And the New year has arrived in style... sans Cottage # 1...

                      Brandy's style, break-dancing  on the lake...

      Brandy and I spend much time on the bush trails near Torbay

A relatively slow start to the winter season brought a couple of groups
for ice fishing with Grump & Grumpy’s, and later in the month
the trails opened for snowmobiling

Beardmore group, the first snowmobilers of the season had perfect conditions after a fresh snowfall ...

Catching the sunset, 29th January is the Cooper clan near the end of January

            Sunset Point  in b&w

                                                     Feb 8th

The Hopkins Party ... and it was indeed...

Part of the Manthel group during the thaw Feb 16-18      

  We went from thaw to snow ... and from quiet to busy...

 ... and the trails were fabulous ... but only for a few days at a time...

         ... and then from busy to quiet as the rain returned...

Some Guests were luckier with the weather than others !!!

                                            Sunset 19th Feb

After the wetness... which seemed to be most weekends
... then there were days of wonder on the trails...

   Middle of March already and the season is over as
     ice fishing ends today (the 15th)  ... shacks have
       to be off-ice by month's end

                                        Sunset March 14th

   Mid March it came time to remove some trees. I did this with a very heavy heart, however the large Maple by # 3 was lifting the foundation of the cottage the last few years and it was only a matter of time before it would cause serious damage to both the footings and the entry-way.

   And the big Ash by # 5 also had to be taken down because the root system had been compromised due to the digging on two sides for the waterline and the underground hydro. Not only would there be significant die-back on the branches, but also the tree was at risk of being blown over onto the cottage by a strong off-lake wind storm.  This Ash also had a huge hole in it's center further compromising it's integrity. It looks Very different around here now!

The good news is that the wood goes to a local mill where the usable parts will become floorboards and counter-tops etc while the balance becomes firewood in trade.

And of course the sunsets continue to amaze...

Brandy and I continue our walks in the bush every afternoon...
                  Spring is in the Air ...

Sunset April 24

Through April and May business was also brisk with Cloture3Saison and Daviault here taking several cottages while they worked on completion of the fencing for North Bay's new Sportsfield just down Lakesore Drive.

Torbay provides a niche market during the off-season for a whole variety of families and workers requiring a 'home away from home', especially suitable for extended periods where eating out every day is not only expensive but also unhealthy for the most part.

Brandy is happiest chasing the bunnies and deer on our daily bush walks...

I hired professionals to move the Blue Spruce from the front of the
house to the side yard as it was getting too large and blocking the view

Way too many great sunsets... this one April 29                

In May new decks were installed for Cottage 3, 4 & 5 ...
I felt that with the removal of some of the yard to make way
for the new (twin) driveway(s) as part of the severance, this
would be a way of giving back, and a bit of a trellis/roof system
will help provide some shade as the big shade trees in front of
# 3 and # 5 had to be removed.

May 14     2011                               

Cottage 5 ... new beginnings ...

May 12th                 

                  Fiddleheads by # 7

May 22nd                    

  Trillium on one of the Brandy walks...

May 19                

Terrol & I, with Sadie and Brandy make many walks in the bush and trails etc... here are some of the wildflowers...

   Columbine                                                                                                                                     ummm?

                                                         Sadie.... and Brandy off in the distance

Rene Morin from Montreal (Cloture3Saison) returned for final inspections to the work performed on our new Sportsfield. 
Some of the fencing is 45ft high... nice truck!                                            Young, fresh Oak leaves      May 21              

        Later in May the work began on twinning the driveways, eventually to be separated by a row of Cedar trees (hedge) to deliniate the new property line.  Here my friend Kent is saving me much backbreaking...

May 27             

             Wet Brandy thinking about the ducks... again !

June 04    

  Early June this huge silkworm moth was at Cottage 5's front step.
Wingspan was a full 5 inches. Michele Smith was kind enough to email me that this is the largest of the giant silkworm moths and is considered a 'pest'. Proper name is Hyalophora cecropia... ya, with a name like that a pest for sure lol

                              Sunsets continued to be wild... this June 8th

Mark Martin from Otis elevator enjoying a late evening angling for the pike
at the end of the dock

First week of June I hired a crew to dig the trench and fill this with soil to be the new home for the Cedar tree property line.  Since Torbay is ALL sand, we dug a trench 2ft deep and 1.5ft wide and removed all the sand and filled this with topsoil.

Then some bone meal followed by the planting of 190 fresh high-plains Cedars that came from the highlands near Peterborough.

Mid June Bday Party for Moe McGuinty

Prepping the area for the motorhome and shed ...

Middle of June ducklings

... and the loons ... not to be left out...

June 21     

Witch's broom on the trails ...         

Late June the Shad flies returned, as did Al Hoffman from BC (below)

          As we head into summer... many guests returning for another year, some have been coming to Torbay since the early 1990's !

     The Downard Families returned this year, here a game of Lacrosse on the beach early July

                    July 3rd                                                                                                               Passion flowers near the bbq area ...

      Spectacular, no?                 hard to outdoo Nipissing Sunsets imo

The Beachamp Family mid July

8th of July

The Seles and Gregor Families return...

July 12                         

The Family of Phil & Nicky Doucette 

Chief Commanda II  

The only sandcastle that was built this summer ! & I dunno who dunnit!

Frank & Adam Gregor  braisin' up 'dem ribs

                                                                                                The Forget clan tailgating...

THE HEAT OF JULY 21 !!!                                                                      36.4 C      in the shade by the Office...

Kim McCabe & Bandit waiting for another sunset

Monarch @ cottage 5                                                                     Sunset July 24

Brandy's friend Michael (Mikey) ... Joyce's daughter's puppy.... Joyce stayed in the Motorhome for the summer...

Clematis @ Cottage 5                 

Threatening Clouds and Weather with the storm that came through July 29th

On the trails... Indian Pipe                         

                    ... Spotted Dick ...                                                                                             ... that storm of July 29th ...

Hannah family stopped for a visit, having a terrible time of it too...

The Bernier Group enjoying super summer weather

Barb & Randy Brokloff (neighbours Tammy & Darryl in the background)

... the PaddlebreakerboyZ ... thanks for the Canadian Eh?

The M&M girls, Maureen and Marlene Howard                                    Joyce Boetger & her 94 year old Mom (who loves the beach....)

The Lazy Dayz of Summer zzzz

                 Paddling with Joyce & Brandy

Yours Truly...

Alex & Marco enjoying the company of Rayne & Brynn                                  ...  while Randy & Barb are chillin' at Sunset

Sunset Point down the beach

The 4th of August

                    The Younis Girlzzzzz below

& the whole family out for a swim...  ...with a couple of rainy and cool days possibly not the nicest week of this summer...

                  Garden @ Cottage # 6

On the trails...

Since fires are not permitted in the City, this one was snuck down the beach...

The Chadwicks on the dock

Gerry & Janet Coulter with friends and former owners Terrol & Martin Newland

    Photo time at dusk for Lauren & Mathew Chadwick           

Turning out for the super sunset August 14th

Rocky up the neighbour's tree...

Marie Beaupre & Erick Verhelst here for another week    

Mandeville by Cottage 2                      

As August progressed Brian and Monica Sheldrake came by for another week

Delta came back to soak up the Heat!             

Hordur and Chritiane visited from France

Blue Heron leaving the dock area Aug 28th     

New flower gardens at Cottage 4 and 5 (thanks Terrol ! )

The Van-Lith's                                                                     and the Zinner clan

Some of the flowers of Torbay...                      Passion Flower by the BBQ's

Dartura pods forming 

            ... The End of Summer

Summer sort of ended after a busy Labour Day weekend, activity with guests slowed though September and October. The sunsets remained fabulous and the weather superb.

While working on some detailing at Torbay, much time was also spent on the trails with Terrol and Joyce, Sadie and Mikey and of course Brandy.

Here are some trail photos and sunsets...

Hummingbird by the bbq area                    

Sunset September 8th

Terrol & Joyce with Sadie and Mikey ... Brandy is out there ... somewhere !

Mushrooms

Part of the Trans Canada Trail Network

Sept 14th

The fabulous fall weather continued through our Thanksgiving end of first week of October, and in fact we went swimming on Thanksgiving Monday it was such a beautiful and warm day.... the water was just a tad on the cool side lol

On the local trails near the Marina

On the Duchesnay Falls trails early October

At Sunset Point...

It was so warm leading through Thanksgiving weekend that the bees came out again,
visiting the Cosmos at Cottage 4 and 5 and Morning Glory at Cottage 3

Mid October I picked up my father (Egon) in Quebec City (he is 94 !)  plucking him from his year-long Odyssey aboard the MSC Poesia. He had been 'cruising' for a whole year! and I was able to spend the last night on board with him.

You can follow his escapades on his website . 
Mid November I drove Dad to Toronto to board a flight to Cozumel, Mexico where he will spend the winter in an all inclusive resort (Sabor).

Once November hit things got busier in the Guest department, and somewhat surprisingly there were quite a few days when we had no vacancy. Clients comprised families renovating their homes, local temporary work assignments, studies & education, and so on. Some guests were local, others from Iceland, France, Greenland and Quebec, BC, Alberta and of course various parts of Ontario.

I was also busy finalizing some more items dealing with the severance of the property, among them the widening (again) of the driveway to accommodate the needed extra access and also the relocation of the telephone pole that was now in the middle of the drive for the 585 Banner side. There were also site plan finalizations for the City to be completed and submitted before mid November.

First serious snow ... November 30                  

The busy times continued to mid December before a short break
just ahead of the Christmas event. ...

Now, here we are a day before Christmas and there is no snow!

Very unusual for North Bay to have a Green Christmas!

Sunset Dec 23rd

Happy Holidays! 

 ...our Christmas Tree ... and the Christmas Cactus blooming once again...

We have many Guests for the Holidays and Torbay
will be full with family visiting family

 We are supposed to get a few cm of snow on the eve of Christmas
and also Dec 25th... perhaps our Christmas will indeed be White

The Gateway to the New Year
Step on through and may You enjoy Health and Prosperity in 2012

10 Minutes On Gratitude