Winter Fun at Island Lake Conservation Area

  

The husband hasn't skated in about 25 years. I thought he didn't like to skate - or at least that's how I remembered it after all these years, but it turns out his old skates were uncomfortable so he never went. We fixed that problem on Saturday by buying him new skates and on Monday we went to try them out. 

I don't like to skate indoors because of all the nasty smells so I did some Googling to find outdoor skating in our area. We decided to go to Island Lake Conservation Area near Orangeville, Ontario. It turned out to be so much more than just skating and was a great choice.

There was a skating area on a pond for hockey and one out on the lake for pleasure skating. I guess skating is like riding a bike because the husband did well once he got going. It was a cold day (-15C), but no wind so we actually warmed up while we were skating and walking around and even had to take our mitts off. 

  

There were about 40 ice huts on the lake and a fishing derby for the kids. I have seen fishing huts lots of times at the cottage, but never up this close. I looked inside one of the huts (well two, but one of them had people inside looking back at me - gulp). I figured you like interiors as much as I do so I even took a picture of the inside of one. They are a little plain inside and could do with some decorating. In addition to all the ice fishing huts, there were lots of holes in the ice and even a clever contraption to cover the hole and allow access to it.

  

Other activities for the kids included making snow art using paint and bird seeds and minnow races. These were both new activities to me. The snow art would have been something I would have done with my own kids if I had thought of it when they were young, but the minnow races ... well, let's just say the minnows looked a little hypothermic and the rain gutters were freezing over and leave it at that. There were also snow shoe rentals and plenty of trails through the woods to use them on and there were campfires to cook marshmallows and hot dogs. 

Island Lake was a great place to get out and enjoy winter. I'm on the lookout for some more outdoor skating rinks now that we've established that the husband likes to skate.

   

New Year's in the Snow

We went to the cottage for a few days over New Year's and ended up staying a day longer because of a snowstorm. It is lovely to be snowed in (or even only semi-snowed in) when you aren't in a rush to get home.

Over the course of three days we went from having only a little bit of snow in the bush

to a lot of snow everywhere.

There were crazy snowsqualls

with wild yetis wandering about on the lake and through the woods. The yetis do look vaguely familiar, I have to admit. They carried sticks for safety on the ice, but then became crazed circle-making machines.

We also had calm, sunny weather as well.

Most days began and ended with gentle sunsets and sunrises.

There were frozen puddles with oak leaves suspended in the ice

and snow dusting the dry oak leaves making them look like Christmas cookies

and shimmery ice crystals in the air

and a warm and cozy cabin to come back to

with the best view to admire while eating.

Our days were spent reading, chatting, and walking through the woods or on the lake.  

  
We welcomed the new year with a meal of Nigerian Curry and an evening playing a murder mystery game and a toast of champagne at midnight.

And after we had eaten every shred of food we brought, we left pulling our bags on the toboggans.

  

  
 The end!