Beauview Cottage Resort, Lake of Bays Muskoka Ontario Canada resort @ beauview.on.ca
             800-363-6047  705-789-3004

2007 Beauview WEB Log "Blog"  ARCHIVE (January - November)
 

For more recent entries, please read our New and improved Weblog

November 15, 2007
Last night when I came home from curling, there were two deer in the playground. Today I see fresh tracks on the driveway and in the sand pile by the lake.

November 13, 2007
Lots of work done this week. We had our driveway and parking lot strengthened with 4 tandem truck loads of gravel.  This should reduce the risk of people getting stuck in the mud at the end of March.

Just came back from a week's holidays. We blocked out some time and instead of going "south" we went North!   I had heard of a place that has a wildlife preserve in Timmins. So off we went to pet a moose!
Here's a photo of Nancy feeding a full grown male moose.  Yes - that's snow in the background.  They had their first taste of Winter while we were there. It's all melted now.  But Winter is coming!

November 3, 2007
The 3 bedroom cottage has had all its exterior window replaced.  In the process of doing the work, the men found that a squirrel was leaving acorns under the pillows in one bedroom. - Sort of the Country version of leaving mints by your pillow that the luxury hotels do!  I put out the live trap and after 3 tries, I captured a no too happy red squirrel.  He has been relocated across the lake where hopefully he won't find his way back here.

November 1, 2007
The new thermal pane windows have come for our 3 bedroom cottage #1 to replace the single pane glass that was there before.  MacKinnon Construction is installing them this week.

Five deer came strolling through our property this week. This picture was taken just behind cottage #3.  They let me get real close.

October 28, 2007

Here's something to look forward to ...  Snow tubing, Skiing, Snowmobiling, Snowshoeing ! (You'll need High Speed internet to see the video)

October 26, 2007
Nancy's Dad and Mom came up to chores this week.  Her dad is detail oriented, so he's good to have around for finicky jobs like trim painting.  We replaced the floor tile in the Cottage #4 bathroom today. I got some new vinyl flooring from Home Depot that "floats". It looks great.  We'll see how it wears over the winter.

October 23, 2007
What beautiful Weather!  Wearing shorts at the end of October!  I took my final motor boat ride of the year up to South Portage to put away the boat for another year. Still lots of gold colours in the trees. (normally I do this wearing winter clothing during a rain storm)
Three deer are visiting again.  They came right up to the house to see Nancy. One was very close to the basement sliding glass door.
I've had to put security passwords on our wireless network as we've noticed it being used when there were no guests with laptop computers.  We are one of the only ones with High speed internet in our area. The service is available from Candlelight www.candlelight.ca  Bell and Rogers are also coming into the area.  The Baysville/Huntsville/Dwight Libraries offer the use of computers and high speed to anyone at little cost.

October 21, 2007
The ladies group that stayed with us, toured all over Muskoka including Port Carling Bracebridge, Huntsville and Gravenhurst. They went as far as Bala for a tour of the Cranberry Marsh. The best time to go is Not during the Cranberry Festival, when the huge crowds are here.  The best time is just before or after. They said they had a great time and did lots of shopping!  Then they came back to enjoy the hot tub on their deck.

 October 19, 2007
There was a visit today from two young deer. Here's one eating our flowers.  I was able to get very close to them.

We were away this week at the Resorts of Ontario Fall Conference. Gord got to go on the Eco Tour through the tree tops and down a zip line at Blue Mountain Resort.

Surprisingly, there's still a lot of leaves still on the trees that haven't fallen.  Even though the Fall colours are past their peak, there's still colour to see.  Its a quiet time to getaway. Hike in Algonquin Park and return to relax and have a soak in your personal hot tub.
The boats have been put away for the winter.  Its getting too cold on the water to be safe.

October 13, 2007
 See our Fall Colours Animated Slide show  (15 seconds) (I'm trying out a new video product from a company called Animoto.)

October 13, 2007
The Sun came out this afternoon but a big difference from last weekend's "summer" weather.  People staying with us went on a Fall Lunch Cruise with the Wenonah II and then over to the Bala Cranberry Festival.  Others just relaxed in their personal hot tub.
We have started some of the fall renovations. The MacKinnon Brothers are putting a new roof on the 3 bedroom cottage and have ordered new thermo pane windows. This should make the cottage a lot more comfortable this winter, and reduce the heat loss.
 

We have added a button at the top of this page for those who get news feeds.  When you click on the RSS button    and subscribe to the service, you will automatically be notified when I add a new posting to our weblog page.

October 11, 2007
Although a lot of leaves have fallen, there still much colour to see.  Some maple trees are still green! One of our oak trees is rusty brown while another right beside it is green.

October 7, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving ! We have a "full house" this long weekend.  The colours of the trees are gorgeous. Even with the rainy weather, there were still some excellent opportunities to get outside and take photos.  Some folks went canoeing. Lots of people went to Algonquin park. I saw a deer drinking from the lake off a neighbour's dock when I went for a walk yesterday. 
Here's a video montage I took of some fall colours down our country road. 
Visit  http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-8881398046331603919
 

September 28, 2007
The Fall colours are at their peak this weekend in Algonquin park. The colours should peak in our area next week.  Lots of great opportunities for picture taking.  Here's some maple leaves.

We are happy to announce that we have set up a Beauview Logo Store Online for clothing and gifts with the Beauview Logo on them.  People have asked us where they could get clothing with our logo on it and we just didn't have the space to have a clothing store.
Through a US company called CafePress, we are able to offer men's ladies, teens and baby clothing in a variety of styles and colours.  You order what you want online and have it shipped directly to your door. For Americans, it takes about 3 or 4 days and for Canadians about 10 days, for delivery.  Great ideas for Christmas, Birthday and Anniversary gifts.  Please visit our new Beauview Online Store.

September 23, 2007
Its been a glorious Summer weekend in September.  Our guests have been swimming (not for long!) kayaking, canoeing and sunbathing.  Some of the ladies went shopping by the look of all the bags they returned with. The merchants of Huntsville thank you!  One couple went in search of a Tim Horton's (there are four in Huntsville) He couldn't go without his Tim's coffee.

The Fall colours are happening.  Algonquin Park is about a week or two ahead of us in this area.  Here's their report: : Algonquin Report Date : 23/09/2007 Dominant Colour : Red Percentage of colour change : 80-89 %
Percentage of leaf fall : 10-19 % - Good Places for viewing : Parkway Corridor - Highway 60 has magnificent reds, oranges, yellows and burgundy colours to share with you. Colours are more vibrant in the morning. Hardwood Lookout, Track and Tower, Booth's Rock and Lookout Trail are a few of the trails that are well worth the visit. Enjoy your day!
 

September 21, 2007
An international week with guests from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands coming to explore Canada.  One couple wants to move here permanently.  What a fantastic compliment!

Our daughter Suzanne and her boyfriend Jeremy have started up a new business.  Strange odd and random T Shirt designs.  Their store website is www.gatswiz.com The power of the internet!

September 15, 2007
8am - two deer trotted through our property as some of our guests were out for a walk.  I hope they saw them go by!

When it gets quieter during the week in November, we go on some trips ourselves.  I always stay in touch with our businesses by phone and email.  Some places charge a fortune for long distance telephone service so I've been experimenting with VOIP (voice over the internet) for us and for our guests. We have a portable VOIP phone that our guests can borrow at no charge that has been well received. Also I have set up a laptop computer with "Softphone" software. (You use your laptop when connected to the internet, as a phone.) I found a business in Toronto that offers VOIP phone service for $10/month with unlimited long distance to Canada and the US.

September 14, 2007
A quiet week this week. We had 2 men from Germany staying with us. They were very well prepared with a long list of places they wanted to see. There are deer feeding at the side of the road as you drive to Huntsville and to Port Sydney.  Lots of birds around too. Blue jays, robins, some geese and the loon is still here (you can hear them call ! )  Chipmunks and squirrels are gathering the acorns from the oak trees for winter.  I haven't seen the hawk lately.

Our daughter Suzanne is back at University so its quiet in the house and we don't have to coordinate who gets which vehicle to go where. She's got a great apartment with 2 other girls close to the university.

September 8, 2007
We have a corporate group staying with us this weekend.  Its the first corporate group we've hosted.  Fifteen men from all over the world, some as far away as Bangkok, Thailand.  The Canadian President is hosting the retreat this year and his cottage is just down the road from us. Because we have high speed wireless internet and good cell phone service, they are able to keep in touch with their businesses by laptop computer and Blackberry PDAs.  Here's a photo of the limousine bus that took some of them back to the airport.

September 3, 2007
Today was another Summer day. High of 26 Degrees C and the water temperature is still good for swimming = 70 degrees F.  Some of our guests just didn't want to leave.  Working on their tan, kayaking, canoeing.  Two men got up early and caught enough fish for a shore lunch on their BBQ.   The water trampoline comes in today and is put away until next Summer.

What a marvellous weekend for people to enjoy before going back to school and work. Our guests went golfing, visited waterfalls, went to Algonquin park, fishing off the dock and in our boats, swimming and just relaxing.  Here's some photos:
   

August 29, 2007
Hats Off to three ladies that are staying with us this week.  They are three sisters who are married ladies that haven't taken any trips or holidays away from their husbands.  They are way outside their comfort zone driving on 400 series highways, using a BBQ (which is a "man's job!") and spending time together, overnight in a cottage.  What a tremendous experience!

August 27, 2007
Last week was a week of "Firsts" .  Alina and Grandma went kayaking for the first time.  Grandma went in a motor boat for the very first time.  Here's their photos:

August 23, 2007
I took Matthew and family from the UK out on a boat tour of the lake this morning. We had numerous loon sightings along the way.  The last one was a rare sighting of 3 loons swimming together near Rock island.  We just coasted to a stop as they swam by. Not worried about our presence at all.

August 19, 2007
OUR DUCKS HAVE MULTIPLIED!  -  We supply "rubber duckies" in our hot tubs - just one rubber duckie.  It looks like two of them have gotten together?!

The  Baysville Riverfront Antique and Classic Boat Show was today. Here's a photo of a Shepherd Boat on display and the Northern Lights Steel Drum Band performance. 

August 18, 2007
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!? - We have just purchased a portable Voice over the Internet phone (VOIP) for our guests to try while they are on the property. It gets access to a special phone service through our Beauview wireless internet network.  We've set it up with Free local and Free long distance calling to the US and Canada.  Ask us about it when you visit.

August 18, 2007
A wet ending to a fun week.  It rained on and off this afternoon and has continued into this evening.  This morning was bright and sunny.  I had a chance to play my annual horseshoe game with Simon.  (Simon plays every day while he's on holidays) He's been coming to Beauview for over 10 years. Simon is fun to play.  Even though he's a great player, he's very humble and cheers you on during the play. In practice, I was throwing ringers(3 points) - I have witnesses.  but I couldn't do that once play started. Figures! Normally I play "best 2 out of 3  - wins" and lose two games and I'm done, but this year I edged past him in the second game to win 15- 14. The third game he won and it was on to the next game with John. John is learning the game from Simon. Next year, I expect John will beat all of us.

Mr and Mrs. H. went on the Lake of Bays cruise from Baysville. Its a covered pontoon boat that seats 20 in comfort. They said it was almost 3 hours long and had a great time.

August 16, 2007
Lots of interest in Tubing and water skiing this week. With the injuries that happened on Rice Lake this week, I think the parents and the kids can see why we have so many safety rules. One parent got up waterskiing after 20 years.  The children's Bingo and Crafts were well attended.  Some families are going to the Wolf Howl in Algonquin Park tonight, while others are attending a show "Caveman" at the Algonquin Theatre. www.algonquintheatre.ca

It was announced this week that there will be an Ironman Triathlon race here in September 2008. It's called the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 . The Ironman 70.3 Series was born in 2005 and consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run. The bike part of the race goes right past our property on South Portage Road.  Families could stay with us and cheer for their favourite athlete.  www.Ironmanmuskoka.com

AUGUST 12, 2007  PM  We found Jeffery!  Even though they couldn't be here this Summer, they still read our weblog from time to time.  Here's a picture our baseball pitcher Jeff in action.

August 12, 2007
Where is Jeffery!?  Everyone is asking about Jeff.  Jeff and his family came for 6 summers until his baseball career as a pitcher, took off . Someday, when he's pitching in the major leagues, we'll be able to say we knew him when he was a boy at the summer cottage.

Lots of kids last week and this week. The water trampoline gets a big work out. The Robinsons' Country Store in Dorset and the Fire tower  and of course Algonquin park were the trip highlights.  Last week we had returning families bring some of their relatives as well. And they all rebooked for next Summer.  Thank you!   We have guests this week that have been coming since the first year we took ownership - 15 Summers ago! It's like seeing old friends.

THANKS FOR THE GREAT REVIEW!  - A couple that stayed with us a week ago was kind enough to write a review about Beauview for www.tripadvisor.com  Much appreciated! Thank you!

August 5, 2007
Lots of kids again this week with a variety of ages.  Many of the adults play right along with the children too. Sometimes its hard to tell who's the parent and who's the child!  Everyone is having fun.
<<< The trampoline looks a little over crowded. Doesn't it? ;-)

August 3, 2007
A very hot and dry week for those that stayed with us.  The water temperature in Lake of Bays is 75 degrees F. Here's a photo of some of our children this week.

August 2, 2007
One of the families got up very early this morning to go fishing... but not by choice.  The night before, the parents told their son that he could go fishing when he woke up. (He normally wakes up at around 8 am) At 5 am the son hops out of bed waking the others up as he runs down to the dock to go fishing.  He couldn't understand why the others were not up and why he had to go back to bed.

August 1, 2007
Wow! this week and last week have been HOT HOT HOT.  I am so glad we installed air conditioners in all our cottages otherwise it would be hard to get to sleep.  It's nice to have a place to escape the heat for a while for an afternoon nap too!  This week we have many new families staying with us. Some from far away as Timmins Ontario and overseas from the  Liverpool area of England.

July 26, 2007
This a special week for us. We have guests coming that have stayed here for over 30 years.  They keep coming back and we are honoured to have them!  There are other guests that have been coming for over 10  years.  It's like a homecoming experience.  Here's a photo of a sunrise with a 1953 Wood Mahogany Criscraft motor boat that is brought by one of our long time families.

July 20, 2007
This past week was a "short people" week for us. It's funny how that happens.  Most of the children were around the same age. Lots of other kids to play with at the playground or in the water. Parents could talk to other parents too. Some of the children went tubing for the first time or were in a boat for the first time.  A lot of firsts!  We had the largest turnout ever for crafts.  Two large tables filled with people.  Here's a photo of one of the tables.

July 15, 2007
A rainy week has passed for guests that left yesterday. Its great to see some sunshine today.  It must not have been too bad because many are returning next summer. Great news!  Thank you.
This morning I was checking the waterfront at around 7:30am to find a loon swimming just off our dock  and when I went onto the dock, I flushed a blue heron, next door.  Even with all the people around on holiday, there's still lots of wildlife to see.
With our internet website, families are finding us from all over the world.  Last week, we had folks from California stay with us.  This week we have a family from Switzerland visiting and then they are off to attend a wedding.

July 8, 2007
LIVE ON THE RADIO  - The More FM Summer Patrol came to visit Beauview on Sunday afternoon. Lisa did a live  on air report from our office.  What a neat surprise!

July 7, 2007 - Lucky 7's  !!
One family saw moose twice this week.  That's rare!

People ask if we ever get celebrities staying with us. We usually don't ask and give people their privacy. But this week it was clear from the license plate on her SUV that one of our guests is a female fire fighter. That's special!

One guest got photos of two rainbows this week.  Here's a picture of one that I took.

July 4, 2007
Our groundhog has been captured in a live trap with the help of some lettuce, carrots and relocated to a field near Huntsville. We hope he'll meet new friends!

The Blue Heron returned this morning. One of our guests got video of the visit.  Maybe we'll see it on YouTube?!

July 3, 2007
We had our first welcome BBQ of the summer last night. While we were at the lake, there was a blue heron after its evening meal. We also have a groundhog who has taken up residence under one of the cottages.  The live trap is out for him to be relocated. Guests have gone to Algonquin Park. One family saw a moose the other family saw a deer.

June 30, 2007
We had some guests this week from England and Switzerland as well as a family from Ontario.  The people from overseas went to Algonquin Park twice. On their second trip they saw four moose at the side of HWY 60.  With the temperatures being in the 30's this week, it was like the middle of Summer!

We are trying a new system for availability and secure reservations.  We've subscribed to a system that shows our availability calendar and provides a secure form to make a reservation request. Let us know what you think.

We also enlisted the help of a designer to develop a new Home page for our website. Hope you like it!

June 26, 2007
It's too hot to work so I taught a teenager how to windsurf!  I haven't been out on a windsurfer for probably 3 or 4 years.  With an audience I demonstrated how to pilot a windsurfer out into the bay and back in my clothes and I didn't dump and didn't get wet!  I think they all secretly hoped I'd give them a show by falling into the water. Not from me!

Here's a photo of one of our guests swimming with a baby duckling.

June 22, 2007
Happy Summer!   Guests arrived on motorcycles.  (Mom and Dad on the Harleys and the kids driving the truck) Great weather for a ride! There was a fawn (baby deer) trotting through our property this morning about 7 am.  I didn't see mom or dad when I went out to take pictures.  Just a glimpse and disappeared!

Yesterday, Dan one of the arborists from Sunrise Tree Service, Baysville cut off all the dead branches from our trees.  Now we have a great big pile of campfire wood for our summer guests.

June 17, 2007
Happy Father's Day!  We had the Muskoka Triathlon in Huntsville again this year. Some of the competitors stayed with us over the weekend.  The bike course went right by our driveway.

See Video Clips of the Bike Race through Google Video ( 8 minutes - high speed internet required)

June 16, 2007
It was a summer weekend.  We put out the water trampoline and the raft two weeks early because the water is so warm 72degrees F.  People were on it right away. Our new slide off the water trampoline got a workout!  Canoes and paddleboats went out around the bay.  The little boys in one cottage caught fish off the dock.

June 15, 2007
GONE FISHIN'  - I played hookey for a few hours on Thursday. I went fishing with my good friend John.  We got a few bites but no fish. It was a great time on the water, warm but not too hot. We saw fish jump, a loon fishing for breakfast for his family near us and two flying V formations of geese in the sky. It was quiet. The phone was turned off.

June 14, 2007
WE PASSED!  We just got the results of our Canada Select inspection. Beauview received 3 STAR rating. The inspector wrote: " Beauview continues to improve. Quality score keeps getting better, services and facilities also keep improving. Very clean and very well maintained. Nice job!" 

June 11, 2007
Suzanne declares the lake ready for swimming!  She went swimming after work today.  The water temp (on the surface) was 75 degrees F  or 23 degrees C?

It's an early summer this week.  I'm glad we escaped the city 14 years ago.  Over the weekend we had people stay with us from Germany and Australia and England. They went hiking in Algonquin park, kayaking on our lake and fishing off the docks.  Lots of squirrels, chipmunks, ducks and butterflies around to see.  Here's a picture I took.

June 6, 2007
I went for a walk down our road after the rain stopped yesterday. On my way back, I looked out at the lake to see a loon swimming twenty feet away from me. He kept on paddling.  It didn't bother him that I was so close. Of course I didn't have my camera!

June 4, 2007
One of our neighbours on Brunel Road, Ken Inglis, has set up his own water bottling plant called The Springhill Freshwater Co. Inc. For years, people have helped themselves to water running from an artesian well at the edge of his property.  Ken has set up his own water plant with a store right on 1555 Brunel Road (Muskoka Rd.#2) close to the Muskoka Rd. 10 intersection. His equipment meets all the latest government rules and regulations for cleanliness and safety. The store is open 7 days a week.  705-789-8700

Even though Beauview has a water treatment system and is tested regularly, some of our guests still like to buy their own bottled water.  Here's a convenient local source that's on the way to, or from the grocery store.

June 2, 2007
Our fishermen are amazing! They fish Lake of Bays in honour of a friend, relative and fellow fisherman that died of Cancer, Bob Hawkins. It was like watching Real Fishing with Bob Izumi or one of those other weekend fishing shows - Only live!  Back before noon, our boys had caught some more good sized Lake Trout. They had a shore lunch and then went back out.

June 1, 2007
A group of eight fishermen came for the weekend.  Boats in the water and out on the lake on Friday afternoon, they already had some nice lake trout to show for their efforts on Friday Night. Others went to Bigwin Island golf course.  The families with little kids played on the property.
 

Down Memory Lane - Kris W. dropped by to see Beauview after 15 years.  His grandparents owned Beauview before we bought it in 1993.  He had spent his summer holidays here since he was 6 years old.  Now that he's older and a lot taller he said that remembers the place was a lot bigger!

May 31, 2007
Our motor boat has gone green!    We have upgraded to a 4 stroke, environmentally friendly, fuel efficient, boat motor from Mercury Marine. The motor carries a 3 Star Carb Ultra Low Emissions Rating.  No more blue smoke. No more oily exhaust.  And its a lot quieter too.

The air conditioners have been installed in all the cottages in preparation for a hot steamy week and weekend.  The water temperature has risen to 62 degrees F or about 16 degrees C.  Almost warm enough to go swimming!

May 30, 2007
Here's something you don't see every day -  I was cutting the grass down at the waterfront during the middle of the day. I look up and see two deer watching me from our little creek area.  The noise from the lawn tractor didn't bother them at all.  They walked along our driveway through the parking lot and over to my neighbours property.

Lots of dragonflies in the air flying search patterns for food.  What is their #1 food - mosquitoes!  Dragonflies are my favourite bug. 

Its not even June but its HOT this week. Suzanne and I have installed air conditioners in a number of cottages in preparation for this weekend's guests.   Suzanne is working in the Marine Dining Room at the Bigwin Island Golf Club this Summer www.bigwinisland.com  Suzanne helps out when she's not working at Bigwin.

May 27, 2007
Our guests went to Algonquin Park as well as doing a little canoeing and paddle boating in our bay.

Congratulations on the engagement of one of our couples.  On Saturday, he proposed and she accepted.

May 24, 2007
We have a neighbour Grant who has a tractor with a blade and a bucket. Grant came over today to grade our parking lot and distribute a dump truck load of sand in our playgrounds. More sand to play in!

The Canada Select inspection happened today. J.P. the inspector took his "white gloves" through all of our cottages. He looked under the beds, in all the drawers, behind the toilets.    >>  We passed!  Our rating continues at  3 stars.  WAHOO!

May 23, 2007
We went away as tourists in our own area. We have sent people to the Haliburton Forest Reserve Wolf Centre www.haliburtonforest.com/wolf.htm  but have never been there ourselves. After the long weekend, it was very quiet so we basically had the Wolf Centre and the naturalist, to ourselves.  They have one way glass so the wolves can't see you but you can get close to see them.  Here's some photos I took of the wolves Manitou and Cedar and a white breasted song sparrow building a nest above the viewing window.

May 21, 2007
Another sunny day and the end of a great weekend.  One family went to Algonquin Park yesterday. They saw 4 moose in the afternoon including a young one, a big Bull male and a female. It just shows that you don't have to get up at 6 am to see a moose!

May 19, 2007
What a fantastic May Long weekend.  We have a number of families and couples staying with us. They have been out in the canoes and paddle boats. Had a campfire one night and played some lawn darts and frisbee golf.
The loon has come to visit a number of times around the bay.

May 15, 2007
It feels like Summer today.  25 degrees C and lots of sunshine - the weather report said rain!   I've put the canoes and paddleboats out on shore with lots of life jackets.  The water temperature is still cold ... 50 degrees F or 10 degrees C.        Too early for swimming and wearing your life jacket is a must when you're in a boat this weekend.

May 13, 2007  Happy Mother's day!
From Summer weather, we've gone back to Spring like weather. Cool in the morning. Good time for walking with no bugs to bother you.  Yesterday when I was checking my boat, there was a loon 6 feet away from the middle dock. When he saw me , he dove down and came up 2 properties away. Here's a Trillium photo from my walk down the road.


This week, I took one of the guest bikes for a ride down the road. They are the retro bikes with no gears and you back- peddle to brake, which makes them simpler to operate but you've got to work to get up some of those hills without walking!

May 7, 2007
Here's my rant for Monday Morning > I shake my head in sadness every time I hear stories like this one. Over the weekend in Dorset, across the lake from us, a man drowned at 1:30 am in the morning.  No life preservers on. Out in a canoe. Standing up in a canoe. Middle of the night. DARK. Freezing cold water. (There was ice on the lake 2 weeks ago)  In water at a temp of 5 degrees, you'll last 45 minutes max. before you die, IF there's someone around to help you. You won't be able to swim far because your body will be in shock. 

People wonder why we don't let our boats out after dark, why we ask people to wear life jackets, why there's no boats in the water until the middle of May. BECAUSE IT's NOT SAFE!

May 6, 2007
What wonderful sunny weather! The grass is greening up nicely.  Lots of different birds around including Loons, blue jays, robins, and a hawk. Here's a photo of the robin:

We went away for a few days holiday this past week.  Its great to get away for a change of pace, for a rest and to see new places. We visited Midland, Penetang and Port Severn.
Our daughter Suzanne started her Summer job this weekend working at the Bigwin Island Golf Club. Bigwin Island is straight East of us by water.

May 2, 2007
More TOYS for girls and boys!  We have just received an AQUA SLIDE that will be attached to the water trampoline.

April 29, 2007
Even though Saturday was a bit damp, people came to get away from the city for some peace and quiet.  Some fish were caught right off the dock.  My brother and his wife were up for the weekend.  While the ladies watched a "chick flick", the men played a number of very competitive games of outdoor Frisbee Golf, and indoor Sorry! and Snakes and Ladders. Here's a photo I took this morning of the sunrise.

April 27, 2007
Great weather for outdoor work. With help this week, the whole property got raked before it rained on Monday. The docks got put out and painted the trim around the new windows.  Inside the cottages, all the kitchens were checked for the right amount of clean cutlery and dishes, pots and pans.
Our first loon came to visit.  I took video of his visit in the water that I'll put up on the web in the next week.  I have also been seeing a lot of deer crossing the road especially in the early evening. Some of them are right next to the road so you can get a really close look.

April 22, 2007
It's been a great Sunny summer weekend! We went from unseasonably low to unseasonably high temperatures. There's still a wee bit of snow in the bush but not much left!  The first job is to put the docks back together. The ice sheet moved them around as it was leaving.  We moved our daughter Suzanne home from Wilfred Laurier University this weekend.  The van was piled high with stuff! Not sure where she put it all, in a little room!?

April 20, 2007
Welcome Back to the Lake!  Our ice left in a hurry yesterday afternoon.  It's amazing how the ice disappears so quickly.  It's magic!  A great time for spring fishing for Speckled Trout!

April 17, 2007
The Lake ice is melting. There's water around the edges and a big pool of open water in the middle of our bay.  The strong winds yesterday pushed the ice sheet around.  I'll bet this damaged a lot of docks.  Our floating docks got pushed around but we just put them back in place after the ice leaves. - which should be in the next week if the warmer weather comes as predicted. Then its a great time to fish for speckled trout.

Yikes we now have Bikes!   The Supercycle Roadster has returned.  In previous years, we didn't offer bikes because of the complexity to operate and to maintain the multi speed mountain bikes. Now along comes the Supercycle Roadster with its old style traditional design - one speed, wide tires, soft cushioned seat with springs.  We have two for our guests to borrow - one for men and one for the ladies. 

April 16, 2007
Driving the roads to Dwight to attend the Lion's Club Dinner in support of the Cancer Society on Saturday, we saw 11 deer in different places along the roadside.  Early evening seems a good time to catch a glimpse.
Here's some photos from the Super Cities Walk for MS.  Over 180 people participated to raise over $40,000 for MS research.  A great turnout!
      

April 14, 2007
We had rain and snow this week.  It's melted away but ....    What did we do to take advantage of the snow - we left town! My brother got tickets to one of the Blue Jay baseball games opening week in Toronto against Kansas City.  They won the game we attended.  The seats were the best we've ever had.  Right behind one of the dugouts.  Usually we are in the nosebleed sections. I was amazed at the large screen TV - at how clear and detailed the pictures were.  We got special treatment because Nancy can't walk very far - we got a reserved parking spot under the Dome right by the elevator courtesy of the Blue Jays and instead of jacking up the parking price, they dropped it by $10.  One surprise was that the parking lot attendants stop every vehicle going underground, to look for bombs. Mirrors under the cars, opening trunks. A new experience for us.

Today and tomorrow, we help out at the Super Cities Walk for MS . In our area, it takes place this Sunday in Bracebridge.

April 7, 2007
Happy Easter!  We had a Bell family get together in Wasaga Beach at cousin Doris's house. I got to try out my new video camera. With the new video sharing websites available, I was able to load up some of the highlights and share them with the entire family - some even overseas.  That's so cool!
The two geese are still hanging around our bay.  I caught them on our lawn sleeping so I shooed them away. Geese barriers had to be set up to keep them off the lawn - otherwise they'd be here permanently.

April 5, 2007
Winter came back. Just when I thought I could put away the winter coats and shovels, we get an inch of snow!  The sanders are out. The roads are driveable.  The good news is I don't see the geese. Maybe they didn't like the snow and went back down south! (fingers crossed!) The robins and the ducks are still here.

Nancy and I were at the Resorts of Ontario Conference this past week.  We had to get dressed up for the President's Dinner party.  Here's a photo that JP, Resorts of Ontario took. (I was wearing my Mickey Mouse bow tie for this special occasion.)

March 26, 2007
It must be Spring!  I saw the first Robin land on our waterfront. He hopped around from the grass to snow as if to say "what's this doing here?!"  What was even funnier was seeing 4 geese land on the frozen lake and go skidding out of control on the ice. Like lawn bowling with geese. (Can you tell I don't like geese?) Then one goose goes after another - upset that they came to the wrong place.  It was hard for them to get up enough speed to take off. At our corner of Brunel and South Portage, I saw two deer eating their lunch. Deer, going back and forth from the island in front of us, is a daily occurrence.

March 24, 2007
The game is on!  We have some ice fishermen staying with us who have stayed here before.  There's a tournament amongst them for the largest fish caught over the weekend on Lake of Bays. Here's a photo of some of the lake trout fish they caught:

March 19, 2007
This is the last day of Winter.  It sure doesn't look like it out our window! Though, warm temperatures later this week should melt a lot of snow.  Here's a photo of deer crossing the lake in front of us this morning and a fantabulous sunrise!-
                                  

March 18, 2007
Sunshine throughout the weekend. No more snow like in the weather forecast.  I've seen deer on the lake, chickadees and blue jays around the house.  Here's a photo I took of two blue jays on Saturday having a conversation. (I don't think she's interested in what he has to say!)

I have assembled and set up the disc golf targets / pole holes.  We have two that our guests can use to play frisbee golf, or frisbee horseshoes (Disc-shoes).  We've purchased a number of frisbees as well as a set of tournament disc golf discs for the advanced players. Disc Golf can be played by anyone, young, old, regardless of ability.  Here's a link to more details about the game. http://www.discgolfassoc.com/games.html

March 16, 2007
Flip Flops in the snow?  Three ladies staying with us went to the Deerhurst Spa before they arrived. One wanted to show off her pedicure so she wore flip flops to the cottage. Cool toes!

March 15, 2007
Here's a photo from the Putter family that stayed with us last week.  Our two youngest snowmobilers going very slow, on the lake in front of Beauview, riding a mini Polaris snowmobile.  They had a blast!

March 14, 2007
Bikinis in the snow!
Warm temperatures have melted some snow but we still have lots to play in.  This afternoon, one family who were enjoying the hot tub on their deck, decided to go for a run down the path to the lake, in just their bathing suits and then pose for pictures. A whole new experience to tell your friends about and a great photo for the family album.

March 12, 2007
This is a day where memories are made.  2 year old Greg skated on the lake for the first time with his dad assisting. Proud grandparent took lots of photos of the event.  The Khan family went snow tubing at Rock Ridge.  They have done very little winter outdoor activities in the past. Here's a photo of Greggy skating for the first time and looking all grown up reading a pocket book.:

March 11, 2007
We survived the rain on Saturday morning, lost some snow. But the good news is the rink got flooded and its great for skating! We've had children on the toboggan hill today, some boot hockey played on the rink, and one group of brothers and sisters came just to gab, relax and catch up with a weekend reunion.

March 8, 2007
The week started off real cold but now its warming up.  One family staying here has gone snowmobiling every day.  The trails are in great shape!
I have updated our home page to add a link to our Beauview Kids website  www.bvckids.com  There's photos of what kids do and some pages of Beauview Bob's Colouring book.  I'll be adding videos too.
 We have had this website for a few years but haven't promoted it very much.

March 4, 2007
Thursday Night it started snowing. It snowed on Friday and Saturday and they forecast more snow tonight. We probably have between 6 inches and a foot of new snow and we didn't get any of the rain or ice that they got down south.  With the temperatures getting cold again this week, we should have great snow conditions for snowmobiling, skiing, snowshoeing, snow tubing throughout March Break and beyond.  Don't put your winter stuff away just yet!

March 2, 2007
I just came back from an overnight visit with my Auntie in Peterborough and Resorts of Ontario Director's meeting. I was worried with all the news reports about gas shortages whether I would have any trouble getting gas. I didn't find any of the towns along my route without gas. In one town that had 3 gas stations, I saw that one was closed but the other two were fully operational. Travellers won't get stuck in rural Ontario.  I 've been watching the news reports and haven't seen any stories on stranded travellers!

At the Muskoka Triathlon meeting held last night in Huntsville, we learned that the bike route is changing.   It is now routed right down our road, past our property on Sunday morning. They made the changes for safety so that they wouldn't have to close the roads while the race is on. Effectively the bike traffic is all one way in a loop. The Muskoka Triathlon is held in June 16, 17, 2007. It attracts participants from all over North America and is a requirement in order to compete in the Ironman competition. see  http://www.trisportcanada.com/muskoka.php

February 27, 2007
It's quiet now after the last of the weekend guests leave today. Even in the cold weather, Blue Jays and Chickadees have stayed in our trees over the winter.  Here's a Blue Jay I saw out my window this morning.

February 25, 2007
Lots of snowmobilers stayed with us this week. Some from the US. and some from Canada.  The trails got a whole bunch of new wet snow on Thursday which should help a lot!  All but one cottage were snowmobilers, over the weekend. Here's a photo of some of our returning guests. Can you tell that they are all smiling?

February 20, 2007
The "Dare to Dream Divas" stayed with us over the past two days. Four women who did a lot in a short time. - Skating on the lake rink, snowshoeing, snow angels, dogsledding with Brad, hot tubbing on the deck. Here's a photo of them:

February 19, 2007
Children staying with us have slid down the toboggan hill and played on the ice rink with their parents.  Groups of adults have played shinny hockey on the rink. One group had a wonderful time at the Rock Ridge Snow Tubing park.  The Dorset Winter carnival was on Saturday.

This coming weekend is the Dwight Winter Carnival. Lots of fun for everyone.

February 14, 2007
BBRRR it's cold outside!  I checked  all of the hot tubs today. They are all maintaining 38 degrees C (100+ degrees F) even with the the -30 C overnight temps we received last night. 
I drove by the new Bell cell phone tower today that was erected on the next concession road over from us. It's now operational! 5 bars.

February 11, 2007
More snow each day.  Here's a photo of our lake with some snowmobile tracks:

February 8, 2007
We are in the middle of a snowstorm today. Looks to be about 6 inches of more snow.  Midland and Barrie got the most snow this week while we got cold temperatures.  The area snowmobile trails are getting better with many more showing the green light on today's report.  Some of the lake crossings are getting staked with the caution that going off the lake trails will get your snowmobile bogged down in slush. 

February 5, 2007
Frigid cold weather and lots of snow over the weekend should help strengthen the snowmobile trails in our area. So far, I haven't seen the usual number of ice fishermen either. Hopefully the lake ice will get thicker and safer.

February 4, 2007
Our guests played on the lake ice rink, slid down the toboggan hill and went to the Huntsville Winter Carnival this weekend. Some had never played hockey before.  The big hit was an event at the Winter Carnival - Bowling on the ice with a frozen turkey.

One of our guests found out that Beauview is not out in the wilderness anymore.  Kids were playing with dad's cell phone Saturday night and dialled 911. Police arrived at the office asking for the dad. The officer said he knew it was kids playing but had to check anyway. With the new cell towers in the area, emergency services can find you pretty well anywhere. Great news if you are stranded or have a medical emergency.

February 1, 2007
Most of the snowmobile trails are now open. Because its early in the short season, they are marked as "Limited"   This weekend is the Huntsville Winter Carnival - Winterfest. ( http://www.huntsville.ca/residents/winterfest.htm ) Lots of stuff to do for all ages. You can down load the schedule of events by going to http://www.huntsville.ca/residents/documents/Brochure2007.pdf

Our lake rink will be operational this weekend. The ice is about 5 inches thick.  Out farther in the lake its only about 3 inches - not safe yet!

January 20, 2007
A nice cold morning at -20C Clear sky.  I expect we'll see some snowmobilers out on the roads today until the trails open.

We just bought two Disc Golf Targets from the Disc Golf Store in Ottawa. Disc Golf or Frisbee Golf is increasing in popularity in Canada. In our area alone, two new courses are being considered in Huntsville and Dwight.  I've made an M-14 target myself to see if it would get played in the Winter, but we also wanted to have some targets that conformed exactly to the Disc Golf Association standards.  What we like about Disc Golf is that it can be played by anyone, young, old, regardless of ability.  Here's a link to more details about the game. http://www.discgolfassoc.com/games.html

You can address your comments and suggestions to Gord and Nancy at  resort @ beauview.on.ca  Thank you!

Cottages  Rates  Activities  Wildlife  Press Releases
  Fishing  Testimonials    Your Hosts  Winter
Directions   More Pictures Home