My Holidays start in 22 hrs and I can hardly wait!

Yes, the one week for ME is coming up at 4 tomorrow night!!! Even though I have things I have to do during the week, it will still be so nice not to have to get up and take my life in my hands at 5:30am on the 401 everyday.

On Tuesday night I came home in a rain storm that evolved into a hail storm. No one was home with me so I decided to take a few pictures of the event. (in other words, i was too scared to stay inside)
My neighbours driveway was awash in pingpongball-sized hail stones. I couldn't believe how fast they were coming down:

My front lawn looked like a cooler had been dumped in the grass:

After the 25 minute storm, I went out and gathered some of the hailstones to show Billy. Then I macro'd a few of the rocks in my back yard:

This one looks like there is metal stuck to it:

And this is a pile I found by the fence:

I sent a link to my photobucket webpage to Tony Orr, who does the news on K-Rock (our local rock radio station)the next thing I know, I hear a story on the 7:30am news about a freak hailstorm that hit Bath. "A local listener, Cathy Christmas, tells us of a wild 25 min storm that hit her Village of Bath. We even have her online pictures to prove it!" heheheh My 15 mins of fame!
Moving forward, tomorrow night I am going to see The Tea Party @ Stages. Although they are not one of my favourite bands, I have to give this nikon 4800 camera a good workout at a rock and roll show! As well, I LOVE that new sound system at Stages. It is so crisp and clear...I doubt that it matters who is playing...its gonna sound GREAT!
Ok, so now its 21.5 hrs till alcoholidaze...Bring It On!

Another Weekend in July!!!

On Wednesday night, we went out to my cousin Wendy's place for dinner. When we got home there was a message from my friend Grigg saying he had just returned from London England. This was a bit surprising as I knew he had gone to see the Live8 concert, but he wasn't to return till Thursday night. When I got up at 5:30 the next day the news of the day was a terrorist attack on London!!!! All I could do was thank God that Grigg got out before the ruckus started. That night, we decided to pack the cooler and take off to the back beach. There was absolutely no wind, which pumped the temperature up considerably. When we got around to the other side of the island, we jumped in for a swim. How refreshing and relaxing it was. You have to admit, it is one beautiful slice of scenery:

As we turned the boat around to leave, the clouds were starting to come in from the west. I really like the way that this picture looks like it was taken with a filter and retouched with photoshop, but it was not.

Friday night was spent at the restaurant with our friends then out to possum lodge for the unveiling of a newold tractor. Isn't it pretty? A 1948 Case:

I found this sign in Harly's garage, thought it might give someone a giggle:

On Saturday, we went over to the cottage in the rain. It was not a pleasure cruise! This past week, Jim and Brenda were busy putting up the 100 yr old tin ceiling tiles that they acquired. What a beautiful touch to the cottage it makes:

Since last week, the new hutch has acquired a new plant and an old clock:

After dinner, we slipped out to the back porch and I noticed a big black cloud creeping up from the East. Billy decided it was time to leave so we traveled back across the lake in gale force winds. Suffice to say, I was soaked!
Today will definitely be a better day. There is a bit of wind, but no sign of clouds! Sunblock, here I come!

Happy Canada Day Weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so nice to have a long weekend to kick back and relax. The rain happened on Thursday night so it didn't ruin the weekend at all. It rained so hard & then disappeared as fast as it came. I buzzed outside top take a few pictures. You can almost smell the raindrops on the daises:

We wanted to take the boat out on Friday but it was so windy, we decided to travel to the island via ferry. It was a beautiful windy day and we all soaked up the sun-block, shade & friendship.
We had made plans for a night out on the town for Canada day but Bill decided to stay at home and I went out for a night on the town. My favourite local band Batablokka were scheduled to play at the Merchant Tap House & I wasn't about to miss the show. Little did I know that the fireworks were scheduled to be lit off of Crawford Wharf, right behind The Merchant and right beside the Holiday inns patio bar The Slip. Suffice to say, there were NO parking spots left around The Merchant. Regardless, I found a spot on King Street and made the trek down Princess Street. I remembered that my cousin Wendy mentioned that Steve Cheeseman & the Heaters were playing at the Slip, starting at 7, so I ventured over there. It was so packed that I took off after a few minutes. Here is a pic I snapped as I was running away from the crowd:

Once I got to the merchant, I felt much better as there were a few people I knew as well as some of the band members I hadn't seen in quite a few months. It had been 6 months since I had seen Betablokka play together. My friend Shayne used to be their drummer and after he left the band in December 2004, it made me think that I didn't want to see them perform again. Boy, was I wrong! A little bird reminded me that it was the music that I loved so much, not just the musicians who created it. What a fantastic night it was. I was stuck to the front of the stage for the entire time. For once I decided to take a souvenir and asked Matt (the lead singer) if I could keep the setlist.
Here is a silhouette of Matt, taken from the side stage, right beside the speakers:

And here is one of Jon (Bass Player), Zane (Guitar) & Matt.
I have so many more pictures of the band that night, but I uploaded the better ones onto my photobucket site.
On Saturday and Sunday, we managed to burn about $60 worth of gas in the boat in two days. On our travels, we happened upon the tallship Playfair. She looked pretty regal in Stella Bay.

While we were boating, we both noticed this cloud that had a rainbow-hue to it:

We ate well and spent time with our good friends for three days straight and it really put things in perspective. When we took off from the dock on Sunday evening, I took a few pictures of the beauty we take for granted everytime we go boating. Here is Jim and Brenda cleaning up after the crew has left for the weekend.

And one last shot of the sun reflecting off the water as we slid across a beautiful lake on the way back to the marina.