Dash Is Missing.

This poster appears on telephone poles around the neighbourhood.

We registered with a couple on line sites and since he has a chip embedded, the pound will call if he shows up. This is the 3rd day so we are all very upset!

UPDATE: 9 days and still no little Dash. How sad! Thursday. Aug 27, 2015

UPDATE: Over a month now. Come on home Dash! Sunday, Sept 20, 2015
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The Sarnia/Port Huron International Powerboat Festival

A nice, hot, sunny day and we lucked out. Wendy, our friend George and I got to the waterfront at 11:30 am since the races start at noon and we wanted to get a good seat.

Most of the spectators had to stand in the hot sun along the seawall.

 For a $5 ea. admission charge, we were able to get front row seats on the Duc D’Orleans II again this year. The tour boat docks right at the hairpin curve in the race course and was unable to depart due to the race.

We had a great spot at a table on the top deck of the Duc D'Orleans II tour boat.

 Other than the fact you can’t hear the race announcer, the view was superb. We were only a stone’s throw from the most dangerous curve. With the price of admission and a shady seat on the upper deck, comes access to the fairly economical on-board bar for beer and rum and of course the washrooms. What else could you want?

A party atmosphere on a hot summer day as the race is interrupted briefly by a freighter.

 This year the races started right on time and except for a short 30 minute interruption of a freighter on the course at around half-time, everything went perfectly.

Seemed like a long time before the divers could free the crew as the boat floated upside down.

This race was action packed to say the least. Unlike other years we’ve attended, this year there were two exciting upsets resulting in the affected boats sinking.

"Synergy" flips early in the race. The crew was finally rescued by the diver after what seemed like a very long time upside down.

Boat #609, “Synergy” was the first to flip. Divers and a helicopter as well as numerous US and Canadian rescue boats were on the scene.

There was also one near miss when #489, “Viking” nearly flipped and did a 180, but managed to recover and get back in the race.

I caught the "flat spin" in the picture above.

Later #517  “Rufstr”  flipped at the corner, again only a few hundred yards from our vantage point. 

I managed a shot of the boat as it flipped over.

In this incident the crew flew right out of the boat when it flipped.

Fortunately, we don’t think anyone was seriously injured although the crews were plucked from the water and taken away as their boats were towed to Port Huron. What a day!
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Fix A Zipper...

This could save the day and it's so easy...


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A Statue Social at Ed's Concrete Works

"Stoned in Stratford" Click pic to enlarge my "artsy" effort for today.

When Wendy and I drove up to Stratford a few weeks ago, to get the round, 300 pound concrete disk on which we set our new fire pit, I just had to snap a picture of this apparent party of cement statues. I "artsified" the shot. Maybe I'll remove the factory from the background although it brings the view back to reality. Anyway, it looks like they're having a good time even though they gave us the cold shoulder or a bum's rush. What do you think? Ed's Concrete.
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Hungry Little Devils

The Alphadrich eats rubber and you might remember I outlined the problem I encountered with them in Bonaire back in 2012 in my "April Fools" joke. CLICK HERE to see that post.

When I was a teenager on summer vacation I would sometimes travel with an old friend of my Dad's, Al Lutes. He was a dyed-in-the-wool tire and rubber salesman my Dad knew from our days in London, Ontario. Occasionally he would visit us in Toronto and since I was looking for something to do, I remember one summer day in the mid 1960's, he took me for a ride on his sales calls. As we drove along, Al explained how the Alphadrich caused havock through Mennonite country by eating the rubber off the buggy wheels. These little devils had a voracious appetite for all kinds of rubber but especially the softer gum rubber of the buggy wheel tire. He told a convincing story and I believed it for some time, until I related it to my father and he explained Al was having me on.

I just wish Al and my Dad were still alive to see this picture. Our neighbour at the condo, Garry had just launched his brand new dinghy a few days before this picture was taken. I'm sure I could have breathed new credibility into the Alphadrich tale. You can see that whatever it was (likely a muskrat) even ate the nylon rope drawstring around the bottom edge. I just hope the Alphadrich doesn't develop a taste for the vinyl sponsons on our inflatable boats.

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The 36th Annual Lexington Art Fair

We drove up to Lexington Michigan bright and early. It was a fine, bright day and a perfect day for an art fair. We always enjoy visiting this little town about 20 miles north of the Canada/USA Blue Water Bridge.

This year we were pleasantly surprised to see that the marina was quite full of boats. In the past few years, whether it was the weather or the high price of fuel, there were not many yachts, This year it looked like the old days when we used to come up here in the Phoenix.

We walked around town, stopping of course at Wendy's favorite old house.

We arrived a little too early. The art fair didn't start until 10 am so we had a good preview before the crowds.

There were lots of interesting booths with artists displaying their work.

The local antique store displayed some we'll enjoyed metal chairs. I thought they might make a good subject for an "artsy" picture.

Here's my version of the vintage metal. Click the picture to enlarge it.

When I saw this basket of house numbers in front of the antique store, I couldn't resist arranging a few into the "593" number of our house back in London.

Then of course, I had to fiddle around with it. Click on it to enlarge it.
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