So, I guess an explanation is in order.

Here we are, at the beginning of November, and I haven’t written here since July.  Mea culpa.  Also, my computer’s fault, at least partially.

Due to the premature introduction of Windows 10 to my laptop, its hard drive ceased to function, rather suddenly.  It’s only now that I feel confident enough in its inner workings to trust photographs to my laptop again, and consequently am interested in blogging, once more.

Sadly, a whole summer has passed, and you’ve missed out (ha ha ha) on all my comings and goings and truly probably not-very-interesting stuff. But now, I’m BACK, BABY!

Some of my favourite moments from this summer:

Having Craig, Karen, and Kyle visit for a couple of days. It’s so hard to get us all together, and this was so much fun!

So great to have them visit us!

Camping with my buddies. We do eat like royalty.

Everyone patiently waiting for me to take the pic.

Discovering a Cedar Waxwing nest in our backyard. They were hatched and gone by the time we got back from our holidays.  So Cool.


Having Onyx and Jezebel enjoy themselves at the lake.


Finding some Crayfish!

These little guys are hard to spot. They also sort of freak me out, because I imagine they'll pinch me when I'm in the lake, swimming.

Almost (but not, thank God) walking into this spider in the centre of her web, on the way to the upper farm.


Finding a smiley-face in our hydrangea bush.


Day-tripping with my pals to see an old-growth forest.


Enjoying the most incredible sunsets.

The pillar of light is caused by the sun's light shining through a con-trail.

Hanging out with Iain – the best of times!


And that was my summer:  short and sweet, and the weather was beautiful!

Can spring finally be here?

It’s starting to feel a bit warmer, it’s raining more often than it snows – yes, I think it’s here!

Every morning, Jezebel comes to the door to watch Iain leaving for work. I don’t know if she just wants to escape outside now that it’s spring, or if she is missing having his lap to curl up on every day (as she did for the last year when he was out of work).

Our adorable girl.

This was a sight for sore eyes last weekend. So good to get back to the lake. It’s where we really want to be, all of the time. We’re fond of saying that if we had high-speed internet there, we’d probably just live there.

The snow is going!

The main road is bare, but the sideroads by the lake are still snow-packed.

At least now you don't fall through the crust every second step.

We saw what looked like racoon tracks. We aren’t really woodsmen, however, so we might be wrong.

Raccoon? Skunk?

The ice is just beginning to recede near the shore where the water is flowing.

It never really freezes solid here - too much water action.

Most of the lake is quite solid as yet, though slushy on top.

I'm hoping it will look at bit different next time we are there.

Moose and deer tracks on the road across the field.

We don't often see moose around the lake.

And we saw a gull! I believe this is the earliest I have seen one on the lake, as yet.

So wish I'd had my telephoto lens handy!

Enjoying February

This is, admittedly, not my favourite month, but one must make do with what one has. In my case, this means I stay inside most of the time. We made a trip to the cottage last month, and that’s mostly what I did, but it was fun anyway!

Dodie hard at work.

No cottage trip is complete without the pre-requisite jigsaw puzzle. This was a rather hard one, and I wasn’t sorry to see the end of it.

It was a bird-count weekend but we saw so few birds it wasn’t worth submitting.

Despite our best efforts - as you can see, by the amount of seed and peanuts here - we saw few birds.

Friday was a very dull day indeed, weather-wise. Perhaps that kept the birds away.

A Chickadee!

I never tire of our view. In this case, I was happy to see the sun setting slightly further to the north. Spring is coming: very, very slowly.

Sunset.

The moon setting very early on the Sunday morning. Beautiful.

Moonset.

Having a cracked window brings about one good thing: a lovely frost pattern!

It kind of looks like big bug...

Iain took a walk in the snow before we got ready to go home.

The snow was quite deep. With the cold weather, I doubt it will have melted at all before we are back again.

And….summer ended, just like that

In August, the Touch-Me-Not blooms. I love these wildflowers, and there are usually several large bushes of them on the  “point” (what we’ve always called the little peninsula on which our cottage stands).


They've never actually "exploded" they way I expected them to do.

Iain was on his own quite a bit this summer, at the lake when I had to be at work.  He and I both noticed how early the songbirds left this year. We saw Blackpoll Warblers passing through before Labour Day. Below is another warbler he spotted on a long walk, during which it was the only bird he saw.

Dodie will know what this is; I forgot to look it up.

The moon rises over the lake.

Leon and Jill take one more canoe tour; soon it is time for them to close up the cabin for another summer.

They have some nice watercraft.

In the morning, a deer leaves the island for the mainland shore.

One of the joys of cottage life.

Paul’s harvest of cattle feed was much better than last year’s, when due to the drought he got (I think) 9 bales, compared to about 23 this year.

I'm not sure exactly what he was growing, but I do know it is for the cattle.

It was a very fruitful year all ‘round. Jo’s apples were amazing.

And delicious! Transparents.

And Mom celebrated her 96th birthday! Isn’t she a honey?

Love this lady so much.

May is (almost) done–and it’s finally getting warmer!

…so as much as I hate to see May leave, I am happy to be getting some nice days.
A little pictorial review of May:

The ice was mostly off when this picture was taken at the end of April.

My Mom was with us – here getting ready for a cuppa.

The tree on our front lawn in Renfrew (a maple) had a lot of blossoms this year.

My first-ever sighting of a Clay Coloured Sparrow was on the long weekend; one for the life list!

We were happy to see a school of sunfish – cute little fellas.


Someone was enjoying the fishing, or maybe, like us, just drinking in the beauty of this little lake!

The full moon rising over the bay, last weekend.

Five o’clock: time for tea? No, time for ‘tini!
We’re ready for June!

Weekend work.

Autumn is wearing her fancy clothes, in the Opeongo mountain range.

On the road to Quadeville

Big construction in little Quadeville:  they're replacing the culvert beneath the bridge.  I don't think they'll have to worry about it washing out, come next spring.

They're obviously trying to get it done ASAP, as they were working Saturday.

Small construction on Big Eneas (ha ha ha).  Roger helped Iain tear down the walls and let the sun shine in.  Big improvement to a small space - it feels a lot bigger, now.

There has been some suggestion that this could become Iain's "man cave".  Hmmmm.

A much tidier storage and work space.  And the view is good, too, he says.