Murray Lake

We love our time at Murray Lake!  We left the house at 3 in the morning driving north along the 400 ... our first rest stop was Perry Sound where we got the dogs out for a quick walk ... then into McIck for McBreakie ... I actually love the McMuffins, shhhhhh.  Then back into the van ... we watched the sun come up as we continued north ... and almost hit a deer!  Continuing through Sudbury, curse that Canadian Tire, and along the north shore of lake Huron to Blind River.  We stopped for gas and a pee break and then slowly drove onward to Iron Bridge.  I love this stretch of road ... it closely follows the North Channel and we always watch for Bald Eagles here ... we saw at least 8! 




Bald Eagle

  Their white heads where hard to miss in the bright sunlight.  Once, 2 years ago, we saw a golden eagle here ... but we were part of a group at that time and couldn't stop.  We'd really like a repeat of that!

Once again we turned north toward Chapleau ... the fall colours were just getting started. 

Fall Drive North

As we followed the winding Mississaugi River a large bull moose ran along the road and as we approached it dashed into the trees on my right ... and disappeared!  How do they do that?  I had my camera ready ... and we were almost on top of it ... but as soon as it hit the trees, it was gone.

We passed Chapleau ... almost there!  Then up towards Missanabi ... almost there ... and then finally down the long driveway to the lake ... we were there!

Tina met us at the van.  We let the dogs out to run ... and run ... and introduced Tina to Alfie.  The lake was calm ... just like a mirror, reflecting the autumn gold of the forest.  Ahhhhh.  We talked while the dogs played ... both goldens ran to the lake and splashed around near the shore ... no surprises there!

We dragged in all our gear ... the little cabin never changes!  Finally ... peace and quiet for a whole week!  We were both exhausted, so after a quick supper we watched the sun set ... and then we went to bed.

The next morning dawned, the lake hidden by a frosty fog ... so beautiful!



Frosty Fog



Delicate Frost

I headed out in my PJ's to have a look around.  Frost clung to the surfaces of every surface!  I took this picture of Sydney ... c'mon, don't tell me dogs don't smile!  Back inside, Steve started coffee and I started a fire to warm up the cabin. 

Happy Syd

We were not alone on the lake this year ... we were very surprised to learn that another cabin was occupied ... by a 2 person, 2 dog hunting party.  As we enjoyed our coffee ... in front of the big window, our neighbours headed out on their small duck boat.

Jeff and Tina were busy at the outpost cabin, so we did in fact have the place to ourselves.  Steve checked out the boat, getting things set up the way he likes them, while I played with the dogs.  Suffice it to say that both Alfie and Syd spent the entire week wet!

And that's how the entire week went.  The weather was warm and calm, so Steve spent many hours out fishing.  Mostly I read ... we have hundreds of books from Steve's mom, she was a huge fan of Christine Feehan, and I had packed the first 5 books of the "Game" series.  Not really my style, often violent, but quite interesting storylines ... I read 1 each day.  I also spent some time scrapbooking and baking.

When Steve returned from fishing we'd play with the pups.  We had a thought to see if Alf would dive from the dock ... ya think?  He was like a little kid, running down the length of the dock and flinging himself into the water.  I took this series of pictures with my camera on burst mode ...

Dock Divin Dog - Alfie

Too funny!  Sydney showed some interest, and even though we know we shouldn't encourage her ... dock diving is too hard on a dog's front legs, we let her do one ... so here it is, Syd's first ... and last dock dive.



Syd's not so graceful dive

 At night we'd watch the stars and on 2 occasions we heard an owl.  The sound of silence was deafening!  The cabin has no electricity ... a generator can be used for some light ... but we chose not to use it, except once when we invited Jeff and Tina for dinner.  And we hardly used the wood stove, except in the mornings to drive off the chill.

We had a great vacation - so peaceful!  Before we left, We gave Jeff and Tina a picture of one the sunsets from our trip last year.  It was breathtaking!

On Friday night a large party of moose hunters arrived ... long into the night we could hear their generator droning on and on ... it was time for us to leave.

Saturday dawned and it was windy.  We had decided to drive along the Superior shore on the way home, and I was hoping for some drama.  We stopped in Wawa for coffee and then down 17 into Lake Superior Provincial Park.  Initially I wanted to stop at Old Woman Bay, but evidently so did everyone else.  Surperior was a little moody, but still incredibly beautiful, and many people were stopping to admire her.  So we pulled into the parking lot at Katherine Cove ... we took the dogs out and had the entire beach to ourselves.  We didn't dare take the goldens off leash ... the lake was too dangerous.  Waves roared ashore, the water an exotic green colour.


Katherine Cove Lake Superior

 What a great vacation!

Countdown to VACATION

The last 3 weeks in September flew by ... so much to do before vacation.  As always there was work.  I'd work so hard that I'd just crash when I got home.  The van started acting up ... alternator again ... I'm so pissed at Canadian Tire ... the Sudbury location for the jury-rigging a faulty alternator into the van ... I mean really, wire and tape? And the Kitchener location that made us wait for 2 hours while they claimed to scope the van ... without ever raising the hood.  As Neddy Flanders would say ... shoddily doddily, ooddily.  But we took the van elsewhere and had a new alternator installed and hey ... this one works!

But at the end of all that we headed north to Murray Lake!

Weekend Lost (continued)

Sunday.  Steve spent most of the day walking back and forth from the motel to the garage.  Nothing was going to plan ... our van was not even looked at until after noon, and then it was one thing or another ... and finally the news that we had been dreading ... we needed a part that the garage didn't have ... a dealer part, and we'd have to wait until Tuesday.

We had less than 30 minutes to walk (really fast) to a store and put in some supplies for the next day ... Labour Day, when all the stores would be closed.  Back in the motel, we ate some dinner and watched the "Big Bang Theory" marathon.  At some point the room started to feet like a prison cell!  We called our neighbour and asked him to look after our cats.

Monday dawned ... and it was cold ... and guess what ... my jacket was still balled up under the leaky console in the van ... locked in the garage across the street.  So the dogs got some quick walks, and Steve let them run off leash behind the hotel a few times.  They are such good dogs ... but they were stressed too ... all cooped up in the room for most of the day.  We had a short dog fight ... I hate those.  Alfie is Alfa in our house ... and every now and then he likes to make a statement. 

Poor Tucker, he never sees it coming.  He never fights back ... he just tries to get away.  It lasted just seconds, Steve pulled Alfie off Tucker, who limped away leaving a trail of blood!  I ran to Tuck, found the wound and applied some presure with a facecloth.  With Steve's help we examined the bite to his upper leg ... is looked terrible ... and we cleaned the fur away ... and it bled more.  Our first aid kit was locked in the van!  I kept pressure on Tuck's leg while Steve ran to the nearest drug store ... thank goodness it was open ... but it took an hour for him to get back.  By then most of the bleeding had stopped, so we just left it be.  Tuck softly licked at it.

Steve purchased some time on the computer in the motel lobby.  He sent his boss an e-mail, letting her know that he'd not be at work on Tuesday ... then he checked the sketch support site.  When he returned to the room (I was still watching Big Bang) he told me that I had won the sketch book give-away!  He gave me his computer card and I dashed to the lobby.  I checked Allison's site, and wow ... what a rush.  So many people had selected my layouts as their favorite!  So then I e-mailed my boss and then Allsion to claim my prize!

Tuesday morning Tucker's leg looked great!   I packed up our stuff and Steve headed over to the garage.  Guess what ... the dealer didn't have the part ... no one did.  They were going to have it sent from Toronto ... which would probably cost us another day!  Steve asked them to check the wreckers, which they did, and they found a part ... which was not even delivered until after 1 o'clock in the afternoon.  The good people at the Comfort Inn had let us stay until 1, but we had to check out then ... they were fully booked for that night.

We sat at a picnic table at the Harvey's next door and ate some lunch.  Even in the sun it was cold.  Then we walked over to the garage ... and there ... sitting in the parking lot was our van!  I loaded the dogs and Steve headed in to the service area.

It was over!  We drove home ... and we didn't stop, not once.  We arrived home around 8 in the evening.  We were exhausted ... the dogs were so happy to be home, and to run ... really run in the yard.

Our long weekend sucked!

Weekend Lost

So, that was 4 days that I'll never get back ....

We decided to head up to Killarney again, this time for at least 2 days ... maybe 3 depending on the weather.  We were looking forward to playing on the dog beach, eating fishy and chippie and even walking a couple of trails ... easy ones.

But none of that happened, instead the van broke down on the highway in the middle of nowhere ... well, actually just south of the Pickerel River.  Steve pulled the van over as far as he could ... at least 2 feet off the road.  Oh, and I left my wallet at home which contained my CAA card, which made getting a tow somewhat tedious.  And while we waited for the tow, the rain came down and the wind blew ... transport trucks passed within inches of us (bastards!).  I was afraid that we would be hit and killed right there on the side of the road.  And then water began to pour in from the overhead console, WTF!  Thats never happened before!  We put the only absorbant thing under it, my jacket ... and we waited and waited.

Finally the truck showed up ... a flatbed ... and the pups had to stay in the van.  Steve and I crammed ourselves up with the driver ... and I mean crammed!  The drivers stick shift was firmly jammed against my stomach!  How embarassing!  But he was a real nice guy and we had alot in common, so we chatted pleasantly while we were towed to Sudbury ... an hour long drive.

I was never so happy to get out of any vehicle ... my legs were cramped and my knees were killing me ... it's a long way down from one of those things!  The van rolled off the truck and all 3 pups were so happy to see us ... we put them on leashes and got them out of the garage.  Luckily, the rain had stopped for a bit.  Steve spoke with the service department and then we headed to the hotel.  Rather than walking all the way to the Holiday Inn ~1.5 km ... our preferred motel while travelling, we decided to walk across the road to the Comfort Inn, and they had a pet friendly room available.

At this point I was so relieved and happy.  We were all together, and we were all safe ... that was the most important thing to me!  And the news not too bad.  The service department could work on our van on Sunday ... it should take only ~ 2 hours ... we'd still have time to play in Killarney the next day.  We ordered delivery from Swiss Chalet and went to bed early ... we were exhausted!

to be continued ...

Gallery Week - Earth Day

My final layout went up yesterday, here's the post.



"Earth Day" by Michele Edwardsbased on Two-page Sketch #8
Picked by creative team member Christine Chain

What I love about this layout:

1) How she used the Earth as the circle in this layout. Set against the black background, it really stands out and complements the theme.

2) The brads in variegated blue. Again, it just fits the theme and shows how you can interpret the use of a "strip of paper" to fit your needs

It was a great week ... I loved seeing my layouts up on Allison's blog and I loved the very kind comments from everyone.  It's not really over yet.  Allison has asked her viewers to pick their favorites, and again my layouts have been selected ... not as frequently ... but it's still a rush!

Gallery Week - Sweet Miss Myst

It's Thursday and another layout up on Sketch Support!  My head is spinning!

"Sweet Miss Myst" by Michele Edwardsbased on the October Sketch Week sketch from Allison's blog
Picked by creative team member Megan Bickers

1. I loved how she added the black ribbon swirl to the layout. Keeps my eye moving and keeps it interesting. Also works perfectly with the cat theme.

2. I also really like how she added her journaling and the gemstones along the same lines as the ribbon. Really reinforces that theme and adds a great place for journaling without distracting from the layout design.

3. I love how she added the title over the printed word paper. Gives a graphic feel to the layout and a great way to use the themed word paper!

You know ... even though I liked this layout, it never really jumped out at anyone ... until now.  Kinda makes the hassle of sewing that ribbon down worth it! 

And, I'm off work tomorrow ... Loooooong weekend!  Happy Happy Joy Joy

Gallery Week - Golden Girl

The second one of my layouts went up on the Sketch Support blog this morning ...  I've copied my section of the post here ... I am on cloud 9!  Lynette picked me ... I love her stuff!

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"Golden Girl" by Michele Edwardsbased on Two-page Sketch #14
Picked by creative team member Lynette Jacobs

I love how this layout tells a story. To me it is all about the photos...and she used beautiful photos. I love the stitching on the sun and the buttons she used for the sunrays. The tree is just the perfect touch.