Canada Day Eve

It's final preparation time before the big trip tomorrow. This is the weekend of the Sailboat Rendez-vous. About 30 sailboats will depart at 0900 hours tomorrow, and set sail for a northern destination. This is a yearly event, usually well attended. With Saturday and Monday being travel days, Sunday becomes the get-together day, consisting of a wine and cheese (courtesy of the marina), and a pot luck, with contributions from the boats. To commemorate the event, each boat receives an engraved beach towel and a bottle of wine (at least, that's how it was in the past).

Tonight, we make sure we have electronics working, food essentials, and shmooze with fellow sailors who will be leaving en masse tomorrow.

Happy Canada Day, whether it be on land, on the sea, or in the air.

Door-To-Door SalesPeople

It's the usual situation. You know it. You've been there. Doorbell rings. You run to answer it. Person is standing there with clipboard resting on one arm, pen in hand. Maybe there's an identifying badge hanging around their neck. Maybe not. They look anxiously at your door, straightening their clothing. hoping that you'll answer, so that they can lure you into what they have to offer. Usually it's the same thing.

Except for today. Today was a little different. This person was offering special cable services for a cheaper rate than anyone else (of course! What other angle would YOU use?). So, after they say what they are pushing, I mention that we are totally with the competitor.

The response from the SalesPerson?

"Well, that sucks."

My response?

Maybe for you, but not for us!

No Global Warming Here

No way. Nah ah. Today was a day full of wild weather. It started out hot and humid, and then by lunchtime the skies had darkened, and we had a few huge thunderstorms. There was flooding throughout much of Sleepy Hollow. This tapered off, and then started again......with heavy rain and flooding.

Now, as I recall from last year, we also had some pretty similar wild weather in June. There was that one really wild day, where the wind was crazy big. I remember going to look out the patio door, and thinking that something just wasn't right, but I couldn't figure out what it was......but when I looked at the patio, I saw that all of the patio furniture had been blown off and throughout the yard, breaking the patio umbrella in the process.

As I write this, the tree frogs are doing their evening symphony, a little quieter than earlier this evening, but I can still hear them.

Kitty In A Basket

Kitties will do the darndest things sometimes, as evidenced by the following photo of Mister Feline Family Member.

This particular basket held a few balls of wool, and over the past while, Mister Feline Family Member has taken to nuzzling the wool and getting downright comfortable in the basket. Maybe they smell like his mummy. Maybe they feel the way she used to feel. I don't know. He used to do this a long time ago with an Icelandic wool sweater.

There is a ritual that is followed each time he approaches the basket. He must circle it, then sniff the contents, then, one by one, he tosses a ball or two outside of the basket. Then he scratches around in the basket, like he does when he's in the litter box (except that he's not about to litter, or whatever). The end result is that he wants to rest in the basket, even though he is too big to fit entirely inside it. When he is completely done burying and sniffing, he plops himself outside of the basket, and rests his head on the edge.



Just too cute for words.

A Day Full of Dragonflies and A Dog on a Boat

Today was the end of a really nice weekend. There was good wind for a quiet sail back home. The water temperature reached 25 degrees Celsius (worthy of a woo hoo!!), and that made for a refreshing swim. There was no rain (also worthy of a woo hoo!!). The weekend also had its share of dragonflies. They came on-by-one but they also arrived as though they were going onto Noah's Ark....two-by-two. I tried to get a close-up picture of one, but they never seem to stay in one place for very long. I guess that they had places to go, creatures to see.

The other highlight of the weekend, was the most adorable dog. He spent most of the weekend sitting in the dinghy, apparently watching for things in the water (my guess is fish). He also really enjoyed leisurely resting with his head comfortably nudged against the stern.

Unlike the dragonflies, I did get a picture of this...that's him in the lower left-hand corner...above 'Las'........


Here's to the last week of June. Cheers!

Getting A Head of Things

It's a beautiful day here at BYC. Hot hot hot, and the wireless is up to par today, and so this gives me an opportunity for a quick blog.

Today is the day that the old toilet comes out of the head and the new toilet gets installed. This sounds easy enough. You just remove the old toilet, and install the new toilet. Right? Well, maybe not so. The old toilet has been in pace for the age of the vessel in which it sits......27 years to be exact. That means that things pretty much like to be where they are. The Captain has been working at this '1 hour job' for more than an hour now. The air is turning a little blue, and the final call for a service technician has been sent. This is the current status of things. The old toilet has departed, and the saviour technician is standing by to install the new beast. We should be at end of job in another couple of hours probably. Can't wait to try that new seat!!

Happy Fete de la Sainte Jean to everybody.......and we even got the day off too!

Just A Boy On A Rock

He's just a little boy sitting on a rock. In this picture, he was only 2 years old.

He would have been 85 years old today. He rode a Harley as a messenger in WWII. He worked for the same company for 45 years. He was a goalie on the company's hockey team. He loved cars, and music, and dogs; but he really really loved his budgies. He enjoyed being at home, watching TV. He loved Christmas, and decked the house out with displays and lights.

He loved his family.

He may have been a little boy sitting on a rock, but he was also my Dad, and today marks the day that he was born. Happy Birthday, Dad, and I hope you are looking down and smiling. xx

Etiquette Rules

Our times have certainly changed. When I was growing up, please, thank you, and you're welcome, were never an option, but were always required, no questions asked. Nowadays, we hear these words less and less.

Scenario: "Would you like fries with that?" -----"No" (this can be 'nah' in some circles; grunts in others).

Scenario: "Is that all for today?" ---- "Yup"..."Yes"...(again, no response, or grunts in some circles).

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just being picky. Maybe because it happens to me....on occasion.

Here in Sleepy Hollow, though, it doesn't happen as much; it happens, but not as much. People are mostly polite; they hold doors for people; they use please and thank you and you're welcome.

Maybe there IS hope.

Etiquette Rules!

Summer Solstice

Today is June 21st.....time for the official arrival of summer.....debut de l'ete....Summer Solstice....longest day of the year. They say it's going to be a long and hot summer in this neck of the woods, and that is perfecto for us.

Here in Sleepy Hollow, today is also noted for nasty graffiti painted on the pavement of our street, and speeding tickets.

Oh, and flying ants (yes, flying ants). It's bad enough when ants walk, in great numbers in armies, but when they fly, then land, then march, you would think that would require talent. Well, I guess for an ant it does. Except that today I am finding these flying creatures everywhere; okay, maybe I am not finding them......our Feline Family Members are finding them for me. The ants uncleverly land somewhere, usually somewhere in front of the Feline Family Members, and the furry friends stand frozen, staring at the floor. Then that's my cue to go over and either rescue the flying ant (usually not an option) or put it out of its misery (the preferred option). Pity the poor flying ant.

Cheers to the arrival of summer. And watch out for flying ants.

The First Time...

The first time that I ever decided to do a blog, I chickened out. Sure, I viewed other blogs, checked them out, even found some of them interesting. Never thought I'd want to have one of my own (like a dog - always nice to admire other people's dogs but would never own one).

So here I am, composing my first blog entry. No one can tell me what to write here. This is my space, for now. Maybe it will become a really interesting space, or maybe not, but for now it is my space, and a space for me to crawl into.