THE SKY AND THE RIVER

We have had the craziest weather

here in Ontario

Today with the humidex

the temperature reached 40 degrees celsius
(100 degrees F)

This time last week it was 7 degrees celsuis

These swams came to visit last night

There isn't much to this photo

however

there were two sets of

Canada geese

who came together

(Joe counted 56)

I was waiting to see what would happen then

a fishing boat came zooming down the river

and

of course this is what happened

There seemed to be lots of bird

activity during the evening

We've had a lot of fog on the river

Love that Canadian flag

The Arizona flag will

be going up

We drove to London last Wednesday evening

It rained all the way there and almost

all the way home

This sky greeted us as we got closer

to home

The skies have been amazing

along with

great clouds

And back to one last sunset

Brillant orange sky

THE CITY GIRL COMES TO THE ISLAND

I am way behind in my blogs

I guess I will do what I have done once before

Start with today and work backward

Joe is in Algonquin Park with other chaperones

teachers

and

50 students from St. Pat's and

St. Christopher High Schools

Joe has been camping/canoeing with the schools

ever since our youngest son Curtis 'joined the ranks'

way back when............

Our older son Graham

 WAS NOT LUCKY

or

LUCKY

 to have his Dad as a chaperone!!!!!!!

(I'll have to ask him)

I'm holding down the fort with

Bing, Susie and Gwendolyn

I had my friend from Windsor join me yesterday

She went home this afternoon

This evening I am having my Sarnia friend

spend the weekend

It is fun to have some 'girl' time

Everyone knows Donna Mae

When she arrived at the cottage

she was litterly

DRIPPING WET

It is no easy thing you know

getting from the mainland to the cottage

especially if it is

RAINING

She drove from Windsor in rain

Walked down Ferry Dock hill in rain

Waited for the ferry in rain

Jumped on the golf cart in rain

Had the rain coming full force towards her

and the driver as there is no 'windshied'

on the cart as they made their way through the forest

This is much different than pulling your car

into a garage and coming in the house without having to dodge rain

Was she impressed??????

no

Donna Mae immediately got into her warm housecoat

and

ditched her drenched raincoat trousers and shoes

Was she cold????

yup

Interesting experience I would say!!!!!

Welcome to Stag Island

This is Donna Mae

this morning

Warm toasty housecoat

Warm fuzzy throw

Warm cozy fire

Life is good!

As you can see by the sky it is overcast

AGAIN TODAY

It is not raining so that

is a good thing

We wondered where the sailboat

was going and where it was coming from

Gwendolyn was a monkey this morning

She had all her toys out

and would not settle at all

She was in my face

She was licking my ear

She was crawling all over me

I would say

She misses her Dad!!!!!

She would not leave the girls alone

Oh but she is sooooo lovely isn't she!!!!!!!

Finally

She settled

Must run

My Sarnia girl will be here

soon

BOBBY'S BURGER PLACE

THURSDAY

Now isn't this the most beautiful and comfortable

spot to put your feet up

relax

and

take in the beauty of the earth

I took a little walk around

the property

This is what I saw

The Iris is blooming

Intriguing bird houses

Japenese garden

and

A Montana Clematis

which blooms in early spring

The vines have to be 10 to

15 years old and are wrapped

around a cedar tree

OFF TO LUNCH....

Where are we?????

We are at the Mohegan Sun Casino

Are we going to gamble????

Nope

We're going to

Bobby Flay's burger restaurant

Look up

This is what we saw as we walked along

the corridor

We came in through the

WINTER DOOR

Next time we come we'll try another 'season' door

Here is a section of the restaurant

 Joe said

it was the

best burger ever

I had a grilled cheese with tomato

It was pretty tasty for a grilled cheese!

You can see a few of the chefs through this

little pass through

There he is..........

Joe likes to watch his TV program

This is a magnificent wall mural

At the top right corner you can see

where beads have been strung to make a pattern

We watched the roulette table for about 15 minutes

Oh boy!!!!!!

Hundreds of chips were coming and going

We saw money come and go

(little fortunes)

INTERESTING TO WATCH

BUT

NOT

 OUR CUP OF  TEA!!!!!!!

The photo you see here

is the hotel

Impressive eh!!!!

It's another world out there

Life is good

THE CAT A MUSEUM THE BOOK BARN AND A DINNER GUEST

WEDNESDAY

I thought this little guy was pretty cute

He/she lives in an old tree

I walked towards the squirrel to get a

better look

however

the squirrel moved around to the back

of the tree and disappeared

Gwendolyn was outside by a bush

Cat came up behind her

Wham Bam

Cat was up the tree

I'm running after the dog

David is running towards the tree

 to rescue the cat

and

I'm trying to catch the moment

 on camera!!

THE CAMERA SHOT CAME FIRST----HA-HA

 

Another glimpse of the Connecticut house

The home of American Impressionism

Florence Griswold Museum

Here you get a glimpse of the world inhabited by Miss Florence

Griswold and the painters of the Lyme Art Colony who took up residence in her house beginning in the summer of 1900

School children dropped off their

lunch bags before heading out

on their tour

 The Rambles

It is made out of tree branches

A view of the Lieutenant River

The ever-changing light upon the river

and marsh grasses captured the artists imaginations

I thought this was an unusual shape

for a tree

Joe and David taking Gwennie for

a quick walk around the grounds

Miss Florence was an avid gardener

who ordered flowers and vegetables

from  seed catalogues

Using historic photographs and paintings

these gardens have been replanted

to reflect the gardening preferences of the time

Only people of importance stayed in the 'bedroom'

on the main floor

A Mr. Childe Hassam and a Mr. Ranger

both well known artists would have been two of the 'borders'

Miss Florence's bedroom

Take note of the 'painted' door

We were told the artists

liked to paint oxyen

as they did not move

as fast as cows

The dining room was beautiful

The walls were full of paintings

The side porch became an extension of the living space of the house

during the summer months

The bachelor artists began to take their meals here

Soon they were followed

by everyone else

They nicknamed themselves

The Hot Air Club both for the weather and for their

spiritual conversations about art and politics

Dogwood

An artist studio

The Griswold House was a country retreat for

Artists: Founding the Art Colony at Old Lyme

Last stop of the day

The Book Barn

a great place to purchase used books

and

a favourtie place for Joe to prowl

Guess the name of the cat???

ha-ha

Blanche is about to scratch her ear!!

This is the inside of the barn

There are 23 cats 'on board'

I asked a fellow

Where do the cats sleep at night?

Answer

There is a 'flap'door at the side of the barn where most of them

enter during the night

There are many rooms in the barn

There are many little cat beds in the barn

and

lots of chairs!

Well.....there you go

There are many little 'sections' like this

that house hundreds and hundreds of books

This young gentleman is a navy man

He is the grandson of my friend

from Canyon Vistas RV park

in Arizona

'Grammie' was my first Creative Writing teacher

She was

'THE BEST'

I so enjoyed the classes

The navy man had dinner at the

Connecticut house

We had a lovely evening

Very entertaining for all..........