[JAN2023] When I unloaded the TrailCam memory card this week, I found 3 awesome photos of a coyote in all its winter bushy beauty, which I have uploaded to the TrailCam Gallery. Guests sometimes ask if they should be concerned about any of the wildlife here. My response is that any wild animal encounter should…
Author: Neil
Whoa, Snow!
[NOV2022] If you were to page back through the several years of blog entries here, you would find that I have a tradition of declaring it “snowshoe season”, when snow gets to a depth that winter boots alone become unmanageable for getting around. The grand declaration usually takes place in late December or January but,…
Crown of Jewels
[AUG2022] It seems that every couple years there is a change in the predominant plant species on the cabin’s living roof. This summer, jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is leading the way. A beautiful plant in bloom, with its delicate orange flowers. And it also performs! The seed pods that are produced by jewelweed “explode” when touched…
“Aging in Place”
[JUN2022] I guess it’s finally time to tell you about a major happening here. Though this happening happened last autumn. One afternoon, in the midst of a day filled with rain and wind, I heard a tree crash down in the forest. Living spot in the middle of 40-50,000 trees, some of them old or…
“New & Improved”
[MAY2022] Spring is usually time for a few fix-ups to enhance the guest experience. You’ll find some them chronicled in this blog over past years. Here’s a couple new/improved amenities this year. For Yurt Camping guests, there is a covered area near the fire pit with a little workstation they can use for food prep,…
Sure Not Camera Shy
[APR2002] I could hear the coyotes had been quite active nearby a few evenings in a row so I set out the TrailCam in the area I guessed they had been to try to catch some images. When I unloaded the camera card a week later, no luck on coyotes but I got loads of…
A couple blog follow-ups
[FEB2022] I added a couple interesting images to the TrailCam gallery showing a coyote pass and my dog on high alert at that exact spot just an hour later. In the DEC2021 blog post about solar renewable energy, I mentioned an article I had written for the Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA) newsletter on the topic…
Beauty Abounds
[JAN2022] There is much to learn from my dog Luna. We spend a lot of time together. Observing her on our walks, both on the property here and along our fave trails up in the Bruce Peninsula, is a constant reminder to always be curious, to live in the present, to be joyful, and to…
You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone
[DEC2021] As we close in on the shortest day of the year, the sun and the renewable energy it provides has been on my mind more than usual. Not that it’s ever too far from my awareness seeing as this place is not connected to the power grid and runs 99%+ on solar energy. This…
In praise of volunteers
[SEP2021] There’s a usage of the word “volunteer” I first heard after moving from the ‘burbs to this rural area. When errant seeds from the previous year’s corn sprout and grow in the middle of this year’s soy bean fields, farmers call them volunteers. Likewise, the potatoes that I miss when digging them out to…
Solar-powered Bread???
[JUN2021] For safety, I let guests know if I am going to be doing tree felling and chainsaw work in the forest. It seems folks are too polite to say anything but sometimes I can see on their face an expression that shows a degree of displeasure about a noisy chainsaw piercing through the peace…
This year’s Big Improvement
[MAY2021] Probably the most common question/request I get from camping guests is whether there is a grill for the campfire. While guests are responsible for bringing all their own camping gear, I have wanted to still provide something but all I’ve had to offer thus far was a grill from an old BBQ which could…
Early Spring
[APR2021] The first prognostication of an early spring this year was from Wiarton Willie on Groundhog Day. Well, let me clarify that. This year, in a bizarre twist, nobody saw Willie… not just because the annual festival was virtual like everything else, but because instead of a groundhog we saw the mayor of South Bruce…
Cavities Can be a Good Thing
[MAR2021] A longtime friend was visiting this past weekend and caught some great photos during their stay, including this one of a woodpecker peeking out of a hole in an old Elm tree. Cavities can indeed be a good thing… when they’re in a tree anyhow. It’s all part of the amazing natural order of…
Off-Grid Retreat 