CaptainOrange

We had a mostly fun drive from Ottawa to Waterloo -- we did have to go through Toronto, after all. It was pretty uneventful, but we did stop to have a picnic lunch at a small resort village where we feed some gulls. The place we stopped was quaint and quiet. There was an entire beach made entirely of the best skipping rocks ever. Wendy was sick or I think I would have stayed until my arm was spaghetti. Don On The Job The other reason to move on was the facilities. The place we ate was equipped only with a port-a-potty. Let me tell you, I don't think "Don" was on the job -- despite the assurance. I think I might have been nervous if he was there anyway. We arrived without incident and commenced with the visiting. Anwyn was in the second day of being sick, but recovered with all speed when there was an infant to hold. Max Gutoski (2 1/2 mos) I was amazed at how great the girls were with their new cousin, Max. Gus and Greta's first son will soon be 3 month's old and...

Flight went off without a hitch and Lee and Sandi were ready and waiting for us when we got off the plane. Ottawa has been a steady stream of incredible weather since we got here. The highs have been 34-36 with the humidex pushing us into the 40s. We've spent a LOT of time sitting by the pond and watching the very entertaining frogs and the even more entertaining children. Jaws Crepes Bassin (pond) Leora had been pining for crepes since her last visit to Ottawa and the following morning, we were all the beneficiaries of her crepe dreams. She and Anwyn  helped Sandi put together an absolutely superb breakfast. I didn't have to lift a finger. The coffee was strong and black and the crepes were beautiful AND tasty. On Monday we went to the Museum of Civilization . All museums could take a page from their book when it comes to children. I wanted to spend the whole day in that section, but was vetoed by Lee and Wendy. We took lunch in view of the parliament buildings ...

Last year when I bought my Vibram Five Fingers (VFFs) (their website) , I was nervous that it was one of my radical, rash and rushed decisions. As an 'artistic' individual, sometimes those are the best ones and sometimes I rue-the-day. It was a slow start for me to get into shape running in a totally new style, but by the end of last summer I was getting the hang of it . Naturally, Leora and Anwyn loved my shoes. I'm always looking for ways to encourage the girls to be more active. So when I started running with Anwyn's school-mates to train for the Bridge-City Boogie (a 5km fun run), I hit upon an idea to try and inspire them. They are both pretty good at saving their allowance and always have several hundred dollars in their bank accounts. Anwyn, who usually has twice her sister's savings (or mine, for that matter), said she would be willing to buy herself a pair ($110 after tax). I agreed and offered to repay her $30 (the price of a new pair of sneakers) plus ...

I don't want to complain, really. But Saskatchewan's  record breaking precipitation  in May shows no sign of giving up in June. April showers May flowers ring a bell? I was already bitching about it on May 10th, if you remember?  Now I'm just throwing up my hands in disgust. I've suggested to Wendy that we give up on traditional Saskatchewan crops and start growing rice. She isn't sold on the idea. If you like, Wen's blog has information about what is blooming and growing in this sludginess. Anyway, I haven't been idle. Why just today I was up on the roof cleaning out my gutters. I would have waited for a dry moment, but the water pouring over the eaves was a kind of siren call. Actually, it was fun up there, in a way. Normally, I need to take up a hose to help with the cleaning, but today nature was happy to supply plenty of lubricant. There have been a couple of spectacular sunny days mixed in with the mess. When I see the sun I don't ask question...

Even when what's old is new I'm still behind the times. I watched a news piece on CBC a couple of years ago which talked about how clothes lines (and the installation there of) were booming. When we moved into our current house--8 years ago, for those counting--there was some existing infrastructure for having a clothes line, but it was incomplete and with me running the dayhome at the time it didn't seem like the most attractive idea on the planet. I took the pulleys and used them on the play structure so the kids could haul water, bricks and their lunches up to the top of the fort. only the finest materials Yesterday, with some deck screws, concrete, an auger, a little new lumber and the existing pulleys--stolen back from the fort--I built the family a state of the art clothes dryer. I just need to paint some fancy alpha-numeric. I'm thinking of "Z-3000" or something to jazz it up. Location, location... It's highly customized, as you can see. Thi...

Feeling beaten by my experience with Anwyn the other day, I seared the time of the sunset on the insides of my eyelids and made it out for a few shots last night. I started at the University bridge and then decided I should run the 1km to the Broadway bridge instead (carrying my camera and lenses). The evening joggers thought I was pretty funny and a couple of young women cheered me on and tried to make conversation as they overtook me during one of my frenzied clicking sessions. I ended up climbing up the pioneer memorial at the corner of the bridge to take most of my shots. I won't bore you with all my pictures again (though the link is here ), but I did get a couple that I was very happy with.

I can't say much for the weather lately. Or, maybe I will. At least it stopped raining long enough on Saturday for us to get a chance to burn our Christmas tree. While the endless cloud cover may make Vin happy as a... er... sun-hating clam, it doesn't do much to improve my mood. Oh, I get out in the weather and enjoy myself. Just last night I went for a 10km in my 5-fingers out in the pouring rain. Even there I was thwarted (by asbestos, no less). But, the twinkle in my eye lasts exactly as long as the physical activity. One thing I can  say is that with just a few breaks in the endless grey, I can get to see a lot of my favorite colour -- at the right time of day. Leora was away at a friend's birthday/sleepover (the second in two weeks) so Wen and I decided to go to a movie with Anwyn to help alleviate the sting of boredom. The clouds had been flirting back-and-forth with blue sky all day and I knew there was going to be a great sunset. We saw How to Train Your Dr...