Canada Day.....or Thanksgiving?

With the weather on this Canada Day weekend, we considered buying a turkey and pretending it was Thanksgiving. Our friends Marnie and Andrew came with their daughters Amelia and Isabelle to spend the long weekend. This picture was taken shortly after they arrived, with the kids bundled in blankets and Marnie checking the quickly falling water temperature. Despite some wind, some rain, and some chilly weather for most of the weekend, a great time was had by all!

Lots to Do

Despite the less than summer=like weather, there was still lots to do - canoeing, painting, splashing and marshmallow roasting were only a few of the things that kept us all entertained this weekend. On the last day the sun came out, and we even managed some swimming before everyone went home.

Greeting the Rainbow

Carolyn greets a rainbow at the end of a cloudburst. This was the first rainbow for the kids so we all gathered on the dock to admire what turned out not only to be a double rainbow, but a herald of better weather on the final day of the long weekend.

Canada Day on the Water

I couldn't see for sure, but I think this was Tom Pigeon on the "Canada Day Celebration Barge". Flapping flags were accompanied by some patriotic singing as the barge chugged past our island. Note the parkas worn by all aboard!

The Second Annual Jamie and Sue Weekend

This weekend Jamie and I spent our second annual weekend with just the two of us at the cottage. On this last weekend before the "official" summer begins with Canada Day, the Park was very quiet and we felt we had the whole lake to ourselves. We chatted,sat on the dock, drank beer, went for a boat ride, ate great food, went swimming, laughed and chatted some more. It was a great weekend that we agree deserves to be an annual event.

A beautiful day in our neighborhood

We were very lucky with the weather on our second annual Jamie and Sue weekend. The sun shone and a light breeze blew on both Saturday and Sunday so we spent most of the weekend soaking up rays on the dock. The weather had been cold the week before and it was only 5 degrees on Friday night so the temperature of the water went back down to 68 degrees on Saturday. But with the sun on both days it was back up to 72 and rising - very comfortable for swimming.

Eat, Drink and be Merry

Which is how Jamie and I spent our weekend together. Here is a peameal bacon that Jamie brought from Toronto, and it spent 5 hours in the smoker. Yum!

New garbage bells

These bells had "not yet in operation" signs on them, and the big blue bin was still there, but these look like they're going to be our new garbage/recycling bins. There are bins for garbage, paper, organics and recyclables. I'm guessing it will all be ready for the Canada Day weekend

Is this landscaping?

Well I discovered what all the rocks piled on mainland were for. You can see here that they've been spread out along the edge of the parking lot. I'm not sure whether this is aesthetic or structural, but there it is.

Summer's coming

The signs of summer are all around. The new green on the trees is darkening, the water is warming up (to a ridiculous 77 degrees already), and the wildflowers are in bloom. These Labador tea blossoms are right at the end of my duckboard.

A New Guest

If you look at my post from last week you'll see a picture of me holding a baby snapper turtle. Well this weekend, Carolyn spotted Mom - swimming around our dock!! Here you can see her coming up for a quick breath of air and then diving back down right off the back of our boat. I think this not-too-welcome guest must have a home on our island this year. There are lots of snappers around the lake, but this is the first one I'ver seen off our dock.

Mystery on Mainland

Sometime between last weekend and this weekend this big pile of rocks was dumped in the parking lot. There are also "no parking" signs and caution tape. I'm intrigued!

A River of Needles

We left Montreal listening to the radio broadcasting tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings for most of the places we would be driving through. Indeed in Ottawa we had to pull off the road for a little while because of the intensity of the storm we ran into there. But as we got closer to the Park, the weather cleared and by the time we arrived close to midnight, the sky sparkled with stars. The amount of water in the boat told us that there had definitely been lots of rain prior to our arrival, and we had some serious bailing to do. When we woke up in the morning we found a “river of needles” that had been washed all the way down the pathway from our sleeping cabin to the path in the front of the main cabin.

The Greening of Algonquin

It turned out to be a magnificent warm and sunny weekend where relaxing on the dock was the order of the day. But despite the summer-like temperatures, you know it’s still spring by the “new greens” amongst the trees. While the Aspen and Birch and Maple sport the bright greens of their new leaves, the evergreens have newness of their own to show off.

Lilies Rising

Other signs of spring include the appearance of lily pads and lots of pollen floating on the lake. Here you can see that some lily pads have already reached the surface, while others are still making their way upwards.

Holy Smoke!

Here I am in front of my new favorite toy – my Texas smoker. And boy does it smoke! This weekend I smoked salmon, and as a taste test I smoked both Atlantic and wild Pacific. Carolyn and I agreed we like the richer more refined taste of the Atlantic salmon best, but both were delicious!!

Weekend Wildlife

This weekend in the Park was a busy one for wildlife. Amongst our wildlife sightings we counted 3 moose, 1 deer, a heron on our point, many dragonflies and this little snapping turtle that we found wandering by our sleeping cabin. It made me wonder if perhaps we have a little nest of baby turtles under our cabin!

A New Pond in Algonquin??

This used to be a ditch with water that ran off into a culvert that is slightly behind where this picture was taken. This year the beavers got busy and dammed the ditch, so now instead of running off, the water is forming a brand new pond next to the highway. We actually saw the beaver hard at work as we went by, but he’d gone underwater by the time we pulled over. We thought this was some pretty impressive work for one spring so we took this picture. I wonder how big the pond will be this time next year?

The Bolls in Algonquin

This weekend, Bolls drove from Texas, Washington and Montreal to spend a weekend together in Algonquin Park. Our weekend started with an early morning departure from the Park to meet Steve and Pei Chin on the U.S. side of the border. Driving through the Park at 6:30 a.m., we enjoyed scenery like this all along the way.

A Real Texas smoker!

An exciting part of the weekend was the arrival and subsequent baptism of my birthday present from Steve and Pei Chin - a Brinkmann Smoker –driven all the way from Texas. I could hardly wait to get it unpacked and smoking and so once it was installed, I loaded it up with 6 racks of Pork Ribs. Mmmm, mmmmm good!!!

7 Bolls in a boat

Meanwhile, there were many activities to be packed into the weekend, starting off with a morning boat ride to get to a hearty breakfast for all at Canoe Lake.

Things to do, places to see

The weather co-operated on Saturday and was perfect for fishing and canoe rides. It's a good thing somebody got some exercise, because we also spent a fair amount of time doing something else we all love - eating! There were the ribs, a 4 lb. smoked meat brisket from Schwarz’s in Montreal, two fabulous rhubarb pies provided by Marilyn Smith at Bartlett’s, 3 barbecued chickens, various cookies, crackers, chips and salsa, and big breakfasts at Canoe lake!

Tourists

The Brothers Boll took every opportunity to document the weekend, while Ian was less impressed with the scenery. Between the three families, there are many, many pictures of the weekend!

Busy Kids

Ian caught many fish, including one not seen here, but big enough for his breakfast on
Sunday morning. Leah went solo in the kayak and became an expert on the boat knot.

Margaritaville

For the grown ups there were margaritas on the Poop Deck, and time spent sharing family photos, chatting and relaxing together.

Family Singalong

And another great cottage pastime – the family sing along. Steve brought his mandolin and so we gathered round to listen to some pickin’ and to sing a few songs together.

Grosbeaks at mainland

These two grosbeaks were flying around the parking lot. I've seen lots of them around in the winter, but seldom in the summer. I love the bright yellow of the male.
If you want to see more pictures from the weekend, click here. for the full gallery.

Fall Colors in Spring

There is a period in the beginning of the spring when leaves of gold, red, orange and yellow begin to emerge on the trees along with the bright new green. It looks like a soft version of fall and it only lasts for a few weeks. Carolyn took this picture as we were driving through the Park near Tea Lake.

Moose spotting

We had to go to Huntsville to get a part for our gas line and on the drive to and from Hunstville, we saw 9 moose (accompanied by many admirers) along the side of the road. We saw two more on the way out for a weekend total of 11!

In the hand of a giant

On Sunday it was quite breezy and so we decided the Beaver Dam trail would probably be fairly free of blackflies. Along our walk we found this “mini cave” that Carolyn obligingly posed in. I think she looks like she is being held in a giant’s hand.

People of the world

This is a picture of the guest book on the Beaver Dam trail. We were impressed by how many countries were represented on this one page that covered two weeks. Visitors signed in from Arizona, Malta, Austria, Germany, Poland and Holland.

A little on the chilly side

The weather might be described as “variable” this weekend, with hot sun on Saturday, cold and wind on Sunday, and a sunny, warm Monday morning followed by a chilly grey afternoon. I seized the opportunity on Saturday to go for a dip. The water was a cool 58 degrees – not particularly comfortable, but bearable.

Happy Birthday to Me!

All the usual suspects were present on Wahbahmimi for the first weekend following ice out. This weekend also coincided with my 50th birthday, and so Barb, Rick and Heather Rigby arrived for dinner bearing balloons, cake, champagne, decorations and a very royal crown to join Carolyn, Jamie and I in celebrating my 50th birthday and the beginning of my 51st summer in the park.

Celebrating 50 Years

We had a hearty dinner of barbecued lamb chops and assorted vegetables and capped it off with a delicious and very PINK birthday cake. Of course an auspicious occasion such as this demanded both a speech and a letter from the Queen (via a BOND-ed messenger!)

Signs of Spring - A Bug's Life

This critter might not be considered pretty right now, but in a few weeks time a dragonfly will emerge from this shell and after spending 15 or 20 minutes drying it’s newly unfolded wings, it will fly off across the lake.

Spring Run-Off

This time of year there is alwatys water pouring over the damn and swelling the river. We took a walk along part of the Track and Tower Trail and found wonderful views of rushing water along the way. For more pictures of our weekend, click here.

Waiting for Spring

Things are melting around Montreal where we live, so on Sunday we took a ride into the Park just to see how things were moving along. All the rivers leading into and in the Park are completely open and only the still water still has ice. The ice is soft and grey and it doesn't look like it would take a whole lot to move it all out. You never can tell just by looking, but I'm going to be bold and guess the ice will be out by the 23rd.

Ready and Waiting

The boats are lined up on the shoreline at the Rec Hall - ready to go. The ice has only pulled out a few inches around the beach, but it's fairly soft. We threw a big rock off the end of the dock to see how thick the ice really was. It didn't go through, but it didn't bounce or skid either - so the ice appears to be very mushy.

Open Water

The largest open water we saw was behind Hepburn's island. There was also water under the little bridge between Cache and the back bay, and smaller spots along the shoreline and around the docks at mainland and the Rec Hall

The Black Holes of Cache Lake

The lake is now full of these black spots. They're not actually holes yet, but from what we saw on other lakes on the way in, the holes develop pinwheel cracks around them and water seeps through, turning the ice black until it finally goes out.

Doing our part

Carolyn pulls out some chunks of ice by hand, and I break up ice next to the dock with a stick. Now that we've helped, I'm sure the ice will go out much faster!

Arrving for a winter weekend

Here we are arriving for a three day weekend in March. We were both excited about our winter weekend, and so we loaded the sled with supplies and set off across the ice.

Keeeping warm

It was -15 when we arrived, but there were were plenty of things to do to keep warm while we waited for the fireplace to heat up the cabin. Here we clear the roof, shovel the deck and drill a hole through the ice for water. By the time we were done with all that it was comfortably warm in the cabin. Winter tip - if you cover the ice hole with lots of snow, it will stay open all weekend and you can get as much water as you need without having to drill again.

The secret to the outhouse in winter

The question we are most often asked is "What's it like going to the outhouse in the winter?" The answer is - not bad at all - as long as you have your handy toilet seat made out of styrofoam insulation! No matter how cold it gets outside, it's never cold to sit on!

Winter Barbecue

We'll never understand why people stop barbecuing in the winter. You can stay nice and toasty by standing close to the barbecue, and for whatever reason - it always seems to taste even better in the winter. Our first night we dined on deer flank, (bought at a market in Montreal - this is NOT roadkill!) along with grilled sweet potatoes and onions. Yummm!

Dishes

We kept our dishes to a miimum since we cooked on the barbecue, but Carolyn still had a few to do after our dinner and before we went out for a night trek on the lake.

On the ice at night

I love being on the ice in the black of night. You almost never need a flashlight with so much white around you, even when there is no moon. All you can hear is the creaking of snow under your snowshoes. It's mysterious and peaceful all at the same time.

Howling for wolves

We had seen plenty of evidence of wildlife on the ice - otter holes, moose tracks, wolf tracks and wolf scat - so we thought we'd try some howling while we were out snowshoeing at night. We didn't get an answer, but Carolyn did hear some howling early the next morning.

All roads lead to Wahbahmimi

You can see all our comings and goings from the tracks left in the snow. There are also some tracks left by Tom Pigeon who was celebrating his 70th birthday in the Park. Happy Birthday Tom!

Heading up the Madawaska

Sunday was sunny and the ice was nice and crispy. We headed out on our snowshoes for a trip up the Madawaska river