ALL JAZZED UP

It doesn't get much better than summer in our Beach neighbourhood. Quiet misty mornings bring out the paddlers on stand-up boards and in kayaks. Noisier happy afternoons bring out the day tourists, picknickers, and families with more dogs and babies than on America's Funniest Videos. There's always a few buskers trying to make some coin. But this weekend was the 26th annual Beaches Jazz Festival, the biggest free outdoor music event in the country. A million people show up, and it's all just a block from home!

The crowds are huge but friendly --- roaming Queen Street to hear the 40 or so bands play everything from salsa to swing, from rock to reggae, from Peruvian pan pipes to flaming fiddle. There's even some jazz!  70-year olds sing old war-era melodies while 17-year olds cover Santana! Even the cops get into the mood, taking selfies while wearing Kevlar vests.

Best in show?? Our favourites include the crazed fiddler called "Draw" who jumps and rushes the crowd while his non-stop blue fiddle squawks and screeches. And the rhythmic Samba Squad that makes you dance by banging on drums from kettle to thimble. But the real show-stopper is Puente del Diablo, a fiery Spanish group that includes 3 little kids getting ready to join the band! They get more attention and photos than anybody, and they would sign autographs if they could write yet.

The cops showed up again later, clearing the beach and streets of spontaneous Twitter-fed pop-up parties. By midnight, everything was a blur, such as this photo from our balcony. But a great time was had by all, including our visitors Greg and Rebeckah --- the newlyweds from blog post June 22!

STAY-CATION

After all that driving last week we appreciated staying home, taking time to smell the roses and count our blessings (and frogs!). The weather is still very mixed: dark storms mingling with sunny days ---  like delinquents crashing a garden party. This garden party included picking pin cherries, identifying butterflies (e.g. an orange fritillary) and being dazzled by lilies. This one is a "day lily", so-called because it blooms and withers away on the same day.

Other lilies last longer and show a rainbow of colours and soft petals, like the velvety velour seats on an '89 Dakota. But overnight skunks or raccoons have been digging up new plantings! They don't eat the plant, just toss it aside: I think they're digging for the bone meal that The Gardener puts in for root food. Of course, humans do the same --- notice rhubarb being dug up by two sisters.

We exchange books and puzzles at the local Legion Hall for the rainy days. But being outside is more common for our staycation. All the trees and plants are at their best this year because of the regular rains and sunshine. So many colors, even 50 shades of green including these frogs in a staring match. (All this beauty in contrast to the horror and inhumanity of the downed Malaysian flight. Like this floater reflected in the pond, we reflect on how fortunate we are and our hearts ache for the passengers and their loved ones.)

LOBSTER AND POTATOES WITH CHERRIES

We drove back from Nova Scotia this week, just grazed by the effects of Hurricane Arthur. (As of today there are still thousands of people in the Maritimes without power!) Rural waterways were all raging rapids but in Halifax the tourists strolled as usual. In the Public Gardens, this gull paddled beside the Titanic. Nearby, glassblowers worked on the only crystal made in Canada.

It's almost compulsory to go out to picturesque Peggy's Cove with its iconic lighthouse and acres of rock floor. It's still a working fishing port but the art galleries and bagpipers are more in demand. We always camp at the same place on Margaret's Bay but this time we got site #36 --- our street address in Toronto! The nearest bull was the stories spun by the sea captains, but on July 7 my spirit was again running with the real bulls in Pamplona. 

New Brunswick is famous for two things ---- potatoes and lobsters. The McCain Company in Florenceville is the largest source of frozen french fries in the world, and miles of potato fields surround the factory. This year has been a record harvest of lobsters, and in Shediac the World's Largest Lobster made us crave some. The irony was that the only lobster available locally was a cold sandwich; we had chicken! Grand Falls didn't disappoint, though --- the gorges were gorgeous.

Back home in Toronto, the neighbourhood is in full summer mode. Music fests, beach volleyball tournaments, day camps, seniors tours, garden shows, etc. One street over, this house had created a food bank fundraiser where you could paint a pennant as part of the bunting strung on the porch. Great idea! Back at Kemble, the smoke bush is in full fume and the roses in vivid reds. Come on up and pick some pin cherries --- the best batch in years. Maybe there's a lobster in the pond to go with them??

A WEEK EAST

(I'm trying out a hearing aid for a couple of months, mostly because I have been missing some dialogue in movies and lyrics in songs. I think the hearing loss is from too many power tools without wearing ear plugs, diving from heights, and standing too close to jet engines! Can you spot the thin plastic tube??)

We're on a driving trip eastward for July. Canada Day was full of music, fireboats, and fireworks at Kingston --- the original capital of Canada. Then through Vermont and Maine where wild storms delayed us with downed trees and traffic lights without power. In New Brunswick, the foggy ferry takes you over to Grand Manan island. It's one of those iconic but mysterious places with picturesque fishing villages, commercial kelp gatherers, and scenic rock formations. We camped near cliff faces with one long step to the sea!

Most of the Maritime roads take you by colourful harbours connected by ocean highways. The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world (40 feet!) but we missed the daily phenomenon and had to settle for "chocolate rivers" where the brown muck is deposited by the to-and-fro of the sea.

The highlight of the week was the drive all around Cape Breton on the famous Cabot Trail. Spectacular scenery is splashed in the maximum green of the year. Cliffs, rocks, surf, and a billion trees. Hurricane Arthur had scared a lot of visitors away, so the traffic was wierdly light for this holiday weekend.

We did have gale-force winds and rain but that just made the waterfalls more majestic and the whitecaps more frothy. Another odd result of the tropical storm warnings was our campground --- 84 sites and only us in the whole place! Down the road at the homestead of Alexander Graham Bell, we were reminded how huge the telephone is in our lives ---- this blog is being sent out on Bell Canada!