Happy Thanksgiving!!

To all my Canadian friends and family!!

I would like to give particular thanks to the men in my life who have gone out of their way to make me smile, make me feel safe, make me feel loved, and make damn sure I have a good time.

Perry - has been a source of so much wonderful silliness and support.

 

He actually offered to let me walk on him.

Tyler - has literally fixed many of my problems by mending what was broken.

And he always dances with me.

Jesse - his generosity knows no bounds and he is a master of playing. He also literally kept the boat afloat.

David - has the kindest heart and throws the meanest party. He made this Disco Party the best party of the summer, and that's saying something!

Kenny - for the openness of his spirit and the love that pours out of him.

I am thankful for these friendships.

For the kindness, generosity, helpfulness, sauciness and manliness of these men.

So, so grateful for all the love.

And for DISCO!

a girly bbq

The bathroom ceiling remains unfixed but that doesn't mean I haven't been having some fun times round these here parts.

I hosted a gaggle of girly friends over on the island. There were so many of us we went over to my friend David's spot since he has a lovely lawn and space for everyone to spread out.

Everyone brought incredibly yummy dishes and Diana even made her own sausage - which I have to admit I have daydreams about how good they were!

And someone else made ribs! It was so nice that my friends and the fine fellow's friends and even Perry all got along.

In fact several of them got along better than even I could have imagined! The island really is a magical place!

the summer of lobster?

I think this could be the one.

These were so big and sooooo goooooood!

And yes, there was turf with that surf. But I'm trying to eat less meat on the island so my goal is to make a different quinoa salad and green salad every weekend. The green salad was a version of a niscoise: romaine lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, snow peas, cooked potatos & chopped hard-boiled eggs in a vinaigrette.

The quinoa salad had: pineapple, red pepper, green onions, garlic, cilantro & pumpkin seeds. The dressing really made this even better the next day: pineapple juice, lime juice, white wine vinegar, avocado oil and grated ginger - so fresh & yum!!

goin to the island for more than 30 years

Just found these pics of the little sibs and our friend Jenny waiting for the ferry to the island.

look at those pants I'm wearing on the right!

Oh man they were so cute! They may not be little any more but they sure were back in what I'm guessing is probs 1979.

I'm trying to arrange a little reunion for us Jenkinses in August so we can take some trips down memory lane together.

I am so digging my outfit - that yellow poncho rocks! I will have to get one for Ceciley for her visit so we can do some matchy photo-ops. We like those ;)

the end of the birthday

After my fabulous nap the fine fellow returned from the city with lobster tails for an incredible birthday bbq dinner.

I made an amazing spinach salad with pears, blackberries, peas and walnuts with a maple dressing, and a tomato, cucumber and basil salad. The fine fellow cooked up some asparagus with portobello mushrooms in garlic in his sexy red pan and we had an amazing looking meal on the table.

That lobster was soooo good!! We finished things up with my favorite coconut-lime cake (which is of course wheat & dairy free) and sliced strawberries - yum!

Stuffed and happy - turning 40 has been pretty great! Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me kind wishes!!

You know what I wished for? I wished that I could really really feel the love that everyone around me has for me. I got this in so many more ways than I could possibly have imagined. I am truly grateful!

the day I turned 40

Was a totally gorgeous day! This is what I found when I finally rolled out of bed on the boat at almost noon. Bella had come and decorated!

Then after a little brunch I went for a lovely bike ride and discovered the biggest lilac bush I have ever seen!

I just had to come over and be surrounded by their amazing smell and look out onto the lake and feel grateful for all the beauty around me.

Then I went back to the boat and set up my tanning bed on the roof where a very insistent red-winged black bird kept calling to me to feed him.

He keeps getting closer but is not as tame as the one the fine fellow fed by hand last year.

And then, since it had been such a strenuous day, I took a nap.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

My darling sister Ceciley made me this sweet video.




Thank you all for the birthday wishes - you all rock!

what am I going to do with my life?

The count down is on. I turn 40 in one week.

So far I've had a month off to do quite a bit of thinking about what to do with my life. I've been having a hard time coming up with a clear idea of what that is.

I think that has something to do with the fact that I very rarely ask myself what I really want (other than shoes). I've spent most of my life trying to do what other people have wanted or needed me to do, or doing what I thought I had to do.

I've spend 40 years doing that. I think it's time to spend the next 40 figuring out - and doing - what I want to do.

I want to live on a boat. I really want to live on a boat in California or maybe Hawaii - it's gotta be somewhere hot all year round.

But what do I want to do? As a result of repeatedly asking myself this question, some interesting things have arrived in my life to help me find the answers.

On Friday, Jason Mraz put up a post on his blog, Freshness Factor Five Thousand, about a blog called The Daily Love. There are so many wonderful ideas on this website about the power of positive thinking, how to love yourself and others better, and how to get what you want out of life.

A post that particularly caught my eye was one called "How to be a magnet for what you want" by Gabrielle Bernstein. Now obviously you have to know what you want to become a magnet for that thing but I liked Gabby's style. 

So I went to her YouTube page and checked out some more of her thoughts. And in this short chat about what she wants out of life, I think I found a good starting place.

I want to figure out how best to serve with love.

I want to help people by doing what I'm good at - which is helping people see the forces at work in their lives and how to change them or just change how they think about them and be happier. I want to help people get happy! Now who wants some help?

we swabbed the deck

Well actually Perry vacuumed the deck, but that just doesn't sound as good.

And he also scrubbed down the walls and cupboards.

I fixed and hung the curtains and organized the closet.

Hey, when we lived together I did most of the cleaning and all of the laundry, so I figured he should clean his own boat.

Once things got to looking pretty good Perry quickly understood that living on the boat requires 3 very important things: a fridge, a BBQ and a water cooler. So he took off to Home Depot to acquire these things since he had invited everyone he knows to come and see the boat on Saturday.

So Saturday morning I met Perry at the dock to help him load his new purchases onto a water taxi and take it all over to the boat.

It was a good thing he bought a fridge and a BBQ and the water because everyone he invited over arrived at some point on Saturday!

Twelve people showed up throughout the day and at one point there were eight people on the roof. Somehow I managed not to get any photos of that.

Since the roof has the most space and gets the best sunlight, Perry has decided that the first order of business is to set the roof up as a proper deck. He's going to try and make that happen this week.

Perry's friend KC brought his little daughters Tegan-8 and Teryn-5 over and before they destroyed the boat or fell in the lake with all their running and jumping I took them over to the park to play on the slide and the swings and then we walked over to the beach to play in the sand.

I think everyone who came to visit will be clamoring to come back on the next nice day!

it floats my boat!

Because the boat floats!! Perry had to make up a name for it quick on the spot when he registered it at the marina.

He's calling it "Spooncake". Yes, after one of his favorite deserts.

Could have been worse, he could have called it Chocolate Flan. (I did mention that he can change it whenever he wants.)

The table and benches at the front convert into a double bed. But the table is too high and the width of it cramps the benches so Perry is thinking of ripping that out and building in an "L" shape couch which could turn into a bed.

Yesterday we went and threw out all the crap left behind by the previous owner. They hadn't gotten rid of anything and that closet right behind the bench was full of years worth of mildewy junk. Perry's thinking about ripping out the closet to make room for a fridge - I vote yes to that.

This is mostly the junk we brought with us. That wooden door behind the chair is the tiny, non-working fridge.

The lower bunk is a double bed and the upper bunk is a single. The single does fold down to make a couch back, but I'm suggesting it get removed because the head clearance on the lower bed is crappy. With a bed at the front and a bed at the back, I think that's enough. And he could always keep a blow-up mattress on hand if he really wants to have a slumber party.

We found a jillion life-jackets, which will come in handy, and a bunch of old novels from the 70's, which I may read. You know, while sitting on the back deck admiring my favourite willow tree.

What am I saying? The place is filthy and we haven't actually cleaned anything yet - that's tomorrow.