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.