I’m not sure where to start this one. We had a weekend like no other. The week before was pretty calm and filled with lots of walks and some cool days. We seem to be on a roller coaster of weather it is either so hot we cannot cool off or so cool that we have a fire going in the fireplace. That seems to be continuing. At one point we had fog on the lake the way we usually see it in August. The dogs and I enjoyed a number of wonderful walks in the cool air and then the heat came back.

Update at the Lake

I finished painting the kitchen cabinets after two long days of painting. Much cleaner looking and fresh. John is putting the new handles on the cabinets but has a problem with the screws for the drawers so we are waiting on those. I am pleased and glad that most of the job is over. I think that I might paint the inside of the cupboards at some point but need to take a break for now.

The Wedding to end All Weddings

We drove to Montreal to the airport on Friday morning to pick up Edie and her moms to then drive to the Chateau Montebello for Will and Helene’s wedding. Our timing was perfect and they arrived safely. We piled in the car and headed up to Montebello which is about 1 1/2 hours from the airport. Katie, Jack and Libby left from New London to drive to Montebello about the same time we left. We, in fact, all met on the highway about 45 minutes from our destination. Don’t ask me how we made that happen but it happens in this family quite a lot. We drove the rest of the way in tandem. We celebrated Edie’s second birthday on Friday which was very special. She loved her presents and kept singing happy birthday to you all the way in the car. There were lots of cousins to meet and for us to greet again. There was a wonderful Friday event complete with sailboat. The weather was perfect.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and “hot” by 10 am we couldn’t wait for the pool to open up. We spent a couple of hours in the pool with everyone playing and splashing and generally having a good time. There were a couple of problems when it came to getting food but we soon solved the issue and eventually did get some lunch around 1:30 or 2:00. All the time we were watching the weather warnings as there was a rumor that some big storms were in the offing. Not so great for an outdoor wedding. Sure enough, just as we were gathering for the wedding the storms hit and they were a doozy. We are not sure but there were hurricane level winds, rain, hail and lots of lightening and thunder.

It was obvious that this was no ordinary storm. Just before the wedding was to start the electricity went out and as of this writing it is still out. This added an element to the event that no one really anticipated. Without electricity there was no music, no lights, no air conditioning. Eventually someone found a battery speaker and some music happened and the wedding took place about 20 minutes late. The rest of the evening was interesting to say the least. There was some generator lights in the center of the building but none in the periphery areas or the rooms. Food had to be cooked on grills outside but there was plenty of ice and drinks and wine etc. to keep the party going. We had been planning to stay until Monday but when we woke up Sunday morning we decided staying in a hotel with no electricity was not in the cards. In fact everyone checked out and they were not taking in any more guests. The storm had produced some serious micro bursts that toppled trees and took out poles and the air conditioning unit, blocked roads for miles around. The children never got any food because the restaurants were backed up for 3 1/2 hours and the ones in town had no electricity. So they ate snacks. We couldn’t believe the devastation that we saw as we left town and drove back to North Hatley.

My Birthday

Sunday the 22nd is my birthday and we had planned to stay at the Chateau Montebello to celebrate it. However, due to the storms above we headed for North Hatley. This is the silver lining. I was able to have my whole family here in a place I love on my birthday. Katie and her family had to leave to go back to New Hampshire but they came here first and had a birthday lunch and some porch time. Hadley, Margot and Edie came here as their flight is not until Monday. Rather than spend the time in Montebello they got an opportunity to introduce Edie to North Hatley for the first time. By the way she seems to love it and can say “Lake Massawippi” quite clearly. So Happy Birthday to me.