The summer spot will soon be empty….

 

Our Location:

Summer Spot near South Baymouth, Ontario, Canada

It is hard to believe that our time left here is in the single digits now. The weather has been fabulous this fall but alas the cooler air is rushing in as the fall winds start blowing. We can hear them overhead in the branches and the leaves shaking on the trees. We are well protected here from most direct winds but at some point they will shift and we will be feeling them.

The new house, the fog, and the view.

Mornings are heavy with dew, sometimes enough to drip.

Life is ending for much of the vegetation now.

I have been slowly taking down and putting away the things that get scattered around for the summer. The area around the cabin is collecting the “stuff” that requires inside storage for the winter and since we are still using the cabin, it will all be stored on our last full day here which we think will be Tuesday.We shall see how things go. The plan is feet up, wheels rolling Wednesday morning, however the best laid plans…..

A walk around the farm on a dewy morning.

The woodpeckers keep attacking the Sugar Shack.
Brother Rick’s house on the left, Dad’s on the right.

Our plan is simple and flexible, we hope to reach Valens Conservation Area on Thursday, do some errands and meet up with daughter/sister Courtney for dinner on Friday. Saturday we plan on visiting with daughter/sister Bradey, hubby David and the boys for a few hours and then pulling out Sunday and hopefully getting south of the border before noon. Loose plans, we shall see how things go. I will keep you informed.

Some are holding on in protected places but are slowly fading.

Pitch on the tree, colour and winter wood.

He was in no way afraid of me. 

I will leave you with some photos, I hope you enjoy them.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

The summer is slipping past us……

 

Our Location:

Summer Spot, near South Baymouth, Ontario

I had good intentions but ……..well enough said. Our days are busy and yet not overly full. We work, visit, watch the new house being built and just enjoy life. Many birthdays, anniversaries and such have passed since my last posting, best wishes were given in person and therefore not needed here. I will leave you with some photos of our time so far.

We made it and settled in.

My favourite view over a number of weeks.

Turning around from my favourite view, this view is ever changing now.

 The view used to be very different but now with Jason and Leah building their new home here the landscape is changing rapidly. Once this was a grassy incline away from the water, with lots of trees, a couple of very rustic small cabins, an old stone fireplace  and a quiet that was peaceful. Now the mud, construction debris and noise, along with a new building going up it is very different.

It is coming along. Soon the metal roof, windows, doors and siding will be up.

The view of the North Chanel in the town of Little Current.

Some old farm equipment scattered about the farm.
 

I think this may be Sam’s sailboat anchored in my favourite viewing spot.

Sunrise on my way to coffee.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the visit.

Until next time,

Take care, stay safe…..

Deb

Almost settled in……

 

Our Location:

Summer Spot, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada

It’s been a few weeks since my last post and I thought I should drop a quick note to keep all informed. Life is settling back down to our regular summer routines with just a few more little chores to get us completely settled. The clothes lines still need to be put up, The Cabin needs a final tidy and sweep, the gardens need some attention and I have just two more chores to complete before I consider us all ready for the summer. I’m much slower this year and I believe it has a lot to do with the dampness and the colder than normal temps. 

Growth on a tree

My sister’s flowering cactus

We are back to our little summer spot jobs now, and enjoying them a great deal. It certainly makes our time more structured and we like that. If we could just get some nicer weather we would be all set.

Jim, you will like these. Some old equipment on the farm.

Work is continuing on the preparation for Jason and Leah’s new house. Jason is working hard getting the site ready but a few breakdowns and the amount of rain are putting things a bit behind his schedule. Life is never easy, is it?

Squishy green moss.

Moss is everywhere.

Our good friend Anita is here at their cottage and we managed to have a quick visit with her, although we didn’t see her hubby Mike. They are doing well, and we hope to see her a few times over the summer. 

This tree in various stages of leafing out.

Birthday wishes to Grandson Lincoln, who turns 2 today. He is a happy little guy, and is excited about the ‘secret’ big brother Auston won’t share about Linc’s birthday surprise. 

Lake Huron is still very cold.

Happy Mothers Day to all of the beautiful mothers out there. I hope you have a fantastic day. My day was brightened considerably when both of my other daughters called me to give their best wishes today. Thanks Ladies, the calls were very much appreciated.

It looks as if this will be an official residence soon.

The pics are just things I captured while out and about. I am going to tour a bit of the Island at some point with my sister and I will find some interesting views for you to see. However, today is NOT that day!

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

The rainy season……

 

Our Location:

Summer Spot, Manitoulin Island, Ontario 

We are still getting settled here, much slower than usual but we are getting things accomplished. Our routine is becoming re-established and I have no doubt we will soon be back to our regularly scheduled summer life. 

It is always nice to finally unhook in our spot.

Our Cabin, the first opening of our side door. We need to remove some of that stuff .

I have spent a fair amount of time strolling in the trees, some well worn paths and a few less familiar and sometimes just in a general direction. My sense of direction is good and I can usually find the point I wish to find without any trouble. The amount of dead spruce trees is frightening and high winds bring more crashing down often. High wind days are not meant for walking in the trees.

A few things coming up in the rock gardens.
Garlic, chives and rhubarb.

We are having some very odd temps here, well below seasonal norms some nights and the cold winds from the lake are keeping our temperatures down significantly. The rains have been off and on since our arrival, a dusting of snow, some very heavy frosts have been witnessed as well. As of this writing we are expecting 3 days and nights of rain, with the heaviest being today, forecasters are saying 20-45 mm, which for our non metric friends means close to 1 - 1 1/2”. That is a lot of rain. However it is needed as the snowfall was minimal over the winter. We are safe from any floods as we are high up, on flat limestone, with no significant water pools until we go down the long driveway to the bottom of the quarry. 

Yep, it’s been a little chilly at times.

Can you spot the morels? I’m not sure if they are just starting or ending!

Happy Birthday wishes to a few folks. Nephews Allan and Jesse, April 21 and 28 respectively. Allan is of course my sister’s only son, and Jesse is my brother’s youngest son. Also to neighbour Earl, I believe his day is the 26 th. Happy birthday gentlemen, we hope it was a fabulous day for each of you. Nephew Jesse shares his birthday with his great grandmother Katie, also born on the 28th, many years ago.

We come in way down there by the slim white birch treee to the centre left.

Although it doesn’t look it, it is uphill most of the way.
This would be the least steep part of the climb, and yes we wind our way along.

A few pictures of what I’m seeing here. I hope you enjoy them.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

We are home…..

 

Our Location:

Summer Spot, near South Baymouth, Manitoulin Island

A very cold morning in Sudbury this morning, very heavy frost. We had wheels rolling before 8 am and were happy to start the last leg of our journey for this adventure. 

One of the many small lakes on our way.

Very light traffic, no issues and we rolled into Espanola about 8:40 am. We spent an hour and a half doing some shopping and topping up on a few things to tide us over. We need to make a trip back in a week or so for some things we didn’t get or complete while we were there. 

Wheels rolling again by 10:50 am we stopped one more time at Birch Island for a fuel fill up, $1.54 for diesel, which is approx $5.80 a gallon. The reserve prices are the best, I’m glad we can get them. Once again, wheels rolling we crossed the bridge onto Our Rock in the waters of Lake Huron at 11:20 am. 

The Bridge we cross to reach the Island.

Yep, it is a little skinny.

We entered the gate just before noon. Stopped chatted with Brother for 5 minutes and parted ways, he going his and we into 4lo creeping up the hill. Turned around, parked and had our first visitor by 2 pm. The visitor of course was Dad. 

Crossing the Bridge.. Little Current off in the distance.

A better view of Little Current.

After lunch we walked up to Dad’s to drop some things off, pick up the cabin key and before coming home managed to check out the house build and had 50 words with Jason before letting him get on with his dump truck work.

You can see the cabin thru the trees.

We are at the top of the hill, we need to turn in the space of the first pic now.

I will be posting much less, but will try to post a few times over the summer. Thanks for following along all winter. 

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

A little closer than expected….

 

Our Location:

Walmart, Lang Lake Rd, Sudbury

A good start this morning, we were hooked up, garbage in the dumpsters and had used the dump station by 8 am. It was a little frosty but I had my little gloves to help my hands. The wheels were rolling and we were on our way. For my own information Reg Rd 97, Lennon Rd, Gore Rd, Hwy 6, 401, 407, 400/69, Sudbury Bypass, Lang Lake Rd. 

The top of Toronto off in the distance.

The drive was excellent except a very strong head wind, the Big Dog worked hard and drank heavily! Fuel is ranging from $1.52 to $1.67 per litre. Can you guess where the $1.52 was my fellow Ontarians….yep on many reservations along the way. We decided to continue on onto Sudbury instead of the MTO inspection spot because it was too early to stop, plus the wind would have been brutal there. 

The Canadian flag waving proudly in the wind.

This Walmart is posted as no overnight parking but when we asked at the Customer Service Centre we were told absolutely just park at the far side as far back as you can. So we are tucked up for the night against the rock wall. Some shopping to stock up a little for our summer spot, but alas many of the shelves were bare or things were beaten up to the point I think no one would buy them. It was a shock to find the store in this condition. Propane exchange: bbq tank… Yuma $20 USD, same tank here $34 CAD. Just thought I would add this for future reference.

Spring is not overly evident but it is near.

After we were parked we had rain, granular snow, more rain, more snow, the sun came out, the wind howled, rain, snow and now the sun is shining, the air is crisp and we are tucked in for the night. 

Moon River is high and fast.

Our home for the night.

We travelled 268 miles/431 km, we travelled about 6 hours, we used about 25 gallons/95 litres but a strong headwind. So I figure a little over 10 mpg, not great but no complaints.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb