Well, we woke up to about 4 inches of snow this morning, so rather than deal with that crap, here's a beach photo from Costa Rica - think warm, sun, surf.

For the first time since our house fire, Sept. 30, 2003, we had a fire in the house. We finally got the new wood stove fully installed yesterday afternoon, and here is a shot of the first fire in the new stove. The basement can now be "tuned up" to be nice and cosy. And just in time, as the colder weather is arriving today.

This is a sign on the back of a farm house west of Powassan. My guess is that it used to be somewhere else, displayed more prominently.

Well now, let's go fishin'. The boat looks capable of handling Lake Nipissing; how does it trailer?

Oh yeah, wouldn't it be nice to be on a west coast beach in Costa Rica right about now?

I guess a stop sign at a beach in Costa Rica is pretty pointless - and it looks like the beach goers feel the same way I do.

Here's the view looking south southwest from the rock outcrop overlooking Trout Lake.

We went for a hike yesterday to the end of our road and then up through the bush to the rock outcrop that overlooks Trout Lake. It was misty cloudy, but the view was fabulous.

Zapateria Nicole - Nicole's shoe store in Nosara, Costa Rica - all the latest beach and rain forest fashions.

I bet the North American cousins of the Cuban Policia scratch their collective heads as to how any policing could be done under such austere conditions or using such primitive equipment as ancient Ladas for cruisers. Sort of lends new meaning to the words "police cruiser," doesn't it?

A family outing in the ol' Chevy in Havana, Cuba. This set of wheels is in pretty good shape, body wise; although, it probably has a Russian diesel engine under the hood. Anyone know the vintage of this Chevy?

Sunrise over Trout Lake this morning was awesome in advance of a day of rain. Still, all in all, it's been a pretty nice November.

Here's a view of our dock area a day before the "undocking." Oh well, another winter to endure before we do this again.

Look up, look way up, and I'll call Rusty. Anyone remember that?
We were noticing the speed of the passing clouds and I just clicked a shot as I was looking before the clouds moved in to "take over" the sky.

Los Tres Amigos

Following the "undocking" on Saturday, we has a bit of a fiesta complete with bonfire, beverages, good company and food featuring Los Tres Amigos. As per usual, a great time was had by one and all.

We took the dock out yesterday. Here it is prepped and ready to remove.

Lifting the final section in place for the winter.

Great weather and cloud formations while we removed the dock.

Here we are - the 2009 Dock Removal Gang.

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day! We sat out on the dock and sipped a beer as we enjoyed the calm of the lake. Today we are taking the dock out of the lake - this warm spell certainly won't last, and winter will be breezing through soon.

Cats will be cats. Sydie figures she can avoid and then torment Sunny the dog from the safety of the reusable shopping bag.

A salt water pool "put to bed" for the winter reflection at Frog Hollow in Dune, Kitchener.

In this day and age I guess nothing beats having a gas pump right outside your front door.

This stump of a 100+ year old white spruce tree certainly supports a variety of fungi.

This is a pretty uniform white birch tree, as most have fairly irregular patterns on their bark.

The countryside in the cliff-view photos is pretty rugged. There are lots of hills and little civilization - plenty of room for outdoor enthusiasts for fishin', huntin' and trekin'.

North view from the cliff.

Looking west over Four Mile Bay of Trout Lake.

In the distance are the Manitou Islands of Lake Nipissing. The lake is about 8 miles from the viewing cliff, and the islands are 8 miles from the near shore of Lake Nipissing.

Looking over the white plume of smoke, center right, and beyond is approximately 30 miles or 50 km from the viewing point to the horizon.

Boss Bob checks the mail. This mailbox is on the beaten path, but way off the postman's route.

A nice touch.

And it does lead to a very spectacular viewing cliff.

Part of the climb.

The view from the cliff looking northeast.

This is the view as you walk down the path to High Lake.

Looking west from shore along High Lake.

Yesterday we hiked up Fred Gunter's Trail (photos later this week) to the high cliff view looking over the highland hills to the north and Lake Nipissing to the west. This is High Lake from about 300 feet up.

We drove the 4X4 up to High Lake and the Nordic Ski Trails yesterday afternoon. En route, we noticed this small teeming waterfall in the bush. The huge pink rock outcrop is pretty spectacular.