An Algonquin Setting

We were filled with admiration when we saw this fantastic table decoration at a dinner party at the Brices! Note the details, including the campfire, miniature tents and surrounding wildlife.

The Holy Grail of Barbecue

With just three days left in our vacation, I decided to take the bull by the horns, (or in this case the cow by the chest), and smoke a brisket – the defining dish in “real barbecue”. It’s a big undertaking that requires a large brisket (small ones don’t barbecue the same way), lots of patience and an ability to forgo sleep. The pictures in clockwise order:
1. 24 hours prior to barbecue the 12 lb. brisket begins it’s bath in Shiner Bock beer (courtesy of my brother-in-law from Texas), Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon and sliced onions.
2. 3 a.m. It’s me, the stars, a lantern, a smoker and a brisket – ready to begin a 15 hour journey to barbecue heaven.
3. At 3:45 the smoker has hit the perfect heat (225F) and the brisket slides onto the rack. From here on in I check the smoker every hour to add wood chunks and water when necessary.
4. Checking the temperature. About half way through the process I insert a temperature probe into the meat. This little gadget is wireless, which means I can check on the progress of my meat while I enjoy a martini on the deck.
5. At precisely 7:30 p.m. the thermometer displays the magic number (180 F) and the meat comes out of the smoker.
6. Approx. 16 hrs. after I got out of my warm and cosy bed to start the process, the meat is ready for carving. The taste and texture were perfect. Not something I would do every weekend, but definitely worth repeating.

Cottage Laundry

Back in the city we empty out the laundry bags and prepare to tackle the cottage laundry. It’s amazing how many clothes, sheets and towels that we can go through in the course of just two weeks! If you'd like to see a larger selection of pictures from our vacation, click here

Hard at Work

Here are some of the CLLA executive hard at work at the pre-Annual General meeting. In this photo you see Peter Burnett, Jim Howe and Molly Katrice "taking care of business"

My paddle clean and bright

I loved the colors and the lighting, so I snapped a picture on the way by. If Muskoka has the "Muskoka Chair" picture to represent it, I think paddles should be the Algonquin Park picture.

Full moon

Carolyn snapped this picture on the drive home. This weekend was the full moon and the night skies were bright and beautiful.

Happy reunion

While technically these last two are not cottage pictures, the last time this group got together was at our wedding. My brother and his kids, and our friend Nadia and Derek and their kids all happened to be in Montreal at the same time. So we fired up the barbecue and spent a great evening together in our backyard.

Smores in the City

Take one backyard, with a clay oven, add 4 kids, a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers and a bunch of chocolate bars and what do you get? Smores of course - a big hit with kids and adults alike!

Into Opeongo

We had time to spare before the APRA meeting, so we took a little trip into Lake Opeongo and stopped to take a few pictures as we travelled up the Opeongo road. It was a beautiful day and it made for great photo opportunities.

APRA annual meeting

This year's APRA meeting once again took place in the Pavillion at the Two Rivers East Beach. We were updated on septic inspections, the new composting program and the latest news on the progress in retaining our leases.

Early morning sky

An improvement in the weather brought this classic Algonquin morning. I took this at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning when I went down to the dock to do a little fishing in hopes that I might catch a fresh bass to put in my smoker. No luck with the fishing, but I did snap some pretty pictures.

Still morning waters

The stillness of the water perfectly reflects the trees on the opposite shoreline and the rising sun lights the interior of our canoe - a perfect morning picture!

A full dock

Even though you wouldn't know it from the weather - summer is in full swing and there isn't an extra spot to be found at the main dock.

Time to build an ark

Since our last visit to the cottage (which was cool and rainy), I am told it has rained every single day! That's 22 days in a row! The water temperature was a very cool 67 degrees.

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.