Farewell to Grundy

Since our time at Grundy is nearing its end, I have composed a little ditty called "My Grundy Park Things", that is sung to the tune of " My Favorite Things". This sums up what I love and will miss the most about this place. God willing, I will return again next year and do it all again.  

Raindrops on rooftops

And bright morning sunrise

Ducks with their ducklings

And loons with their loud cries

Swans and their babies with white downy wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Hot days and hot nights

And carving on soapstone

Long swims to the island

The use of my cel phone

Bass, pike and pickerel creating fish rings

These are a few of my favorite things

Big snapping turtles

And bears  black as midnight

Jackrabbits and raccoons

And hummers in mid-flight

Great friends and great stories while the campfire sings

These are a few of my favorite things

When the bugs bite

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my Grundy Park things

And then I don't feel so bad

Carving Out Some Fun

One of the activities here at Grundy Lake is soapstone carving and paddle making. Two or three times a year a couple (ironically with the last name Stonehouse) who travels the Ontario parks, makes a stop here so that campers can learn the art of soapstone carving and paddle making. Since I am not interested in making paddles, I always choose to buy a piece of rock and carve away till it resembles some sort of object. You can buy the stone in chunks, some have patterns drawn on them so you can follow it and shape your stone. It all sounds very easy. But it is labour intensive. First, you must cut out your  pattern in a vice with a hacksaw, then you must file down the soapstone for a long time before it resembles anything, shape it into a form, then fine tune it with smaller files until you get the desired result. After that, you have to then polish it to get the file marks out. You do this first with course sandpaper, then medium, then fine. If it is to your liking, you then submerse the rock in water and do a final sanding. This is where the magic begins, as your ordinary rock transforms into its beauty. Your grey stone can turn into a beautiful shade of jade green, black onyx, crystal quartz, it's amazing. After a final water sanding you then dry it off and apply oil, to bring out the beauty in it. If you are lucky enough to get through this all, you have a nice souvenir of your camping trip. Yesterday, I wasn't so lucky as I chose a piece of rock that continued to break off in big chunks when using the hacksaw, then when filing, after I actually got it to a shape, didn't the wing of my dragonfly snap off. It can be glued, however it is definitely not the same after that. After it broke twice, and it got reglued, I then finished it off as best I could. This one will not be making the gift list! Below are some sample of past projects, as you can see, I am no Michelangelo but had some fun just the same.

Time flies, Sad Goodbyes

They say all good things must come to end, and there is nothing more true than that statement once the Grundy gang starts to pull up and head for home. Monday our friends from Barrie left, today the Queen of Grundy departs back to B.C. (She will be returning, but only after we leave) and on Friday, ourselves and our friends from Sarnia will also be going home. That will leave only the couple from Sudbury who have another week or two. We are a varied group, aged from the fifties, sixties and seventies, with different backgrounds, different experiences, but when we get together at our our nightly campfires, we are all just a merry group of campers who share a love for this park and camping in general. We share laughter and stories and tall tales, get tips for great places and good routes to travel, of our families and experiences and our days camping. It's something I look forward to every evening, to take turns hosting the fire and getting together. I will miss the comraderie and the advice, the stories and tales as we each head back to our city lives for the winter months.

God willing, we will all be back to do it again next year. Here are some of us at the campfire:

A Trip to the Island

One of my favorite pastimes is to swim. Pools, lakes, oceans, rivers, it really doesn't matter to me. The temperature can be hot or cold, I like both extremes. There is something about swimming that makes me feel like a kid again. Here at Grundy there is an island directly across from the beach that is approx. 750 meters away. I am not sure about the official name of the island but it's the same one we take our boats to and jump off the rocks. It is surrounded by those gorgeous rocks that slide into the water to make it easy to get on and off of. It is lovely to look at from the shore, especially on a misty morning.

But what I love about the island is that it is my go to destination for a summer swim. Most nice days, my friend Brenda ( the Queen of Grundy) and I swim over to the island and back for a little exercise and gab session. It is amazing what we talk about and amazing we can even talk with the waves slapping against our faces. The lake has warm spots and cold spots, sometimes a strong current, and sometimes the water feels heavy, sometimes like silk. But it is always an adventure to 'go across' and one day we even did it twice. 

Today was our last swim across together for 2014 as we both soon move on to other destinations. I shall miss the crossing, and the companionship and will look forward to doing it all again next year.

Bringing the Mountain to Mohammed

One of the exciting things here at Grundy Lake is the fact that, if you are lucky, you can actually see black bears roaming around in the park in search of food or whatever bears go for. Two years ago, we had many sightings, at the beach, on the road, a mother and her cubs at the outhouse. All very interesting. Last year, my husband Mike had a face to face encounter with a young bear that came onto our site early one morning and didn't seem to want to leave after the requisite warnings, like screaming and clapping. Although I really don't want to get that up close and personal with Yogi, I will admit that I get excited when I enter the park and see the sign that says: Active bear in Campground.

 I think that the park may have just put that there for liability purposes, I always hope it is true. That being said, I have been here since June 12th and still not seen a bear. I have heard rumours of them in the campground, one of our neighbours told us that there was one sniffing at the back of our trailer, but I seem to have missed that altogether. 

I decided I have waited long enough and if the bears wouldn't come to Lulu, Lulu would go to the bears. On the way to the town of Britt, about 15 minutes from Grundy, there is a municipal dump where the locals bring the garbage and it is the hot spot for bear viewing at any time during the day or evening. The dump is a big pit about 15 feet deep and if you stand around the outer edge, (away from the path to the forest of course), you will see bears. There were two large black bears eating at the dump when I and a friend went to visit, the dump keeper or dump master, (not sure what to call him) estimated they were middle aged bears(how appropriate) and they were digging in to the garbage like there was no tomorrow. Of course it's a jackpot for them there and they are quite possessive of their stashes, if one got a little too close, the other made a grunting noise ( in other words,stay back) and it was quite interesting and a bit smelly to stand there and watch.

Of course, I wanted to immortalize the moment in film, so I took out my cel phone and started snapping away. The click of the camera got their attention, every time I clicked, the heads would go up, til finally, one of them let out a mighty growl and started to look at us meaty creatures as if we might be a better lunch. At that point, our curiosity was satisfied and we went about our business. Very fascinating, however,  I am still hoping to see one in the park before I leave.

One of Mother Natures little Pleasures

Here at Grundy, sometimes Mother Nature gives you something special to see that you haven't seen before. Yes, there are the baby swans and baby loons, and little ducklings, but yesterday I got to see a baby red-eyed vireo, a first for me. It had either fallen out of the nest or was just learning to fly, but it picked a spot almost on top of the fire pit, in one of our friends cedar trees, where it perched all day long. It seemed rooted to the spot, and every now and then it would commence to chirp over and over again until from out of the blue, the mama bird would come and feed it, then fly away again to God knows where. It was a heartwarming scene, however since campfire was supposed to be there that night, we ended up having change locales to have the fire elsewhere, in order not to have cooked vireo. 

10 Degrees of Separation

Well we finally had 6 whole days without rain until yesterday, when another storm rolled in and rained on our parade(actually our campfire). We all scrambled home from our neighbours with our lawn chairs and cushions over our heads as the skies opened up. Awaking this morning, I thought we might be in for another day of rain. To my surprise, the sky was only cloudy, however since the last three days have been a balmy 24 degrees first thing in the morning, imagine my surprise when I emerged from my cocoon of a trailer in my shorts and sleeveless shirt to a not so balmy 14 degrees. It's only 10 degrees right? It feels like many more, I mean 10 degrees doesn't seem to matter too much in the winter between minus 5 or minus 15, it's still cold, however the difference between 24 and balmy to 14 and windy feels like you have stepped into another dimension. Back to the hoody and long pants and socks. It's almost as bad as finally getting out of a parka and boots to shoes and sweater and then it snows again. Not quite as bad, but you get my drift. The summer that wasn't continues here at Grundy and the only upside is that even the mosquitos find it too cold to come out !!

A New Sport

There is something very different about the sport of standup paddle boarding. As compared to canoeing or kayaking where you are sitting down,  the fact you are standing up seems to give you more of an overview of things. It requires much more concentration, balance and motion, unlike a kayak or canoe, where you can just drift away and enjoy the scenery, then resume paddling at
your leisure. Not so with the paddle board. If you are not paddling or not paying attention, you can quickly find yourself at the bottom of the lake.
This has happened to me once, when riding my sisters very expensive board. I did not have on an optional  ankle thingy that attaches your board to your body so it can't get away on you. I did, of course have on a PFD which saved me from drowning. I don't know what's worse, the shock of the water or the shock of actually falling off. Suddenly, you are swimming for your life trying to catch a) the paddle and b) the paddle board, and trying to figure out how the heck are you going to get back on it. Once I caught up with my board, I slithered back on it, like a penguin or a seal on an iceberg, got to a kneeling position, then back up to a standing position. I was very grateful.
Another weird occurance is that unlike a boat, when you come back to shore you do not gently glide up on the beach, no, you come to a dead stop and if you are not expecting this (as I was not), you go flying off the front and send your boat backward back to sea where you must chase after it yet again.
All these events, I am sure, will correct themselves with practice, but in the meantime, I have still not decided if this is the sport for me. Not sure if my 58 year old, top heavy body lends itself kindly to this sport. Jury is still out on this one.

The Amazing Race-Grundy Lake

Today was Parks Day in Ontario. As part of the celebrations, Grundy Park held an Amazing Race, very similar to the TV show, with some adjustments. You had to complete 5 legs successfully, within the time frame, at the end, if you completed all legs successfully to be entered into a draw for a prize  ( a Grundy Lakes shirt) Mike and I decided to participate as we have often wondered what it would be like to do this race together. I found out this will NEVER happen as my husband is from Mars and I from Venus.
On the first leg, after unscrambling letters that spelled out the name of our first destination, we had to go the marker at the destination and perform the tasks to get our next clue. Sounds easy right? I told Mike to wait for me in the car while I found out what it was and come back. The checkpoint was at the end of the trail, to the right, opposite to the path for the trail, I ran to the checkpoint, and did the task, right then and there. I returned to find an empty truck with no Mike in sight. I realized he probably decided to follow me but  he actually took the trail which takes you on a 40 minute, strenuous hike for a fit person, which does not describe my Mike. A half hour later, Mike came down off the trail.Did I happen to mention this was a timed event? We only had about an hour left to complete the other 4 legs of the race. After a silent walk back to the car, and the usual blame game that husbands and wives often play, it was decided Mike would drive and I would complete the tasks, and pray we got finished on time.
The next task, back at the start, was to set a fire, using the log house and teepee method. Being a seasoned camper, task complete in record time. At this point the camp guy said I should quit as I would not finish on time. NEVER say that to me! Onto the next leg, where I had to put in order the steps necessary to save yourself if you see a bear. Quickly done!! Next leg, once you decifered the clue that took us to a lookout point, I had to tie three different  types of knots. Again, quickly done, and on to the last checkpoint. We had 45 minutes left at that point. I had to: correctly put on a life jacket, paddle a canoe, erect a tent, fold a sleeping bag into a small bag, erect a fire, and hoist a pack sack up a tree using rope, in order to make it safe from bears. This task took a lot longer, but once completed, we race to the finish line with 20 minutes to spare. When we got to the finish line, the young park guy who told me I could never finish on time, was waiting. He could not believe I had actually done it!!

Moral of the story: Do not ever tell me I can't do something. Here I am at the last task

(F)Art in the Park

As April and Jack missed the Grundy Park officially scheduled Art in the Park session, April had thought ahead to bring up some art sullies and canvases in order to have our own version. We had previously scouted out the perfect setting to perform this activity, a beautiful rocky ledge overlooking the lake, very inspirational. We waited for the day Maggie was here, and off we trotted after dinner to the lovely spot and commenced our masterpieces.
People going by on the paths were talking in whispers, thinking we were professional artists, so as not to disturb us. Some people fishing approached us and asked if we minded that they fish beside us, a short distance away. A real Tom Thompson moment, very distinguished and sophisticated.
That idyllic moment did not last. April, Maggie and Jack were sitting on one long rock,  with all the paint supplies and I had moved beside them on another. In order for me to get the paint for my portrait, I had to climb over an area that was full of old gnarled tree roots, and bend over to reach the paints behind Jack.
Let me preface this last part with the fact that I am of an age where the digestive system is not what it used to be. When I bent over to get the paints, my feet got trapped in the roots and as I tripped, I expelled some rather noisy body sounds(farts, to be exact). Well, the fishing people got an earful and the rest of them were cracking up laughing so hard that the more I laughed, the more I tooted. It was very embarrassing, but of course, hilarious. From this day forward, Art in the Park is now referred to as Fart in the Park, which I am sure I will be reminded of by Jackson et al.

Day Tripper

My sister Maggie lives about an hour and bit from where we are camping, so she decided to come up and visit while April and Jack were here to visit, and along with her she brought the sun, her standup paddle board, dinner and desert. A great day was had by all, a wonderful beach day, got to find out what it is like when you fall off a standup board in the middle of the lake ( you actually have to slide up on it like penguin and pull yourself back on). Got some swimming in, and a great dinner with fresh strawberries for desert. After dinner we had our on version of Art in the Park, a favorite activity here at Grundy (see next blog) and a campfire. A full and happy day, I fell into bed like a rock that night.

Family Fun

There is nothing like visitors from home to liven up camping. On July 6th, my daughter April and grandson Jack joined us here at Grundy for a visit. Out came the games, OKO, joker rummy, scrabble (or scramble as my sister likes to call it), skip-Bo, and Mexican Train. Never a dull moment.
We got to swim and kayak, and the thing Jacks loves more than anything is to fish.
As it is one of my passions also, I got to spend a lot of quality time with worms, but out of our attempts in both sunny and rainy weather, we only ended up with one small fish each.

The gift of Swan

Today is our 27th wedding anniversary. What better place to be than where we love it the most? At Grundy of course, enjoying our trailer. Since we are past the fancy celebration stage, we decided on a low key celebration and went out in our kayaks, hopefully to find the swans and their baby, who we haven't seen for awhile. Luckily we found them, and watching the mother and dad swan tend to the baby, was to me, the perfect celebration of what love is. As we passed by the spot where they had been eating and grooming, my husband Mike spotted one perfect downy feather and plucked it out of the water, and presented it to me. Nothing else could mean more to me, than this simple expression of his love.

Alien invasion??? Two mysteries solved

Since we have been here, we have continually heard what we thought was a drilling noise, at different intervals, it doesn't last long, but puzzled us because we had moved campsites, had different people camping near us, but still it continued. I thought perhaps some kind of bug so I am frantically looking up bugs that make drilling noise on the web, but the source of those is unknown. Being that the noise follows us everywhere, it had to be coming from our trailer, and we have finally deduced that it is our Kuerig coffee machine which intermittently heats up the water so that stays ready to brew. First mystery solved.

The second was much more complex and strange. When we sit out at night, high up in one of the trees, a mysterious light shines, it pulsates, sometimes red and green but mostly just stays like a surveillance light on. It is too high up to be a reflection of water against the trailer lights, and too low and bright to be a star or planet. Anyone who knows me will know that this has been driving me nuts since the day we moved over here. Today the investigation began in earnest, when sitting out with my morning coffee this object was glowing bright red when the sun shone and disappeared when cloudy. Mike finally got out his good camera with a telescopic lens and captured the alien critter on camera. Turns out it's probably someone's idea of a good joke, as it is some sort of beacon light encased in plastic, that is probably solar powered. It has been thrown up in the trees with a red translucent ribbon attached to it, which is what I saw this morning as the sun hit it. It lights up at night because it has had the day to charge up. Mystery number two solved. Now at night , instead of being scared of both bears and aliens, I can limit my fear to one source!!!

3 days of sun

Other than today, we were lucky enough to have three full days of hot weather and sun, of which I took full advantage of, except for Sunday when we had to go into Sudbury to re-stock our supplies for hopefully the last time before we go home. Got to swim over to island again with my friend Brenda, and got to have campfires with whole gang. Sadly,  some of the people in our Grundy gang have left and more are leaving soon, but our good friends from Sarnia are due to arrive on Sunday which will be fun.
Sadly, back to rain again today, I have taken count and of the 33 days we have been here, it was so cool for the first week that I never even got in the water, and then of the rest of the time , 10 of those days have rained and another 5 have had light showers or cloudy, the weather has been unseasonably cool. I am thanking God for this lovely trailer and the internet, which has kept me busy and dry. Here's hoping that the next 16 days will bring sun and heat.

Heat wave

July 1st long weekend, usually promised to be a summer celebration of heat and all thing Canadian. This year didn't disappoint as starting from Thursday before right up until actual July 1st, we had record heat and four days of sun, a real record, of course on the actual day July 1st,  it rained and as usually follows a heat wave, a cold front moves in, back to pants and socks, maybe that was our summer.

Best laid plans of mice and men

Wednesday - June 25, 2014 - Alex's graduation

Looking forward to a great day in Sturgeon Falls tomorrow visiting my sister and watching as our godson  Alex graduates from high school. As we go to take up the garbage, we discover our truck won't start. After some investigation, it is determined that : it's not the battery, it's not the starter, it's somewhere in between. Called several repair shops in Alban, French River, Sturgeon Falls, AND  Sudbury only to find out that due to the long weekend, getting it fixed before then is an impossible
feat . So the graduation is missed, our friends and neighbours are bringing us for groceries and after a few inquiries days later, we find out that by using a screwdriver and touching two wires together, we can actually get the thing going. Although we look like the Flintstones, and strangers think we wre stealing our own truck, Mikes new key is now a screwdriver, we will wait until we get home and take it to our regular mechanic.