Not-Summer

Well, there it went. Summer is "over". I say that because, all the little kiddies are back to school, I'm back to work and the long hot days are getting shorter. We've had some really cool nights now and even some chilly autumn days.

So a recap of the summer... Hmm.. Well I started off driving taxi for a bit. Also did some bus charters but mostly didn't work much for the month of July. It was nice having the time off but I got worried about money. Then my cousin offered me a job so I started working 6 hour days there. Although I had plans in the works about Si-Man coming to visit so I had to be upfront and tell my cousin I was going to need some time off while we had friends in town from the UK.

It was fun to find out many differences between our countries and it was trying at times to have 3 extra people in your house (hope we didn't scare you away!) We did many things while they were here. We took them to Canada's Wonderland, camping (canoeing and fishing), we drank entirely too much and we shared some amazing experiences. We took them and were able to have them catch the Pokemon that is region specific to Canada. They tried real Maple Syrup and Poutine and Kool-aid. Si-Man took it upon himself to not allow us to pay for nearly anything during his stay. He also thought it funny to buy us some really expensive gifts! So The Ole Man and I each of brand new Xbox One S consoles, and two games. My daughter got my old One and the other got a new TV. Now she has the best TV in the house lol he certainly spoiled us!

My Jane decided that she'd had enough abuse this summer and vomited transmission fluid through the wall of the housing. Another project.. The Beater PT has been having oil and overheating issues... it's just been one thing after another. The idea of having a newish vehicle is taunting.

I am sad that the summer is over. It always goes so fast. I much prefer summer over winter. People can complain about the heat but I'm already missing it. Not working in it, but certainly missing warm days over the ones we've been having, reminding me that winter is just around the corner.

McCrea - Spring 2016 Edition

**Photo post**

Well we did it. We went up to McCrea just like we wanted to. We went on the may long weekend. We decided two nights was enough and we'd take the third day to relax at home.

2nd Portage

Giant frying pan

1st Portage

We arrived pretty late on Friday, but I caught a good one of the sunset as we canoed into the lake to find a site.

 

The view from the site we chose.

It was a hot and sunny weekend. We chose well, and both got quite a bit of sun. We canoed around the entire lake, visited the site we were at last year to see if anyone had made any changes. We also added a little table to the site we picked. I always like to try to do something to make a site better when we go.

Pike - 2ft long

The biggest of the four fish I caught. I caught two the first day and two the second day. The Ole Man sacrificed his own fishing so he could paddle the canoe at the correct speed for trolling.

The waterfall at the portage on our way out.

I was very happy to use my new camping set. I also had gotten a seal for the little two burner. That did not make us pack light though. We took much more than needed for sure, but we were comfortable and had a good weekend together.

There was one point during the portage that a group was coming in and one guy was right pissed off yelling at a girl for not helping (it did seem that she had come in earlier in the day and was meeting them at the portage so I'm sure she already carried her own gear in). I looked at The Ole Man and smiled, "we made it in without a fight" I said and we were both grateful that we get along so well.

Not Winter

I am so very thankful that there is no snow. It's just amazing to be able to go outside - even at night - with no winter jacket. To be able to sit in my chair on my front lawn and watch the clouds or the stars.

I put a couple of hours of work into the axle boot of my car the other day. Only to find out after I had it greased up, the one sold to me was not right, and is now a useless waste of money. Next time its decent out, I hope to finish it. While I did that, The Ole Man worked on a new shed to replace the half-assed dilapidated one, even with a real door! He's been hard at work building that, but for both of us it's still not that nice out. It's certainly not winter, but this spring has been a chilly one. Some really beautiful days out, but mostly still cold.

Today is rain. I got really lucky that it didn't rain on my birthday. That's unusual, but welcomed. It was one of those really nice days yesterday. We went to the Maple Syrup Festival. I had a Beaver Tail. I wish I had another one!

The girls and I have been hard at work making new paracord creations. We now have 10 colours to choose from and a wide variety of bracelets, keychains and ribbon keychains.

I've been thinking a lot about going up to McCrea Lake again. I'm really itching to go. I thing we are going to go up, just the two of us the next weekend that looks nice out. He got me a nesting camp set that I'm just itching to try out! I got a small two burner stove that I have to fiddle with and try to get it to stop leaking fuel. These things will help us pack a lot lighter for just the two of us.

The End.

McCrea Lake Camping

Back in the summer, we planned a camping trip. Not just any camping trip. We canoed everything in, kind of camping trip.

I had been to McCrea once before. Its really nice up there. I want to go again, if it wasn't so damn cold.

We all booked time off work, and set out on the Thursday with two canoes, two kids, a dog and all our gear.

 

 

 

Our View

 

On Friday we went back to the second portage and helped our (5) friends over and led them to our site.

We tried our hand at fishing, with a little luck on our side we had fish with our Sunday lunch.

We made an inukshuk(sp?) in the middle of the lake where there was a raised bit. The birds really liked it.

We saw a loon couple and their baby, they were very protective.

We were very lucky that it was one of the only weekends I was off that it was really nice out. Overall I think we all had a grand time and I really can't wait to do it again.

Terrible

The point in time where you haven't so much as looked at your blog in months...

That's me, right now.

It is a constant struggle to juggle all the things in the summertime, between the car, the kids, the work and the other work, and the other, other work. Add a boyfriend in the mix too, and well, there you have it. Non productive in the writing department.

Things to come, or topics to write about in the (hopefully) near future:

• Halloween
• Thanksgiving (maybe)
• TayTay in TO
• Big News
• Other, other job
• Gushy mushy shit
• Sing It All The Way
• Beta
• Jane
• Camping!

That's a pretty long list... stay tuned!

Camping + Canoe

Last weekend The Boyfriend and I went on a little trip. We were gone only about 24 hours but it was great. It certainly felt longer.

Now for the pictures!

We left the house about nine in the morning.

We traveled about a half hour north and started our travel by canoe.

 The portage (sp?) was easy for me haha.

I do not know to rotate the photo...

 This is where we holed up for the night.

 The view from camp.

 The boyfriend and view the other direction.

 Our campfire with newly constructed pit (by me).

 Our dinner (green beans, soup and ravioli).

 Canoing adventures. 

We toured around quite a bit, looking for something to eat

(fish, duck, goose etc).

 The boyfriends only catch. Three mallards on the way back.

 Portaging on the way back.

We spent most of our time canoing around the lake exploring and seeing if we could catch any fish or anything. I was very unhappy that we didn't catch any fish, I was really looking forward to having some for dinner instead of canned food!

We got a little wet and didn't eat the food we wanted but all in all, I had a great time. It was really nice to just canoe around with no worries, and spend some time just the two of us. It's nice to know that we can co-operate and work together to do something fun like this and enjoy it together.

I'd really like to take the kids up there, there would be many lessons to learn that they could benefit from.

I hope we do this again. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon as the weather has been not very nice and winter is coming.