Train Spotting

All Aboard!   That was the cry at both South and North Portage on Lake of Bays during the era of the magical little train that could, the Portage Flyer.

The Flyer took its name from its breathtaking speed over the one mile long track.  That speed was such that ladies, in their long dresses, would often disembark and pick berries along the rail line.

That track qualified the Flyer as the shortest commercial railway in the world.  The very first engines are now long gone, but the almost as tiny replacements -- thought very progressive at the time of their acquisition -- are still in work, and you can enjoy a ride on the train along its narrow track at the Muskoka Heritage Place in Huntsville.

Which is very convenient -- because on Father's Day Weekend, June 18 and 19th, from 10 to 5 on Saturday and 10 - 4 on Sunday, right next door at the Canada Summit Centre, you can enjoy the Model Train show.

Relive the nostalgia of your first model train set, drool over the top-notch collections on display, discover the history, artistry and mystique of creating a working railway in miniature.

Learn about taking model trains outdoors and creating a garden railway, learn how model railroading clubs, train shows and hoby shops can get you into this, one of the world's greatest hobbies.

Make a weekend out of it -- stay with us, and we'll give you 10% off our regular weekend rate just because you're a Train Enthusiast!  (be sure to tell us you read about it here on the Blog!)   It's going to be a hot weekend -- the lake is ready for you to hop on in to relax after a day 'entrained'.

Leopard Frog a Leaping!

Named for the spots across their green backs, northern leopard frogs used to be just about the most common frog around.  I remember, as a kid, collecting them in the corners of the bay, or in the tall grass, just about anywhere -- we'd very carefully handle them, hold frog races at the dock, and set them all free again. Along with the big bullfrogs, these were the most commonly seen frogs here at Bondi (the spring peepers make a lot of noise, but are hard to spot, because they are so tiny and come out at dusk).

Not any more.  Massive declines of these frogs began in the early 1970s, particularly in Canada and the western United States, significantly reducing their numbers. They are now on the Threatened Species list.  That's horrible news. Scientists have not determined the cause of the declines, but it is likely a combination of ecological factors: pollution, deforestation, and water acidity.

We currently seem to have quite a few of them, hanging out -- like this one -- in the creek near the hangar, and in the boggy springs and waterways coming onto the Northwest side of the property.  We're delighted about that, and we cherish each and every one of them.  Frogs around the globe seem to be in decline, and that's bad news -- and not just for frogs.

So we're trying to do our part, by preserving natural areas that are frog-friendly.  And by discouraging any passing princesses from kissing our frogs. Princes we've got... frogs are harder to come by.

Gentlemen, start your Wheelbarrows

Dave and Mike, our intrepid duo that form the Bondi Maintenance Dept., Local 4, have a 'thing' about chickens -- perhaps its because they both enjoy eggs for breakfast. Perhaps it's the hilarity that ensues from watching hens... 

Whatever, they created an ode to the Speedy Chickens on the old wheelbarrow.

They are ready for anything now.

Well, almost anything...

Outstanding in her Field

The fact that the gardens look awesome is down to Carol, who puts endless hours of labout into them.  Her ability and determination to weed is truly inspirational...

The lettuce is up -- and needed water. The potatoes are up, and need saving from voracious beetles.  The corn is not yet as high as anything's eye, really, but it's trying.

The flowers are coming into their summer glory...

And I am reminded of one of my very favourite poems:

A SONG OF GROWING

Lord, give me thankfulness

For things to do:

A house to keep, a floor to sweep,

A window I must clean, if sun

May enter through.

Give me acceptance, Lord,
Of bricks that bind.

Oh, stoop and bless the chores that press,

That I may learn within these walls

A quiet mind.

Yet for my garden I

Am grateful now.

It seems not toil to turn the soil,

To nurse and tend the growing things,

To prune the bough.

I thank Thee in captivity for green

And blossom blowing,

And give Thee back, Who walks my paths unseen

A song of growing.

Anne Page

FORE! No... it only cost TWO!!!

Brian went shopping... It's a phrase to make Carol tremble in fear.  Somedays the lads of the Bondi Maintenance Dept. shop the Dump.  Somedays they go truly upscale, and scope out the Sally Ann...

Their Catch of the Day should be enough to strike terror into all the wonderful local Golf Courses that surround us in North Muskoka!

Brian writes:

"Well, I went shopping for a shirt at Salvation Army today (my favourite store!!) and they had a special on golf equipment.

Mike, (David's friend, and a charter member of the BMD) , got a complete set of lefties plus a nice bag, all for $30.00

I found a beauty driver. Aloila #450!! A full 450 cc driver made out of “hyper titanium 10.0 “ and forged using the “6061” process. (whatever that might be)

It is a nice tall club and we tried it out and were getting an easy 200 yards off the dock out into the lake.

Get this, this super club for only $2.00!! What a deal.
We now have three full (well one could debate the “full” part) sets of clubs to stash in the trunk of the old 1974 Mercury Brougham.

If we could just golf 10% as well as we shop we might be ok on the course. They say there is a club out there that will not let you slice the ball....I think this claim is bunk as I can slice and hook most any ball with any club but I do my best work near water hazards! I’ve got this covered this year too with an extendable ball retriever that can reach out to the deepest part of the water and scoop up a ball.

They better watch out on the third at Whispering Pines this summer!!! That pesky ground hog is in for a surprise!

Regards,

Brian "

Swallowtail Solar Collectors

The Tiger Swallowtail butterflies are here, in force.  They take their name from the long extensions on the tail of the wing, reminiscent of the wings of the swallows we see everywhere right now as well.

Since all these lovely flutterbys eat is nectar, they have been thick on the apple, cherry and lilac trees.

They only live a month or two before laying their eggs. There will be two generations up here in the North -- in the south, they can go one more for three.  Tiger swallowtails overwinter in the larva or chrysalis stage, hatching in late May.

Their primary predator, besides the windshields and grills of automobiles, are yellowjackets, which eat the butterflies when the butterflies are in caterpillar form

While these vivid yellow and black tiger swallowtails are the most prevalent, especially at this time of year, we also can entertain the Black Swallowtail butterfly.

Swallowtails are interesting -- and like all the fellow creatures on our planet, a little surprising.  People don't consider them enough, watching them flit from blossom to blossom, but swallowtail butterflies have some pretty funky adaptations.

The caterpillars, for example, are a fairly boring green, that looks a little like a tiny snake.  That's done on purpose. And if you pester one (and look like you plan to eat it), the little guy will rear up, and stick out his best defense mechanism: this is a fleshy Y-shaped organ called and osmeterium.  It looks like the forked tongue of a snake, and thanks to the caterpillars propensity to dine on members of the carrot family, it comes complete with a pretty foul odour (if you are close enough, which people rarely are, so be not alarmed)  The idea is to make the predator (usually a bird, or a yellowjacket hornet, think twice about tackling this fearsome beast.

Those intensely dark black scales on teh wings, they're pretty funky too. They reflect virtually no sunlight -- perhaps an adaptation to help regulate body temperature.  Engineers, trying to save the planet, get all tingly about this:  the flat scale and its ability to absorb solar energy, make it ideal for solar cells.  In 2009 a team of researchers created a titanium dioxide cast of the wing scales that improved the power output of solar cells by 10%.  They hope to have a version ready for commercial use within five years.

So, that old saw that if a butterfly fans its wings in Brazil, we feel the effect in the wind in Labrador... it's true.

If you find yourself indoors with nothing to do and kids to entertain, you can try your hand at folding an origami swallowtail butterfly

Over the Shoulder

Someone asked me, Where do you get ideas for the Blog?

Well, dare I say they just come to me?

As did this one -- found along the shoulder of Hwy. 60 yesterday.

You have to admire the folk who pause to build inuksuk (or if there are a several of them, in the plural,  inuksuit) in the most unlikely places.

This is not a Muskoka tradition. Our First Nations neighbours didn't build these. They are more native to the northern regions, from Alaska to Greenland, where they served as markers for navigation or notable places in a landscape that, delicately stated, lacked for hills and lakes and trees that could serve the same purpose.  The huge stunningly lovely sweep of that northern terrain lent itself to the construction of these structures.

Not that that has stopped folk from adopting these little rock cairns built to look like people just about everywhere.  These, built to copy the human form, are more correctly called inunnguaq.

This one left me laughing.  We christened her "Victoria" for obvious reasons. However, we were left having a heated debate over the origin of the word 'Brassiere".  Enough said...