system at this hospital. We went to the Volunteer to learn the procedure, and I was given a bit of paper with a number on it, told to watch the monitor and when my number came up, to go to the 'desk' that had the same smaller number that would appear on the screen. After a brief wait, all my data was checked by the clerk, and we changed my husband's name from 'Richard' to Lawrence, then marched along to the end of the hall and turned toward the 'Stress Test' sign. Just another short wait, and I was electroded, blood pressure checked and walking on the treadmill. The machine did everything! Blood pressure cuff tightened and loosend periodically as I plodded uphill and the print out of heart action continued. End result. There have been some changes so I am taking low dose aspirin daily and a blood pressure med at night. In two weeks there is an ultra sound and in three weeks another visit to the doctor to see if more tests are needed. Felt a little fragile yesterday.

We finished the day with a visit from Suze's friend Laurie and her two sons, and their enjoyment of the water and each other, followed by dinner when Rodger arrived and after dinner, attended the boys ball game at Athens. They were smucked and the mosquitoes had a good feed.

There is cloud cover this morning and about a 40% chance of thunder showers. Most of the storms travel around us and we just hear the thunder. So far, we have only used the air conditioner to cool down the cottage at the end of the day. It becomes like an oven inside on hot humid days when our

usual winds are non-existant. This morning, the trees rattle their leaves. Later, I will be looking in on 'Wallis', John's dog who is on his own, for part of the morning, though he has come to call on Lanie a few times already. His folks are off to Ottawa to visit the Caravaggio exhibition at the Gallery.

The water toy we call the 'hotdog', has a leak. The patch did not seem to work so Larry investigated warranties and called the store where Steve had purchased this toy and he was advised to try Goop. The twenty-four hour drying time ends this afternoon. Keeping our fingers crossed.

I have lost the use of the picasa photo editor. An attempt to download on this dial up system did not work so I am trying a new editor with limited success. There is a feature to reduce the size of the photo, but this does not seem to be as effective as picasa.

Enjoying Diane Chamberlain books, good summer reading, good stories that keep you wanting to find out more.

WATERMELON and MAX

2011-07-15T06:36:00.001-07:00

A great refreshing treat on a hot day.

PICTURES SAY IT BEST

2011-07-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

2 Grandsons

Down by the Dock............ on a Hot and Humid day in July........................

Neighbour Christopher jumps into Lake

Cannon Ball Larry creates a splash!

GREAT FUN DAY AT THE LAKE.

THE 'OLD BASS LAKE CROWD' GATHERS

2011-07-11T06:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a typical Sunday at the Lake but not the busy-ness of say, Lake Huron or the St Lawrence River. At one time, there were 'four' boats in our section of the lake, two of them towing water skiers! A few kayakers slid by and our neighbour did her daily swim to the point. The hotdog tube was hooked up for S, G and D and Larry towed them to the other end of the lake and back, circling in the next bay to shout 'hello' to T & C who have just arrived for a five week vacation. C and Z kayaked over to Z's grandparents next door later.

At our cottage there were two challenges of Horseshoes which added rhythm to the sounds of the lake. Clang! Clang! Clang! And delicious chicken kebabs for dinner, thanks to our chef Rodger.

Buying Shoes

This Monday has been hot and humid but nevertheless we ventured out. Larry went to Elgin and good soul that he is, got the sheets and towels washed and dried while there. Suze and I headed off to Kingston to shop some bargains, specifically to get her some shoes, which we did, but there were other sales that called us too and we came home with a few more bargains than intended.

No rain but dull skies in the early evening. Hot and humid!

iPODS and BALLOON RIDES-NOT

2011-07-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

JUNE 28 - 30th * Mark, Tammy and Tyler's at Sumardust, 2011.

It was a whirlwind visit which was supposed to culminate in a Hot Air Balloon ride over Ottawa.

The first day of their arrival was sunny but cool, and they headed off to Brockville, buying all the good old 'cottage food' of earlier days. Mmmmm. Lots of sweet stuff and 'dogs' and such. The second day, I joined them for a trip to Kingston. Nice to have our IT man with us as I had been contemplating upgrading my ipod to one with a camera. We did take a bit of time checking out the 4th generation pods and also the iphone, but ultimately, I purchased the ipod. Having wifi access here would be a bonus, but I can download at various hotspots around here. Mark transferred all the data from the old ipod at Suzes one evening and when I'd completed the rest of the info from my settings, erased the old pod and presented it to Gage.

The third day of the visit, they took off for Ottawa early in the day and were fortunate to be fairly close to Will and Kate to get some clear pics. There were hordes gathered at the war memorial but some people started moving on to other locations so Mark was in a good spot for photographing.

HOLY SMALL BALLOON!, Batman!

We called the Balloon company who were assuring that the ride was a go and we were to be in Ottawa at the take off field [Anniversary Park at Carleton U.] for 5 p.m. Takes roughly two hours to get to Ottawa so we headed out around 3p.m. when Rodger got back from work. Outside of Ottawa, the skies darkened, and the clouds hung heavy overhead. We checked again and the ride was on, for 7pm now. It rained as we searched through the campus grounds for the park. Everything moved on - no more clouds, blue patches of sky, no rain. We waited for the crew. We waited for the in-charge guy. We waited for clearance from the airport. By 7:30, we were told the ride would not happen as there were more clouds on the radar and the winds not predictable. We drove back to the cottage, home by 10:30 - 11:00 p.m.

No Ride Today!

Iffy Sky.

I personally was ready to snap pics of the guys in the balloon, the lift off, the speck of them in the sky, the landing etc. and also, was looking forward to be riding in the chase van.

Mark had to return home the following day and he now plans to take his ride somewhere closer home.

No second booking for R. and L. has been made yet.

Deflated.

A NEW MONTH - JULY

2011-07-10T05:04:00.000-07:00

Thinking of the grandkids at Disney during the week. Wondering how much Max has grown.

Clouds in the morning sun.

On July 4th, I began this year's Art course of choice: Going for Baroque: Caravaggio and I went to the college store to make appropriate purchases of oil paints etc since I found the use of acrylic for this particular project took more skill than I had to offer. The drive is pleasant on the way to the college, country roads, sunshine, fluffy clouds and minimal traffic, however at the end of the day, it seems a much longer trip. More traffic. Still I wouldn't miss this opportunity. Suze and Rodger had dinner ready and Judy and Dave joined us as well. Yay!

Ottawa

On July 5th, the course offered a bus trip to the National Art Gallery in Ottawa. This year Bev joined me and once in Ottawa, we were joined by Cameron. We had a good time together and enjoyed the Caravaggio exhibit, lunch and shopping in the bookstore at the gallery. Home about 6:30 somewhat tired. Dave and Judy had dinner ready and Suze and Rodger joined us. These guys had been talking about and planning for activities in NYC when we gather there in October.

Brought home a Take and Bake pizza from Luna one night and Larry got it baked for our supper. I am being well taken care of during this intense week.

I kept my appointment with the Doctor on Wednesday afternoon, an interview, and setting up of some tests coming up in the next few weeks. Met S's friend, Diane there in the waiting room when I came out of the doctor's office which was no small surpise then again when we nearly bumped into one another at the dollar store - more art supply items for me - and she told me her stress test indicated no heart problem, probably inner ear. I didn't go back to the class and when I arrived home, discovered that Larry had had a frustrating day with the computer. It would not connect to the internet and no one was able to give a solution until he contacted the computer store in Athens. He had a car now that I was home and off he went. End result, an external modem that he had to drive to Brockville to purchase. Dave and Judy joined us for dinner, combining food from both cottages. Afterward, they left for their home.

For the rest of the week we painted furiously and I thoroughly enjoyed using oil paint again. Prud and I developed a freindship and went out for lunch 3 times during the week. I loved seeing Helene finally achieve a super portrait of her ancestor. Barb completed a large one of her grandson, equally beautiful. I met Dianne in this class and she had grown up in Elgin and knew a Carol M. who also grew up there. This was the girl who I had remembered playing with many years ago when I went with my friend's grandmother's, near Elgin for a visit. She thinks that the M's house and the grandmother's house both burned down. No wonder I could not find them.

Storm at Cottage

Arrived home on Friday evening completely exhausted and hardly moved the rest of the evening. No one was around, except Stormy who was here for an overnight stay. Most of Saturday was spent on the deck in my chair reading, relaxing, and I did not even think of painting.

WEEK ENDS

2011-06-29T05:46:00.001-07:00

Produce!!! Picked yesterday.

When leaving the bedroom early this morning, I quickly became aware of the drop in temperature. All the windows had been left open due to the heat and humidness that filled the cottage in the evening. Outside the wind is rattling the leaves on the trees and the sky is overcast, temperature at 15C.

On Saturday, I went to town with Gage and Suze and enroute, noticed that my engagement ring was no longer on my finger. Since I nevertake the ring off, it was apparent that it had slipped off on its own. When? A pretty thorough search has thus far not located it. Sad.

On Sunday, the boys were at their dad's cottage and we saw them briefly, swimming and Dayton out in the kayak. We went for a really pleasant canoe ride around our end of the lake, noticing the trees that had not made it through the winter, the beaver dam down by our son's property and the eight or so trees that the beavers felled on the shore there over the winter. A heron kept changing its location as we approached its present perch. At the overflow area we could see that the lake was healthily high, with a bit of water flowing over the dam.

Further along, there it was, the foundation of a cottage that had burned this winter. The trees had all been cut down, and the property looks ravished.

This fire is suspect. Someone, a female, had stopped at one of the permanent residences and reported that a cottage was on fire and that she was late for work and had to leave. That's it. The only other
permanent residents on this road would have been recognized and this girl was not.

Storm and Walker on couch!

Rodger and Suzanne joined us for dinner and a brief visit on Sunday evening. All the dogs [Storm, Walker, Abby] were here visiting Lanie too.

We went to D and G's ball game in the evening on Monday and had an offer of tickets to go to a Vera Lynn tribute concert, but we are busy this week and
declined. Nice of Karen.

Mark, Tammy and Tyler arrived just after we returned from the game, about 10:30. We sat outside on the deck and chatted
before heading off to bed.

Simply enjoyed the weather and the company yesterday. Dinner on the deck, joined also by Suze.

AN AFTERNOON IN ELGIN

2011-06-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

The Stringers in place,
view from the deck.

Iffy kind of weather today.

Wondering if it will rain or if a sweater is needed.

Larry has the stringers in place for the deck stairs.

Empty Nest.

Through the window at the back, by the computer, I saw one of the adult birds swinging on the clothesline and wondered about whether the eggs in the nest at the front. Upon inspection, it looked different and it seemed empty. We never did hear the babies chirp nor did we ever see them in the nest. As we watched about 15 feet from the nest, two adult birds flew to the area of the nest, hovering about four feet away and fluttered there in the hopes of distracting us, or so we thought. Sure enough, the babies had flown from the nest and were in the lower trees just east of the deck. They are all gone now.

Elgin is a larger village in this area and has a Laundromat, a grocery store, a library, a bank, etc. As we drove down the main road I had a memory of a visit to a friend's grandmother's house in this area, years ago. Next door was a farm where we played with some of the children who lived there. But I could not find the farm or the house that the grandmother had living in. I checked at the library, consulted some maps, and now think it likely another road off this main one was where we visited.

I also remember there had been a bear in a cage kept as a pet {?} or a curiosity, I suppose, on the highway that led to the Elgin main road. So sad.

Clothes were washed and dried at the Laundromat and groceries purchased after my haircut. The hairdresser had some new business cards made up for her by a friend of a friend and without consultation.

See below:

TODAY THERE WAS SUN

2011-06-23T15:47:00.001-07:00

Armoire all assembled.

Little Oar House by the Dock

There was rain in the very early morning hours and cloudy skies much of the rest of it, but the sun shone brilliantly for most of the afternoon and evening.

Lucky Loon on our lake.

In the afternoon, I exercised the dog with a walk to Christy's and back [15 minutes on the ipod timer] and then exercised with the Wii for 30 minutes more. None too soon, I fear, cause the Wii said a new pound has appeared in the last nine days. Lots of veggies and fruits were prepared for dinner and for snacks.

One of the lake's Loons came for a visit and the other called from another bay. Otherwise, it was so quiet and gorgeous here today, it felt like we were the only two people in the world, certainly true for this bay.

ROUTINE

2011-06-22T05:47:00.001-07:00

This nest is being used for the
third year in a row.

The 'newness' has worn off and we are 'home'. Grandsons are studying for and writing year end exams. The little bird sits in her nest, flying away each time we pass by, which is pretty often as this is the easiest way off the deck to the lake. Now though, the stairs have been ripped out and the area has become a construction zone.

Today is overcast, the leaves on the trees hang still, almost heavy, and the lake sends a ripple toward our shore.

Around 10:20 Larry drove me out to the end of Williamson Lane where I waited for Bev to arrive. I joined her and her friends Loraine and Carol for lunch at Newboro, with the Red Hat Ladies of Rockport. This was the first time I met Loraine but Carol had been the nurse that was present for the birth of our son Duane at the Brockville General Hospital a number of years ago. We shopped in Kilgour's store before lunch then joined the other 10 or so women at the Stagecoach restaurant. This restaurant has been purchased by Kilgour apparently, and was totally revamped, looking really good. The meal was very good. None of these women were wearing red hats, and they are not a registered group. Mostly they get together for lunch once a month or so and that is what they wish to continue doing. Next month it will be back at the Stagecoach. I will join them then if possible.

Soaking Wet Deck

After lunch we went on to Westport to check out the stores there. My purchases were for the kitchen here - some new oven mitts, in particular, as I had burned by thumb using the old ones on the weekend.

The rain continued all day, just sprinkly, but everything is wet.

GRANDSONS HIT HOMERUNS

2011-06-21T06:58:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS!

Dayton is ready for the pitch in last night's game against Spencerville.

This photo shows the ball [green] at Gage's bat.

A NEW WEEK and FATHERS DAY

2011-06-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

Early Morning at the Lake

MONDAY - Sunny and June cool, pleasant, clear air.

How quiet it is here! This photo does not really capture the orange/yellow glow of the sun on the trees across the lake nor on the lake itself but the stillness is evident.

Last week in Athens, I picked up a few local papers and when glancing through them discovered I actually knew two of the people in the pictures. I woudn't have recognized them if their names had not been included. They
both have white hair! -

evidence of the 30 plus

years that have passed

since we lived in this area!

SUNDAY: Father's Day Celebration at the Lake:

Mid-afternoon Rodger's parents, Ron and Deloris, joined us. Ron, Suze, Larry and I went for a boat ride around the lake while Deloris and Rodger, and the three dogs, kept watch from the dock. The lake was beautiful in the summer sun, the surface calm and deep blue. Lots of people sitting out at their cottages in the other bays.

Suze and Rodger served us some scrumptious appetizers on the dock - cheeses, crackers, veggies and dip as well as a Creme de Cassis de Dijon wine cocktail. [wikipedia: Crème de cassis (pronounced: [kʁɛm də kasis]) is a sweet, dark red liqueur that is made from blackcurrants. Several cocktails are made with crème de cassis, including the very popular wine cocktail, kir. It is made from blackcurrants that are crushed and soaked in ethanol, with sugar subsequently added. If it is labelled "Crème de Cassis de Dijon," one is guaranteed berries from the commune of Dijon.]

Welcoming Home Committee

Whatever is Storm doing? Lanie came to greet us but it was pretty clear that she had been having a good nap. She appears to be uncertain who this boatload of people approaching the dock is.

J and D joined us for conversation and dinner. The day was done around 7 and we were off to bed pretty early.

This is the day my parents were married at Saint-Laurent, Montreal, QC 1935.

ARRIVALS

2011-06-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

Boat arrives at Dock

Gage, the New Driver, parks van.

A warm summer's day in June. Suze, Rodger, Gage, Dayton and the dogs, Storm and Walker, came for the day. The boys went to their dad's, S & R had a very late birthday present to enjoy - dinner and overnight at the Denault Mansion in Delta, and the dogs spent the evening and night with us. Sister-in-law Bev arrived for late afternoon sun and visit on the dock with the rest of us. Good times!

My little container garden has some produce. There is promise of two more jalopenos and the rosemary will flavour tomorrow's potatoes.

Jalopeno Pepper presents itself.

Bev is here!

Walker waits for S and R to arrive back at the cottage.

On Friday morning, we went to Brockville to pick up some groceries and other items not found in the local village stores. A chinese restaurant beckoned and we enjoyed lunch there before completing our tasks and heading back to 'Sumardust'. One of the purchases was an armoire for our bedroom. We [Larry really, but I did help too], started to put it together in the late afternoon. Hmmmmm! Rather large but hallelujah, it fit in the space it was intended to. Quit that around 8pm deciding the job would have to be finished tomorrow, finally had our evening meal, and were joined by our friends, Dave and Judy who were at their cottage for the weekend.

[Claire's mom died on Wed. and the visitation was Friday evening. D&J attended the funeral service and reception today.]

THE DAY THE TREES CAME DOWN June 16th

2011-06-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Lanie has come to help.

There were two trees leaning over our road, Acorn Lane, and each time we passed them, we thought they were closer to falling over. Today, just after dinner, when Suze, Dayton and Rodger, left the cottage for home, the road was blocked.

The trees had fallen at last.

THE ROAD CREW AT WORK

Chain Saw Guy Cuts it Up

Heading Off Road

HOT SUMMERY DAY June 15th

2011-06-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

Storm and Walker arrived around 9 a.m. to spend the morning at the lake and await the return of their Suzanne. In the meantime, Larry went to the Home Building Centre at Lyndhurst and placed an order for lumber to be delivered. The two dogs were in the cottage and our Lanie was on the front deck, when the delivery truck drove up. When the delivery man appeared suddenly outside the screen door, there still was nary a bark. I spoke, he spoke. Whoa! What a cacophony of barks.

Suze arrived and we all went straight to the dock to bake in the hot sun. Look who went in for a swim.

"Darling Daughter Dora" calling Walker

Walker enters the water.

Clouds drifting by.

A GRAY DAY - June 14th

2011-06-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

A gray and green cold beginning to this day.
The temp hovers at 10C.

Woody, the tree man, is not impressed!

Fire girl makes herself proud!

A morning fire
in the
old wood

stove
made the
cottage
toasty warm!

The weather did get warmer but never really hot. This was a perfect cottage day in that it included some computing, some reading, some exercise, the Wii Fit challenges, some conversation and eventually, some sun.
Settled in for the evening, well fed and warm, a good book to hand.

SUNRISE Mid-June June 13, 2011

2011-06-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

The sun appears over the neighbour's hill, momentarily blinding me at the computer desk. Streaks of sunlight do not linger, and quickly move on to highlight another part of an object or area of the property.

This 13th day of June, the air is cool and the lake surface is partially rippled.

Sun Peeking through the trees'
Photo taken from back door of cottage. 6:56 a.m.

Lake Reflections on Far Side of Lake
Photo taken from cottage deck, using Zoom. 6:56 a.m.

The sun shines through the window
onto the Cottage Challenge. 6:52 a.m.
Will it ever be finished?

And so the day begins...........................

The Sun highlights a portion of the gardens
at the back of the cottage 7:03 a.m.

And we spent it here, in the on again, off again, cloudy day. I baked an angel food cake. Larry began his weights exercise again now that he is no longer installing pumps. We read. For dinner we went to Suze's and between us, finished up the cake. A walk through the village and then settled before the tv and the 6th game of the NHL playoff series. A serious injury. Too many goals. A 7th game.

I am caught up in this book, "The English Lady" by William Harrington, 1985, Bantam. Intrigue.

TWO DAYS AFTER THE THUNDERSTORM - Friday June 10th

2011-06-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Morning Things

-The new pump is doing the job.

-A branch fell unexpectedly from the tall pine in front of the cottage onto the deck below.

-We noticed the CANOE was no longer on the dock. Found at the shore under the overhanging trees on the west side and brought back to the dock.

- A BEAVER has been munching on one of those overhanging trees.

- A friend, D, stopped by

Branch that fell onto the deck mid-day

Likely the tree from which the branch fell

Late afternoon and early evening spent with S, G and D. We grabbed a sub on our way to Domville where the boys were playing their first game in the weekend Ball Tournament. It was a good game, with just enough tension, but the Athens team came through with a win. More tomorrow. I think we will wait at the cottage to hear how it turns out.

Here is Larry pushing the canoe from under the overhanging tree branches.
The canoe is now tethered to the dock.
Just below his hand, you can see the beaver's work on this tree.

THE SUMMER OF 2011 BEGINS

2011-06-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

FIRST POST FOR 2 0 1 1

Moved in to stay on Sunday June 5th.

First Morning at the Lake Monday June 6th

An early morning. A bright day with the sun rising over the neighbour's hill to streak through the trees in the back of our property and to skim across the lake lighting up the trees on the far side. By 9 o'clock, it's brightness bathes the back of the cottage and creeps in through the windows. Lakeside, the sun heightens the green of the trees and aids the water in reflecting their beauty. Are the trees growing sideways out from the shore or are they rising upward to the sky? So clear. No ripples to distort the image.
Experiencing Pump problems.

As the minutes pass, I take my camera and record the sunlit spots on our grounds. From the deck I see patches of light spreading past the driveway to brighten the old table and light the entrance onto the little bridge that joins us to our neighbours. Another swath of light kisses a small evergreen and hugs close as it flows across a barren section of the hill. In the front of the cottage, there are tendrils of sunlight here and there across the property, appearing on some of the higher tree branches and streaking through the tall grasses. The highlight though, is the bright glow on the western tip of the dock and the far end of the canoe perched there. The day awakes. For us, it is as though we are the only people in this bay.

A quick jaunt out to the dump, the purchase of some plants at a nearby nursery and a jug of water. All very familiar stops. However, at the nursery I remembered a story I had heard that took place at another nursery in this area. As the customers checked the plants etc, the owners watched a black rat snake creep across the open area, as it happened, sight unseen by the shoppers. So, I was nervous to go into the greenhouse and asked the young owner if she would go with me. Truthfully, I needed her nearby to feel brave and also to help me sort out which plants I should buy. Fraidy cat!

Day Two at the Lake Tuesday June 7th

I am a little bit inspired to write today and I think it is a combination of things, not the least of which is a gloriously sunny and warm day at the cottage. There is, of course, the lake and the book. If you have not yet read 'The Help' you might want to give it a try. I read it every chance I got, eager to find out about the outcome and reluctant to bring the story to a close. It is set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the years 1963/64, coming of age years for me. Lots of memories flood back.

In the morning, the sun rises up over the hill on the east. I am at the computer usually and watch it rise and splatter yellow through the leaves, grasses and trees. Eventually it gets high enough to add some streaks and blotches of sunshine on the dock on the other side of the cottage, and light up the trees on the far shore as well. The lake is often still at this time of day and the reflections are marvellous.

First Thunderstorm: Wednesday June 8th

New pump purchased today.
Actually, there were two storms that pushed their way through here. The first was about dinner time and Larry was in the water trying to get stuff done at that end of the pump system. I was calm and Lanie was beside herself, following me in and out of the cottage as I grabbed chair cushions to get them out of the rain. The sky was dark, coming at us from the Northwest, but preceded by wild winds that rocked the tall trees resulting in debree, dead twiggy branches, leaves and whatever else was loose.! Then the rain, which was not bad really, and I put a pot out to catch some rain. It barely covered the bottom of the pot. Lightening was the usual though it seemed to rumble forever. Then, surprise, another similar event occurred a few hours later. We discussed where to go if a tornado was coming, but didn't go sit in the dark under the cottage. Lanie crossed all of her legs and refused to go out until around 5 a.m. All was clear and the sun was on its way at that time.

Our little cottage is situated in a valley, with both properties beside us acting like sentinels on the hills. [You know what I mean. They look down on us.] I think a tornado would dump one of these cottages and their big trees on us rather than carry us away, but I do not want to test that theory.

The Day after the Thunderstorm Thursday June 9th

For nearly the entire day yesterday, I sorted through stuff that was here, things I'd packed away to protect them from small critter invaders. Also stuff that I did not part with last fall, now deemed fodder for Goodwill was stuffed into a garbage bag . The dishes continue to stack up [no paper ones yet] but if there is no pump action by noon, I'll probably boil a pot of water [from the lake] and take care of that job. I love the leisurely existence here. Not so leisurely for Larry just now, but soon.

AT THE LAKE AGAIN - SUMMER 2 0 1 0

2010-05-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

THIS IS THE ONLY ENTRY FOR 2010

The Gazebo on the deck through window

We arrived at the lake on Saturday May 29th, in the middle of an extraordinary heat wave. Everyone was here and our friends next door too. Lots of visiting and catching up...

A baby shower on Monday for Lianne & Duane, with family and friends. A ball game, late evening, with grandson Gage, at Athens diamond. We all went and cheered on the team.

Tuesday, farewells to Duane and Lianne who were heading home, while the others returned to work and school. We went to Brockville to the wake for Steve Armstrong , spoke with his dad and his brother, and a few others we met there. Such a sad sad time. His dad was on leave from hospital where he is waiting to be called for a triple bypass.

We stopped off at TISS to watch our grandson's football game. Great little player is Dayton.

Way to go, No. 14!

Two trips to Delta. The first one resulted in a need for air in the right rear tire and the discovery of a leaking air valve. It was repaired in Athens. On the second trip, before entering the village, I was stopped along with others by the Ride program. Stopped me again as I was leaving for home. Got some produce at the Mensen Farm and saw two little spring goats romping about.

Got a Skype message from Sarnia with visual and sound, on dial up. Bonus!

Friday, Dave and Judy returned to their cottage. Dave helped Rodger and Larry set up the gazebo which we had purchased last fall. A bit crowded with six chairs and the big table but workable.

Suze and gang, Dave and Judy, joined us for dinner and for a night of cards. Gage was the winner, and the King of Screw, his Grandpa, had the lowest score ever.

A few cloudy days midweek, a rumbly thundery no rain night, and back to sun and warmth again today.

Rodger and Larry went to get the boat from Don's, and put it in the water. All was going well, but then the battery died while still at the launch pad. After dinner, Larry, Rodger and Suzanne started off in the canoe hoping to tow the boat to our dock. The Morrisons came to assist, and towed Larry and the boat to our place.

The battery is charging, we hope!

2009-12-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

C L O S E D

- UNTIL THE LAKE UN-FREEZES

.

SEPTEMBER at the LAKE

2009-09-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

Photos at Bass Lake:

1. Looking up the Tree Trunks.
2. Moon over The Property
3. Sunset

Can you find Waldo, the walking stick in this photo?

Duane & Lianne at their site, high among the trees.

This summer, August was particularly noted for its 3-4 hot hot days here at the lake. Everyone was jumping into the water and staying in for a long swim/play.

The annual Ball Tournament held at Lyn was played under sunshine though this year, no trophies for Athens and they were knocked out early. More cottage time.

D&L arrived for a week with plans to camp at their property, the first night always being here with us due to their late arrival... and the COLD. It continued cold, and there was the usual evening of Screw Your Neighbour card game and a rainy day in Athens where we were challenged to Farkle. Lunch at The Property and a hike to Charleston Lake filled another sunny day. And two trips to Westport.

We have had Walker and Storm this weekend while SRGD visit in Toronto and attended Cirque du Soleil last night. We thought we would go to a local band that was playing at Delta - Rock and Roll, songs of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, but checked out the time of the performance and discovered we had missed it completely. It was in the afternoon!

We went to Carleton Place, Bev too, to visit with my cousin's daughters Sheila and Cheryl. C's mom and daughter, Jac, were also there. Cheryl's brain tumour will not go away this time. Radiation and Operation are no longer options. She is trying Chemo and its effect will be tested in the next few weeks and decisions made at that time. She tires easily, and is at risk of falling and will be moving into a residence in the next weeks. Sheila returned to Calgary in the late afternoon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUINN!

.....Plan to be heading home on Sunday 13th.

AUGUST BEGINNINGS

2009-08-09T05:10:00.000-07:00

Family Vacation Photos

Larry's New Project

Welcome
to Christopher

Corn Roast

At the Dock and In the Water

Fishing Derby

The Property

What is this? >

Ta Dah!

JULY CATCH UP

2009-07-29T09:23:00.001-07:00

Dave's Vinyard. A Pool Party. Outdoor Play. Ivy Lea for Lunch.

SUMMER?

2009-07-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

Dull, dreary and rain most of the week, though there were sunny spots, like on Tuesday when we went to Elgin to do laundry and groceries. Also purchased first batch of strawberries at The Farm. Suze here in pm and we had some time on the dock. My car keys have disappeared!Tuesday - dull, cool, rain showers. Brighter in pm after returning from Elgin - groceries and laundry. Definitely a reading week.

CANADA DAY: a bit of sun. Usual bodies were about as well as Heather and gang. Dock sitting and talking and swimming and some skiing and tubing. Dinner followed by the First bon fire of the season with Suze, G & D.

Wet and Dreary continued and on Thursday afternoon I went into Brockville to get supplies for the next art course which begins on Monday. That was simple enough and then thought I'd go to the land registry office to get the details re our cottage property's history. Didn't find it.
I stopped on King Street to allow a woman to cross the road and when she was nearly across I realized that I knew who she was. Thirty years means changes. She disappeared from my view as I continued along King Street and then entered the passenger side of a car. The next day, I called and talked with her husband but Jean was not at home.

My drive around Brockville became a nostalgic trip down memory lanes. First I drove past the house on Wellington Street which would have been my first home and then continued west across town eventually north, ending up in the Walmart area, near North Augusta Road. Names of schoolmates, various 'scenes' when I was a child, and stuff like that. Pretty good. The old tracks that we used as shortcuts are now a paved trail for hikers. Perhaps one day this summer, I will walk that path. In the evening I went to the library in Delta and returned to find Duane, Lianne and Sydney had arrived!

Dull skies and evenually more rain continued into Friday. We all went to Athens and visited Suze who was preparing for the grade eight party, had some Fries for lunch, made purchases and returned to the lake. D&L went off to The Property with work to do. They stayed most of the afternoon and returned for dinner and stayed at the cottage again because of the rain.

More work on Saturday a.m. A place levelled for the tent, the 'building site' cleared out. We all went for lunch at The Property. Beautiful view. Good fun, but there was work to be done and we left them to pitch their tent and prepare for their first night of camping on their property.

Around midnight we heard what at first seemed like rifle shots but were quickly identified as fireworks, celebrating the US 4th of July. By morning the dull skies were replace with sunshine but alas, the temperature had plummeted to 12 degrees.

Tournament, Lunch, a Chair

2009-06-28T06:44:00.000-07:00

After Friday's storm, dull and cool. Three trees fell onto Climenhage's driveway. Fortunately they did not have their trailer here yet and Christy & family were away to Brockville.

Saturday: Larry not feeling well enough to go to BL Assoc meeting. Judy and I attended. She responded to 'what's going on across the lake?'. It was reported that there was a high ecoli count on opposite side of lake near beaver dam outlet, that it was certainly okay to swim in the lake but do not drink.
I thanked Bill, Steve and Mary for helping us out when the boat motor stopped working.

Saturday night we went to Lyn to G & D's finals game of the weekend tournament. Athens lost in last inning but it was an exciting game. Gage is so into baseball, keeping up with everything happening, and made a great throw to get the runner out at homeplate. Dayton was in the field and caught a fly ball. Great stuff guys! Clouds threatened but no rain.

The GPS took us to Lyn via the fastest route from the cottage, which turned out to be rather interesting. We took Lower Oak Leaf Road to Charleston School Road to McAvoy Rd and made a right turn to CR 8, a dirt road for part of the way, to where it joined Hwy 42. To Hwy 29 and then a right hand turn onto Foster Hill Road, following it to the end, turning right onto another road and a short ride to a left turn onto Lyn Road. Quite interesting and lots of new and interesting homes along the route.

Sunday was the inaugural row for me and my dorey. 'Dora' and I went out for a ride, rowing down toward The Property but not going all the way there this time, then rowed up to the point, spoke briefly with the woman and her kids who were in the water. A crowd was at Grothier's dock, including our grandsons and the Climenhages were in the water, Dave treating us to his famed 'Watermelon'. Zoe and Judy were over for a short visit in the morning, the Barbies being the main attraction. A typical summery Sunday. And just when we thought summer had begun, it rained all night and the temperature dropped.

Monday: Larry is still congested but feeling better. I went off for lunch with Cheryl, picked her up at her house and went to Rockport, The Boathouse restaurant. We spent the afternoon there! I love the St Lawrence and that area of it in particular. My old haunts when I was a teen. Drove thru Rockport to the other exit and passed two motocyclists, who turned out to be Jenn Grothier and her friend Adrian. They had been to see Frank to get their income tax done. Margaret was outside so we pulled over and spoke with her briefly and met her young grandson, Finley. Home by 5pm.

Suze came for evening visit and to help Dayton make a chair from logs. This was a project for school that did not get done and no one knew about that until the report card came home! He got a lousy mark on the report card but seems to have really enjoyed the project, once started. Larry and Suze were also involved. When it was finished he proudly brought his dad and other grandpa over to have a look. Maybe, there will be other such projects for fun this summer?

The wild flower garden is filled with phlox, red, pink and white, and weeds too.

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MORE GRADUATES

2009-06-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

These little babies have grown up. The first bird out of the nest seems to be encouraging the sibling to hop on out too. In the second photo, the wings are being furiously flapped. In the third photo, they are both on the beam. Minutes after the photo, the first baby flew away and the second one soon followed. They flitted around the bushes and trees on the Barr side, Momma watching and chirping from a distance or close up, as needed. The babies graduated on Wed.

Congratulations to other graduates too. Tyler who graduated from grade eight and will begin grade nine at Northern in September.

Quinn who has successfully completed grade one and moves on to grade two in September.

Amy who has graduated to Senior Kindergarden in the blink of an eye.

The dock. Naked without those two beautiful trees.

And the view from the lake, now shows more cottage.

Some changes on the inside............................................................

There are two non-objective paintings from my first course at the college hanging on the wall - taped actually, note also couch, chairs. Soft chairs for 'screw your neighbour' and eating meals too, of course.

The storms that passed by Sarnia, rumbled through here just before 2 pm today. Dark skies, white caps on the lake, a nervous dog, and tree debris on the deck was the result. A lightening strike somewhere in the area knocked out the phone while Suze and I were talking and Express Vu was temporarily out of sorts in the evening.

Larry, Rodger, Gage & Dayton were golfing but got off the links before the storm broke.

Todd, Christy, Zoe and Christopher joined us on the deck for a visit when they arrived yesterday evening. What a sweet young man is Christopher. He smiles and explores, and seems well settled in with this new family. A good playmate for Joanna, but... she is not here yet.

And so the lake churned today.

THE GRADUATE, etc

2009-06-24T05:10:00.000-07:00

Since last writing... The Return of the Woodpecker.

The art class is finished and there are no more early morning rides to Brockville. There was always something to bring a smile along the way. By Wiltse Pond on Charleston Lake Road, the turtles were out laying their eggs, one on its way across the road which I drove around. There were children out waiting for the schoolbus, one young boy presenting me with the Spock "Live Long and Prosper" hand signal each time I passed.

We had a dessert and Rumoli night on the weekend with Suze and the boys while R was on the night shift. This was a game that had some appeal to D who usually hangs out with a book when such activity takes place. Did it help that he raked in the pennies?

The boat was re-launched after being checked out and dried out at the shop, all is in working order and we have had our second First Cruise of the lake without problem. Actually D put on the waterskis yesterday and had a good ski and people baked on the dock and cooled off in the water. Not too cold, I hear.

The purge continues and the back yard is filling up with items for the annual trip to the amnesty day dump. We are finding a few more storage spaces and just as quickly filling them up. The old lumpy couches are leaving tomorrow and new ones will arrive then too. Comfort in the woods!

Monday was Gage's grade 8 Grad night. He and others were picked up by a limousine and driven around Athens for a while and then dropped off at the High School where the ceremony took place. There were a few people that we knew and several of the grads were familiar from ball games, hockey or friends dropping over while we have been visiting here. The program was over two hours in length and while the kids headed back to their own school for a dance, the guests were invited to participate in the snacks and to mingle. Lots of photos taken. Lots of proud families. Gage shared the honour of receiving the award for Mathematics for grade 9. He and his friend had attended the highschool for this course in the first semester and they aced it.

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The baby birds are almost ready for flight. The BBQ has been moved to the opposite side of the deck to give the parents some peace. Contrary to a previous report, the rock pile continues to be diminished or require diminishment, as the case may be.

Please note that the announcement has been made at last and the move to the DR will be in mid-August, Christy is recovering from her car accident and Christopher has settled in as though he has always been part of their family. I think the move is still mid August.

And so ends another installment of 'As The Lake Churns'.

GREAT DAY FOR A BOAT RIDE

2009-06-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

I raced off to my non-objective paint class at St Lawrence College this morning, arriving in plenty of time and quickly set up to work on yesterday's assignment.....36 rectangles filled with i.e. designed with, colour. Another exhausting day of hard work, trying to 'get it' and to paint it. No breakthrough day for me.

After class, picked up a pizza at Luna and came to the cottage to share it with Larry and Suze. We enjoyed the meal on the deck. Suze had been swimming today. Not too cold for her. After dinner, we set out on a boat ride, driving slowly into each bay and checking out the cottages etc. Opened up the motor at the wider parts and headed back from the other side of the island to The Property. Saw the picnic table sitting on its side gleaming in the sun, admired the trees, the rock. We cruised along the shoreline toward our cottage and again found the geese: six adults and a dozen babies were milling about at the beachy area at what used to be Kingsleys. Not so cute tonight. So much poop!

It was decided to take one last fast run to the end of the lake and then return to our dock. Again we got to the island, but the motor was sounding different, the boat would not plane. Larry lifted the motor and when Suze went back to check for weeds, found the floor to be wet with HOT water. Not good! We headed to the shore and a dock where we saw a man, named Bill, who gladly loaned us a paddle for our journey home. [One of the hoses had come undone in the cooling system of the motor.] We paddled past the island and were in the middle of the open area when we saw a boat heading in our direction. Mary and Steve offered to tow us back to our dock and we gladly accepted the offer. Tomorrow the boat will be taken out of the water and to Don's for him to look it over to be certain everything is in working order. A bit worrisome.

Earlier in the day, Larry and Suze finished up the piling of rocks along the shoreline. The dock is in place and the boats securely tied in place. Time for bed.

TRACK MEET &tc

2009-06-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

Time has flown by. We stayed at S&R's most nights, and moved into the cottage to stay on Tuesday. The cold spell has hopefully passed.

On Monday, Cheryl and Dave were invited to S&R's for dinner and the evening and we had a great meal as well as reacquainting with these friends. On Tuesday we stopped by the boat-storage-dude's place to pick up a battery since he could not find the one that was with the boat last fall. The new battery he had ordered had not yet arrived from Brockville?!!! Our boat remains in the parking lot, looking spiffy, I must say. The regulations met... i.e. a day after a heavy rain and informing governing bodies of a plan to burn, the leaves and debris were burned. Also, the decks and walkways were broomed free of sand and the inside floors have been de-sanded and the winter scum washed away. The environmental body deemed our repair to the shore okay. The purging inside the cottage continued, not quite ruthlessly, but a good number of things were dragged outside, destined for the dump.

Early Wednesday morning departure to the track meet in Brockville. Gage raced at 9am and Dayton was bar-hopping at 9:30. Gage definitely had trouble and did complete the race. He will be going for blood tests, the doctor checking for hypoglycemia. Dayton stayed in the bar-hop competition, taking home a ribbon. Later in the day, he ran a second race and gained another ribbon.

An attempt to visit the Heritage Center in Athens was foiled because we arrived at the lunch hour. Though the signs said 'open', the doors were locked and no one was about. A quaint custom. We remember that years ago, on Wednesday afternoons, the stores used to be 'closed' and in the 1970s, this was still true for doctor's offices in Brockville.

In the evening, we went back to Athens to watch the boys' ball game, deciding that Athens Fries would be our supper.

Yesterday,Tackaberry's truck arrived with a load of stone, leaving a somewhat artistic pile on top of the remaining rock pile. We left for the dump, waiting while Tackaberry crews and trucks repaired the road west of Lyndhurst, then followed a pilot truck which followed a gravel dumping Tackaberry truck from the water bottle store to Briar Hill road, where we turned off for the dump. New regulations - some items no longer being recycled. We shopped at Elgin and went on to Westport. The truck carrying our goodies arrived moments before we did and Larry set to work putting the chairs together. More items for the dump were lugged outside. The 'art room' is ready.

Yesterday a pilliated woodpecker checked for bugs on the scrawny tree near the sand 'box' area then flew to a meatier tree at the top of the hill. It was joined there by another, then both flitted away. There is a new nest at the deck side of the cottage near the stairs and the nester is spooked every time someone passes by. A gaggle of geese, four adults and several babies did a cruise around the bay a few days ago. The woods are a-twitter, the air is warm and the sun shines over and through the treetops. Decidedly, a cottage day.

We will watch the Stanley Cup final at Suzes tonight.

Mostly Penguin fans that night. Ron and Dolores were visiting here at the cottage on Sunday. This was the day to celebrate Father's Day for R's dad and L. The weather held though very dark and angry looking clouds passed by.

Off to the first of my art classes in the morning...........

2009 SEASON OPEN

2009-06-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

As we drove into our cottage lane, we could see the lake amidst the trees. The closer we came to the cottage, more of the lake was visible, a result of the loss of the two great pines that flanked the dock.
From the deck, the dock is well exposed.

We pondered whether to return it to its original position or move it more toward the stairs or even sit it at an angle to the shore.

Several ideas were tossed about as to where Dora should dock. At the moment, she sits in the location usually occupied by the bigger boat, while it rests on its trailer in the parking lot. The canoe hugs the other side of the dock, its usual place.

The cottage and deck were cleaned by S&R and ready for our arrival. At first, there seemed nothing out of place on the deck, and then we realized the addition of another patio set, shown in the photo without cushions & umbrella.

Lots of leaves and twigs were raked up for burning by G&D

yesterday and today they are ashes. Inside, I am doing a purge as we move our things into the various rooms.

How nice! No mice. Also no hot water. A conundrum to be resolved soon

Tomorrow we will likely move into the cottage to stay for the summer. It has been cold and there have been hockey games to watch on tv. Our tv and dial up internet are both active. The battery for the boat has disappeared and another is supposed to be available soon. Dora waits for her first row of the season.

So far, we have been at one baseball game at the Athens diamond to watch G&D's game and Suze & I made a trip to Westport yesterday. We were welcomed back by our neighbours, visited the grocery store, Stedmans, the hardware store, Swans, the county offices for permits etc., the post office and the pharmacy. In Athens, some stores have changed ownership and merchandise. The pharmacy is now part of a chain and has had an overhaul of its interior. Today, there were two puppies, a couple of helpers, some customers and lots of chatter when we were there.

Perfect! We have arrived.