Tag Archives: Ottawa

Dancing Bass Lodge, Lanark County, ON

“Dancing Bass” Lodge – the the name says it all… the place should be rich for fish and all day water fun! It was so desired escape from the bustling life of the large city…

Dancing Bass Lodge
Dancing Bass Lodge

The house is located in beautiful Lanark County, quite easy to access from major roads and only about 30 minutes away from Ottawa!

View of the lake, Dancing Bass Lodge
View of the lake, Dancing Bass Lodge

There are only a couple of cottages that are currently available for rent and those are located on the shore of the Lower park Lake. The location provides for the endless view of the lake surrounded by the forest…

Walk in the woods, Dancing Bass Lodge
Walk in the woods, Dancing Bass Lodge

From the terrace of the cottage we watched nice sunsets and could not stop admiring the tranquility  of the coming evening – only some random sounds of the bird or loons…

Lake near Dancing Bass Lodge
Lake near Dancing Bass Lodge

Early in the morning when one could see the light fog over the surface of the water we would grab out fishing rods and set up right on the small pier with hope for a catch. The lakes are rich for various fish and if you have enough patience you won’t go away with empty bucket!

Fishing near Dancing Bass lodge
Fishing near Dancing Bass lodge
Fishing near Dancing Bass lodge
Fishing near Dancing Bass lodge

Back in 60s here was a fish camp with 10 Log cabins. The current management took over about 10 years ago and they are doing an excellent job in rebuilding the old log houses. The cottage has all new furniture, large bathrooms, bright all equipped kitchen with dishwasher and wood stove in the living room for cooler days.

Dancing Bass Lodge, interior
Dancing Bass Lodge, interior

The original farm house from the late 1800’ still sits on the property, along with a sugar shack and barn, it is located on the border of  two lakes, Lower Park Lake and Horne Lake.

Dancing Bass Lodge, Original Farm House
Dancing Bass Lodge, Original Farm House

Both lakes offer lots of fishing and endless water activities. We had a boat ride to the swimming hole – and that was fun!! 

Boat trip, Dancing Bass Lodge
Boat trip, Dancing Bass Lodge

The day seemed too short – not enough time for all the activities; from the terrace we loved to watch the hummingbirds, the lake and just relax…

Dancing Bass Lodge, relax and enjoy
Dancing Bass Lodge, relax and enjoy

Dancing Bass Lodge is currently offering two completely refurbished cabins to rent for a minimum of four days from on or about June 1st to the 15th of October.

Make sure you call them for best directions from the main road!
To make a reservation  https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/14296437 email dancingbasscan@aol.com; phone : 613-259-5713 or 602-421-1066

Puppets with Noreen Young

Puppets with Noreen Young

Last summer we planned to visit the International Puppet Festival, which is held annually in Almonte, Ontario. Unfortunately this year’s Festival was cancelled due to shortage of funds –  however we found out that it is possible to have  a puppet making workshop, which was a very attractive idea. We stayed in the Blue Hen Farm B & B, which is not far from Almonte, so we signed up and could not stop discussing various ideas for our puppet characters.                                                 Some of you may remember the TV shows with  Noreen Young and her famous puppets… Well, I never even thought that one day I will be able to meet all of them in person! Even more – make  a puppet with my hands!

When we came to Noreen’s house she greeted us at the door and we went to her workshop in the basement and saw her show room…        It was SOO COOL!!! All her puppets were there including Gloria, Jacob and Iggy from “Under the Umbrella Tree”  episodes. There were a lot of various characters, all dressed up and ready for the show time! For a moment it felt like I am part of this colourful crowd and we can chat any nonsense!

In the next room we met two bunnies who could talk! The rabbit had pink ears and his girlfriend was wearing a dress… 

My favorite puppets from Noreen’s collection are the ones with an arch for the head and you move the sticks as your hands or feet – it was so funny!

After giggling and laughing we went to the room to make the puppets… We started with the mouth… then added the head… Noreen said don’t think about the character now – It will come by itself! We took her advice and just followed our inspiration!

Noreen Young puppets making workshop

At about noon we had a break for quick lunch and went to town shopping. Our newborn puppets needed some clothing! There is a store in Almonte called “The Hub” – what a treasure chest – we found a black suit, a dress, couple pairs of pants, pair of shoes… – all we need in 20 minutes and of perfect size (for a puppet of cause)!

We rushed back to finish our puppets and finally, after extensive gluing, painting, cutting we were ready to present our puppets to the world!

And as Noreen suggested, we all made different very original characters and we had so much FUN!!!!!!!!!

By: Anna

BLUE HEN FARM – TRUE experience

After the four and a half hour drive from downtown Toronto we arrived at the Blue Hen Farm.  Right at the turn we saw an old cupboard filled with jars of homemade preserves and a sign “Honk for Service”…  And we saw the farmhouse in the opening between trees.

Farmers Jeff and Leslie greeted us and as we entered the house we were amazed by the old fashioned setting of the rooms – furniture, chandelier and even the old upright piano that produced some wonderful melodies after our evening meals…

Executive Chef, Costas preparing dinner for Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County

 

Leslie and Jeff used to live in Ottawa and have jobs as many of us do… The idea of farming came up after some changes in jobs and also as a result of research of the food industry, commercial farming and agriculture.

Executive Chef Costas

Later, after getting settled in our rooms we headed down for dinner made by Chef Kostas who came out to tell us about the ingredients he used in his cooking, the dinner was amazing and filling.

As farmers do every day after dinner, we went into the barnyard to help with evening chores.

 

 

We found all the work surprisingly entertaining; we unloaded some 20 stacks of straw that will be used as bedding for the animals, fed the calves and pigs, brought the sheep and goats back to the barn and herded the chickens into their coop.

Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County

There was a special place where hens lay eggs, so we picked our breakfast! The eggs were dark and light brown, white and even light blue…

Once the chores were done, tired we went to our bedrooms; may be the mattresses were so comfortable or the day was long – falling asleep was no problem at all.

Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County
Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County
Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County

In the morning we woke up around half past six to the mouthwatering smell of bacon and eggs…

Breakfast during Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County

And after breakfast we went to the yard to do morning chores which repeats the evening in the back order – letting the sheep and chickens out,  showering and feeding pigs… and saying hello to all of the farm animals.

Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County
Evening chores during Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County
Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County
Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County

 

The goats are very young and new to the farm and don’t know the barn yard, so they we carried to the pasture  like babies!

Calf is sucking a finger, Farmstead Blue Hen Farm in Lanark County

Although all of the chores seem like quite a lot to do, they were our favourite part of the day. We also found that doing chores and waking up that early in the morning was very refreshing which was useful since we had a long day ahead of us. We found all of the animals so cute… and especially the three kittens that roam around the barnyard. There are also two dogs that help farmers by guarding  the barn yard from foxes and other invaders.

Leslie and Jeff ask that visitors do not  bring or wear any fragrances on the farm including mosquito spray, however they do supply their own free of charge so that you do not get bitten by pesky flies.  Leslie makes her own natural soap – I found it very smooth and took a little piece home as a souvenir. Around the house we also found natural fragrances, bug spray and soap – all handmade from natural ingredients that smell like summer fields…

Their mission statement is free range thinking, meaning all of the animals are free to roam the field and raised with no antibiotics or chemical supplements at all. “Being a novice in such a tedious business as farming should be challenging for city folks” – I asked… yes, and they learn every day.

We also had a chance to learn – about how to feed pigs and chickens and how to take care of sheep and goats;  we would join Leslie to let the animals out of the barn with the first rays of sun and get them all back in the evening…

For us it was just two days – but these days were filled with smiles and laughter, delicious homemade meals and that feeling of love and happiness…

After Dinner Chat

We took a lot of pictures that will remind us about this wonderful place and people that are so enthusiastic about  what they do.  Thank you Jeff and Leslie for teaching us some very basic skills that we miss in our city life!

So, time to leave The Blue Hen Farm… I think I  saw tears in some eyes…, we hope to come again.