The weekend is here.  The rain that we got on Wednesday was not enough to make a difference but better than none.  The weather forecast has changed for the weekend now just sun for five or six more days.  Now I'm not complaining about the sun it's great and I love the heat but we do need some rain.

And the internet saga continues.  I have now put a sign on the front door explaining the internet charges.  $5.00 fee if you do not purchase a meal.  Free internet is available at the Maynooth library and McDonald's in Bancroft.  Fairly easy to understand.  This should clear everything up.  The last straw was Monday night at when a man came in with his computer and ordered a coffee.  He must have been here before because he seemed to know the drill but I didn't recognize him.  I made a fresh pot of coffee, poured him one and after an hour he got up to leave and said, "I want to pay for my coffee."  I said, "The internet is $5.00 I'll buy your coffee and then had to through out the rest of the pot because nobody else had coffee that night.  However  Professor Internet Stealer  showed up, walked in the front door, read the sign, spun around and left faster than I've ever seen anybody move. So I guess that is another chapter in the book of life.

Needless to say the fire ban is still in effect and there is still some water left in the lake for frolicking.

The Cullens are playing this Saturday 6:30 til 9:30.  They always sound great. So come on out and join us since you can't have a campfire. I wonder if the fire ban has got more people to drag out the old Monopoly or Scrabble games?

Have a great weekend
Cheers
Nancy

Whew.  The heat wave continues, or maybe this is what summer should be.  Although we do need rain badly.  It is so dry it's scary.  I was pooper scooping the back yard yesterday which I do with a leaf rake and a snow shovel (he's a big dog) and every time I raked in the dodo there was as much dead grass as poop.  Soon there will be no grass at all just sand.  I do wonder why it is that the weeds can flourish and the grass still grows up the patio stones in a drought.  Even with the rain predicted this week most days are only a 30 percent chance.  As I am constantly pointing out that means a 70 percent chance it won't rain.

The fire ban is still in effect but I guess that goes without saying.  There are still those that think the rules are not for them and they can burn anyway. 

Now on to my rant for the week.  As most of you know I offer the internet for customer use.  It is not free there is a small charge for it which I do not always charge especially if you eat. But some people are just tightwads and cheapskates and try to steal the internet for free.  Some even come in and want to use it for free like its McDonald's or something.  Anyway there is a guy on Mink Lake.  I'm told he is a university prof but I don't know for sure.  Sometimes he would come into the diner and pay for a beer, sit for 2-3 hours and use the internet all for $4.00.  So now we see him over at the fire hall sitting in his car, seat back, all comfy using my internet  because the signal will reach that far.  He was there so long one day the Fire Captain pulled in to ask if everything was okay and would he move away from the fire doors.  His reply was I'm just checking my e-mail (for and hour and a half) and if I go into the restaurant she will charge me.  Seriously does he not know he is in a small town and this will get back to me in a nano second.  This man probably makes more in six months that I make in two years and he won't cough up 5 bucks for the internet when he is getting paid to work at the cottage!!!!!  So now when I see him over there I just unplug the modem to disconnect the internet.  It's really funny to watch him walk around the parking lot trying to find the signal.  Well he can just go to the library in Maynooth where it is free and spend the five dollars on gas.  He is not welcome here. I  have people that eat here on a regular basis that offer to pay for internet yet he has never eaten here and still wants to use it for free.  I found a guy sitting so close to the front door last week that he wouldn't have had to get out of his car to open the diner door.  I unplugged it on him too.  I guess because his buddy was in in the morning and got the password he thought he had a free pass.  Princess cranky pants has emerged again!!!  Mwhaaaaa

The market on Saturdays is still going strong and baked goods are also available at Sherry's just on the way out of Maynooth.  That great little store Firefox has re-opened across the road in a larger building the one that was an antique shop.

Well come on up on the weekend the water's great.  I can't believe that the summer is almost over.  Someone should tell the deer flies so they will go away. July is flying by.  Before you know it it will be the opening of the exhibition and Labor Day weekend.  Sob, sob.

Back next week
Cheers
Nancy

It's been so long since my last post I'd be surprised if anyone is even following any more.  Oh well here goes anyway. 

The heat continues with no rain for such a long time.  I can't walk across the backyard in bare feet because the grass is so prickly.  It's like walking on a bed of nails.  A total fire ban came into effect this week just one day after a guy on Graphite Rd went home after the weekend and his bonfire restarted up and burned up 35-40 acres of bush.  Mostly his I think. It's amazing how naive or just stupid people are when it comes to fires.  The MNR had been flying over looking for fires and spotted it and put the call in.

I have noticed this year that there is an unusually large number of geese staying around.  There were never geese that stayed here before.  There is a group of 30-35.  That means 60 next year and 130 the year after that.  The beaches will start looking like Marie Curtis Park and all the others on the shores of Lake Ontario.  Cottagers will be ankle deep in goose poop soon.  Many have already roped off their shorelines to try to keep them off the lawns. What is the answer to this (other than don't feed them like the guy next door to me).
I can hear the tree huggers gasping already at the thoughts of what might happen.  Oh did  I say that in my outside voice?

The summer is starting to shape up nicely.  Lots of summer people are back.  If I had a nickle for every travel trailer that drove by the place in a day I wouldn't have to charge for food.  Algonquin Park must be really busy. 

We were really lucky with the black flies this year.  They weren't bad at all.  Now the deer flies that's a different story.  I was ATVing a week or so ago and if you stopped man were they friendly.  I seems they can even fly about 25-30 mph because it's hard to shake them.  I took the dog for a walk last night and it was the first time walking that they were not bothering me.  So maybe they will be gone shortly also.

If you are up for a week or so the concerts in Millennium Park are really good this year.  Every Wednesday at 7:00.  Also the music has started again at the diner.  We have the Cullens back now that Rick and Kevin are both living in the area.  They are quite good and bring back memories of the old Tavern days.6:30-9:30 on Saturday nights.

 The farmers market in Maynooth is still doing well but  Sherry that owned Sherries For Service has reopened a little market with baked goods and other stuff. So drop in when you are in Maynooth  I think is is just Saturdays also.

I can't think of anything else.  Everything that I would have said seems like such old news now.  Most of which I can't even remember now.

I will try to be back sooner the next time so come up to the cottage and do something that I can share with the class. 

Have a great weekend.
Cheers
Nancy

You can tell by my lack of posting that nothing too exciting has happened lately. 

I don't consider having to turn on the furnace in June exciting.  I find it annoying.  How can it be plus 30 for days and then 10 one day later.  As much as I don't like the rain it was well needed and seems to be over now.  Everything looks so much fresher and clean after it rains. The dust was awful it had been so dry.

The black flies are not too bad.  It was a pretty light year for them.  They do however seem to like me more than ever this year so I am not as upbeat about them as everybody else.  It is safe to come back now though.  I was doing some yard work last weekend (stop laughing, I made an effort) and they didn't bother me until I moved a small pile of dead weeds and grass.  That was it for me I had to quit.

Our little moose that was living in the swamp down by Madawaska Rd.  got hit by a car on Saturday night so we won't have him to watch any more. 

I am convinced that the squirrel that is cleaning out my bird feeder is on crack.  He continues to amuse all with his antics.  He broke into the garage and ate through a rubbermaid tub to get straight to the stash.  You should see how anxious he gets when he goes to the garage and finds the door closed!!

If anyone lost the seat off their ATV  call the diner.  On was found on Hwy 127 on Saturday.  It looks like it may have blown off the bike while it was on the trailer.

The music is back on Saturday nights.  If you are around and looking for something to do come out and join us for a drink.

That's it for now.  The Sysco truck just showed up.  I'll bet he wants money too.

Cheers
Nancy

It's been 11 days since my last post and not much has happened except for a beautiful long weekend.  Mother Nature can be so kind when she wants to be.  It was 48 degrees in Lake St. Peter on Sunday.  If that won't burn off the black flies nothing will.  Speaking of which they are not all that bad.  They are still annoying just not as many as usual.  So our early dry spring may have been a good thing.  However my four year old grandson did go home looking like he had chicken pocks after only one day.  Today however is another story.  The short rain fall was welcome (you won't hear me say that often) but the drop in temperature was a bit extreme.

Lots of people around.  Lots of cottagers and campers back.  It's nice to see.

There was quite a large bush fire down Maple Leaf way on the weekend.  It was burning for a couple of days.  No homes were damaged so that was a good thing.  I seemed the fire dept has been out a lot in the last few days.  Even again this morning to the guy up Hwy 127 that thinks he should burn up his bush every year.  When the neighbour saw the flames higher than his house he got a little nervous.

We have started up the music on Saturday evenings again.  A new band made their first appearance last week and they were fantastic.  We even had music on Sunday this weekend because Bob, Jane and Victor were in town.  What a great night.  A good time was had by all.  I hope they come back to Ontario in October.

Most people have their gardens in and it is amusing listing to some of the old guys talking about the bunnies and other critters eating up everything that is planted.  Some of the stories are hysterical and there may be deaths soon.  Norm planted 10-15 baby apple trees (grown from the seeds from apples he had eaten) up at the hunt camp for deer food some day.  Well he thought he would put some dead suckers under the trees for fertilizer.  When he went back a couple of days later to water them something had dug up all the trees to eat the suckers.  Back to the drawing board Norm.  Buck Card has had his whole garden cleaned out by the neighbour's pet bunnies.  Oh the list goes on and on.

Well not much else to report.  I will keep up with the Black Fly report soon.  But I have to be honest.  We put up a gazebo this year so I may have untrue reports!!!!  Hmmm  Oh no I will take one for the team and sit on the deck and go into the gazebo instead of the house.  The June bugs are even out early.

Back next week unless something exciting happens.

Cheers
Nancy

Here it is the weekend already.  No earlier reports this week.  I've had a busy week and was not around much.

We had our very successful OBOB's (old bags on bikes) ATV ride to Barry's Bay last weekend.  It was a blast as usual with minimal breakdowns and no hangovers.  Then much running around the county the rest of the week including a full day of digging wild leeks yesterday and ending with our annual paddle down the Papineau Creek on Saturday.

There will be a pot of wild leek and potato soup cooked up on Sunday.

The black flies have gotten thicker.  Not too bad if its windy but annoying if not.  I haven't had any bites yet.  They seem to be just at that stupid stage.  No reports from the deck yet.  It hasn't been warm enough to sit out and relax after I close up.

The music will be back again on Saturday nights starting the long weekend. The same time 6:30-9:30.

It's great to see some of the summer people back.  More venture up each weekend.

I'm sure there is stuff happening but I just can't think of anything now.  So that's it for today. Back next week.

Cheers
Nancy

We had a great weekend in cottage country last weekend.  There was so much going on.  Activities everywhere.  You couldn't possibly attend everything.

My ATV mud run was a great success.  Everyone had a good ride, even the ones that got lost.  The meal turned out great and there were lots of prizes.  We had 80 registrations and 70 riders.  The route was amazing, and nobody got hurt.  I was not responsible for any hangovers that may have happened later in the day.

You can still see little clumps of snow in the bush from the snow storm over a week ago.  It hasn't been very warm or sunny for a while.  Better days ahead for sure and it better start this weekend.  A group of girls and I are going on our annual ATV "Old Bag Ride" to Barry's Bay.  We stay overnight celebrate our greatness and ride back the next day.  It's always a good time.

I had a great ATV ride on Sunday.  It was a beautiful day and we went exploring trails that we had never been on before.  Saw some awesome beaver dams and wonderful country side.  It is a great place we have here.  And the best part is I didn't roll my bike or get stuck anywhere this time.   

The lights at both bridges are now working and operation fix the bridges that I didn't know were broken is underway.  The delays are not long only 3 seconds for the light to change if you pull up and its red and no one is coming in the other direction.  Not much longer if they are.

Not too much more to report so I will end now. 

Thanks for all the support that I received from so many people to make the ATV ride a success.

Back soon.
Cheers
Nancy

All right it is bad enough that we woke up to 5 inches of snow yesterday and more this morning.  BUT now blogspot has gone and fixed something that wasn't broken and it took me 5 minutes to figure out how to get to the damn spot to write this rant. Well at least it gave me something to rant about.  If they think they were making it better it was all lost on me.  Please remember some of us older folks don't like you messing with our heads!!!!!  Change is good if it is underwear and new shoes not computer stuff.

We were lucky not to loose power on Monday, oh except for Charlie Foster that had a tree come down on his power line.  Hydro was there fairly quickly to fix the problem.  It was a really wet heavy snow to deep to wear my sandals to work and it would have been well received if it was December or January but it is just annoying in April.  We did need some rain, it was getting really dry and the snow is a good way for the moisture to seep into the ground. 

This snowfall will help build up the water holes for the mud run this weekend.  I went out on Sunday to add some more mileage onto the route and found out Monday just how out of shape I was. If I would stop getting stuck it wouldn't be so bad.   We have a good route planned and will be marking it on Friday.  If I'm lucky I will find something really important that has to be done and will be able to talk my way out of having to head out again to mark. 

Well that's it for now.  It is still pretty quite but it will be the long weekend before we know it.

Back next week
Cheers
Nancy

Mother nature is either on drugs or suffering from dementia. It was 15 degrees yesterday when I went for my walk and 0 this morning. What is up with that?

We had a great weekend in spite of the weatherman saying all week that it was going to rain. It didn't until about six o'clock Sunday night. Thank goodness it was my daughter BBQing and not me.

We had such a wind storm yesterday. There was a wide spread power outage. It was only out for about an hour on the highway but the backside of Lake St. Peter still wasn't on by this afternoon. I didn't speak to anyone from Mink so don't have any info. Paudash Lake and parts of Maple Leaf are also still out. Hydro One has been very busy earning their keep today.

It's still pretty quiet around. Cottage construction has started up. There are different contractors in daily, so things must be getting rolling.

The turtles have even started laying their eggs on the side of the road. That is really early for them. They don't usually lay until mid May and June.

The people that own Highland Wilderness Tours in East Lake Rd. have started doing ATV tours as well as horseback riding. So keep this in mind if you have company up this summer and they are looking for something to do, or maybe you just want to get rid of them for the day. It is a great way to try out the sport if you haven't done it before. I will mention this again in July and August as a reminder. They have been in business a long time and are very good at what they do.

We that is about it for now. Back next week unless something exciting happens.

Cheers
Nancy

Easter has come and gone that must mean that the May long weekend can't be far behind.

It was nice to see some of the cottagers back. I had expected more considering how early spring came this year but it was a fairly quiet weekend.

There is a very nice couple that live on Mink Lake, Rita and Keith Martin. Rita walks every day and Keith almost every day. They stopped in for lunch yesterday and asked me for some garbage bags. They had been cleaning up Mink Lake Road, something that they do every walk. They started at the boat launch yesterday and had filled FOUR GREEN BAGS by the time they got as far as the dragon fly. They needed the bags to continue from the highway back in. Now they happened to mention that someone must really like Reese's Pieces because they have picked up about 15 wrappers lately. So if you are the Reese's Pieces junky would you please put your garbage in your pocket or somewhere else until you get home. That goes for the Tim's cups and pop cans also. Keith mentioned that when they go out on Monday mornings they can fill a grocery bag every time. Come on people. You wouldn't throw this stuff on your own back lawn so don't throw it on any body elses.

That was my rant for the day.

There is not much else to report so I will end now. Have a great week and I hope you make it up soon. ATV season is looking good.

Cheers
Nancy