This is March break?

I just came back from town and my car thermometer said 23 degrees outside!!! That is warmer than Toronto, according to my iphone.  (In fact, our friends who stayed behind in Barbados are only 6 degrees warmer than we are.)

And according to this blog (which is my virtual memory), on March 17th last year it was 6 degrees - yikes!!

I took some pictures to share. The roads are bare and a bit muddy. There is a tiny bit of the snow banks left and some patches of snow in the woods, but mostly it is all gone.

No snow on the road, except the occasional bit in the woods.

Absolutely no snow on the property.

The ice is melted from the shoreline and there are large dark patches of ice in the centre of the bay - the last step before going.

I took this picture yesterday to show the dark spot in the centre

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This is how much darker it is today.

This shows the open water at the shoreline

And here is a picture of the water line duck. I just checked my posts from last year, and it was April 4th before his head popped out and April 7th when he was this far out, so we are definitely ahead.

Already he is out to his shoulders (if ducks have shoulders)

Too bad for the snow mobilers, the skiers and the snow plow guys. This has not been a great year for them. And I'm sure all the critters and plants are more than a little confused.

Oh well, on the bright side, if this spring continues with these temperatures, we'll all be swimming by April 24th instead of May 24th.

Driveway Warning

OK, Mother Nature is having a laugh at me trying to report weather and snow conditions. Because, after telling you we had "so much snow", we lost a lot of it again in the big melt this week. The good news is, it meant not having to clear the deck.

Yesterday getting out the driveway was like driving uphill on a titled skating rink. Luckily the warm temps encouraged the sand/ice combo to melt tracks for the cars, but the driveways that are plowed, but not used are virtual rinks.

So, if you are coming this weekend to take advantage of all the snow, pack skates instead. LOL. If we get a big freeze, there's an amazing game of hockey to be had somewhere....

But who knows....by the time you read this, it might be snowing again.

Snow Snow Snow Snow

Looks like we are making up for lost time.

The last week has had snow at least part of every day. So for those of you who still have none - or none to speak of, here are a couple of pics taken today.

We have to be careful not to move the snow too early in the day, or we have to do it again. But the roads are great - the plow seems to come after the smallest snowfall. It's fantastic to know that we will never be "snowed in".

A few more snow machines over the weekend, but certainly not in the numbers we have seen before. I just visited The Parry Sound Snowmobile District website and this is their Trail Conditions page  and there is a lot of Closed or Limited and not too much Open.  As non-riders, it doesn't affect us too much, but we know the impact it has on the local economy when the sledders don't come. Hopefully all this new snow will improve things.

The cross-country ski club is open and there's certainly enough snow around here for snow shoeing - just maybe not on the lake without testing first.

If you're lonely for the snow - come and get it.

First Snowmobiles on the Lake

We've had lots of snow this week and pretty cold temps so I figured it wouldn't be too long before the first snowmobiles would be on the lake. The first four went by about half an hour ago. Hopefully it's safe out there for them.  Once we have seen lots of them, we know it's safe for skiing and venture out.

Thursday was the first time I can remember white out conditions driving back from town. Here is a picture I took from inside the car. Luckily, I didn't encounter any other vehicles on my way in.

That night, after the storm, the lights along the deck railing looked like a million paper lanterns, so I took this shot.

Yesterday, it snowed again - the largest flakes I have seen in ages. So large, that I actually was able to take a picture of them falling.

The snow removal on the road continues to boggle the mind - they are here as soon as you even think there is enough snowfall. It's amazing!

So far, the driving has been ok - at least for us. Not so for the two pick up trucks who managed to go off the road, both on the first turn past the transfer station.

Happy 2012

Our bright and shiny new year came in looking like anything but.  It's a dark and blustery day indeed.

But it does look as if winter is here to stay. Starting on the 27th, we got snow that has stayed - even required three driveway clears since then.  Thanks to our kids for doing the first one - that was a real Christmas treat.

As the ice was arriving, I took lots of pictures. Different areas froze long before others and some areas had a good two inches while the centre channel - as well as warm spots in our bay - remained open.

This is what it looked like when I started taking the progress pics.

One snowy morning it looked as if it were all iced over.

Two frigid nights made it look like we would get a freeze without snow.

Then, after a couple of days of steady rain, we had puddles and were open again.

The ice now appears to be all in, although not thick enough for any lake-top activities. That said, is it any surprise to hear on the news that we have had the first snowmobile mishap with some bozo being fished out of the water already? Duh.

You will be pleased to hear that your stalwart Lake Association Secretary and Treasurer, George and Eva, went above and beyond their assigned duties and welcomed 2012 in style last night - with midnight fireworks. Try as we might to stay awake, that is past our bedtime and Rick and I didn't make it. I'm sure it was spectacular. In light of the the thin ice factor, the celebration was held at the sand pit, which is the sensible way to do it.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2012 for one and all. To a short winter. And a L-O-N-G cottage season.

What crazy weather is this!!

On the weekend, we were in Toronto and then Peterborough - both locations completely "snow"less.

As we headed back up, we ran into a few flakes in Gravenhurst, which continued for the rest of the trek. We passed a number of lakes that looked like they were partially or completely iced over - with a little coating of snow. And we were surprised to see the same site on our lake when we got home.

But, in keeping with the forecast of warmer temps, this is what it looks like this morning.

 Certainly not very Christmas card like, is it?

And the forecast doesn't seem to hold much promise of white stuff either.

The Ice Cometh

Here is what we woke to this morning, following a grey and drizzly day yesterday. And lots of melting on Monday.

If you look carefully at the top picture, you can see not only the frost on the glass panels, but little things floating in the water. The second picture shows it a bit better - ice crystals starting to form.

This seems very strange indeed, since we have been having practically balmy days of 5 degrees!! We went to Barrie yesterday for an appointment and it was 9 degrees there - wow!

We have lost most of the snow that we got on the weekend, which was enough to get the snow blowers out again. I guess we are on the northern edge of the weather pattern that Toronto is having - they are expecting a high of 11 tomorrow and they have NO snow. We aren't that warm, obviously, but we don't have a lot of snow compared to other years.

There is only a 1 in 3 chance for Toronto to have a white Christmas, which is sad, since everyone - even the most avid snow haters - want to see flakes on Christmas Eve. I think our chances are considerably better. I just don't want it to interfere with everyone's travel plans.

Even though I don't want a ton of snow, I am keenly aware of those who rely on it for their livelihood.
We passed Mount St. Louis Moonstone yesterday and other than the two runs they have been blowing snow on, there is nothing!!!!

Plus, we passed quite a few pick up trucks with plows on their fronts - who looked a bit obvious on the totally bare highway. Those guys depend on that work to supplement their seasonal employment, so that can't be good for them.

I feel pretty confident we don't have to worry in this neck of the woods. I just hope that the late start doesn't mean a late finish - with snow in April.