The thaw is over, and we're back to colder temperatures and snow.

The last day of the mid-January thaw

Mid-January Thaw

Last night as the weather changed, causing the winds to pick up and the temperature to climb up from -19C to close to the freezing point, there was a loud rolling crack out on the lake ice. This morning there was a large pressure crack open about 200 feet from shore. The crack is up to 15 feet wide in places, and it may get bigger as the temperature will hover around 0C for the next couple of days.

Fish eye lens view over the deck

A preview for a coming event.

Day 2 of 2013.  Day 1 was pretty darn good.

Happy New Year!

Making the rink

More fun and games at the "Compound"

Christmas Dinner

Merry Christmas to all from Trout Lake!

Taken on a pre-winter storm walk before "pool night" in Merrickville.

We had a great time with Brock Zeman at the Fox and Fiddle last week!

This is normally a clear view to the lake; however, the snow is all there is to see.

I'm not too sure if this would pass the electrical safety inspection.

The Don Valley Brickworks

And, of course, what's a trip to Toronto without some gazing skyward at the growth of the towers.

I love the architecture of the University of Toronto buildings.  And in a lot of the structures there are some "hidden gems."  These two sculptures are on either side of the doorway in the first photo.

Toronto Fire Station 131, just off Yonge Street, north of Bloor, but back in 1911 when it was built, it was Fire Station No. 24.

Often the interesting part of a tree is what is usually below the ground.

Well, you don't see this very often on your average city streets let alone Yonge Street in Toronto.

The Don Valley Brickworks in Toronto is a pretty interesting place.  Among the various exhibits and things to see is this large one depicting the Toronto watershed.  The various rivers, streams, creeks and underground rivers are shown flowing through the city.  The green spaces or bush areas are the mossy bits on the exhibit, the major roadways are also indicated.  Apparantly it's a way more cool exhibit in the summer as all the water parts - rivers, streams, creeks and underground rivers - have water streaming down them.

Queen Street, Toronto, Shenanigans

ARGOS!

Over and out, Good Buddy!

Peaceful - from a month ago

The Rebel House bar on Yonge Street in Toronto.

Here's our view on the lake last night at sunset.

Great beer names - I particularly like the beer name "Antigravity Light Ale."

C'mon, let's go for a walk.

Wahnapitae, ON,  just east of Sudbury

Fall Sky Over Falconbridge Island

Here are a couple of shots of some of the downed "Sandy" trees at our place.  I didn't take any other photos as I was more concerned with getting the chainsaw out and taking care of the mess.

We felt the effects of Hurricans Sandy on Monday night and into Tuesday - mostly steady high winds with huge gusts.  The wind was from the NE, and it produced whitecaps on the lake, which rarely occurs with winds from that direction.  We lost 16 trees from the strong winds.

This is the view of the Pickeral River, near the French River and Highway 69, from the fishing camp we stayed at last week.