The bridge over the St Lawrence river. When a truck is overweight they shut the bridge down for the one truck. He was just rolling down the center yellow line.As we sat at the toll booth waiting to see what would appear I have to say that we were a little disappointed that it was just a heavy truck. We were hoping for it to be something gigantic.
I like this shot though as it looks as if the truck just appears on the bridge from nowhere.

Well, it is that time of year again. Time to close down the River House. We actually have another 2 weeks before they shut off the town water but we can’t get back in time so we had to close it up this weekend. Saturday was a perfect fall day but Sunday rained, again. The fact is, it rained a lot this past summer and so we never really felt as if we had a good summer up there. No fault of anyone’s except the rainmaker. The jet ski didn’t get it’s full use, and the kayak and canoe sat lonely for most of the summer. Perhaps next year will be better. On the other hand, my gardens look great with all the water they got.  We put all the patio furniture away, and Jim will cover the windows with canvas in the next few weeks. Then the water is shut off and the electric is shut off and the house will stay dormant until Mother’s Day.  It was a very quiet time up there. Not too many people were around.

Normally, these benches would be filled with kids eating ice cream from the Guzzle, which as you saw above is closed.

The merry go round is empty.

The see saws are empty.

Only the breeze set the swing in motion.

The leaves are starting to fall around.

Porch chairs sit empty with scattered leaves starting to cover the porch.

The park benches look out onto the river where only the birds go in the water this late in the season.

The reeds are starting to turn brown at our dock.

Most of the boats have been pulled out of the water and the boat houses sit empty bracing for another icy winter.

And this lonely tree swing waits for next summer when the kids will all be clamoring for their turn.

See you next May my little river house!!

faux farm girl,

Annie

annie

I love the small on her face. I think I will try playing with black and white effects more, I like the way it looks.

Of course, the black and white effect looks best when the subject is not clowning around.

Here are the same photos in color. Which do you like better?

What a little goof ball!

Faux Farm Girl,

annie

Jill, look where you are going, please!

Show off!

She looks like she knows what she is doing, doesn’t she?

I liked this shot with the lighthouse behind her. She’s so cute!

Love ya Jilly,

Faux Farm Girl,

Annie

It was finally a nice sunny day and so we all went for an afternoon boat ride. And since we were already going for the ride maybe we could pick up a jet ski down the river for my sister. I mean, since we were already gong to be on the water and since we liked jet skiing and all. Jill thought this was great because she could follow us on her jet ski both down and back and then Bob could ride in the boat down there and bring the second jet ski back. We get down there and it starts right up and so we untie Bob and send him on his way. He got about 20 feet away from the dock and the jet ski died. It starts again, it dies again. This goes on for about 20 minutes and Bob is getting farther and farther away. We are yelling to him to use the choke – he is giving us bad hand signals. Finally, we decide to put ourselves out of misery and go get him and tow the jet ski back. We get close and turn off the boat and while our nautical men are discussing how to attach the tow line, I see the hole in the front fender and suggest we thread the tow rope through it. I am told to step aside and let people who know about marine craft decide how to handle it. Fine. What do I know? The men folk chat and finally decide that they should put the tow rope through the hole in the front fender. DUH!!! Bob can’t get to it from the seat on the jet ski and our captain certainly can’t do it because, well, he is the captain. And my sister can’t do it because, well, she has me. So I have to lay down on my stomach and hook my feet under a seat and lean out off the back of the boat. My entire upper body is now over the water. I am thinking that I should have done more sit ups because I don’t know how long I can hold my body like this with out falling in. I am also thinking I don’t know how I will ever get out of this position without pulling, breaking or straining some part of my body. But before I ever get to that point I have to lean way down to get to the jet ski bumper and my face is practically in the water. I get the rope through on the first try and miraculously get myself back in the boat. I just flung my head and chest up and flipped back into the boat. Being the nimble gymnast that I am I should have gotten a 10 for that dismount. It was that spectacular! Anyway, I am not about to let my success be diminished nor do I want to have to do that again so I give the end of the rope to our captain so he can tie the correct nautical knot being that he knows about marine craft and I don’t know nothin. He ties it up, turns on the engine and we start off and go about 50 feet and guess what – yup- that rope comes untied. “I am so glad I didn’t tie that knot” was all I said. (hee hee hee) So, now I have to do my little lean off the end of the boat trick again. (Who’s laughing now?)However, this time, as I am leaning off the back of the back, the engine is running. The fumes are in my face and I can see the prop spinning in the water which is just inches from my head and if that is not enough, one end of the rope is in my hand and the rest of the rope is just hanging in the water near the prop. This has disaster written all over it. I am going to get sucked in, dragged in or die from the gas fumes. Apparently, I am the only one that knows about the danger I am in because the rest of the folks are talking away with each other enjoying the sunny day on the river. I think it was the fumes killing off brain cells because even though the kids were on board I somehow managed to lift my head up from it’s watery position and I yelled  ” turn the fucking engine off”.  That got their attention. Engine off, tow rope installed. No one talks,  I tie the knot and off we go. I am exhausted and have a pounding headache like I had been sucking gas fumes. Oh wait, I had been sucking gas fumes. “Take a Tylonel” is all my sister has to offer. After a few minutes of fresh air, my head clears, I apologize for the cursing and I start taking photos. All is well again. Except for Bob. Bob choose to ride on the jet ski while we towed it just so he could pretend he was a trick rider. He won’t be well for a long, long time!

You go Bob!

Love ya,

Faux Farm Girl,

annie

The houses range from quaint to rambling.

But most are right on the water.

Or in this case, above the water.

Boat houses are great for the boats and for those who get to live above them.

They are also very picturesque! People on the river indulge their river whims by building all sorts of things.

Some folks just have a covered dock.

Some have bridges from their larger island to their small island.

They build small little buildings on the water.

Or large stone gazebos. Everyone on the river tries to get as close to the water as they can.

Even this Blue Heron wants to be near the water but clearly can not read that he is on a private dock!

The St. Lawrence river is a major seaway and so although you have all these fabulous houses on the river it is always interesting to see them juxtaposed next to a large tanker ship like the one shown above. Where the river is narrow these ships come within a few hundred feet of the river bank or the islands. The kids always shout out “Big ship, big ship” when one goes by. Sometimes you can hear the rumbling of the engines as they pass. They are really huge and as you can see in the photo, personal watercraft are dwarfed by these ships.

It was a great trip and we thank you Arthur and Trude for including us. Happy Birthday!

Not all of the over 1800 islands are large, in fact some are quite small and are only inhabited by birds.

As we were traveling down the road on our way to dinner we passed by the Thousand Island Golf Course. It was a beautiful evening and the sun setting on the golf course lake was was so peaceful. All of a sudden I screamed out “Stop the car – turn around I have to get that picture”. There by the side of the lake was a coyote. I heard they lived on the island but had never actually seen one. It was poised in a stalking position and just up ahead about 40 feet up the lake was another one. Bob told me they are smart hunters- one is the lead spotter and the other sneaks up for the kill. I quietly got out of the car. I crouched down low and started to take photos. It was so cool – they were so intent on the geese up ahead that they didn’t even see me. I took off my shoes and stalked them, getting closer and closer to my side of the lake. I was might be crazy but I am not stupid.  They can’t swim can they? And then all of a sudden Bob called out “Hey!”.  I whipped around with glaring wolf eyes of my own. I am on a wild animal photo shoot worthy of National Geographic. I am skulking around barefoot in the tall grass with wild coyotes around and he is yelling out to me. What is he crazy?  I turn around to try and catch the coyotes who by now are probably running away when I notice that my coyotes have not moved, not an inch. They have not even looked over at me. Bob strides over to me where I am crouched in the weeds and says in a little whisper “they are decoy coyotes honey – they are fake, they aren’t real, they are FAUX COYOTES!” You have got to be freaking kidding me! I yell out to them – nothing – I waves my arms at them – nothing. That is just so wrong. It is one thing to put fake deer, ducks, horses and cows in your yard – but coyotes!

This is not to say that there are not real coyotes up here as you can see by this lovely photos of wolf skins in a local store.  

As I traveled around up in the north country I started to notice more faux coyotes. So I wondered if they worked – did they really keep the geese away?  I got my answer a few nights later when we went back to dinner at Joey’s. There, by the side of the lake, were my two coyotes. The lead dog and the back up coyote were standing there, just as I had left them. Gee whiz – looks like those geese are really afraid.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time but you can not fool the Canada Goose with a faux coyote!

Well, I guess my career as a wildlife photographer has come to a screeching halt. I will stick with barns and flowers!

Everyone gathered at the Main dock for the flag raising, singing and the start of the summer season. Kids, dogs and kayaks were decked out in style.

 The Park is just as I remember it from last year. In fact, none much has changed in the park in a very, very long time. It is like time stands still up here.

Everyone still goes out for their morning coffee.

Kids still ride bikes in mud puddles!

Wagons and bikes are everywhere.

There are fishmen of all ages!

The boats are back in water.

Laundry is still hung out on the porch.

Kids get tired and fall asleep on the rocking horse in the park. Well, maybe not all kids, but certainly little D did!

Kids still spin around on the merry go round.

And The Green is still green!

Welcome to the summer of 2009 in Thousand island Park!

We had great food and fireworks at the party over on Goose Island. Yes, it was a challenge taking these pictures for several reasons: they were right over my head, little pieces of ash was drifting down onto my head and there was a third reason, oh yea, all the alcohol went to my head. But this is basically what they looked like. I think!

Yeah, these guys were a little crazy, though I felt only slightly less crazy being only a few more yards away than they were.

I love this one-that bright light is an alien space ship – no wait – the alcohol has worn off and it was just the moon.

I don’t remember the boat ride back home but I am sure I didn’t swim since my cloths were dry. There was talk that a few people went swimming, but I have been assured that I was not one of them. There was also talk that the people that went swimming went a la natural, which explains why their cloths were dry, but doesn’t entirely assure me about my dry cloths. Just kidding, I didn’t go swimming. I did however entertain everyone with a rousing rendition of “Some Kind of Wonderful” on the drums accompanied by the band. I was really good. I think! The next day a little 12 year old boy, who had been at the party, came up to me and told me he needed a drummer for his band. “Hey, are you making fun of me?” I asked him. “No” he replied with total sincerity. “You were really good, I mean it”. A rock god in the eyes of small children. All of my dreams and hopes have finally come true.

It was a wonderful 4th of July.

Faux Farm Girl,

Annie