Jane Austen's Fight Club

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a group of women bloggers in possession of little fortune but a bit of free time and internet access must be in want of a good knee-slapper that doesn't involve the Old Spice Guy (although he's right up there in my books.)

Thank you, kcdyer for the Jane Austen Fight Club. I laughed so hard I frightened the birds this morning and startled Buddy out of a deep sleep.

It was particularly funny because I have just come off of an Austen Marathon weekend with my sister and daughter so the music had me fist pumping right from the get-go.

Enjoy!

Water, water, water.

Pioneer Woman is having another photography contest and this time the theme is water. Here are a few shots I'm considering. Turns out I have tons of water shots. I was born under a water sign after all.

I sent in the feather/droplet but the rest are all up for consideration.

Which one is your favourite?

1. Water drop on feather

2. Fall leaf on rock
3. Oahu fountain
4. Baie D'Urfe sailboat
5. Lily-of-the-Valley
6. Lady's mantle
7. Baie D'Urfe pond
8. Honolulu beach
9. Fall leaves in pond
10. Fall Reflection

(This one is my least favourite but people always comment on it.)

Mink

I have noticed that there are no more rabbits in the immediate vicinity.

I also read that minks like to dine on rabbits.

Holy mackerel. Coincidence? Or a mink conspiracy.

I am going to leave some fresh salmon on the mink's rock (just for the halibut) to see if I can't entice it to stick around long enough for a good photo.

Let's hope Debby is wrong and it doesn't take my eye out.

Back in the saddle again

Yes folks, it's true. Internet access has arrived at the lake. It's not high speed, it's not always available (i.e., during thunderstorms or even the risk of thunderstorms, I've been instructed to unplug everything and run for the hills) but at least I'm able to check emails and post the odd blog post. Emphasis on odd.

So here are a few shots from around the cottage. Yesterday I stumbled across a mink. Not literally, or it probably would not have survived. As I was walking along the dock after a swim, a mink was crossing the rock that anchors the dock. I don't know who was more surprised (it was) but we both stopped within a few feet of each other and stared. I kicked myself for not having my camera handy, though I don't usually take it swimming. I didn't think I'd see it again, but sure enough, it scampered across the rocks again this morning while I was swimming. Now I think some covert action is in order.

Just out of curiosity, anyone know how many minks it would take to make a coat? What about a hat?





This guy is all over the place. Oh oh. Thunder. Gotta run.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger

She may or may not have been the recipient of this letter. According to Snopes, it's been circulating since at least May 2000. However her views on homosexuality do not jibe with mine.

She became an Orthodox Jew, then gave it up. She dispenses advice on parenting, but despised her own parents (and her mother died alone in her apartment, her body found two months later in her condo) and dispenses advice heavily leaning towards conservative "family values" even though she had an affair with a married man, lived with him for close to ten years, and eventually married him then announced her pregnancy at their wedding. I don't know why she got her own radio show.

In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant
Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus
18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following
response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident,
which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative, but it may only be legend:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/drlaura.asp


And because I don't like to end on a sour note, here is a cute chipmunk who was following me around the yard.

How hot is it?

My car thermometer read 35C on the way into town today.

Yes. It's 35C in Montreal today. With the humidity factored in, that's around 41C.

In Fahrenheit, that's about a jillion. A bajillion maybe. It was hotter here than Khadahar. Which is situated in a desert. Also, hotter than New Delhi.

Seriously, walking outside it's like being smothered slowly by a really fat guy while standing in a vat of soup.

No, our house is not air-conditioned. Our bedroom is. However, my husband (who is bothered by nothing and no one) refuses to turn it on when he sleeps because "it will make my head cold."

I want a cold head. I can't sleep while I'm being smothered by a fat guy in a vat of soup.

Why am I not here, I hear you asking from your more moderate climes anywhere in the world, and that includes the Sahara, the Gobi and the Kalahari?

Because I'm off to Toronto. Where the heat is just as bad, just as unrelenting I'm told.

To quote the Wicked Witch of the West, "I'm melting, meeeeelting."

Cottage Wildlife

The wild life in Vegas has been replaced by a different kind of wildlife at the cottage. These guys have now trained me to jump up and toss peanuts whenever I have the audacity to sit still for five minutes and pick up a book.

Each one will give me this look - a tilt of the head, then fix me with its beady little eye - and if I ignore it, it'll hop back and forth and bob its head until I cave and open the cookie jar full of peanuts. This noise sends Buddy into a tailspin and he'll whirl and whine then throw himself on his belly at the patio door to watch the jays swoop down and snatch the nuts. It's better than TV for a dog. Then the word spreads and all the jay's friends show up, shouting encouragement from the tree tops.

Then on Friday nights, these guys show up. And yes, my nephew knows his pants have holes in them. And yes, he doesn't care. He's almost proud of the fact.

This is not a wild creature. This is a spoiled, neurotic dog who doesn't like being left behind when everyone is out in the boat. Even if it means loud fireworks which scare the pants off of him. Assuming he wore pants. Which he doesn't. Just a light jacket or sweater when it gets cold. (See "spoiled" above.)

We like to take sharp turns in the boat to soak our guests to see how they take it. These two took like the troopers they are. So we did it again.

These two did not want to get splashed. They wanted to cuddle. They cuddle a lot.

Random flower shot.

I think this is called a Johnny Jump Up.

Because they do.

Jump up, randomly.

And speaking of random jumping things that show up in my garden, this guy showed up this year. Actually, there's a pair of them.

And you know what that means. (Besides Hassenpfeffer.)

Baby bunnies. I hope to get some photos of them before the foxes/coyotes/wolves/hawks find them.

Gone Fishin'

The Novel Woman's posts will be more erratic than usual, i.e., less frequent not "deviating from the normal or conventional in behavior or opinions" although that might be up for debate.

I'll be spending a good chunk of the summer at the lake, where there is no internet access. Okay, there is, because it was introduced this year, but at great cost both to one's wallet and to one's freedom to sit quietly on the porch with a book in one hand and a gin and tonic in the other.

Yes, if I had high speed wireless I could stay connected, but there are other ways to do that. Like playing board games with kids and guests until the wee hours, singing songs at a lakeside bonfire, relating stories from childhood with friends and family and snuggling with my husband. I guess that's the way I want to be connected. And I do a lot more reading and writing when there are no other distractions.

If I'm desperate, I can wander up the road to my Swedish neighbours and "borrow" some internet time from their front porch, or kitchen if they're up. They make me coffee and joke about becoming an Internet Cafe. But more often than not, once emails are checked, the laptop is put aside and we're sharing a laugh over lunch.

No. I don't think I want internet access.

So see you when I see you. I'll post when I can. In the meantime, I'll be writing, reading a delicious stack of novels I've saved for summer, photographing anything that takes my fancy, and swimming at dusk under blazing skies in a cold, black lake while the loons call back and forth.