Sushi + Sailing = Bliss

How are we doing so far?

Well, we're are half way through our child free time and so far so good.

1. Have a picnic dinner at the beach - not yet but have gone for lots of walks on the beach
2. Have nothing but cheese and wine for dinner - we have but it's too easy (see #14)
3. Go sailing after work - not yet but sailed for four hours on Sunday
4. Invite friends out for a cocktail cruise - hard with the lack of wind in the evenings
5. Sleep naked - a necessity with the heat wave we've been having
6. Go to boot camp two mornings a week for three weeks - not quite but did go to Stand Up Paddleboard Pilates!
7. Watch at least three movies that are not cartoons or in 3D - saw Larry Crowne
8. Touch up all the trim that I started painting two years ago and is chipped again - DONE!!
9. Get all the carpets and upholstery cleaned - DONE!!
10. Sort the treasures from the junk in the boys' rooms - still trying to steel myself for this one
11. Ride Jazz at least two times a week - once a week is a better than not at all
12. Walk River every morning - he's been going to work with My Other Half early
13. Get the problem with my photos figured out and find out about storing them in (on?) the cloud (whatever that means) - haven't gotten up the nerve to call someone yet
14. Make some delicious dinners that the kids would never eat - lots of salads & seafood
15. Eat at at least one of the four newly opened restaurants in town - one down, three to go
16. Sunbathe by the pool - still not likely but it's nice to dream
17. Make mojitos with the mint that is overtaking the garden - not yet but made garlic scape pesto and have put it on everything
18. Put this wallpaper up in the powder room - it's ordered!
19. Take my Other Half riding - not yet as it's been so hot
20. Put up some new photos in the kitchen - have to resolve #13 first
21. Write the boys lots of letters now that the postal strike is finally over - have sent two each so far
22. Go down to the city for a girls night out - haven't made it to the city but have had one girls dinner and going out again tomorrow night
23. Recharge my parenting batteries in preparation for the other 5 weeks of summer - YES!

River enjoying his Only Child status

Saturday we head to camp for Visitor's Day. Not sure what to expect, last year was okay but we were picking up Number Three Son at the end of his ten day stay and he was very excited to show us his cabin and the Bio Hut. We didn't actually find Number One until we combed most of the island. He and his cabin mates were doing charcoal sketches on a distant rock (one of the reason I love this camp) Number Two was just coming back from a paddle with his cabin as we were leaving. I made the mistake of jumping off the barge to go and say goodbye and he got very upset.

This year I asked them if they wanted us to come and, if so, they had to promise to be happy for my sake as much as theirs. Number One will be out on his canoe trip and we won't see him at all and I am going to ask my sister if she, her husband and PJ would like to come to act as a distraction from any potential homesickness. I know the boys are all as happy as clams while they are there but they do admit that when they have down time (which is not very often) when they think about home. So we will just have to have a whirlwind tour of the island (for the 10th time), see the snakes (ugh) in the Bio Hut, have a picnic with homemade cookies and other treats. But since I will be single parenting as My Other Half won't be able to join us I will be strong for both of us and enjoy that moment just as we arrive when I see my boys before they see me. It is at that moment that you can see each one, not as someone's son or brother but just the boy they are and maybe even the man they will become.

Summer so far ...

After much angst and worry the year long gestation period resulted in the launch of the latest addition to our family business - The Rossiter 17

Proud designer and builder at the helm

Last day of school party at the beach

The Boys in their Hudsons Bay Burhkas

Rolling out the dough for grilled flatbreads

Hot on the grill

PJ and his cousins

Sometimes I feel like Kate

I love everything about Katharine Hepburn - her movies (especially Philadelphia Story), her style and her wit. Years ago her biography was one of the first I ever read. She had so many great lines that were all her own not written by a screen writer.

I have many regrets, and I'm sure everyone does. The stupid things you do, you regret... if you have any sense, and if you don't regret them, maybe you're stupid.

Dressing up is a bore. At a certain age, you decorate yourself to attract the opposite sex, and at a certain age, I did that. But I'm past that age.

Her Connecticut estate is up for sale. As they say, if those walls could speak what stories they could tell.

23 Childfree Things to Do

The boys leave for camp on July 2 and are gone for 23 days. This is the first time all three are going for the full month (in camp time) Number Three Son is nervously excited. For the last two years he has enjoyed his 10 days at home as an only child but he also is looking forward to going on a longer canoe trip, having more time on the ropes course and in the archery range that the campers only get when they are there for three and a half weeks.

So here's my To Do List. I hope I can accomplish at least some of it and that the time doesn't just fly and I end up wondering, "what the hell happened to those 23 days?"

1. Have a picnic dinner at the beach
2. Have nothing but cheese and wine for dinner (repeatedly)
3. Go sailing after work
4. Invite friends out for a cocktail cruise
5. Sleep naked
6. Go to boot camp two mornings a week for three weeks
7. Watch at least three movies that are not cartoons or in 3D
8. Touch up all the trim that I started painting two summers ago and is now chipped again
9. Get all the carpets and upholstery cleaned
10. Sort the treasures from the junk in the boys' rooms
11. Ride Jazz at least two times a week
12. Walk River every morning
13. Get the problem with my photos figured out and find out about storing them in (on?) the cloud (whatever that means)
14. Make some delicious dinners that the kids would never eat
15. Eat at at least one of the four newly opened restaurants in town
16. Sunbathe by the pool
17. Make mojitos with the mint that is overtaking the garden
18. Put this wallpaper up in the powder room
19. Take my Other Half riding
20. Put up some new photos in the kitchen
21. Write the boys lots of letters now that the postal strike is finally over
22. Go down to the city for a girls night out
23. Recharge my parenting batteries in preparation for the other 5 weeks of summer

An Almost Perfect Weekend

We finally made it back up to the cottage and after the most miserable spring, the last weekend before summer officially arrives on Tuesday was pretty close to perfect. We delivered a couple of boats on the way north and arrived in time to have a drink on the dock and meet my best friend. We cut the lawn, planted flowers, set up the badminton net and cleaned out the pantry so the place looks loved and lived in and ready for its 64th summer.

The boys in their new Hudson's Bay Blanket-inspired swim towels (they are gorgeous)

Trying to shoot the falls

River cooling off

Rolling out the dough for Rosemary Yogurt Flatbread

Grilling them to golden perfection

Getting ready for the first leg of the the Smoke Lake Triathlon - 750m swim

Heading out on the cycling portion - 20km

I didn't get a photo of the last leg which was a 5km run or the finish line which involved ice cream cones but it was an amazing accomplishment for both of them. Me? I'm the designated driver of the chase boat and held down the fort on the dock until they returned.

We tried to stretch Father's Day out as long as possible by not leaving until 6:30 pm and Number Two Son's attempt at being helpful unfortunately resulted in a trip to Emerg and four stitches after he sliced his leg open on something sharp in the recycling bags he was carrying. But despite that little setback it was an almost perfect weekend. Now the countdown is on to the end of school with parties and field trips galore and of course, only 12 days until the boys go off to camp for a month. But who's counting?

Random Tuesday Ramblings

This is a photo of the grain elevators in the Collingwood Harbour. It is hard to imagine that not very long ago this was a bustling port and ship building centre for the Great Lakes. I remember my godmother travelling up to see the last ship built being launched in 1986. I was a self-absorbed 20 year old and didn't understand why anyone would care about something like that. Since the yards closed the town has allowed developers to take over the waterfront and although there are some lovely paths and boardwalks along the water most of the land is private and the view is cut off by houses. The elevators themselves are slowly disintegrating, at one time there was talk about renovations with a restaurant and shops but it seems that idea stalled. The crazy thing is that there is no where to eat on the water from Wasaga Beach at the southern end of Georgian Bay to Tobermory at the tip of the peninsula which separates the Bay from Lake Huron despite the fact that that is the number one thing tourists (and locals) want to do when they visit the area. We have seven restaurants in our tiny town of 1400 souls, four of which have recently undergone renovations and reopened but so far it doesn't look like any of them are going to be the kind of place to take the kids to and not one is on the water.

If I had the money I would open a family-friendly restaurant like Flatbreads in Portland, Maine. One where you could arrive at by boat or wander down in the evening to sit at one of the picnic tables in your bath suit and flip flops with a cold beer. The kids would be kept happy watching the pizza cooking in the giant, wood fired oven and the food, of course, would be fresh, local and organic. Wishful thinking on my part but it just seems that in an area that is known more and more for great restaurants, local wine and artisans we deserve a fun spot to take the kids or meet friends for a dinner that won't break the bank. So if anyone has any connections with the Flatbreads guys (I couldn't find a contact on their website for the head office) please send it my way.