A Walk in the Woods

 It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. Or, as I like to call it - Turkey Day.

This year, we are starting a new tradition in our family. We're spending the long weekend at our new family cottage, located in a wonderful 3 season community called Sandbanks Summer Village near Picton, Ontario.

The air is wonderfully crisp and the leaves are starting to turn. Perfect for a walk in the woods. Yesterday my daughter and her Oma (that's grandma to the rest of you) discovered a huge mushroom, and this morning we embarked on an expedition to document the monstrous wonder.

A girl and her puppy. Part of the cottage community is still being built, hence the orange fencing.

 We wandered along the path with Stella, our dog, running back and forth sniffing all the wonderful forest smells.

I kept an eye out for the supposedly huge mushroom. On our way, we saw these -->
The stump of this tree was surrounded by its own mushroom village.

Stella the wonder dog comes to meet Morris

 Finally, we can to the abode of the mushroom we had by now nicknamed "Morris". Let me tell you, Morris certainly exceeded my expectations.

Morris was about the size of a football.

This is Mabel, Morris' fungal wife. Hand added for scale - no way did I touch Mabel!

There is a lovely fire pit with Muskoka chairs down  by the lake. The white seats are pine tree stumps. In the summer, the community social organizer holds campfires here, complete with Smores and songs.



Stella loves to play in the water.

Playing fetch at the end of the dock

Later, we'll get our fill of turkey and other yummies. I'm thankful for my family and for the wonderful memories we've made at the cottage so far.