MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011
FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS!

I gotta say it, but the recent inactivity on this site is a tad sad. And so was continually looking at the previous drab photo for so long. Sorry Doc.

Nice day for walking in the woods and grabbing as many rays of available sunlight as possible. Wasn't it summer just a couple of weeks ago??

It was a dark and stormy night at the Great northern cabana.

The danger was lurking in the wood shed.

YIKES!!!Why is my lip swollen and burning?

Could it be the margaritas??? Did you try to blow up a bus?Or could it be that you just disturbed these little critters? As a site dedicated to everlasting peace and harmony among all creatures, I won't show what happened to these little squatters as Rob evicted them.

Funny the people you run into in the crowd at these events.

John Hiatt at last nights Bluesfest. He gave a great show in front of a full crowd despite the noise coming from the Rush show at the other end of the festival.

It's so hot in Ottawa today, this squirrel has been flaked out on this branch in the back yard for the last half hour. 31C in the shade and it's 7 PM.

This rose is for Marsha to celebrate her honorary doctorate. Congratulations on a well deserved award. Much love, big sister.

My Clamatis blossomed in magical fashion again this year. Unfortunately, within a week all the blossoms were gone. I suspect it was the short heat wave we had or maybe the recent cooling.

I'm posting this in the hope that we have a quick return to the California-like weather we've been having (this pic from Laguna Niguel, 3 weeks ago)

The view off the back deck at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course, San Diego. Next time we go to play.

The gang that still can't shoot straight

Some of the strange people I had the good fortune to spend this weekend with. They wanted to send a message to a special someone who missed the weekends' festivities because of duty abroad. The dressing room was not the same without his fragrant contribution.

The beach at La Jolla, California.....ahhhh, warm ocean breezes. The water's bloody cold but beautiful nonetheless. The surfers were out in the 3 foot waves. I don't get it. they never stay up for more than a minute.

Jean and I left Ottawa last Saturday in this,

and flew to southern California. I love a place where you can grow your own grapefruit in the back yard.

Jean surprised me big time with an electric acoustic Washburn guitar for Christmas. Rob's already taught me enough that my fingers are numb from my dedicated practice schedule of at least 15 minutes or first blood every night.

Jean's brother Mike was a torch bearer today in Gatineau as part of the Olympic Torch run. It was minus 5 in beautiful sunshine and while the crowds were sparse along this part of the route, Mike said the final stretch before crossing over to Ottawa was lined with thousands of people.

We got to examine the torch at lunch afterwards. It's a beautiful design (well done Bombardier) with a very clever propane burner designed to stay lit while running.

Jean was absolutely beaming with pride during the whole ceremony and I know, for Mike, it was all very, very special.

Up an hour early this morning(duh) and I got thinking how nice it would be to go sit in the sun somewhere and watch the paint peel. Ahhhh, it's going to be one of those days...wait a minute...leafs in the eavestrough, tons of leafs! It's a another bad day for Leafs.

We had a surprise in the back yard this evening... a pair of huge wild turkeys. That is until the cat took a run at this one, chasing them both up into the oak tree.

The clamatis were few and far between this year. The whites, so plentiful for months last season were out sparsely for a week this year. These reds only showed in late August after a few weeks of nice weather.

It's been a busy late summer with a new arbor to cover the deck and provide some shelter from the summer rains.

Now to get rid of that white lattice. I'm a plastics guy but not on my deck please! I love the smell of the cedar in the rain.

This hot little Cobra was sitting across the street from the outrageous Porsche.