Where has all the summer gone....?

Here we are well past Labour Day and I can't remember where August went.  We seem to have been very busy and maybe as I write this, I'll recall what we actually did.

Georgian Bay cottage

Alan and Sidney

Picnic in the Mink Islands

Summer reading on the deck

Oh yes, the first wonderful August trip was going to Georgian Bay to visit Sam and Rose.  Although a long drive of 6 hours, it was absolutely worth it.  Their island is about a 20 minute boat ride out from Pointe Au Baril, just north of Parry Sound.  We had three wonderful days there.  Rose and Sam organized a family dinner with the young Blyth nieces which was one highlight and a picnic on the Mink Islands out in the "open" was another.  The nieces kayaked over for the evening from their various Georgian Bay islands with babies nestled into the cockpits rather like ducklings.  We're hugely admiring of their skill and navigational know-how as GB is not easy to get around.  Alan had never been there before although he's heard me rave about it for years.  He is now a fan!  We relaxed with great food, good weather and lots of good company.

Binks and Leo arriving

A week after our return I drove up to Toronto to celebrate a late mutual birthday with my twin, Susan.  We had decided quite a while ago to revisit our past by going to the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific which is playing in Toronto right now.  As young teens we had grown up on musicals and knew all the lyrics to all of them.  The show was sensational, very nostalgic and great fun for us both.  We had a yummy pre-show dinner at Note Bene, a restaurant close to the theatre.  A word about the theatre:  the new Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is very, very beautiful.  It is huge, all blond wood with a spare, open design.  My next visit there will have to be an opera.  While in Toronto I saw other family members including the newest great nephew, Felix.  Altogether a fun couple of days!  Alas no photos were taken.

No, that's not Alan on the roof!

The rest of the month has zipped by.  Our house has had a new roof put on it which has kept Alan busy.  He has no fear at all of heights....I carry enough for the two of us.....so he kept an eye on the workers, making sure we got what we had paid for.  We went into the project with the four connected houses because it made sense economically for us all to have it done together.  We weren't happy about the eventual choice of roofer but felt obliged to demur to the bullying of our next door neighbour.  Thus, Alan's overseeing of the job was necessary and we are satisfied that the job was completed properly.  We haven't had any noticeable rain for a long time so I may be biting my tongue later!

Rachel and Ellie sleepover for a week

Alan and Rachel cooking corn

Playdate with Jillian

In the meantime we've gone on excursions to the Detroit Zoo, Cranbrooke Science Center, the Detroit Institute of the Arts and various other local sites with Emily and the girls.  Our lives were made very joyful (and busy) when Rachel and Ellie came to stay for a week mid-month.  They were attending a little riding camp at the therapeutic riding centre where I volunteer.  Every summer they run an able-bodied kids camp.  The girls absolutely loved it and we loved having them live with us.

And so it goes..................I did remember some of what we did!  The weather has been something else but who cares as we keep busy, and run the AC constantly!!  Whew, enough said!  Of course, our tomatoes are fabulous because of the hot weather, so there's always a silver lining!

Sun and Sand at Lake Huron

View of the dunes and grasses

Beach O' Pines Lake Huron

Undiscovered, by us at least, was lovely southeast Lake Huron.  I've always been a big fan of Georgian Bay and still remain so, but our visit over the past week to a cottage on Lake Huron has opened a new horizon for us. 

Morning coffee and books

Morning snuggle-up

 We were lent a perfect 3-bedroom cottage by an extremely generous friend here in Windsor.  The cottage is about 60 years old but partially renovated to include all necessary mod-cons.  The large inside living/eating space was hugely comfortable with a big plus being the lovely extended deck where we ate meals and read to the background chorus of zillons of birds.

Sad Rachel burying Daddy

"Where did those come from?" said Cassie

Alan and I spent the first two days lounging around both in the house and down at the beach.  And what a beach!  I think that's what was the biggest surprise for us.  Our location placed us mid way between the town of Grand Bend and the Pinery Provincial Park but our beach space was only accessible by cottagers within the "gated" community where we lived.  So......the beach was practically empty.  It is a long, long stretch of pure golden sand, dune grasses and clean, blue water as far as the eye can see.  Bliss!  This particular area of Lake Huron has a "Blue Flag" designation which is an international rating of beaches and water quality that has to meet pretty rigorous standards.

With the girls at Lake Huron

Castle building with Daddy

Grandmum and Rachel

After our initial solitude, we were joined by Emily and the three girls.  Brian made a surprise visit for two nights as he also couldn't resist the call of sand and water.  Of course the little girls were in seventh heaven!  What's not to love about building sandcastles or burying Daddy?  For the adults, what's not to love about seeing happy kids play as you drink your libations, read your books,  and occasionally venture off for a dunk with the gang? Although the weather was pretty hot there was always a breeze on the beach and none of us fried!

How many books did you read?

Final evening at the beach

Cassie, Ellie, Emily and Rachel

It was a wonderful week from everyone's point of view and another addition to our lexicon of places in Canada that we love and would happily revisit!

Brian and Rachel

 

Some Summer Stories

 Who would have thought that the best place to go on a torrid Southern Ontario day would be the Detroit Zoo!  Hot and humid as it was with only the polar bear habitat to provide semi-cool relief, it was nonetheless a wonderful day.  Hauling a picnic with us and with Emily stuffing everyone into her car, we moseyed off to look at giraffes, hippos, ostriches, anteaters and all manner of interesting creatures.  Interesting fact:  Polar bears do not get hot lying in the sun because their fur reflects heat somehow.  So that lazy bear we saw right out in the open 100 degree heat was quite content!!  (We were also told that the zoo has cooling pads for them to lie on outside if they so wish!).

Brian joined us for our yummy picnic which included a terrific children's outdoor concert where Cassie danced the evening away!  Great way to forget the heat, especially when you arrive back at Em and Brian's for a lovely cooling dunk in the pool!

The deck continues to grow and look more beautiful.  Alan has done a masterful job "painting" it with a lovely honey-coloured Australian timber oil.  We eat out on it as often as possible.  Our first party was a lunch that I organized with friends, family and kids on the last day of June.  We celebrated an early Canada Day with many people sporting red and white.

Canada Day itself was brilliant.  Alan, Megan and I spent the day at Fort Malden in Amherstburg about 40K from Windsor.  It is a national historic site and important for its key position both in the War of 1812-14 and in the Upper Canadian Rebellion of 1837-39.  Its location on the Detroit River  is gorgeous and obviously strategic for battling armies.  We spent the day wandering the site, listening to music and picnicking waterside.  The loveliest thing about the day was watching 43 people become Canadian citizens at an outdoor ceremony on the site.  Quite moving and I felt proud to be there.

We also celebrated an early Fourth of July over in Detroit with a low key day of swimming, eating and schmoozing with the family.  Fireworks (or were they gunshots?) are part of everyone's celebrations on both sides of the river.  Alan and I went to a fabulous display jointly presented by Windsor and Detroit.  They start the event with a plane towing the Canadian flag down the river to the huge applause of the enormous Windsor crowd followed by the American flag towed upriver with the same loud applause stateside.  Both sides can hear the other's noise....terrific event!

So, in our garden the roses are blooming, the tomatoes are ripening, the cardinals insanely singing and all's right with the world!

                                                                                                                                                                         

Building the Deck

It's now a week since our lovely friends returned to Victoria and Alan is doggedly measuring, cutting and hammering away at the deck.  He and Jim spent six days creating the framework and surface, battling wet weather, scorching weather and the omnipotent inspector.  Since the last inspection the day Jim and Jeanie left, Alan  has removed the standing posts and re-set them in concrete.  That required him to undo a major part of the work done previously.  And of  course, it was hotter and more humid than ever!!  BUT, it's now done and the stairs are about to go in as are the railings.

A week of work for Alan and Jim was a week of fun for Jeanie and me.  We sashayed off every day for tourist walks and art gallery viewings; we lunched like ladies and shopped the outlets (only Columbia!); we meandered homeward to put supper on the table most days.  The men were generally wiped after their gruelling days in the heat but we did manage to persuade them to go to a great Wine and Cheese Fundraiser one evening.  Another evening we rallied the troops and went picnicking as was our wont while we lived in Victoria.  Not quite the same viewing potential but fun nonetheless.

On Saturday evening, old and dear friends visited for dinner.  Tom and Sheena and daughter Ceilidh came for supper all the way from Hamilton.  They will be moving to Vancouver in the summer so our supper was the beginning of a farewell to them although they will, of course, still be in our lives.  The evening was very reminiscent of past gatherings with all these good friends....altogether wonderful!

The final evening we celebrated sitting on the boarded deck with a bottle of bubbly before going to the local pizzeria for a yummy dinner.  The next day, the inspector came and Jeanie and Jim left.  Both sad events for very different reasons!

THANK YOU, JIM AND JEANIE!!!