july 2010

july 22

sorry about the lack of updates - major laptop meltdown. fortunately, after removing the battery, it finally boots up [whilst clinging on for dear life], so i've managed to retrieve all my data.

now don't get me wrong.. i'm in love with my neighbourhood but i'm having lawn anxiety. mine is all brown while most of my neighbours' lawns are a gleaming, sparkling green colour. this is, of course, because i can't be bothered to hook up the sprinkler twice a week on the evenings we're allowed to water [and who can remember which days they are]. i now have a great set of plants both inside and outside the house which, after much trial and error, are plants which are used to my abuse and don't seem to mind my laziness. the lawn however, is doomed. naturally, i'm being much more environmentally conscious by NOT watering the lawn [and by leaving my grass clipping where they fall to 'mulch' AND by leaving the grass longer so it 'retains moisture'] but i feel like i need a sign proclaiming that this is what i'm doing!

also... i've never seen so many empty garages as in this neighbourhood. the doors open to let the cars in and strangely there might just be one extremely tidy shoe rack in the corner, or perhaps a nice neat tool rack. it's very odd. don't these people have 'stuff'? do they keep their bikes and lawnmowers in the kitchen instead?! as far as i'm concerned, i have a pretty well organized garage. we even manage to fit one of the two cars inside, but with a train table, 5 bikes, a couple of scooters, a hockey net, 4 pairs of roller blades, 4 golf bags, 2 strollers and more pieces of hockey equipment than i can count, it's always going to look a little mayhem-ish in there. perhaps these are all older couples with no children, who can't figure out what to do with all the extra space in their house!

that's not to mention the people who dash up and down their driveways with a dushpan and brush in case a leaf has fallen in the night!

anyway, moving on.. on saturday we went to dinotown since it's closing forever at the end of this season. dinotown is a very cute little theme park which was definitely at its peak about 20 years ago but it's a much more relaxing day that major theme parks. we had a great day. toby wanted to spend the whole time at the mini golf, zoe wanted to spend the whole time on the train ride, whilst aly and i wanted to run around doing everything else. it was a lovely day and i came back feeling like we'd been on a little vacation. goodbye dinotown.

it was our 10th anniversary yesterday. it's been such a great 10 years. 3 children, 8 moves, 3 houses in 3 different countries and 2 boats. we'd both love to get to see a little more of each other but we do what we can. happy anniversary sasch x

july 1

a very happy canada day to all you canadians :)

last night was the hamilton picnic and outdoor movie night. only aly and dani made it to the movie [cloudy with a chance of meatballs] because it gets dark so late and i needed to get zoe home. i was a lovely picnic though - it's a great way to say hi to all the neighbours and, in a lot of cases, goodbye for the summer. am i boring everyone with how much i LOVE LOVE LOVE my community?!

i downloaded the sailing photos from saltspring island last weekend. i had trouble choosing so there's quite a few...

i'm not sure how they all ended up in my bed - it's a good thing i wasn't expecting to sleep in!

exploring the wreck

a little chilly on the way home!

captain aly [she really has that captain pose down!]

dani

i'm not sure what happened to navigating by the stars!

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