Community

Yesterday I met someone who's interested in natural building. He lives downtown, but as luck would have it also owns a couple acres a few blocks away from Twin Ponds. We chatted for five hours over a few pints of beer trading stories. As people came and went in the bar, most seemed to stop and give him a wave or nod.

The idea of community is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, so it was nice to expand mine a bit. I'm hoping to help him out on a few projects around his place and do some hands-on learning about cob building... Depending on how it goes maybe I can build my own cob oven next summer!

Keedo put his paw in my hand yesterday while we were watching a movie

Night's Sky

This year it felt like spring lead directly into fall. Last weekend temperatures plummeted to just above freezing. Quite a shock when I remember swimming a mere two weeks ago.

With the falling temperatures came our fall tradition: getting the raft out of the pond. This year we were lucky; not only were there four people to share in the load, but we had an audience of no fewer than six! Guess word is getting around.

While there's a lot of things that I'm not looking forward to with the changing of the season, there's plenty to be excited about. It's time for hearty soup and fresh bread. Cozy fires in our wood stove are about to accompany our evenings. The sun sets early giving us hours of beautiful stars to enjoy before bed. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get myself out of bed in time to enjoy a sunrise or two.

When life gives you tomatoes...

... make tomato sauce!

Sarah, Lauren and I spent last Tuesday evening whipping up some tomato sauce to use up the overabundance of tomatoes we got from the garden this year.

I took up gardening at TP last year with the invaluable help and guidance of our knowledgable neighbour who's been growing his own vegetables for more than 30 years now. More on that another day.

Because of the sheer number of tomatoes we had to work with (most of them cherry tomatoes) we opted to base what we did on two recipes we found online. One called for baking halved cherry tomatoes in a Dutch oven while the second necessitated roasting whole tomatoes on the stove until they pop.

In both cases we veered away from the recipes considerably to accommodate our available ingredients.

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• Cherry tomatoes, halved (enough to fill an 8-quart Dutch Oven; you'll need a lot)
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 full heads of garlic
• Fresh pepper
• Salt to taste
• Sliced fresh hot peppers (we used a variety from our garden including jalapeños and chilis) optional

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°C.
2. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and toss them in a Dutch oven until it's half full.
3. Layer in the chopped onions.
4. Continue to add halved tomatoes until the Dutch oven is nearly full.
5. Slice the top off both heads of garlic as you would if you were roasting them.
6. Nuzzle the heads of garlic into the tomatoes as shown below.
7. Bake for approximately hour. Tomatoes should be nicely roasted.
8. Remove the garlic and set aside to cool.
9. Meanwhile, ladle out 75% of the tomato juice that will have accumulated in the Dutch oven during the baking process. Use your judgement here; you'll want the sauce to have a good consistency once it's blended so removing more or less than we did will make sense depending on how juicy your tomatoes were.
10. Once the garlic is cool, squeeze the roasted pulp into the sauce.
11. If you're going to add hot peppers this is the time to do it.
12. Blend the sauce. We used an immersion blender and opted for a smooth sauce, but you could choose to only blend a portion for a chunkier consistency.
13. Add salt and fresh pepper to taste.

 Sautéed Cherry Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• Cherry tomatoes, whole
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 head of garlic, peeled
• Fresh pepper
• Salt to taste
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add enough cherry tomatoes to cover the bottom of the pan and cover with a splatter screen. 
3. Stir occasionally. Once all the tomatoes have popped, transfer into a large pot (we used a soup pot) and simmer on medium-low.
4. Once the first batch of tomatoes is transferred into the pot, add the onion and garlic.
5. Continue cooking batches of cherry tomatoes in olive oil and adding them to the pot once they've popped. You'll need to add more olive oil once in a while to keep the bottom of the pan from drying out.
6. Once all your tomatoes have been transferred into the soup pot, continue to simmer for approximately one hour, then turn off heat.
7. Blend the sauce. We used an immersion blender and opted for a smooth sauce, but you could choose to only blend a portion for a chunkier consistency.
8. Add salt and fresh pepper to taste.

Our initial plan was to try canning, but the risk of botulism (as remote as it is) turned me off of the idea. Instead we picked up some freezer bags and just scooped out single portions. Not only is it safer, but it's a lot less work too! The only limiting factor is the size of our freezer, but sharing with friends is a great way to mitigate that.

And, of course, you have to have a taste. We garnished our sauce with fresh basil. 

Bon appétit!

Photo Post

That's it for posts from the way back machine. I thought I'd kick off returning to the present with a few photos from when our friends Dave and Lauren visited a few weeks ago. It was an absolutely beautiful summer weekend. What better way to spend it than with good friends? All photos are by Dave and Lauren.

Keedo loves to ride on the surf board

We played some Wahoo and Tichu

Week 26 - Of Birthdays, Friends, and Rain

.: Aug 19-21 2011 :.

This week marked the first time we started doing something that would become our weekly ritual: we drove our neighbours' son up. Since he lives in the city not far from us but does not own a car, he's been making the trip north via public transportation each week. Unfortunately, due to route cutbacks the nearest bus stop is still a 30 minute drive from his parents' place. That means his father had to make an hour+ round trip to pick him up and drop him off each week.  This was not ideal for obvious reasons and it wasn't long before we realized we could easily coordinate our schedule and save them both the trouble.

This week's adventures brought old friends, new friends and lots of games with a side of work. First, our friends Pete and Sarah made their first of many trips up. Pete is quite the chef and prepared fantastic meals throughout the weekend (this, too, has since become a bit of a ritual). The weather decided to be a bit difficult and although we faced on and off showers all weekend I can safely say we all had a great time.

For a few hours on Saturday night we said farewell to Pete and Sarah and joined our neighbours for a birthday party. They'd kindly extended the invite the previous week and it was an excellent opportunity for us to meet their family. From the moment we walked in the door and greeted everyone we felt at home. The warm, festive atmosphere was contagious and before long we were all talking and laughing like old friends.

The evening brought us back to Twin Ponds. We walked into the cabin to find Pete and Sarah enjoying the coziness of the cabin to keep out of the insistent rain. The dull skies didn't dampen our moods, however, and we enjoyed an evening of Gin Rummy. The rain tapered off late in the evening and we took full advantage of the opportunity by building a fire and roasting some marshmallows

On Sunday we opted to take Pete and Sarah to the diner for a great breakfast. With the rain holding off for the majority of the day, we fed the fish, did some barbecuing, and played more games. At one point in the afternoon we walked out our driveway to find that the backhoe had been delivered for the driveway work that was scheduled to begin on Monday. It was time for our dirt driveway to become or gravel driveway.

Land ahoey

Rain can't stop us

Hi

Beautiful night's sky

Yoshi pays us a visit

Week 25: Back is Black

.: August 13 & 14, 2011 :.

Floating paradise

We had high hopes for and anticipation of the scheduled events this weekend. 

We arrived earlier than usual Friday evening (without any incidents) and we settled in and played a couple of games of cribbage on the deck to kill some time. The temperature gradually started sinking so we decided to go inside and watch Spooks before turning in for the night.

I got up early Saturday morning and while Sim was still sleeping I started cleaning up the forest area that has been my project over the better part of this summer. I was busy moving small sticks and such when out of the blue my lower back locked up and sent waves of pain up my spine and down my legs. I tried to walk it off, but the pain just wouldn't go away. Over the course of the weekend it slowly grew worse.

Wildflower

The pain had started only a few minutes before Sim got up, and it wasn't long after that that Bob and his crew showed up with the new raft on a trailer. It took them about 45 minutes to unload it, get it into the pond, and have it anchored in its designated spot. Once there it looked terrific!

At about 11:30 Sim's parents arrived. There was a little rain, so we hung out on the deck talking until it cleared up, at which time Sim's mother wanted to get working, so she went to the forest to continue my earlier work. Both of us were again impressed by how hard she works - she's like a machine. She completely finished relocating the pile of branches and sticks and the forest area is looking better for it.

Up close and very personal

While she was working I went to the shed to get the red rake. As I approached the shed door I noticed a spider's web in which a wasp had become entangled. The author of the web (Charlotte?) was in the process of wrapping the wasp in a cocoon. I quickly got Sim's attention and she brought her camera with the macro lens and got some really great shots.

By around 2:00 we were ready for a swim! I was the first in the water and onto the raft. Sim joined him, followed by her father. The water was a little chilly, because the weather's been a bit cooler than normal, but it was refreshing and, more importantly, fun!

Anyway, the raft is fantastic - we're very excited for the hours of fun and relaxation it offers us in the future.

At around 3:30 it started to look ominous on the horizon, so we decided to get dinner ready. I had already started the BBQ and by the time we got back to the chalet it was piping hot and ready for the seasoned chicken we'd brought. Sim's parents brought some delightful red cabbage salad and we had a very delicious and pleasant meal at the "new" picnic table.

Pond wildlife

We spent a while longer visiting before Sim's parents got ready to leave and then said our goodbyes as they departed.

By this point my back was killing me, and I more or less passed out for the next few hours on a couple of the open-armed Muskoka chairs. Meanwhile Sim spent some time at the pond taking more macro shots.

We spent the rest of the evening watching a few more episodes of Spooks before calling it a night.

The next morning my back was still causing him real grief. Nevertheless, we went to the local inn and enjoyed a delicious sausage and egg breakfast. It was still overcast and in fact shortly after returning to Twin Ponds the weather became threatening. The thunder on the horizon prompted us to pack up early and head home.

Even though the weekend was regrettably cut short, it was very nice and gave us more enthusiasm about spending time in Pond Superior playing on the raft. Good times to come!

Week 23: Blood, Sweat, and Tears

.: July 30 - August 1, 2011 :.

Our fish are quickly becoming acclimatized to our presence and are now quick to swim up to us for their weekly feeding. There's something truly peaceful about sharing the pond with them and it's something I look forward to every week.

We spent the weekend continuing our landscaping work, this time turning our attention to the overgrowth down the length of our dirt driveway. We also had a great time swapping stories with the neighbours while enjoying a glass of wine on their deck. Talk about a spectacular view!

Since we'd cut down quite a few branches during our work, we dedicated a bit of time this week to building a makeshift shoe rack. Since the cabin is quite small, we need to optimize the space carefully otherwise it quickly starts looking quite dishevelled. We were quite happy with the final result despite its very rustic appearance. Rustic is good, right? (Note from the future: using freshly cut wood to build anything is a bad idea as it does not age well. Wood should first be professionally kiln dried or seasoned for a couple of years after it's cut in order to be useful in building projects.)

Eating from our hand

Our neighbours' view & ours

Construction

Work cons

Roasted to perfection

Week 19: Good Times, Good Friends

(Despite the author being listed as Spence, it's actually Sim)

Our first Canada Day Long Weekend at Twin Ponds was marked by a big first: I finally conquered my fears and went swimming for the first time! The water was pleasantly warm and calm, its mirror-like surface distorted only by ripples created by lazy our movements. The gold fish inhabitants welcomed us by swimming nearby hoping for a snack of bread.

On the drive up, we made an uneducated decision when we purchased some blow-up pool furniture on a whim. This proved to be a mistake as the raft failed to stay inflated even for one day! We promptly returned it for a full refund and learning from our mistake, began researching some better alternatives.

With our barbecue assembled and fully operational, we were now equipped for guests. Our friends Ange and Matt were quick to accept the invitation and committed to taking the time to bike over to us from a town about 100km away with full camping gear in tow. Once they arrived, we came to the realization that we had yet to discover an ideal camp site -- all the spots we explored were either sloped uncomfortably or were quite rocky necessitating some sort of foam pad which we did not have available. After some deliberation, it was decided that they would spend the night on the small, greying bridge that crosses our river. The following day, in the amber light of the early morning, Ange reported that while it's not ideal, the bridge was actually a pretty good spot. The water provided a soothing drone to fall asleep to. Unfortunately, though, every move one makes on the bridge reverberates in the aging wood. Time to find a new spot for next time.

Although we had guests, work didn't stop around Twin Ponds. Continuing on our journey of reclaiming the overgrown and deteriorated exterior of the project, we turned to staining the beautiful Muskoka (Adirondack if you're an American reader) chairs the previous owner had included in the purchase. While I happily stained away, Spence borrowed a ladder from our neighbours and replaced the burned out bulbs of our exterior porch light. Now, venturing out in the middle of the night is a little less daunting.

A great way to cool off

Cleaning up

Ange and Matt's tent

A good time

Blossoming spirits

Lounging

Week 16: Bye-bye Bushes

Before we completely fell off the blogging wagon (that's a thing, right?) we'd actually created a number of draft posts with photos and point form notes. Instead of letting all that stuff go to waste I've decided to post them before writing about more recent events.

Without further ado, here's week 16.

.: May 21, 2011 - The May Long Weekend :.

This weekend's visit was a bit of a hallmark for a couple of reasons: it was our first two-night stay and we finally finished installing the floor in the main room!

We had dinner with our wonderful neighbours and despite considering leaving early due to heavy rain we decided to tough it out. We were rewarded with a gorgeous Sunday so Spence took the opportunity to have his first swim of the year. It would be the first of many. At this point I was still refusing to swim in the pond because I thought it was murky and, well, kind of gross. It's kind of funny thinking back to this time because swimming in Pond Superior has since become my favourite activity.

We also took some time to do two other things during this weekend that would become staples in our Twin Ponds routine over the next two years: clearing some bush having a bon fire.

Hi! Do you love me?

Bush massacre

Morning web

... and we're back!

*tap tap* Is anyone still there?

After a very long and unplanned hiatus, I've decided to revive this blog. It's become obvious that it was impractical to try to document everything that happened every weekend -- it just lead to a perpetual catch-up situation which became so demoralizing that we gave up completely. This time I'm going to focus on the most important and meaningful aspects of the time we spend up here. I've been very inspired by Tara and Tyler's fantastic blog, Going Slowly, which I recently discovered. They're going through many of the same things we've gone through. It's great to read about their adventures and be so closely reminded of many of our own.

Just look at that smile!

So much has happened in the past 2 years. My first goal is to go through the many, many photos that have accumulated since our last update and slowly post the accompanying stories that stand out in my mind.

But today I'll focus on the present. Spence and I both crashed around 9 p.m. last night and still managed to sleep until 7:30 this morning. While Spence built a fire, I grabbed a cup of coffee and came out to the pond to breathe a bit of life into Welcome to Twin Ponds. Keedo happily followed me and has been basking in the sun while I type away.

Yesterday Mark came over to give me a bit of a watercolour lesson. I have very little experience with painting, but not only is Mark extremely talented (check out his site), he's also an excellent teacher. I don't think my work is ready for the gallery just yet, but I had a great time.

Can you guess which painting belongs to whom?

Finished products