May 15, 2009. Carriage Hills Resort, Ontario.

It all comes back to you as you drive north on Highway 400. Stones every where you look. Stones streaked with pink and grey and black. Stones big and bigger. The Parry Sound granite every where you look. And then you see the swamps. All the low lying areas filled with water, with millions of bugs just waiting to hatch. The black flies in Muskoka are arriving in force, to be followed soon by the mosquitoes. The lakes are beautiful, with Lake Joseph one of the best. Today, we were trying to figure out why the air in Muskoka feels so fresh and soft, and we decided that it was the clean air and the damp air combined with the light breeze that makes the air feel so good. We were all happy to see and feel the air and the water at the cottage in Muskoka with Dave and Irene to greet us.

David and Irene and Wendy bought their cottage on Lake Joseph, on Redwood Road, in a complex called Redwood Cottages. It is interesting that they have purchased a co-op. They are responsible for the cottage while the co-op maintains the grounds and the docks and the water and sewer. It works well for them. The by-laws do not allow any owner to enlarge the footprint of the cottage, so in order to get more space, they raised the cottage and finished the lower lever, with two bedrooms and a full bath plus an efficiency kitchen down stairs. A stacked washer and dryer was in stalled, along with a large patio under the deck. In actual fact, they have doubles the space in the cottage but they have quadrupled the use of the cottage. It is a lovely renovation and I was pleased to see it in operation.

Trillium's are all throughout the woods. It is the provincial flower of Ontario, and this is the time to see them. At lunch today, Irene served us sausage rolls, along with lots of other good food, but the hit of the day was the sausage rolls. They were made at Don's Bakery in Bala, so on the way home we drove home right down the main street and found the bakery. We purchased all ten and brought them home for dinner. My sister came into the bakery too to buy our dessert tonight. We had a grand day. Perfect weather, great food and good company.