Weber’s: A Cottager’s Delight

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..or is it?

On this Canada Day weekend many cottagers who are heading north to Orillia and beyond will be making a pit stop at Weber’s, an Ontario landmark. All the years that I’ve been going to my cottage on Georgian Bay I’ve never been to Weber’s, mostly because it’s not on the way for me.

Last weekend I passed Weber’s on the way to a friends place and on the way home I decided I needed to stop at Weber’s, just to say that I’ve been there and experienced one of their ‘legendary’ burgers.

Weber’s is a family run business that Paul Weber started in 1963. The burger hut became so popular that the Ministry of Transportation put up barriers between the south and north bound lanes on Highway 11 to keep people from crossing the busy highway. It was becoming a serious safety hazard. The barrier, unfortunately, seriously affected Weber’s business so they purchased a section of bridge from the CN Tower in Toronto and were given permission to erect it over the highway in 1983. To this day this is the only privately owned bridge, anywhere in Ontario, that spans a provincial highway.

Travellers now can park on either side of the highway and have easy and safe access to Weber’s. Over the years the business has been passed on to Paul Weber Jr. and many new additions have been made to the property. There are two separate entrances and two separate grilling stations to reduce the line-ups and picnic tables have been set up in well kept park like settings. There is also a diner style car on the property if you want to eat indoors.

I thought the line-ups would a problem for me but they have a very efficient system that gets you in and out very quickly. The burgers were good but I didn’t think they were any better than a Harvey’s burger or Southside burger. In fact these places have more options when it comes to toppings and choice of buns.

The organization has become so large that refrigerated box cars are on the property to store the meat and over 400 stores across Canada now sell Weber burgers. The weekend I went was before the long weekend in July, when the really busy summer traffic begins. I can only imagine that the line-ups will be considerably longer and the wait times as well. Would I stop there again? Maybe but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way for a Weber’s burger. I know there are people out there that would disagree with me but a least I can say that I’ve been there, done that.

For more information about the history of Weber’s you can check out this link.

Cheers!

The Month of June in Photos

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Mama Cormier

Saturday, June 1st – Fun Fair

: Our principal taunting the boys and girls

: Professional griller

: Inflatable slide

: What a good sport!

Saturday, June 8th – High School Reunion

Sunday, June 9th – Girls on the Run 5k

Wed, June 12th – West Conference Girls’ Soccer Finals

Thursday, June 13th – Forest of Reading Celebration

: Finished accordion journals

: …. Luke’s journal

: Drama workshop

: Lunch…..pizza

: Thanks for being expert readers

Saturday, June 15th – Opening the Cottage

: View of the island from the dock

: Enjoying first breakfast at the cottage

: Taking a break after opening the cottage

: View of the cottage from the lane

Wednesday, June 19th – Spring Concert

: Folk Dancing

: Line Dancing

: Shaking those hips

: Modern Dance based on a story that students chose to tell through movement

: Grade 1/2 choir

: ‘Modern Ruins’ dance

: The Junior Choir

The report cards were printed, proofread, reprinted, copied, signed and sent home today. The grade 5s had their farewell ceremony yesterday and today were away for their fun activity day. Today the rest of the school had their Fun Day and a colleague and I spent the morning clearing out the computer lab so that construction crews can come during the summer to remove the wall and enlarge the library.

I’ve returned 90% of all the artwork that students produced in my art classes and students have returned most of the books that they took out of the library. I’ve started removing the books from the shelves that will be moved during construction. Only one more day with the children and then the staff party, followed by one more day of meetings and closing down our classrooms for the summer.

…….busy,busy and only a few things left on my to do list. Phew it’s almost over and then I can start planning for our trip to Ireland.

Why was it so Quiet at the Cottage?

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..could this sign posted at the dock have had anything to do with it?

I’ve been going to my cottage for almost 30 years and we’ve never seen a bear, never mind two bears. One of the reasons is because the cottage is on an island and it takes 20 minutes by ferry boat to get from the mainland over to the island.

You can get a pretty good idea how far away the island is from this photo. The bear must have swum over in the fall. I can’t imagine her doing it in the spring with a young cub in tow. There was some speculation that she might have walked over on the ice but I always thought that bears hibernated in the winter.

Anyway, it was a beautiful day and even though it’s still early in the season there were very few people on our beach. I did hear that some of the cottagers with dogs purposely stayed away until the bear problem is resolved. I feel, however, that unless they become a nuisance, nothing will be done about their presence. It certainly made me think twice about going for a walk in the woods this weekend.

The view looking east and west down the beach, yesterday.

Planning for the Summer

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..opening the cottage and buying tickets for flights to Europe

It all seems so surreal. We haven’t done either of the above yet. It’s almost the end of May and my focus has been on school and it continues to be my focus.

On Friday we will be hosting our Jump Rope for Heart activity and then I’ll be collecting and counting the donations and filling in the paperwork in the week to follow. Next Tuesday the girls’ soccer team will be playing at the Esther Shiner Stadium for the West Conference Finals. One more practice tomorrow morning.

Also next week we have two more sessions for Girls on the Run and then on Sunday June 9 we head up to Vaughn Mills for the actual 5k race. On Friday, next week, we have a report card writing day which is city wide. Hopefully we won’t have the usual problems when more than 11 000 teachers try to get on the system at the same time. Two of us are the report card administrators at my school we are in charge of making sure that there are no glitches in the system at the school level. Unfortunately there are always glitches but they are usually easily fixable.

The following week I have to print all the report cards for the staff. Not a difficult task but somewhat time consuming because again every school in the board prints at the same time and everything comes through cyberspace. The following day I have my physical. That reminds me, I have to check what time my appointment is. I can’t remember if I managed a time after school or if I have to take time off.

On the 13th my Forest of Reading student book club is having their big celebration day. Plans are underway and so far we’ve prepared a book making activity and one of my colleagues has confirmed that we have an artist coming in to do a drama workshop with the students. A pizza lunch has yet to be organized and prizes have to be obtained.

Tonight I spoke with my oldest daughter and we’ve set a potential date to open the cottage. It looks like it may be the Father’s Day weekend. I have to contact my friend D and see if she wants to go up the same weekend.

The week following, the school will be preparing for the spring concert. I promised my friend L, who is the music teacher, that I would help her with the organization. There is also a possibility that somewhere in the middle of all of this that the girls’ soccer team could advance to the city finals but I guess I shouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch.

In the last week of school the grade 5 students have their farewell assembly and a special activity day. This will be the first year since I started at Rosethorn that I won’t be directly involved with these activities. That means, however, that I will probably be in charge of an activity for the school wide fun day instead.

Somewhere I have to find time to pack up a wall of library books before we leave for summer vacation. During the summer, construction workers will be coming in to remove the wall between the library and the computer lab.

My husband has applied for his new passport and he’s been in touch with family overseas. He’s going to look into booking tickets for our flights in the next week or two and then we’ll sit down and make plans for our accommodations and planning our itinerary. We’re hoping to meet up with our son and his girlfriend when they go to Dublin for a conference. We’d like him to meet the Irish cousins and hopefully we can plan a short trip to the west coast with him.

I know people who plan months in advance for a trip like this. I’m a little nervous that we’ve left it so late but with my husband’s health issues we can’t plan too far in advance. Even at this stage we’re still waiting for one more appointment before we can make definite plans.

In the end it will all work out. If Europe doesn’t pan out, I still have the cottage and my little paradise in the sun and I will see my son in the fall.

January 2013 Photo a Day – Water

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. I live by water all year round

Surf on Georgian Bay.

Rocks on the water in Georgian Bay.

Frances in the Georgian Bay surf.

A must see for visitors – Niagara Falls

Geese on Lake Ontario, by Samuel Smith Park

Grade 5 year end activity day at a local community pool.

For more water photos check out Jeanne’s blog…a nola girl at heart.

Abandoned Beach Chairs

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. signs that summer is almost over

Late Sunday morning as I wandered down to the beach with Frances I was taken aback by the isolation. It was after all the Sunday of the the last long weekend in the summer. It was the Labour Day Weekend.

I expected people to be lapping up the last rays of summer, playing with their summer toys, using up the gas in their motor boat or sea-do, going out for one last sail. The conditions were perfect. Where was everyone?

The only signs that human beings used the beach were the unused beach chairs. Some looked like they were waiting to be used momentarily, neatly lined up, facing the water or arranged in a circle for imminent conversation.

Others were already folded and stacked, ready to be put away until next summer. While some looked as though they hadn’t been used in a very long time as beach grasses reached up through the slats and around the legs. Peeling paint and blistering wood scar the surfaces, resulting from years of exposure to the blazing sun, the drifting sands blown about by the off shore winds, to say nothing of the rain and snow.

Is this the end of summer? For many it is, as they head back to school, back to their 9 to 5 jobs. For others it is the best time of summer, the shoulder of summer. For those lucky few I envy you, for you have some of the best days yet to come. Get out there and use those chairs. They await you.

Three Days of Summer Left

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. and I’m already starting to feel the stress of returning to work

I’ve been at school for 4 out of 5 days this week, anywhere from a couple of hours to 6 hours, trying to remove or organize my belongings in one room and find a place for these belongings in my new room (the library office to be exact). Today I found out that the superintendent is coming to the school to observe our opening day. Even though the library won’t be used the first day I felt the pressure to tidy it up in case she decided to visit my space.

I haven’t been getting enough sleep this week. I’m slipping back into my old pattern of staying up late and getting up early. I know this plays havoc with my weight and with the added stress I’m looking at double jeopardy.

When K and I woke up this morning neither of us had the energy to drive to the cottage. We decided to leave tomorrow morning. I wish I was there now. I would already be in bed getting at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep.

The beach is calling me.

The heat was oppressive today. I put off my bike ride because it was just too hot. Our house is not air conditioned and sleeping in this weather is difficult. Thank goodness that I got out for one of our long walks this morning.

I feel like I’m coming off a ‘high’ after celebrating my birthday and visiting with old friends two days later. What a difference a couple of days can make. I seem to be in a daze and can’t make the simplest of decisions. This post makes me sound like I’m depressed. I probably am.

I started to write about other things that are weighing heavily on my mind right now but I’ve deleted most of it. It’s just too much of a downer. I know that all these feelings will pass in a day or so or after a good night’s sleep. No point in making my readers feel bad. I’m not looking for sympathy.

Things that were positive today:

I bought a brand new pair of sandals that were on sale and I had an additional $15.00 off coupon to use.

I bought 2 new flowering plants to brighten up my garden

I discovered that the cabbage that I thought had bolted is actually a brussels sprout plant and is still producing little brussels sprouts.

The main part of my library is tidy and ready for visitors.

I had a good food day today and am back on track with my eating.

I’m getting to bed before midnight so that I can enjoy my trip to the cottage tomorrow.

On that note I’m bidding you all a good night. Sleep well!

Frogs and Bark

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. almost stepped on the first and have an obsession with the second

Just got back from the cottage and I immediately downloaded my photos from the camera. I had a relaxing weekend with my husband. No stair building, no leave raking… nothing too strenuous.

On our walk of the beach yesterday I almost stepped on this little guy. Good thing I was looking down at the time. A little further down I found a second one.

I love the texture of bark and think it makes great material for photographs. The lichen on this maple tree gives the bark a beautiful bluish tinge.

A lot of the trees have these interesting scars on the bark. We think that it’s due partially to the deer that sometimes come across the ice in the wintertime and chew on the bark for food.

On our recent trip to Niagara Falls, I came across this beautiful little grove of trees at the Botanical Gardens. I’ve never seen such white, perfect little birches in my life. My cottage is surrounded by birch trees but the young saplings are never this white and the older, more mature trees are gnarly and textured with peeling bark.

A grove of young birch trees at the botanical gardens in Niagara Falls, Canada.

A Very Long Walk

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….we decided to walk extra far today instead of doing our usual run.

I got ready for my walk/run today without the usual coaxing from my husband. Instead I had to light a fire under him to get us moving today.

When we got to the rugby pitch we decided to forego the run and walk further along the path than we would normally. Frances was not pleased. She kept pulling toward the pitch and then toward the lake but we persevered and moved on.

This is what Frances wanted to do today. We did let her have a short swim at the beach in Marie Curtis Park before we turned around to come home.

We walked past an area in Toronto where the homes sit on the lake. Some are the original little cottages that were built there almost 100 years ago and others are massive monster homes that have slowly been replacing the cottage-like dwellings. I can’t blame people for tearing down some of the older homes. Property values on the lake are through the roof. I do have a problem with homes that don’t fit into the neighbourhood because of poor design or little regard for the vernacular of the neighbourhood.

The Old Cottages…..

Anyway the walk was long and Frances was not a happy puppy. When I got home I went to gmap-pedometer and mapped out our route. We walked 8.75 km. It seemed longer for some reason.

I’m leaving for the cottage today or early tomorrow morning so I won’t be posting for a few days. I’m looking forward to my long walks on the beach and through the woods and getting in a few last swims before the end of summer. Can you believe it’s almost September? Boo-hoo!!!

…..replaced by monster homes like this!

The old places definitely need work but the new monster homes have so little character.

Some of the renovations are stunning and I’ve included some of my favourites. They still have that cottage feel and look but are obviously larger and have more modern amenities. They’re also beautifully landscaped. You be the judge.

Diving for Frisbees and Fuzzy Caterpillars

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. more fun things from the cottage

After 23 years, I finally got my staircase to the second floor. No more ladder. Hooray!

My cousin and his girlfriend spent 3 days at the cottage with us. PW helped the guys with building the staircase while M helped with the meals.

After the staircase was finished K and I had time to enjoy the beach.

Our crazy dog, Frances. loves to chase and retrieve her yellow frisbee. Unfortunately if the frisbee is right side up it sinks in the water. NO problem. Frances dives for it until she finds it and then surfaces and brings it back to shore.

Unfortunately the video would not upload to this site without the upgrade. Check my Facebook page for the video.

PW and I continue to experiment with our cameras. On Sunday a little caterpillar joined us on the picnic table. It was tricky taking his picture because he was constantly moving. These were taken with my Lumix Panasonic DMC-FH1 on the macro zoom setting.