So, Jose's sister Sharon felt so guilty about always missing Jose's birthday that she decided to have another party. And the rest of us felt guilty that Jose always has to cook, so we decided to kick her out of her own kitchen and do it our selves. 

Some of the crowd schmoozing on the lanai.

Jose just can't let it go.

I was just looking!

Jon and I deep fried a turkey.

In it goes.

It'll be done .... when it's done!

The front deck crowd.

Patience, patience.

I think I caught some of those Chilean head lice from Razor.

One hot chick.

I think we did almost as good as Jose would do. Turkey, ribs and all the fixin's you would ever want. Good work Sharon, Edwin, Tina, Shirley, Jordana, Jon, James, Rachel, Mary-lou, Barb, Gord, Mandy, Matt, Bryan, Paul, David and Beatrice.

 

 Very humid and foggy Monday morning.

It looks like rain but was just the fog.

The lake finally warmed up enough to get in and level the dock. Also added new dock lights. 2 white ones on the end and red ones on the right side coming in and green on the other side.

Wet T shirt.

Dave Metcalfe
		Visitation Wednesday, July 23, 2014 2:00-5:00 & 7:00-9:00 p.m. McKinlay Funeral Home Chatham Directions Memorial Donations Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters Chatham Active Lifestyle Centre (Woodworking Shop)
METCALFE, Dave Dave Metcalfe, Lifelong motorcycle enthusiast and dealer, passed away suddenly at Tomiko Lake, July 18, 2014 at the age of 72. Beloved husband and friend of Sharon (nee McKeen) for 46 years. Loving father of Peter and his wife Cheryl, Matt and his wife Alison. Cherished Grandpa of Alex, Mackenzy, Andrew, Nicholas, Colin, Abby and Courtney. Dear Brother to Ellen & Lynn Davison, John & Liz, and Paul & Carol. Dave built a life for himself and his family around his love for motorcycles, enjoying two wheels on the pavement and four wheels in the dirt. He and Sharon owned D&M Cycle for over 30 years, enjoying many friendships with motorcycle enthusiasts and fellow dealers. He gave back to his community through fundraisers in support of Muscular Dystrophy, Toy Rides for The Salvation Army, and drives for local food banks. Dave celebrated his retirement by fulfilling a life time desire to ride historic Route #66 from Chicago to Los Angles, sharing the experience with his brother John. A longtime member of the Kent Cloverleaf Conservation Club and Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Dave loved spending time with his grandchildren, and hunting, fishing and four-wheeling in the north with his friends and family. Friends will be received at the Funeral Home, 459 St. Clair Street, Chatham, on Wednesday, July 23 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. and 7:00-9:00 p.m. A Private Family Service and Interment will take place at Tomiko Lake. As expressions of sympathy, donations to Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, or Chatham Active Lifestyle (Woodworking Shop) in lieu of flowers. Online condolences may be left at www.mckinlayfuneralhome.com    Link to McKinlay Funeral Home

It is with great sorrow that I have to report the passing of Dave Metcalf. Our sympathies to Sharon and family. Dave had the best chuckle, ever. 

Everybody yell "Happy Birthday!" to Grasshopper very loudly 'cause she has time travelled all the way back to Nova Scotia. 

Hoppy Birthday Grasshopper!

So, that last, big blog just brought you up to the 11th. On the 12th we had dinner at the AKA Smith's with their townie neighbours, Bill and Madeline. No pics due to technical problems and the Marshal Service. 

On the 13th we went to the Estate to welcome Paul and Sharon, and David back to the center. And to meet Beatrice, David's wife, who hadn't been here before. We ended up staying here for dinner, too.

David and Beatrice.

Me and Sir Edwin.

Jose and her cuppa.

I don't think that the iPad takes good crowd shots.

On Monday we went to town to fill the fridge and for my dental appointment. Tuesday we were back to town to put Grasshopper on a jet plane, OK it was a turbo prop, to the land that time forgot. Yeah, you know what that means, don't ya. 

Where did the red bucket go? 

Weird cloud over the city Wednesday evening.

It was only 10C Thursday morning. This snake was warming up next to the fire pit.

The loons were nervous as an eagle skulked about.

Is this what you've really been waiting for?

I love this one.

Rehab for Rob Ford?

Or, to remember putting them there after you finally find them.

Hey! I have a doppelganger out there! Yeah! Another Frankensteiner! 

Check This Out! 

Yeah, I know that it's been awhile, but we've been busy. Now I'll catch you up. Put the kettle on, this might take some time, especially for me as I have to edit thru a bazillion pics. 

So, back on the 4th of July we rented a car and drove off to Kitchener to visit the Bishop Super Kids. I didn't notice that I had a memory card malfunction in the old Nikon and lost 2 days of pics but we had some back up with Grasshopper's camera and the phone.

Saturday we went to kung-fu classes. Athena shows us her orange belt and stripes that they earn to get new belts.

Practising nunchucks.

The dojo was above a motorcycle shop.

Bodhi, Athena's boy friend, Ellia and Athena meditate before class.

This is Dalhi. Bodhi's brother. Michelle looked after these two since they were tiny tots. Dalhi is a black belt and gets to lead the class in warm ups. All of the kids get to count out the reps in what ever language they choose. We heard German, French, Indonesian, and Cantonese on that day. The Bishop ninjas taught us how to count in Cantonese. 

Check out Bodhi's concentration.

Cute ninja.

Ellia gives it to Sifu. 

Kaeden's turn.

Practising break falls.

Tulip tree flowers at the neighbours. 

Looks like it would split nice. Hey, just sayin'!

Sunday we took the ninjas to the park. They had had an art exposition earlier and this tree wrapped in string was still there.

We take this pic every year, but always forget which bridge it was.

DUCK!

Swan.

Grandpa Frank can still give a good push.

It was almost impossible to keep all three in the frame.

Time to chill out.

This gizmo put out a very fine mist.

Look at that monkey go.

 There's another one.

Tree huggers. Yeah, I mentally tried to figure out the cubic cordage in that sucker. 

Grasshopper had to help out.

Then it was off to Candy, Candy, Candy.

WHAT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I guess even the Candyman deserves a coffee break.

As an old TV repair guy I was interested in this set.

Kinda blurry, I think I was on a sugar high looking thru the view finder.

Monday we headed to Ann Arbor to visit the Brown Super kids. Here we are going over the Blue Water Bridge, it's a rickety old thing especially if you have height issues.

We were barely thru the door when  Calliope, Nova and Floyd said that we had to meet Penny the chinchilla. 

She was very shy.

Floyd liked the wooden car that we gave him, but he broke the wheel at the back within minutes. I think he was just trying to reverse engineer it.

Calliope gave us a recital.

Zesty cheese Doritos cheeks.

Reading.

More reading, and Calliope working on a bracelet.

"Can I have one more story before bed time?"

Who can catch Gonzo?

Nova teaching Grasshopper how to use her new iPad.

 Nova kicked my butt in scrabble.

Calliope working on more bracelets.

Sparklers.

Imagination with play-doh.

Mine.

Nova @ swim lessons.

Learning the crawl.

We went on a nature walk.

Some people call our yellow birch a shaggy bark tree. This is the real deal.

Hickory nut.

Good ivy.

Poison ivy.

Bat box.

Nice, big tree, knotty, I bet.

Play time.

There's all three.

Thursday we headed back to Oh Canada.

We stopped off in Burgessville to visit Bonehead and Carrie.

Here comes Diesel.

sCarrie's bike.

A real bike.

What's the deal? I travel all this way to be put on BBQ duty?

The hippy chick from Woodstock and Brandy met us @ Lee's.

Linda and I got a tour of "The Farm".

Have you ever noticed how people and their pets resemble each other?

The famous barn 2. It has stuff. Lots of stuff. Really good stuff.

I could go on, but you would just drool.

We stayed over night in Kitchener and played epic rummoli.

Kaeden won the Grand Championship of the Universe. 

The Super Bishop kids.

Wow, that was a long one, and I really had to do some deep editing to keep it this short. 

No time for funnies today. But here is a depressing story of how the federal government says "thank you for your service" to our military.

 BOOOO!