What is a grocery store?

Exactly what is a grocery store? For most of you in large communities it is a place to buy food, maybe get in on some good sales or a place to pick up a quick supper on a busy day. You have several to choose from and have your favourite places to shop. So the answer to my question is a simple one.
For a community like Temagami our grocery store is so much more. It is of course a place to buy food. But when the next closest store is 40 minutes away you appreciate the convenience of having options close by. A grocery store becomes a place to pick up something to cook for supper, fresh buns to go with the chili you just made, ice cream that will never make it home on a hot day. It is also the place where the owners and cashiers all know who you by name and ask how your little girl is doing. It is where you can order the things they don't have in stock but you need. It is where you can get your meat cut just the way you like it.
It is the center of the community. It is where you see your friends and neighbours and find out how they are doing. It is where you find out about everything going on in town at the bulletin board.
Grocery shopping is about so much more than groceries in a small town. When I first moved here I got to know the people who worked at the grocery store and the post office first. They knew me by name before I knew their names and they were always interested in how I was doing.
With the grocery store closed last winter it seemed like we lost touch with one another. It was harder to find out what was going on in town because there was no one spot to check for coming events. It seemed like the winter was long. For me personally with a new baby last winter it was also a lot more work to have to plan a whole day out so we could have food to eat. Grocery shopping meant a long day away from home instead of a walk with Abby in the stroller to pick up the things we needed. I know that I was not alone in missing the grocery store. For the seniors in our community who don't drive it was also a long winter trying to figure out how to get out of town to get the supplies they needed.
For our business and for many others in the area a grocery store is essential. Visitors to our community need to buy groceries while they are here and they would rather not take the better part of the day to buy them. So many items don't travel well and it seems like you always forget to bring something.
It has been so nice to have our grocery store open again. I am thankful for it every time I need to buy groceries.
Our Daily Bread held an open house last Friday complete with baked goodies, and hot drinks. It showed off what it had to offer: the shelves are full with an excellent selection of everything you might need. The fruits and vegetables continue to be fresh and tasty. The bakery is now open and it is so nice to walk into the store and smell fresh bread baking. It's a real treat to be able to pick up fresh buns to go with supper when we want them. They are also stocking almond and soy milk for those of you who need non-dairy milks. You will find Udi's gluten free bread in the freezer section if you are limiting or eliminating your gluten intake. There are rotisserie chickens available Thursday and Friday which are always a tasty treat after a long day of work. There is a nice sitting area set up to enjoy coffee and a muffin with your neighbour and catch up on some of the news or enjoy some  homemade soup and a fresh bun which are available at the store.
I hope our community has learned how important our grocery store is. Unfortunately we live in a seasonal community and many people are unemployed in the winter. As a result there is not a lot of extra money to go around for groceries that cost more than they would at a bigger store and I understand that. But I hope our town will support our store throughout the winter so that we don't lose it again.

Houseboating with baby

It was with much anticipation that we planned for our first houseboating adventure with our little Abby. There were a lot more 'things' to pack and to think about. Should we bring the high chair? How much food will she need? What toys are most important to bring?or should we just bring them all? Before Abby's arrival it seemed like we emptied our entire house into the houseboat for our five days away. This year it seemed even more like it!

Another couple with a baby only four days older than Abby went houseboating not long before us so I asked what they wished they'd brought and what they were glad to have with them. They were very helpful and so I thought I'd share some of the things I learned with anyone else who might be thinking about houseboating with baby.

1. Vacationing with a baby is not relaxing. Don't expect it to be. Most of you are laughing at this because you learned it a long time ago. Somehow this was a revelation to me. We have always looked forward to this time as a getaway to really relax. But the sleepless nights came with us, and the dishes, and the diapers...

I will admit to one morning where I decided that no one in their right mind could possibly houseboat with children for fun. The real problem of course was my expectations not my baby. Our little Abby had a great time and once I changed my expectations I had a lot of fun too.

2. If you have a little one who is eating solids a high chair is very helpful. For most of you space in your vehicle is an issue on this one but it was great to be able to put Abby in the chair to eat. Booster seats can't be attached to the benches so if you hope to use one of them you will want to bring a lawn chair to attach it to.

3. Bring as many of baby's favourite toys as there is room in the car (once you have the essentials packed). You are going to be spending several days on the boat and you will want to have all the favourites handy for your little one to play with. Abby loves her books so we brought them all. She also has a bucket of little animals that she loves to play with so we brought them all. I didn't regret packing a single toy. She played with everything.

4. The pack and play is nice and we used it for nap time but at night I ended up sleeping with Abby most of the time. The different routine and surroundings just made it too difficult for her to get to sleep on her own and she still wakes up often during the night. We all got more sleep when I slept with her. That means you should plan to bring extra blankets for the front bench or other bed. 

The pack and play is also nice for letting baby travel on the front deck to see the sights. It was too cold when we traveled for Abby to really enjoy being on the deck but the other mom I talked to said her little guy loved it.

5. Plan to eat supper early so you can get the dishes done before baby goes to bed. You're living in pretty close quarters and if the dishes don't get done I find it's really hard to get breakfast ready the next morning. In the past we've eaten after fishing in the evening but that really doesn't work with baby unless yours sleeps through anything. Our little girl doesn't want to miss a thing so sleep is hard come by at times.

6. If you enjoy hiking bring a carrier along so you can get out and enjoy the outdoors. We used our carrier in the big boat while we fished. It's a Kelty and stands up so Abby played with some toys and watched us fish. She loved it and was quite excited to see the fishies up close.

7. Choose a spot to park where you can get out and walk around. Our spot was beautiful and very protected but it wasn't at a campsite and had a very steep hill right at shore. We were glad to be so protected when a storm came through but I but because of this I was nervous about taking Abby off the houseboat since it was a bit of a drop if I lost my balance. And there wasn't really anywhere for us to go once we left the boat. 

8. Bring a baby monitor so you can go fishing after baby is asleep. We rigged up our walky talkies so we could monitor Abby in the boat one evening. It was great to be able to get out for an hour or so and fish together. We were never out of sight of the houseboat and we knew Abby was safe so Mike and I were able to relax and enjoy some time together.

9. Make sure you bring a life jacket for baby. We provide one size keyhole life vests but not infant or children's life jackets. You'll definitely want one for swimming. If you are stopped by the safe boating team you need to have life jackets that will fit each person on board.

Highlights of the trip for me were watching Abby learn to stand up by herself at the windows, seeing her excitement over fish and worms and water and having so much time to spend with her. While Mike and I didn't get to have nearly as much together time as other years we made the most of the time we did have and I think we had a great first vacation as a family.

Riding the Dreamcatcher Express

The last two weekends have been busy but fun. The Dreamcatcher Express comes to town at this time of year and brings people to enjoy the fall colours during their trip from North Bay. They get to spend four hours in Temagami and then ride the train back to North Bay in time for supper.

We have had the privilege of driving our houseboats to provide a cruise on Lake Temagami during the Dreamcatcher for the past seven years and it has been a lot of fun. We have met so many nice people and had the chance to share what we love about our town. It's busy but a nice change from cleaning houseboats since right now we are busy getting them ready to come out of the water for another year :)

This year the fall colours have not been as spectacular in Temagami as other years but there was a nice showing in North Bay which made the train ride quite scenic.

For the first time we had the opportunity to ride the train and I have to say I was impressed. The dome car is beautiful and gives a great view of the scenic beauty you are traveling through. We saw four great blue herons on our trip back to North Bay and on two other mornings the travelers saw a moose. The entertainment car is spacious and the music had everyone's feet tapping.

Little Abby loved her first train ride and it made us want to travel by train again. It was so relaxing and we could all take in the view instead of keeping our eyes on the road and watching for dangers along the way. We took Abby for walks up and down the aisles and it was easy to amuse her. She made friends with a little boy on the trip. They played peek-a-boo between the window and the seats for at least 45 minutes. It was so cute to watch. Abby's ears perk up now whenever she hears the train go through town.

Abby and I go geocaching

I've been looking forward to trying to find a cache for months now. I was going to go in May but first it snowed, then it rained and then things just got busy... Today I decided that we were going to go no matter what. And then I realized why I hadn't gone before now as it got later and later in the day. When my little girl decided she was not going to nap this afternoon I seized the opportunity.

I wanted to try what looked like a nice easy cache for our first one and went to the picnic area at Net Lake. Believe it or not I have never stopped there before. I was surprised by how busy it was and I quickly wished I'd brought a little picnic for us to enjoy. We always went on picnics with my family and I have lots of great memories of enjoying the outdoors and family and great food. As Abby gets bigger I'm sure we'll head back here for a picnic or two.

I got out our little yellow Garmin Gecko 101 and Abby was immediately interested. Yellow is her favourite colour and there were buttons to push! As we followed the arrow to the cache I

discovered that the pipeline passes through the area and there is a well used ATV trail on it. We followed the trail until the GPS showed us that the cache was off the trail. Now this was something I was not prepared for. Carrying an eight month old baby and wandering through the bush was not an easy task. I was worried about the branches hitting her face so I was moving slowly. Unfortunately, our little Gecko needs movement in order to work properly and in the bush it just didn't go very well. Judging from the comments on Geocaching.com I spent a bit too

much time in the bush and overshot it. I know I was close. I could see where others had also searched for this cache. I probably almost stepped on it.

We did have a lot of fun. Abby discovered leaves

and needles and tree trunks and ferns. We also saw a family of almost grown grouse. I'm sure they thought we were chasing them as we went round and round looking for the cache. We had to give up because it was supper time and almost bedtime for a little girl who hadn't wanted to nap. Maybe when Abby is a bit bigger we'll try this one again when she can help me search for the cache and I don't have to worry about her so much. I can see this being a lot of fun with our little girl in a couple of years!

Grocery News

We are very excited that our grocery store has reopened. It is now under the name Our Daily Bread. As with most new beginnings it takes a while to get everything running smoothly, however things are coming together nicely.

If you went grocery shopping in town the first few weeks after the store opened you may have been surprised by what you didn't find. The stock was quickly bought up by our enthusiastic town visitors. It was great to see how quickly inventory could be turned around in our little community.

All of the basics are there: bread, milk, eggs, meat, ice cream and ice (in the middle of summer when it's 30C these are staples), and dry goods can all be found on the shelves. You won't find three different brand names of each product for comparison shopping but you will find what you need as you shop the aisles.

There is a good selection of fruits and vegetables which are grown right here in Ontario making them nice and fresh when they arrive. The meat is also grown and processed locally either in Warren by Creative Meats or by our butcher, Norm Lacroix.

Nine months without a grocery store in town certainly made us appreciate the convenience of being able to run to the store to pick up what we need. We hope that Our Daily Bread has a successful season and will be around for many years to come.

Hike to High Rock

A few years ago my sister and I had a chance to take a trip on one of our houseboats. We have lots of special memories from those few days. We swam and fished and roasted marshmallows and laughed and explored. All in all it was a great weekend.

It was my first experience houseboating without my husband who has grown up on Lake Temagami and driving boats. It was fun to get to be a tourist for once and explore somewhere I had never been.

We decided to go to Cross Bay to a campsite that turned out to be perfect for one houseboat and two sisters to have a weekend getaway. We dubbed it 'Sisters' Sanctuary'. One of the reasons we had chosen that location was because I wanted to hike up High Rock. We towed a 14' boat behind the houseboat so we could easily get to the landing for the hike since I didn't know my way. While we were there someone came along with a pontoon boat so I'm sure we could have driven the houseboat right there. The dock was a bit worse for wear but maybe someone has fixed it up a bit since then.

The hike itself was not too hard. There were a couple of spots that were steep but it wasn't so hard that we couldn't visit as we walked. This is a well traveled trail so you don't need to worry that you might lose your way.

The big boulder was along the trail and left us wondering what had made it stop there instead of continuing down the slope. The other two pictures give you an idea of the view from the top. High Rock is located at the hub of Lake Temagami and in one picture you can see some of Temagami Island and just a few of the many island that dot the lake. I would highly recommend this hike because it doesn't require you to be a great athlete and because of the fantastic view. Bring some water to drink and even a picnic if you want and definitely bring your camera.

Night skies

Ever since I was a kid I've enjoyed watching the night sky. I grew up in Northern Ontario on a farm. With the lights of the nearest town miles away we had the perfect location for seeing the night sky in all its beauty. We used to take our sleeping bags out on our front lawn for the night just so we could watch the stars until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer.

Now I live in Temagami and we don't really have a lawn to sleep on but I still love to watch the stars in the night sky. Really I don't think anything compares with a clear sky on a moonless night on Lake Temagami. Far from the bright lights of the city the countless stars shine brightly. Something I never had a chance to see on the farm was the reflection of the stars on the water on a calm night. I think those calm nights are now my favourite to be watching the stars move across the sky.

Mid-August is a great time for stargazing with the Perseid meteor shower peaking Aug 12-13 this year. There can be up to 50 meteors an hour during this time. Unfortunately this year the full moon is on the 13th but the weeks leading up to it should have a good showing of meteors in the hours before dawn.

If you want to watch the planets bring along your telescope and check out which ones will be in the sky while you are in the area. www.nightskyinfo.com or www.stardate.org might be helpful to you if you don't already have a sight that you check to see what is interesting in the night sky.

Also keep your eyes open for the Northern Lights. If you are on the lake shortly after a solar flare you may get the treat of watching them dance across the sky.