Loughbreeze Bay B&B

Archive for February, 2011

One of winter’s fastest growing and most exciting activities is ICE KITING where the thrills come faster than the gust.  You may be familar with summer’s version this sport around Florida or in the Bahamas where surfers kite the ocean front.  The ease of mastering of the basics assures Ice Kiting’s success. (kitesurfingschool.org/kiteskiing.htm)   At Presqu’ile Provincial Park’s surrounding bays participants ICE KITE over ice and snow powered by Lake Ontario’s winds.  

Grab your skii’s or snow board and power kite ( www.cobrakite.com/kitesnow.html )  and come to Loughbreeze B&B.   From Northumberland’s awesome four season playground we will direct you to ‘ the new baby of winter’s sports’  at Ontario’s perfect winter kiting spot.

When we first planned our different gardens, we used plants with variety of foliages and flowering times.  Since most of our original plants were derived from end of season sales, relatives’ and friends’ overflowing beds as well as from the wild, we tried to be flexible and resourceful in combining our plants to get the desired effect.  We did not consider how everything would look in winter.  Primarily, I was checking the hardiness of the plants, preferably Zones 3 to 9.

A miracle happened when the first snow fell.  Due to our late fall inactivity with our pruners and rakes, our gardens abounded with dried seedheads, stems and prickly coneflower spheres.  Along with the fuzzy Magnolia buds and Rose of Sharon seed pods, We were reminded of seasons past and what is yet to come. Unwittingly, I was providing food and shelter for our wildlife, evidenced by the many tracks across the new snow.  The amazing effect was surprising.  The red stemmed dogwoods stood as a stark contrast to the glistening snow mounds of the Bugleweed.

Elegant ornamental grasses were stunningly blanketed with a fresh layer of snow.  Everywhere we look we are delighted, from the colourful Winterberries to the dark green and red Hollies.  Everything is framed by the dramatic profiles of our tall Black Locust Trees.  For more information about plants that enhance winter gardens visit Birds and Blooms,www.birdsandblooms.com

It seems there is no limit to the learning curve. With technology moving as quickly as the weather, we lurch from one just learned activity to the next new and improved innovation. Here I want to make a brief mention of our well spent time in Brighton’s Camera Club’s friendly help sessions. In our time, a Kodak Brownie Hawk-eye (www.flickr.com/photos/mattijsfotos/4255418396) was the gold standard. My, my how far we have progressed. I can even remember Ernie Pyle taking those WW2 pictures. So in this age of wanting and needing better pictures we too have tried to move with the times. About two years ago we joined, The Brighton Camera Club, a great local group of accomplished photographers who freely share their knowledge and abilities with each other. Learning about photo equipment, settings, lighting, black and white, colour and even RAW pictures made us realize we have been working from a zero base. Then we were exposed to the wonderful world of how to use your computer to store and edit those pictures, that hopefully, have gotten a bit better.

For us, it is life in the fast lane as we moved to a delightful “Fuji FinePix S5000″ (www.fujifilm.ca) and then to our current Nikon, (www.nikondigitutor.com/index_eng.html). All the while we observed other more accomplished photographers as they worked and played, and we tried to glean some knowledge. But it is the Brighton Computer Club that has given us the impetus jolt to really comprehend something about photography. For more information go to Brighton Computer Club (www.brightoncomputerclub.org/bcc_sigs.html) And search GOOGLE for additional data and don’t miss this comprehensive site; (www.digicamhistory.com/Useful%20URLs.html), it’s cram full of great information like; tutorials/forums/coupons/news and information and on line magazines. Here at Loughbreeze B&B, Northumberland’s premier Lake Ontario Bed and Breakfast, we are looking forward to seeing your photos. Come visit soon. Have a great day.