Listening to our car radio we heard non stop stories about police and protesters in Toronto - these lonely protesters in front of the Huntsville Civic Centre were friendly and eager to chat - and underscored the small-town charm of the Huntsville G8 in comparison to the events pictured below in the Toronto G20.
A cameraman staked out Main Street and a CTV news truck parked behind Algonquin Outfitters in hopes of spotting someone or something important.
On our way out of town police stopped traffic in all directions to allow this motorcade through. We couldn’t see who was in the motorcade but whoever it was rated a helicopter overhead, soldiers in full battle gear in accompanying cars and motorcycles front and back. We watched from just outside the ice cream store along highway 60 just before the turnoff into town, so Carolyn and some police officers cooled off with some ice cream while we waited.
After the motorcade passed highway 60 was opened up and we were able to drive by Deerhurst. Security measures to protect the G8 leaders were in evidence everywhere.These fences by the side of the rode were installed for several kilometers in either direction. There were blue tarps every 110 meters that allowed guards protection from the sun and port-a-potties so that none of them had to go far from their posts.
OK, sign along with me....
Despite a weather forecast which predicted a day of thunderstorms and rainfall, the sun broke through the clouds mid morning on Sunday and turned this spiderweb into a gossamer sculpture.
While the water is a little lower than usual on Cache Lake, we’ve been lucky compared to other lakes on the east side of the Park. A winter with very little snow has left many lakes with record lows, including this one just outside of Madawaska. Normally there is a good sized houseboat tied up to this dock!
We were fortunate enough to cross paths with Anne Holford and two of her kids - Michael and Holly. Anne is now living in Ireland but was in Canada to see daughter Holly graduate. She and two of her kids managed to squeeze in a little cottage time before Anne headed back to Ireland.
That was the theme of our weekend. If it had wings, it dropped by our island this weekend. Through rain on Saturday and Sunday morning, and sun on Sunday afternoon we were visited by all things winged! Our first visitor was this seagull who squatted on the dock for awhile and then flew off to Ted Morris’ to dine on fish.
Rob Durnan emailed us in the middle of the week to let us know mama loon was nesting a few metres away from the dock so we spent the weekend tiptoeing around so as not to scare her. Here she takes a break from the nest to do a little fishing with papa loon.
While Mama was off the nest, I snuck over to see if she was sitting on an egg. Looks like she’s expecting twins!
But loons weren’t the only “breeders” on the island. We’ve found several robin’s nests on this ladder over the years, and this year was no exception. These little lovelies (actually not so lovely until they get a little older) were so newborn that they barely had any down and their eyes were still closed!
And last but not least, our final winged friend on Wahbahmimi this weekend. The air was practically alive with dragonflies, and this one touched down just long enough for me to snap a picture.
This weekend we discovered winter was not quite done with Algonquin Park. When we arrived on Friday night it was a relatively mild 6 degrees and rain was in the forecast. However when we rolled out of bed at around 9:30 on Saturday morning, this was the scene that greeted us. It snowed, pretty much like this right through until Sunday morning!
And it snowed and it snowed and it snowed. The temperature hovered between one and two degrees on Saturday, so the snow didn’t stick to the ground. If it had been just a couple of degrees colder, I am sure we would have had 10 to 15 cms by Saturday night.
So there was no help for it - we were forced to spend a lazy day in front of a warm fire with a pot of hot coffee and the snack that’s more fun to make than it is to eat - JIffy Pop!!
Carolyn took this picture in the last of the light just as the temperatures started to head below zero and the snow began to stick to the ground.
When we woke up on Sunday morning the temperature had gone down to -6, and the ground was white and frozen.
Also frozen were our pump lines and the sugar water in the hummingbird feeder so Carolyn took a kettle down to the dock to get water for our morning coffee!
We found this little Eastern Phoebe frozen on the ground at the door step of the kitchen cabin in the morning. I picked it up and warmed it for a while in my hands and then we put it in an old flower pot in our woodshed - out of the wind and a little warmer because of the heated kitchen next to it. In less than an hour it warmed up enough to fly away.
The blueberry plants were in full flower. I shot these against a backdrop of snow on Sunday morning. I hope they are able to make it through the next few nights which are also supposed to be cold!
It was a record-breaking year with the ice going out on an astonishingly early April 3rd. By the time we got to the cottage, flowers were already in bloom on the first day of May
Although it rained for most of the weekend the temperatures were balmy. Raindrops on the roof at night made for pleasant sleeping and we managed to find time between the showers in the day to go for walks, accomplish a few opening chores and squeeze in some dock time.
Since it was a rainy day we decided to go for a ride to see what had changed since last fall. By the time we reached Ragged Falls, just outside the Park gate, the rain had let up and we decided to go for a walk. The Falls were actually closed, but we didn't let a little thing like that deter us and in fact it was wonderful as we had the whole place to ourselves. The falls were at their most impressive as spring water rushed over the rocks.
On the walking trail we found this tree trunk where Woody Woodpecker had apparently been very busy!
Smoke Creek seemingly earned its name with the mist rising in the mid afternoon. Notice how many different greens there are in this picture.
We were fortunate to spend another Thanksgiving with our friends Marnie, Andrew, Amy and Isabelle and while the weatherman predicted gloomy weather for the long weekend, Mother Nature came through with a couple of crisp and clear days for much of time. Carolyn and I got to stay a few extra days and were treated to a morning of snow later in the week.
This Thanksgiving was definitely colder than last year and so swimming was out and hiking was in. We started off with a walk to Head Lake and back.
While some of the reds from last weekend had begun to disappear, the yellows were out in full force.
Only seconds after Amy told us she wanted to see an animal, Andrew spotted this moose (and her calf which didn't want to pose) just off the trail, giving us all time to size each other up and snap a photo or two.
After a full day of activities the girls are ready for a bedtime story with Mom before nodding off to sleep.
While the Cache Lake trail is significantly shorter than Head Lake, the girls found lots to explore on this mini hike on Sunday.
