These are the people I'm stuck vacationing with...

Last week while on vacation in Maine we drove up to a scenic lookout near Camden and stopped at this old tower.

I attempted to get an artsy/paparazzi style photo of Scott and our youngest son Isaac

I assumed they were discussing the beautiful view of the harbor

I should have known better, they were plotting to make obscene gestures at me in an attempt to stop the photo session. ( Notice the lovely PG-rated family posing for pictures to the left of my renegade family)

Oh well...as long as some people are having fun...

Last year back to school....

Yesterday I picked up Isaac's grad photo proofs...yikes.  How can it be that our youngest is entering his last year of high school....and that one year from now our "nest" will be empty?  I remember complaining about the huge list of school supplies I had to buy when the boys were in elementary...and all those labels that had to be stuck on everything...and how our son's school always seemed to have an obsession with zip lock bags.   Anyway this week when the back to school flyers arrived in the mailbox...there was really nothing my Grade 12 boy needed..."Just binders, loose leaf and a couple nice pens, Mom"...I guess that's good news, right?

What happens in Prince Edward Island, stays on Prince Edward Island...not.

So I "stole" this photo off my son's Facebook.....I guess this is one of the things they got up to on their camping trip to Prince Edward Island....

Looks fairly innocent to me....milking cows and such.

House painting & Hallelujah!

Two things happened this weekend that made me very happy....Isaac and his buddies returned safe and sound from their camping trip to Prince Edward Island (I have a funny story about their trip that I will have to share later in the week) and we finished painting the house.  We worked on it for the last 6 weeks after work and on the weekends....we used 20 gallons of stain, and I am SO tired of painting, thank goodness it is done!  I really don't like vinyl siding but  oh my maintaining wood siding is a lot of work!

Here is the after picture of the screen porch (complete with Charlotte napping on the step)

Here is a before picture (notice the screen door was red before...and the clapboards above the veranda roof had turned an ugly dark gray from sun damage)

After

During....Scott painting the woodshed and north end of the house

After pic of woodshed and north side

Another before shot

After

After...mudroom door...I painted all the metal doors yellow

After: woodshed door and mudroom window....



So just to recap I painted the metal doors yellow, the screen door aqua and the woodshed door red...but they are all on a different side of the house so you don't see them all at once, and the siding color is quite neutral (grayish-taupe) so I'm hoping the doors will add a little interest.  I hope it doesn't look like a clown-house....mostly because I'm afraid of clowns...and I would hate a bunch of them to show up at my door...yikes.

Worry Wart

Isaac and 4 of his friends just left for a camping weekend in Prince Edward Island.  It is about a 4 hour drive from our house.....am I crazy to let him go?  They are all 17 years old...about to enter their senior year in high school next month.  I have known about this trip for a month (and worried the entire time)...but I'm also so glad they are adventurous and interested in getting out and doing things....(it's the things that they might be doing that worries me...).  

They plan spend some time at the beach....

and some time exploring the island...

I'm pretty sure they have no interest in attending this....

or checking out the Green Gables homestead...I'm quite sure none of the boys are big Anne of Green Gables fans.



Scott and I agonised all month on letting him go then we thought about this...in less than 1 year Isaac will be setting off for university...so surely he should be able to go camping for the weekend now.

Two weeks ago our oldest son went to the Osheaga Music festival in Montreal (surely I think these boys are trying to drive their poor worrywart mama crazy).  He survived...both the festival and the driving in Montreal that is famously insane.

I'll be glued to my phone all weekend waiting for him to text me and give me a play-by-play of what they are doing.  How did parents survive before the cell phone umbilical cord?

When I told Isaac's two grandmothers about the trip (keep in mind my Mom is 68 and my mother-in-law is 82), they said "that is wonderful they will have so much fun".  I can't believe it...I'm less cool than the grannies.

Scenes from the Fair

This weekend was our little town's Community Fair.  It has been going on for almost 100 years...it is old-timey to say the least.  It starts out on Friday night with a pageant (I know...what you're thinking...and I agree), followed by an outdoor concert and fireworks over the lake.

Our family looks after a hot dog canteen at the fair...we deep fry hot dogs...steam the buns and fry  the onions in oil...they are very popular...we sold 1000 hot dogs in 4 hours.  I hope we aren't responsible for anyone's cardiovascular health taking a nose dive this weekend.  We raised over $1100 for various charities at our canteen (that cancels out promoting bad nutrition for a day...doesn't it)?

At the end of the day Scott and I went to the old fashioned baked bean and potato salad supper.  I swear the median age there was 75 years old....but it was delicious..and included homemade brown bread...and pie!  I was tempted to whip out my camera and take a picture at the table but wasn't sure if the senior citizens there would appreciate the paparazzi.  

I did, however take a few pictures of the other events:

Saturday morning there was a parade...with firetrucks

and funky old trucks....

there is a craft/bake sale where you can buy cupcakes...and how can you resist cupcakes?  I did not...and they were delicious.

There was a display of antique engines....and isn't this little old man the cutest?  He was so proud of  his 1909 Antique engine...and I loved his overalls so I had to get a picture.

There was an alpaca petting zoo...really...I just loved saying "alpaca petting zoo"...all day

hello cuteness

in the parade there were people in kilts playing the bagpipes....bagpipes are loud but festive...and no..I didn't ask them if they were wearing underwear under their kilts...sheesh...I do have manners you know.

There was a "build your own boat race" out of recycled materials....some of the boats were quite interesting....

The boat race was very fun to watch...most of them floated but staying on the boat gave a few teams some problems.  

I think for the rest of the week I shall eat salad to make up for the deep fried hot dog fiasco.

Ten on Ten August 2012

Joining with Rebecca today for Ten on Ten
Here's my set for August:

# 1 Sweet Peas

#2 Buddies

# 3 Pumpkin

# 4 Sunflower

 # 5 My new great-nephew Christian only 24 hours old today

# 6 Garden Bounty

# 7 More sweet peas

# 8 Purple peppers

# 9 This funny view out my kitchen window (we have been painting our house all month)

# 10 Setting up a big tv at the community hall...tomorrow morning our hometown girl Catharine Pendrel goes for gold in women's mountain biking at the London Olympics and the whole town is getting together to watch the race live.

Baby, Baby, Baby

I am so excited this morning because my nephew Jeremy and his wife Natacha are having their first baby...today!    It is their 2nd anniversary so the the timing is perfect (although they will never be able to go away for their anniversary because they will be hosting birthday parties...oh well, I'm sure they won't mind).  The little one is coming two weeks ahead of schedule but all is well so far...maybe he is a little impatient.

My nephew Jeremy was born when I was only 10 years old so he is more like a younger brother   to me.  In fact my sister Andrea was only 17 when he was born and because she was still in high school he lived at home with all of us until she got married to Jeremy's father 3 years later.  I was so petite when I was 10 I used to climb into Jeremy's crib every night and lay down with him until he fell asleep (spoiled much?). 

 Although my parents were less than impressed when my sister got pregnant so young by the time Jeremy arrived  we were all smitten.  It probably helped that he was a little boy born into a house full of sisters. After Andrea got married to Jeremy's father Gordon they built a new house nearby and moved in.  Jeremy still came to our house every day after school and stayed until his parents picked him up after work.  

My sister Andrea will become a grandmother for the first time today......she is beyond excited.  After they were married Andrea and Gordon couldn't have any more children so Jeremy is an only child..maybe fate intervened and that teenage pregnancy wasn't an "accident".  

The "parents-to-be" on their wedding day 2 years ago today.

Update:  Little 7 pound 6 ounce Christian Richard arrived safely at 2pm.  Everyone is doing well....I'm going today to get a peek at his cuteness. 

Birds, Birds, Birds

We took a break from house painting last weekend (which we really shouldn't have because we are oh so close to finishing) to go kayaking on a small lake near our place.

As we paddled quietly up a calm channel I looked to my right and saw this nest of beautiful olive-colored eggs right on the edge of the water.  I knew from the eggs that it was a loon's nest.  Since the loons build their nests on the water's edge the eggs are often damaged when motorized water craft go too close to the shore and the waves from their wake swamps the loon's nest, knocking the eggs into the water.  It is so sad as I love the sound of the loons so much and their population is really dwindling.  

I think this nest is safe because the lake is so small there is never motorized watercraft on it, only rowboats and kayaks.  Aren't these eggs huge considering a loon is only the size of a duck and the eggs were easily twice the size of chicken's eggs.

We also so these beautiful egrets which aren't even supposed to be this far north.

I checked in my bird book and they are normally found from South Carolina down toward Florida.  I think they are lost...I blame their GPS...those things screw everyone up.