Summer Pastimes

I always look forward to the good weather when we are able to spend some time each weekend in the canoe. Here are a few photos I was able to take on Sunday.

Up until last summer we were able to make extended trips up Twelve Mile Creek, but then we met up with a very fierce male swan (a cob) who would feign an attack and was really quite scary.

It seems that the swans have taken the pond over for themselves. Every time we canoe we meet up with more, but none as scary as the huge cob ruling over Twelve Mile Creek, which feeds into the pond.

Here are two photos of a swan sitting on her gigantic nest.

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A swan guarding her nest, from afar and close up.

The swans share the pond with the rowers and of course with us:

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Sharing the pond with swans and rowers.

Did you know that swans usually mate for life? I found an interesting site on the net about a swan family that had to be relocated after the male attacked a senior citizen. You can read this interesting story here: http://www.all-creatures.org/cc/an-su2001-swanrescue.html

BEA 2006 in Washington, D.C.

This past week was a whirlwind of activity. We spent four fabulous days in Washington, D.C. at the annual Book Expo America Exhibition. Even if one walks continually for days, it’s hard to cover the 300,000 square feet of this show! There were over 2,000 exhibitors, 30,000 industry professionals and 7,000 book buyers milling around.

Here you’ll see a bird’s eye view of one of the main exhibit floors as well as the entrance to the Children’s Pavilion.

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Me, with a bird's eye view of the floor and the entrance to the Children's Pavilion.

Our titles were displayed at the Crabtree Publishing booth. Crabtree is our main distributor and we work very closely with them.

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Lisa Maisonneuve and the Crabtree booth.

The “American Dream” was alive and well at BEA. Authors, publishers and distributors try, in so many creative ways, to get their titles noticed. Check out “Thumbs Up Johnnie” who was looking for a publisher!

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"Thumbs Up Johnnie" and his quest to find a publisher.

Our hotel was very centrally located and we were able to get in a little bit of sightseeing. I’ve included photos of the incredible Union Station and the Capitol.

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Union Station [top] and the Capitol Building [bottom].

San Miguel de Allende: Schools, Bookstores and the Institute

The trip wouldn't have been complete without visits to the local schools, the Institute and the local bookstore. It was a little hard to find the first two schools. Even our host and locals weren't sure where they were. By the time we'd walked (at least 10 miles) and finally taken a cab, I'm sure we'd seen more of the city than we'd ever planned! Never-the-less it was fun and memorable. Below you will see photos of the Escuela Exp. Educación Media General 1. This is one of the government schools in San Miguel. Approximately 700 children attend this elementary school. You'll also see me with teacher Raúl Servin. Raúl teaches English at the school and is interested in having his students correspond with other classes. In a week or so, you should see contact information for Raúl and his classes.

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Escuela Exp. Educación Media General 1 and Raúl and me sitting outside.

A well known private language school in San Miguel is Centro Bilingüe de San Miguel. During our visit to the school things were bustling with kids rushing to and from classes. I had a very enjoyable chat with two of the teachers, Julienna and Jessica. Centro Bilingüe de San Miguel offers classes in English, Spanish and French.

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The Centro Bilingüe de San Miguel.

Possibly the most famous language school in México is the Instituto Allende. Travellers from around the world, attend language and art classes at the Allende. I've taken some photos of the massive mural on the wall of one of the buildings.

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Two pictures of the lovely mural at the Instituto Allende.

During our stay in San Miguel, we were able to visit "Libros El Tecolate", the cute little bookstore just down the street from Maricela's Bed and Breakfast. Mary Marsh, the owner, originally hails from New York State. I think that she said she's been in San Miguel for around eleven years now. Her bookstore has much to offer for English speaking travellers who need reading material. She also has a great children's section including many bilingual books.

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The nice little bookstore we visited, outside and inside.