Last night was off for everyone so when I got to the club it was empty except for the summer camp kids waiting for their parents. I was just dropping my stuff on the ground when someone came up behind me. Expecting it to be Helen telling me she would be locking the club, I was completely floored to turn around and find DUKE! I guess I shouldn't be so surprised considering worlds are coming up. He looks great, relaxed and happy. He and his girlfriend flew in Tuesday night and they'll be heading to the coast in a couple of days. After a quick catch-up (fb has made it unnecessary for a hardcore dish when someone has been away), we jumped into our respective boats and paddled away.
It was quiet on the lake after the long weekend. Only a few sailboats out and that guy who lives by Imperial Oil cruising around on his seadoo. Kind of a boring paddle actually. My GPS died as I was leaving the dock so I couldn't even use it for motivation.
Talked to Attila for a couple of minutes when I got back, he's covering Pete's outrigger groups while he's away. I may dog-sit Lola while they're at worlds. After he left the dock, I had to avoid that annoying french dber who was dragging Pete's boat trailer around the road so he could make a better parking spot for himself. He was already parked and had already unloaded his oc-1, he just wanted to leapfrog up the curb by 6 feet. Such a crétin.
I had a quick shower and then headed over to Rachel's for dinner. Kaylynne was already there when I arrived. She filled me in on what's new and I was fascinated by her dad's new project - bee-keeping. They actually have a hive in their backyard which will start producing honey next summer. Plus she knows all kinds of fun facts about bees, like.... honey made from rhododendrons can be toxic and might make you stoned and/or sick. There's documentation that so called "madness honey" was used to poison, then kill off invading armies a couple of times in the Black Sea area, once in 401 B.C. & again in Pompey in 69 B.C. Interesting!
Ryan and Corry from Burloak arrived shortly after I got there and then Jess after coaching db and K.C. after she finished training.
Rachel must have spent the entire day cooking! There were 3 or 4 different types of salads, seasoned meatballs in a peanut sauce (these were especially amazing and, note to Rache, I need the recipe), chicken in a cream sauce and for dessert, toffee bars and zucchini bread. She is a fantastic cook and could easily switch from Stevens to culinary school. Agh, we were so stuffed! Anyway, it was a great dinner party and we laughed a ton! When I left around 10:30, Rachel was putting together care packages of leftovers for the guys to take home.
I want to do this again at my place before everyone leaves for CCA. Hopefully we can fit it in.

Eve turned up on BlogTO's Street Style which is a Toronto version of the Sartorialist. You may recognize the photographer as well.