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:)

Finally, the boat is in the water!!!!!

We took the boat down to the marina on Thursday night and finally made our maiden voyage out on the big lake on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny and calm day...The total opposite of the forecast the liars network (weather network) had predicted all week. After an early morning trip to Foodie B's, we came home, unpacked groceries, packed a cooler & a bag of necessities & ventured to the marina.
Here is a picture of our boat in its temporary slip. It's the red and white one.

This shot was taken just as we were leaving the marina. No wind = beautiful pictures!

One of our first stops was at the cottage. Jim and Brenda came down to greet us, yet there seemed to be one missing element...THE DOCK! Oh, there it is, up on the front lawn.

This was taken just west of the Amherst island ferry dock. I don't know how long this boat has been resting on the shore, but it looks like it is older than me:)

We pulled into a little bay to have lunch. I love the way the reflection from the trees made the water look green.

Black clouds were approaching, so he headed back to the marina. It was kind of amusing when we got back there, the clouds disappeared & the sun came back out. I grabbed a book & Bill started cleaning the boat. Before I knew it my cousin Wendy showed up for a visit. Here is a picture of her and Bill in our boat.

Then the dogs came to welcome us home. The brown lab is Charlie & the black lab is Poupay.

This is Chris. His boat will be moored on the same dock as ours.

Poor Dickson. He works and lives at the marina, therefore it is hard for him to sneak in a nap:)

This is Greg. He works at the marina too. I think its time he gave up his little red wagon though.

This is Sean (in blue) who is my cousin Wendy's boyfriend, hanging out with Mike, who happens to have one of the biggest boats at the marina. We happen to have the smallest one.

An impromptu dinner came together in the club house. Everyone brought something and it turned out to be a surf and turf fest. This table was acquired by a lodge on hay bay that closed last year. I am sure it would seat a dozen adults easily. The attached lazy Susan has a chart of the lake from main ducks to gananoque lacquered onto it.

Here is Sean with his dates:)

Jokes around the BBQ

The girls were telling tales, I am sure.

The man in the middle is Dave, who happens to be the owner of the marina.

Sunset on the blowboats:

Sunset facing North

It was a great day & I was exhausted when we finally made it home around midnight. The next morning we got up and went to the cottage for the day. I will save those pictures for another time though.

May 2-4 is FINALLY here.

I have been counting down to this weekend since the beginning of January. How disappointed I have been to NOT find any sunshine to bask in!
So this week could not have passed any slower. A few weeks ago I had made plans to go to the Elixir on Thursday May 19th to see Chris Koster open for the Golden Dogs. I had made a date with my friend Grigg, and due to the fact that freaky things always happen to him, I assumed I would be going alone. How delighted I was to see Grigg's smiling face that night!
So here is Chris Koster, his drummer Cloin (Colin)and his Basist Scott.

Here is Chris using his guitar as a shooting device:

And this is the Golden Dogs from Toronto. Its funny, I will never forget the first time I heard the Dogs; it was last June at the Grad Club. The stage was so small, the basist had to stand on an amp in order to play:)
Here is a picture of the ever entertaining Jessica:

My favourite Golden Dogs song YEAH!!!!

Suffice to say, Friday was a very looooong day for me. 3 hours sleep is hard on this old body, but I was fortunate enough to get off work fairly early and came home for a nap before we went for dinner.
After we ate, we visited Harly's place but he wasn't home. A bunch of the Amherstview boys were there waiting in the driveway, wondering where the garage-owner was. Due to the fact that we didn't have a key to get in, and there was work to be done on a boat motor, we asked Tony the neighbour to let us in. Of course I was the only girl there, so I had to take some pictures. Here is one of Harly's tractor with the new stickers on it.

We found out afterwards that Harly had been out depleting the comerant population & that our friend Jim had dislocated his shoulder when he fell through his garage roof earlier that day. Perhaps our plans for a weekend at Jim and Brenda's cottage was out of the picture. The phone ran around 8am on Saturday to tell us that the trip to the island was still on. Jim's arm was in a sling, however, he could still perform a few cottage-opening tasks, so the weekend was not a total loss. I believe the real reason was that the 600lb harvest table that Jim built for the dining room at the cottage had to be moved from their house to the truck and from the truck, into the cottage. I was actually surprised how quickly that whole process happened. And how well the table went with the rooms decor!!! It's a beautiful addition to place! Check it out:

naturally we had to test out the new table by playing multiple games of euchre and crib on it to see how well the cards would slide across its surface! Here is a picture of Brenda, myself and Jim's dad Bill playing crib. Suffice to say, Brenda and I beat him at both games!

Isn't it a beautiful piece of furniture?

My friend Judy likes to pretend she is a rock star:

And finally, here is a picture of Trina and Shelley providing the evenings entertainment:


Today we are half-ass planning on putting the boat in the water...depending on the weather, of course. Keep your fingers crossed for the sun to make a guest appearance!

Over Two Weeks between posts

Whats up with that??? Oh yea, its time to be OUTSIDE!!!! And even though I have a wireless connection for my laptop, I have yet to take it out on the back patio this year. Not a lot has happened. I still try to take some sunrise shots, but now that the sun is getting up before I make it out the door, it makes it difficult. This one was taken by the old celenese plant in Millhaven...just as I was taking the picture, a pair of ducks waddled by.

I did manage to get a better pictures, through the trees:

On Thursday May 5th, I had the pleasure of getting a front row seat for a kick-ass show by The High Dillon Redemption Choir. Hugh was once in a band called The Headstones, and this new band includes an old acquaintence of mine on drums. Here he is, my own personal King of Kensington: Derek Downham! I think he lost his stix in this picture.

Here is one of the entire band:

Hugh's new CD was recorded last August at The Bath House and produced by Paul Langois, of the Tragically Hip. Here is a picture of Paul playing with HDRC.

For the encore, they played Rebel Yell. I like the way someones upright arm appeared in this picture during this Billy Idol cover.

Last Sunday, my brother and his fiancee came over for the day. It was Mother's day, so we went down to the graveyard to lay a flower on our mother's grave. Afterwards we went over to my cousin Wendy's place for a BBQ. Here is a picture of my brother with his bubbles glasses on.

So while at Wendy's, I took full advantage of their hot tub...in fact, I was the only one to take a dip.

Of course, we had to try and take a family picture before the day was through...even the dog Bailey posed for the camera!

Believe it or not, the highlight of this past weekend was my trip to Burt's Greenhouse in Wilton. It was a damp, misty day and what do I come across? This beautiful vintage Farmall Cub. Check it out!

This was taken while I was waiting to check out.

On my way back from the greenhouse, I stopped in to visit my friend Laurie. Here is a picture of her beautiful limestone house that they will be moving out of in October.

I really like this shot from the inside, looking out:

and finally, this is a picture of Laurie's barn. Hopefully, I will get inside there, before they move out. I bet there are some really great shots inside this old building!