Flown the Coop

Rather than the usual Rawk the Coop for August long weekend, we had a small informal gathering this year, based loosely around my birthday weekend. Cooperative weather and great company led to a resplendent weekend of much-needed R&R.....culminating with me aging a year!

We enjoyed some fresh produce from the garden, along with the near-obligatory fish fry and a few bonfires under starry skies. We also introduced some guests to Wheatley's new smokehouse.

Thanks to Vanessa, and John and Julie, for making the trek to celebrate the Big Day.

This year's iteration of The Garden (after a good weeding)

Cherry tomatoes

Sweet Hungarian peppers

Green beans!

Apples on the way too

Firing up the Fryer

Mushrooms swimming in Canola

Big Batch o' Fries

A Plethora o' Perch

A Feast Fit for Kings

Fireside Chats

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