Monday, May 31, 2010

Here it is the end of May already. Where do the days go?

The second season of the year is now upon us. That would be Yard Sale season. On my drive to Bancroft on the long weekend Saturday there must have been 15 yard sales just on the highway alone, never mind all the side roads. If you stopped at all of them you wouldn't get home until after dark.

The long weekend was great for the cottagers. We weren't too busy at the diner because the weather was so beautiful why would anyone want to go out to eat.

It is the first May long weekend that you could sit at a bonfire without a ski jacket!!!!

This past weekend was just as beautiful. But who ever says that a few days of good hot weather will kill off the black flies must have been smoking something and not sharing with the class. We have had really hot weather and the little buggers are still here. Not as bad as some years but here all the same. Even the deer flies are out.

I was able to sit out on my back deck on Sunday with the Star crossword for a long time and not be pestered by the flies. It was great. Then my daughter and son-in-law showed up with the granddogs and all hell broke loose. Running around in the long grass (that needs to be cut) stirring the little rascals up. Then after a trip to the pond for a swim they brought the deer flies home with them. There is nothing like a wet black dog to attract deer and horse flies. We weren't long heading inside then.

The Walmart coming soon sign on the Lodge property has created a lot of buzz. It's amazing how gullible some people are. It even caught the attention of the Bancroft Times last week. There was an article complete with a picture. It has been a lot of fun though. Kudos to Warren and Norm for the good idea and to Jeff for the sign.

Speaking of the lodge property, the logs arrived today for the new house being built on the property. It should look really good and be finished in no time.

Someone had the boat launch at Dog's Point on Lake St. Peter blocked off by the township with big boulders preventing access to the water. It only took one person to make the change with no consideration for others that do not have lake front property. You could still walk down but that was about all. It only took one day to have the situation reversed. Kudos to Ted for getting things rolling. He only had to get a memo with two signatures to have it reversed. In less than 48 hours he had at least 50 with more to follow. The little people still have a say. YEA!!!

Bark Lake still has not been filled up because of the low water levels. It is an amazing site. There are docks that are 50-100 feet away from the water. Some are 10 feet and more off the ground. It will be interesting to see if the level is ever up this year. I feel badly for the business that are on the river and are being held hostage by the weather.

Not much else to report. I'll do a black fly update later in the week or early next week.

Cheers
Nancy

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

It's a Feeding Frenzy

It is 28 degrees this morning as I am writing this. As far as I'm concerned it can stay like this until November. The week has been beautiful. However with the nice spring weather also come those little black buggers!!

I went out to change the letters on my sign at the Highway and WOW they were very hungry. I got quite a few bites just being out that short time.

So here begins my touching story. Last year an old guy was bitten all over his bald head when we were digging leeks. He was very itchy and he asked me to rub Whiskey all over his head. Now I thought that this was alcohol abuse buy none the less it was his rye not mine, he could do what ever he wanted with it. I poured a small bit in my hands and rubbed it all over his head and presto he wasn't itchy any more. So in my infinite wisdom I though I should try the same when I came in this morning. I got thinking that it wouldn't be a good idea to be serving customers smelling like the rye bottle so I tried a little Vodka behind my ears and on my arm. Go figure-it works!!! Again this may be alcohol abuse but it is better than being itchy when you have nothing else to fix the problem.

I wondered how a person would do in a breathalyzer if you did not drink the rye, just dabbed it on but stunk like a booze hound.

So my advice is everyone should come up north this weekend and help us feed the little critters. That sounds like a good plan. If this really hot weather keeps up hopefully they won't last too long. They were our really early this year because of the early spring.

We did our annual paddle down the Papineau Creek last weekend. A good time was had by all, drinks were served and not one canoe flipped (it's usually mine) this year for the first time in 5 years. We did have one spring a leak. God bless duct tape.

Sadly though I did not finish dry. I slipped into the creek getting out of the canoe while trying to visit mother nature. It goes without saying that after my dip in the creek there was no need to go into the bushes after all. Well what would a trip down the creek be without a few water fights and at least one dunk in the creek.

There is a new sign up at the Algonquin Lodge property advertising the new Wal Mart and Harvey's coming in 2012. It is causing a lot of buzz and has been very amusing for all the folks around the diner these last couple of weeks. I even had a nit wit from the Bancroft Times come in to ask about it. It must be a slow news week.

It's nice to see the cottagers back for another season but no ATVer's are around this year. Is it the gas thing or just too much on the go? Riders are really down this spring.

Well that's it for today. Back soon.

Cheers
Nancy

Sunday, May 02, 2010

It rained on my parade-AGAIN!!!

After three months of no rain and dusty trails, when does it rain. Of course-on the day of my ATV run. I've been told that if it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all.

The run went well even with a small turn out. Only about 55 entries. At least it didn't rain all day just for a short time in the afternoon.

Here's a shout out to Jim Hodder from Barrie. He won first prize in the run and donated all the money back to the ATV Club. What a nice thing to do. I wouldn't have thought of that. They were thrilled with the donation.

Another shout out goes to Norm Stringer who upon receiving is winnings for second place immediately bought the house a round of drinks. Yea Norm. I'll let him win cash more often.

Just a little bad news. The black flies are back. They are not too hungry yet just swarming and being annoying.

So far the fishing has been great for everyone that has been out, except for Norm S. He has been out a dozen times and comes home with nothing but a sore butt. Better days ahead Norm. I can say what I want about Norm, he doesn't have a computer so he will never know if I don't tell him.

Well I'm taking most of today off so I end now so that I can go and find something exciting to do.

Back soon
Cheers
Nancy