Tuesday May 12th

My first job each season is to make the hummingbird food and hang the feeders on the dining room veranda! The simple syrup recipe for hummingbirds is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Ensure the containers are very clean. If you don't get the feeders out BEFORE they arrive, they'll go someplace else.

My second job is to have a good snoop of the herb gardens! I was overjoyed to see chives, mint, thyme, sorrel, marjoram, oregano, wild garlic and lemon balm, all sprouting nicely! This year's relatively mild winter did little damage to our hardy perennials!

We're planning on planting more rhubarb this year (although we won't see the results for a couple of years - they need time to mature) and add lemon grass - it will be delicious in our salads and the egg drop soup.

We've been searching cookbooks for new recipes for the increasing number of dietary requests. This spring we'll be testing new gluten free pastries and breads, vegan and vegetarian appetizers, soups and entrees - and some lactose free items.

Local spring produce is the best - can't wait for fiddle heads, garden peas, asparagus and strawberries. We'll be making our own strawberry jam!

David Cooke

Executive Chef

Sunday May 3rd

I was driving in to Arowhon last week and ran into Dan Strickland (a naturalist who has spent the better part of his life in Algonquin Park) in his car, with a ladder on top. He was visiting grey jay nests, in order to band the babies and take blood samples. What was so remarkable, he told me, was that by the time he left the nest, the wound from the needle was already beginning to close. In front of his eyes, he could see the wound healing. Wow!

As we were leaving, I noticed that Dan had turned off the engine of his car in order to talk to me. I had left my engine idling and was very embarrassed.

Theresa

Spring Rates

We open May 29th and offer great spring rates at $193 per person including accommodation, three meals per day and use of all facilities.

You can't stay but are camping, or driving through the park?

Arowhon Pines is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dress is casual. Bring your own wine. Come early and enjoy the view from our veranda.

We look forward to welcoming you to Arowhon Pines.

Upcoming Events

We're working on several special events this season and will post them on the site as soon as we have more details.

We're hoping that guests might be interested in weekly Saturday night bonfires. Last year, guests brought along guitars and harmonicas and people sang. The rain plan is in the Games Room. PS Anyone wishing a bonfire - please ask!

We had a great time last summer with Lindsay Leese and her improv workshop and hope to have her with us again this summer.

Regular pontoon boat rides around the lake have become a guest favourite. Weather permitting; we'd love to do one at least once a week this summer. For any special group, please just ask!

Spring Opening!

Our first week of work in Algonquin Park! There are only a few of us here, so it's quiet, so quiet you can hear a pin drop. It's also very, very dark at night which is great for stargazing from the dock. You don't get that in the city!

As usual, everybody is very excited! The first day in, we took a good walk around the grounds to see what Mother Nature has been up to during the winter. Everything looks terrific! There are some trees down on the road and around the grounds, probably from the ferocious wind storm that we had just before New Years. The rook of our greenhouse is nowhere to be found! A beaver left its teeth marks on a tree by the herb garden. Overall we are happy to report no major damages. The lake is free of ice - but it only just went out fully last week. We remember paddling one year in early May, to find ourselves canoeing through slush in some of the lakes! Yikes!

A few canoe parties have already paddled by on their way to Burnt Island!

Spring is glorious in Algonquin Park! There is so much life starting again in the forest the surrounds the resort. The trees are budding and the trilliums are just poking through the forest floor. We will be adding some spring photos soon.

We've heard the loons already. They will no doubt be waking us up at all hours soon enough. The should be nesting by mid to late June. Hopefully we'll see the babies again; they usually parade in front of the dining room veranda through the spring.

The rhubarb is up - all green and lush already! We can't wait for the bakeshop to start testing some recipes!

Welcome to our Arowhon Pines Blog!

Hello and Welcome to our new blog! We're very excited to bring this addition to our website.

To new visitors, we hope this will give you a peek into the everyday activities at Arowhon Pines - it's location, it's people, and what we do. Here, we will tell you of any special happenings at Arowhon Pines, in Algonquin Park and in the surrounding areas.

For past visitors, we hope that you stay in touch and that this blog will remind you of your trip to Arowhon Pines - the moose you saw on the road, your first time in a canoe, the smell of butter tarts coming from the kitchen, or a lovely sunset from the veranda. If you miss us....well, you know what to do!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at resort@arowhonpines.ca.

Either way, thank you for being a part of this blog, and we invite you to visit our site periodically for update, new recipes, etc.

See you soon!