Off-Grid Retreat

We’re into snowshoe season, and then some!

[JANUARY2025] I post blogs infrequently because I prefer to save it for when there’s something new rather than “repackage” previous content as seems to happen on social media with some regularity. A sort-of exception is my annual declaration of the start of snowshoe season! Technically, snowshoe season started in early December when we got a…

A Bright Idea

[OCTOBER2024] There’s a variety of lighting options in the guest cabin. The overhead ceiling light provides bright, functional illumination for the whole space. It is powered by a battery box and small inverter which also supplies an outdoor light and an outlet into which guests can plug their device chargers. The ceiling light is useful…

Here’s Lookin at you Deer

[APRIL2024] I’ve had a trailcam in a very productive location on the property for quite some time, and I just finished uploading several new sets of pics to the TrailCam gallery. Coyote, fox and more, check it out. There’s never a shortage of deer images when I unload the memory card. They seem to sense…

Snowshoe Season has Begun

[JANUARY2024] Winter finally arrived here, mid-way through January, courtesy of several days of snow squalls off Lake Huron. There’s no more running after squirrels for my pup Luna, a mid-sized dog, who now must either plow through the snow, or try to leap over it like a bunny lol. Or when she’s really tired out,…

Bug Refuge

[JULY2023] If you’re coming to enjoy the summer outdoors in central Ontario there’s gonna be bugs, though what kind and how bad will depend on both location and weather. (Related, see my previous blog post: Bug Wisdom). Where I am, it seems to be a heavy season for mosquitoes. I’m not quite sure why, though…

Cinnamon Rolls Are Back!

[JUNE2023] It’s always a nice compliment when guests return, and last week I had one come back for a return stay in the yurt. She was last here during the first summer of COVID, when she and two friends who all lived together in a small Toronto condo escaped what was then pretty much a…

“The Cows Are In”

[MAY2023] That’s a saying I came up with years ago in my second or third spring living here. The property at Off-Grid Retreat is 50 acres of varied woodlands, but it is surrounded by farms and this is an agricultural township I live in. Some of the farms grow crops, while others provide large swaths…

Curious About a Teardrop

[MAR2023] Several of my guests last summer asked about my little trailer they saw parked beside the firewood stacks. And I guess no surprise that folks drawn to the unique accommodations at Off Grid Retreat would be interested in these quirky crossovers between the RV & camping worlds. Teardrop trailers tend to be relatively basic…

I See You

[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…

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…