A dreary weekend - with a couple of highlights

We spent the weekend on the west end of Beaurivage this weekend. Last week was absolutely gorgeous so, of course, it began to rain on Friday and continued until late Sunday afternoon. We are beginning to reach the point in the year when docking is somewhat determined by water levels (which are declining by the minute - down 30 inches from the mid-August). Even mooring at our own dock is becoming dicey.

We were, according to the Parks Canada staff, the only boat on Beaurivage this weekend. The wind was from the east and the north-east, so the west dock seemed the logical place to go. It was actually quite calm and pleasant there and if we were looking for solitude it was the perfect place. It drizzled and rained pretty much all weekend so we got a lot of reading done. We also watched several episodes of "Monk"; bro-in-law gave us a box set of this very clever TV show which is only occasionally seen in Canada and they have become our boating entertainment.

We came in earlier than usual on Sunday to connect with PetDoc on Skype. We had a nice chat and got a chance to see Noise playing tennis, baseball, and bowling on their new Wii. Buggy and Geordie got to say hello through the miracle of cyber-communication. Have a great time in Paris next weekend (PetDoc & Noise, that is - not Buggy and Geordie!)

The second highlight of the weekend was a concert we attended tonight at MacNeil's Landing. Maryanne Wainman (with whom I've worked many times), Len Whalen who, in his own words "has been Jesus longer than Jesus was Jesus" and Scott Davey did a dinner/concert programme of Broadway selections. We oldsters tend to do Broadway songs from "Carousel", "The Sound of Music", and the like - these 'youngsters' put together a fabulous evening of songs from "Jesus Christ, Superstar", "Phantom", "Les Mis", "Rent", "Hairspray". It was thoroughly enjoyable. Kudos to Cliff Edwards for making his restaurant venue available for this kind of entertainment.

Not really a new post, but ...

Now that the whole Bluffdweller clan has visited Platform 9 3/4 - thought it would be appropriate to post all the documentary photos:

Poker is NOT a Game Show

On a trip to visit bro-in-law in Atlanta, we were exposed to the Game Show Network (GSN). When it became available on digital cable in Canada, we subscribed and immediately became addicted to Family Feud (with a Match Game chaser). Now, due to the constant broadcast of poker on GSN, we have become addicted, instead, to CSI on Spike TV. The Sports Network (TSN) broadcasts a lot of poker, too. This leads us to state, unequivocally: POKER IS NOT A GAME SHOW or A SPORT! Get your own network - TPN!

Back on the River

We're back in the 1000 Islands and have enjoyed two nice weekends in the islands. Although less boat traffic is probably an indication of some sort of economic down-turn, it sure has a positive side for us locals. We spent Labour Day weekend on a dock where we've never spent a night before - the main crib dock on the north-east side of Aubrey (Burnt) Island. Although there was a lot of bouncing because a main channel runs past nearby, we met some very interesting people and had a great time. Although one might expect the greatest amount of wash would come from the passing tour boats, they're actually very considerate. It's the yahoos zipping by full-out in their pseudo-cigarette boats that cause the greatest problem. Mix testosterone with gasoline and it's way more of a nuisance than alcohol - maybe not as dangerous, but certainly a pain.

This weekend we spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights on Beau Rivage. Met up with some boater friends and enjoyed the weekend immensely. There's still enough water for us at the south floating dock in the main bay (though the water has dropped at least a foot from mid-summer), but it dropped another 6 inches during the three days we were there. The weatherman threatened rain most of the weekend but Friday was gorgeous, Saturday was overcast but no rain, and it only rained a tiny little bit Sunday afternoon. With three dinghy-shuttles to make, that was a relief.