Trancendent Gypsy Socks

This one project has been with me since April of this year. I bought some lovely sock yarn at my local yarn shop, "Winter Eclipse" is a variegated mauve-purple-grey-midnightblue affair that does indeed look a little winter-eclipse-y. I cast on toe#1 back in the cold snowy spring in kemptville, got around to turning the heel on a warm evening in June, started the ankle the week before moving on board the boat. I finally had time to finish Sock One and am a quarter of the way up Sock Two. These socks will be a birthday present for my older daughter, who must continue to trudge the Canadian Snows. At least she'll do it in comfy warm socks, (and hopefully some kind of shoe!) And now I understand what earlier yarn-prophetesses mean by the phrase "Every stitch is crafted with love", it really is true. This is the second pair of socks I have knit for either of my kids, and the previous pair gave me reason to think about my children and pray for them, send them warm thoughts, good zen-like-karma, you know...hope they turn out all right! I'll be a little sad when this project ends, but am looking forward to the next: a shawl. But you don't know who it's for!

Our first intenational border

Wow! That was easy! Come in, tie off trot up to Customs & Immigration, pass the passport & ship's registration and voila! The nice people told us to have a nice visit, which we shall!
We are across lake Ontario, in the town of Cape Vincent. There are references to the War of 1812, beautiful old mansions, quiet streets and huge trees everywhere! It's almost too boring to write about! I am left wondering...what is the local cuisine like?
Well! I don't know about now, but I suppose the local fare included quite a bit of game-fish. The boat is tied off at the public dock behind the Seth Green Lab Vessel's berth at the Cape Vincent Fishery Museum, Auarium and research station. Mr. Green was apparently quite the angler and was the first person to hatch wee fishies in his own backyard, check out Sports Illustrated, Oct. 1864! (I can only hope it's not the swimsuit edition!) Although the town's tourist/sport-fishing background has quite diminished now, there are signs of leisure America all over; nice private boat docks, worn out buildings that have yet to scratch off the "Angling Supplies" sign off the derelict front doors.
It's a nice place to visit by boat, there is a lovely public washroom and shower facility just off the public dock and the first two nights are free! Tomorrow, the weather conditions should be right to make a safe trip to outr next port, Sacket's Harbour, apparently just as sleepy as Cape Vincent!

The Learning Curve...

Ever look at a new mother with her first baby in arms? See how natural they look? Even if you yourself are a mother, you know that she is experiencing all kinds of new things, problems, getting organized. Still, she looks like she knows what she's doing!

It is the same with us! I suppose we had quite a few distractions when packing up the house, the kid and the car, all going in different directions, and only now are we getting a feel for our new lifestyle. But here we are , enjoying our new "baby", getting to know her and each other, both live and very much up close.

The nice part of living this way is setting your own pace. The troublesome part is that the needs of the baby come first. Jim has lived aboard for two summers now; I have not. He knows her; I do not. This shall come with time and practice.

Anyhow, we have enjoyed some spectacular scenery along the way, and met up with some great people.

Day One saw us entertained in the bustling burgh of Burrit's Rapids by the Boesveld borough! (Z'at enough B's for you?). We walked from the river course, where we actually threw the anchor down in 7 feet of water, to their home. We could hear them. We could practically smell them! But we had to ask another neigbour, Thank you Morrisons! where they were. They were at yet another neighbour's house, making merry! We jioned right in and had a great time. Burrit's is a lovely place to tour through, no matter how briefly.

The next day, we stopped in Kilmarnock for the evening. Knowing we would be here, we lovingly chatted up Doud and Catherine Moir, Citizens of Kilmarnock, beforehand, and secured a shower. Afterwards we had them on board for a glass of wine and heard the story of their beautiful home on the Rideau Canal system. It seems they were looking to perhaps downsize their home after their son, Chris, had left home. They had been looking rather non-commitally, when Doug came across a fellow mowing the lawn on this beautiful property. Apparently, this was the fellow's mother's house, and after dicovering Doug's surname, invited him to come for a look sometime, but not today, as his mother was unwell. It took about a year before the Moirs did look into it, but since then , the matron had passed away. To make a short story, the house ended up being built originally by Doug's greatx3Grandfather, John Moir! They promptly bought the place and are presently rebuilding sections of it. We got a close-up of the bath, and wowie! Has Catherine got good taste or what! The whole house had such a simple, relaxed atmosphere, but had so many lovely surprises, like a reading area with two tasteful plaid sofas with a fireside settee that featured a red leather couch! The view of the bay we later anchored in was quite lovely.

The following morning, we took the 10 minute walk to kilmarnock Orchard. I traded my last copy of my new cookbook 13 Dessert Recipes, from the Yellow Canoe for some apples. We chatted with owner Myriam Belot for a while and discovered what a really busy lady she is! Besides Applefest, which I belive takes place Sept 16, there is "Let's get Creative"; a day full of local chefs, strutting their culinary stuff, wielding apple-corers and juicers to bring new ideas to the dining table. What a neat place, close by on Kilmarnock Road.

The next night we were in Smiths Falls, where I needed to cash in my old licence plate at the DMV. I realized that a friend of mine, Nancy Mantle, and her husband Dave, worked right next door, so we stopped in to see them. They accepted a dinner invitation, and we feasted on a curry dinner. Nancy requested the recipes for the Cashew & Date Couscous and the curried lentil dahl, so I'll put them on the side-bar for the blog post. They have just bought a wee daysailer and have already taken a trip down the Rideau to Ottawa, way to go! The morning after, we ran into Nick, from Ayling's Boatyard in Merrickville. We had him over for a quick pint, and he smartly told us that he is about to launch his sailboat! (both of us thought you look far better in a boat, as opposed to only working on a boat, Nick!) Happy cruising you all!

And then we all alone! No more friends! We tailed some kayakers who were on the same route as us, so we bid them hello whenever we could. Tried not to run them over! We anchored out in some beautiful places at the top of the system, Mortin's Bay on Whitefish Lake, Hudson Bay on the Big Rideau.

Then we came into Kingston, where we met up with my mum, and are waiting to get together with Jim's kids for a farewell dinner. Then it is off to upperNew York State & the Oswego Canal. Enjoy the snaps!

Kingston!

Well! We made it Kingston!
I'm learning a whole new lifestyle that includes a whole new way of cooking, let alone floating around on the water! I am also leaning to organize my internet time and access methods for blogging, as a result I have very little battery power and time left in the local library...hooray for libraries! MOre later!

Smiths Falls

Well! It's day four and we're feeling great! We've been positively roaring along, darlings, at four knots/hour, minus lock time, averaging four nautical miles a day at 2 knots/hr! Ah, life in the slow lane! I have been running into many familiar faces along the way, enjoyed much hosptality, Thank You Catherine & Doug for the use of your shower!, and have had enjoyable company en route. If you ever have the opportunity to host a bunch of Boesvelds, Do! Th e camera battery is just getting recharged at the lockmaster's house, so I have no pikkies for you right now, but in a few days. Ta-rah for now!

Saying Goodbye to Jim's Family

What a nice night we had at Monica's place, Beaconsfield, MTL., the weekend of Aug.4 . Monica and her sister-in-law Donna were a little miffed one Christmas when we were telling people that we couldn't bring too many personal effects aboard with us simply because of space issues. Well, they since got together to help alleviate our space problem...they found teeny tiny little itty bitty things that would be sure to fit. There was a four centimeter boom-box, a single shot of Crown Royal and other single dose toiletry items, but my favorite was a wee cookie jar with .5cm cookies. Jim is pictured below trying to dip in...he later had to sprinkle them out!

We will certainly miss our get-togethers at Christmas and Easter! But you know what we won't miss? All the snow at Christmas (although it is pretty), and Easter (which is supplied to keep Canadians humble at Easter).

Saying Goodbye to the Yellow Canoe

I have been at the Yellow Canoe Cafe for close to nine years. Wow! I managed there for six years and had owned it for the last three and a half. I have many fond memories of the staff and patrons and former owner Sam Jakes' Inn. I have learned much about business, relationships and a whole lot about cooking. I learned a lot about my self, about what I could do if I set my mind to it. I learned to hire, fire, and today...re-e-eetire! Tuesday July 31, 2007 saw my farewell party to The Canoe and the inroduction of new owner (Fantastic!) Susan Moizer, Merrickville veteran. Below are some shots of some of attendees, but certainly not all of The Beloved. Please enjoy!

The only person to inhabit Merrick's Landing Mews
longer than anyone is Pat Brown. She is shown
below with her daughter & new owner, both doing
what they truly love...*hic*! (OK, I'm just
kidding...not really!)

Perhaps the best thing about owning your own business is selecting the people you want to have around you. The surrounding pictures are of staff and patrons who have been cheerful, electrifying, helpful to the nth degree and very hungry!

Below are the Laberge and Atkinson families, between the two have produced at least three great employees...who knows what more offspring could turn up down the road!

Speaking of prolific!!! To the left are three members of the Boesveld Clan and home of the almost-world-famous...Bernie's Burger Balls! But that is a story for another time...

Above, some of the good (I mean GREAT!) folks at the Blockhouse Museum.


To the left, Pat Stroulger with Phyllis Walker. Phyllis in particular was very supportive, hoping I could make the Yellow Canoe a success in tandem with raising my two little girls.

Here's the proud new Proprietress, boog-a-looing to the popular 1981 hit "I Want Money"

So it has been fun, challenging, rewarding, all that clichee stuff. I loved working with my daughter. I loved having my husband/bookkeeper around, (who tends to much more than just books!) encourging me and fixing everything that broke. Between my mom and sisters, I'd say we did our share to support Merrickville economy. I enjoyed most of my customers and all of my regular patrons.

It's been a slice!