To all our friends at Christmas,
2016
Last
Christmas, we were looking around wondering “where’s the snow?” We had one of our very rare green Christmas
days in 2015 – to keep with tradition, David went downhill skiing, on an old
pair of beater skis, in the gravel pit. No snow did make the hike up the
Mountain easier. Of course, the snow
arrived. Brian had the unique experience
of canoeing in the morning, and plowing the driveway in the afternoon on New
Years’ Day.
While
our winter conditions were unusual, we had enough snow that all our guests were
able to enjoy winter activities while
David and Brian were kept busy grooming the ski trails, clearing the
rink, moving snow. Again. And again. In
January, David snapped a photo of a running mink in mid-leap at the lake:
dubbed Hover mink. That went viral on our FB page reaching well over 15K
people.
At
the end of January David and photographer Kelly Holinshead set up a secret
photo shoot on the Lookout for our guest Corey to propose to Chelsea. Back at
the resort, Carol and Megan were decorating the cottage, and hoping she’d say
Yes! She did.
Brian
gave new meaning to the phrase “blazing trail” when his snowmobile caught fire
– due to a mouse nest in the engine – while he was grooming ski trails.
In
March Nancy succumbed to the absence of a cat, and went to the local animal
shelter to seek one out. Cat selected, all
was well until she was shown a pair of tiny kittens that had just arrived. She
came home with three cats. David described them as the ‘starter kit for the
crazy cat lady.’ Names and cats both
evolved, and we now have blue-eyed Indigo, jester Pemberley and little prickly
Thistle. Taffy, now 6, is kept busy
herding cats. Or is it the other way round?
Nancy
is still Councillor for Lake of Bays, and also Deputy Mayor. Chair of the
Heritage Committee… etc. Her phone rings a lot.
Dave spent the winter developing an official “site
plan” for the resort’s future. Seems you can do nothing now without massive
layers of bureaucracy, much of it obstructive and designed for big cities. All we wanted was to re-develop an existing
cottage. If we ever get through the red tape, that may happen in 2017… At the moment, after almost a year, we are
still waiting on approvals from various agencies, which has pushed costs up to
a ridiculous level, so we’re not delighted.
We
are always improving: while you don’t see some of this, such as new septic
systems, you will notice the new siding on Longside, and the fact that the old
boathouse at Springside is no longer leaning… Plus there are new beds, furniture,
curtains and appliances in many units.
April
melt brought very high water levels again.
Many area docks and boathouses were affected, particularly in south
Muskoka where they have not yet figured out that fluctuating water levels and
million dollar boathouses don’t mix well.
We had barrels on our docks to hold them down, while the water flowed
above them, and fortunately the ice didn’t move in on our shore. When ice
moves, nothing stops it, so don’t count on an ice-away.
Dave
and Mike went to Whistler Blackcomb for a week’s skiing, on the slopes from 8
a.m. to 5 p.m. to be sure they got their moneys worth! This was Dave’s first time skiing outside of
Ontario – and he has plans underway to return. No sooner had they gone than Megan slipped on
ice and broke her arm. Dave’s first day
home from his vacation involved driving her to the hospital for surgery. Luckily she has healed well. It put a stop to her Dance class with Aerial
silks, but it didn’t slow her down this fall when she signed up for ballet
classes. She is also learning to ride,
and enjoying that immensely. We now have
an Instagram account for Bondi
(@bondicottageresort) – it’s hard
to keep up with all this social media!—that is Megan’s creation. With her
new camera, she is getting fabulous photos.
We
always have lots of wildlife here at Bondi. David and Megan live at the
epicentre: visited by nesting snapping turtles, they also had the local wolf
pack at their creek ,a doe with twin fawns,
and a lovely momma bear and twin cubs dropping by for morning coffee. We’ve got a pair of otters in the bay this
autumn, but the beaver seems to have moved on. Ducks arrived early, and stayed
until Dec. 12, when the bay froze over.
Wild turkeys were also abundant.
Our swallows came back, like clockwork, on April 14, but less barn swallows than we had hoped to
see.
In May we welcomed guests
who were seeking respite from the Fort McMurray forest fire – with only 20
minutes notice to leave their home, they
were happy to be able to spread out in our Lodge and take a few deep breaths.
We were also able to enjoy a wonderful concert with one of Carol’s favourite
singers, Steve Bell.
Spring
sees us in high gear getting ready for summer.
Nancy wrote and produced two short plays, presented as Live Radio Plays,
which reduced rehearsal requirements. One was an old-style radio mystery, the
second a play about our family and unforeseen connections between people along
the way. It was very well received at
the Library fundraiser. David and Megan both had parts, and took over the
Special Effects as well.
The
garden was a little late getting planted, and then the heat arrived, so it
didn’t’ do as well with some vegetables as with others. The corn crop was excellent, and always
appreciated by our guests. And apples –
did we have apples! Bumper crop! Carol
successfully harvested cantaloupes in late September, and the beans just kept
coming.
Summer. What can we say? For two months, we go flat
out. It was a busy season. And hot. And
sunny. While we normally book up early,
this year we had some very late cancellations, so it’s good to check with us if
you are thinking of a stay with us and not sure if we have space. If you are on our email list, you’ll hear
from us if there are spaces suddenly open too!
This
summer we added free tubing rides for our guests on Wednesdays. It kept David
busy, and was very popular. This joins
our Pony Rides on Squeegee, Dark Skies and Wolf Howls, Marathon Swim and Wiener
Roast on the list of activities we offer right here.
You know it is a hot summer when Carol goes
swimming – it has to be WARM for her. 6 a.m. on July 28, she took the plunge
with the lake over 80 degrees.
Brian
and David flew up to look at the Radio Telescope at Brent, on the north side of
Algonquin. It is huge – visible from 10 miles away from the air, and is a
unique facility. You can visit – they have tours available.
We
were fortunate to have Sarah here again this summer, for the whole season. She
is a tremendous asset and an excellent worker. Plus, she puts miles on Nancy’s
horses. And she scored some of the best
pictures we got all year for the Blog and FB pages! She is currently in a
Nursing program at University, so summer classes sadly mean we probably won’t
be able to have her with us next summer.
How wonderful to welcome the next
generation of “Bondi Babies” – there
were a lot of them this year! Sadly, we said good-bye to some long-time guests
and friends including our cousin Mary Louise Wratten, Dan O’Neill, Jim Hadden
and Susan Nielsen. Brian notes that
while he used to get wedding invites, now he gets death notices, He thinks
perhaps it is time to get the history and experiences stored in his brain onto
paper. We hope he’s serious about that.
If he follows through over the winter, Margaret Atwood had better look
out for HIS book!
Just as winter was slow starting, summer hung
on late into the fall. We were still swimming until late September, and the
leaves had barely begun to turn by then.
Sadly, in September Beverly Payne who has lived “forever” in our
apartment at the ‘Mink Ranch’ fell and broke her hip. She cannot return to the
upstairs apartment and is now living with her son. She was a fixture at the
resort since the 1960s, so we will miss not having her, and her post card
collection, next door.
Dave and Mike completed renovations to
their fish-huts which now light up like Christmas morning. All they need is
ice. And fish.
While autumn colours seemed to be a bit slow
starting, they were right on schedule with fabulous display lasting well past
Thanksgiving. Algonquin Park is almost
unbearably busy now over the high colour season weekends – our trails are uncroweded, filled with great
vistas, lots of wildlife and all the colour of the Park, so our guests get the
best of the season right here with us (and enjoy the Park mid-week!).
Because
we were expecting to be busy re-building Cedars cottage, no big trips were
planned this fall. Instead, Brian and
Carol had a getaway in the Buffalo/Corning and Niagara Falls area, doing the
‘tourist’ stuff there. Dave and Megan
are celebrating (late) their second anniversary with a vacation to Niagara
Falls to see the lights – we have become
real Ontario Tourists.
The mild weather stayed until early December, letting us finish a lot of
outdoor jobs. When the snow came, however, it came for sure. December 14
th
brought us about 2’ of snowfall – up to our knees overnight!. Ski trails are up
and running.
It’s a good excuse to be inside by the fire, writing this
Christmas letter to all our friends. Once a year, we pause to draw breath,
consider the year just past and look forward to the adventures to come. And to
remember the real reason for the season. Christmas is, on every level, about
sharing and coming together, in gratitude and friendship . 2017 looks to be an
interesting trip – let us all remember to be gentle in our thoughts, kind in
our hands, inclusive in our acts and generous in our spirit.
From all the Tapleys at Bondi
It was interesting to note how many of the stopped cars were clad in All Season tires, and how few in Snow Tires. As was once pointed out to me (as the tow truck dragged me out of the ditch...) It isn't ALL seasons, kids, it's WINTER!!! Worth the investment, if you drive in this country.
It was interesting to note how many of the stopped cars were clad in All Season tires, and how few in Snow Tires. As was once pointed out to me (as the tow truck dragged me out of the ditch...) It isn't ALL seasons, kids, it's WINTER!!! Worth the investment, if you drive in this country.
