Nature's Garden

Who needs a garden when you have all these beautiful flowers growing in the bush!?

Strawberry plant.... soon to have yummy berries!

Buttercup.

A rosebud peeking through

Even though these look a lot like Trilliums, they are Bunchberries. Trilliums only have 3 petals on each flower.

Pretty little yellow ones... not sure what they are though.

Found this pretty Lady's Slipper, which is actually an orchid! just outside our cabin. I can't wait for it to open up!

A Walk in The Woods

Went for a walk down the road today and finally remembered to bring my camera. All the little plants are starting to bloom and show signs of new life.

Here's the mandatory Molly pic :)

The road.

New growth on spruce tree.

sun and fun

I have been so busy enjoying the sunny warm weather the past few days that I have neglected to update the blog! So here are a few recent pics.....

We went fishing last night. It was Molly's second time in the boat.

At one point, Molly got a bit too excited about my crankbait lure and jumped/ fell in the lake after it... she sunk but then quickly figured out how to stay afloat before being pulled out!

Molly keeping warm after the cold dunk

Today I *almost* jumped in the lake but then decided against it after feeling the water. Brooke, on the other hand.....

...is a little fish!!!

Blake was happy to just sit and watch!

Best friends :)

Wedding Do's and Don'ts

I have a few good friends who are getting married within the next year or so. Recently, we were looking at wedding pictures and commenting on them in our usual crude sarcastic manner, and I began to make a list of rules for WHEN my friend gets married. Well, instead of a list, I am going to post some pictures for you of wedding DON'TS!!!

This one's for you. And you know who you are ;)

Rule #1 (THE rule): the bride CANNOT wear sunglasses. At all.

No matter how crazy the after-party gets, the bride may NOT attempt a kegstand.Under NO circumstances is it ok for you, or anyone at your wedding, to wear cammo.

No matter how awesome the idea sounds, you cannot have a cake made in the likeness of you.

You cannot let your groom get wasted

You cannot let your flower girl decorate your cake

No cake fights (so tacky)

And finally, if one of your bridesmaid's is pregnant, you cannot force her to wear a dress that she doesn't feel comfortable in.

I LOVE This!

OK, the cat's out of the bag.... you can send real postcards for FREE from your computer and I want everyone to hear about it!
I first heard about it on Facebook, so I added the application, sent me and a couple of my friends a postcard, and sure enough, it showed up in my mail about a week later. There's no catch, except you have to choose a banner ad to put on the back of your postcard. But you can choose any picture you want, write a paragraph or two on the back, and then send to anywhere in Canada or the US.
Check out the Hippopost website, or else add it on Facebook. And send your grandma a postcard!

Father's Day Secrets

Head on over to Postsecret for this week's new batch of postcards, all with a Father's Day theme. This was the only happy one I could find. Sometimes the secrets can be very dark.

Happy Fathers Day!

Make a Smilebox free ecard

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD! Love ya! see you in July for some fishing :)

PS- I made this cool card for my Dad on Hallmark's website. You can add any of your own pictures (up to 8 per card) and choose a song to go with it.

There is not enough time in the day to do all the nothing we want to do

- Bill Watterson

Images of a Rainy Day

So this is what my world looks like on a rainy day.

A sleepy dog, little cabin, and Northern Exposure! I am just getting into it, but I like it! It doesn't hurt that Aidan from Sex and the City is in it.... hotty!!

Listen to This!!!

If you like Corb Lund, or other folk/ rock/ country type music, you HAVE TO check out Hayes Carll. Ben and I can't get enough of his new CD, "Trouble in Mind". If you ever get the chance to see him, he is equally amazing in concert.
Check it out.... listen to one of my faves, Drunken Poet's Dream (click here)

Summer has finally found us :)

Beautiful couple days in a row here. Gotta love the feeling of the warm sun on your skin for the first time of the summer.View from the lodge. Lac Seul, ON.

Molly finally seems to be taking to the water. Yesterday after a long walk she waded right in on her own.
And then shook off all over me! I am pretty sure that dogs do that on purpose.

New Sunday Secrets!

Head on over to Postsecret for some juicy Sunday secrets. I love waking up on a Sunday and realizing that today there are new secrets to read! Be warned: once you look, you will be addicted!

Dragonfly Season

While out walking today, I saw my first dragonfly of the season. A sure sign of summer! There are more dragonflies up here than I have seen anywhere else in Ontario. I am always so intrigued by these little flying carnivores, and throughout the years have learned some pretty interesting things about them:

- dragonflies got their name because of their huge jaws that they use to eat other insects including bumblebees and butterflies!
- they have been around since before dinosaurs and at one time had a wingspan of 28 inches
- adults lay their eggs in water and these eggs later hatch as nymphs. Nymphs live underwater for up to 3 years, and then their skin breaks open and an adult dragonfly emerges. Adult dragonflies live for only a matter of months.

I once saw a dragonfly coming out of the nymph, it was one of the craziest things I have ever seen! The nymph was so ugly and prehistoric looking and then this beautiful dragonfly emerged. I hope to get some dragonfly pictures of my own this summer.

fish on!

Ben took Molly and I out fishing the other night. Great to be back out on the lake again. Caught my first fish of the year, a nice 17 inch bass. It was also Molly's first time in the boat and she did great. I think she was tempted to chase after the lures!

Life on the Lake

Hi everyone;
I am now up at the fishing lodge. This means slow internet, so likely less posts. But I will try to update weekly with pictures!
Right now I am in the process of cleaning/ organizing/ unpacking. We are living in a tiny shed so space and storage is at a minimum. Might have to get Ben to build me a few more shelves!

Postsecret

New Sunday Secrets!
(posted Monday due to technical problems)
Postsecret has also now created a Facebook fan page. It is updated weekly with new secrets (as picture albums) but seems to be creating quite a stir. Since Facebook albums allow comments, people often comment on the serets, and judge them. The creator of Postsecret, Frank, has asked people to kindly refrain from comments but it isn't working. I see the point.... these secrets are better left as a mystery, they are not there to be judged and dissected. What do you think about the Postsecret Fan Page? Should comments be allowed?

I Got Carried Away.......

LOVED IT!!!!
I don't want to give anything away, but if you are a fan of the TV series, GO SEE this movie! You will not be disappointed. It was quite long (over 2 hours) but it was so satisfying, like an extra long episode. It took place 3 years after the final episode. It had everything you would expect from the girls: raunchy humour, hillarious moments, relationship/ friendship drama, high fashion (most of it fugly if you ask me), and lots of surprises. All the characters seemed wiser and more settled into their 40 something lives, and a couple new characters were added too. The only part I didn't like is that there was a lot of Mr Big (AKA John James Preston!) in this movie, and I have never been his biggest fan. But I could overlook that. I want to see it again!!

Molly's Training Update

Training your dog is a fun and stimulating activity for them, as long as there is always a reward involved. I reward Molly with anything small and bite sized, such as cut up hot dogs, puppy bones, or cheese. It is important to train your dog in short sessions, full of lots of treats and encouragement, and followed by a play session. Molly has already learned sit, stay, lay down, and shake a paw. She is a fast learner and we are always practicing and looking for new tricks to learn. Today I came across this website with a how-to video on training tricks. Just simple tricks, such as shake a paw, wave!!, and rollover. Molly pretty much has shake a paw down pat, so we tried wave, but I think that one will take us a while to master.... but she learned roll over right away!! Practice makes perfect!!
Molly still isn't enjoying the crate so much.... after learning how to escape it, she is obsessed with trying to get out. So I need to keep her busy now when I leave her in there. I find that a KONG toy keeps her occupied long enough to forget about being left alone. I like to stuff it full of any of her favourites: treats, wet dog food, fruit, hot dogs, yogurt, and peanut butter keeps her woking away at it for a long time, and offers her a continuous reward.
As long as you keep it positive, training your dog will pay off in the long run with a happy, obedient companion.

Sunny Skies!!!

Molly and I have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather lately....

Playing fetch and laying around in the sun.....

loves it!!! :)