Rusty's Camp Photo

Marianne comes to stay in early September.  She brings along her masterchef of a husband, and her horse, Rusty.  She and Barry spend some quality time in the cottage, on the beach, in the canoe... and she and Rusty spend some quality time schooling with Nancy.  It ensures that she gets to train with her horse while getting the time with her family, and it works out well for her.

We promised that Rusty would have a "camp photo" to take home to his friends.  He had never been in a lake before, and was a little reluctant when the idea was first introduced.  But Taffy was on hand to show the way, and before long they were all having a little splashfest by the hangar dock.

He took this picture home with him, to make the other horses at his stable jealous...

Toadilly...

 
This little guy was found near the lake -- perhaps one of the toadpoles that we rescued back in the spring.

He is looking toadily amazing. Such incredible little creatures, toads.  Check out those delicate toes!

Race Crew

The first weekend after Labour Day is the traditional date for the Muskoka Ironman 70.3. That's half the distance of a complete Ironman (and more on that later)

It takes a village to run these events. 
The bike route circles the Lake of Bays.  The bridge in Dorset is closed to traffic for the duration. Virtually every intersection has 'traffic control' crews on duty to ensure the safety of the bikers and the drivers.

We constantly ask that people Share the Road.  Let me tell you, on Race Day, when they are 'in the zone', the bikers sometimes don't stay to the shoulders. Drivers have to be patient, and vigilant. Please and thank you.

I was lucky to be working an intersection with a great crew:  Julia, from Foxwood Resort, Marianne and Barry, who were guests with us at Bondi, all pitched in.

Next year, the Trisport folk plan to bring in the complete Ironman -- and they plan to hold it on August 30, which is a week BEFORE Labour Day.  The bikes will be going around the Lake of Bays not just once, but twice. Even then, they don't get quite the needed distance, so the plan is to bring them down the Fox Point Road, turn them around somewhere near the church, and come back out the same road.  Yikes... that will be one congested piece of highway that day!

Stars and Moons

 The night skies up here are fabulous on a clear night.  I had a guest from Holland, an older gentleman, who commented that in all his life he had never seen the Milky Way.  We were out on the Bondi front lawn, calling the wolves (who did answer), and I was able to simply point up.

"There you go."  He was so delighted.

This photo was taken by Peninsula Lake resident Harold Doran, in Algonquin Park.  He has some serious photographic 'skillz' as the kids now say.  He also has a website, and he was kind enough to send me this photo to post here.  Much thanks Harold.

We didn't see much of the Milky Way, or the stars, this past week -- that's because the last full moon of the summer, and the last "super moon" of the year was eating up all the sky.  My cousin Robin Tapley took this through his telescope.  It's a beautiful look at our near neighbour.  Robin has a website, too.

It is essential to our health and general well-being that we preserve dark skies, and quiet places.  At home, turn out your exterior lights, except for a motion detector. Ensure that all lighting is low wattage, and directed downward to prevent light spill into the sky.  If we all worked harder at this, our friend from Holland might have a fighting chance to see the stars in Europe...

'where did everybody go?'

 Taffy has spent the past two months visiting cottages, schmoozing at BBQs, getting treats from our guests, playing with the kids, chasing the geese away, helping me with the wolf howl nights, patrolling on her golf cart to be sure all is well...

All of a sudden, just after Labour Day, she was left to wonder, 'where did everybody go?'

It's not desparate, however. We have guests again, and weekends are busy, and the lovely family here from the Ukraine adopted her for their BBQ night...

Slow Down, and Look Both Ways

This little lady wasn't paying any attention to my car Thursday evening.  Kids are like that -- they get all caught up in the moment and forget about car safety. 

She was more interested in the itch behind her right ear than in the car  It is a good thing to slow down and take your time on the country roads, especially at this time of year, especially in the mornings and evenings when the wildlife is moving around. 

On the opposite side of the road, up in the bushes, was Momma...   Maybe she called to the fawn, maybe the fawn just realized she was too far away... Whatever, she walked out in front of my car without looking both ways.

The deer don't look. They don't understand ballistics, trajectory, the sheer Right of Weight of the car.  Accidents are always tragedies for the deer, and often for the cars as well.

So, when you are up here looking at the autumn colours, slow down, take more time, look both ways along the shoulder of the road, and keep an eye out for the 'kids'. We want to see them grow up too!

One Last Day before School

Labour Day weekend is the 'last gasp' for summer before the kids head back to school, and the weather was excellent this year to make sure they got lots of beach time!

It goes very quiet when the beach toys have to be put away. It's wonderful to see the children playing, hear their happy voices, and see the sheer joy of being on the shallow beach here at Bondi --

as well as in the deeper water.

It is about learning new skills through play, being unstructured and creative... and getting wet.We miss them when school reels them back in...  Beaches are just better with kids on them...