April at Bayfield Mews

As winter released its grip, we continued to enjoy our new-ish surroundings.

Our back patio area slowly took shape:

Things were pretty bare at first

Gradually comforts were added

Then the sod came in and the pond fountain turned on

The village of Bayfield has a number of public walkways right in town, on unopened road allowances:

We often see birds on the walks, like this Northern Flicker that thinks it's hidden:

Down at the main Bayfield beach on Lake Huron, high water and high winds have taken their toll, very little beach left this spring:  

Over the winter a temporary bridge was built across the Bayfield River for Hwy 21 traffic. The old bridge will be demolished and a new one built, in the same spot as the old one. I'm not sure what the target is, but it's a big project:

Here's some of the steel reinforcement that came out of the old bridge concrete as it was demolished:

Definitely signs of spring budding:

Watching birds in the spring is something we enjoy. This year we especially enjoyed a pair of Bald Eagles nesting nearby (about a 5 minute drive, or 15 minute bike ride) and raising two youngsters. 

And following the new fashion trend this year:

Winter at Bayfield Mews

Now that we have been at our new home in Bayfield Mews for 6 months or more, we thought it was time for an update even though we're not travelling very far. I was going to just do one post for the 6 months, but too many pictures for that. So there will be 3 posts, one each for winter, spring and early summer. This post will be the intro, although some of the winter activity was covered in the  previous 2 (February) posts.

Since we were later than expected moving in to the new place, we had decided to not head south to Arizona this winter. We did intend to head south in late winter or spring though, maybe along the US Atlantic coast to the Carolinas or so. However the virus laid those plans to rest, as it has for the plans of many others. That's been our major disappointment in our new digs; now that we have the freedom to lock the door and travel, we can't. Not really complaining though, we know we have things so much better than some.

It was a mild winter here, but still "real winter". There were few major storms though, and local travel was generally no problem.

The Lake Huron shores are only a 15 minute walk from our home, so we walked there quite often and watched the lake freeze and thaw over time:

Even though it was a mild winter, we did get some snow and drifting:

Looking at a drift out our back door

We don't get snow removal service at the back

I kept the patio clear, so we could use the door if needed

In March we took a short day trip to a beach in Kincardine, which is also on Lake Huron:

Ice pack on the summer beach

Looking back at the shoreline

Also in March we went to a nearby area that is host to migrating waterfowl, mainly Tundra Swans. This is near the Lambton Heritage Museum, off Hwy 21 near the Pinery Provincial Park. We found lots of swans:

Two of the many hundreds of swans

A very windy day, the windmills in the background were really going

As mentioned earlier, we saw many freeze/thaw cycles in the lake on our walks. As March wore on, the lake opened up:

Looking at the Bayfield River mouth and pier from Pioneer Park

We also got for another walk at the Bannockburn Conservation Area, much less snow than in February:

Bayfield Mews construction Block 14

They brought the big guns in today for the major part of the Block 14 (4 connected units) roof truss install. The much smaller hi-lift that fell over a couple of days ago was recovered, but wounded as you can see from these pics:

This prong should be flat on the ground

A few new wrinkles

This is the woods it fell into

Today was the major lift for the roof trusses. This had been planned before the smaller lift fell over, as you can see a higher lift is needed for this stage.

Lots of side support for this crane

Picking trusses from one side of the road over to the other side

It was a good day for it. Little wind, no new snow. They got started about 9am and the block was all done by about 3:30.

The one block left to do hasn't yet started, but it will likely be done this year. That will finish the 55 units in the development that started building some 11 years ago. The planning phases started almost 20 years ago, just a gleam in the eye of some forward thinkers.

 

Some excitement at the Mews today

It's been a while since we have posted to our blog. We've mostly been doing all the usual settling-in things, finding places for all our stuff, getting rid of the moving garbage (masses of cardboard box residues) etc. Lately we've been working on getting a new doctor, optometrist, all those changes after moving to a new area. Not too exciting to anyone but us.

We have been doing quite a bit of walking though. The top picture is from a lookout about 20 minutes walk from our place, overlooking Lake Huron. The lake is still mostly open, it's been a mild winter here. Mild, but we're happy to not be camping out in our van!

Another block of 4 units is under construction here at Bayfield Mews. Chilly work for the guys. They pre-assemble sections of the roof structures:

...and lift them on to the roofs of the new units:

Today though, something went awry, when the hi-lift loader got a bit tipsy:

Luckily nobody was hurt, and the loader will soon be back in action. Lifting it up will be a delicate operation though.

Back in snowy January we had a nice hike in the nearby Bannockburn Conservation Area: 

The web site has lots of no-snow pictures, we expect to be hiking there again. Spring is on the way, although there's a nippy wind out of the Northwest today.