It wasn't quite the purple rain that Prince wrote and sung about, but it did rain throughout the day.  I had to sneak away in the morning to show a property I have listed in Uxbridge to prospective buyers, but the rest of the day was uneventful, as partially due to the weather, we stayed indoors most of the day. OK, uneventful for me!  Alec visited the dentist last week and was told that he will be losing several (as many as six or seven in the very near future).  I discussed Alec's desire to lose his "baby" teeth from the very day he turned six last year, the day he lost his first tooth.  Tooth number two fell out last Sunday, and tooth number three fell out yesterday evening just before dinner.  Alec went to sleep last night anticipating a visit from the tooth fairy. I brought my cam... 08/22/2011

The confirmed presence of blue-green algae (Cyababaceria, aka "pond scum") in parts of Sturgeon Lake between Sturgeon Point and Bobcaygeon, has resulted in a advisory from the Haliburton, Kawartha and Pine Ridge Health Unit to avoid the use of water from the lake in affected areas for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes and dishes and providing water to pets.  People, dogs and other pets should be kept from entering and swimming in affected areas of Sturgeon Lake. Ingesting this algae can lead to headaches, fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and a host of other health problems.  Contact with water contaminated with blue-green algae can result in skin rashes, swollen lips, eye irritation, ear ache, sore throat and other symptoms.  If you have been in contact or in... 08/21/2011

After being fairly to "very" busy most of the summer, I managed to sneak away from work after spending Saturday morning and early afternoon exploring some options with a couple hoping to move from their home in Brampton (now that their "nest" is empty), and find more of a "retreat" in a more rural area. Helen, Alec and Vi (my mother-in-law) had left for our cottage earlier in the week, and had been wanting me to join them.  I packed some clothes, left food and water for the cat, took my cell-phone, filled up Helen's car stopped by the office and picked up my laptop and camera, and drove the ~150 km to our cottage just off Sturgeon Lake. The trip took a little longer than it normally does, Beeton was just clearing the road closed for their 125th Anniversary celebration, I had to detour t... 08/21/2011