Back from vacation

As you can see, we're back from 2 fantastic weeks of vacation! We spent 10 days at the cottage we rent near Bala and then 5 days visiting friends in Parry Sound and Sault St. Marie. We had super weather. It only rained once for about 20 min at the cottage and then we had some showers in the evening in Parry Sound. Lots of boating, swimming and just lazing around the cottage(stitching of course as you can see from the pic!). The only down side to the whole vacation was that we ran into some car trouble. It started on our way to Cobourg the first night. We had to pull over on the highway when we smelled rubber and then smoke was coming in through the ventilation system. We let the car cool down and had a look under the hood. It looked like it was probably a belt which was coming apart and burning. So we got back in the car and headed out again slowly, this time on the back roads. So far, so good, no smoke. The next morning we had the car checked and they told us it was our air conditioning compressor which needed to be replaced. We decided we could do without the air and would have the car checked in Muskoka when we arrived.

After making an appointment we were told that their computers were down and they didn't know if they could get the part for us. Okay, so we can do without the air until we get home(during a major heat wave!). Of course we didn't use the car for the next 10 days. We went everywhere by boat! It wasn't until we left Parry Sound for the Sault that we ran into trouble again. Just before Sudbury we ran into the same problem, smoke and all when we hadn't even been using the ventilation system. A Ministry of Transport patrol stopped and recommended an auto shop in Sudbury for us. It seems that the hub which supports the compressor is what was falling apart and the pieces were burning on the engine. All told the part wasn't much but of course the labour was costly. Along with the hotel room we had to get in Sudbury the whole thing set us back about $900! Good thing I ordered all my stash before I left home!!!

Our first weekend at the cottage we had a visit from my cousin and her husband. Sheryl loves to stitch as well so we spent the afternoon on the back deck doing just that! Over the next day I managed to finish off my Celtic Heart. I'm still not sure if I like it or not. Any thoughts? I also got started on a freebie from Passione Ricamo - Coeur d'Ete. This is one of her seasonal heart collection. I hope to do the others at some point as well.

When I wasn't stitching I was reading and managed to finish off two novels one of which was by Jodi Picoult. If you haven't read any of her books give them a try. I've read 4 now and they've all been excellent! Some of my stash has arrived during my absence and I'll post some pictures later in the week. For now I'll leave you with a picture on Lake Muskoka which we took while away.