Summer's heat and Nature's Beauty

Yay, summer has finally arrived. The heat and sun (not to mention the humidity) have been with us now for the latter part of this week and promise to continue throughout the weekend. Which of course, I'm working! However my days off were in advance of the weekend so I too got to enjoy the weather. Thursday we got the boat readied and headed for Big Rideau Lake. Several of our friends who cottage on the lake were not available for visiting on this particular day so instead we decided to head to the village of Westport. We put the boat in at Rideau Ferry and travelled from there to Westport. The village lies about 45 min north of Kingston, Ontario and is in the heart of the Rideau Lakes. Although the village is home to many quaint shops, we decided to spend most of our time on the lake taking in the sun and scenery. When we stopped at the village, it was only for some munchies on the patio at The Cove and a brief walk through. The Cove is one of our favourite places to visit. It's a lovely country inn where we've enjoyed many a good meal.

Following our visit to the village, we boarded the boat once more for the return trip. We took our time, stopping every once in awhile to watch the loons. When we first set out on the water we had noticed a lovely restaurant at Rideau Ferry where the dining room looked out on the lake. We deliberately had only eaten a snack earlier so that we could save room for supper, hopefully at this restaurant which it turns out is called Shipwreck. By the time we arrived back there it was 6:45pm and a reservation was not required so we had a lovely end to a beautiful day dining at the water's edge. Special of the day was trout, which was sooo yummy!

Today I decided to enjoy the sun while working on Nature's Beauty. I started out in the morning before lunch but it wasn't long before it was far too hot for sitting in the sun and I retreated to the gazebo. The heat tired me and following lunch I took an afternoon nap before I picked it up once again in the late afternoon. You can tell by my progress from last time that I'm back at work again and not stitching as much as I'd like. However I do love working on this piece.The last time I worked on it at our Tuesday night stitch, the girls were laughing at me because once again I'm cutting it close when it comes to the framing. In fact I might actually need to add some fabric to this one before framing. We'll see. I just love the colour of this linen though and it was already available in my stash. I don't know about you but I'm anxious to get started when I've got the itch to start something new.

Now that Nature's Beauty is progressing, that itch is making an appearance once again. Today I kitted up Nantucket Summer Sampler by By the Bay Needleart. I found a piece of fabric in my stash that I knew would work really well for this one and this past Wednesday night, Bob brought home the few floss that I was missing.

This past week was a busy one and starting Saturday, it's another 7 day stretch at the grind. I must be getting old for all I feel like doing is sleeping once I get home from work. Combine that with the prep for all of our upcoming renovations and there's not much time for stitching. Yes, believe it or not, our renovations have not started yet. I thought this project would be done by fall but it will only just be getting started. Part of the problem is that Bob and I have had trouble getting together to pick out things. Our schedules are varied and when I'm off, he's not and vice versa. Then we had to wait for the cupboards to be ordered because they're coming from Quebec and in Quebec the plants all shut down for 2 weeks in the summer. We are definitely going ahead with tearing the wall down between the dining room and kitchen to open things up. The contractor has been chosen, the cupboards ordered, flooring and paint chosen and now we wait until it all comes together. I'm anxious to get it over and done with. I hate the thought of all the mess. Tomorrow we start boxing up all the contents of the cupboards. Fun eh?, I can hardly wait! Think of me while you sit and stitch 'cause that's what I'll be wishing I was doing instead!

On that note, I'll leave you with a picture of me taken while I was stitching on the dock at the cottage. It's where I'm wishing I was once more. Vacations are far too short!

Home Again

Sunday evening saw the end of our holiday as we rolled into the drive around 7:00pm. Despite the topsy turvy weather we had a fantastic time. Every time that something was planned, the weather cooperated. On Thursday evening the weather was holding after a lovely day so we booked a dinner cruise on the Segwun. This is the oldest operating steamship on North American waters. The dinner cruise is 3 hrs long and takes you on a beautiful cruise around Lake Muskoka. Following the cruise, Daniel told us he now knows why we love the Muskoka area so much. On board we met a couple who were newlywed and spending their honeymoon in the area the way that Bob and I had done 8 yrs previously. They were enjoying things as much as we were. Below are some pictures taken during the course of the evening voyage.

The morning following our dinner cruise, we packed up the car, cleaned out the cottage and headed for a B&B in Bracedbridge. They had a dock for our boat so Bob headed there on the water and Dan and I met him there with the car & boat trailor. We had only been given a week at the cottage but since we didn't have to return to work until after the long weekend we decided to extend our stay in cottage country. Friday night was midnight madness in the town so we joined the locals in checking out the sale prices in the shops. The main drag was closed to vehicles and there were displays of martial arts, craft works and entertainment by buskers.

Saturday morning was gorgeous and after sitting by the water stitching for an hour or so, we made plans to go to Gravenhurst by boat and visit Bob's stepcousins. The water at their end of the lake seemed to be much warmer so I took my first swim of the trip. All 5 dogs belonging to Bob's cousin joined us! Daniel had already been in a couple of times and of course Bob takes his morning swim every day but I'm inclined to like warmer water temps. The water was so refreshing and I hated to get out but we didn't want to overstay our welcome. Neither Bob nor Dan could join us since I was the only one who thought to bring a swimsuit. Actually when I'm on the boat I often wear one under my shorts in case it gets too warm on the water. Dinner took place waterside in Gravenhurst at Boston Pizza and then back on the boat for a final ride on the lake before heading back to the B&B. On our way we swung by Eleanor Island which is a wildlife preserve for birds. I managed to snap a pic of a heron on its nest.

The ride home was long but uneventful and we're already counting down to next year's trip!

My final few days at the cottage I put in a lot of time stitching on the dock with my morning coffee. Once Spring Lace had been completed, I put in most of my time on Nature's Beauty. A progress pic follows. I haven't decided yet but I'm thinking of giving this one as a gift to our friends who own the cottage. It would fit in well with the decor there. If not this particular pattern then I will definitely stitch them something else. I know we pay to rent the cottage but we're the only people that they will rent to. They knew Bob's grandfather and they trust us. I love our time spent there so much that I want to give them something to let them know how much I appreciate their trust in us. It will always be a reminder of our great times in Muskoka.

Now I'm off to Ottawa to join the Tuesday night stitchers. I haven't been able to join in with the group for at least 6 wks if not more and I've missed everyone. I return to work tomorrow morning so I need an evening of fun to take my mind off of what's to come. Hope you all are having a great week. The forecast here is for sun, sun and more sun. Finally!!

A finish in Muskoka

Finally I have a finish to display! The weather here has definitely been conducive to stitching. We've seen a lot more rain than we would have liked but it has never been continuous. The sun always breaks through at some point and we've had some lovely evenings. A bit cooler than usual, but I can handle that. Yesterday morning I put the final stitches in on Spring Lace. I loved stitching this one and would really like to try another pattern by this designer which is which is Whipered by the Wind. I'm going to have this one framed although it might make a great pillow as well. Now I'm concentrating on Nature's Beauty although I also have a couple of other UFOs with me. Remember Snow Drift and Holey Sheet? I might even manage to get in some stitches on those ones as well.

I love to stitch anywhere but I think that this might be my favourite place. The scenery is just so beautiful. On Monday we took an evening cruise on board the Island Queen which runs out of Parry Sound and cruises Georgian Bay. We booked this weeks ago because this wasn't your usual cruise. This time we were cruising to the music of the Elora Singers choral group. We always manage to get to Parry Sound on our visits here to take in one of the performances at the annual Festival of the Sound. The Elora Festival Singers is one of this year's highlights. The evening was spectacular. The weather, the scenery and the music all combined to make it memorable. The sunset that evening was gorgeous and I managed to get up to the top deck to take some photos. What follows are some pictures taken during the course of the evening.

Next day was a visit to Bala to take in the weekly waterski show. This show has been going on through the summer for as long as I've been coming to Muskoka and we thought that Daniel might enjoy the show. Windsor Park in Bala was full of folks in their lawn chairs or on blankets eagerly awaiting . The show is put on by one of the local waterskiing schools and afterwards there is a donation, the proceeds of which go to a children's camp for kids suffering from cancer. The show did not disappoint. This year there was a new addition. A fellow from Florida who is a world champion in the art of sky skiing. This is where they ski above the water on a hydrofoil. You gotta see it to believe it! Then there was the guy who skiied on a canoe paddle! It was great fun to watch.

There was a minor mishap with the boat this trip. On a return trip from Port Carling I noticed that the stern line was dragging behind the boat. I hollered to Bob to stop but he was in too much of a hurry to beat the oncoming thunderstorm. He said he'd get it later. Well, later was when we arrived back at our dock and it then got caught in the propeller. Fortunately there was no damage and I refrained from saying "I told you so!". After this though, the boat refused to start again. Bob took the motor apart and had a look but couldn't see any problems. We contacted the local marina who came out to have a look (after waiting 24 hrs for them to arrive). Turns out that in his hurry to stop the boat when the rope was caught, Bob hadn't fully put it into gear. Since it was beween gears, nothing was happening. The guy from the marina laughed and told Bob not to feel bad, that this was the third time that day that someone had done this. Daniel and I kept our lips zipped but it was difficult to keep the smiles off of our faces!

Another cool evening last night. Cool enough that a friend whom we visited had her fireplace going. Today promises to be a lovely day, no rain and we are taking a boat cruise of the lake on the Seguin steamship so that Dan can see the area. I'll leave you with a picture of Bob, looking much happier now that he's motoring the waters again.

Of Mice and Men

Here we are at the cottage at Whiteside and yeah!.... my internet stick works! We tried it out on the way when we stopped in Cobourg and had no luck connecting. I didn't hold out much hope that it would work at the cottage. Imagine my surprise when we arrived, plugged it in and immediately had a connection. When we took our first boat ride that evening I could see a new tower in the distance. I think that was a major factor in our success.

We had rain most of our drive up here but since our arrival the rains have held up. As you can see from the picture, the skies were a strange, mottled mess of clouds. The weekend is supposed to be a washout but that makes for good stitching, right? Next week is supposed to be rather nice with some sunny days starting midweek. Some things have changed here but other things haven't. We have a lovely new mattress for our bed. This is great since last year I woke every morning with a backache and when trying to sleep I found myself rolling to the centre of the bed. This bed is smaller than the one we have at home and I was often crowding out Bob.

Next on the list, the boathouse is currently being rebuilt. It should resemble a small barn when completed. They've also extended the dock so there is more room for relaxing lakeside.

However our dear rodent friends are still around. Our first night in bed I hear ....rustle, rustle. Did you hear that Bob? Yup, it's in the waste basket. I quickly turned on the bedside lamp and spotted two little feet hanging on to the far side of the basket. When I made a move towards it , he jumped down and scampered away. I may not have mentioned it before but my DH is afraid of mice and so he was definitely staying put in bed! I didn't sleep well that night because I could hear them scurrying around in the eaves. Night number two... all is quiet, we fall asleep fairly quickly only to be awakened around 4 by a thud. It seems there is a small hole where the wall meets the ceiling and I think our little friend dropped from that height to land on the little bench at the end of the room. He was trying to get into a plastic bag containing some new purchases. He gave up soon though and all was quiet again. Meanwhile Dan, who is sleeping on the futon in the sunroom, has heard nothing mostly because he's using ear plugs to sleep. Drowns out my snoring you see!

Every morning Bob heads down to the lake for a morning swim. It's a little too cold for my liking (70 F). His first morning down there he spotted a heron coming in for a landing on the neighbour's dock. He was heading back to the cottage and when he came in he told me to grab the camera and see if I could get a pic of it. By the time I headed down there though there was no sign of the heron. At least not on the neighbour's dock, but when I looked straight ahead, there he was on the foot of our dock. I snapped this picture from the upper deck which is halfway to the dock. Right after I snapped it he took flight.

Bob is off for a rehearsal this morning since he's playing handbells on Sunday morning with another parishioner at Bannockburn Community Church. Dan and I are just headed down to the dock with our coffee, books and my stitching of course. I plan on putting in some time on Spring Lace. Don't you just love the lazy days of summer?

Muskoka- Here I Come!

Yippee! After weeks of counting down, my vacation time has finally arrived. The last few weeks at work have been just horrendous. Anything that could go wrong did and I'm glad to be taking my leave for a couple of weeks. This coming Thursday we head up to the cottage in Bala where I can hardly wait to take a seat on the dock, stitching in hand. The only stitching I've done recently doesn't count since there's very little progress but I do have a pic of Nature's Beauty to show you where I am so far.

As you can see, I haven't got very far but I'm hoping to rectify that in the coming days. Spring Lace is still hanging around too but I haven't got enough progress for another pic right now.

I have a new toy to aid me in blogging while I'm away. Last week I bought my very first laptop. I've been saving for one of these for awhile and I'd already researched them and had an idea as to what I wanted. This will make things so much easier for us while we're away from home. My DH likes to keep in touch so that he knows whether or not he has to play any funerals or weddings when he returns. In the past we've wasted a lot of time waiting to get on the computers at the local library and then your time is limited so I never bothered. Now we'll be able to keep up right from our home away from home. When I bought the computer you also got a deal on an internet stick so that we should be able to access the internet wherever you can pick up a cell phone signal. We'll see just how well it works! So if you don't hear from me while we're away you'll know that it was a washout.
My son Dan is accompanying us on this trip and he's quite excited since this is his first visit to Muskoka. We're going to head out on Thursday morning and we have about a six hour drive ahead of us. Since we're pulling the boat it might take us a bit longer. I can't use my usual lead foot when I'm towing the boat! Please keep your fingers crossed for good weather. I don't know about the rest of you but it's been a pretty lousy summer here so far. Much cooler and plenty of rain. The weather network forecasts improving temps but I don't trust them since they've been off on their forecasts most of the time.

We've brought over Dan's cat Tugger to keep Clarisse company while we're gone and a neighbour will come in and feed them for us. They're making acquaintance again right now. I can't say that it's all going well though since there seems to be quite a lot of fighting and hissing going on. They should settle down in a couple of days.

My Mom and Step-Father were visiting our place this past weekend and just headed home this morning. It's been 2 yrs since their last visit. We're about 500 miles apart and I know that my Mom just hates the drive, which is 8-9 hrs long. We tried to get my oldest here with his girls but it didn't work out. However the other two boys each got to spend some time with them which was nice. Dan was already here and we managed to hook up with Chris in Ottawa for lunch on Sunday. Saturday afternoon I took them to the village of Merrickville, which is a lovely little village along the Rideau Canal system. There's a set of locks there where you can watch the boats coming and going and the village is full of lots of quaint shops to check out. We had a lovely afternoon and the rain skirted all around us but we weren't touched. The photo on the left is a view of the main shopping district and shows some of the lovely architecture in the village. The photo on the right is of Dan and my Mom.

Now I'm in the process of deciding which stitching projects I should bring with me. I'd like to start another small for the trip up. I was also checking out Chapters this weekend for some good reads. I picked up the last novel in the Harry Potter series as well as one called Reading Lolita in Tehran which is a true story of students in Iran studying forbidden Western classics. This one promises to be interesting.

As I'm working on this post I'm having a heck of a time moving my photos about on this new laptop. This is going to take some getting used to.

My next post should be from the cottage if we ever get that internet stick working! I really hope we do because I also want to get caught up with all of you. I've been away for too long.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Canada Day wishes go out to all my Canadian blogging friends. Here's hoping you spend a relaxing day with family and friends celebrating our Canadian heritage. As for me, I'll be working. That was my choice this year since my DH is away this week . When the work day finishes I'll be joining my son Dan for some Canada Day festivities in Cornwall provided that the weather holds out. Last year we tried to get close enough on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to view some of the Mounties Musical Ride (as seen on the left) but it was nearly impossible to see anything with all the crowds. This year I'll just settle for the fireworks display.

I'm afraid I don't have much to report on the stitching front. There hasn't been an awful lot of time for stitching these days and my progress has been pitiful on what little I've finished. By the time I'm finally able to pick up my stitching each evening I find that I'm too tired to concentrate and it isn't long before I put it aside. With summer's arrival I'm much more likely to be found outside gardening or reading in my gazebo after supper. Work continues to be hectic and I love to just sit and enjoy the outdoors when I return home. I've taken up the camera a lot lately and been snapping pictures of birds in the area.

For the past few summers we've had a pair of cardinals, Mr. & Mrs., visiting our feeders. This past week they were joined by Junior. At least that's what we've been calling him. As you can see in the picture, his colours aren't fully developed yet. He gets quite put out when Mom and Dad take a turn at the feeder and leave him sitting to wait on his perch.

I've also been enjoying visits from the Cedar WaxWings. They usually show up between 8 and 9 in the evening to gorge themselves on berries in the neighbour's tree. At one point yesterday there were as many as 1o of them fighting for the treats. I love their eye masks that make them look like bandits.

Our home renovations are slowly getting started. Remodelling the kitchen isn't something that I wanted to rush into. Add to that the fact that it takes me forever to make up mind about some things. After weeks of debating a plan has finally been decided upon and the cupboards will be ordered next week. I don't expect that they'll be ready until August but in the meantime a wall is coming down between our dining room and kitchen to open things up. I'm thinking that maybe I should have taken holidays when all this was finished so I could really relax. Too late now!

With everything that's going on here right now I haven't had much time for the computer. I miss checking in on all of you and promise I haven't forgotten about you.

Next post I should finally have a pic of my progress on Nature's Beauty. It's been slow going because I'm not very good at working with linen. My eyes play tricks on me when it comes to counting and the frogs love visiting. I really do prefer evenweave even though I love the look of the linen. Any tips ladies to help me out?

Time to sign off and head on up to bed. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and for all of my American blogging friends.... Happy 4th of July!

Cirque has returned..

Home that is. While we were away last week the framer left a message that Cirque des Cercles' framing was complete. I only had one day at home before I headed off for lab training in Rochester, NY so my DH picked it up for me. This is a new framer that I'm using since my LNS closed. However the gentleman who did all the stretching for my LNS had recommended this particular framer and he is now working for them so I knew I was in good hands. I decided not to go with a mat and chose a mahogany frame. When I returned home and finally got a look at it I was very pleased with the framing except for the fact that they had placed the hardware on the reverse as if this was being framed vertically instead of horizontally. We were able to change that ourselves and it is now hanging in my guest bedroom. I'm not sure yet if this is where it will reside permaently. My bedroom is lavender and it would look great there but then nobody gets to see it. Decisions, decisions!

A vacation followed by a work-related training trip has had me suffering some serious stitching withdrawal symptoms! The only time I managed to get in any stitches was on the car trip to and from visiting my family. I had a great visit home although it wasn't long enough. My DH was involved in a concert tribute to his former music professor from university and while he was involved with that I spent time visiting with my family. We both also managed to squeeze in a

visit with some close friends in Michigan.

Just before leaving we paid a visit to our old high school where one of our former classmates is now principal. It felt really strange to be back. The school hasn't really changed all that much but the total number of students now is only 500 as opposed to 1200 when we attended. We wandered around the school for a bit and during our travels we found a picture of the basketball team from 1944-45. There in the back row, the shortest boy on the team, was my Dad(2nd from the left in the back)! We took this picture so that I could show my sons since they were very young when their Grandpa Denny died.

I was having such a super time on the trip and wanted to visit with other friends but I had to be back on the Friday so that I could pack for my next journey. I was off to a lab training session in Rochester, NY. for a new instrument that we're receiving in the chemistry lab. I travelled with a co-worker and following each day's classes we were off to check out the local shopping. Needless to say, there wasn't exactly much time for stitching. The shopping was great though!!

Above is a picture of where I'm at now with Spring Lace.

As for my new start, well I'm afraid that all I've managed to put in on that one is some of the lettering. Since I'm stitching it on linen I really need my magnifying lens to work on it and it's not portable. I find that with evenweaves I don't need the lens much but when it comes to linens I usually screw up in my count and definitely need to be able to see what I'm doing. I don't return to work until Wednesday so I'm hoping to be able to put in some time on this one during the next few days.

One of the fun things about returning home is seeing what's waiting for you! Besides my welcoming DH, there was dear, sweet Clarisse who hasn't quit following me around since my return. Wherever I go, she follows. When I headed down to our storage room this morning with my suitcase, I think she thought I was leaving again. She cried the whole time I was carrying that case until she figured out that I was indeed staying put.

Then there was the stash waiting for me! I was really only expecting one small order but I'd completely forgotton about another order I'd placed earlier. Some of the items were on back order and since I was in no hurry I didn't care. However, my mind being what it is lately, the order was gone from my memory until its arrival. Memory loss can be a great thing when it surprises you in the form of stash arrival!

What I was expecting was a couple of Threadworx floss for some upcoming projects as well as LHN- To Bee or not to Bee and Val's Chilly Willy. What I'd forgotten about was Glendon Place - With Hope, By The Bay- In My Father's House, and last but certainly not least, Ink Circles - Cirque des Carreaux. Yeah, those Ink Circle designs have really hooked me!

Now I'd better go and make some headway on my laundry. I've got a lot to catch up on around here. Enjoy your weekend!