A day to relax

I'm exhausted! When I left work at 12 on Friday, I went over to the Gleneagles to visit my brother whom I hadn't seen in over a month. Then I stopped at Foodie B's to grab some shrimp for Betti's party that night. As soon as I got home I threw my lunch in the microwave and warfed it down in record time while checking my email. Then off to the bank to sign up for RRSP's. Yes, I am officially old. However I plan on being young enough to do some traveling when I retire, so I better start putting money away NOW for that:) When I got home at 2ish, I ran in the door, did 45 mins of ironing, showered & raced into Amherstview to get my hair cut. When I got back home, I changed again, and off to town we went. I'm glad Bill was driving; I actually had time to catch my breath!
We drove around in circles trying to find a parking spot close to the Toucan. It was pouring rain and we were suppose to meet some friends out on the patio for a bite to eat. When we finally got there, I saw my friend Clarke sitting at a table by himself with his laptop blinking. Apparently there were a few open wireless connections in the area so he was just surfin away as he awaited our arrival. It was so weird seeing little birds flying around our heads when we were in an enclosed patio! Here is a picture of Clarke feeding the little critters:

After we ate, we gathered up Clarke's guitar and yaptop & off to the Stiff's house we went. When we got there, Mitchell, Ken & his wife Beth were already having a visit with Betti. Ken (Globey) brought along his stand-up bass. Isn't it a cool instrument?

The party was suppose to be outside, but it was cold and damp and kind of raining. We did spend a significant amount of time out on the patio as that was where the jagermeister was:) Here is a picture of Betti after trying out the big green bottle of headaches!

I love this action shot of Shayne as he raced down the back stairs:

When Betti's hubby Rob arrived home from work, he was immediately drawn to Ken's big bass:

And then the music started:
Nothing calms my nerves like listening to the soothing voice of my friend Clarke. What a great way to shift the party inside...bring out the instruments and start the show:

Then it was Mitchell's turn to play:

After a very late night, we got up at 6:30am on Saturday to go get groceries, came home, unpacked the food, packed a bag and a few coolers and then off to have breakfast and catch the 10:30 boat to the island. The day had finally arrived when the dock was being relocated from the land to the water. Here is a picture of the new cottage-hutch that Jim's dad made for Brenda. Naturally she had found plates to match the decor:

Another new addition to the cottage is the chalk board that will be used to keep track of the points that the men gain and loose:

After a few hours of waiting for the traffic to subside, the guys waited till the top of the hour to start moving the dock across the road and slowly sliding it down the bank to the water. As you can see, the dock is kind of long and blocks the road off entirely:

And this is from the inside of the cottage:

This is what the dock looks like before the wings are dropped:

This is Rob and Lawerence (island boys) and my hubby Bill trying to position the dock before the legs were set in place.

I'm guessing Lawerence drew the short straw as he was lucky enough to be the guy who got to climb the rigging to furl out the dock wings:

We did make Lawerence feel better tho...We let him take a shot with the potato cannon:)

Unfortunately Lawerence was attacked my a killer rock, so nurse Judy had to fix him up after dinner:

All in all, it was a great day, with great friends. I cant wait for the warm weather to return so we can actually use the dock for tanning and swimming purposes.
While waiting for the ferry, I took this picture of my favourite island barn.

Man I hope this week goes fast.

Imagine that...An update in the middle of the week:)

Seeing as I updated on a Saturday last week, I thought I better get my pics posted from Sunday, Wednesday & Thursday, or else I would get Waaaay behind.
Sunday was another hot, steamy day yet we had to get the housework done. While Billy cut the grass and did the weedeating, I tackled the laundry and the vacuuming. Have you ever tried to vacuum carpets when its 30 degrees out? It isn't an easy task, believe me. We grabbed some drinks and hit the water around 1:30 with no definite destination in mind.
My cousin Wendy and her boyfriend Sean had gone to the 1000 islands for the weekend on their boat so we figured that they were probably at the public dock on Amherst Island as the sky was cloudy & it looked like it would open up and pour any minute. It was a good guess as they were indeed there, as were carol and Mike, on their boat. We were fortunate enuff to get there just in time for lunch. Here is a picture of Mike pretending to be the dock chef.

Sean and Wendy's boat is only half a foot longer than ours but its so much bigger as it has a practical cuddy cabin. We are planning to buy a bigger boat for next season.

Naturally, when there is food cooking, a dog appears. This one just showed up, begged for a few scraps, slurped up some water out of a frisbee & then split.

After I snarfed down a sparky-burger, we took off for a clean spot to swim. There seems to be a lot of pollen and moss floating on the surface of the lake. We managed to find a spot right in front of the cottage. I felt safe swimming there as I knew the area very well. It looks so strange to see the cottage with no dock. Oh well, this Saturday we are putting the party dock in so we can come over on our boat and spend the day!

After we had a swim, we went back over to the mainland and took a side trip up the Millhaven creek. Here is a picture of a rock face that holds up the trailer park that Bill grew up in. YES, its true...I married a real-life trailer-park-boy.

When we headed back to the marina, I spotted our friend 'Mork' hanging out on a neighbour's dock. Man, he looks like he has a double-chin. He must be eating well this summer:)

Here is another critter who docks for free at the marina. His name is Thunder, and everytime we see him, he is just standing in the water; staying cool. Smart guy.

Fast forward to yesterday (Wednesday June 15th) ... when I pulled up in the driveway after work, I noticed that my tiger lily's have finally bloomed. What a beautiful shade of orange they are!

And my flowerpot on the stairs is coming along well, considering we haven't had a lot of rain this month.

Oh yes, and how could I forget my talented co-worker Dave & the new trick he learned yesterday. He managed to balance an ice-cold Pepsi on his head AND stick his tongue out at the same time. Imagine that, a man who multi-tasks:)

On my way home from work tonight, I got caught in a traffic jam on Bath Road, just east of Portsmouth Ave. Good thing I always carry my camera, as I managed to get three good pics, just after this accident happened.



I'm sure the guy behind me was wondering why I was hanging my camera out the window:)

Tomorrow I work half a day, then I have an appointment at the bank to buy some RRSP's, then get my hair did, then we are going to the Toucan for dinner on the patio. Afterwards, we will be meeting up with some friends at the Stiff's house. I am so excited as I have not seen any of these people in many months. It should be a blast!
I am sure I will be taking a few pictures at this event!

The 'Liars' Network was wrong again!

Yep, the weather network said that we were to have rain and thunderstorm's ALL weekend. Considering the fact that we spent over 6 hrs on the water yesterday and have the crisp skin to prove it....The liars network lived up to their nickname again:)
Before I start babbling about our wonderful day on the water, I have to tell you about these cute little pets we have at work. In front of the building there is a fountain thingy that I call the cement pond. For the last month this pond has become the home of 2 rather friendly ducks. Here they are taking a nap! Aren't they cute?

Friday night we raced from the marina (as we just got the boat back from having a new electronic ignition installed and had to get the poor thing back in the water)to the restaurant to meet our friends for dinner. Then we went out to the lodge for a few hours. Our friend Albert showed up on his bike. Isn't it a wild looking thing?

Saturday morning we raced into town to grab some supplies from Wally World & then packed a cooler for a day on the water. It was stinkin' hot and we were not sticking around this kid-laden subdivision to hear screaming little brats all day! When we took off from our slip I managed to capture this shot of someone at the top of a blowboat mast. Man you wouldn't catch me up there...NO WAY!!!

My friend Shayne asked me to take a few pictures of the Rockwood Asylum from the water for him. This was one of the better ones as this jogger was just going by at the time that I snapped the picture. It shows just how huge this old abandoned building is!

We decided to slide into the basin in front of city hall so I could attempt a Jack Chaing shot of the fountain and the dome. Unfortunately I didn't get it quite perfect but who wants perfection, right?

We decided to go up the Cataraqui to Kingston Mills Lock for our picnic lunch. As we were pulling into navy bay I took this shot looking up Queen Street.

At the same spot we noticed some wild ducks hanging out with some tame ones :)

We had lunch at the dock by Kingston Mills and hear some noises above us as we were tying up. Check out the nuts who were scaling the rock face:

Of course, Billy had to snap a pic of me waiting in the boat:

And one of the train going over the locks:

I like this picture taken as we were going under the 401 heading back to the city:

It was almost scary traveling through the Cataraqui Bay...All I could think of was dead bodies (as I saw soooo many dead carp floating by) and the pollution that was seeping out of the old dump at Belle Island. As well, the fire that took place in the swamp by the 401 a few weeks ago, was on my mind as well. The water smelled awful & the whole scene gave me the willies. Then I spotted a few boats from the rowing club and realized that the waterway couldn't be that bad if they were utilizing it.

While traveling back home, we took a side trip into the Olympic harbour site. There was a group of people about to board the St Lawrence II for a day trip.

It seemed like everywhere we went, there were ducks swimming by. I like this shot as we were telling the ducks to 'move it' so we didn't hit them and then i caught the 'idle speed' sign above.

After we left the 'big city', we headed to the back beach and spent the majority of the sunny afternoon relaxing in the quiet environment we cherish. Thank God there are not a lot of other people who actually visit our 'secret location'.
So today is Sunday, a day of rest. I have already vacuumed and Billy is sweating over the lawn mower. We should run outside in our PJ's and do a rain dance as our grass is almost totally burned and my gardens would certainly welcome an additional sprinkle of H20.
Next Friday night we have a get-together at a friends house on Montreal Street. I just hope its not too hot that evening or I will have to take a jump in her pool:)
My fingers are crossed that this week will slide by quickly.

I haven't updated since last month!

Let's see...There were a bunch of swamp fires right across the highway from Startek a week and a half ago. I have made friends with the facilities guys at work and now I don't even have to crawl up on the roof to get pictures. They do it for me:) This picture was taken from the roof by my favourite facilities guy: Jimmy C.

He also took this picture from the 401:

Last Thursday (ironically the day of the third swamp fire over by the ambassador) I stopped at KFC & grabbed a box of chicken to take out in the boat for a floating dinner:)How's this for a backdrop for a romantic dinner?

I love this pic...Bill was just throwing the anchor as I was taking the picture:

When we got back to the marina, they were just putting our friend Mike & Carole's boat in the water.

The sun went down in a pink blur so I made Billy drive me to take some pics. What do you think?

Friday at work just dragged and dragged. It couldn't finish quick enough! We went out for dinner with our regular group of Friday-night-dinners & then went down to the marina 'just for a second' to check on the boat. We ended up going out for a short run & I couldn't resist snapping a few landscape shots.
This one was taken down by the boat ramp that we once spent a lot of time at:

This is Heritage Point, just west of the marina:

And this is a shot of the marina in the clouds:

On Saturday we went out on the water again, this time I wanted to go check out what was left of the Brothers Islands. This will be the third year that I have taken pictures of the devastation that the commerants have created. The biggest island was about half green and half white last year. This year, I would say that 10% of that green is left. In a month, the entire island should be totally dead.

This is the smallest (of the three) islands that has been dead for a year now. The rock is breaking up and falling into the water. This island once hosted a multitude of shore dinners and many a beach party. Now you can see thru the rubble to the foot of Amherst Island.

This one was taken from the stern of our boat at our slip. I was trying to get a shot of the exposed 200+ yr old timbers from an old sunken ship. You cant see the timbers but the reflection turned out nicely.

On Sunday, I found out that I have some competition at the marina this summer. My friend Mike has a new camera:

Ok, enough of the marina and the water and boats...I do have a life away from the aquatics:) My garden is coming along nicely. Here is a macro shot of one of my chives. I didn't realize till after I downloaded the picture, that a little honey bee was doing his duty while I was doing mine:)

So this week has been weird. My friend Grigg flew out to Africa on Sunday. He is off to help build a school in the middle of nowhere. I just pray he makes it back safe and sound. Work has been insane. I am now a weeks worth of work in one day. When I get home it takes a full hour to relax and be able to talk to Bill. I am in desperate need of a holiday & can hardly wait till the third week of July. I may have to call in sick one of these Fridays:)