Slack Day in July

Motor City madness, has touched our countryside. But I digress.

In spite of all the wacky drama going on in the world, what with bombings in France and police being targeted in the USA and a coup in Turkey....life goes on.

Don't get me wrong, we are neither oblivious to, nor untouched by, these events...but we cannot be ruled by them. In times like these, we must appreciate the simple beauty of young birds nesting on our front porch, fresh green beans from your own garden, or the surprisingly intricate peregrinations and social interaction of ants across your deck.

We also got distracted with an emergency trip the veterinarian (thanks Miss), and replacing our 16-year old oil tank so that the fuel company was allowed to deliver heating oil to us again. Better now than November, I suppose! I can't help wonder if Jane called ahead with the colour choice....

Most importantly, we managed to save the nearly 400 L of oil left in the old tank.

Porchberries!

Baby Swallows hunkered in the nest and awaiting Mama

Hungry Swallows - can we see a menu?

Out with the old oil tank - she's done her time!

And in with the new......and what luck, it matches the house!

New tank in place

Warm Weekend

Busy weekend at home, with lots to catch up on after a few weekends of travel recently.

Lovely weather, though a tad on the warm side for us fair folk.....meaning that we had to pace ourselves in the sun! Still, we managed to get lots accomplished, and still find time for some fun.

Much of the weekend was spent on prep work getting Jane ready for upcoming art shows - cutting wood, building canvasses, and staining them so that they are ready to receive whatever art she graces them with.

I also managed to get most of the lawn (i.e. green weeds and golden dead grass) cut, much of the garden weeded, and several other maintenance jobs accomplished around the yard.....while Jane focused on filling her new canvasses with art!

We rounded out Sunday grilling steak along with corn on the cob and the first green beans from the garden, along with a few episodes of Mrs. Brown's Boys.

Great Lakes Art

A round of stained canvasses on our high-tech drying racks

We Art The World

Constructing wooden canvasses in the shade of the Man-Garage

Ready for stain!

Options

The Boonies Drive-In

Tarzan!

Beans and Tomatoes

Down on The Farm

The road trip continued further into eastern Ontario, with an obligatory stop at The Farm to visit my uncle, along with two hundred years of family history.

In spite of The County being "discovered" in the past decade, with the wine and foodie crowd, some of us have treasured its bays and backroads our entire lives.

A great visit, and always good for the soul.It's a magical place.

A trip back the lane

Have a Cigar!

Back in the Woods

Preparing some coals to grill some steaks

Dusk at The Farm

The Barn

The Motorleague in a Motor City

The Motorleague rock The Music Hall in Oshawa, the City That General Motors Built!

They were opening for Big Sugar, certainly no slouch in their own right. Great crowd, great show!

Pre-Show

...and The Motorleague takes the stage!

Don Levandier lays it down

The boys from New Brunswick are bringing' it!

Nathan Jones rocks the lead guitar

A full house

Gordie Johnson and Big Sugar

Pre-Show in The 'Shwa!

A trip to eastern Ontario to visit family seemed like the perfect excuse to catch one of our favourite bands along the way - The Motorleague was opening for Big Sugar at the Music Hall in Oshawa!

We arrived early enough to visit local craft brewery 5 Paddles Brewing in Whitby to grab some samples, and then grab a bite to eat at a great BBQ place (Buster Rhino's) across the street from the venue in downtown Oshawa.

We both opted for the fabulous beef brisket sandwich, though we both agreed that my Georgia Mustard version (with a side of apple slaw) was better than Jane's sandwich sauced with Bourbon BBQ. And of course, they had some great Ontario microbrews on tap.....including the Old Flame Red from Port Perry. The streetside patio sealed the deal.

Even better when you only have to stumble across the (albeit busy) street to the show....

Old Flame Red in the heart of downtown Oshawa

Buster Rhino's Southern BBQ

The Music Hall

Beef Brisket Bonanza!

A selection of samples from 5 Paddles Brewing