An Autumnal Weekend

Just up the road from us is Seven Lakes State Park, we’ve been looking at it for a while and finally booked it up last Tuesday as the weekend weather forecast changed from rain to sun.  And by “just up the road” I mean only 44 miles, so just over an hour after leaving home on Friday afternoon we were sitting in our camp spot all set up drinking hot tea, knitting (well, I was knitting!) and watching two beautiful and colourful balloons ascend into the cool of the early evening.

* Friday 5:45pm 9C/48F ~ Sand Lake Campground *

* Saturday 8am 0C/32F  ~ Mist Rising on Sand Lake*

*Saturday 11am 10C/50F ~ Preparing to launch on Big Seven Lake *

* Big Seven Lake *

* Big Seven Lake  has its own Loch Ness Monster! *

* 12 Noon 14C/57F ~ Goosebumps on legs on Big Seven Lake *

* Big Seven Lake *

* Big Seven Lake *

* Saturday 3pm 15C/59F ~ Hiking Trail to Dickinson Lake *

* Saturday 3pm 15C/59F ~ Campground and Sand Lake from trail *

* Sunday 8am -2C/28F ~ Mist Rising on Dickinson Lake *

 * Sunday 8am -2C/28F ~ Mist Rising on Dickinson Lake *

* Sunday 8am -2C/28F ~ Mist Rising on Dickinson Lake *

 * Sunday 8am -2C/28F ~ Mist Rising on Dickinson Lake *

* Sunday 11am 15C/59F ~ A fungi tree on a hike round Big Seven Lake *

 

* Sunday 12:30 pm 17C/62F ~ Big Seven Lake from the trail*

I’m hoping for more weekends like this before we lose the leaves completely, there may even be another camping trip if we can squeeze it in too.

Trees, Glorious Trees

Just a few more amazing photos from our trip kayaking the other weekend.  This seems to have been our last really lovely weekend weather wise, well, at least warm weather wise!  This week we have overnight lows just managing to dip below freezing for the first time this autumn, and the heating is well and truly on now!

 

 

 

 

This is the tree I showed you a close up of last Wednesday, the one that almost had Darnell packing her bags to move to Michigan!

 

 

I neglected to mention that the forecast for later this week also has the word “snow” in it….. they better be wrong!

 

 

The Case of the Curious Cranes

Where: Kent Lake, Kensington Metro Park, Milford, Michigan

When: Saturday, 12 October 2013, a little after noon. Temperature 26C/75F

The Cast of Characters: Two rather curious Sandhill Cranes; two rather curious humans in petit bateau’s enjoying a few hours on the lake in glorious sunshine.

 

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‘Ere, Edna.  What do you reckon those things  are then?  What things Fred?  Those floaty things in the water coming towards us with those odd looking things sitting inside them Edna.  I think they might be what’s called humans Fred, the things sitting inside the floaty things, not the floaty things.  Don’t know what the floaty things are called.

 

 

Don’t like the look of this Edna I can tell you, I’m outta here!  Fred, FRED!  Get back here, where’re you going?  Don’t just leave me here, what are you  man or mouse?  Well actually Edna, I’m neither, I’m a bird!  And while we’re on the subject, I told you we should have left last week when Bill and Pearl went to Florida.

 

Well if you think I’m going to spend yet another Winter with your Mother Fred, you’re badly mistaken.  Pfft, men!  (Fred, off in the wings) I heard that!  

 

Look, just keep your head down OK?  Pretend like we’re not even interested and they’ll take those floaty things somewhere else.

 

See, they’re more interested in those big white birds than they are in us, so you can get back in the water you big wuss!

Look Fred, they’re back on dry land again.  Silly humans don’t like getting their feet wet do they?  Why are they so interested in that tree Edna, it’s just a tree.  Haven’t a clue Fred, but I saw them looking at other trees too, I think there might be other humans that they want to show these trees to.  Well as long as the other humans don’t get in the water and come and stare at us too Edna, otherwise I’m leaving for Florida.

To be continued….

Chain Of Lakes

This was supposed to post before the weekend but I just ran out of time!

A couple of Sundays ago we got up extra early in order to head out to Portage Lake on a little kayaking trip.  We were told to get to the launch site as parking was limited and filled up quickly.  They weren’t kidding, we got there soon after 8am after a 40 minute drive and found only three parking spaces left!  By 8:30 we were unloaded and in the water and the sun hadn’t even cleared the tallest trees yet!

This was our intended route:

We put the boats in just off McGregor Rd on Portage Lake and after a splash about on Portage, headed through Base Line Lake, Gallagher and finally Strawberry Lake…. and back!   9 1/2 miles of paddling in a shade under four hours.  The channel in between the lakes is actually the Huron River and it’s wider than it looks.

Not too many words, just a few photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m still going through the photos from the Vintage Racing weekend and hope to put up a post by the end of the week.  I’m also still recovering, both from the event itself and the hot laps I had on Sunday when I was a passenger in a race car so powerful that I’ve actually got bruises on both shoulder blades from being pushed back so hard when the driver opened it up down the back straight!  Wicked!

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday 171

Hello Peeps, and peepers!  We’re back safe and sound from our little trip to NW Michigan, and it was fantastic as usual.  Beautiful weather apart from one day and stunning locations and scenery, we couldn’t have asked for more.  Pictures at the end for anyone interested, but first up is WOYWW, hosted as ever by the effervescent Julia, head desk honcho.  Head on over to find the start of the linky list.

My desk this week is a mix of neglected stuff (ran out of time before I left for holiday) and yummy new stuff, so here goes:

Commanding lots of attention bottom left is a HUUUGE box of stamped images all the way from Eels (Elaine) in Australia, along with a lovely card.  I was stunned by the size of the box and how many images it contains!  Thank you Elaine, I’ll have a ton of fun with that!!  The rest of the desk is all detritus that I just hadn’t had time to clear away but I have made a start now you’ll be glad to hear!

Last year on our trip up North I managed some brilliant stamping bargains but this year there were none.  So instead, we stopped at a little farm called Maple Ridge that we’d always intended to stop at but never did!  They breed show horses and their Mum has two Alpacas and a little herd of Icelandic sheep from which she spins and dies her own wool from, so with my newly acquired interest in all things fibre we popped in for, ooh, must have been close to an hour as the owner, Betty, was so much fun to talk to!

These two hanks are not her wool.  When she was practising dyeing methods she bought in 100% wool from Rowan and set to having fun with dye mixes.  I loved these two colours and all the different variations within them.  They’re large skeins, the photo doesn’t do them justice and were only $10 each.

This next one though is all her own work and is 50% Black Alpaca and 50% Icelandic Sheep, the sheep was called Celia according to the label!  I didn’t get the name of the Alpaca though, but I did she her, she was bit camera shy unfortunately!!

I love the heathered look and also how textured and nubbly this hank is, it’ll make a great scarf or a hat or something.  Andrew chose the colour and wants me to make something for him!!  Yikes!

And now a few snaps, so those that want to can return to WOYWW and continue down the list…..

You just knew there would be stunning sunsets didn’t you??  Here the sun is setting into the remnants of Hurricane Isaac, which gave us no trouble btw.  This is Lake Michigan you’re looking at.  If you continue across that lake for about 87 miles you’ll run slap dab into Wisconsin eventually.

There was plenty of exercise to be had, taking packed lunches on bikes into beautiful water front towns.  Such a lovely view to have whilst eating lunch.

And a bit of beach time too.  That’s Lake Michigan again and the beach is the one at Petoskey State Park where we were camping.  It’s just gone and got itself voted Best Lake Beach in America by The Weather Channel so I hope it’s still that deserted next time we go!

And along with the beach comes a spot of beach combing!  This area is famous for Petoskey Stones, basically fossilized coral formed by glacial action many millions of years ago.  You can buy them in town, but if you have a spare half hour or so you can turn up quite a few of them along the beach, on farms and in quarries, we were lucky and ended up with a good number which I’ll show you another time, but I’ve linked their name to Wiki if you want a sneak peek, they’re very beautiful.

And naturally there were more extravagant meals cooked over an open flame.  Here we have lamb chops, foil roasted potatoes and also foil packets of fresh veggies from our garden….. along with a glass of red on the side for the cook!

And of course there was the kayaking, lots and lots of time spent messing about on the water….

No matter what the weather!!

Weekend Snippets

And not of the paper variety either.  Here’s a few photos of how my weekend shaped up, so much for all the tidying and housework that needs to be done eh ladies!!  But I did manage to have a good old clear out in my craft room, and while it’s not yet finished, it is a heck of a lot better than it was last week.

Saturday morning we headed off to the  peace and quiet of the lake.  We were on the water by 9am but despite that fairly early hour it was still very warm and also very sticky as there wasn’t a breeze until we were on our way back down the lake.  We paddled all the way to the top of the lake and under the bridge where the swallows are raising their second broods of the year.  Lots of tiny little faces peering down at us out of mud nests and parents darting here and there trying to gather up enough food for the almost fully developed chicks.

The other side of the bridge is an area of water not well frequented by the fishermen or pleasure boats, we saw another couple in kayaks up here, but apart from them we had it all to ourselves.

We spotted this little family of Sandhill Cranes walking cautiously through the shallows on their long, stilt-like legs, they didn’t look very comfortable to be honest and I’ve never seen Cranes in the water before either.

But if I thought that was an odd enough sight I was more than a bit surprised when they headed out into open water and swam all the way across to the other side of the lake!  I paddled along beside them, but at a distance, but they weren’t too perturbed by my presence.  I Googled them when I got home and came up with another couple of photos of them swimming, all captioned with things like “very rare to see Cranes swimming” and “not a natural swimmer”, “very rare sight” etc, so I think Andrew and I were very privileged to see this.  I can’t think they’re very happy in the water, they don’t have webbed feet for a start, and the way they were bobbing up and down I’d say they were treading water more than outright swimming.

Back on the home front we had some coffee on the deck when we got home.  It’s looking really pretty and very flowery right now, all that hard work in May to prepare and plant all of our tubs, pots and hanging baskets has paid off, and it’s lovely to sit here and enjoy the view and the birdsong.

 

 

I worked in the garden for most of the rest of the day.  On Sunday morning we went out for a local bike ride, another hot day, too hot to be riding bikes to be honest but I need to get back into a regular exercise routine again!  I worked in the veggie patch until lunchtime, weeding, trimming unnecessary foliage off the many tomato plants we have, feeding everything and planting some more bush beans.  I came indoors after lunch and had a little nap after a nice cool shower, something I don’t normally do… the nap that is, not the shower!  It was after this that I had a blitz in the crafty room and also made a card too.

Later we decided to try making quesadilla’s on the barbecue as it was too hot to contemplate cooking indoors, so we sauteed a mixed bag of sweet peppers along with a red onion and a chilli, added a few herbs and spices and some left over pre cooked chicken (also barbecued).  We’d bought a pack of large tortilla’s btw, just in case you think we slaved over a hot stove and made them too!  To assemble, we put a bit of the mixture on a tortilla, added some feta and cheddar cheeses, wet the edges, folded them over and put them on a lightly greased tray.  You also have to brush the tops lightly with a little more oil so they crisp up too.  You then cook them by the indirect method on the barbecue by lighting the two outside burners and putting the tray over the centre burner which is not lit, so you don’t have direct heat under the tray as they’d burn.

 

We served ours with half an avocado each, some plain yogurt mixed with garlic salt, chilli pepper and cilantro in place of sour cream, and a little extra cilantro for garnish.  Very, very tasty but crikey were they hot!  Hot as in temperature rather than spice.  But they were very simple and quick to do and you could make the filling whatever you want, great for vegetarians too, hardly any washing up either which is a distinct bonus!  Perfect summer food eaten outside with a cool beverage on the side!

This week is an oddball one as we have Wednesday off for American Independence Day.  It’ll feel strange having a day off mid week like that, right now we’re planning on hitting the lake again to go kayaking, plus hopefully a bit of crafty time too, now that my room has been tidied up!

A Few Snippets From The Weekend

It was a busy one, that involved kayaking, planting up, weeding, eating out on the deck, mulching the borders, barbecuing, dodging rain showers, admiring the Spring flowers, cutting the grass, and finally, crashing out on the deck on Sunday afternoon.  I’d like to say relaxing on the deck as it sounds like a very genteel and British thing to do, but the truth was we were so shattered that we pretty much collapsed into the chairs and the sun lounger and didn’t move for an hour.

Although Spring was very late to arrive in this part of the world it doesn’t take long for everything to catch up, the growth spurt in my garden has been nothing short of phenomenal, it’s amazing what a lot of rain and a bit of sun can do.  A month ago my peonies was just poking their heads out of the soil, today they’re close to 2ft high and are covered in buds.  There’s not much in the way of bare soil any more, it’s all been filled in with a hundred shades of green.

But first things first though, we were up and out on Saturday morning for our first trip to the lake, this is the latest first trip to the lake in six years.  We’ve never not got on the water in April in Michigan before, but this year the only reason we managed any kayaking in April at all was because we drove 900 miles south to South Carolina.  We’d have been chipping the ice of the lake in Michigan had we attempted any kayaking here in April.

It was a very pleasant sunny 70F out on the lake and it was so quiet, just a few fishermen and some other kayaks around.  As you can see, some of the leaves are not fully unfurled yet and a few trees haven’t opened their buds at all yet.  We saw Cranes and Herons, Painted Turtles sunning themselves on logs, lots of Swans (gave them a wide berth!), House Martins and Swallows were building nests on the old bridge where the Huron River empties into Kent Lake, and baby Geese being well protected by parents!  Next time out we’ll head under the bridge, up the river a bit and see if the Ospreys are back.  They’ve nested and raised young in the park for the last few years, we were lucky enough to see an Osprey chick last year and the year before from our kayaks.

Back on the home front I snapped a couple of photos before getting to work.  My Orchids are amazing this year and I counted a total of 13 flowers.  They’re Michigan native Lady’s Slipper Orchids, given to us by a friend after we built this house and were starting on the garden.  They had a property up North and were slowly clearing it in order to eventually build a little cottage for retirement.  They did the clearing carefully and sensitively over a number of years, bringing back native wild plants for their garden and to give to friends.  We were lucky to be given a small clump of orchids eleven years ago that have absolutely thrived in the shade of a dwarf pine tree.

I love those little twisty bits on each side of the flower!  I love these flowers too, rather Delphinium like but they’re Verbascum I grew from seed about four years ago.  They have rosettes of dark green leaves spread over the soil, but their flowers are held aloft on tall spikes about eighteen inches high.  They come in many shades and colours but for some reason my mixed packet of seeds only produced pink flowers.  They’re pretty nether the less and they come back every year for me, which is more than I can say for the Delphiniums that I’ve stopped wasting my money on.

After this little interlude I got the lawn mower out and then weeded and cut back the front borders ready for mulching the next day and then planted the peppers and some of the tomato seedlings in large tubs as the veg area is really too small for us now.  We finished the day with a shower and home made burgers on the grill, sitting out on the deck under the big sun umbrella resolutely ignoring the rain that had started to fall.

Sunday saw us at the the local superstore bright and early as they had reduced their big bags of mulch by 30%, so we took both cars down and brought back 35 bags and five bags of top soil too.  After a bit more weeding we dibbed in some petunias and marigolds we had left over from the deck tubs and pots and them began the back breaking task for the day…. unloading and laying down all the bags of mulch.  After a couple of hours I disappeared inside the house to rustle up more sustenance in the shape of fresh, homemade blueberry pancakes topped with chopped pecans, more blueberries, sliced banana in Andrews case and lashing of Maple syrup, along with a big pot of fresh coffee.

It was a very warm 80F by this point but evidence of Saturday nights rain can still be seen under the table.  Naturally after this sudden boost of both caffeine and sugar we just about passed out but soldiered gamely on, fighting the urge to take a nap, and by the end of the afternoon we had completely mulched the front and side gardens and used up all 35 bags that we’d bought that morning, and then we allowed ourselves to pass out on the deck, more from sheer exhaustion than sugar by this time though.

I’m not actually a napper unfortunately and so made some refreshing green tea to be drunk with yet more sugar in the form of store bought pastries for a treat, and brought out some stamped House Mouse and Penny Black images plus the colouring implements, but ended up reading a free herb magazine that we’d picked up somewhere along the way instead.  Still it was very pleasant sitting in the shade listening to the fountain playing and the birds singing.

A bit later after refreshing showers we cooked up some pasta with a creamy sauce, added some mushrooms and steamed broccoli and ate our dinner outside again.  It was only after all that , that I had enough energy to finally colour in some of the images, now all I have to do is find some time to make them in to cards.  And with an upcoming camping trip this weekend, tomato plants to plant out in the veg garden, basil and french beans to sow that might prove a little difficult….. especially as when I got home last night I found another fifty bags of mulch in the garage.  I just hope we don’t have to put those down before we go away on Friday too!

Come And Join Me On A Paddle?

Here in all their sunny, inspiring glory are some more photos from our amazing paddle on Sunday, I hope we get one or two more weekends were we can get out there again as there is really quite a lot of green still to be seen.  Most of the trees that have turned are the Maples, but I forgot that at least 50% of the trees around the lakes are actually Oaks, and they are only just starting to get a little tinge of colour, they’re not going to reach their peak for at least another week or two.

I’ll start with the photo I showed you on Sunday, just in case you need any reminder about what I’m going on about!  There won’t be too many words to accompany these photos, some things just speak for themselves don’t they?

This photo above is a small stand of oaks that have obviously decided they couldn’t wait any longer to show off their new colours!  Why let all their Maple cousins take all the glory??

Yes, it really was that incredibly golden.  This stretch absolutely glowed, it was like a beacon from the far side of the water.

And as we floated by I happened to look up to see the most amazing Maple I’d ever seen.  It was alive with colour, there’s no other way to describe it.

Later, after packing everything up we drove round to our favourite part of the park and got out the lounge chairs, made coffee and had a good old chat.  You can see a real mix of trees here, some are still green, some are just starting to turn, yet others have already shed their leaves.

This was our beautiful view.  We stayed right here for a couple of hours, grilling chicken for lunch on our little camp barbeque and relaxing some more, before we decided we really should head home.  But I brought all these memories back with me and ended up making two very Autumn inspired cards that I posted here on Sunday and Tuesday.  It was a fantastic day, I hope there are more to come.

So (UN)Happy To Be Home!

Hello peeps, me again!  And as you can see I’m back at home (well, at work right now eating my lunch) and raring to go (not!!).  The week away was awful with the sun shining every day, terrible sunsets every night and too much time spent out on the lake, swimming and lounging on the beach, making friends with our fellow campers and eating hideous meals.  Terrible really, absolutely terrible!  I’m so grateful to be back to normal and sitting behind a desk in an air conditioned office, this is the life for me!  None of that silly R & R, holidays are really over-rated don’t you think??

OK, hands up believed that last statement?  Actually, hands up whoever believed any of that bull???  I have a few pictures for you, just one or two as per usual, so sit back and enjoy!

Lake Charlevoix was definitely more challenging than last year, the only time it was really calm was much later in the evening, after the sun had pretty much set; but I have to say it was some of the most exhilerating kayaking I’ve ever done, you really had to keep your wits about you as the swell was about three feet high, coupled with a fairly stiff breeze whipping up white horses and the wake from the pleasure craft, speed boats and jet ski’s zipping around.  I got sideways twice and backwards once and poor Andrew got side swiped by a rather large wave and ended up with 2″ of water in his boat, not to mention drenched from the waist down!  Spray skirts would have been a great idea that day but we went out without them.

When we weren’t in the boats we were either hiking or riding our bikes around, most days we managed to get a couple of things in, usually kayaking in the morning before the wind whipped up the lake too much and then something else in the afternoon that didn’t involve water and getting wet.  This is the view of Lake Charlevoix from the top of Avalanche Peak, a ski hill in the winter and a lovely place to hike or mountain bike in the warmer months.  The State Park where we were camping in located on that point, right of center, and our camping spot was right on the point itself.

The Sumacs were in full flower on the hillside, giving quite a vibrant burst of rusty reds…

…and the very beautiful but highly toxic Red Osiers were also showing their gleaming white berries under the canopy of the towering pines and maples.

If the old wives tale about bountiful berries forewarning of a harsh winter then NW Michigan is going to get hit hard this year!  Although, having said that, they get hit bloody hard every year!  They average 118″ of snow every year!

Meanwhile, back on the lake and in slightly calmer waters, that girly was still out there, messing about in her blue boat…..

….. trying to avoid getting caught up in this!  Discretion was called for that day so a packed lunch was taken into Charlevoix to be eaten on the wonderful terrace over looking the amazing harbour and the expensive yachts and motor cruisers, before wandering around trying not to turn too dark a shade of green, envy is not a pretty sight at all!

It would cost you a pretty penny to live in this town especially on the water, where there are homes currently for sale for upwards of $8 million dollars.  Think I’ll stick with my tent!

There are some amazing homes in this town, the most famous of which are the Mushroom Homes, designed and built by Earl Young starting in 1918.  A lot of other properties in the area have copied his fairytale style of architecture and the result is quite amazing, very Hansel and Gretl.  I honestly expect to knock on the door to find Hobbits living inside!

Meals at camp tend to be very simple affairs…. you know, rack of lamb marinated in red wine, ginger and Michigan dried cherries, seared in a pan and then finished off on the barbecue!  Quick and simple to do and served with a side of fresh corn on the con and green beans!  Andrew likes camp cooking, I think it shows!

After all that goumet food more hiking was called for…. followed by more kayaking to build up the appetite again for what ever culinery delights were on the menu for evening meal.

We headed over to East Jordan one day to kayak the Jordan River….

… although Andrew had such an “I’ve seen it all before attitude”!  It was nice not having to battle the wind and the swell for a change, made us quite laid back.

The mornings were very pretty, not that I got to see them you understand, but like you, I can share them too through the wonders of modern photography.  Apparantly this little flock of Grebes came bobbing by almost every day, and although I didn’t get to see them in the flesh, the Pileated Woodpecker, the Flicker (another woodpecker), the Jays and the two little Kestrals made breakfasts interesting to say the least.  Especially the Pileated Woodpecker as I’ve never seen one before, although sadly it moved too quickly to get a photo of it, but at 50cm tall it’s North Americas largest and most striking woodpecker, almost looks prehistoric, think of a scaled down Terydactal with a red head and you won’t be far off.

Relaxing doesn’t come easy to me but as hard as it was, I made the effort every day, usually with either a book or a magazine to read and a coffee glued to my right hand.

And what about those terrible sunsets?  Would you like a sneek peak?  I’ll do another post about the sunsets as I took quite a few pictures, surprise surprise!  But I’ll leave you with this….

Oh yes, I’m so happy to be back at work……..

Water Lilies

During the months of July and August the water lilies flower at our local lake.  To me they’re endlessly fascinating and I spend ages paddling around them trying to find the best angle for a photo whilst fighting the windage on the kayak, the wake I’m creating trying to stay still and the flowers own propensity to be dragged under the water for a few seconds by the slightest movement of the otherwise calm lake!  It can be a tad frustrating at times!  These pictures were taken last Sunday morning.

But patience is a virtue that I am occasionally blessed with, especially when it comes to all things natural, like the water lilies.  I eventually got this  shot:

And here’s me before it was taken, struggling to get into position!

Paddling around a bit more we came across a little cove that was absolutely bulging with water lilies, and these weren’t no ordinary ones either, these were triffids of the aquatic plant world!  I do not jest, we were completely stunned by the size of these beauties, think dinner plate size flowers and you’ll be somewhere close!  They were growing in about 2ft of water (I measured by sticking my paddle in vertically and taking a note of the water line) but most were stretching their flowers at least another 2ft out of the water, unusual for water lilies as I’ve always considered them to be surface flowers.  What do you think of these amazing beauties?  And I’m making no excuses for the quantity of photos I’m including with this post!

And they stretched all the way to the bank, it was like a forest of water lilies.  Almost all the flowers were full of little bees and other pollen gathers and they were having a crazy feeding frenzy, they were absolutely frantic in their search for the pollen!  If I didn’t know any better I would say they were completely intoxicated by these lilies.  The scent for us was heavenly, very sweet, almost gardenia like with a hint of vanilla.

The flower buds were a bit on the large side too!  Now, all these photos so far don’t really show you the true size of these plants, but here’s a flower that Andrew was holding for me and his hand is visible.  He has big hands by the way, really big hands!

And those huge inner yellow bits where the seeds are stored, wanna see what they look like without the surrounding frilly bits and petals?  They end up about three times the size of when they’re part of the flower…. wonder how many seeds are in here?

We like to play a game with the leaves too.  We dip our paddles in to the water and let the droplets run off onto the leaves, which are incredibly water resistant!  It’s like watching little diamonds run off all sparkly and glinting in the sun.  If you get it just right a few little drops will stay and then you can take photos like this:

This game can keep us amused for quite a long time!  And have you ever pushed down and felt the buoyancy of water lily leaves?  It’s really quite incredible just how much pressure you have to exert to push them below the surface, and it’s really hard to hold them there too!  No wonder the Victorians delighted in taking photos of people standing on giant water lily leaves!  I wouldn’t mind doing it myself, but I’d have to find some with bigger leaves than these ones first!!