Author: Garry

From the deck.
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

The cottage is such a wonderful place. The view from the deck is always refreshing and new no matter how many times I sit and look out over the water. Even a rainy May long weekend has it’s sunny moments. This weekend there were a lot of bugs, a huge number of bug in the bush and around the water front. We were out in the boat one afternoon and going by another island where it appeared there were columns of smoke rising up from one end. Upon closer inspection, it was millions of these bugs in a swarming formation. But, no mater what the conditions, or what our personal circumstances are we can always make the choice to enjoy our surroundings and to enjoy life. Being happy is a decission that I can make every day, and I choose to live a great life, full of joy and happiness. Life to the max!

Dark Waters
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

Opened the cottage on the May 15-16 weekend and while the weather was not the greatest, it was wonderful to be back at the cottage. It’s always so peaceful and relaxing. There is always time to just sit and thing, to refresh the soul, to get back in touch with Who and what is important.

Arrived Friday night and after unloading put on the fireplace and Shirley prepared a nice snack. Turned in fairly early to get an early start on firing up the water system. Up on Saturday but not sure exactly when an I begin the familiar ritual of reassembling the water system which was carefully shut down last winter. First all the in-cottage connections, then under cottage connections and then the water line from the pump to the house. It’s amazing how many little quirks, work arounds etc. develop in the system over the years.

All is going well, the line is in, the pump is primed and pressure is building in the system. OK, here we go, opening the valve to the line up to the cottage. Hey, what’s this spray of water all over the place! After closing the valve I realize that that little slow drip I noticed last year really did mean something. This little part in the system has seen a better day. Inspite of having a huge inventory of plumbing parts, I don’t have this one, so it’s off to Kenora. Once in the car I notice it’s only 8:15am and I must have been working for over an hour. On the way back from Kenora I treat my self at Timmy’s to a coffee (no donut, I’m on the program 🙁 ).

Once the pump is running it’s time to open the valve that lets the water into the cottage. This is where thing can get exciting. Everything seems OK for a few minutes, but then there is that sound of running water and all the taps are closed and things should be quiet. Yikes, it’s the “pipe patch” in the lower bathroom ceiling, it’s spring a leak. Run out side and shut the valve, fix the pipe, clean up the water all over the floor and try again. Success! The rest of the day is spent doing odd jobs and getting things back in place, plus a nap. Can’t work too hard. Another great day at the lake.

Pansy in the Wild
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

Mothers Day was a big success at our home this weekend. Eric & Dez provided a wonderful brunch and Scott joined us later for cards & gifts. Shirley quite enjoyed the day and is looking forward to experiencing the Riverstone Spa.

Couldn’t resist, this is just too funny in a sick sort of way. Bunny Suicides

Nobody usually likes to be on the wrong side. I didn’t want to be on the wrong side of the digital divide so after reviewing the list I realized I wasn’t doing too bad. But, I’d never spent the time to look at Technorati or boingboing . In fact I’m still not all that sure what boingboing is all about. And, I’m not yet bored with flickr. I still think it’s very cool, especially for free!

Park Bench
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

Things are getting interesting now! I just set up a flickr account to make blogging with a photo a little easier. I guess I’ll need to take a few more pictures to see how this will all turn out.

Today, Phil Baker spoke at our church, and delivered a great message about Words. Small words and Big Words and the importance of having Big Words in our life like Joy, God & People. Phil Baker is the pastor of Riverview Church in Australia. Their web site seems to be under a major re-vamp so perhaps you should check back later. They’ve also been reviewed by ABC

Phil mentioned his blog so I checked it out for a bit this afternoon before taking a bike ride. My son Scott purchased a couple of Phil’s CDs on building business leadership, Shackleton – a leadership legacy, and Winston Churchill – a study in greatness. Shirley bought a book, which I’ll get to later.

So, before the ride I burned Phil’s CDs onto a CD-RW disc in MP3 format and loaded up Scott’s Guru Flight road bike into the van and headed of for a road ride. I went out Henderson and I was thinking about a spin out to Lockport and back, a popular road ride. Just before setting out I noticed that the temperature was dropping. It was about 10C and at the last minute I decided to throw on the jacket over to of two jerseys. Good choice! There was a very strong headwind from the north and it was cool. After slugging out the headwind for 15km, I wimped out and new that Lockport was just too far away for today’s ride and turned around. The wind noise on the first 15km was so loud that it made it quite hard to hear the CD, hence I’m re-listening to it now. Good Stuff! It’s quite interesting since I recently saw the IMAX production about Shackleton. It’s quite a remarkable story.

The 15km back was uneventful and much easier riding. Going out was about 28km/h and coming back was 35+km/h. I’m a little zapped after yesterday’s 32km ride and the Bowflex workouts, so It will be an early night tonight.

Whether it’s luck or skill Lance certainly has a lot on the line as he prepares to go for the 7th straight win in the Tour de France. With announcing his retirement after this years Tour, he’s planning on going out at the top of his game. I’ll certainly be pulling for him to win as it would be an incredible achievement. Six wins are already incredible, but I think a loss on number seven would cause most people only to remember the loss and not the fantastic record that’s already achieved. We tend to have such short memories and a focus for the negative. No matter what happens it will be one exciting Tour

After a little hunting I located WMPtunelog which allows an easy way to post your currently playing tune. Easy & fun.

I went biking yesterday and had a great ride of about 32km. With the river levels up most of the local trails in the city are under water and here in Winnipeg it’s pretty flat on the roads. However, with a 40+ kph: wind you can really get a workout when you’re riding into it! This is something I refer to as a “Prairie Mountain”. It may be flat, but a long hall into a stiff headwind can seem just as hard as climbing a mountain trail.

It was also a good day for flying a kite. Some people even tried flying a kite while riding a bike. Kiteboarding becomes Kitebiking!