Monday, June 26, 2006

Loon Nest


We found it! (see loon picture below). This nest is about 6 feet from where I shot the loon pictures several weeks ago. We're not sure if we can see eggs, but Mama loon is definitely sitting on the nest. We surprised her early Sunday morning when we came down the hill, and later when we showed it to our cousins, Mama floated by and tried to lead us away. There are no baby loons, so maybe the eggs are still to be laid. In the meantime - if you're a Cache Lake person reading this - please slow down in our channel in case we're having babies!

Fish nest

This is the second year we've had a bass nest next to the dock. If you look in the lower left hand corner of this picture you'll see a circular area that looks sandy and lighter than the rest of the picture. I am told that the fish sweep the area clean with their tail fins, lay their eggs and then guard the area until the babies are born. If you click on this image to enlarge it you can actually see Mom and Dad in the centre of the nest.

Spider Nest

This spider's nest was alongside the Cansibay Lake Road. If you look carefully, you can see that it actually forms a ball shape. We'd never seen one quite like this before and so here it is.

Dock nest

While I'm on the subject of "nests" I couldn't resist this one. Our cousins Rick and Barb under their beautiful new pergola - built single-handedly by Richard in two days!

Cottage nest

And finally a cottage nest - one of our guest bedrooms at the cottage. You can't tell from this picture but it has a lovely view of the lake when you are lying in bed.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Home for the weekend

Although we RARELY miss an opportunity to be at the cottage, every so often there's an occasion worth staying in the city for. This weekend, it was our turn to invite our former neighbors, current neighbors and forever friends to dinner in our backyard. Mother Nature was very co-operative and a we partied on until the wee hours of the morning.
More from the Park next weekend.

You can still make "smores" in the city

We may be in the heart of Montreal, but with a clay chiminea you can have a campfire in your very own backyard - and so smores can be made. These two kids were good enough to make smores for the whole gang!

Monday, June 12, 2006

What to do on a cold and gloomy weekend?


It was not the finest of weekends in the Park – the thermometer never rose above 45F and we never saw the sun. Bad weather doesn’t have to be a total bust though and below are my two favorite options for a “poor weather weekend”.

There are always chores!



And keeping moving and doing things keeps you warm. Plus there’s always that “glow” that comes with a sense of accomplishment. This weekend I got the bath house pump running, sanded and painted the refrigerator shelves and installed (not entirely successfully) the new automatic bilge pump for our boat. It turns out the pump is defective. Thank you Canadian Tire!

Or better yet…


You can always build a warm fire, put your feet up, turn on some music and read a good book!

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Grandmother's Log

I went for a little ride through the Madawaska River to see if the lilies had started to show their pads. Not yet, but I couldn’t resist taking a quick snap of this log. My grandmother used to attach her minnow trap to this log, and on many evenings it was my job to paddle up the river and collect her fresh bait supply for the next day’s fishing. For a couple of years there were iris growing among the grasses on this log, but then my grandmother filched them and for years they bloomed in front of our cottage

In the River


Soon the lilies will fill in the sides of the river, but for now there is only the marsh and the trees. A wonderful juxtapositon with the very old dead tree trunks and the fresh green of the new grasses and leaves.

Sunset in the Back Bay

This gorgeous sunset is the view we often see through our kitchen windows in the evening. After a dull and rainy day, the skies cleared and graced us goodnight with this rosy display.