My beautiful and talented niece/Goddaughter was back home for a visit. She currently resides in Melbourne Australia as does her dashing beau. Her Mom (dubbed Sister#2 in this space) invited all her beach cousins to get together for a little soiree at their beautiful lake home. If Aunties and Uncles happened to be out that weekend they were invited along. It was to be a very unceremonious get-together. What we didn’t know was this:

The burly rugby-playing beau had a surprize up his sleeve. He invited his love to join him down at the beach. It was an overcast and fairly non descript day as far as the weather went. She was told to wait at the end of one of the beach paths.

As she made her way along the path, she saw that the story of her life was displayed in photos along the fences that line the way. Near the end of the photo journey were images of her new life with her man in Australia. He was waiting for her on the beach. Just then, the sun burst out and shone on the two of them as he bent down on one knee to ask her to be his soul mate forever.

This may sound all very romantic and like the perfect setting. Here’s the thing, they currently reside in one of the most breathtaking places in the world and are en route to spend time in Europe with a stay in Paris. The Aussie could have chosen any dream locale to make his request but he chose Lester Beach, knowing how important it would be for his future bride to be in a place she loved so very much, surrounded by her family and long-time friends.

The details of the party seem like minor points indeed with all the love that was swooning in our midst. But they were not. They were consistent with the premise of this space and my core belief, that is: Food=Love. To me it was particularly fitting that soon after the beach festivities, we were assembled together to eat, drink and be merry.

The day prior D lovingly grilled these two platters of garden vegetables. He wanted them to chill overnight to set the flavours. He knew that our niece was vegetarian and wanted to delight her with the variety and the tastes.

Sister #3 made her famous guacamole and Sister #2 this cheese ball as big as your head.

The big hit of the evening was the latter’s chicken lettuce wraps but my favourite was courtesy of the bride-to-be herself. Here’s how she makes the stuffed jalapeno peppers pictured above: “Sorry I don’t have exact measurements for the pepper recipe cause I always just wing it! but these are the ingredients… Jalapeños sliced lengthwise and seeded. The cheese filling is half cream cheese half goats cheese. Use a piping bag to fill the sliced jalapeño with the cheese. The caramel sauce is around 12 pitted dates blended with half a can of coconut milk. Drizzle the sauce over the cheese. Top with a couple of pecans the put in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-10 mins or until the pecans are toasted and jalapeños are softer.” Whip up a batch for your next cocktail party and you will not be disappointed.

The sun set on that momentous evening. After more connecting around the bonfire, the couple walked down to the beach with cousins and friends. Along the way they witnessed a dazzling shooting star and then from the shore, the most spectacular display of northern lights. The couple felt very blessed as if nature was endorsing their future nuptials.

Kath’s quote: “Be my forever  You’re my bright blue sky   You’re the sun in my eyes   Oh baby you’re my life  You’re the reason why”-Be My Forever, Ed Sheeran

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

At the lake, solitude is readily available. I can snuggle back into bed with my book, ride my bike to the beach or escape to the gazebo on a rainy day. I LOVE to be alone. This is when I am most imaginative: dreaming, planning and writing. Even though I am a “chatty Kathy”, I am actually an introvert because I need my alone time to recharge for my wonderful life.

But Lester Beach is where I get to spend the most time with my precious family-sometimes in an intentional way but mostly by poking our heads into each others porches to pass along a detail or some news, meeting on the road as we walk to and fro or accumulating on the beach.

J1 and J2 hosted the Wee One’s second birthday at the beach and in the yard for a barbeque so we got to see her other “other” Glamma and Poppa, our Goddaughter and members of D’s side of the family. The Wee One’s great grandparents gifted her with her own version of a beach house which Grandpa Harold constructed and carved himself.

This is my handsome D in the water balloon toss with the Wee One at Lester Beach’s annual Family Fun Days. This event gives us the opportunity to be with family, neighbours and friends alike who share property at one of the province’s loveliest beaches.

After all that rigourous competition, naps were in order.

A shared hammock was put to leisurely use by these beautiful cousins.

I love how the generations fit together seamlessly when we are together at the lake. Since my Dad is in heaven (where he is constantly enjoying lake life), my eldest brother is the patriarch of our compound. This pic was taken at the impromptu boccia tournament that I made reference to in my previous post. Under his arm is one of my great-nieces who proved to be a rising star on the boccia courts.

We hosted two of our city groups for summer wind ups at Life is Good. I didn’t manage to get any photos of the group assembled the weekend previous to this one, but it was a glorious hot day and we spent the afternoon on the inflatable “party island” where we kept cool with our feet in the water as we floated along. The weekend pictured above was variable with sudden showers. Our young family gang made hay while the sun shone.

The “big girls” enjoying the beach

and the boys tucking in at supper.

I didn’t manage to get a photo of Rudy (another one of the gang), so here’s one of his Mom cradling his new babysister. In fact, since our get together two baby girls have been born to our group! Good thing we have lots of parking at Life is Good.

As much as we enjoy hanging with the youngsters, we love the time spent with their parents too. We have patiently waited for this time to have the space to invite gangs of people to be with us here. We are blessed with them all in our lives.

Kath’s quote: “Eventually; it’ll all make sense. You’ll realize why you don’t have the same group of friends. You’ll realize why your first love didn’t work out. And you’ll realize that it all happened . . . So you can have something better”. -Ritu Ghatourey

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

Since we have 4 family cottages in the same vicinity, meal times are often communal. These tomatoes along with pounds of apples were dropped off by my nephew who had a surplus of both from his garden. When we make too much salad at supper, we run the remains across or up the street to whatever family hasn’t finished up their dinner. If you are out on your own you will invariably be invited to someone’s place for supper. If you happen to ride your bike by when everyone is eating brunch on the deck, you will be pulling up a chair and digging in, in no time. When Sister #3 has catered an event and has extra dessert around, all the kids will be invited over for make-your-own sundaes. When Sister #2 is making eggs Benedict or anyone has taken a pie out of the oven, word goes around really quickly.

We typically eat two meals a day: brunch when the guys get home from the tennis or volleyball courts and then dinner. Bacon is a mainstay at many weekend brunches, pictured above with wild blueberry pancakes.

At “Life is Good” everyone pitches in on the cooking and whomever hasn’t cooked has to help with the dishes. J1 will whip up his fabulous Denvers or Boo and the Frenchman will make everyone waffles (with real maple syrup, of course). The grownups typically can manage until happy hour.

But the toddlers like the Wee One and her cousin may need a picnic of cheese, crackers and strawberries!

The surplus apples mentioned above were fantastic with slices of cheddar and fig & kalamata olive crackers. These were placed on an over-turned tree stump between two swinging hammocks one snack time.  Some of the gang bring spring rolls and samosas for communal happy hour. This summer I often put out antipasto, marinated artichokes, olives and feta and loved it each and every time.

The surplus tomatoes also mentioned above went into this caprese salad with huge basil leaves that I harvested from home just when our vacay had begun.

Our favourite dinners are those centered on the grill. D does a great job with squash and mushrooms and peppers. New potatoes were amazing with rosemary & sea salt. Whatever mixed greens had arrived in our garden share were sautéed with garlic and lemon juice.

One evening we enjoyed a batch of moules et frites (mussels and fries). The former made with wine, garlic, butter and whatever fresh herbs were available and the latter cut thin, blanched and then finished on the barbeque. We dined el fresco on this evening and to our surpize the Wee One loved the mussels as much as the adults. Unfortunately, so did the bears which are plentiful in our area, as the beach house is located in the midst of a provincial forrest. At 5 the next morning, D woke to a sound, looked out of our bedroom window, to see that an absolutely enormous creature had unsecured the clamp down handles on the garbage can, dumped out the mussel shells and lay on his (or her) tummy for their feast! We are not about to accidently forget to secure the garbage can in the shed again any time soon.

Even though I am not the greatest baker, I make the occasional pie or crumble utilizing the bounty of summer fruit.

The best dinners of all are the random ones that miraculously become delicious times together. The first weekend of our vacation, it was casually mentioned that we were invited for boccia and beer by my eldest nephew. The games attracted more of the family and when it was time to disperse for dinner, he suggested that we all bring what we were preparing that evening and put the finishing touches on together. There were hot dogs, slow roasted chicken, left over monster pork chops, taco salad, kale salad and the sweetest corn on the cob I have tasted this season. There were 17 family members at dinner. I called it a “30 Something” supper. Do you remember that show?

My nephew’s trick with the corn is that he soaks it still in its husk and then places it on the barbeque until the husks burn away. He then throws half cobs into an enormous pot with butter and salt and recruits someone with upper arm strength to jostle the pot around until the cobs are perfectly seasoned-YUM!

Kath’s quote: “Well, I haven’t really anything to eat at home, I began, but then stopped, as I realised that a dreary revelation of the state of one’s larder was hardly the way to respond to an invitation to dinner.” ― Barbara Pym

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

This is our screen door entrance to our beach house “Life is Good” at Lester Beach. The cabin is very small but the longer we own it, we find more and more efficient ways to use the space.

As everyone living on the Canadian prairies this summer knows, the weather has been “variable”. Even more so than usual. Sometimes it rains in the city with not a drop at the lake and vice versa. One Saturday there was a water spout spotted north of Grand Beach, i.e. exactly where we were. This weather phenomena occurs when a tornado picks up water while crossing an open body of water (i.e. the lake).  Power outages have been frequent. There was another one just this weekend. The photo from one of the early long weekends above, indicates that we have been having them all season. It also shows that we can be resourceful, boiling the kettle for coffee and heating up left over pizza on the wood stove.

The Wee One often comes out with us on Friday evenings as both J1 and J2 work on Saturdays. This situation absolutely delights D (her Poppa) who gets up with her in the mornings before he leaves to play tennis with a gang of regulars at Grand Beach. Poppa provides constant amusement for both the Wee On and as a result, all of us.

On very humid days we didn’t venture down to the beach and had to find other ways to pass the afternoon and stay cool at the same time. D hooked a hose up for the Wee One to play with her car mountain. She took the matter into her own hands, put on her boots and doused her head repeatedly with measuring cups full of water.

Between our extended family, there are seven dogs and a couple of pussy cats, all of whom love the cabin as much as the humans. This photo is also a depiction of one of the best things about lake life-rest. I usually get nine hours of sleep per night, unheard of when I am in the city.

My two favourite places to read are on the beach and in our cozy bed at night. I typically volunteer to stay home with the Wee One so that the rest of the gang can play cribbage or sit around a bonfire at one of the other family cabins. The Wee One loves to read in bed too.  This weekend we snuggled up and read every single one of her books.

I can be particularly productive in our gazebo at L is G. Work doesn’t feel like work at all, when you enjoy what you do and love the setting.

Kath’s quote: “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” – Socrates

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

Before the snow flies, I thought that I should get around to writing my summer reflections.  I love many, many things about time spent at our little beach house “Life is Good”: beachcombing for glass and heart stones, family bonfires, strolls through the forest and glasses of wine at sunset.  Not surprisingly, my favourite times revolve around food and the time that my extended family and I spend preparing and consuming it.

This was one of our first sunsets of the season in early May before the leaves had even come out on the trees.

The lake was uncharacteristically calm on this evening.

One of our pastimes is “Robin TV”.  We get to experience two batches of eggs and babies each year when the robin families build a fresh nest on top of their former one.  The ledge of the window keeps them protected from wind and rain and when we are inside, we get a perfect view of the nurturing.

Our lake routine is that we make huge canisters of coffee for people that come and go.  D and J1 play tennis at neighbouring Grand Beach every chance they get, I go walking with the Wee One on the beach while J2 gets caught up on some much-needed sleep.  Then at noon, we make big breakfasts to stave off hunger until dinner time (or Happy Hour which is another lake tradition).

There is often a family member at our screen door inquiring if we want to join them for a walk or a meal.

On this evening D whipped up a batch of bacon wrapped scallops for us to contribute to happy hour at Sister #2’s place.  Her family co-inhabited with ours for years at “Life is Good” and have recently moved to their own place which is much larger and grander than our little beach house.  We teasingly call it “Resch Mahal”.

Sister #2 is an exceptional cook and we love their frequent invites for meals.  This is either her tequila chicken or a curry-sorry that I can’t recall.  The astonishing thing is that she doesn’t yet have a kitchen in their new place and made this on the side burner of their barbeque.

Back to “Happy Hour” for a moment…Our little treats with cocktails, craft beer or a glass of wine are typically simple concoctions from items that we have in the fridge or cupboard.  I had been sent a sample of Matt & Steve’s Extreme Beans  which I rolled with prosciutto and a slice of provolone cheese.  They were a big hit.

We take turns cooking meals for each other.  On this evening J1 and J2 provided a huge pot of their slow-cooked meatballs.

The next evening, Reb & Seb made us taco salads.

The Wee One approved of both.

This happy bunch was photographed at J2’s birthday dinner, which we celebrated on the May Long weekend.

Her request was anything grilled so D made his famous brined pork tenderloin and a bevy of grilled veggies.  We even had a grilled dessert-strawberries, pineapple and cake.

There seems to be more time for just doing nothing at the beach house-like Poppa and the Wee One playing in the hammock

or reading with another one of our little loved ones.

More of those big breakfasts……

and another of D’s grilled masterpieces.

It has been said that our gang can make a drinking game out of every activity.  Here we are playing “Drinking Scrabble”.

Daughter #1’s birthday was celebrated at the lake too.  Her only request was for a pasta salad so I whipped up a oriental one and we enjoyed an Asian grill.

Here was another get-together at Resch Mahal with my eldest brother D at the head of the table.

We always have D & P for dinner while we are on holidays.  Since we will be getting together with them for the first time on Isla Mujeres next spring, P thought that it might be fun to be introduced to island cooking.  So we got into the swing of things by getting out a few Mexican items.  This is an embarrassed Buddy joining in the party.  The life we live on Isla is very similar to our lake life so the theme was very appropriate.

Photos from both ends of the table.  D made Lavender Margaritas and I

coconut shrimp and chilies relleno (pictured here).

This is how you will find me most afternoons-sitting in the shade on the beach enjoying the breeze.

An August sunset.

One evening my Sis-in-Law and her sister invited me to share their Ukrainian dinner with them.  They are inseparable and both have places at Lester Beach.  When my brother Tom was alive, they called them Tom’s two wives.  We started with borscht

and continued with meatballs, perogies and holupchi-yum!

Later that week Wife #2 invited D and I over to watch the Emmy Awards with her (we don’t have conventional TV).  D made shrimp cocktail with these whopping shrimp!

I am not even sure who we invited over on this evening but D was at the grill again making Greek chicken topped with grilled tomatoes, olive and feta.

I often convince myself that the weather will soon turn and I have spent my last weekend at the lake and then lo and behold, I am there again and get to enjoy a bonus stroll down our beloved beach.

Everyone thinks Life is Good at Lester Beach including this little furry guy.

Kath’s quote: “Life is good when we think it’s good.”-Doug Horton

Love-that is all.