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!