River Down, Lake Up, Ice Moving

 Here's Marsh's Falls today. You can see that the flow is much less than a few days back. That's good news.  Not that there isn't still a lot of H2O flowing...  but the river is down and the MNR advises that the river has passed the crest of the flood.  Of course, they also say that there is more rain in the forecast. A tricky lot, the MNR.

Meanwhile, back at the Lake, the levels continue to rise as the lake absorbs the inflow. The water is now quite deep over the docks, as you can see. 







 It wraps all the way around Anchor cottage, but the boathouse downstairs is still high and dry, for which we are very grateful!







And the ice is on the move.  The good news about the ice is that is breaking apart, it is now down to the stage where it is long crystals, easily broken apart. 











Of course, it is still pretty thick, and when it moves horizontally along the surface of the lake it can pack a lot of pressure in front of it.  It pushed one of the barrels full of water back along the dock at Farside about six feet.  It took both David and I to wrestle that back into place.






You can see the ice flowing across the dock really well in this photo.  Our Bondi guests will recognize the canoe racks up on the shore, and the walkway  around the deck chair lawn. That would be under that big drifting iceberg...





Here's another angle to let you see the ice sliding over the dock...









Taffy bravely came out onto the dock to assist us.  Despite David's cautionary comments, she did manage to fall off the dock at one point. It was hard to tell where the dock ended and the lake began, with the ice sliding around,  so she had her first swim of the season.






The crystals look so innocent, just sort of drifting about. As they bump into each other with a bit of wind, they sound like wind chimes. It's quite marvellous. Until you see them peeling away your buildings or docks.... Looses some of its charm at that point, somehow...





David spent a bit of time today with a big stick just smashing up the ice as it started to pile up against the docks. Here he is at Beaver's dock, ably assisted by a slightly damp poodle.

With a bit of luck, a bit more warm weather, and --dare we say it? -- a bit of rain, the ice will simply vanish at this point.  It's right on the edge of being gone, and won't take much more encouragement to turn back into water.  That would be a good thing for all the docks and boathouses around the Lake of Bays, so fingers crossed...




All the same, you just cannot beat it for beautiful...


The little rafts of ice pile up against each other, and create these strikingly lovely bits of artwork.


We have all been reminded, during this flood, of the power of water. Mother Nature is not to be messed with, and the force of flowing water is formidible.

It's good to be also reminded of how beautiful, how truly unique and precious Nature is as well.




We have to take a few moments to admire what is currently happening along the shore and out on the bay...

We would just prefer that it leave our docks alone...






Taffy can keep the geese away from the docks, but despite best efforts and intentions, the Ice is just not listening.

Look what we found...

Victoria came on a hike with Taffy and I today.

We went up through the back fields. She said she'd never been across the road, in all the years she's come to Bondi. Usually, she's to be found at the beach. 

We followed along the frisbee golf course until we came to the old cedar snake fence. That's the one that has been there for well over a hundred years, once marking the boundary between our fields and those of Hyram Wilder's.

We found apples.  The deer had been all around the tree. We could see where the bear had broken some branches.  And we found some bear scat. 

We found flowers that were taller than Victoria.  Strawberry plants, but with all the strawberries gone at this time of the summer.  Blackberries, lots of them, but not quite ripe.  We found blueberries -- and those we picked and brought home for Grandma and Grandpa.

We looked at a tree the woodpecker had carved into big hollows.  



 There were monarch butterflies, too. Not so many this year -- it has been a difficult year for them, with the spring being wet and cold. Those we have are very precious.

There were plenty of mushrooms, all different sizes, shapes and colours.

Some were perfect umbrellas for fairies, or, like this one, ideal for a smurf.  The ideal place to sit and dream about summer for those little creatures.

We sat on one of the horse jumps and watched two deer grazing in the field.   They watched us watch them for awhile, before moving over to a different field.  Taffy didn't bother them at all. She was happy to lie down under the jump in the shade for a short rest!

We brought home blueberries, apples, some acorns and a coloured leaf.  Not to mention great memories, and tales to tell!

Of planes and boomerangs

Our expanse of lawn provides a great platform for lots of activities. There are often Kites hanging against the blue sky overhead.



Sometimes there are airplanes. Or in this case, more correctly, helicopters.

Wayne, James, Nora and Vivian were having a blast flying the remote control helicopter.

It did need rescue one or two times, but young legs looked after that!

Once the electronic toys were put away for the day, the boomerang came out.

This is not just any boomerang, but a very special one.  That's Nora's boomerang.  It was made just for her.  A few years back, it got itself tangled up in a tree, and there was quite an adventure retrieving it.

No worries this summer, mate, that boomerang just kept coming back.

Which is a good thing. After all, a boomerang that won't come back is really just a stick.

Life is a Beach

This is our beach, with lots of room for kids to play. Lots of places for quiet corners, reading of books, soaking up of sun...

Add in water trampolines, jungle gyms, slides and swings.... and just out of the photo, a play cabin... it's a great place to be.

At any age.

Evelyn makes the local papers!

We so enjoy having Evelyn and Walter here every summer.  After 50 years of summers at Bondi, they truly are Family. As are all of the children and grandchildren. We have a lot of history, a lot of memories.

This summer, celebrating their 50th year here, and Evelyn's 90th birthday, there was a huge bash on the beach in her honour.

Evelyn received certificates in honour of her 90th birthday from the Township of Lake of Bays, and from MP Tony Clement.  Not to be outdone, the local media got in on the action.    Pamela dropped by for an interview, which ran last week in both the Huntsville Forester and the on-line Cottage Country Now editions.

At the end of the article Evelyn comments about the family continuing the tradition of summers of Bondi. We certainly hope that they do. After all, this is our reunion too...

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the year, Evelyn, we are looking forward to welcoming you home for the 51st summer next year!

A Moveable Lap

Patti and Sue had come out by the stable to visit the chickens. It didn't take long for Achmed to show up. The very definition of the curious cat, he's usually in the midst of anything that's going on around here.

It didn't take him long, given his delight in riding on the roof of the car, or on the seat of the golfcart, to decide that this was an opportunity not to be missed. A moveable lap! How perfect!

Up he hopped, much to Sue's delight. And there he stayed, a ginger lapwarmer making himself very much at home. He graciously permitted himself to be driven along the driveway...

Now that, the cat seemed to say, is Style!!!

Hi Speed, Long Distance, Close Contact, Slow Chat

Yeah, yeah, we totally understand why people want or need access to high speed internet these days, and yes, indeedy, we've got High Speed available. Still, we're always crossing our fingers that while people are here they will unplug, will step away from the two dimensional screen and step out into the "real" world, complete with rain showers, frogs in ponds, deer on the lawn, turkey feathers on the disc golf course and even the occasional bear... We hope they'll encourage their kids to explore, create, get wet, get dirty, touch their world.

Still, sometimes you just have to justify having all this technology, and today Paige found a really good reason...

She combined sitting on the lawn in the sun with a long, cheerful Skype conversation with her sister... who even got to see Achmed in real time when he dropped by to check the connection.

And if doing that can let you enjoy the Great Outdoors for even just a little longer, then it's worthwhile.

Coming Home

Our swallows aren't the only beautiful creatures that grow up here and fly away...

Fourteen years ago, Brian took this picture of David and Laura (and Sarah) in the sand pile.

Laura's family came for another seven years, before university and summer jobs got in the way. Recently, having got a handle on those same university courses and summer jobs, they -- also like our swallows! -- have returned.



Brian took the opportunity to round up the pair of them, and got them back into just about the same place for another photo -- the sand pile being the one thing that hasn't changed!

It's a wonderful thing,to have them here again, with the kids 'all grown up' and doing amazing things in the world. It was also one of the rare occasions when Ann had all her kids together in one place. Jeff, Graham, Ann, Laura and John posed for us again on the same dock where Ann learned to swim... and the kids in their turn.

We think that kind of tradition is unbeatable, and we're thrilled to be part of it.

Where were you when the Lights went out?

Of course, the answer to the question is, In the Dark.

We were without hydro for 36 hours. We are fortunate in many ways -- there was no damage from trees and falling branches, and Brian's handy-dandy generator was able to ensure that the water sytem continued to work nicely. All the cottages have alternate heat -- either wood or propane fireplaces. When the wind dropped, we handed out bbq's, and Carol had an endless pot of coffee on the go at the main office (on the generator)

We were fortunate also that all our guests proved to be wonderfully good sports, and embraced this as an adventure, checking out books, board games, decks of cards. They spent their days outside playing in the snow, and then gathered around the tables as the daylight faded.

The lights are back on -- Thank you, Hydro Line Workers! You had quite a task. We are told that lots of Ontario is still 'powerless'

There is something about no hydro that can be quite endearing -- although we admit it can lose its charm on day three... but it's quiet, and you have a great excuse to kick back...

Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope that the new year brings health, happiness... and a getaway visit to Bondi sometime during the year!