A few days before Christmas, the season is not quite as hoped. COVID’s returned in a rage and sadly for some, breakthroughs have put a damper on traditional festivities. Even the weather seems unsure, giving a wild swing in temperature, snow’s come and gone. At the moment, Christmas Eve in the near north may bring [...]
MarketWATCH Muskoka: 18 August 2021 In ‘normal’ years there’s a rhythm. Summer flows to a beat. At the beginning there’s a huge ‘Ahhh’. The release of tension and anticipation of dock time, new tricks to learn on the board, summer friends (the lifelong kind you only see in summer), fire pits and s’mores. The rituals [...]
Photo by Murat Onder on Unsplash August’s Perseids is our all-time favorite meteor shower. What nighttime event can surpass a heavenly light show when many families are on vacation? The thought of taking a siesta from the heat of the day and then watching this summertime classic in the cool of night is delicious! No [...]
Photo Credit: Jamie Sherman. We’ve recently talked about the watershed and lake levels. Those in Haliburton which feed the Trent-Severn are at spring height, meaning their water level is now several feet above where it would be at the end of July. Throughout Simcoe, Parry Sound, Muskoka and Haliburton, valleys and seasonal creek beds are [...]
Photo by Nima Sarram on Unsplash We’re in the middle. Middle of what? you ask. Dog days, comes the reply. From about July 3 until August 10 this year, are the dog days of summer. The Romans referred to this time as ‘diès canicularès’’ because the sun was nearest to Sirius, the brightest star visible [...]
Photo by Blake Wheeler on Unsplash MarketWATCH Muskoka: Come on in, the water’s fine! “Come on in, the water’s fine!” Is a call of summer, along with “Last one in!” Cooling off is a ritual we enjoy at any age. Splash contests … can openers, Canadaball’s (as our kids called them), jumping from the boathouse [...]
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash The first full week of July. Almost normal. Renters are in place, lakes are busy, shops are open and patios are appropriately distanced. What’s different? Camps are closed and remain quiet. Caterpillars aren’t noisy either, but they are certainly eating their way through the canopy. Underfoot they are slippery. [...]
Photo by Kristopher Roller on Unsplash Before our next MarketWatch we will have marked our longest day of the year and formal entry into summer. The solstice. It’s a time steeped in the mists of time and the minds of humans. Structures like Stonehenge and megaliths like Abu Simbel are probably fairly recent in [...]
MarketWATCH Muskoka: 28 April 2021 We’ve been working the cottage marketplace for almost 20 years. Most of those years have followed a similar pattern. From the end of March through May, roughly 50% of the year’s business is transacted. 25-30% of the business comes after Labour Day until end of October. Summer accounts for maybe [...]
This has been the year for celebrating a little red berry. From the perspective of harvest, there have been better years. Celebrating? Never better! Great weather and a wonderful turn out for Cranberry Festival in Bala. The village was hopping, fall colours were peaking, days were sunny and the bogs were glorious. This year's Cranfest [...]
