Off the Back of the Boat:: Special Nephews edition

Tuesday Tunes: Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Okay, for those of you actually paying attention, I didn't actually get this done on Tuesday, because I had to drive everyone to the airport in Buffalo. Thought this song was appropriate.

This song was a huge hit for Peter, Paul and Mary when I was 11. I loved singing along with Mary because she sang in my exact key. Over the years, this has become my campfire sing-along signature song. Singing it never gets old for me.

We're back!

I have some pretty great BOTB photos to share, but right now I am eating a lemon meringue pie that is taking up all my attention.

Tuesday tunes: Lyle Lovett

Y'all, meet my boyfriend. Yeah, I know he has scary hair and all, but if you listen to the music, you can hear a great sense of humour, a beautiful sense of lyric and some damn fine music.

The Road to Ensenada is my favourite Lyle album. The whole album is a musical re-telling of his relationship with Julia Roberts (see, Julia has good taste). Trust me, it's a good thing. This is the title track.



And since I am not actually here, but off at the boat for the week, I thought this one might be just a bit appropriate.



And if you see Lyle, tell him I got a boat and he is welcome on it anytime.

Sunday morning blogging

A bit of a lazy Sunday planned today. I was rousted out of bed by a husband who apparently couldn't feed two hungry boys by himself. Okay, actually, he knew I had planned on feeding everyone a giant Chelsea bun that we bought at the Farmer's Market yesterday, so he really did need me. Presently, we are happily sated with said Chelsea bun, scrambled eggs and real bacon (not my usual chicken bacon) and coffee. The boys are downstairs watching classic cartoons and we are watching the end of the Open Championship.

The visit has been great so far: we went to see the Blue Jays vs the Red Sox on Friday night. Sadly, there was a threat of rain, so the roof was closed. The Jays lost, which made half our party sad and the other half happy. Before the game, we went to the top of the CN tower where I actually managed to stand for a brief moment on the glass floor looking down the 446.5 metres to the ground(1,464.9 ft for you Americans!) before my irrational fear got the better of me. The boys had no such fear.

Yesterday we spent the day in downtown Brampton; first the Farmer's Market, then a tour of the new theatre and Grant's offices. Finally, we watched the Classic Car parade: nearly 50 cars ranging from the 20's to the 80's. We all picked out our favourite car. I liked the 50s red and white Corvette convertible.

Today is just a lazy day. The boys are looking forward to playing with the Wii and my sister and I are looking forward to digesting the ridiculous amount of food we have consumed. Off to the boat tomorrow. Let's hope the weather stays nice!

Wonder wonder why the wonderfalls

Late Tuesday night, we picked up my sister and the boys at the Buffalo-Niagara Airport. We stayed overnight at an airport hotel (can't really recommend the Quality Inn, it's pretty shabby) and the next morning, we drove the short distance to Niagara Falls.



The Maid of the Mist is still a total blast.




We got a little bit wet.



All in all, a great start to our holiday.

Tuesday tunes: Walking in Memphis

Last Tuesday I posted some music that I currently love. I have decided to try this out as a regular feature. Let me know what you think.

I first heard this song when I still lived in San Francisco. My regular radio station was KFOG and they played a great mix of eclectic rock. That is where I heard and fell in love with Walking in Memphis. It may well be my favourite song, which is odd, because I have no particular in visiting Memphis, I don't own much in the way of delta blues material and I can take or leave Elvis. Still, from the piano intro on, I am hooked and for 4 minutes, I too am a Christian.

Off the Back of the Boat plus special bonus material

Not much to see from this weekend. We had a lot of things that required doing in dock; new dinghy, new motor, reinstalling the couch (divan? bed? whatever) inside the boat because the re-upholsterer attached the hardware on the wrong piece. It all took much longer than expected, so we never made it out.

The view is our new marina. We moved the end of last season for various reasons, but mainly because it is a hop, skip and a jump from our favourite place to cruise to. Views all around.

Ten

• Post ten of any pictures currently on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.
• NO CAPTIONS!!! It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.
• They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr! They have to have been saved to your folders sometime in the past. They must be something you've saved there because it resonated with you for some reason.
• You do NOT have to answer any questions about any of your pictures if you don't want to. You can make them as mysterious as you like. Or you can explain them away as much as you like.

My latest crush

Some of you may recall this post where I asked for recommendations for my iPod. I ended up checking out your suggestions, plus my own ideas and downloaded some great new music. I also checked out the recommendations that iTunes suggested, which is how I found Sarah Slean. This video is of one of the two songs I bought. I can't listen to it enough times.



A few weeks ago, I added The Baroness to my collection. Here is another fabulous song, with an absolutely gorgeous video to go along with it:



Seriously, she is my new obsession. I am going to have to own everything she has recorded. I am also going to have to see her the next time she is in Toronto.

Ah, summer...

Here I sit on a Monday morning, reading various blogs, listening to On Broadway on XM Radio. I have a list of things to accomplish, but there is no particular hurry because it's officially SUMMER!!

The last day of school was a week ago last Friday. And as soon as possible, we packed up the car, the dog and ourselves and hightailed it up to the boat. Hence my non-posty-ness last week. There should be Off the Back of the Boat photos, but we keep forgetting the damn camera. This weekend, I promise.

I love these early days of summer holidays. The summer still seems to stretch out ahead of me, with plans and projects yet to experience and accomplish. It reminds me of being a kid, when time slowed down to a crawl and summer lasted forever. Now, of course, time moves much more quickly and I realize that before I know it I will wonder where the summer has gone. But today, September seems a mile away.

Today, I have a house to myself and nobody to tell me what I should do. So many choices: reading, writing, chatting, crafting, cooking. Or maybe doing lots of nothing at all. Time well spent, indeed.