Another New Canal to Explore...

It’s always exciting when we explore a new canal. In this case, we’d seen a very dramatic sunset when we hashed along this canal in our old neighborhood in September 2020.

Apparently, bikes can also be dramatic.

Not quite as colorful as the last time we were there, but hard to complain considering the incredible reflections.

Ironically, Kati licked her nose just as we passed the malt factory in front of Reinhardt and Inga’s new place.

We were racing against nature to get back to our dock before it was truly dark as we still didn’t have lights on the boat then. 
 

A Fond Farewell...

Carlin stayed with us for about one month while waiting for her UK visa. She dedicated herself to working on this very difficult shark fin puzzle and, as you can see, managed to finish it before she left.

On August 12, we took her for one last ride in 2021 on Bootjuh.  

It was another beautiful night with no wind and enough clouds to make for some interesting reflections.

While near our old house on the Oude Rijn some fellows asked for help...

…retrieving their radio-controlled boat, which Carlin gladly recovered. 
 

New Victims, I Mean New Guests...

On August 11, we had a lovely evening on the boat with Thomas, who Jimmy really enjoys working with at the Ministry of Defense, and Veerle (they had just bought a house together outside of Utrecht). 

We took a route out towards Leiderdorp. Along the way we encountered a man either delivering a hot tub by boat or going to pick up passengers for his floating hot tub. 

We also saw a giant plastic swan...

…several modern wind turbines...

…and lots of old windmills.

We came across some folks playing some kind of kayak polo...

…and a boat with ridiculously long oars. 

I made pasta salad for dinner and Veerle made an incredible cheesecake with blackberries for dessert in addition to bringing a huge assortment of cheese. 

Golden hour seemed to be made for Veerle. 

 

Ooh La La...

In addition to taking the girls shopping, Ann took the girls to the hair salon. It wasn’t a surprise that Ashlynn had her roots dyed...

…but it was a shock that Veronica had highlights added for the first time, which you can see was pretty complicated.

They were both all smiles with the end results.

Love this shot that Veronica took. 

On Ashlynn’s final night in town, they got all glammed up...

... for a nice Thai dinner out.

Veronica went along by Uber with Ashlynn to get her final COVID-19 test before flying. They couldn’t communicate with their driver, so he dropped them off to walk through the drive-thru, which they said felt strange, and another driver had to pick them up to take them to the airport. Ashlynn flew back to Glasgow while Veronica hopped on a train back for another few days with Grandma. 

 

Back in Front of the Camera...

Ashlynn’s first shoot was with Anna Linetskaya at a garden in Fort Mason wearing designer clothes.

It’s always a surprise to see a test shoot image featuring a smile.

Ashlynn especially enjoyed the more casual shoot wearing her own clothes in Golden Gate Park with Nikki Gerdes. 

She had planned to use some of these photos to update her portfolio in hopes of possibly doing some modelling in the UK when she returned to Glasgow, but the IMG London office dropped the ball in helping her find representation in Scotland. Eventually she reached out to the IMG Paris office and they decided with Ashlynn that it was time for IMG to release her from her contract so that she can branch out on her own. She had contemplated this option for the last two years, so it didn’t come as a shock, but it was still a bittersweet decision to walk away from IMG who had helped her go to Tokyo, Paris, Athens, Seoul and Sydney, for which she and I will always be grateful. 
 

Off to San Francisco...

Although this looks like Holland, it was actually in Golden Gate Park when Veronica and Brett took the train up to San Francisco for a day of wandering.

They also went on a hike where they spotted the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.

Most importantly they went to Boudin’s at Fisherman’s Wharf for soup in the best sourdough bread bowls ever. Of course, she couldn’t have their fantastic clam chowder. but Brett could. 

A few days later Ashlynn arranged to do some test shoots in San Francisco with two local photographers. She booked a bed at a hostel and was pleasantly surprised to find that she had a really nice room to herself—lucky girl to find that great deal. 

She especially enjoyed the shoot with Nikki Gerdes at Golden Gate Park.

While Brett was off on a one-week backpacking trip with some guy friends, Veronica and Ashlynn went to Oakland to meet up with the grandchildren of Grandpa’s best friend: Monique, who was home after her first year at Brown University, and Sarah, who was getting ready to start her final year in high school.