[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…
Category: Features & Amemities
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…
“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,…
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…
Trail to the Rising Sun
[OCT2020] Living surrounded by woodlands is lovely. But you don’t get much in the way of sunrise or sunsets. Several years ago, I added a short trail to a semi-open view of the western sky that offers great sunset views particularly during the weeks preceding and following the Equinoxes. With a little help from a…
Shower with a view, or not
[JUN2020] Restrictions on short-term rentals (e.g., Airbnb) relaxed a couple weeks ago. I try to approach hosting professionally so, proactively, developed a COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy. Potential guests can be clear on what is being done and make their own assessment as to whether that is sufficient. In addition to a minimum 3 day (72+…
A Cool Reflection
[JAN2020] I am humbled by the delightful words guests choose to write in their Airbnb reviews but, for a host, the biggest compliment of all is when guests make a return visit. My first return visit was by a lovely young couple who were just my third guests after I began hosting 4 years ago….
The Longest Night
[DEC2019] The winter solstice, when we due to the earth’s tile farthest away from the sun, occurred yesterday evening. The short days and long nights make this a magical time, and in some way more introspective and inward than the bright, lively, long days of summer. Though, coupled with the low angle of the sun,…
Solvitur Ambulando
[SEP2019] A major project here over the past 9 months has been the design and construction of a meditative walking labyrinth through the forest. With history dating back 4000 years and found in some form in most religions and spiritual traditions, a labyrinth (as distinct from a maze) is unicursal, having only one path. There…
SoundForest
[MAY2019] I have long been fascinated by the sounds of nature, and always enjoyed percussive musical instruments, so it was I guess only a matter of time until inspiration hit to bring them together. Out in the middle of the Red Pines area I’ve fashioned a set-up to suspend wind chimes between trees. Don’t ask…
Classic Winter
[FEB2017] It’s been a near-perfect “classic” winter here in Grey-Bruce so far this year. There has been lots of snow… snowshoes have been necessary gear to navigate the trails since early January… but not so much as to be overwhelming.
A Most Extraordinary Tree
[SEP2016] Over the past year, there has been a wonderful and ever-growing initiative in Grey-Bruce counties called The Extraordinary Tree Project which seeks to celebrate the significance and influence of the tree in our lives. Such a thing seems particularly appropriate in Grey-Bruce, seeing as it contains some of the highest forest cover density in…
Off-Grid Retreat 