Click on the image to enlarge!

Good Morning.

Hope everyone is well this morning. My wife and I are not doing too bad at this end these days. A few issues for the both of us, but… we are handling them.

Regarding the weather here in our small town, things are slowly getting back to normal. Most of the blackflies have left us for another year, which makes it much nicer for all of us wanting to enjoy the outdoors. I found this year wasn’t as bad as other years, at least on our property. The reason being, I made a mess of birdhouses, and every one of them was, and is, full… no room at the inn, so to speak.

I couldn’t believe how many swallows we had along with wrens. It’s a good pair to have around, as they both make black flies and mosquitoes their main meal. The swallows nest first, and then after they are done raising their young, the wrens get busy and have their young ones. The good thing is the wrens stay all year round, maybe having two batches of young ones, whereas half of the swallows or more leave.

So all in all, nature has her own way of doing things, and if one learns these things, well… it can make your life a lot more bearable. Oh, and we can’t forget the dragonflies, as yesterday they were out swarming all around our heads. They are another that relies on flying insects to survive.

Highway 522 has picked up traffic-wise, and we have been starting to see a few more folks drop by our gift shop, picking up our one-of-a-kind items. Nice to see new faces. It will get busier now that bass season is about to open and the black flies are all but gone. That said, we still have to deal with the mosquitoes and deer flies for most of the summer. Joys of living here in the north. One can’t have everything their own way.

On another note, my wife and I pretty well got the hard work out of the way for another summer. We still have to get our firewood for winter delivered and piled, which we should be doing, oh… I would say by next weekend. If there is anyone who wants to make a few dollars, let me know, as I will be in need of an extra set of hands this year to help.

So with that, I am off for my breakfast that my lovely wife has put together for me, and will then head out to our front porch and enjoy a cup of tea and some front porch sitting, taking in our beautiful property. I don’t believe there is a nicer place anywhere in our area. There isn’t a spot you can go or sit that… well, it’s just too nice to even put into words.

You all have a great day, and with that: Keep your minds open and your stories alive. George Walters

Good Morning.

It’s looking as if we are in for a really nice day here in Northern Ontario, Canada. The sun is shining with hardly a cloud in the sky.

It’s the kinda day that makes a feller want to sit outside with a cup of coffee and enjoy the front porch. Which I think I might just do once I finish this post. The coffee is already calling my name.

On another note, my wife and I took a drive down to Coldwater over the weekend to see a friend of ours. Glad we did as she is feeling poorly. We had a nice visit and hopefully cheered her up a bit.

After that we took a drive over to Buckhorn to see what it was like there. I have to tell you, other than a restaurant where you can dock your boat and eat, along with an ice cream place, there wasn’t much else to see. But I will say this, the ice cream shop’s chocolate mint ice cream was mighty tasty. Mighty tasty indeed. So tasty in fact that I may have had two.

After that, seeing as there were no motels around the area, we drove on north to Huntsville and stayed there for the night. I kinda half like Huntsville for some reason, not sure why. Maybe it’s because my wife and I used to go there a lot with the kids way back in the seventies. Good memories have a way of making a place feel like home even years later.

At any rate, we spent the night at the Best Western. The room was…. well, let’s just say it was a roof over our heads and leave it at that. The price for the night though was outrageous. After taxes it came in at a smidgin over two hundred dollars. For two hundred dollars I was half expecting a butler and a mint on the pillow. I got neither. With them prices I can see why the parking lot was empty, and so were the ones right beside it at the Holiday Inn and Motel Six. At any rate I was tired and didn’t want to drive anymore, so not much one can do about it.

You know, the more my wife and I look around in other towns south of us here in Port Loring, the less I am liking it. People down there are so rushed. We were out in the country going the speed limit and folks were coming up behind us, swerving out to pass, blowing the horn, giving us the finger. You know that middle finger that seems so important these days. I always thought that finger was meant for pointing at things worth looking at. Apparently not.

Even in the small towns we stopped at along the way, most folks were so unfriendly that I would never go back. One place we were about to go into, and the person working there said, “Sorry, it’s four o’clock, we are closed, you will have to leave.” I guess they never heard of being courteous. At our store, or should I say gift shop, if someone comes in to look around even after we are closed, we accommodate them. Old school way of doing things I guess, but call it what you will, it’s the way my wife and I are. Been that way all our lives, even way back on the farm when we went to market selling our produce.

Other than that we had a good trip, but still really happy to be back home.

Bug Report: We did notice the black flies have eased off some, but them blood sucking parasites the mosquitoes were annoying us something fierce and forced us out from under our old basswood tree and back to the front porch. But it is spring and we do live in the middle of the bush, so it’s to be expected this time of year. Once the dragonflies awaken for another year they will make things more bearable for the rest of the summer. Although with every one of our bird houses being occupied this year with swallows and wrens, they have cleaned up a lot of them annoying bugs already. Between the birds and the dragonflies, the mosquitoes don’t stand a chance. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Highway 522 has picked up some traffic wise, and will get even busier once large mouth bass season opens up, which is in a week or so.

Not much else has been happening around our area lately. So with that I am off for my breakfast that my lovely wife is making for me, and will then see if we can sit out on the front porch and enjoy a cup of tea. Then… well then I am not exactly sure what I will be doing. Will just have to wander over to my woodworking shop and I am sure something will find me that needs doing or looking after. Always does.

You all have a great day, and keep your minds open and your stories alive.

George Walters