small swan drama

So I've been learning all kinds of things about swans this summer since I was adopted by big daddy Swanee on my very first visit out to the marina.

Some kinds of swans have white sygnets and some have brown and if one of each becomes a pair they can have a mixed batch of babies and the colour is not related to the sex of the sygnets. But the brown ones in this family are much bigger.

All was well for quite a while after one disappeared a while back. The sygnets are almost grown and have the most beautiful feathers and are learning to fly.

But last weekend something strange was going on. The smallest white one was not with her family. She was still there, but hanging back far away from the rest of the group. Her long neck was tucked back and even though she'd still come up to the boat after the others had moved away she would not eat.

It made me very sad to see her looking so alone and forlorn. I asked the fine fellow what we could do and he said we had to just let nature take its course. I said, we'd take Marcel to the vet, and he said they're not pets. But they are like pets, I love them like pets, they're our swans.

One evening, while we were by the camp fire, she came drifting over all by herself and I went and sat by the edge of the water and just sat there saying to myself "all will be well little swanee, all will be well, please be well".

(he's biting her and chasing her off)

So I was a little afraid at what I would find when I went back a week later. But lookey here - they're all back together! and everybody came for a snack!

I'm so, so glad, and very, very grateful!

new hair style

What do you think?

Maybe the mustache is a bit much?

I thought it looked pretty good on Natasha.

who am I?

A couple of weeks back there was yet another costume party on the island. I was not given sufficient notice for this thing but I can always just wrassle something up. The fine fellow said "the theme is Hollywood, and hurry on up and get here".

He loves any excuse to dress up as Elvis and I love any excuse to wear these shoes.

 

The general consensus was that Tim was Trueman Capote.

And apparently I was Farrah Fawcett.

Not gonna complain about that!

I also got Bernadette Peters - who I LOVE!!

There may have been some dancing on the bar.

There is no photographic evidence.

SO-LID GOLD!

So many different things inspired me to want to be a dancer when I was little: The Nutcracker, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, and SOLID GOLD. I loooooved those Solid Gold dancers.

And yesterday, I got to be one!

Can't tell you anything about this right now but it will be on TV in about 2 months.

fall is here

The change of season always bring new things with it, but with fall there always seems to be an ending of so many of my favourite joys: summer, sun, swimming in the lake, and now fun times on the island are on a very short count down.

We're all just trying to enjoy the time left and not think about how all this will change in a few weeks.

But little reminders are creeping in. Tim decided to clean out the fridge and he taught me how to make that amazing lobster salad - it was sooo so good to have that treat again.

The fine fellow went on his annual, fall fishing trip.

The last band of the season played at the bar.

Tyler's band, White Cowbell Oklahoma, is going on their fall tour. (He plays the cowbell and the Chainsaw!)

And I'm wearing jeans!!!

I must remember to live in the moment, beacause we're all still having a wonderful time, and I'm very very grateful for that.

yes, we have no bananas

Or actually, no recent updates - sorry! But my camera battery died and I could not for the life of me find the charger. Turns out it was on the boat and that was the last place I looked.

But I did recently download a whole bunch of photos from my friend Tim, so as requested by some of my sweet darling friends, I will post these very soon!

giving advice

Remember when my-girl-T came to visit in July with her two little ones? Well, we talked about a lot of things - we had lots of catching up to do.

And a big thing that we do for each other is talk about our problems. Not to wallow in them, but to take them apart and understand why they are problems, why we are stuck in situations we don't like, and how we can change them, solve them, and resolve them so that we can grow and learn and get happier.

So we make suggestions and give each other advice. Of course, one of my big pieces of advice is, stay in Winnipeg for the school year, but spend that time figuring out how to move back to Toronto in the summer because she is just plain happier here. We're still talking about that one.

But one of my smaller pieces of advice was "start a blog". Tamar has had an interesting and slightly crazy life - she's been the highest selling encyclopedia sales person in Australia; had her own sugar-free chocolate bar company; and almost been a stand-up comedienne. So she's funny and while her life is not particularly funny right now, it is, as usual, both interesting and crazy.

But I'll let her explain because she took me up on this suggestion right here: http://reallytamar.blogspot.com/

Zushi Puzzle

Am I being lazy by just putting up videos that my sister made? Maybe, but if you like sushi the food in this is pretty incredible - all courtesy of Chef Roger at Zushi Puzzle.

video from Berkeley

So my sister took a bunch of footage on her flip-cam when we were together in Berkeley - this one's got Mini the cat in it!

I got hacked!

Yes, my Google account got hacked. And I came up with an ingenious new password and changed it as soon as I found out quite late one night.

And when I woke up the next morning I could not remember the password for the life of me. So then I was locked out of my account. And my my, the things Google wants you to remember to give your account back were pretty hard to dig up. I had to submit my request twice before they'd hand it back over.

 

But I've been having a wonderful time and completely forgetting to take photos. I'm glad my island friends are happy to share theirs - especially when things like Disco parties are going on!

gettin' my cowgirl on

Do I like costume parties? YES, YES, YES !!!

The Island Marina hosted a western party with a costume contest and I thought for sure me and my fellas would win. I mean look at this skirt!

But at least my friend Tim won. I helped him pick out the shirt when we went shopping for his outfit earlier that day in Kensington Market.

And we also found this amazing outfit for Bella - she'd had crinoline envy the last time I wore mine so we had to get her one too!

As a special treat the band were friends of mine - Leon Knight and the Neon Lights. Rob there in the brown shirt was my very first dance partner and we took a little spin on the dance floor for old time's sake when the band took a break.

Craziest thing of the night was when a guy we'd never seen before asked the fine fellow if he could buy the shirt he was wearing with the pink cadillac on the back. He said sure - 200 bucks, and the guy wandered away. And came back with 200 in cash!

island eating, mmmmmm

We have been eating very, very well this summer. Usually I cook up a couple of easy things at home, pack up the bike and head over the the island. Then the fine fellow does the rest - all the cooking and all the clean up! But I always make him a batch of my almond-butter chocolate chip cookies cause they're his favourite.

There have also been some wonderful dinner parties and pot-lucks organized by some of the other lovely boaters.

My new friend Tim made the most amazing spread recently - all served out on the lawn looking over the water: salmon in saffron, pork on skewers with peaches, steak, mandarin salad, capreses salad, and the yummiest lobster salad (no mayo!) stuffed in perfectly ripe avocados!!! He's promised to show me how to make it.

I may not have figured out all the things I want in life, but I've been just reveling in every wonderful, perfect moment - and they have been plentiful. I'm grateful for them all!