When I am tempted to pout, I know it must be time to head out, because August in TO is the time to ...

Summers in Canada are never long enough for my taste.

So, even as I continue to remain swamped with work that is costing me money instead of making me money, I take a deep breath, count my blessings and get the heck out there to enjoy a mini stay-cation or two!

Here are a few scenes from the Toronto Caribana parade, and a few more photos from the Harbourfront a few days later

This one must be a sort of Halloween Mas ... or maybe it's just a colourful tropical arachnid! So, why did I suddenly feel the urger to call Ghost Busters?!

This next shot is my favourite - I call it Boats 'n' Floats ...

And then, a few days later, we headed out to the Harbourfront. My friend was late, so while I waited I tried to take a few shots with my new blackberry. I miss my old cheapo HP camera. It was my first digital camera, but it took such nice photos. I still don't mind these so much ... and I am sure that I will treasure the summer remembrances when winter rolls around ... which we all know is a certainty around these here parts!

Yes, indeed - for those of you who are not from around here, those are our very own islands in the backgroud, Toronto Island, Wards Island and Centre Island. Ok, maybe not as exotic as a tropical island, but in the summer, I quite like them. They are kind of flat though ... sorta like Anguilla!!

My stay-cation interludes were only for a few hours on each of two days of a three-day long weekend, but I must admit, getting out did the trick, because I definitely felt refreshed when I went back to tackle my mountains of work on the Tuesday!