Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde

Maybe you can lichen this on Facebook?

East wind.

Last big weekend of the summer—so, noisier than what I would like. Neighbors to the south have lots of company, including someone with an old and loud jet-ski that has been endlessly doing circles right out front. Sue reminds me that fun is being had. A number of other boats roaring around, too. But, so far, no Tetrazzini fireworks.

We took the Windrider for a ride about 3. As usual, as soon a we shoved off a cloud bank enveloped us and the roaring east wind dropped away to nothing, only to be replaced by a gentle southerly breeze. Having no motor, and being suspicious of wind shifts, we did not go far.

Gone With the Wind

It was unplanned. But when there's a definite destination and diminishing days, it pays to remember the lesson that says to go with the wind. At eleven this morning, heading off on other errands, we twigged to the fact that the wind was blowing brisk from the east. By eleven forty-five we were on board and shoving off from the dock—and it was a warm, bright, lively four-hour sail back to Gore Bay.

Sad to see Heliotrope no longer in her Kagawong slip, but good to know she won't be fighting westerly gales and freezing rain on the annual trip back to her winter home.

Swimming in September

This morning served as part of a small group of volunteers helping out the paid staff of Manitoulin Streams plant hundreds of trees along the shore and on the island in the middle of the lower Kagawong River, which has just some undergone significant renovation.  For an hour or so I worked alongside Michael Belmore, the native artist who has done the stone sculptures that will now be gracing the stream. He grew up in Thunder Bay, went to some good art schools, and has been pretty much homeless ever since, traveling the world on consignments and serving as artist in residence. He is looking at settling down here on the Island very soon.

Come late afternoon, I winched Patrick up Heliotrope’s mast in a bosun’s chair to drill the rivets out of the spreader light bracket that had parted from the lamp. 

Both tree planting and bosun winching are hot work for a hot day, so, come evening, I went for a nice long swim. Sue having made pizza and baked a cake, among other things, nearly beat me into the water.

To twist an old saying:

Make waves while the water’s warm.

Not So Hot

In some ways. Had to drive all the way to Sudbury and back to get a new temple for my eyeglasses, the old one having broken off as I was doing my blog night-before-last. When it  first broke I tried using old pairs of glasses that I had saved as backups, but the only one with a reasonably close prescription had the coating peeling off, and even a fingernail touching lightly left big scratches. I was a bit panicked then, but by morning I had devised a brilliant solution—a bit of aluminum from the Pine Box garage hammered flat, folded over, and then crimped onto both sides of the broken frame. Genius. And it looked kinda classy too—a bit of bling, so to speak. So today, along the with long drive, I was a bit bummed to have to trade in my flashy jury rig for a proper new wireframe temple.

In other ways, it was hot. One of the hotter days of the year. Hot, humid, hazy, and mostly still. So probably a good day to be mostly in a car with air conditioning. Now, this evening, Pax has gone into weather radar mode so I suspect there may be something heading our way.

Above is a photo sent from an acquaintance on the old Stewardship Council who owns a large patch of bush over on the south side of the Island, towards Providence Bay. If you look closely, there seems to be a large lion moving left to right. Supposedly, the eastern cougar is extinct. But what is this?

Purple Period

Cloudy and very humid most of the day. Clearing in the late afternoon, with a breeze building out of the south. 

Quiet day, all around the bay.

BLTs and sautéed zucchini for dinner tonight.

Chicory  

Gentian  

Aster  

Day of Cloud and Fog

Recap

Tetrazzini Karaoke

The dock is stacked. Quick work—less than an hour—thanks to Bri’s agile and muscular assistance. Of course it feels like a leg cut off having no dock in the water, but the season progresses, eh?

Last night, after a quick look at the super-moon, I headed to bed looking forward to catching up on some zeds. But that’s when the Tetrazzini (not their real name) Karaoke party started up— blasting incredibly horrible song approximations all around the bay. Eventually we closed windows and turned on fans. Although not quite sure, I believe the racket ended about 2 and then I actually slept some. Mural: try to avoid having nouveau riche Italian mobsters (or their children) anywhere near your neighborhood. They can be crass.

Foggy this morning, eventually burning off. Honey bees doing something very noisy in the old balsam on Tyson’s shoreline (swarming, I think). Warm and bright afternoon with a lively southwest wind. Great opportunity to take Heliotrope for a two hour frolic, which she, we, and Pax (I think) all enjoyed.

Today I meant to upload more photos of the past week, but I didn’t get around to it until too late. And now this evening, our internet service is crawling at slug speed. So—tomorrow—during daytime off peak hours, I will be uploading—or so I hope.

Sad Day In Mudville

Swings down. Sandbox cleared. Frog box empty. Dock hauled and stacked (more on this later.) And, all the lively ones off, and on to the next phase. However, a very tasty cottage casserole made from a real mishmash of leftovers.

Tomorrow, when more time and energy is available, more photos, etc. of this past week.

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