soeurs du jour

motivation

i imagine that my creativity lies inside of me

curled up like this frond

waiting for the motivation that will unfurl it

kath and i are excited to be participating 

in picture inspiration

given by tracey clark

of shutter sisters fame

these two sisters love to take courses together but as long distance soeurs we can never choose seats beside each in a classroom unless it is through the marvel of the internet.  

do you remember the first day of class when you walked in and saw a friend sitting in the third row, two seats from the back with an empty desk right beside her, waiting for you.

imagine how excited we were to see

our friend georgia who blogs at

it's just how i see things

sitting in our virtual classroom

our first inspiration prompt:

a self portrait

looking for that motivation and creativity

that lies within

xo margie

bon voyage

i know you must think i spend an awful lot of time at the cottage and perhaps that's true but for those of you who do not live in our neck of the woods, well, it's part of our culture.  we talk about cottage country, we grab every chance to get out of the city, we turn down invitations because we are going to be at the lake.  there are approximately 250,000 lakes in ontario alone!  and so yes, i am up at a cottage, again.  

this time at a friend's, with friends, to say goodbye to our good friend who is moving to the bahamas.  yup, she's throwing in the towel, or snow shovel, and she and her husband have bought a small resort. this is a short post, i have coffee to drink, friends to hug, memories to make and memories to remember. there will be tears for sure. so take time to look at these photos and think about friends and goodbyes.  

margie

hi high speed or a moose on the loose

never have i missed a piece of technology the way i missed my wireless high speed.  i had forgotten how high speed it really is.  i want a little pat on the back people.  it was painful to do a post every second day, my pathetic little posts often took two to three hours each.  dial up times out just like the kids in the corner, every 30 minutes the whole darn thing stalls and asks you if you wish to stay connected and if you happen to miss that little message, well kiss the photo that you were uploading goodbye and prepare to start over.  i have ranted and raved and next summer if i have to string a cable over to the island all by myself, i will have high speed internet. 

perhaps some of you read in our twitter that there was a moose on the island.  a moose that everyone saw but me.  the dogs chased him, he stood and looked in our neighbour's window, and much as i wandered around in the woods, followed tracks like i was a forest ranger, i never actually saw the moose. 

 

 

this particular moose lives in the cottage, on the side of a wooden box that holds odds and whatnots.

i spent the better part of a week holding my camera until my arms ached.

this guy, well, he opens the beer. 

i knew in my heart that i was never going to see that moose.  i have seen one moose in my life and it took my breath away.  i fell in love instantly.  

for days i sat on the dock, reading and gazing down the rocky shore thinking, what if he just walked out and stood there, in front of me.  i could feel the thrill.  i have to admit that i was almost ridiculous but that type of behaviour provides all the people with excellent material with which to kid you.  relentlessly.  this guy, he lives on a brass plate on the wall above the fridge.

 

but all was not lost, a. and i took a road trip and went to a small general store, and there in all his splendor, standing EIGHT FEET TALL, was his majesty.  i fell over laughing, my moose.  

welcome home.

margie

bring it on home

i love my chickens, sitting always in the kitchen window

truth be told, i like my stuff and as my time here at the cottage nears an end, i look at some of my favourite things, like my chickens, and it is a struggle not to sneak them home to enjoy all winter.  but i don't because they belong here.   

could you leave these fish bookends behind?

hey, i saw you squinting to see what we are reading!!

and what about creamy and sweets?  look how cute they are!

but most of all, i wish i could bring this home; the peace and the quiet.

see ya monday, from the city.

margie

spinning out of control

a. and i are spinning out of control   the bathroom is looking pretty finished, the grout has been shmeered on the new tile backsplash in the kitchen and we are off to spin a couple of washers in the laundromat.  today is a.'s birthday and a trip to town means a trip to the TIMB-R store for building supplies. a. loves a lumber/hardware store so this is a nice birthday activity.  

last night we were spinning some vinyl.  turntable style.  

we played records and took a trip down memory lane, bob marley, the beloved whitney houston, al stewart, john mayall, creedence, joni mitchell.  

margie

dialing up while dialing down

i love the cottage.  the point of a holiday is to dial down your busy life and take advantage of the quiet times and there is no place better to do that than a cottage.  here we are dialing down our lives while dialing up the internet in this age of high speed except up here at the lake, not so much with the high speed.  whoa, waiting for a page to open or a photo to upload, well i may as well be out in the boat waiting for a fish to bite.  

we spotted a new junk shop on the drive up here and i was delighted to find four of these perfect cottage mugs, some adorable book ends and a beautiful milk glass bowl to hold our tomatoes. 

the new chairs are painted and ready to be lugged down to the dock.  both photos taken with my new macro lens!!                         

margie

Gone Fishing

I don't see Margie around here today. I think she's still trying to get her internet to work properly from the cottage. Either that or she's gone fishing.

In the meantime, meet my new fish. I am having trouble naming him. I didn't name the last fish and he lived for almost four years.  I feel badly about that.  Any suggestions?  So far all we've come up with is Sushi.

Kath

holiday

you got it pontiac, i'm heading out on a holiday.  

for the real car buffs in the crowd, this is an oldsmobile holiday, circa 1955.  

i love this post, two of my favourite things to say, you got it pontiac and circa.  

hopefully we will have internet at the cottage... at least the water is fixed.  

see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya.

margie

money shots!

a few weeks ago kath and i were together at the cottage taking photos.  she managed to take an extraordinarily good photo of a mushroom.  when we loaded the photo, with my three year old grandson sitting with us, kath exclaimed, "that's my money shot".  later in the day when david was walking in the woods with us he spotted a mushroom and started yelling "it's a money shot!"  

our cottage is on an island, nestled in the haliburton highlands.  a lovely path runs around the island through the forest and with all our rain, it's mushroom heaven.  

a. is a climate change expert but before climate change came to be, he was just an environmentalist and walking the path with him is like taking a mini course in ecology.  

we came across perhaps fifteen different types of mushrooms and fungi on our walk. money shots each and every one.  i was craving a new lens! oh oh.  

look at these kids, the little orange ones, the white mushrooms that look like coral are scattered all over the forest.  

this signs hangs right in the middle of woods, with nothing around but forest.

 then we came back from our hike and found this mushroom hanging out on the dock.

now that's a money shot!!

margie

fishing for friends

just a few weeks ago three girlfriends and i went up to a cottage for two days. it was a beautiful day and after a night of partying and gabbing, we were up early and sitting on the dock. before long the fishing rods were hauled out, the worms retrieved from the cooler and the fishing began. one of the girls had never fished. never.

we fished the entire day, we ate chips, drank beer, slept on the dock, ate steaks, drank wine, went to bed early. we had the best time. we didn't shower, the water pump was broken and the lake was too cold but we were away from home, no one was looking at us. we took time to leave our responsibilities and just chill. i took photos all day, the girls taped me snoring and played it on the stereo speakers so the whole lake could hear, we lit fireworks and read magazines. we had a big breakfast, and stopped at a chip truck on the way home for hotdogs and fries. we laughed and laughed.

all the women, each of us, once in a while have to take time off to be away from everything,
it's important

.

because these fancy fingers learned how to hook a worm

and then these same fingers took that fish off the hook.

girl power, team work, fishing for friends.

 

margie