Lilacs

Beautiful lilacs in full bloom near Merrickville, ON.

Old Homestead

This is all that's left from an old homestead near Merrickville and the Rideau River. This homestead is about 200 years old, and all that remains is some crumbled foundation under the grass, this pump and a number of fruit trees that were around the old farmhouse. Time marches on.

Spring Trees

We took the SS Shagwell on its first cruise of the season yesterday. It was a marvelous spring day on the water. The trees are all starting to show their own versions of green.

Duchesney Falls video

Roar, fast flowing creek.

Duchesney Falls

I went for a walk yesterday up the Duchesney Falls. Though, the flow is down from its highest, the water is still moving like crazy.

Red Squirrel

We've got lots of red squirrels, and they are quite entertaining.

Lavasse River

This is near the mouth of the Lavasse River where it empties into Lake Nipissing, where Champlain and the fur traders/voyageurs plied their trade hundreds of years ago. Not much voageuring going on today as the ice is still pretty thick.

April Fools

It's April Fools Day, and the joke is it's still winter!

Woodpecker holes

The pileated woodpecker was busy this winter on this hemlock tree. It looked and still looks healthy to me, holes notwithstanding.

Deer Meeting

The deer were holding a gathering in front of our place yesterday evening. There were 16 deer in the herd. They spent the night cavorting out there as the huge number of tracks suggest.

Cold Day on the Lake

The view down our lake to the east on Family Day.

And Still Waiting ...

11 days of the past 2 weeks with night time temperatures of -30C or lower. I can't wait for the end of the winter!

More Waiting

This pretty much sums up the winter. It will be a while before we are canoeing on the lake.

Waiting

Waiting patiently for summer.

Ice Candles

Started making 2019 ice candles this week, 4 good ones and 2 soso that 1/2 broke as I was chiseling them.

Winter on Viceroy

This photo is from a few years ago, but it's pretty much how it looks today - lots of snow and -25C.

Merry Christmas!

CD for sale - Nobody Cares

I know nobody cares, but this past winter and spring I was in the studio and recorded this CD of 12 original songs. The CD is now ready for sale. If you'd like a copy, let me know in the comments section.

No Ice

While most if not all area lakes are frozen over, the lake in front of our place still has a lot of open water, almost 2km of it.

Mazda

No, this isn't a photo from a war zone. It's the result of an electrical fire in North Bay. The driver was lucky to escape as he had to pull over due to the fire.

Fall Field

This is an image of the field next to Bill's place in Grey County just prior to the snow deluge.

Grey County Farm Snow

And then the snow streamers from Georgian Bay moved in. This photo captures the start of the onslaught.

Grey County Getaway

The Ice Marshall and I spent the past couple of days with BillT at his retreat in Grey County near Ayton - off the grid, no electricity or water, but a boatload of fun. Here's a photo of the farm house before the snow streamers from Georgian Bay moved in.

Colours

Lots of fall colours a couple weeks ago in the 'hood.' Not so now, with most of the leaves down; it is Fell now.

Tamarac

Oh Tamarac tree, oh Tamarac tree ... I love the yellow gold of the Tamarac tree at this time of year, after all the hardwood trees have shed their leaves.

Flat Hill

I'm not sure if a hill that has a flat top has a name. This one on Four Mile Bay looks like the top has been sheared of at one time, maybe by a retreating glacier at the end of the ice age.

Autumn = Fall

I think it's pretty apparent why we call this season Fall, not Autumn. A season to be followed by the season called Fell.

Red

Red, orange, yellow - now all brown or gone.

Lane

This is a view up our lane from our house, but there are more leaves on the ground due to the winds.

Viceroy Autumn

The start, last week, of the fall colours on our road, Viceroy.

Four Mile Bay Evening

Here is an evening photo looking across Four Mile Bay of Trout Lake.

New Liskard

A view from a friend's farm near New Liskard, ON.

Sagging Barn

This old barn near Astorville has seen better days, but it still has some life left in it.

Normal School, Stratford, ON

Very cool seeing this in Stratford. Ours in North Bay has been incorporated into a modern government building.

St. Clair Bridge

This is the west side under the St. Claire bridge near Yonge street in Toronto.

Ravine

This is a steep ravine with creek flowing in downtown Toronto near the Mount Pleasant Cemetery and St. Clair.

Clouds

There was lots of drama in the air this past week due to the fires and smoke from Parry Sound 33. Here's a shot over Trout Lake on July 27 before the smoke started to invade us.

Trout Lake Chairs

Now here's the spot to be in our heat wave.

Canada Day

Happy 151 Canada!

Summer Sky

It's really summer, and the summer sky is reflecting promise.

French River

This is a view from the beginning of the French River looking at Lake Nipissing. Lake Nipissing is the next biggest lake in Ontario after the Great Lakes. Its average depth is around 20 feet; although, there are many deeper areas. The French River is quite deep in some of its main channels measuring up to 330 feet in places. After the last ice age an incredible amount of water flowed through this area.

Tree Pollen

There sure is an abundance of tree pollen in our area this summer. It looks pretty dramatic on the water as opposed to how much of a nuisance it is on everything else; it's able to do what mosquitoes and other bugs can't do - pass through screens.

Four Mile Bay Sunset

It was a beautiful evening on Four Mile Bay yesterday, and it was a great Whiskey night aboard the "Fun Ship."

Clouds

Cool cloud formation seen as we were driving home on Highway 11 on Sunday afternoon.

Four Mile Bay

The view down Four Mile Bay from Zenadu

Lake Nipissing May 9, 2018

This is a view of Lake Nipissing on May 9 with ice still on the lake. The lake was declared ice free yesterday May 16, 2018.

Red Pine

There was enough open water yesterday to take the canoe for a shoreline paddle. The wind was up, so it was much nicer in the sheltered bay.

Lake ice and Rain

Our lake is still far from being ice free.  Today's rainfall may help the melt.