... From My Front Door

[us56456712]

Yes, they're native, but usually very secretive. Never seen one in all my life, last month this one showed up on the block. Here's a pic of the woodpecker on my bir
And here's the mess he made of the tree
View attachment 156407
Those holes are like 4 inches deep!

Some people call them pillager woodpecker’s because they make those big oval holes. We have red foxes in our yard and grey foxes in our neighborhood. Gary foxes are rare, we saw one a month ago but that is only the third one we ever saw. Turkeys at our bird feeders, great blue herons fishing minnows at our dock and weasels in our wood pile. Coyotes are all over the place, howling, barking and yipping all night, pretty much surrounding us. It’s been many years since we've seen moose, bear or cougar’s here. The moose occasionally come to eat the Lilly pads, the bears wreck and steal our bird feeders. We separetly each saw Cougars and they seem to jump from hiding and run away, whew. Wild escaped game farm huge Russian boars were scary when my daughter and I were out scouting deer hunting locations, but people shot them, you don’t need a hunting permit. They can outrun a deer. It’s also been a few years since I’ve seen wolves. When I do see them it’s always in the same basic locations, years apart. There must be packs in these areas. I’ve pretty frequently (about every other year) seen their scat and prints biking way back in the bush.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Yep. I need a snow bike. We were following fat bike tracks all afternoon.

We found this old guy out in the woods, I think it's a 53 Chevy?

The boys though it was pretty cool

 

[MattiThundrrr]

When it is below -20°, just getting through the front door can be the hardest thing. Then it's half an hour driving through the darkness, over hill and highway, past field, farm and forest, through village and Vale to the destination. A swath of ice ribbons through the trees and around a frozen pair of ponds. Pull on the skates in the car, it's the last chance at warmth. The FM gods provide a gift: I'd wager we're the only ones blasting Judas Priest at the skating center. A Metal Meltdown warms our souls. Then we're out to hand the bills to the bored frozen kid in the hut. Guards off the blades before you hit the ice next time dummy! She laughs, helps me up, and we're down the trail.

One lap, 3 or 4 kilometers, it is unbelievably beautiful skating through the night. Too much for the camera to capture, too cold to fiddle with the settings, my hands literally hurt going back in the gloves. Then warm up by a raging fire, laugh about the frost forming on her hair and in my stubble. The camera froze trying to get a picture of the fire, just said "nope" and shut down, way too cool for that nonsense, so we skate another lap. Her legs and hands are hurting, my cheeks are numb, we are tremendously happy, and the fireplace back home is beckoning. Thanks for getting me out there, my Love

 

[ingola]

Where did you guys go

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Countryside Adventures. Near Moose Creek, Ontario.

 

[ingola]

Countryside Adventures. Near Moose Creek, Ontario.

Very nice but yes it was cold last night

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Yeah, The Priest!

When I lived in Grand Junction and frequented the nordic ski tracks on the Grand Mesa, my long hair at the time would usually form into sweaty ice dreads. When conditions were right at Skyway, I could complete an eight mile loop in less than an hour in the traditional track.

 

[us56456712]

Yeah, The Priest!

When I lived in Grand Junction and frequented the nordic ski tracks on the Grand Mesa, my long hair at the time would usually form into sweaty ice dreads. When conditions were right at Skyway, I could complete an eight mile loop in less than an hour in the traditional track.

Surfer Dan, Lake Superior, UP Michigan surfs all year. Talk about ice beads.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

When the mice are away, these cats will play

Dressed for yesterday's weather, so of course it was fifteen degrees warmer today. All the vents were opened, zippers down, and I was still sweating. No complaints, just sharing the story, everything was perfect when the steaming hot cocoa was poured.

Saw a black bear and a snow leopard, pretty unusual for this area

TundrrrLads will kill me when they see those and realize that I didn't grab them.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

 

[us56456712]

+1C yesterday and -23C tonight, cold again tomorrow. Back and forth, mostly back so far but a little warmth is creeping in. We finally got enough snow on the ground so it looks like Christmas, which isn’t saying much. The snow still hasn’t cascaded in an avalanche off my garage roof. That’s good, no hump to walk over. Lake Superior remains open. Mild winter, even if we get a new batch of blizzards.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

About 30k north east through the counties and into the swamps. Back in the 90s they planted trees and installed boardwalks. Today I tracked whitetails and small stuff, while my turkeys made enough noise to ensure tracks were all we saw.

Hello from the sunny shores of Loch Gary

Irony: saw approximately twenty turkeys from the window on the drive out, and a whitetail beside the road when we got back to the neighborhood

 

[Uncle Ookie]

Fifteen Minutes' Drive From My Front Door
View attachment 151873
We passed three dog sled teams on our way. A parkway strung through a cluster of islands in the St Lawrence river. Campgrounds, beaches, empty islands, canoeing, cycling all seem distant as the rain and snow splat down. We duck under the gate blocking the roadway.
View attachment 151876
I'll be camping on this site in six months, stopped by to check it out and was smashed with a wall of reminiscence. Right there, across the bay, remember when Dad gave me my first taste of Labatt's? He laughed so hard when 5 year old me spit it all over the picnic table.View attachment 151875
Today's beverage is warmer, maybe more appropriate. Mmmm hot cocoa
View attachment 151874View attachment 151872
Seems safe to assume that no one is violating that ordinance today.

Very nice. My idea of paradise. i spent a lot of time in the Tiaga… Thete is nothing like it. Seeking places of certain calm and serenity?

Tiaga!!

Wonderful.

lucky luck lucky

Thanks for sharing this.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Hopefully in a few decades, when the outdoors no longer exists, my kids will thank me for it. Right now, they call them death marches.

 

[ingola]

Hopefully in a few decades, when the outdoors no longer exists, my kids will thank me for it. Right now, they call them death marches.

My daughters to my youngest loves anything outdoors

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I've had no time for riding lately, been dealing with things that happen in life. But I managed to get out on foot for a minute yesterday. I wanted to check out the trails and see if they're dry enough yet. Someone has been decorating!

And my favorite, especially appropriate for RRBikes:

There must have been at least a hundred rocks painted with uplifting words. But my absolute favorite thing was the rock library!

To whomever, thank you. I needed that definitely left feeling paix et amour.
As for the trails, trilliums are ready, but the mud is still too soft.

 

[ingola]

I've had no time for riding lately, been dealing with things that happen in life. But I managed to get out on foot for a minute yesterday. I wanted to check out the trails and see if they're dry enough yet. Someone has been decorating!View attachment 193403View attachment 193406
And my favorite, especially appropriate for RRBikes:View attachment 193405
There must have been at least a hundred rocks painted with uplifting words. But my favorite thing was the rock library!View attachment 193402
To whomever, thank you. I needed that definitely left feeling paix et amour.
As for the trails, trilliums are ready, but the mud is still too soft. View attachment 193407

Where was that my daughter would love it

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Do you know the path at the north end of Brookdale, from Cornwall Center all the way to St Andrews? That's the section that runs to Headline. Nice little paved path with plenty of off path opportunities

 

[Erin0110]

I've had no time for riding lately, been dealing with things that happen in life. But I managed to get out on foot for a minute yesterday. I wanted to check out the trails and see if they're dry enough yet. Someone has been decorating!View attachment 193403View attachment 193406
And my favorite, especially appropriate for RRBikes:View attachment 193405
There must have been at least a hundred rocks painted with uplifting words. But my favorite thing was the rock library!View attachment 193402
To whomever, thank you. I needed that definitely left feeling paix et amour.
As for the trails, trilliums are ready, but the mud is still too soft. View attachment 193407

Wooow, that's wonderful

 

[Uncle Ookie]

I've had no time for riding lately, been dealing with things that happen in life. But I managed to get out on foot for a minute yesterday. I wanted to check out the trails and see if they're dry enough yet. Someone has been decorating!View attachment 193403View attachment 193406
And my favorite, especially appropriate for RRBikes:View attachment 193405
There must have been at least a hundred rocks painted with uplifting words. But my absolute favorite thing was the rock library!View attachment 193402
To whomever, thank you. I needed that definitely left feeling paix et amour.
As for the trails, trilliums are ready, but the mud is still too soft. View attachment 193407

Thank you.
Thank you.
Friend?…. You’ve no idea