catching up...

somehow, December arrived when i wasn't looking...the fact that it fell on a Wednesday (the day i work all day) probably had something to do with it's stealthy approach.

however.

contrary to my usual policy of 'nothing remotely Chrimbly-ish until December 1st'- the very fact it fell on a Wednesday meant Savannah's well-argued point won out and we got some of the decorations out on Tuesday...

we also have a policy of preferring handmade decorations to those store-bought -- so the old crafted masterpieces are placed first....if there's any room left, a few other choice pieces get some air-time.

Savannah is the Queen of Decorating....she spontaneously crafts all December long and we are festooned with new brilliance almost daily. she's even decorated around Tyler's bean-bag.

i was also caught napping with our Countdown to Chrimbly....although it didn't really matter because the first order of business was decorating the house. (check)

we usually don't get our tree until much closer to Solstice but Savannah is lobbying hard to get it a little earlier -- i see her  point -- there were hardly any left when we went last year and we ended up with a darling Charlie Brown version....so i met her halfway and we'll go next weekend.

and our pile of craft to-do's is looming ominously large...i think i over-estimated both my skill and speed at knitting....

but other than that -- i'm resolved to a no-stress holiday season...i REFUSE to be sucked into any sort of high drama or consumerist agitation. OH..which reminds me, sort of -- postal JOY the other day when the hand-puppets i ordered for Sebastian from here arrived.....they are FANTASTIC (he's gonna love 'em) -- i strive to give as much in the way of hand-made items...and if i can't make it myself, i'm happy to support those who do.

sorta balances out the over-packaged, plasticky, crap they'll never play with....oh? did i say that out loud?

water flowing around the rocks....

this rambling, barely coherent post brought to you by the mama who's been awake since 2am with the (almost-new)moon-buzzing boy-child....*sigh*


ps. i'm working myself up to telling the tale of one of my all-at-once best and worst parenting moments...

Wednesday September 2 - Grundy Lake Provincial Park & Sebastian's Birthday!!

Monday, August 31...first full day

Aunty B hadn't arrived yet - she had to write an exam on Sunday night (ACK! Thanks to the strike at York U.) - she was due in the evening so we amused ourselves for the day.....

Starting with the inaugural boat ride. After a rather steep learning curve for B on the intricacies of the outboard motor (in his defence, he was given conflicting information from our lovely hosts) we were out for a tour of the river....
Yup -- we had a heap load of fun....learning that loons are much bigger than we thought...
...found lots of little coves and inlets that were to become the future fishing hot-spots.
But mostly we just enjoyed the views and the wind in our hair....


With views like this - how could we not?
In the afternoon we decided to venture out to the nearby French River Provincial Park to do a spot of hiking. After much confusion and wrong directions -Grandma had to practically beat the information out of two nice ladies at a roadside restaurant (the official visitor center was closed and looked like it had been for about fifty years) - we found it. There was one trail that looked short enough to fit our schedule...a trail out to Recollet Falls...a little blip in the smoothness of the river which evidently gave the early Voyageurs a spot of trouble....

But first -- the quite fabulous, if not extremely terrifying -- snowmobile bridge. Grandma took the pics as I was fighting the urge to lie down and sob...it bears a close resemblance to a bridge in a recurring nightmare of mine...I did very well at not transforming into a babbling idiot in front of the children...
Nice view...in retrospect...
The highway across the river...

On to the Falls....a rather boggy trail - we had to do much avoiding of mud and muck and had our first experience with the very shallow root systems of the trees in the area....despite the mud and wetness, there were NO mosquitoes! Which is good, because I am loathe to douse the kids in pesticides and decided to tempt fate and come unprepared...
Lots of photo-ops to add to our Fungus Collection....

Regrettably - I had a camera incident halfway through the hike - lesson learned - don't buy the cheapie batteries...and Grandma had forgotten her camera so there are no pics of the Falls -- it was actually more of a chute (having Niagara as our frame of reference for waterfalls) but very beautiful, nonetheless...

And you can't just pop out to the corner store for batteries around these parts - mostly because there are no corner stores -- so that's the lot for today.

Sunday August 30...we arrive....

....in Paradise....

A little pine-ified cabin on the French River...perched on the rocky outcroppings that line this lovely stretch of watery Bliss. We had our own little rock *jetty* which came in very handy for such amusements as clambering, stone-transfer (Sebastian's personal favourite which involved moving stone from one side of the jetty to the other by tossing them in with each *plop* being more satisfactory than the last), exploring of *tide pools*, casting a lazy line (B's favourite) and just sitting soaking up the Zen (my favourite)....


First dipping of feet into the French River....the day we arrived was the coolest and cloudiest...it only got better from there...

That's our cabin, perched on the rock with the tenacious evergreens and lichen...the bit you can see is the Divine screened porch which hosted many reading and writing sessions, morning coffee and mini-putt....


Eye candy.....and Soul food...


Sometimes the stone-transfer activity interfered with the lazy-line casting activity.....apparently the fish don't enjoy depth charges...


These were the only clouds we saw all week...

We just loves us some rock-climbing....


....and pool exploration. We found a plethora of mussel shells which we learned afterward, were not the remnants of someones campfire party, but the leftovers from a river otter feast....

Searching for just the right stone...the entire landscape has been adjusted now...if the river breaches its banks this spring it'll be because Sebastian has altered it's flow...

Light fades on the first day....

...and what a grand first day it was....

Headin' out.....

Really....we have....

Well...I won't be fishing...I'll be watching from the dock where I sit with a mug of steaming chai and my book.....*grin*

I PROMISE...there will be photos.....lots of 'em.....from here.

Promise.

Until then.....happy Not-Back-to-School!!!