Postcards From the Lake: Art Camp Ends, Rick Continues!

Sigh. We wrapped up art camp last weekend, after 18 days of friendship and creativity. And a good 18 days it was, filled with lots of painting, walks, good summer food and some good nature sightings. And, I might add, some pretty nippy weather. Even Lizzie hunkered down by the heater!

 

Our weather turned cool (no, cold!) and we found painting on the porch was no longer a possibility -- well, at least till the last day or two. It didn't stop us but it's not nearly so much fun! Here's some of the stuff I did. These are some cards.

 

These are some of the others I didn't show before. If you click on them, you can make them bigger.

Someone asked if I'd show some of Kate's stuff too. I don't have great pix of my own but here's her accordion book. 

And I loved this beast! Alligator? Crocodile?

 

And the sunflowers. 

 

The fishing lures both part of our sketchbook scavenger hunt and a study for calendar page! Summer, of course! I can't wait to see the finished art, which is of my grapevine fishing lure wreath!

 

Yes, she's working on a new calendar. Hopefully the time was productive. I'm thinking, yes!

 

I mentioned the summer food. Oh my! What fabulous peaches we got from the fruit guy at the market. Other people have found out about him. We got there right after opening and there was already a line! Meanwhile, we finished off the last of my tomatoes with some sweet corn as our last dinner. Fresh peaches for dessert! Summer on a plate.

 

We did have one problem. The refrigerator died. I went to pull some meat to defrost and one opening of the freezer (and one sniff) told me defrosting wasn't necessary. That said, it looked like it had been defrosting for more than 24 hours (I wondered when I got something to drink the night before that it wasn't really very cold.) 

So, off we went to Lowes and I found a fridge just the right size for $479 -- plus tax and hauling away the other. Still, for $550 total, we're set. Or will be when it is delivered in a couple of weeks. It just killed me, throwing out tons of meat and fish. Meanwhile, we ate from the top of the stove -- and one frozen pizza! 

We had more than a few sightings of the skittish Harry North. Try as I might, I couldn't get anywhere near him!

 

And then it was home. A quiet Labor Day, then the doc for me. I headed back north on Wednesday for a few days before coming home to stay for a bit. Lizzie loves her porch up north but she'll be happy not to be in the box for that ride! (I took this pic during art camp, before the "deep freeze" hit.)

 

Since I'm always the photographer, I was glad Kate got a pic of me with Lizzie. It's a rare one!

 

Rick Update

Rick is back in the US and as I write, having visited his high school friend Eugene in New Hampshire. He is now at his brother's home in Massachusetts.  His travels included a stop in the town of Knowlton, which fans of author Louise Penny will know as her home town and the inspiration for her Three Pines. 

 

He visited the book store there where he saw a lot of women who looked like Louise Penny!  

 

This was the view from the book store! Gorgeous, isn't it? Looks like Three Pines to me!

 

He crossed the border at Stanstead, Quebec and saw the famous Haskell Library, which is built on the border -- and when I say on the border, I mean ON the border. Half the library is in Canada and half in the US, a sign of goodwill between the neighboring countries. 

 

Unfortunately, the goodwill appears a little thin these days. The library was closed on Labor Day when Rick came through so he couldn't ask all the questions I'd hoped he could. But now, you can't go from side to side as usual. "The Haskell Library has been there for over 100 years as a working symbol of international freedom," he wrote. "People passed freely from the US to the Canada side all those years. Predictably, the dumba$$ in chief put a stop to that nonsense and today there is a Mountie permanently stationed there to make sure nobody even steps across the border."

 

And the border guards weren't particularly friendly. In Rick's words: ""I made the mistake of asking a USA border goon where it was. She didn't pull out her gun but she made a colossal stink about entering the USA which I didn't even want to do. She finally let me go back to the Canada side and he told me how to get there (after I did the passport dance). Geez!!!..."

As I write this, he has another week on the road. He's made new friends while traveling-- and new FB friends, too, including some of you! Thanks!

 

 

I think he'll be ready for a good, long rest. I know someone who's got a head start on him!