Thursday, July 29, 2010

Tour Du Toronto with an economic Professor

Those of you that have visited me in Toronto know that I have a knack for showing my beautiful city.
I've had the privilege to guide many friends and family members through Toronto & adjacent cities.
I have an unexplainable curiosity about Toronto and make it a point to add at least one new location every time I tour it with someone so that I can get something out of it (selfish - I know, but that's just how I roll).
So on July 10th I once again had the privilege to tour Toronto with a new visitor  - we'll call him B
B is an economics professor and more importantly a WOW guild member of my DH.
Yes, I went on a quest of Toronto with 2 geeks World of Warcraft enthusiasts.
This time around I got to visit the Toronto Sculpture Garden.



It was nice, but definitely underwhelming.

With a total of about 4 sculptures, it was about the size of my living room + kitchen (Since it was scorching hot, and we were walking - we were thankful for that).
But it really should be called: Toronto Miniature Sculpture Garden.
The day was nice, we got to see my beautiful city, and although they were geeks World of Warcraft enthusiasts, I had a lovely time.
We got to see First Canadian Place (which is a big favorite of mine)

As well as sipped cold drinks at the harbour.
We also drove around and got to see this project by Ashley's - where they put a real Formula 1 car on China.



Altogether - a fun day.

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Monday, July 19, 2010

Magical Monday in July

So what's magical about today?
let's see..
1) DH is at home with me and as much as we drive each other nuts, I love that we meet for lunch.
2) I've got lime Jello in my fridge
3) This summer is as warm, and as dry as I always wish it to be. It's simply magical!
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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Summer Star Party @ Ontario Science Centre

On a clear Friday night, after the rain stopped and the clouds cleared I went out for a night of star observation at the Ontario Science Centre with my friend T.

We were a little late as Venus already set, but Mars and Saturn were waiting for us.
T's first Telescope experience
Equipped with my favorite camera, I walked from telescope to telescope amazed at the clarity of Saturn's rings. I could see the shadow they were casting on it. Saturn's moon (Titan) was just as clear.
With permission (of course) I took out my camera and started to play.
The following are my series of photos that I am hoping OSC will take to publish (I submitted them!!)
Hope this gives you a glimpse of the magical universe we live in.
Mars (July 9th, 2010 @ 22:49, 43.716525,-79.338648) 
Saturn & titan on top (July 9th, 2010 @ 22:53, 43.716525,-79.338648)
Saturn & titan on top (July 9th, 2010 @ 22:53, 43.716525,-79.338648)
Saturn & titan on top (July 9th, 2010 @ 22:53, 43.716525,-79.338648)
Saturn & titan on left (July 9th, 2010 @ 23:03, 43.716525,-79.338648)

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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The other cottage

I had the chance to go on a second cottage getaway this summer, and you better believe I accepted it with open arms.
This statement might make you think 'wow! she's really outdoorsy!'
You would be mistaken to think that.
I need electricity, running water, a toilet, a mirror, a fridge, Wi-Fi, Mascara, and hot coffee as daily bare necessities.
Cottage, is pretty much as close I willingly go to camping.
This cottage was located in a VERY VERY far far away land called Byng Inlet. 
If you are curious - it's about 3 days 1 hour north of Port Perry in Ontario.
So off we went on our adventure.
3 gals, and 4 boys.
And with only 1 Mcdonlad's / fuel stop, and a terrifying drive through fog at night we arrived at our shack.
It was a really nice night, once we arrived and all the fog was gone.
I was pooped, and due to a tough day also pretty bummed.
So I amused myself by taking some photos (did I mention I love my camera?!?) and proceeded to go to sleep.
La Luna
The next morning, we discovered the dock.
The dock
The dock is where we spent the majority of the rest of the weekend.
In order to reach it - you had to walk down the stairs, ignore the bear on the right (smart placement),
I am not a real bear!
and walk down to the sandy beach.
The water has weeds in it, and was quite chilly.
A weed
So we just had our feet in it most of the time.
Cottage next door with lots of beer and some construction dudes.
The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we just lazied around as time passed.
I even got to test out the camera timer on the dock, and on the first day that was pretty chilly we got our first group photo.
Everybody say CHEESE!!
The first day was also a working day for me, so as a real Canadian, I put the corona next to the blackberries, took off my sunglasses, and got to working.
My boss and I hope that one day this will be my usual scenery while working.


Evening came down, with Pinks and purples and a swift attack of the killer mosquitoes.
But how could we miss the opportunity to snap some more pictures of these colors?
We couldn't!

So Igor and I took on the task of recording everything pretty in sight.
Igor
It was Canada Day after all!
So we made the best of the mosquito / coldness situation started a fire (Smores and all!)


We watched some fireworks - and failed at taking pictures of them.


And then we scurried back indoors to wait until the mosquitoes leave.
Once it was safe as the vampires mosquitoes disappeared we went out and started our own fireworks.

Oh Canada!
When those were done, I went back to the dock, laid on it, and looked up.
I saw millions of starts, it was magnificent.
I was only able to capture a few - but you get the idea.

Imagine -dark, quiet, the gentle rocking of the dock as the water moves and millions of stars looking down at you.
With this image in mind our Canada day came to its conclusion.
The next morning we woke up to a warmer weather.
It was finally going to be a great cottage weekend!
With the sun so high in the sky we put on out bathing suits, shorts, and sunglasses, and had some fun with water balloons.


Igor and I went out on the hike we had been planning for this trip, and found some fun activities to do while in nature.
Wild Raspberries
Flowers
Nature Photography

When we returned, the weather was so inviting, all we really wanted to do is catch more sun on the dock.
So before lunch we got in our bathing suits and caught some sun.
Vanessa & Mike
Yours truly
Igor

After lunch (Tuna sandwiches & veggies), I went out to sit around before it was impossible again (due to the vampires mosquitoes). I got a rare opportunity to catch a close glimpse of this friendly creature.
Dragonfly
It may be a bug - but it was still pretty neat.
In the evening we Mike started another fire, and we passed around Popcorn and Smores.

The moon was spectacular, and our last evening at Byng Inlet was a nice quiet one.

On our last day, as we collected our things, and cleaned up Igor and I decided it was time to take a photo with the star attraction in the Cottage decor scheme.
He was hanging in the tray, sticker on and all. We just loved him so much...
An emotional goodbye kiss
For a final group shot I set up my timer to snap 5 photos, within 5 seconds of each other.
We set everyone in the position, and here's the result.





This was the end of our cottage experience, but far from the end of the adventure for me.
We collected ourselves, got in the cars, waived goodbye and headed home.
On the way, my car was in charge of dumping the trash at the dump.
We met some VERY interesting garbage attendants when we arrived at the dump.
I'll let the photos do the talking, but just for perspective - these are real and these were taken face to face.






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