Brrrrrrrrrr!!

Wow, what just happened? Sweated like a little piggy yesterday and woke up this morning frozen solid... just about! Thank you Luna for snuggling with me in bed. Why do the season changes have to be so abrupt? Keeping my frozen fingers crossed that there are still a few warm/hot days left!

Because even though I don't like crowds I would gladly put up with them for a few more weeks of beach weather. I'm not ready to put summer behind me yet!

Day at the Pinery 

Another day, another soggy Dorito.

Last Sunday - Jazzfest in Wortley Village along with 150 craft vendors - including my brother!

Love the image on this guy's T-shirt!

There's my bro below...he makes and sells birdhouses so that he can buy a new T-shirt. I think it's Day 12 for the Pink Floyd shirt!

                      Here he is wearing it on our visit to see our sister in Bracebridge!!

The rest of the photos were taken at Pt. Bruce on Monday during the eclipse. While we didn't see a total eclipse in SW Ontario we certainly felt the effects. The sparkling lake became less sparkly, the air became much cooler temporarily and it got quite a bit darker.

It got so cool that I came out from under the beach umbrella and sat on a blanket instead. Eventually the sun came back and I had to retreat to the umbrella once again. It was a very interesting experience.

August Transportation Update:

• two car rentals of $19 each for a total of $38
• gave my brother $40 for gas on the way to Bracebridge
• $134 for last car insurance payment (now cancelled - I am on Kazi's insurance policy to ensure continuity in my car insurance history)

That's it. The total for August so far is $212, most of that being the last insurance payment. If we have more nice weather I might squeeze in one more trip to the beach before leaving for Scotland on Sept. 3rd.  I've used my feet and bicycle to get around the city. I cancelled one bicycle outing due to stormy weather.  When I rented a car I took the opportunity to purchase the heavy things I needed, specifically cat litter. 

The total for September will be zero! I'll be using my feet, shuttle buses, airplanes and trains to get around Scotland. All transportation has been paid for as part of my trip. Starting in October I will sign up for Car Share and see how that works for me.  There is a Prius parked a couple of blocks from me which I can rent by the hour. For longer trips I'll continue to rent a car from Kazi at Enterprise and use my feet/bicycle as much as possible. I am considering this an experiment. It may work out and then again it may not but I'm not ready to give up yet!

Winter Camping in a Yurt - Day Three

Yes, the saga ends tonight! Tomorrow I'm going to talk about my love affair....... with pads of paper! AND how to spend and still have a NO SPEND DAY!! Ooooh, that's a good one!!


So here's the last of the photos from the Yurt adventure:

A wee bit of sunshine struggling to get
through the grey clouds. Mmmmmuch
colder today - down to -18c!

Before you think we're getting
all mushy here, I was a bit of
a grumpus because it was so
ccccccold and Michael was all
gungho about going for another
100 mile hike. Sometimes I just can't
handle his high level of gungho-ness!
This is how he
tries to improve my mood!
Pretty underhanded
wouldn't ya say?

Where all had been open water yesterday
is now covered with a thin veneer of ice
and snow - would NOT want to fall into
the river or the lake today!

We took a different trail but then drove
down the road a ways so we could go to
the lake again - lots of wave action again
today - I don't know HOW cold it was with
the wind chill.

Inviting no?
NOT!!
No sand today - just lots of ice formations!

Because of the size of the waves and the
frigid temperatures everything
within 20 - 30 feet of the shoreline was
now coated with ice!

Just hanging around trying to stay warm!

Lumpy ice is nice!

I felt sorry for the long grasses -
they were frozen solid!

Won't be long now til the river is all
covered with ice.

A very different shoreline
than yesterday! Everything
is frozen solid.

As we were walking back to the car we
came across a family feeding the chickadees!
So I joined in and Michael snapped a few
pictures. I tried it without my mitts but
my hand froze within seconds.

But the birds didn't mind my mitts.
So was I glad that Michael dragged my
butt out for a hike - YES!!
Just an example of the pros and cons
of living with a life coach - ya just
can't get away with being a grumpus!

Look - two chickadees!
Gotta go, going to finally finish watching
"Couples Retreat"!!
SO FUNNY!!
Don't ya just love Vince Vaughn?
Ya sure wouldn't catch him on a
100 mile hike!!