Thistles

Beautiful thistles around our cottage on Prince Edward Island.   While we were there, the thistles began to bloom.  



Gorgeous, purple prickly weed.

P-Love

We had a small ceremony for P-Love on Friday, July 25th just before twilight.

Scott and I let Perry's ashes fly out of the bag together, assuring his ashes how much we love him and miss him. They formed a long line from the water to the shore in a diagonal spray as the wind was coming off the water. I think Perry was watching from the rainbow bridge.

Young Perry at the Island, summer of 2000 or 2001.


Jape built a small fire and Scott doused it with charcoal fluid, then I tried to light it while Suzanne held my beer. It took a piece of Raven's towel to get the fire started, it was so windy. We burned the box Perry had been stored in for the last 8 1/2 months and stared at it until it was ashes, mostly in silence.

The next morning all that was left was a stain on the rock that the fire was on. Perry was brought into the ocean by the tide.

...and we're back...

What a great vacation. Much relaxation, no pressing responsibilities, and an endless supply of nothingness.

Rusty spent a lot of time doing this...


and this...


and a little of this...

Oops, that was a cattle type animal doing what he does. But Rusty did that, too.

I spent a fair amount of time cooking our meals, chasing after the Rusta Bibble, playing various guitar hero's with Suzanne (our band !+*=AAA rocked so hard!), and we watched the whole first season of Rock of Love (yeah, that's right, Rock of Love.)

Some other highlights included a wonderful tour of our immediate part of the ocean with Suzanne in a small blow up kayak that needed constant bailing (we should have brought a cup)...

We visited the Point Prim Lighthouse and got eaten by mosquitoes so bad that I had to do the slappy shakey run back to the car.

We drove around the southeastern most part of the island and stopped at a winery...the vineyard was beautiful, the wine we got left some taste to the imagination...sorry Rossignol.


and we got totally turned around, but not before we found this most gorgeous out of the way cliff.

...and a pic from the other side...


After the 13 hour drive home (we made great time) it was all worth the drive. Even though the weather didn't cooperate the whole two weeks, PEI is the most gorgeous place I have ever been and I am blessed to be able to go there each and every summer.

651 miles to go.

It's after 10pm on Thursday night, and I haven't even started packing. Looks like another year of the grab and pack for us. We'll be ready, we always are somehow.

So, as I procrastinate further, please enjoy some photos of last years 3 day trip up to close the cottage.

The cottage in all its glory.

Moooooo Cows.

Hay bales a plenty.

A drive by sunrise.

More cows...

Now, Kim....do you wonder why I love your paintings so much?

Its almost Island time.

We start the journey up to PEI on either Friday night or Saturday morning, we're still undecided. I have not even started to look through books I want to take or jewelry I want to work on, or even clothes I want to wear. Things somehow work out, as we make this trek every summer and somehow it all works out even if we have forgotten something. Enjoy our backyard!
Suzanne, Jape and Raven are spending the 2 weeks with us this year, as they did in '05 and '06. We will drive up together (in separate cars) with the dogs. This will be Rusty's first time up there, I think he will love the freedom, but I am afraid of him off-leash, so we will just have to feel it out and see how he does. Hopefully we will be able to let him run wild (with eagle-eye supervision) for at least a little while each day. I still haven't totally found out what the code word is to bring him back when he runs, but he has been responding to the whistle very well. So far he always comes to me when I make that whistle noise, but the tests are always in fenced in yards...so you never know.

Perry enjoying some water time in August 2002.

Perry loved the water but couldn't swim. He would just run like mad in the low tide, and during high tide he would hug the shore. I miss him so much! He loved the freedom he had up on the island, and I will never forget him.

Perry's long awaited services will be held sometime between July 13 - July 26th. His ashes will be scattered over the cliff and into the ocean when the tide is in. Hopefully not on a very windy day.

RIP my very good friend Perry 1/96-11/07 I love you!

It's closing time for the cottage

The time has finally come.

Actually, it snuck up on us.

Scott and I will make the drive up to PEI tomorrow after I get home from work to close up the cottage for the winter. This will be a first for us. We have closed the cottage a whole bunch of times before, but it has always been after being up there for 2 weeks.

This time we are driving up just to close.
I am dreading this, I am not happy.

Perry, along with his pooping problems and the steam cleaner, are staying with Jape and Suzanne. He hasn't had an accident in the last two days, so our fingers are crossed that he won't have another.

I am going to have to get some serious sleep tonight, and possibly a small nap after work tomorrow. I really hate feeling like a zombie, but for this trip, I feel it may be inevitable. We will try to get this done as quickly as possible. Ghaa!