"Wolfe Island Ferry" Never Gets Old

Wolfe Island is the largest of the "thousand islands" found in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

There is no bridge to Wolfe Island.

Instead, a ferry makes regular crossings  between Kingston and Wolfe Island all year long.

Taking the ferry is free - and the trip takes about 18 minutes each way.

Going for a quick return trip - without our car - is my favorite thing to do in Kingston.

You never know what you'll see...

(Like the causeway bridge lifting up to let some sailboats pass through...)

Don't you ever get tired of it? Terry asks, when I suggest another crossing. Invariably I respond: Never!

The years I lived in Kelowna, BC, where my father had a small boat, gave me a great love of the water... riding the waves, not swimming.

There's something so peaceful about being on the water, watching the clouds sail past...

On this trip, Terry noticed something new: coins on the lower deck...

Is this a tradition I know nothing about? Are they tossed to bring us "good luck"?!

Maybe it worked! We landed safely!

Kingston's "Limestone City Blues Festival 2017"

One of Terry's favorite musical events of the year is the Kingston Blues Festival, a four-day outdoor event held in August.

We have attended a number of times...

A $15-pass gets you into the feature evening events, but the many daytime performances held in the city park are free.

Musicians come from all over. (I was going to write "all over Canada and the USA, but there was a Cuban harmonica player and his band there this year...)

This year I was amazed at the outstanding talent of several young Canadian performers, who have won awards in the USA as well: Spencer MacKenzie, Angelique Francis (from Ottawa!) - as well as as Blackburn (from Toronto) and Dawn Tyler Watson (from Montreal).

I didn't realize that blues was so popular in Canada - especially with the young.

The Limestone City Blues Festival is a family friendly event, drawing young and old...

We usually sit in metal chairs or grandstand seats set up for the event - but when I see people lounging in lawn chairs (or children dozing on blankets) - I wonder if we shouldn't bring along our own seating next year!

Canada's First Train Tunnel

Terry and I often stop in historic downtown Brockville, usually on our way to or from Toronto. Recently we stopped to have lunch at Tait's Bakery. (Terry loves their excellent chili.)

Let's go see the train tunnel that was re-opened recently, Terry suggested.

It was a short walk away, so we headed over...

Admission was free...

(Didn't realize that it was Canada's first railway tunnel...)

Let's walk all the way through and see where it ends up...

It was longer than we expected...

Moving lights created a sense of drama...

Not sure what this is... An air vent, perhaps?

(Another mystery hole...)

Water was seeping in at several spots...

Not sure why... Ground water from a recent rainfall?

This is longer than I expected, Terry commented as we walked along.

(We discovered, in the end, that we had walked
- underground - for several city blocks.)

We came out in a neighborhood we didn't recognize, but we headed back - above ground - in the direction we had come from.

Soon we recognized the churches and courthouse around the historic downtown square.

We'll definitely do this again! But next time, now that we know where it goes, we'll probably walk back again through the tunnel.

Right next to the port - Brockville's newly opened train tunnel: Another interesting thing to do in Brockville!

Summer Quilt

One of my ongoing summer projects has been a black and white quilt.

The pattern is called "Bento Box." I first noticed it on "Pinterest" and found instructions online.

After adding several squares a week, I think it's big enough to stop. It's not quite double-bed size.  But I've reached a point where I'm not even sure I like it... (This sometimes happens when I work on something for a while. Taking this picture has given me a more objective point of view.)

Should I put it away for awhile? Add another row of squares? Or forge ahead and finish it?

I think I'm going to try to finish it...

I'd really love to use up all my black and white fabrics...

(Then I could start on another colour...!)

My "Happy Place"

I recently saw a bumper sticker that read: "My happy place is hunting".

If I had to choose a place I associated with total contentment, I would choose a sunny room in our house where two large windows frame constantly changing scenes.

I sit here a lot - and often look up and notice the amazing sky - sometimes blue with fluffy clouds. At other times, colorful, constantly-changing - vibrant shades of pink and blue.

In the morning, sipping coffee, looking out the window at the sky - I am definitely in my "happy place."

Knit Vests for... Chickens?!!

At first I thought it was just a joke - the "worry of the week" picture of  chickens in knit vests.

("Worry of the Week" suggests that chickens might need sweaters on farms where windmills lower the temperature of the air.)

A British joke, I thought, as I browsed through this glossy British magazine I've never read before...

So cute!

Then I googled "chicken sweaters" and discovered that they really do exist! Here are some online instructions!

Who'd have thought!

I guess the joke's on me!

Stress Dream

I haven't had a stress dream in years... Why would I? I'm retired?!! Very little to stress about!

In my teaching years, from mid-August to mid-September, as I transitioned into my new teaching schedule, I'd have stress dreams nightly. Once I inquired: did other teachers have them as well? To my surprise, many of us had very similar dreams that woke us up in a panic...

I hardly ever think of school any more, so I was shocked, a few nights ago, to wake up from a very stressful dream. In my teaching years, my dreams would invariably involve my getting lost... I'm walking around in the halls, looking for my classroom - or for a bathroom. (If I eventually find a bathroom, it has no door... and strangers keep walking in...) So I leave in a panic, knowing I'm going to get into trouble for not being in the classroom I'm supposed to be in.

My recent dream was completely different. In it I was taking an exam, but I couldn't read it... the print was too small! Though when someone asked me to explain a question, I was able to do that easily. But somehow I couldn't sit down and write the answer in the exam!

Why this dream?! I wondered after waking up... Did the nightmare have to do with my eyesight, with the fact that I need reading glasses to decipher small print?

Was it caused by having lunch with a few former colleagues and being reminded of school?

Was it a book I'm reading, where a man - an English instructor - is struggling with emotional issues from his past?

Was it the images of people escaping flooding in the Houston area, on last night's news?

I have no idea - but I woke up in a panic and it took me a few minutes to calm myself down again!