cottage leaving

Going home today! Pretty cold on the lake this morning; I'm bundled up in a t-shirt, sweatshirt, thick fleece vest, long pants as I type this. If I go swimming this morning, it will only be after a very long frying-up in the sauna, I think. I've been swimming twice a day since arriving at the cottage last week. One very long one in the morning, somewhat shorter in the afternoon.





Jeff and JBR are a bit concerned that I might get hit by a motorboat since I tend to swim out a fair distance from the cottage shore. Since they do have a point, I've been trying to think of ways around this. I refuse to wear anything on my head, so count out fluorescent orange caps, sorry. Another solution would be to tie a piece of string around my waist, and have the other drag along a brightly-coloured float or lifejacket. This could also be handy if I run into trouble with no one around. If anyone has other suggestions, please feel free to let me know!





Yesterday, JBR got a call from Don Lloyd, an old-time cottager at the other end of the lake. Turns out he had a computer problem. JBR passed the info to Jeff, who volunteered to go visit Don. This prompted Ginny to ask to go as well, since she hadn't seen Don's revamped cottage interior yet. Then JBR wanted to go to say hi to Don. Harry wanted to go to check out Don's computer. In the end, we all ended up going except for Jean, who opted to stay behind at our cottage to work and nap. I suppose I could have done that too, except it was my last day at the cottage, and I hadn't visited with Don yet. I think Don was tickled at having such an enthusiastic tech support response (or maybe he was horrified, but he hid it well).

Don Lloyd is one of my favourite people at the lake. He spends the whole summer here, writing and painting and doing wood-carvings. Crusty and down-to-earth, straightforward and generous. And incredibly motivated and creative, as you can tell from the photos on this page. I'll have to include some photos of Don's paintings and wood carvings in a future Blathering.





In the evening, we went to Bartlett Lodge with Dan and Helen Gibson. Jeff and I told Dan about seeing the "Dan Gibson shrine" in the Prince Hotel in Tokyo last summer, along with the Japanese bio. During the conversation, I also discovered that Dan Gibson had invented a type of parabolic microphone, something I hadn't realized. Here's some more info about this incredibly talented man.

Going home today!





Links/News:

Allison's finished her California trip report.

Chris Conway has launched his own Livejournal.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	JBR setting off early one morning to get the Globe & Mail newspaper at the Portage Store. Click on picture to see larger image. Note the coffee cup. :-)
	The mechanical elevator rig that Don Lloyd had set into the steep hill leading up to his cottage. Harry decided to try the elevator while the rest of us opted for the path.
	Sign beside Don's front door.
	Don Lloyd's book, highly recommended for anyone planning to do a canoe trip in the park.
	Embroidery that Don designed (adapting it from the cover of his book) and sewed himself, onto a sweatshirt he was wearing when we visited. I was pretty impressed.
	Don Lloyd.