A New Arrival

We have a new great neice. Raylynn is the daughter of Jessie
and Nathaniel Bonnett and the granddaughter of Jannette
Matheson. I went to Woodstock with Beth on Tuesday to
see her. She was just 2 days old and seemed quite content
in her new home. Congratulations to mom & dad and enjoy
your new little bundle of joy.


Raylynn Bonnett: September 9 2012. 8 lbs 5 oz.


Sleeping on my lap. What a cutie!


She seemed so tiny to hold but she was a pound bigger than
my kids were when they were born soooo long ago!!!

Red Tailed Hawk

I took these photos from the side deck. The hawk was out
on the light post at the side of our driveway. He was just
there for a short time until the crow came and started to
bother it. He flew off with the crow in pursuit.
I guess this was to make up for the lack of bird sightings
on our wet week-end away.

Awenda Park Sept.7-9, 2012

Into everyone's life a little rain must fall.......
But we got more than a little!!! We arrived at our campsite
and the skies opened up and it poured for about an hour.
We finished setting up after the rain and headed out to
get wood for our campfires. We checked the weather and
it looked like we were in the clear for the evening so we
BBQ'd our supper and enjoyed a wonderful fire.
Through the night the rains came and so did the acorns.
If it wasn't the heavy rains waking us up it was the thuds
of the acorns hitting the roof. It amazed us how loud they
can be. It rained almost all day Saturday and at times it
was torrential and very windy. We decided to take a drive
into Penetanguishene and Midland for something to do.
While heading home the rain was so heavy that the roads
were flooded in spots. What else is there to do on a rainy
day but to have a nap and so that is what we did. We had
planned an indoor supper and then we headed out to a
campfire. We got the fire going nicely and it started to rain
once again. We got our trusty campfire umbrella out and
enjoyed the fire from a distance from under the awning.
Sunday the sun was shining and we enjoyed a hike to the lake
and took in a few of the sights of the park before our trip home.
We have been lucky this summer. This was our first week-end
with so much rain. The last week-end that was so wet was
early in the spring. Awenda is such a great park and the
sights are amazing if you can get out and enjoy them.

These pictures were all taken from our campsite.

Our view from our chairs under the awning during our wet
week-end away..........


Our site through the trees. Duncan is cooking Friday nights
supper. We enjoyed chicken, potato's and squash.


A new fungus I am still trying to identify. It was on a large
tree trunk behind our motor home.


Coral Fungus and green moss .


Bracket Fungus on a birch tree log.


Some acorns on a rock at the campsite.


This fella was enjoying an acorn snack. I was able to share a
few peanuts with it but only from a distance.


This reminded me of the Jacks we use to play with as kids.


Neither rain nor sleet can stop us from
enjoying our campfire.


The roadway in front of our campsite. Awenda is
a great forested park and has nice private sites.


Blue skies above our campsite and a shot of the acorn trees.

THE SUN CAME OUT ON SUNDAY!!!
Lets go for a walk in the woods and see
what we can find as we explore and enjoy
the sunny day before we head home.

A pathway through the woods.


A view of Kettle Lake.
We watched a pair of loons diving and enjoying there lunch.


The lily pads at the marshy area of Kettle Lake.


There were only a few trees that were changing colors.


It was nice to see the sun shining through the trees


ITCH, ITCH........ If it's got leaves of three let it be!!!
Stay away from the poison ivy.


One of the many huge rocks dotting the paths and roadways
through the park.


Bright berries along the path in the woods.


A small section of pine trees on the roadway out of the park.
Note that there is little to no growth on the forest floor here.

Arrowhead Park, Aug.31-Sept.3 2012

What a difference a year makes!!!
We had an amazing week-end at Arrowhead Park.
It was a week-end of mixed emotions but the wildlife
was quite ready and willing to keep us entertained.
We have never had so much interaction with so my
different kinds of park friends. There was the Friday
evening visit with the deer. Saturday we had the
pleasure of chipmunk's, red squirrels & blue jays.
The chipmunk was the first to visit and it was
soon followed by the red squirrel. Before we knew
it the blue jays were vying for there share of peanuts.
What fun it was to see them all trying there best to
get there fair share of the treats. In the afternoon we
headed to Algonquin Park to check out the sights there.
We came across a few herons on our drive. One was in
a pond on the side of the main road. I have posted a
picture of this strange looking heron. When we returned
to our campsite it didn't take long for our visitors to return.
We enjoyed our second campfire of the week-end under
the bright sky of a full moon.
On Sunday morning while I was sitting outside I was joined
by a few very friendly chickadee's. I decided to try and see if
they would take a peanut from my hand. I stood there for only
a few minutes before the first of many started to land on my
fingertips to get a nut. What a pleasure it was to enjoy them
up so close to me. We also had a yellow bellied sapsucker
woodpecker join us for a while. It was busy trying to get its
lunch from in the trees. It worked away for quite some time.
Sunday afternoon our supply of peanuts was getting low so
a trip into Huntsville was in order. We toured around the
town for a short while and stopped at the train station to
get a few photos of the old luggage holders. We had an
early supper and headed down to the lake for a canoe
ride in the evening. We enjoyed the pleasure of a loon
and the amazing sunset out on the lake. We spent the
rest of the evening in front of another wonderful fire
and roasted a few hot dogs for a late night snack.
Monday was spent relaxing at our campsite enjoying
our last few hours with our special guests. At one point
on the week-end we had 3 chipmunks, 3 red squirrels,
4 blue jays, and about 8 chickadees all wanting there nuts
at the same time. We just couldn't keep up to the demand
and they were letting us know it. The red squirrel starting
chattering at us, the chipmunks we jumping up at us and
the blue jays started to steal the nuts out of the chipmunks
mouths as they were running to hide them.
Many of the campers left early that morning so we were
thinking that the traffic maybe wouldn't be so bad.
Well it took us 5 hours to get home but the drive through
the countryside was enjoyable. At one point on Highway 11
the traffic was moving very slowly and we were wondering
why. Well, we found out and we were not amused.
There was a model T ford parked at the end of a driveway
with a for sale sign on it and everyone was slowing down
to look at it. Duncan said it was a "guy thing".
The drive along Highway 89 and the Airport Rd was well
worth the trip. The scenery is always breathtaking.
What a week-end full of wonderful memories that will
be hard to top.
Below is a few of the more than 600 photos taken.....

It's Starting To Look A Lot Like Fall

The leaves are starting to show there fall beauty.


The red and golds of fall.


A leaf in all its glory.


I'm not shy!!!
Bambi in full view at the edge of the woods.


A close up of the fawn.


Mom is being shy.
Too busy in the woods eating an evening snack.

Visitors Enjoying Peanuts At Our Campsite

A chickadee getting a nut out of Duncan's hand.


Its a small nut, but I will enjoy it.


Chickadee perched on the tips of my fingers.


I got a NUT!!!


Blue Jay in action heading to the tree.


Blue Jay looking for more peanuts.


Juvenile Yellow Bellied Sapsucker Woodpecker.


Red Squirrel enjoying a nut.


Time to relax.
Its hard work hiding these peanuts.......


Duncan's "Sous Chef"
He knows his peanuts.......


I am going to sit and enjoy this one.

Sunset & Campfire








Fungi






Stubbs Falls on the Big East River.

Looking down on the lower part of the falls.


Huge rocks beside the falls.


Ripples from a water spider in the reflection.


Reflections in the river above the falls.

An evening canoe ride on Arrowhead Lake










Algonquin Park

The water levels were quite low in some of the
ponds in Algonquin Park. This is were we got
the beaver pictures last year.


This Blue Heron is either trying to warm or cool
itself off. I have never seen one doing this before.
It stood like this for quite some time. It was quite
a distance away so the quality is not that good.

Trip Home

A look down in the valley along the road home.


A view from our drive home along Airport Rd.
The views are always fabulous through this roller
coaster Niagara Escarpment route.