Sometimes I wonder ...

Friday was spent updating my blog, clearing out a bunch of useless files and programs on my computer. The few times the sun came out, I did slip outside to do some reading and take some pictures of the few flowers that managed to live through the summer with a water ban on. Sometimes plants need to be watered more than once every second day! So here are a few boring pictures of my surviving plants:




Why I did not move to a warmer climate when I was younger! Why do I subject myself to the ever changing seasons in our area? Being such an avid lover of the sun and warm weather, it kills me to see the summer turn to fall. Yesterday we decided to go to the cottage for the day, and seeing as we had been warned that there were 6 foot swells on the other side, we decided to take the ferry. Here is a picture I took on the way over:

Suffice to say, by the time we got there, the wind had dropped to nothing and the sun disappeared. It was damp and cloudy and dreary...and some people present were kind of in a bad way because their long summer holiday was coming to close.
Seeing as I didn't really get time to rename and reorganize some of the 1500+ music files that I have saved at the station, I decided to take a drive down to the station and spend a few hours getting stuff sorted. Here is the picture of the 'new' sign at the station:

someone took the time to plant a lovely bunch of flowers right next to the barn as well:

After I was done there, I traveled back to the cottage but stopped to take a picture of one of my favourite barns, before the wind takes it down:

After dinner, we sat around and yakked then took off a bit early to take a look at a house that is for sale in the village of Stella. Damn, if we bought that, I could walk over to the station on Fridays:)
When we got on the boat, I discovered our friend Brent Wolfrey's was the Captain, so I asked if I could come up to the wheelhouse for the ride over. I had never been up there in the dark...man was it spooky!! None of my pictures turned out well so I wont bore you with them:)
So I guess today will be a day to do housework! The forecast for Monday Tuesday and Wednesday is sun sun sun...Figures!
Next weekend will be hot and sunny for the four days I am off...I can just feel it!

Might as well keep this update thing going...

**edit** This was from yesterday but the blogger site was down when I tried to post it.

And I am trying my BEST not to do stupid housework today! So I am spending my day reading and gathering music for my show tonight.

Still bummed by the news of Kim Taylor's passing yesterday. Then when I read it in the paper today, I noticed that the announcement of another person I knew of was placed right below it. You know your getting old when.... {yes I check the deaths before the employment section...how pathetic}

But getting back to Kim. I had mentioned in my post about the benefit concert held for her last Thursday, I never knew this woman. She was 10 years younger than I and our paths never crossed, until I heard of the stories of her life from her friends and relatives. {how odd, one of the supervisors in my department was her cousin by marriage as was one of my favourite 'lunch-ladies' in our cafeteria at work}

I knew of her, she had never heard of me. But I knew a bit of what she was going through as I used to ask my Mom what the chemo felt like and how if effected your body physically and mentally. She told me it felt like being hit by a car, {I can remember that feeling somewhat} to the power of a thousand and then add in extreme fatigue...Similar to the feeling of when you go many nights without sleep. I am not a fan of pain, nor have I ever been that sick in my life before, so I didn't really understand, but I tried.

So today I had time to view a video a friend made last week at the concert of Chris Koster's set. He mentioned Kim quite a few times. Which made by bottom lip rumble..Then the gentle tones of the piano solo to commence the song 'Secrets of the Lonely' ... Then hearing Chris say simply "To Kim" .... and I started bawling.

The sun is trying to come out now and that tells me I better get out and enjoy some of it as it doesn't sound like a great weekend, weatherwise.

I have to record a Public Service Announcement tonight to run at CJAI. It is for a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk that takes place in my little village on October 1st. Hopefully I will do it on the first take and not get all choked up. Keep your fingers crossed.

P.S. I haven't taken many pictures this week, as my camera sucks...but I did take this one on the 401 yesterday morning at 630am...thought it was kind of neat:

Day 5 of Blogger Updates !!!

Yes, I think Im almost caught up on blogger updates. And Now, I am officially done training so I can start work on Monday morning at 8am and not 7am!!

Last Friday evening, I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Shayne (Snoshi) jump in my car as I waited to drive on the Amherst Island Ferry. He had told me he would be there but I kind of thought he may get called away at the last minute. In fact, our friend Ted (Rico) was suppose to do my radio show with the two of us but he apparently forgot. (He had to move...I forgave him even before I was mad at him) So away we go to the little building known as CJAI! As soon as we got Shayne's music uploaded and moved over to the On Air studio, Shayne started trying to get my laptop connected to the internet. To no avail, our signal was not strong so I just packed it up and enjoyed the company of a friend who I hadn't really SEEN or TALKED to (face to face) in almost a year!
Here is a picture of Sir Snoshi as he played with my system:

The next three hours went by in a blur and all our on air time was spent reminiscing and discussing our favourite indie bands and some of the concerts and shows we have enjoyed together. I was very sad to see the night end and I only hope I can convince him to join me on the air again real soon!
The next day we got up early to go to the market. We went to Morrisons for breakfast (which is always great for an entertaining time) then crossed the road to find the organic farmer from Picton who told us a month ago to come back around the third week of August for some HOT peppers! Well, he had lots and we stocked up on them some nice red field tomatoes and these very tasty items called ground cherries. By the time we got home it had started raining, so we packed up the car and took the ferry over to the cottage. Our friends Ken and Cheryl were already there with their daughter, her husband and their two children. It was pouring rain for the majority of the day so we were all kind of bored. Then Jimmy went down to the basement and dug out the minibike. This was done for the kids but they had to get the adults off of it before they could test it out. Here is Jimmy popping a wheelie for all to see:

Then Judy decided to take the green beastie for a spin:

I know Brenda must have been impressed that night as we had too many people to fit around the over-sized harvest table. We even had to seat a few on and around the staircase:

The next morning, we checked the LIARS Network and low and behold it said 40% chance of rain and winds at 5 kph. After buying stuff to make lunch with, we launched from the marina, after telling our friend Roger that we were taking off for Black River. We slipped across the gap and I remember commenting how calm the water was and how that had to be the quickest trip across to the county EVER!! This is one of the sheltered harbours just before we got to The Rock:

Remember this place, it comes into play again later in the story. So we traveled west around The Rock. We noticed a few places where the rocks had fallen since last year:

When we got to Wapoose Island, we threw the anchor and we had a bite to eat. Just as he grabbed the anchor, it started to rain. The water was very still at this moment and after we ate we put the bimini cover up ... well part of it...the sides and back of it were still at home. Great place to leave it eh? Billy turned the boat around(when we heard the thunder) and started to head East. As we started to get soaked from the sides, I suggested that attach the mooring cover at the stern for added protection. As the wind picked up, the rain/hail got harder and then the lightening started hitting the lake. The effect looked like boiling water in a pot. I started crying and hyperventalating and praying to God, under my breath. (Normally I would not be frightened as Billy and I are both very strong swimmers but the lightening made that whole thought obsolete. I knew was having an extremely hard time seeing where we were going as my hot air was steaming the windows. I was trying to 'REMAIN CALM' (my favourite saying) but it wasn't working. Nor was the depth finder and we knew there was a shoal somewhere close by. We managed to get around to the other side of The Rock and bounced over to the 'sheltered cove' we spied an hour earlier. This is what the same spot looked like in the storm:


Somehow Bill managed to slide under the bow cover and dig the anchor out. This helped as we just sat in the same place and bounced...But we knew we were safe as we had passed the shoal we were so concerned about. We sat for almost an hour (it seemed longer) and I tried not to act as hysterical as I felt. Then I got thinking about Bryce and how things would be explained to him if anything happened. This made me cry even harder and I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. Somehow those shots would tell the story, if we did not survive. This is Bill saying how sorry he was this was actually happening to us:

You can see how we had to rig up the two covers behind Bill's head to try and keep dry.
Once the storm subsided, we traveled back across the gap and it was one bumpy ride. I took my book out and started reading at an alarming pace. It took my mind off how scared I was.
Long story short, by the time we got back to the marina, the sun was coming back out.
Note to self...Check the MARINE Weather forecast, Online, before venturing out to the lake!!!

Concert for Kim Taylor @ The Elixir Aug 17th 2006

**Edit** As I was scripting this post, Kim Taylor left us for a far better place. RIP Kim.

Last Thursday night I was fortunate enough to score a ticket to a sold out event at the Elixir nightclub on Garrett Street. My friend Tina (GodBlessHer) was kind enough to hold a ticket for me at the door and when I got there (early as usual) I was shocked to find there were no available parking spots. Then I saw the lineup at the door and realized I wasn't the only one who was trying to get a good seat. When I got in the door, I grabbed the only available stool and dragged it to my usual spot at the front table. Due to the fact that I was alone for the first hour, I had to leave my purse on that chair and slid over to the bar to buy a beer and a bottle of water.
The first artist up on stage was one of my favourite Kingston artist, playing without his band. When Chris Koster took the stage, I squealed with delight as he never fails to capture my heart with his melodic beautiful music. His brother 'Billy Ray' was the one who organized the whole show in order to raise funds to assist a young woman with cancer who needs to travel a great distance for treatments to help ease her pain. Even thought it was only 4 short years ago that I was trying to comfort my own mother while she underwent chemotherapy. I know how important it is to try and help out others, even if they are complete strangers.
Here is a picture of Chris with his broken heart background:

I have never seen that place as packed as it was that night and even before the first act came on, it was full to capacity. My friend Tina and her two friends arrived just before Koster so we took turns keeping out spots free while we rotated our bathroom shifts:) And even though we were right next to the washrooms, we couldn't get through the crowd ... i think it was almost unsafe. Regardless, I made it through the crowd and 'held it' for the rest of the night.
Next up was James McKenty and the Spades. This band from Peterborough never fails to please and I swear my friend Tina Burke is their number one fan. She even had them play a gig in her back yard a few years ago. Now this band (who is under the careful eye of Gord Sinclair from the Tragically Hip) is making big waves locally and nationally. So what a treat it was to see the guys play for a few songs before they invited Gord Sinclair AND Paul Langois up on stage for the duration of their stage time. Then after a few songs, Dan Ackroyd got up and sang a few songs with a local artist named the Fridge Doctor. It was kind of amusing to see the two of them dancing together:

After that large group of entertainers left the stage, a surprise guest was brought on, with his band. It was none other than Matt Mays and El Torpedo. They happened to be touring with Sam Roberts and wanted to be added to the venue at the last minute. WOW...they were awesome and they didn't even play their big hit 'Cocaine Cowgirl"! After they packed up, Sam Roberts rocked the house for the next hour. man, for a little guy, he sure has a massive stage presence! Here is a picture of him hanging right into the audience:

Sam just loves his fans and it shows. For an encore, he dragged all the other artists of the night up on stage. It was a touching yet fitting end to a night that many will not forget!

Now you may be wondering why the pictures I took have so many white spots on them. The fact that I am using a crappy little Nikon 3200 camera that had been dropped a few times and has the batteries held in with an elastic. I am hoping to get a new camera soon but unfortunately the funds just aren't available right now.
So the night was a major success, I had heard the next day that they were over capacity by 10 or 20 people which means there was at least 360 people there. At $25 a ticket, I certainly hope this assist's Kim in her treatments!

Third night of updates...

Can you believe it? I have absolutely no time this week yet am getting my blog caught up !!

Ok so where did I end yesterday....Oh yea, the long weekend in August. Ok so I had to return back to work on the Monday (Civic Holiday)and found out that I would only be doing *my* job for one more day and then I would be in training for three weeks. Classes start at 7am. Crap, that means I have to get up at 5am!! *GaSp* Regardless, I have been able to arise on time and have not been late at all.

So the second weekend of August is Poker Run Weekend and we had made plans to slip on down to Ktown just to see the big, loud, gas-guzzling boats. That morning I had promised to help out at a book sale for the radio station I work at. The night before I did my radio show after a one week holiday and man was I tripping over my tongue! Oh well, its not like I'm getting paid for this...And its suppose to be a NO PRESSURE NO STRESS activity. We had a HUGE pile of books and the majority of them were grabbed up by the many customers that stopped by that morning. I didn't do a lot but I tried to help. The woman who was running cash said I was helpful so I am satisfied with that.

Even though I had to hand back my favourite camera at work, I have still been using my poor little damaged Nikon 3200. The battery hatch is broken and I am currently holding them in with a red elastic. It looks tacky but it works. Peter Trueman was doing his Saturday morning show so I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of him and Terry Culbert (Program Director at CJAI) and Peter as they kept us informed.

And here is Terry with the 'outdoor' microphone and Tom the station manager.


After I caught the 11 back home, we got packed up and hit the waterways over to the backbeach of Amherst Island. Billy jumped out and wiped down the boat while I sat in the sun and read. Then we decided to drive slowly around the back side of the island as it was calm and we had yet to travel all the way around yet this season. When we got down to the foot, we found it was still calm so we carried on to Kingston. It was KAZOO as there were boats of all sizes and types EVERYWHERE. I couldn't believe that there was a sailboat regatta happening at the same time as the poker run and they were very close together. There were many other boats just observing, so it made for a very cluttered waterway. We went around the backside of Cedar Island and threw the anchor for the last 30 minutes of the poker run. The finish line was right in front of us so we did managed to see the last 25 or so boats cross it. As we went to leave, it was another traffic jam as we heard the Wolfe Islander honk its horn as it tried to leave the dock. At the same time a dozen poker run boats were traveling right into the path of not only the ferry, but the island star cruise boat. (My brother just happened to be cooking on this particular trip so he can confirm the traffic jam) There were a group of blowboaters (sailboats) trying to come into Confederation Basin at the same time as the very LOUD poker run boats. We just floated for awhile till it was safe to cross. I couldn't believe even the ferry was packed with people that day:

We went over to the cottage afterwards for dinner and then came home to pack up for a long trip to Main Ducks Island the next day. If you know where the Lennox Generating Station is just West of Bath, you just travel 32 miles due South (by water) and you will find these islands that are uninhabited and have been the wreck of many a ship over the last few hundred years. The rum runners used to stay there till 'the coast was clear' when they were transporting their wares from point A to point B. Believe it or not, I have read quite a few books about this place over the years. The lake has always been a main source of interest to me. We followed Roger, Roberta & Jim and tried to get behind them as the waves were beating our little boat quite badly once we were way out in the big lake. That didn't work so well as I was beginning to feel kind of woozy when we got there almost an hour later. But what a treat that place is. Here is a shot as we entered the small bay where the only dock is.

The guys got out for a walk to take some pictures of the ruins of a small shack that a friend of theirs burned down last year in an attempt to send up an SOS as his two other friends were drowning in the high waves in their kayaks. Roberta wanted to go for a swim in that little bay till I spotted a baby water snake. So once the guys got back from their stroll, we traveled over to another small cove for a swim and a bite to eat. As usual, Billy made us all some Cajun chicken wraps which were very much appreciated.
Here is a picture I took there that I call Natures Steps:

The ride back took longer as the wind had picked up quite a bit. So our three hour tour was more like a 4.5 hour cruise:) I was very happy to be back around the gap and convinced Billy to make a side trip over to Stella Bay just for the hell of it. We traveled a bit further to snoop around Popular Dell. This place is always good for a lovely summer picture:

We went to the cottage for dinner and then back home to get ready for an early workday on Monday.

Long Weekend on the water

Yes, it was a beautiful civic holiday weekend...The sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. Of course we celebrated that by spending the entire day on the dock and in the water. Bert was kind enough to entertain us with her tubing skills. I was the spotter so of course I had to have my camera in my hand. Our friend Kenny brought his video camera so he got some awesome footage of Roberta bouncing across the lake.

Our friends Richard and Herbie showed up in Ricks boat and we had a small art viewing on the dock to try and keep up to their fine Odessa standards. Can you guess what the subject matter is displayed in this canvas?

Its funny the lengths we go to to protect our men. Here is a picture of my friend Judy protecting Pa's family jewels:

And at the end of a very exhausting weekend, poor Pa passed out on the couch. I thought it so kind of his friend Billy to assist in painting his fingernails black. Can you not tell how deep this friendship is?

I had to work on the 'holiday' Monday, so I had no way of extending my holidays by one more day. Having a bunch of our friends around us for the weekend was definitely cause for celebration!

'Our Holidays! (Part Two)

Yes, once a year, Billy and I take a 10 day holiday together. This year we/HE decided we would go visit my Aunt and Uncle who live in Gore Bay, which is on Manitoulin Island. We decided to go in the middle of the week as the long weekend would prove to be a traffic nightmare. Suffice to say, it was one of the hottest weeks of the summer and on Monday we packed up the lawn chairs and a few cans of beer and headed out to the park across from the invests plant for the afternoon. We managed to find a spot under the trees where it was shady and windy. The dip in the lake didn't really cool us off but the wind certainly did! We didn't want to leave.

The next day (Tuesday) was even hotter so we headed over to the cottage just in time to see LB and Jimmie doing some insulation work upstairs. It was stifling hot so we convinced them that the dock was the place to be! Jim was kind enough to show us his latest Stupid Pet Trick that he had taught the ducks. Its called 'EatTheSandwich' :

And to end the day, we witnessed a lovely sunset!

That night I spent 3 hours, in the sweltering heat, ironing our clothes for our trip. The next morning we got up at 6am and left the house by 8 for a long 12+ hours on the road. Billy decided to NOT take any major highways, so we took backroads all the way to the trans Canada highway. He was very good in the fact that we needed to stop at least once every 2 hours for a break and here is a picture of a lovely place called French river.

When we finally got to Uncle Bobby's house at 9 at night, we spent the next few hours looking at some of my Mom's old pictures that I had remembered to bring to see if they recognized any of the people in the black and white shots. We had a few glasses of wine then I went to bed. It was a very long day and I was beat. How kind of my relatives to give us a place to crash for the next two nights! We were just going to go to a bed and breakfast but they insisted. So the next day we got up early and Aunt Joan and I swapped some computer programs and I managed to get my blog working on her laptop. How convienent it was that she had a highspeed connection that I could use! Here is a picture that Billy took of us 'geeking'.

Once we were pried from our laptops, we took a 5 hour trip around the island to see all the sights. There is a look out spot high on a hill and I took this shot that actually looks like a post card:

Seeing as we were on holidays, we had to play the tourists! We visited this beautiful spot called Bridal Veil Falls. What a gorgeous spot:

Then we hit the beach but it was closed:( It was a beautiful spot though:

We stopped at a quaint dinner and had a delicious white fish lunch/dinner. We headed back to the house and had a late dinner of salads and cold meat and buns. None of us were very hungry but we managed to eat some. We sat out in the dining tent and had a few more glasses of wine before I had to go to bed. The next day we had to get up at 6 to leave by 7am to be at the ferry for 8am. Oh, before I get to that, here is a picture Billy took of my Uncle Bobby with an old license plate he found:

It was like being at home, we raced to catch the ferry! But this ferry was very different to the Amherst Island Ferry. This ferry was 4 levels and once you parked your vehicle below, you had to go upstairs to one of the many beautiful lounges. Here is a picture I took from the top of the ferry as we left the dock from the island:

The 2 hour trip through Lake Huron was very relaxing and entertaining. In many spots there was nothing but water as a view....no land in site. Where we sat, we could see on the big screen GPS where we were in relation to where we were going. Although I never got any pictures of the entire ferry from the outside, Billy took a few shots from one of the outer decks:

And seeing as we were acting like tourists, here (in Tobermory) is a typical lighthouse picture for ya:

Now we had planned on going on a few sightseeing tours when we got to Tobermory, but it was the Friday of the long weekend and when we got back to the mainland, it was packed with tourists and bikers. We decided to travel south to Owen Sound, where we stopped for lunch at Timmies. It was at that time we started to head east, and took backroads back home. According to our map, if we took the long way around, we would travel the 'scenic route'. Well, even though the map was a 2007 version, this scenic road was packed with trees therefore we could not see the water at all. We did find one little spot where there was a lookout called Skinner Bluff. This is the beginning of the Niagara Escarpment. Naturally I had to take a pic:

Somewhere along the way we passed a 'crop' of wind generators. They looked very odd and creepy, in a way. I really hope these things done pop up over on Amherst Island as they really are UGLY:

We made it home just after 8 pm which meant we had spent over 13 hours on the road. So to sum it all up, we were gone from our house for 60 hours and spent 32 hours traveling in the car. Yes it was fun and I am happy to say that after all that map reading I am still married to mister C:)
Next time we plan a road trip, I will insist it will be less miles and more time involved.

One month later....

Yes, I have been negligent...I have not updated my blog as I have been toooooo busy living life to the fullest! July and august are the two months of the year where I take all my holidays, therefore I am not at home a lot nor do I have the time to scribe my exploits. (damn...That almost made me sound important!)

So lets see...on Friday July 28th, I had arranged with Kyle Murray to do part of my radio show with him. He has the 10pm-12 midnight slot at CJAI on Friday and Saturday nights...We had talked about getting together sometime as we have similar tastes in music. It was a hoot...We did 2 hrs together and even had some people show up and take pictures of us on the air. Kyle showed me how to use the CD players on the air and I instructed him in the ways of HAL...The computer that runs the station. The thing with playing CD's is that you have to scribe exactly what songs and the artists that you have played. I prefer to allow the computer to log it for me. So we had an eventful 2 hours and instead of taking the 10 boat home, I took the 11. Here is a picture that Terry Culbert (CJAI Program Director) took of us with my camera:

The next day we had a family reunion for Bill's family at our local legion. It was very educational and a lot of fun. The local news paper was there to take a picture of all 109 of us. Once I scan it I will put it here:

Here is a picture of our nephew Brent Bell and his fiancee Jenna. After discussing all the concerts I had been to since I saw him last, Jenna ended up calling me the 'cool aunt!'

The next day (Sunday) was sunny and calm so we spent the day on the boat and at the cottage. Its funny how the duck family we fed for the 2 months feel comfortable enough now to just come up on the dock with us:

In fact, they eat right out of our hands in the water too:

So that is the end of July...a great month for boating, tanning and swimming! I believe this picture sums it all up: