A bridge...not so far

 Okay, so the stream my parents' sarcastically called "The Mighty Mogelon" is not very wide but balancing over two 2x4s was starting to drive me crazy. And I have terrible balance. I asked Richard to build me a bridge. He came up with the simple solution of throwing a piece of plywood over the 2x4s. Yay for ingenuity!

Meanwhile, the frozen and slushy stream is a busy highway for a few raccoons, awoken from their slumber because it's been a warmish week.

The only thing caught on the webcam for the past few weeks was this snap of a very large raccoon.

A day in the woods

 Since I burn wood to heat the house, Richard and I spend much of the winter cutting and gathering. Here's Richard crossing the frozen Mighty Mogelon pulling his chainsaw and gas with his toboggan.

 When the creek freezes I'm in mind of the lyrics to a Joni Mitchell song that goes, "I wish I had a river, that I could skate away on..."

 This is another creek that rarely, almost never freezes. I always threaten to do a polar bear dip in it, but never actually have taken the challenge.

This was an odd sight. Walking by a tree, my eye caught a glimpse of something reddish. At first I thought it was a dead pine clump. But upon further examination, it is some sort of bird's feather. Wonder what the back story is there...?

Woods close up

 The first snowfall took us into the woods. Funny how this poplar is still growing but is missing half its trunk.

 Look at these teeny weeny mushrooms growing on the tree trunk. My sis said they looked like mini-pancakes.

 I love how the base of a few trees had frills of moss. So dynamic against the white snow backdrop.

Another green frilly skirt.

Love the detail of the moss. Wonder what's living in there?

 I also looked really closely at the trunk and noticed all the lichen growing there. Mini-lives on the trunk. Cool.

Happy New Year walk

  On New Year's Eve we ventured into the woods after a 20 cm snowfall.

 The trees had a light coating of snow, almost like a layer of icing sugar.

We had to wear our snowshoes but the trails were still full of prickly ash and raspberry canes.

Happy 2016 everyone. I hope the year brings you all happiness and joy.

Take a walk on the boardwalk

 Over the weekend we went to Cooper Marsh, a conservation area just down the road a piece.

 Just recently they rebuilt what seems like miles of boardwalk...

 We took one of the shorter routes through the marsh.

 It was a bright windy day, likely one of the few left before the snow flies.

 Lots of golds and browns in the palette.

 And as I mentioned, miles of boardwalk with areas to stop and observe wildlife.

 The only wildlife in the marsh was Richard and me!

 But there were hungry chickadees waiting for a handout. Next time I'll bring some sunflower seeds for them. They sure are friendly. I think they've been hand fed a few times before. I tried to lure them with some sumac seeds. It worked only once and then they ignored me!

Very scenic spot for taking photos.

And we had to snap a selfie...natch!

Algonquin Park Trails

 Over our holidays a few weeks back...

 ...we headed over to Algonquin Park...

 ...where we spent the day.

 We walked three different trails...

 ...some with cliffs...

 ...some with lakes...

 ...all with magnificent trees.

We loved all three trails and next year intend to try one of the longer circuits.

A Walk at the Trails

We're lucky to live near the Glengarry Trails which includes a walk around a small lake called the Garry Fen.

It was quite muggy and buggy but that didn't stop us.

Even though it rained on us halfway through, Peggi led the way.

We came upon the carnivorous pitcher plant in bloom.

 I just love these sedges that are growing on this wee hummock.

 Each of these tiny islands sport a different collection of plant life.

 In the woods we came upon the most amazing collection of these dryad saddle mushrooms.

Fabulous!

 Peggi spotted this Ram's head orchid, a rare plant in these parts.

We even came upon a small clump of these beauties.

 The marsh marigolds were still in bloom.

 And clumps of ferns were unfurling. (And no, these aren't the edible kind.)

 Maidenhead ferns are so delicate looking.

 Some wildlife action. Check out the fast moving snail we caught on camera.

 And this bullfrog was happy to watch us walk by, not moving one bit as I snapped his photo.