SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2014

Good day, eh? (Well, we hope so!) LOL

Last evening, Jim invited a few friends for pizza. Wow, did he surprise us! There were snacks, then Caesar salad, pizzas and dessert pies! It was all terrific! The rain came in waves and we were all snug with drinks in hand. A very good evening!

Sue sat in "The Big Guy" chair ... her feet didn't reach the floor. Haha. 

The sun broke through and flooded the cottage with soft light. We really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Jim!

This morning, Sue and Wayne took delivery of their new French door fridge! It's really nice ... with a big freezer drawer! So ... Chippy's Hollow got upgraded with the "old" two door fridge. It's great!  We emptied the small cottage one and have tons of space to spare. :-) Yay!

The sun is still shining and we finished our laundry at Keewatin Place! Heather and Bruce were inspecting the corn on the cob ... guess we know what's cookin' at their house tonight. Haha. 

Mark and I sat on the docks with the Scotties for an afternoon ... on this first day of summer!

Our first day of summer wasn't without rain. About 6:30 Desi dropped in to visit and borrow Jim's vehicle. We tried to coax him to stay for dinner but he was meeting family at Casey's. 

Sue and Wayne put steaks on the Barbie and Jim joined us for dinner and dominoes. It was good fun showing him our favorite game!

We played a half game ... Desi dropped by with Dairy Queen "pizza" for dessert! Nice!!! We ate the ice cream with peanut crust and had a few laughs. Desi had to wait for a storm to pass before he could head out in his boat. 

It was a fun night! More Mexican Domino games to come. 

Ta ta for now. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014

Summer is nigh. Ah, warm winds, cool water and ice in our drinks. (We hope!). So far, it's an "El Niño" summer. The high water is playing havoc with local dock parties! What the hell?

The beautiful irises are blooming today ... 

which reminds me of our house on Kildonan Drive. Mom had both purple and yellow irises at our back door!

This morning, Mark brought the dogs home from their walk and spooked the Canada Geese family at the shoreline. 

The two goslings dove under water ahead of the adults. 

We walked to the RV for a few things this afternoon ... 

The new driveway is fantastic. We are all enjoying it. This shot is taken from the back of the K's RV. Their cottage is to the left, and garage on the right. 

To the left is the garage ... to the right looking out to the main road. Julius is thrilled ... he prances along!

I turned around and shot this angle ... along K's RV to ours, parked for summer. 

This is the stone path from Sue's & Wayne's cottage downhill to Chippy's Hollow. That's Mark, hauling drinking water! 

This is one of last year's chipmunks ... enjoying seed that Sue puts out. 

Macy went to the vet for a checkup today. It's a wait and watch situation ... 

This evening, we're going to Jim's for pizza ... by car! Tomorrow, weather permitting, Mark and I will cruise about in the Crestliner and take some pics around the bay. 

THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2014

We awoke to sunshine and began readying the dock and boathouse for the predicted high water. 

We stacked some chairs on the fish table and suspended others from the rafters! 

We filled a trash can with lake water to hold down and mark the end of the dock. 

As you see, our neighbor's boathouse is already flooded ... Wayne's is okay for the next few inches! 

Today was doggie haircuts for "The Shizzles"!  Wayne wears gloves to hold Shorty Hot Pants. 

Mark and I are making spaghetti with meat sauce tonight and have to go to town for supplies. Right now, he's worn out from moving concrete patio stones and is napping. 

Wayne added a few water containers to the dock ... hopeful that they'll hold the decking in place!

Tomorrow night we are invited to Jim's for pizza. ;-) We want to show him Mexican Dominoes one if these nights. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014

It was a bright start to our day! The wind from the south is firecast to raise our lake water level 9 - 11 inches! It's 5" from the top of the dock now. That could make this the highest lake level in 85 years! We can move things out of the boathouse but the poor loon and duck nests!

Wayne's son Ron arrived first thing this morning with the replacement garage door panel! ( If you've been reading the blog awhile you might recall that I closed the Escalade's rear passenger door on the manual pull cord last fall. As Wayne backed out ... the garage door started to close! ) After Ron and Wayne worked a couple of hours on the door, it was found to be the incorrect panel. >:-( 

Let's have a joke ... we all need one!!!

A Florida senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership. Taking off down the road he pushed it to 80 MPH, enjoying the wind blowing through what little he had left of his hair. "Amazing!", he thought as he flew down I-95 pushing the gas pedal even more! Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a Florida State Trooper with blue lights flashing and siren blaring. He floored the Corvette to 100, 110 then 120 MPH. Suddenly, he thought "What am I doing! I'm too old for this!" He slowed down and pulled over to await the State Trooper. Pulling in behind, the Trooper got out of his car and approached the Corvette. He looked at his watch and then said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a reason for your speeding that I've never heard before I'll let you go with a warning!" The old gentleman paused for a moment then said, "Three years ago my wife ran off with a Florida State Trooper. I thought you were bringing her back!" LOL "Have a good day, sir." said the Trooper. :-)

Sue starts golf lessons today! Yes, we're all surprised! Rose wants to play golf in Florida this winter so Sue thought she'd give it a go. Kudos. 

Mark and I sat on Chippy's Hollow balcony for afternoon cocktails after a walk with our Scots. 

Does this remind you of anyone?  Dad always enjoyed it here ... with a cigar and drink in hand. 

Maggie and Robbie had a good time watching a chipmunk eating crab claws. Really!

Wayne is at a new dog groomer with Shorty Hot Pants and dear ol' Macy. We'll have a look at her handiwork at dinner tonight. 

Well I was wrong ... Wayne got a haircut today, the dogs are tomorrow! He's busy cooking dinner because Sue went to her golf lesson. 

Tomorrow is rain ... we'll see. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2014

"Oh what a night!" ... Well it was NOT late September ... but mid June. LOL. We had a lot of fun with Mary-Beth and Monty.  Cashew chicken over rice ... ice cream with corn syrup (in remembrance of Charlie) and Sheridan Liquors. ;-) It was a noisy ride home with Dodie, Doozie and Dotty in the backseat ... singing. (You had to be there!). LOL

This morning started with sunshine. Mark installed the landscape lights around the property. Sue and Wayne went shopping for a refrigerator which will be delivered Saturday. I tidyied the cottage and took the dogs to town for a ride. After our errands were done, we visited the chip truck by Canadian Tire for a large order. Robbie makes such a face when he tastes vinegar on his fries. Haha. It doesn't slow Maggie down one bit. 

Maggie is watching Robbie stick his head through the patio slats. 

Robbie, from the other side. Where's "Chippy"???

Robbie, relaxing, after chipmunk watch. LOL. 

Tonight, Mark is cooking "FOOD"!  Yes, Tony, he got that from YOU. LOL. 

Have you seen the new iPhone camera lens? Cool, huh?

Today was the first dockside happy hour! We thought it was too cool ... but lovely in the sun. The water is quite high this year, maybe 5" from flooding the dock. Unfortunately, this means the loon eggs are flooded ... no fluffy chicks this year! :-( There's much run-off from heavy winter snow still working its way through the waterways. 

Mark's dinner was good. Yukon Gold potatoes and Sweet potatoes mixed with onions, chives, peas, garlic, bacon and cheddar cheese ... dashes of salt, pepper and red pepper baked at 375 for an hour, covered. The chicken was simmered in olive oil, garlic and curry stovetop. Delicious!

After dinner, we played three games of cribbage ... Wayne and I were the winners; but close games. 

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2014

Isn't it wonderful to see the sun this morning?! It's going to be a busy day! Wayne is bringing the Prevost from Anicinanbe RV to the cottage as the new asphalt driveway cured and is ready for heavy duty parking. Mark will shuffle our RV out of the way, then park in front of the Prevost. All this will take an hour or so ... while swatting mozzies. 

Speaking of mozzies, at last Friday's dock party Wayne heard about an all-natural garden spray made from garlic. He ordered some and Mark offered to spray it on the grass. It's supposed to keep the biters away for 30 days! 

My friend Rick sent me an email with some interesting maps ... 

We've certainly got enough elbow room in the green area! But look at the orange and red!!! 

Cousins Mel, Alastair and family live in Perth on the Southwestern coast ... Cousin Flo worked a few years on the Northwestern coast ... Cousins Barb, Hugh and family live in Queensland on the Northeastern coast ... and Niece Christine lives in Sydney on the Southern coast. 

There's a lot of jockeying for space in that region!

For every Canadian kid who wanted to dig through to China ... it's a good thing we didn't. Haha. 

If you "lefties" could switch ... we Americans could learn metric!!! LOL

Oh my! And I thought the Vikings were invaders!

I didn't know we had ANY Internet in 1969 ... wasn't that the "hippie" years?

Interesting. Why? "Western" values censored?

Canadians were well aware of "The Cuban Missile Crisis" in the 1960's. 

THIS is a crying shame the United States of America doesn't use the metric system! Liberia and Burma are the other two countries that do not use the metric system either. When President Jimmy Carter had opposition from the House of Representatives, he folded. Duh. Of course there was opposition ... but that's what Americans needed to do. Lets mandate it folks. 

Wikipedia showed this example ... we're halfway there already. 

Google Street View is great. Have you looked up your address? Try it. 

This evening we are invited to Mary-Beth's and Monty's for dinner! I can't believe they have time to entertain with a big move in the works. You see, they've sold their lake home of 30 years! Imagine the sorting and packing to be done. Yet, they are entertaining tonight. ;-)

COTTAGES - SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 2014

What is a cottage? What makes a cottage "cottage-y"?? These cottages ... all adored and adorned ... are dissimilar, but each with charm and comfort for a relaxed state of mind. 

Cape May, New Jersey ... Victorian charmers are plentiful in this turn-of-the-19th-century beach town. 

As comfortable as can be ...

Cape Cod, Massachusetts ... Cedar shake 1 1/2 storey cottages abound. Many have sweeping sand dune vistas. 

 

Bar Harbor, Maine ... beautiful seaside vistas from lovely old cottages. Ahhh. Blueberry picking, lobster pots, lace curtains fluttering on an afternoon breeze and, the endless tide. 

Inviting ... imperfect; in a perfect way. 

Nova Scotia ... Picturesque, white picket fences and seafood. Oh, the seafood. 

Prince Edward Island ... Pristine, rolling hills dotted with red barns and church steeples reaching skyward. Charming. 

Cozy and comforting ... painted with sunshine. 

The Florida Keys ... feel the balmy breeze year-round. 

New Brunswick's - Bay of Fundy ... 52' diurnal tides carve caves from rocks and expose black mussel beds. 

Settle in with a stack of magazines and relax awhile. 

Portland, Maine ... so New England. 

Soft pastels and a touch of wicker ...

Winnipeg Beach ... on Lake Winnipeg's southwest shoreline is the largest of 100,000 lakes in the Province of Manitoba. 

Unwind. Reconnect. 

The Hamptons, 350 years of beachfront homes in New York, harken back to fishermen and farmers making a living in the new world. In the early 20th century, the wealthy "discovered" the region, built huge cottages and spent their summers oceanside. 

Kennebunkport, Maine ... a seaport 25 miles south of Portland was a major ship building center in the 19th century. 

Kenora, Ontario ... Canada's Lake of the Woods region. Cottage Country, pure and simple. 

Light the fire, pour the wine and enjoy a cool, rainy afternoon in peace. 

You see, " C O T T A G E " , conjures up different visions ... all welcoming ... all relaxing.