A VISIT

Mr. & Mrs. Robinson Troy and Lindsey visiting on their honeymoon - just passing thru

One of us - sitting in the sun reading and relaxing

Nice fish George

Troy and Lindsey visited us for the afternoon today. Of course Troy went out fishing with Rick and Rejean. Look Jack!! Look Mitch !! - Troy is catching your bass!!!! He put them back of course (I said them). He caught a couple of nice ones - and a couple of pickerel. No fish were harmed today. Lindsey just relaxed and read some People books I accumulate for the reading of three other people. It was a good afternoon. They headed back at about 4:30 (1/2 hour late).

Rick and Rejean are playing a game called OutLaw Golf and it's pretty funny.

See Ya Bye

THE WEDDING

Kyle, Troy, Lindsey, Susan, Jack and Shelley - the Robinsons

The Scott Sisters - Me, Susan and Joanne - together again

What a beautiful bride Lindsey is!!!

The wedding party - Kyle, the best man, is to the right of Lindsey

The bride's family farm - a beautiful setting

There were 250 guests!!!

The happy couple - Lindsey and Troy

At Susan's suggestion, the lap dance - Lindsey seems to be enjoying it.

They were unbelievably lucky with the weather on their wedding day - the rains held off for the pictures, the service outside (altho there were a couple of drops and it was funny to see all the men running to the cars for the umbrellas) and until all the people were in the shed - then it poured cats and dogs. We were lucky that the sun wasn't out because for the short time it was out during the photos, it was H O T ! ! After the service Joanne, Rejean and myself ran to the shed to light all the candles on the table and around the room - we also had to open all the bottles of wine and put them on the tables. We got the job done. There were 4 lines for the buffet table so that went pretty fast. When the dancing started, after all the obligatory dances were over, Joanne and I started dancing, but not many more people were on the floor - we found out later it was because they don't start dancing at these weddings until about 11:30 - after everyone is pretty well hydrated - if you know what I mean. But we stuck it out and pretty soon everyone was up dancing - all the girls dance with their drinks in their hands - I thought it was because it was to guard their drinks but they said no, they just didn't want to put them down to dance. We finally left at about 1am - Shelley drove us back to the motel. Susan left at about 3am and Lindsey, the bride drove them home. Talk about a designated driver ;0) But it is always a good time to spend with family. Joanne flew all the way from Calgary and there was a friend of the bride's who flew in from Australia. It is always nice to come home for weddings and parties instead of funerals - life is too short to miss special family events.

More in another post...

See ya Bye

WEDDING WEEKEND UPDATE

The finished tables

One of my chair bows - perfect!!!

Kyle trying to shoo a bird from the rafters

Joanne perfecting her chair bows

the ceiling decorations - you get a feel of how large an area it is

Kyle, Joanne and Jack

The spread

The mothers - Bonnie and Susan

The guys take this cooler filled with beer to tractor pulls and any get togethers - and apparently it works!!!

Kyle getting wood for the fire

What a weekend so far. It is 1:09pm on Saturday and it is clearing up (read, stopped raining) and I do see some blue skies out there. Family pictures at 3:30 at a farm with beautiful gardens - and a cloudy day is supposed to be good for pictures - I hope. We spent yesterday helping decorate the Drive Shed - you would not believe how big this place is - it is about 60x100 with super high ceilings. I can tie chair bows in my sleep now - boy it took a while to learn how to do it - when I first sat down to learn I thought no way but by the 50th chair, I was a pro. But more about that later. The rehearsal dinner was a success. We worked all day long preparing the salads and trays - meat had to be picked up for the bbq. After the rehearsal everyone came back to farm and we had everything ready. We fed everyone and then enjoyed a fire in the yard. It was a good time.

At the Drive Shed, we helped tie the chair bows and set the tables Her colors are purple,black and silver. Every table had to be set just so. The knives had to face a certain way, the wine glass had to be at the top of the knife directly across from the spoon etc. And the little gifts to the guests are maple syrup that Troy and Kyle made - Yum Yum. It was quite the undertaking but it is just beautiful and there are tons of candles on side of the building sitting on the wall braces - and we are on candle duty after the service so when everyone comes into the drive shed it will just be a twinkling wonderland -can't wait.

Well that's it for now - I have to go get ready - that could take a while....

See Ya Bye

DID YOU FEEL IT???

Apparently there was a 5.5 earthquake today - I didn't feel it because Susan and I were in a car driving around Listowel at the time of the quake but Jack felt it. He was at the Kitchener hospital with Wilbur and he said he felt the room move and things started wobbling. Excitement!!!

We got everything for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow nite. There will be about 50 people so I have my work cut out for me. Veggie tray, cheese tray, devilled eggs, potato salad, cole slaw, strawberry shortcake, dips etc. etc. good thing Jack is going to bbq the meat.

I got my toes done tonite - the works - Shelley did a fine job of painting them purple - the wedding color. It's nice to be pampered.

See Ya Bye

DOWN ON THE FARM

It rained all the way here - washed all the dust and mud off the truck. But we finally made it!! Susan and Shelley were here to greet us - as well as the cows and Jack's birds - including his white peacock - beautiful bird. And they do make a racket. And Troy's cows. they are very curious - I walked over to them and they all turned to look at me. I put my hand over the fence and they were very cautious but a few did smell my fingers and lick my hand. Cute.

Rejean, Jack and Troy are over setting up the drive shed where the reception will take place on Saturday. The girls are just watching TV and I am blogging - tomorrow they are going to do my toes!!! My shoes have open toes so they are going to sit me down and pretty them up. They always do that to me - I guess I have been too long in the bush. I'll be sure to take some pictures :o)

See Ya Bye

ROAD TRIP ! ! !

Just when Rick and Joan are heading up here for a bit of relaxation, Rejean and I are headed down to Listowel for the much anticipated wedding of my nephew Troy to Lindsey. The wedding is not until Saturday but we are going to make a week of it (6 days to be exact). Joanne is flying in from Calgary on Thursday evening so the 3 sisters will be together again. The rehearsal dinner is at Sue and Jack's farm on Thursday evening and we will all be pitching in to help. The wedding ceremony and reception are at the bride's family's farm - there will be a full moon and I am sure the party will go on well into the nite. There is no party quite like a party on the farm. Those people know how to have a good time and I am looking forward to it. We will be taking a cab there and back so a good time will be had by everyone including the designated driver that is always me.

I talked to Susan this morning and she was a bit stressed - she needs her sisters!!! We are on our way!!!

See Ya Bye

EXPERIMENTATION

So...What do you think? I played a bit with the template of my blog. Let me know what you think. There's a lot to choose from. And in honor of the Rain Gods who have blessed us with precipitation, I chose this one.

See Ya Bye

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Daddy keeping an eye on us

Can you spot the baby's head sticking out

A side view - if you can see it

We were working at Joanne and Mitch's and John came over and told us about a Piliated Woodpecker's nest he had found - those birds are elusive at the best of times and to see a nest with babies heads out of the nest and the parents flying around, well that was too good to pass up - and I just happened to have my camera with me - surprise surprise. We crept around to where the nest was and I looked up - there was one of the babies sticking his head out of the hole in the tree - just seeing what was going on. Can you see him? Then the father came flying around (because it is Father's Day, it was the father woodpecker) He landed on a nearby tree just to assess the situation. He kept a close eye on us the whole time we were under the tree - I got my shots and then we moved on. It was quite exciting to see. They are big birds and very shy - you are lucky if you see them on trees - their call sounds like monkeys to me.

We collected about 100 polliwogs from the river and planted them in our lake - more frogs, just what we need. But the bass will thank us. We let them go by the beaver dam - it is nice and shallow there with mud to hid in. The next day they were all gone - I didn't see any bass licking their lips so I don't know what happened to them.

I hope everyone had a good Father's Day. My Father passed away about 30 years ago.

I have more bad memories of him than good ones, but the good ones were very good. I remember on Sunday mornings when Shirley Temple movies were playing - he always commented that the stories were always of her loosing her father.

He was a hero - he flew a pregnant woman about to give birth from Pelee Island to the Windsor Airport in the middle of the night with no landing lights on the island runway - the locals drove their cars to the runway and turned their lights on for him to guide him.

But he had his demons as we all do. He could not control his and it affected his life and everyone around him. I have learned his lessons.

See ya Bye

DINNER AT THE OUTPOST LODGE

Jim the cook extraordinaire making sure his guests are happy

Rolly and Gloria

Rolly and Bob relaxing on the patio overlooking Jobam

The front of the OutPost Lodge

Linda and Rejean

If you are ever up this way be sure and stop by - call ahead for reservations - it is well worth it!!

This evening about 21 of us hit the OutPost Lodge for dinner. There aren't a lot of places to go out to eat up here but the OutPost is always a great place to go for dinner. Rolly and Gloria are moving back to Windsor so we all got together to enjoy one last dinner together. The OutPost is run by Anne and Jim and together with their son Sean, put on one heck of a meal. Each day it is a different dinner - tonite it was roast beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots, a cauliflower dish, dinner rolls, cole slaw, and for desert, vanilla ice cream with a cream puff with chocolate sauce drizzled over it. Yum Yum!! There is pork roast, oven baked chicken, oven baked pork chops, turkey, and spaghetti and meat balls on the other nites. You can bring your own drinks and they don't charge a corkage fee - we bring coolers with our beer, bottles of wine - you name it and you can enjoy drink out on the patio overlooking the lake. They also rent cottages.

A good time was had by all.

See Ya Bye

FISHING UPDATE

Those two pictures were of the Hooverville landing which is used for access to Tunnel Lake and the Missisaugi River. Cummings Lake just drains into Tunnel Lake and is just down due to the lack of precipitation we have experienced. We don't fish Cummings so I can't comment on how the fishing is. I do know that Tunnel Lake is down so much that all the usual fishing spots don't exist anymore. Ron D took us out on the Lake a couple of weeks ago (when there was more water in it) and all his favourite fishing spots didn't produce - when you are used to fishing in 12 feet of water and now it only holds 5 or 6 feet, the fish have moved on. It has affected the fishing big time. Only the bodies of water that hydro has anything to do with are affected to such an extent that the fishing is B A D ! ! ! Aubrey Lake and Rocky Island Lake are another two that have been affected. Letters have been written to our members of parliament to alert them to what is going on, but what good it will do remains to be seen but the tourist industry up here has been damaged. It is a shame. But there are still lots of places to fish up here - please don't give up on us.

See Ya Bye

NOT A PRETTY PICTURE

Enough said.

See Ya Bye

SUNDAY MORNING CATCH

I had thought that I might like to go fishing on my own this weekend so I got some stuff together and headed out at about 9:30am. I was headed to the Mississaugi. And it was overcast - maybe some pickerel...

On my 4th cast into the rapids I hooked into something that was a decent size. It pulled line out but I kept the line taught. My rod is about 10' long and it is a little hard to net your own fish so I backed up closer to shore - better footing too. I did manage to maneuver it into the net when he was ready - a nice big bass!!! I had to let it go because the season isn't yet open. I retied, fresh worm and cast again. I had a couple of good hits and he took 4 worms - I was almost going to try a "stinger" hook. But I got him on. Put up a nice fight and took line also. It was a nice rainbow!! I again backed up closer to shore and landed him. One fish in the basket!! I hooked into a smaller bass, let him go and then nothing else. I was home by 11am with a nice rainbow. Not bad for a girl...

See Ya Bye

FYI

Just to let you know I drove my car over to the weather station and positioned my car so that I could jump into it if I encountered the bear AND I have access to a 20 gauge shotgun that I know how to use - just in case - the bear would be considered a nuisance bear and would not be tolerated by the locals around here - it is just a matter of time...

But you have to be very aware of your surroundings - in the past couple of weeks there has been reports of a beer chasing a person on a bicycle and a man being mauled by a black bear, not in this community but in the north - Orilla I think. There's not a lot of food for them this year due to the dry weather - the berry crop is almost non-existent so they are looking for food where ever they can find it. You know I won't be going for my walks along the highway any time soon.

Thanks for your concern.

See Ya Bye

BEAR ALERT!!!!

Picture from Wikpedia - not my front yard!! But you get the picture...

In my travels within the past 3 days I have seen 2 bears!! That is a lot of sightings. Even the Trading Post had to shoo away a bear that was hanging around there the other day - Jake even let off a firecracker to scare it away. Joy on Axe Lake had a bear around her place last night for 45 minutes, trying to eat their bbq - they banged pots and pans, yelled and even threw stones at it and it still wouldn't leave. Ute called and said that someone or something had pushed over a rain gauge at the weather station. It had big rocks on its base to prevent that. She called me this morning to let me know because I am going to do the weather for her at 13:00 hrs. I went over to take some pictures and put the rocks back on the base - they were heavy!! So it looks like we have a hungry, not afraid of humans, big black bear in our neighbourhood so we will be on the lookout and the alert!!!

See Ya Bye

WEATHER UPDATE

F I N A L L Y R A I N ! !
The fire bans have been lifted!!! There is a God....

See Ya Bye

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

Dump treasure being retro-fitted

Stuff you need at camp

Nice wheelbarrow...

Joanne gave me a list of things they needed for the camp and we finally got around to getting the stuff on Monday in the Sault. Canadian Tire had everything on sale. Wheelbarrow, rakes, shovel, splitting axe and a fan. Mission accomplished. The wheelbarrow was easy to put together and I rather like it. Nice and deep. Rejean also got the weights put on the treasure from the dump for the water system. Two old coffee cans filled with cement attached to the bottom bar to

hold it in place but not heavy enough so that it can't be lifted out of the water. Don't know if we will wait for them to come up to install or if we will do it ourselves. Why should we have all the fun??? What do you think??

See Ya Bye

ANOTHER PROJECT CROSSED OFF THE LIST...

Mitch's fishing vest hung up on the new hooks in the sauna house

2 more in the change room

4 new hooks in the change room

Hooks to dry the wet towels in the shower

We took a ride over to Axe Lake to install the hooks. We also packed a couple of beers that Ute had dropped off yesterday - beverages left by her fishermen when they left. Molson Export - not my brand but good nonetheless. We took extra in case John was home. Rejean also cleaned out the eves troughs. Now there are hooks for towels and clothes when you take a sauna. Just trying to make life a little more convenient. Before there was no place to hang your stuff - just 4 hooks in the change room. Now there are 16 more hooks - do the math. And Rejean noticed another place to add another set.

And we did run into John and Linda - they were doing some gardening. There I was with a t-shirt, a turtleneck and a fleece on and Linda had a sleeveless blouse on!! John was fetching some trim for their garden. Inpatients and marigolds were waiting to be planted.

Tomorrow we head to the Sault - I have to get Rejean some new clothes for the wedding. My nephew Troy is getting married to Lindsay and Joanne is flying in for it. We are making a week of it, heading down there a few days before the big event - I'll be helping Susan with the rehearsal party and yes I will be making my famous devilled eggs for the dinner. There should be about 40 people there and I will be utilizing all my skills I learned from the Hall. No problem!!!! Jack will be BBQing, salads, pickles, buns, eggs, etc. Yum Yum and Joanne's flight will arrive in time for her to help too. All hands on deck!!! Should be fun.

See Ya Bye

DUMP DAY

Drying the hooks for Joanne and Mitch's sauna building

Rejean's treasure from the dump. Perfect for what he wants to do.

During the summer the dump is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays - I usually forget to go on Wednesday so I go on Saturdays. Today I had company - Rejean decided to accompany me - we had a lot of stuff so I think he thought I couldn't handle it but it turns out he was looking for something which he found - it is always a good day when you find a treasure at the dump. Joanne and Mitch have a Sandpoint water system at their place and it needs some adjustment. Rejean was going to build a tripod thing to keep the end out of the mud at their place - well he found just the thing at the dump today. It, he states, is perfect for what he wants to do. He found it in the scrap area of the dump. I have no idea what it was but I know what it is going to be. There is a joke that "you know you are a redneck when you leave the dump with more than you brought" There is lots of good usable stuff at the dump and people around here appreciate and know how to make good use of "junk".

We also worked on hooks for Joanne's sauna room. There weren't enough hooks for towels and clothes so we (read Rejean) made some hooks for the place. I am in the process of varathaning them - 3 coats with sanding after the 2nd. Nice. We will install them tomorrow. No charge.

We finally got some rain last nite - much needed. Still need more tho.

And my ravens scared off the fox today. You could hear them making a ruckus - the same as they did when the fox was around before. And it turns out the fox was around today. They chased him over across the road. I think they think they are protecting us or maybe just chasing him away from their feeding area. Gee thanks!!

See Ya Bye