Hello blog friends! How are you doing? I hope all is well with you. Come on in to my blog space so we can share a coffee or tea and catch up since we last chatted about life with flower plants.
The weather continued to be nice here in the second week of June, with plenty of sunshine, clear blue skies, and even a touch of high heat and humidity. On Tuesday and Wednesday, June 9 and 10, it felt like 32C (100F). The rest of the week was pleasant with high temperatures ranged from 17C to 25C (63F to 77F).
Sisters’ Coffee Chat
If we were having coffee, I’d share that the first highlight of my week was meeting my sister. While we’ve been in touch by phone, text and virtual meetings, this was our first in-person meeting since March in “COVID-19 caution” style.
We sat outdoors under a tree by the lake front and had a nice chat while sipping hot coffee from our individual thermos and staying two meters apart the whole time. The day was perfect, sunny with a light breeze. It prompted us to talk about our summer plans. We’ll likely spend time exploring parks and conservation areas close to home.
Fish-Themed Art
The second highlight of my week was a photo hunt for fish-themed sculptures. To start my imaginary fishing expedition, I looked for a canoe, like the Red Canoe, designed by Douglas Coupland. This canoe is large enough for people to stand in and see over the Gardiner Expressway to Lake Ontario.
As I started canoeing, a colourful group of large fishing bobbers, also designed by Douglas Coupland, appeared. The lake water level was high and the water was so clear, I could see the reeds swaying under the canoe. We should see schools of fish soon.
I spotted the Salmon Run, designed by artist Susan Schelle. This 1991 sculpture fountain depicts schools of salmon in silhouette swimming upstream through a barrier of reeds and jumping over the steps of the fountain. The fountain is a combination of both black and green granite as well as bronze. When the fountain is on, it’s a powerful sight.
A bit further along, a school of forty-two bronze fish sculptures designed by local artist Stephen Radmacher ran west along Queens Quay from the foot of York Street. This public art installation on the sidewalk is well known and much loved by locals.
During the Toronto’s waterfront revitalization project, the fish were removed in May 2013 and sent back to Radmacher. He straightened and cleaned them. He also added new stainless steel rods to anchor the fish into the concrete base below the promenade.
The fish were photographed, measured from nose to tail, and labelled so that each one could be returned to its exact location along the new granite promenade in September 2015. If you look closely, the artist’s initials SR are on the fish front gills.
In case you wonder, here’s a list of Toronto’s Waterfront fish that are safe to eat. I saw a few big (real) fish in the harbour this week. They looked like northern pike and bass.
Ducklings
The third highlight of my week was to see a mother duck and her eight ducklings. I saw them twice on two different days. The first time, the ducklings stayed very close to their mama. I could tell they were not confident on their own yet. It was cute to see the last fuzzy duckling hurried to catch up with its mama and siblings. The second time, the ducklings were already able to swim very fast and confidently away from their mama.
All in all, I had a good week with lots of sunshine, a nice meeting with my sister, a fun imaginary fishing expedition, and first sightings of little ducklings this season. These simple pleasures made me smile.
How did your week go? I’d love to hear your comments.
Linking here.
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Natalie the Explorer 
I’m happy you had a nice time visiting with your sister, Natalie. I loved the fish themed sculptures. My father would love to see that! He used to love to fish. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. We’re still locked down here as our cases continue to rise. Have a great week ahead!
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Hi Jill, It was lovely to see my sister in-person. I continue to be cautious even though our cases have been trending downwards. It was fun for me to see the real big fish in the harbour and they gave me the idea to take photos of the fish sculptures. I’m glad you liked them. Stay safe and well. Have a wonderful week ahead!
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It would be really cool to see the salmon run when the fountain is “running”! So nice you managed to see your sister. I haven’t seen my family in Belgium for two years and because of Covid, it won’t happen this summer either. Tough to make summer plans with everything going on! But, I had an OK week in Maine, helping out with renovations for an in-law family member who isn’t here.
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Hi Liesbet, This virus is keeping people apart and everyone on their toes. It looks like I’ll stay close to home this summer due to many restrictions that are still in place. I have a photo of the Salmon Run fountain when it was on, just need to go digging in my archive.
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What a unique art display. That red canoe is awesome.
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Hi Suzanne, I’m glad you liked the red canoe. It’s placed on a hill and gives a panoramic view of the city and Lake Ontario.
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That’s so wonderful you finally got to meet up with your sister! YAY! All of mine live states away, so we keep up via social media or text message. My plan this year was to visit each of them and that’s not going to happen. Maybe next year! Loved all your photos, sure made me smile! ❤️
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Hi Diana, I’m glad you liked my photos. It was really nice to chat with my sister in person. I hope you’re doing well. How are your horses? Have a wonderful Sunday and upcoming week!
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They are doing GREAT! I shared them on my coffee share. ❤️🐴
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Yes, I saw the photos on your blog after I asked. Your horses look so sweet and beautiful. Have a wonderful week ahead!
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Thank you for asking!! I love that, and am so HAPPY others enjoy my horses too! If we lived closer I would invite you and anyone interested to visit with them! They Love people! Thank you! ❤️
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You’re welcome. My virtual hugs to you and your horses.
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What a beautiful waterfront area to photograph. Those ducklings are adorable!
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Thank you, Joanne, for your comment. I’m so thankful to be close to the lake. The views never get old. It’s fun to watch the cute ducklings. They grew up fast.
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Thats some really cool art, I particulartly like the fountain!!! Yep feels like summer… its winter this side of the world and the weather is a bit on the chilly side
~B
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Thank you, B, for your visit and comment. I’m glad you liked the Salmon Run fountain. How cold does it get in the winter where you live? Have a great week ahead!
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Our winter rarely goes below 10 degrees Celsius
~B
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Nice! Thanks, B. Have a great week!
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Thank you for taking us on this wonderful fishing expedition, Natalie. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
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Thank you, Donna, for joining me on my imaginary fishing expedition 🙂 Hope you and Richard are doing well. Have a wonderful Sunday and upcoming week!
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The lake looks so beautiful and calm!
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The lake is beautiful today and likely next week, too, based on the weather forecast. Thank you, Colline, for stopping by. Have a wonderful Sunday and upcoming week!
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I love that boat! #lifethisweek
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The vibrant red is eye candy.
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Shared for #MLSTL
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Thanks, Lydia. Have a great day!
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I love public art… and Toronto has so much of it! Thanks for the stroll around your community!
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Thank you, Janis, for stopping by. I love public art, too. I’m grateful to live in a walkable and vibrant city.
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What a great week. Art and coffee and the companionship of your sister. We enjoyed a real date night and it was delightful. Everything is beginning to return to some semblance of normal here. Except masks are required. But I am fine with that!
I think the bobbers are such fun. Unique art. My dad tied fishing flies. I wish I had some of them now. Might make cute summer earrings!
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Hi Leslie, Glad to hear that your had an delightful date night and things are returning to some semblance of normal where you live. We’re still under emergency orders and many businesses are still closed. Bars, coffee shops and restaurants are for take-out or food delivery only. Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful week ahead!
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How lovely for you Natalie to have the opportunity to catch up for a coffee with your sister. Such a lovely view too. I enjoyed your photos of the fish themed art and the weather looks glorious. Have a lovely week my friend. #lifethisweek
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Hi Sue, It was lovely to see my sister in person by the lake front. The weather has been pretty good and next week looks glorious at the moment. When I go outside, I stay out longer than I thought I would. Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful week ahead!
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The weather looks glorious Natalie. Thanks for joining us at #MLSTL and another opportunity for me to see your beautiful city. x
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Thank you, Sue, for hosting MLSTL. The weather is glorious again this week as we approach summer solstice.
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The in-person meetings are extra special right now. We all realize how important they are. All of your photos are beautiful, as always, Natalie. The red canoe is exceptional. It is likely more impressive in real life. If you have the opportunity, it would be interesting to see the fountain when it is on. The additional information on the bronze fish is very interesting. You say it well, how the “simple pleasures” make us smile. Thanks for putting a smile on my face. Thank you for an interesting and informative post.
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Thank you, Erica/ Erika, for your kind comment about my photos. You’re right that the in-person meetings are extra-special now. This virus has been keeping people apart and is still keeping us on our toes. I’m glad to share some of the simple pleasures with you so both of us had a smile 🙂 Have a wonderful week ahead!
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How lovely! I can only imagine how powerful that fountain must look and as for the ducklings – they always make me smile.
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The ducklings are cute and fun to watch. They grow up fast and their ability to swim far changed so quickly within a few days.
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That sounds like absolutely perfect summer weather! Summer always gets too hot in Australia. So good that you got to see your sister in person recently. Face-to-face is so refreshing, especially after restrictions being in place for so long.
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Thank you, Bella, for your visit and comment. The face-to-face coffee chat with my sister was wonderful. I read about the high temperatures in the summer in some places in Australia or Arizona in the USA (e.g. 40C). That would be too hot for me to go outside.
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Simple pleasures indeed Natalie, but they make us smile so that’s perfect in my book! I love the fish sculpture and that canoe is massive! I’m so glad you got to catch up with your sister, would have been a great catchup chat! #lifethisweek
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Hi Debbie, I’m glad you liked the fish sculpture and the red canoe. It’s fun for me to wander and re-visit local sights, especially this year when travel restrictions are in effect. Hard to believe that six months ago, my sister and I were exploring places in Ecuador, and now we’re practicing physical distancing in our own stomping ground. Thank you for stopping by. Have a good week ahead!
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I loved your imaginary fishing adventure. It looks like lots of fun. Family was the thing I missed most in the lock down and I’m happy to be able to visit them again.
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Thank you, Veronica, for your kind comment. I’m glad to hear you’re able to visit your family again. This virus has kept people apart and is still keeping us on our toes. Stay safe and well!
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I think parks and other often ignored local areas will become very popular as restrictions ease slowly. And they are great places to catch up!
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I agree that local parks and sights are great places to explore and catch up this year. Thanks, Vanessa, for stopping by. Have a great week!
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Your visit with your sister sounds lovely! I am excited to see my sister later this summer. She either lives 1000 miles south of me (in the winter) or 500 miles north of me (in the summer). We are going to Cape Cod to pay her and her family a visit. I hope to be able to sit by the water like you did with your sister. Love those bronze fish. So life-like!
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Cape Cod is a beautiful area. I hope your trip there this summer goes well and you and your sister will have lots of time by the water. Thanks, Laurie, for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!
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How wonderful that you got to have coffee in person with your sister ❤ I'm so happy for you. The waterfront looks wonderful. Thank you for sharing it with us.
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It was lovely to have coffee in person with my sister on a beautiful day by the lake. I hope to do more of it this summer. Thank you, Maria, for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!
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Love your city…and your fishing trip was very interesting. How good it must have been to catch up with your sister. Nothing beat an ‘in person’ meet up even if you had to be socially distant.
Really loved seeing your avatars of bloggers on your page at the right. Very clever!
Thank you for linking up for Life This Week. I have created a list of lovely regular linkers such as you on the right hand side of my blog. It’s now showing more of the community that gathers here each Monday to share our stories. Great to see you here too. Next week’s optional prompt is to ‘share your snaps’….hope you will be back. Denyse.
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Hi Denyse, It was lovely to have coffee in person with my sister on a beautiful day by the lake. I hope to see her more often this summer.
I use a widget in WordPress to display the bloggers’ avatars on the right side of my blog home page. It automatically randomizes the avatar locations. Thank you for listing my blog name on your blog. Have a wonderful week! See you soon.
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Must say, you had quite a relaxing week, Natalie. Envy you 😁😊
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Thank you, Moumita, for stopping by. I hope this week goes really well the way you like it.
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Every time I look at the picture of the lake, it seems like it is moving. Maybe it is just enticing! It is definitely soothing. What cool and creative artists, thank you for sharing! your post made my day, even though I am about a week late reading it. Michele
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Thank you, Michele, for your comment. I’m glad you liked the art items that I shared in my post. The lake view is always refreshing. I feel grateful to live close to one of the Great Lakes. Have a wonderful week!
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You too Natalie! At first I thought the fish appeared to be standing, or at a 45 degree angle to t he sidewalk and then I realized that they are textured but not upright.
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I continue to work on my photography skills 🙂
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I didn’t think it was your photography, I thought it was my vision, lol
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That is so super cool. Thanks for sharing it with us. Very nice. #MLSTL
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Thank you, Patrick, for your comment. Much appreciated.
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Love the photos Natalie, especially the cute duckling. It’s brilliant to see more of Toronto, such a beautiful city.
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Hi Suzanne, I’m glad you liked my photos. It’s fun to watch the duck family. The ducklings grow much more confident within a couple of days.
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Hi Natalie – lovely that you had some wonderful family time with your sister – and thanks for sharing the beautiful weather and artwork as well. It never ceases to amaze me how clever people are and how talented – those metallic fish are perfect.
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 😊
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Hi Leanne, I’m glad you liked the fish sculptures. I like the artistic details on them and how alive they look as a school of 42 fish together. It was lovely to see my sister in person. I hope to see her again this summer. Thank you for hosting MLSTL. Have a wonderful week!
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seeing family and having blue skies are both joys – I envy you seeing your sister
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Hi Carol, I’m grateful to have my sister who lives in the same province with me and we’re close. Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!
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Nice blog 💕
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Thank you, Saania.
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Awesome photos, as always! I love the artwork, those bobbers do bring back childhood memories!
It’s awesome to see you at ‘My Corner of the World’ this week! Thanks for linking up.
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Thank you, Betty, for hosting MCoW. I’m glad you liked my photos. Have a wonderful week!
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I’m so happy for you, Natalie, that you got to spend some time with your sister in person–even from a distance. I enjoyed the fishing art tour as well. I hope you have a lovely week. Enjoy!
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Thank you, Christie, for your kind comment. I’m glad you liked my virtual art tour. It was very nice to see my sister, a highlight of my week for sure. Have a wonderful week!
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What a great week Natalie! Fabulous you got to meet up with your sister. Hard to not be able to give her a hug though I bet. Those fish sculptures remind me of our local Wynnum Jetty that has fish sculptures embedded into it too. I really should find out the story behind ours and write about it. xo
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Looks like a fabulous week Natalie and wonderful photos as usual. Those fish sculptures remind me of our local Wynnum Jetty where we too have fish sculptures embedded into the concrete. I feel bad though that I don’t really know the story behind them. I will have to find out and share on the blog. Another blog idea that I really should write down! lol As for the ducklings – they’re so cute and I could watch them for hours. You might know that we’ve had several lots of ducklings in our pool! Enjoy the rest of the week. xo
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Hi Min, I’d love to read about your local fish sculptures when you feel like blogging about it. The little ducklings are cute and quick learners. Within a couple of days, they show a remarkable difference in their confidence and ability. Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!
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Temperatures ranged from 17C to 25C sound divine!!!!
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Yes, the weather has been perfect this week. Thanks, Leanne, for stopping by.
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Hi Natalie 🙂 🙂 All looking good in your world. I have a walk out tomorrow and I’m sharing this one as there is a common theme, and this is more current than the flowers one. That ok?
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That would be terrific. Thank you, Jo, for sharing my walk. Have a wonderful week!
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Hot and tired right now but I’ll get a second wind later. And maybe cake 🤣🍰💕
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Yes to rest and cake 🙂
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So much to smile about here! Love the red canoe…I always want to be out on the water any time I’m near it. I loved all the water-inspired art you saw too.
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Thank you, Dawn, for your comment. I think as human beings, we’re drawn to bodies of water. I hope to spend more time by the lake this summer. Have a nice day!
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Hi Natalie. Sorry for my long absence. I have not been able to keep up with reading all my favourite blogs in a timely way.
I love those 42 bronze fish. Interesting to read how they had to be removed and then replaced, and anchored with metal rods.
The salmon fountain is great too. It makes me wonder, do you have salmon in the rivers and streams in Ontario? Salmon are, of course, a huge part of the ecosystem here in B.C. I know about Atlantic salmon, but I hadn’t thought they swam into Ontario’s watercourses.
Jude
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Hi Jude – I know you’re busy and appreciate your visit. Toronto did a waterfront revitalization project several years ago that included sidewalk expansion and redesign so the bronze fish had to be taken out of the old side walk. The project measured and marked each of the fish so they could put them back in the same spots on the new side walk. They did a good job. Fortunately the artist was available to contribute to the re-installation of his art work.
We have salmons in rivers, streams and lakes in Ontario. There is a salmon restoration program as noted here: https://trca.ca/news/all-about-salmon-in-toronto-and-gta-waters/
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Natalie, that is great to hear that you do have salmon there. I learned something!
I just read your post on three lists for summer and wrote a comment. But when I went to submit my comment, the comment disappeared, and not only that, I couldn’t get back to the blog article either. Weird. So, here’s the comment here.
Natalie, I’ve been doing most of the things on all three of your lists, with the exception of kayaking (which I’d love to do more regularly) and meditation (which I’ve given up on for now). A new one for me is Words With Friends (online scrabble). A longtime friend and have a very competitive series of games going on. In fact, she was heard to say “Why did I ever introduce you to this game?!”
Jude
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Sorry for the disappearance of your comment, Jude. It happened to me on other blogs once in a while. I tried to make a habit to copy my comment before submitting. If it disappears, I can paste even though it’s such a let down. I appreciate your perseverance to leave a comment here.
I heard about Words with Friends. I’m not surprised that you excel at the games. It sounds like something I’d get hooked on and that would mean less time for another activity that I’m enjoying…sigh. Maybe in the Fall when kayaking is paused, I’ll have time for online scrabble.
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