Who would have though that there'd be potential to get in trouble while visiting Randy's mum in Digby? We finished painting the kitchen floor, and decided to drive up and have supper and stay overnight with Marj while the floor dried (we hoped). Turns out there's a huge biker rally in Digby, and the main street is clogged with bikes, and displays and tattoo tents. So after dinner, and a couple of glasses of wine, I got a tattoo.

Next day, I send this photo out to a bunch of friends and family. Over half congratulated me on my daring, the rest cried "fake" -- and of course, they were right. The best response was from my daughter Anna:
"IS THAT THING REALL??????? You have to tell me right away. I'm just going to assume it's not for the time being, because you wouldn't, and because it's against the law to tattoo people who have been drinking. Is that thing real!!! Write back immmediately."

I guess the combination of quitting my job, going sailing, selling the house, all that has led people do believe I might do just about anything. It remains safe to bet that I wouldn't do anything I wouldn't want my children to do. Tattoos are solidly on that list, although I've had uneven success with compliance. (Still, I did get a bang out of showing it off for a day or two.)

Life in Port Maitland continues to be lively and full. While Laur and Will were here, we had lobster parties, bbq's, family get-togethers every day, and non-stop cribbage. The highlight was a house-warming party that Laurie organized, and the rest of her family turned into a surprise early 50th birthday party. It was genius, really -- get her to plan the whole thing and get the food sorted and invite everyone. Our bit involved helping with the logistics for a surprise visit from her daughter Hadley, who was supposed to be working in Toronto and not able to come. Laur's boyfriend David and Hadley cooked that plan up months before. Hadley brought with her a stack of tshirts that she and David had designed and had printed (see photos below) that proclaimed "Laurie FIVE 0" in hot pink. So half-way through the party, Laurie is called out to the barn to see something, and we get the guests to struggle into their tshirts, and then voila, she comes back in: Suprise, and cake. Hard on Laur, really, since she doesn't turn 50 until October. Ha ha.

August 2007 will go down as one of the best family vacations ever. My kids and Laur's kids made it for a visit, our cousins from Ann Arbor were here, friends from Toronto, neighbours and lots more family visited. There was endless cribbage, walks on the beach, bonfires, great food, lots of music and some memorable times.
September has been a lot quieter. Randy and I have been doing some work on the house -- getting the floor painted, working on the barn, painting the lawn chairs, and myself, to R's disgust. (How can anyone paint and not get a speck on himself? It's unnatural.) Randy's son Ian is arriving today, so there should be more bonfires, and more good food, since he's an excellent cook. We've turned on the furnace a couple of times, and I'm putting off buying socks.

We're planning a visit to Toronto for Thanksgiving, and plan to be rejoining Nancy Dawson mid-October. I've already got butterflies. It's a bit like starting fresh after being ashore for so long, but I have a sense that it will feel perfectly normal as soon as we get the boat back in the water.

See below for August and September photos.