Welcome to August!

This side of July, Christmas seems like it's just around the corner.  Maybe due to all the special days and activity between August and December.  I mean, back to school, Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving (my birthday!).
We took a bit of a vacation this year, and tried something new:  we decided to rent a cottage.  After much looking on the net (MUCH, with no help at first) I narrowed choices down to about 6, then BEGGED the family to check them out.  I will say, this one was in the lead...until I found out there were leeches in the water.  To me, no big deal, we could still canoe or use the rowboat, just no swimming.  But to a 16 year old girl, NO WAY was she going anywhere near water with leeches.  (That she knows about!)
So, she chose one in Owen Sound that was listed on RentCottage.  The house looked nice, a little private, but not overly so.  Four bedrooms, bath, laundry, nice wrap around porch, sounded great...and we got a 'last minute' savings and wound up paying $1,200 and change for the week.

This was the south side of the house, the porch where I had my morning coffee almost every morning and watched the ducks, geese, kingfishers and cormorants.  Not to mention the little chipmunk and vole that I spotted on a couple of occasions.  There is a private marina for members only, behind me as I took this picture.

A view of the sunset over the bay, and below, a shot of the moon over the marina.  If I'd had a tripod with me, the picture might have turned out a little better, the moon didn't just shine on the water, it glowed.

While there, we did go out and about just a bit.  The owner of the house had told us about a market every Tuesday in Keady, so on Tuesday, we headed out.  No pics, sadly.  The market was huge!  Others may be used to that, but I'm used to markets on a much smaller scale at festivals and the like.  The parking took over a large field, and there was row after row after row of vendors.  There were the resellers that you normally see, and many handmade, antique/vintage booths, and food!
Afterward, we stopped at a quaint little diner in Kilsyth where the owner was very friendly and chatty.

  After finding out where we'd been, he commented that some of the produce sellers DID grow their own, but some bought in Toronto, then hauled it there and claimed they grew it.  Ya gotta love honesty in a seller.

We also took a very short trip up the road to Indian Falls Conservation Area.  Indian Falls is a 'tad' smaller than its cousin farther south on the Niagara Escarpment, but beautiful nonetheless, and made for a nice hike.

Add caption

^^ The falls from the trail along the escarpment .
And from the top of the falls--->>










Across the bay from us and a little north was Hibou Conservation Area, the brochure at the cottage boasted a swimming beach, so off we went.  The beach was large, more so because there were only 2 other families there.  Once we got in the water, that made about 5 people swimming.  The bottom alternated between smooth rocks and sand, and was very clear, not at all like Lake Erie where you're afraid to put a toe in the water and health warnings on beaches abound.

In town, we checked out a few shops.  Sadly, no one would let me go in the yarn shop.  Our youngest daughter and I did visit a secondhand book shop.  I don't think our town library has that many books!  Paperbacks on wire racks along both walls, on racks in the centre, all stacked 4-5 deep, piled on tables, under shelves, towering stacks along the counter, I swear it would have taken weeks to go through them all.  And the owner was great, chatted with us a bit, a total contrast to the guy in the first bookstore we stopped in who barely spared us a glance or even a word when we finally went up to pay.

To go back to the cottage...actually, I really would like to go back!  The house was finished in 1919 by the grandfather of the two men who currently own it.  Bill and Bob were awesome 'hosts'.  They did respect our privacy, but as owners, suggested places in the area to visit, and Bob even treated us to a boat ride toward the end of the week.
The house is for sale.  Once we got home, my curiosity took over and I looked it up on the realtor's site.  Asking price:  $995,000.  I tried digging through my couch and loveseat, checked the washing machine and even the car and still come up short.

Some people just don't get it!

A few weeks back, I noticed a seller on an online selling venue selling PDFs of patterns that looked REALLY familiar.  Since they had requested to join a team I manage, I thought I would be nice and caution her against this.  Lawyers are hungry people (apparently Disney's lawyers have a particularly voracious appetite for copyright and trademark infringers! but I digress) and who wants an official letter telling them in legalese that what they're doing is stealing? 
After a week or so, the patterns were still up.  So...YES, I DID contact the magazine that published them.  I had a brief reply thanking me and mentioning this had been passed on to their lawyers.  The patterns were removed, so I assumed the magazine or its lawyers contacted the seller.
BUT, a few weeks later, BAM!  The patterns were put right back up in the seller's shop.
I contacted the magazine again, via the person who replied to my first message, and got an answer today...this has been passed on (again) to their lawyers, AND the selling venue has been contacted, so there's a possibility this shop will be shut down.  
I mean, honestly...what HONEST person ignores a friendly word of advice and prefers to wait to see if they're busted by the legal owner?   Of course, most honest people KNOW you cannot sell scans of someone else's work legally, or even morally.
Now, 'who wants an official letter telling them in legalese that what they're doing is stealing?'  The same person who admits she doesn't know *who* designed the patterns, they were in her collection and she wanted to 'share' at 'bargain' prices.  I have a feeling if her shop is shut down, she is such a generous, sharing person (with other people's goods anyway) that she'll merely open up under another name.

The pitter patter of little feet!

It took several weeks after our cat passed away in January for me to even consider getting another cat or kitten.
When I was finally ready to think about it, *someone* put their foot down:  no more pets!  Then, a couple weeks later, it was "no more pets before we go on vacation".  Last week, *someone* decided while we were in Windsor that we would stop at the humane society on the way home.  Of course, that someone was looking at dogs, our 13yo and I looked at the numerous cats and kittens.  Sadly, it did not surprise me that there were SO many kittens, a lot of people don't feel it's important to spay or neuter a cat.  (side note:  if you have EVER had a female cat go into heat, you would NEVER consider NOT spaying a female ever, ever, ever again!  The added benefit of neutering a male:  if he has not yet sprayed, chances are, after the surgery, he will not spray.  Cat spray is as much a desired fragrance as skunk spray.  Not quite as potent, but definitely pungent.)
We humoured my husband and did look at the dogs--if we didn't have two already, I would certainly have considered one or two of them!--then suggested he look at the cats with us.
The result:  we brought our 16yo back the next day to help pick one out.
After 'test driving' 4 kittens ranging from 2-9 months, three of us couldn't agree.  I was easy.  We took a few minutes to discuss things outside, then went back in and saw a 2 month old calico kitten, similar to the older one my husband had looked at.  An assistant showed us into what I shall call the visitor's room, brought in the kitten, and we ALL agreed.
Now, technically, we are only fostering her until a week after her appointment in July to be spayed.  I didn't ask what they do with people who don't show up for the appointment, but curiosity may force me to ask in July.  Hopefully they chase the people down and either retrieve the animal, or force the 'foster parents' to bring the animal in for the surgery.  I'm sure most people who see the result of people refusing to take responsibility for their pets wouldn't consider avoiding the appointment, though.  (says Sally hopefully)

My husband picked up little Cairo the next day, and she has certainly made herself at home.  One coincidence: the birthdate on her papers happens to be the same day my sister Sue (1968-2002) was born--March 17th. 
A week later, Cairo still tries to play with our older cat, who seems to have forgotten what it was like being the new kid on the block and trying to make friends with a grumpy older resident...she is warming up a bit to the dogs, today I even caught her laying on her back trying to swat our part sheperd's tail as he stood in front of my husband wagging it.  I imagine that must be tempting to a young kitten!  And, little Cairo doesn't hiss and growl if one of the dogs gets too close, as long as they don't move too quickly.
I have discovered that Cairo likes my laptop.  The computer too...but the laptop more.  When it's closed, she lays on top of it.  When someone is using it, she walks across it.  Which can lead to some momentary confusion when your top toolbar suddenly disappears, or you can't scroll or click on anything.

I think she also likes the television, I'll know for sure if I come into the room to find the tv tuned to Animal Planet instead of Space.