Red Deer Log Cabins

Just drove to Barry's Bay and back, and it's getting colourful out there.  Driving west was more colourful than driving east, as usual.
Cherry trees are red, some maples are bursts of colour, and oaks are starting to go orange.  Some poplar and birch are showing a fair amount of yellow.  My guess is we'll be seeing 25% by this weekend.

An outhouse is NOT a garbage bin.
An outhouse is NOT a garbage bin.
An outhouse is NOT a garbage bin.

I KNOW who put those beer cans down the men's outhouse pit at the far end of the campground.  Of course, he thinks I don't know it was him, but that is just dumb.  He obviously won't be back (having shown disrespect for the resources here, the attitude is clear).  My regular clientele are smart enough to put garbage in the garbage cans and beer cans in the return for deposit crates near the garbage cans.
Why do I have to keep explaining to ADULTS the difference between a toilet and a garbage can?

Stop the insanity!

Anyone who can get away from city lights tonight is likely to see aurora.  It's looking like a go.
Nothing visible here last night because of the heavy cloud cover.

A massive solar flare is heralding a good possibility of seeing Aurora over the next couple of nights.  Might be tricky, because the moon is just past full, so the effect could be washed out.  Moon rise is about an hour and a half after sunset right now.

Timmy's is coming to Barry's Bay.!  Building has begun.
It's almost like Barry's Bay is joining the rest of the world.  This summer we have 2 new gas stations (an Ultramar and a Shell) which has been great for us, because we now have the lowest prices for gas in the area.  THAT is a treat.  The gasoline alley has moved to Barry's Bay, Bancroft's loss.  There has been a lot of real estate turnover, so likely there will be new enterprises next summer.
Maybe they'll get a Burger King too?

Update:  Timmy's is supposed to open October 5, staff have been hired, uniformed, and sent for training in Bancroft.  It's going to be a 24 hour location.

I was supposed to be taking a day off today, but early on got mixed up in the mess on Google, trying to get the place marker fixed again.  Now it is wrong on 2 pages, because of the way the template accepts information.  Anyway, I spent some extra time working on the Google+ page for RDLC.  I have managed to maintain a high integrity of information, with only one file shot (theirs.  They won't let me change the theme photo to one of mine).
The page now has a custom URL.  Have a look!  Let me know what you think!  Considering it is Google, it is going to be forever a work in progress.  Every time I try to get at my stats they have changed something again, so I wind up playing in their sandbox instead of dispensing the task efficiently and getting back to my own list of 'to-dos'.
Seeing as I'm not a fan of Facebook, this is a nice happy medium.  If anyone wants to post photos from their vacations, here's a place that works the same way.  I love seeing pics of people's vacations at Red Deer Log Cabins.  Everyone makes the space look like a different place when they fill it, it's so fluid.  They also look at the space differently, and compose the photograph differently.  The only way to see that is if people share.

Cabins are busy, but there is still camping available for anyone making last minute plans.  Don't be put off by the weather forecast.  It looks to me like we can expect some drizzle Sunday for a short time.

Saw a lovely specimen of this threatened species the other day.

By and large, the snakes you are likely to see here are not aggressive nor dangerous.  If you don't bug them, they won't bug you.  They are a big help in keeping the mouse population in check.

Here's a cute snake, also sighted recently.

The woods are alive with the wind of mushrooms.

I've been having trouble receiving notification that someone has commented on the blog, but I think it is fixed.  Hopefully for good. 
;-)
There was an orphaned question about nontoxic bug deterrent alternatives, which was answered directly subsequently.  You will find bug information under the "wildlife" tag.

Watch how this hack unfolds!
Currently we have no idea of time line or internet locations involved.  Now is the time to change all passwords.
Don't know I'd be buying much online these days.

It's ready, there is now a link for you to opt in for future communication.

Is this another make work project by our gov?  Most of my spam comes from other countries and offshore.  Anyway, I don't send many emails, but if you would like to make my job easier, please select one of the options.

Apparently people are showing up having prepaid for vacations in private cottages, only to find out that they have paid someone who had pictures, not ownership.  According to CBC, these postings come from Kijiji, but I'm betting that if there is one source for phishing there are many.

Buyer beware!

Of course, because the pics on my site are all real (except one, no one has figured out which one is the file photo yet!), you know this is a safe choice.  It really is a small cabin/camping resort with a sand beach, and I do have authority to contract your vacation.

Late night (past midnight) skywatchers were treated to a fine display of shooting stars last night.  The peak isn't until August 12, but there will be a full moon then, so the shower will wash out.  The sliver of a moon sets early, so tonight should be good too if the skies stay clear.

The pumps are ON!  Madawaska Country Store now sells gasoline.  The drought is over.
Strangely there are also 2 new gas stations in Barry's Bay, a Shell and an Ultramar.  The Esso finally has some competition.
Note: debit or cash only accepted for gas in Madawaska.  Make sure you get a receipt.

Both raspberries and blueberries are coming along.  There aren't a lot yet, but some ripen every day.
Mushrooms are happening but also not yet in big numbers.  With the rainy blasts we are having, and the warm nights, I can't help but expect big bloom soon.
That being said, it became cool this morning, which made for sweatshirt weather until about 2 pm.  Then it became hot and sunny.
Expect flaky weather.  That is this year's normal.  Bring 3 season clothing. 
Always a good idea when you are camping anyway, right?  Layers, extra socks, 2 of everything even if you think you only need one pair of pants what happens if you rip them, Big Boy? 
Anybody got a big skirt?

I've got stories.  Everyone is anonymous unless expressly in agreement to be the known subject of humourous reconnoiters.

Right beside a cabin, new fruiting this morning.  Time to go for a walk with a basket and a knife.!
Depending on where you come from, this same mushroom might be called cepe, or porcini.

I must go and check the chanterelle beds, they should be happening.  First birch mushroom showed this weekend.  Also, a russula I have seen for years and wondered as to its edibility was identified for me by a regular client.  The name of the mushroom in his mother tongue means 'eat it raw'.  Now I know.

Great ambient soundscape.
Rain = a good thing, get it out of the way for the weekend, and ensure that there is no campfire hazard.  Makes things much easier for all.
Cabins are full for this upcoming 4 night holiday weekend, there are still campsites available.  6 with electricity.  Lots of room for last minute planners.

I expect that the flooded sites will remain flooded, and that the trail to the waterfall will remain flooded as well.  The rain has been steady and substantial for most of the day.

I finally found one!  Very high up, forecast is lots of snow winter of 2014/15.

3 campsites are offline because of flooding.  Hopefully that will change by next weekend.  Because they are flooded, it means the trail to the waterfall is still completely underwater for a big stretch, right at the outset.

Just spent a couple of hours cutting grass, and not a bug!  I'm surprised, because only 2 days ago they were vicious.
Fields of wildflowers are turning into campsites.

I am not a technophobe.  However, this is my next installment in a campaign to get people to use maps.  You can buy Ontario road maps at Service Ontario.  They are free at Ontario Tourism kiosks.  They can be downloaded and printed.
Google maps are not accurate.  Ontario road maps are.  Google has roads that don't exist marked, towns that are gone, real towns that are missing, etc. (it took a year to get the disappearance of Madawaska from Google corrected; actually, it was a 'correction'.  Google had moved it an hour's drive east of here, near Renfrew).  Ontario road maps have best Ontario information; it is published by the organization that makes highways.

Google maps are what GPS is based upon.
Google maps are notorious for losing people down seasonal roads and snowmobile trails.
Algonquin Park Hwy 60 East Gate has a problem with Google maps as well.  For some reason GPS takes people down a dead end from Hwy 127 instead of through Whitney on Hwy 60.

Clients arrived at 2:45 am last night. 
They did not have a map.

Wear light coloured clothing, don't forget the hat, and Vatika hair oil, and the bugs won't bug you either.  The forecast is stellar, and with the sun and higher temperatures, the bugs will be hiding out in the cooler shaded areas.

The summer's delivery of firewood is stacked and ready for campers.  $10/wheelbarrow.  Due to pests, please don't bring firewood from other locales.  Ontario Fire Regulations in effect on the grounds. Get your pail of water out of the river before you light your fire.