Our front yard. Hostas rule as they love all the rain we've had--whether we want them to or not.
People use to say when we’d arrive at Maple Lake that we’d “brought the good weather” with us. Well, we have not had great weather here in the Chicago area, so I’m afraid this time that we are going to need to turn the tables and say that “It’s nice to have some pleasant weather, now that we are here at the Lake.” However your forecast for the immediate 2 weeks calls for temperatures that only reach “normal “on two days and the rest of the time are below normal. That is not thrilling, guys. Now understand, I’d rather be there than here in the summer, regardless of the weather but it would be nice if you could muster up a really nice week while we are there. No pressure though, OK? Thanks.
Lake Muscoka Gravenhurst, July 17, 2009
As much as I’m really looking forward to my first three weeks at Maple Lake this summer the continuously “high” count for blackflies is a bit daunting. I guess DEET, long sleeves, and pants will be my friends.
This weekend’s weather is mixed.
The showers of Friday night will continue through much of Saturday. The high on Saturday will be a chilly 62°F.
Showers should end by Saturday night with variable cloudiness and a high of about 59°F.
Sunday, expect cool temperatures, variable clouds and a high of 68°F. Nighttime lows will be about 53°F.
Both Monday and Tuesday’s forecasts predict “cloudy periods” with highs of 71°F and 75°F respectively. Both nights call for very chilly temperatures with highs of about 48°F.
For Wednesday, expect temperatures to climb to a comfortable 77°F but the day will be rainy. Nighttime Wednesday will be a bit more moderate with a low of 57°F.
Thursday, expect another 77°F day but no rain and cloudy. Both Wednesday and Thursday will have nighttime lows of about 57°F. Friday as has been many Fridays this summer, will be nice. Look for a mainly sunny day with a temperatures expected to be about 78°F and nighttime lows a comfortable 60°F.
Have a great week!
See you in one week!
Don’t forget to click the thumbnails for the full-size photos, weather, and bug reports.
Lake Muscoka, July 15, 2009
It’s difficult to put into words the feelings one has when about to embark on a trip that will keep them from home for the better part of a month. I have a to-do list in my head which I really should transfer to text–if I could find the time.
Last year I burnt up quite a bit of time at the Lake by working. Cottage County installed the base station for internet at (on, actually) our cottage so even though I swore I’d take a week off from work, I never did.
This year is decidedly different in that work has changed considerably. I’m doing more work independently but with that comes more juggling of saying “stop!” to it for the duration. As much as Canada doesn’t seem like a foreign country as far as mail service it is. Certainly in terms of internet access to a number of United States-based websites it is. Both these restrictions may prove either incentives to work less or work more.
Trying to find a workaround for them could consume large chunks of time and may ultimately prove fruitless. If I just say “no” to work completely then I won’t have to fret about getting access to the websites which provides a good deal of substance which I transform into content (I create content for put simply, things I like). I suppose it would be smart to find out just “how ” restrictive using the Canadian internet will be . (Is there such a thing? It’s probably using the Internet in Canada, right?). I hear so much about China and North Korea and other countries being crazy restrictive. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.
I can keep my freelancing gigs to a point but there’s also a point where I’m defeating the purpose of vacation. Ten days to go and I’m juggling so much that I’m not even worried about the weather.
Guess it just proves that old saying about everything being relative. I do hope we get some good weather though. I’ve been watching the forecast for Maple Lake and right now, I see the first couple days of vacation ( should I say “holiday”?) look good temperature-wise though there is rain one day. The upside of regular rain is less fire hazard (though one must always be cautious–we are in the woods after all). The downside besides literally putting a damper on things is the bugs! My cure for too many bugs generally has been to stay in the Lake but not in the rain. See? Fret. Fret. Fret. Always wanted to be a Type “B” personality–never got there.
And where are all the people on Maple Lake who were supposed to sign up for Internet so our fee could go down? Don’t you know you can get television, too? No separate service, simply be slightly savvy and you can find your programs through the Internet and since it’s high-speed and since if you live on the Lake you cannot be far from us–the base station–your reception should be good. What are you waiting for? I’ll come over and show you the ropes as I’ve already –with son and spouse– gone through it. I’m seriously concerned that if people don’t sign up I’ll lose my service because I cannot see paying for 12 mos. of service and using it for barely one month. OK. I’d say I’ve fulfilled my fretting requirement for one day. Have a good one!
Here we are looking at the weekend in the Haliburton Highlands and hey, what a perfect day it was today!
Thunderstorms however, are moving in possibly as early as tonight, and they will continue throughout tomorrow, July 11 -Sat. A temperature high of 64° is definitely on the cool side but there you have it. Looking past Saturday and into Sunday July 12, you’ve got a mainly sunny day! Temperatures are expected to be a comfortable 71°F and there is zero chance of rain on Sunday. As the work week begins, look for temperatures to fall a bit to 69°F but the chance of rain is quite small. Tuesday is a carbon copy of Monday–temperature is to be about 69°F but there is a very slight increase to 20% for showers. Wednesday, July 15, you’ll see temperatures on the rise to 75°F with some cloudy periods and a 30% chance of precipitation. The nighttime low will be roughly the same as it is for the whole week at 50°F. Thursday will be a cloudy, rainy day with a high of only 68°F. Nighttime temps stay pretty high at 55°F. Friday, July 17, should be sunny with zero chance of precipitation and a comfortable high of 71°F.
The Bug Report-
Except for tomorrow Saturday the 11 when it is to rain all day, the Bug Forecast for the Halibrton Highlands for black flies, mosquitoes, deer flies, and horse flies range from medium to high density.
Be sure to click the thumbnails for details on the weather, the Bug Report and for pretty webcam pictures from cottage county in Ontario from today, July 10, 2009.
Have a great week!
Source: New York Times online
UNTIL 1982, Canada Day was known as Dominion Day. I always thought that had more of a ring to it. Beyond the zippy alliteration, it reminded us citizens that our domain of orderly domesticity was graced by the dominant power of our “Dominus.”
And the rights granted therein to us by the glorious English crown through her colonial appointee, the right honourable governor general.
There was another problem with Dominion Day. Dominion was the name of a national grocery store chain. It would be like calling the Fourth of July D’Agostino’s Day.
Independence (now there’s a great name for a day!) came slowly to our country. In 1965, we dumped the old, staid British ensign for our own new flag. in lIt’s the one with the big red maple leaf in the middle. A simple, sweet leaf! We also have moose and beavers on our coins. And we call our dollars loonies because the coin has an image of a loon. Another old bird, the Queen of England, is on the other side of the coin.
I remember singing “God Save the Queen” every morning in school. “Long live our noble Queen!” we belted, thousands of us tubby little obedient Canadians. I guess it worked. She’s still alive. Now they sing “O Canada” in schools and at most sporting events; usually in French and English. Around the time we were changing anthems, dumping ensigns and renaming holidays, the official use of both languages became mandatory, except in Quebec where the required use of English is a bit fuzzy.
Canada Day comes and goes modestly every year. Sure, there are retail sales promotions and a long weekend. But there isn’t bluster or commodity in Canadian celebration. Canada isn’t big on bunting. Or jet flyovers, fireworks, marching bands or military pomp.
Canadians defer. We save our loonies and don’t jaywalk. It’s illegal, eh. We stand on guard at red lights, even when there is no traffic. We wait for clear, green governing lights to signal our turn and lead us on. Then we tuck our heads down, under wooly toques and worn-out scarves, one eye barely open, squinting headlong into the harsh prairie wind, cautiously, quietly, demurely Canadian.
— RICK MORANIS, a writer and actor
Back home, hockey highlights lead off SportsCenter. That is the height of civilization.
— SEAN CULLEN, a comedian
The gourmets say there isn’t a native Canadian food worth remembering after you’ve left the country. The gourmets have never bitten into a Coffee Crisp.
A Coffee Crisp tastes like Canada to anybody who grew up gnawing on that confection, a memorably crisp blend of coffee cream, cookie wafers and milk chocolate as wholesome and satisfying as the Canadian national anthem. It was a square-edged rectangle, like a brick, wrapped in a yellow-going-to-gold paper that seemed to elevate its value above all rival confections. It was unlike other chocolate bars.
I say “was” because no sooner had I left Canada than its originator, Rowntree’s, was absorbed into the giant international food conglomerate Nestlé. Soon enough, factors beyond the ken of the layman led its new owners to “improve on” the faultless original. Coffee Crisps were reshaped to be longer and slimmer and, as the infallible taste buds quickly revealed, reformulated to be less crisp and less coffee-flavored. Nestlé next undertook to expand the brand: Coffee Crisp Orange, Coffee Crisp Raspberry, Coffee Crisp Café Caramel, even Coffee Crisp White and, God save us, Coffee Crisp Yogurt.
But even in its diminished form, the classic Coffee Crisp still ranked superior to all the sticky-sweet American “candy bar” alternatives. I’d snaffle up half a dozen on a Canadian visit and wolf down a couple right away, just to make sure it wasn’t all just nostalgie du chocolat. It wasn’t. Taste memory never fades.
The demands of homesick Canadian expatriates were finally answered, circa 2006, when Coffee Crisp made its debut south of the border. But Nestlé’s efforts at carving a niche in the United States, alas, seemed half-hearted. I never saw an ad, and found only one seedy neighborhood hole-in-the-wall that even sold Coffee Crisps; the single box was all but hidden down on the bottom row of the candy display rack near the dust kittens and lottery-ticket stubs.
A month later the box was still there, its contents by now grayish and moldy and stale with age when the wrapper was torn away. In another month the box was gone. Coffee Crisps slunk back out of the American market in 2008, as quietly as they’d entered.
I suppose the Coffee Crisp debacle proves yet again that Canadian products — with the notable exceptions of Bombardier jets and half the comedians in Hollywood — just can’t compete in the American big time. But all visiting Canadian relatives and friends arrive at my door with pockets mysteriously bulging, or they won’t be let in.
— BRUCE McCALL, a writer and illustrator
In history class, in seventh grade (or as we like to say in Canada, grade seven) we learned the story of the American Revolution — from the British perspective. Turns out you were all a bunch of ungrateful tax cheats. And you weren’t very nice to the Loyalists. What I miss most about Canada is getting the truth about the United States.
— MALCOLM GLADWELL, a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author, most recently, of “Outliers: The Story of Success”
I miss the “u” in color. — LISA NAFTOLIN, a creative director
