Wilno Station Innkeeper

Farewell to the Red Canoe Cafe & Wilno Station Inn

2010-10-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted on this blog and that's because our attentions have gone in the direction of organic farming. www.donegalheritagefarm.blogspot.com.
After ten happy & productive years in the restaurant, inn & gallery business, we are now saying good bye to that life in Wilno. We thank all of our friends and customers and neighbours and invite you all out to visit us at our farm near Eganville. Adios and merci beaucoup!!
Our lovely building in Wilno is for sale so if you have a hankering to run a delightful little cafe in a charming friendly village, call Anastasia at Queenswood Realty in Barrys Bay.

Our winter holiday at the farm

2009-03-02T18:59:00.001-08:00

Seven lambs have been born as of today, march 2. This is our first little princess Anastasia, followed by Aretha, Clinton and Obama, Ashley and now two more as yet unnamed. It;s pretty hectic with running out to the barn and bottle feeding Obama and tube-feeding Clinton...

Here's a break to celebrate my parents 57th anniversary at the other farm. All of us were in attendance and it was great fun. So much fun that my brother in law Jason thought it wise to drive me home. (too much Mateus).

Dinner after a long day of sausage making on Inaugauration Day.

Ritsuko checks out recipes for the sausage making adventure.

Little Obama-lama. He is one of twins and their mother was neglectful. Right now, he is asleep in his pen in the sunroom along with his white brother Clinton. Today, he took a giant leap out of the pen, skidded across the tile and landed almost on top of Scooter the dog. He loves running from one end of the room to the other, looking at his reflection in the french doors. And he can empty an 80z bottle of lamb milk replacer in about 45 seconds flat!

Friends celebrate the season

2008-12-22T10:57:00.001-08:00

Christmas festivities

2008-12-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

2008-11-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

Ian Tamblyn (barely visible in the back corner...don't know what happened to the flash). An incredible evening after the screening of Griefwalker, our NFB premier film. Then a reception sponsored by Heritage Brewing and Black Prince Winery...then a 100 Mile Harvest Dinner and music with Ian.

This is what we cooked for the meal.

Roasted squash soup, caldo verde, pickled beets, applesauce, pate, sausage, baked beans, roast pork, roast chicken, German potato salad, braised red cabbage, saurkraut, coleslaw, colcannon, pork ragout, pureed root vegetables, irish soda bread, whole wheat bread, carmelized onion pizza, apple crisp and pear cider. All this and a film and music with Ian Tamblyn for 35.oo per person. A wonderful evening!!!

2008-11-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

The screening of Backwoods Gourmet brought out the best and brightest social butterflies...all dressed for the Hallowe'en party at the Wilno Tavern. Film-makers Lee Lafont and Barry Goldie in the foreground.

2008-11-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

We had a delicious dinner of home-grown foods at Pete and Ritsuko's house. Here's Dan and Pete surveying the spread.
Pete and Ritsuko with Molly the Mule. She's a sweet little creature, a bit amazed by the madness of life in Wilno.

while we dined we listened to the record player with some Texas swing. The next dinner we had here was a six course traditional Japanese meal accompanied by japanese music on this same record player.

Mike and Tom debate the merits of the potato tasting menu. These are fingerlings...very tasty.

100 Mile Harvest Dinner

2008-11-08T17:46:00.000-08:00

The second two piggies went to slaughterhouse in mid October and our neighbour and excellent butcher Boniface cut and wrapped them for us. We have locally raised pork for sale!!! And of course, we have lots of it on the menu in the cafe.

Here I am experimenting with the creation of a gigantic sausage as per instruction from Micheal Stadtlander's butcher. Was unable to find the proper casing so improvised with a Irish linen table serviette from Tom's blessed mother (may she rest in peace). It worked quite well once I figured out how to lace it up, then put it inside two mesh onion bags and wrapped it securely with elastics. Then I simmered it for two and a half hours.

A close up of the sausage,

shepherds in Wilno

2008-11-08T17:38:00.000-08:00

The Fifth Annual Film Festival Gala with everyone dressed for Hallowe'en was a huge success. Here's Paul and Fran after the Backwoods Gourmet screening . Lots of fun.

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear and the crew is rarin to go. Pete has found a genuine Donegal Tweed hat, Henning has a Viking horned helmet and a Eygptian wedding trumpet and Tommy Two-Tone has a hand-carved stick and a fedora. We have the stock trailer, Ritsuko baked muffins and we are off, in fine fettle to pick up the sheep.

The flock comes home

2008-11-08T17:29:00.001-08:00

Our Norwegian neighbour "Flockmaster" Pete Langtvet supervises the sheep as they enter the barnyard in Donegal for the first time.

This is the farm I lived on before I came to Wilno and a series of serendiptious events led in the course of less than a week to my return along with a flock of 20 sheep...some of them related to my beloved woolly darlings, Carmelita and Agnes. All this because one fine day I said "I envision myself on a farm with a fine flock of sheep". And look what happens!!! When you are really sure what you want, the universe aligns.

Here are the girls, ravenous for fresh grass after the long ride from Halfway. Sad events brought them from their previous home...

Henning and Pete and Tommy and Tom supervise the unloading. What a glorious November morning!!! Sixteen degrees, brilliant sunshine, loading went effortlessly and here we are in Donegal.

Robin and Lucas wedding

2008-09-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

A handfasting ceremony on a perfect September day in the field behind Robin's childhood home. We sat in a circle while Robin and Lucas had their wrists bound with silk cord.

We prepared a Harvest meal for the guests including roast pork and fresh corn and salads and perogies. Lots of tasty food and spectacular desserts by Robin's aunt Alexa. The tree-planters tent was decorated with cedar boughs and twinkle lights and garden flowers and there was a fireworks display in the hayfield and a pantomime which featured Spot (in the sunglasses) and lots of music and Krupnik (the dreaded Polish honey liqeur and also Slivovich brough from Czechoslovakia by the grooms father. A good time was had by all.

2008-09-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

And just after the long weekend in September we closed for a day to celebrate Tom's daughter Robin's wedding to Lucas. Our dearest friends made the journey from southern Ontario to join us and here we are having a roast chicken dinner with chicken from Maureen McMillan, green and yellow beans from Christine and potatoes from the Walsh's. The wine wasn't made here but everything else was. A fun evening.

Harvest time at Red Canoe Cafe

2008-09-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's Spot the wonder-pig who is being loaded onto our truck for his trip to the abattoir. Real local pork is very different from the stuff you buy in the supermarket...these piggies have been raised on cafe scraps (lots of organic left over lettuce and their favorites which are cheesecake and Wilno Heritage beer...and they also get grain and apples and all sorts of other goodies.
The wild plum tree down by the suites has a bumper crop this year. It's always a fine line between picking them a bit green or waiting until the birds, wasps, racoons or the bear gets them. This year I got a basket full and there's still lots left.
Josh grew these squash in his garden and donated them to the kitchen and then turned them into a delicious roasted squash soup with ginger. Terry Walsh grew the gigantic zuchini in the background.

The cafe entrance is really bright this year with the new posters we made from Linda's paintings. The geraniums have done well also and all the summer's rain has kept everything fresh and blooming.

heritage park wilno summer

2008-08-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

Beautiful summer in Wilno as we celebrate our 150th anniversary of the Kashub settlement of the area. This is Heritage Park in full bloom before the festivities on the long weekend in August.

And then to see the sheep

2008-06-22T07:49:00.001-07:00

The lambs are happy in their new pen with lots of fresh grass. I've been researching the Navajo-Churro breed on the Internet and discovering that they are an endangered breed and were the original sheep of the Navajo Indians in the American Southwest. They originate in Spain and were brought to the new world by the Spanish colonists. They are able to exist on the sparse dry desserts of New Mexico and their wool has less lanolin than many other breeds so it is ideal for a dry climate. (Wool with lots of lanolin needs a great deal of washing before it is fit to spin). I am hoping to breed these sheep and get into the specialized wool business in a small way. Would like to have some distinctive Wilno blankets or wall hangings...and we have a new weaver moving into town this week so who knows!!!
Tom and Agnes...she is much less timid now and is really an affectionate little creature. Carmelita (the grey one) is a bossy outfit and generally rules the roost. She's also friendly and has taken to being hand-fed. Our cats are somewhat mystified by these two new members of the household and aren't really sure if they like sheep. I hope the neighbours aren't overly bothered by the bleating!

Farmer Tom and Agnes.

A visit to the piggies

2008-06-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when life down in Middle Wilno gets too hectic we take a short drive up the Wilno Road South to visit our neighbour Pete and his able assistant Tommy Two Tone. Here they admire their new handiwork which is the expanded pig pen. The spotted piggie in the foreground is "Spot". He has honored by being chosen as the wedding pig for Robin.
(I'm sure he could do without that honor).

It was a beautiful June evening, the sun was setting over the hills and Ritsuko was working feverishly to get all her plants into the soggy garden.

The garden tour tomorrow is going to be a wet affair as it has rained and rained and only the weeds are really growing. It's too wet to get into the garden and the seedlings are having a tough time with all the water.

Here is the whole crew...they are happy piggies and they dug up this whole new pen in about six hours. Better than a roto tiller!!!

This is an evening view looking out over the Wilno hills from Pete and Ritsuko's hilltop hobby farm.

The goddess lives also in Wilno in her many glorious forms...this is Our Lady in a classic Polish bathtub shrine.

Polish Cardinal departs Wilno by helicopter

2008-06-15T05:53:00.000-07:00

sunday morning at 8;20...the sound of a helicopter over Wilno and we jumped in the truck and sure enough, the rumoured leave-taking was in full swing...the parishioners sang a farewell song as they gathered on the steps, Father Marek in his black soutane accompanied the Cardinal in red toward the helicopter. Polish flags flew proudly in the breeze. Another Wilno moment!

The Vatican Visits Wilno

2008-06-14T10:14:00.001-07:00

What you don't see in this picture (snapped in a big hurry as I abandoned my cafe to drive up to the church just for a quick photo) are the fifteen or so huge motor coaches parked off to the side. It was a colourful sight as the Knights of Columbus guard of honor in full regalia wait for the Cardinal to arrive. Rumour has it that he will touch down via helicoptor on the church lawn but that might be just another grand Wilno fiction...lots of people there anyway..

Wilno Heritage Beer Launch

2008-06-14T10:11:00.001-07:00

Ottawa Valley legend Barney McCaffrey entertains a group of teachers during the official launch of the Wilno Heritage Beer at the Red Canoe on June 13. Lots of Wilno songs were sung including: The Wilno Hound, The Wilno Express Song, Hey Benny, Ho Benny, Wintertime in Wilno, The Sherwood Waltz and on and on...lots of fun.

wilno Station Lambs

2008-06-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

Introducing Agnes and Carmelita (in the grey wool). They are Navaho-Jacob cross and are the sweetest little bleaters you've ever seen. It was our plan to have lambs for potential lamb-burgers but this has completely gone off the rails and we will keep these two little darlings as breeding stock and hopefully get into the wool business. I envision a line of distinctive Wilno blankets woven with the Kashub colours and designs...

Introducing Wilno Heritage Beer

2008-06-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

This is the label for our new Wilno Heritage Beer which is available at the Red Canoe Cafe and the Wilno Tavern. We're having a kick-off party on June 13 with Barney McCaffrey and friends to celebrate.

And this is our new logo which we'll be using on our business card and all our publicity. It was designed by Kelly at Bayberry Lane in Barry's Bay.

Birthday party for Terry

2008-05-31T15:22:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy spring with lots of inn guests including Paul and Maria and family who gathered to celebrate son Terry's fortieth birthday. Here Paul and Maria demonstrate their dancing expertise.

A lovely spring evening with the cherry tree in bloom and the leaves just emerging. Luckily no blackflies yet.

2008-05-31T15:18:00.001-07:00

A historic moment in Wilno history as we taste various beers in preparation for our own custom Wilno brew. Our dedicated team of tasters included Pete and Mike and Corinne and Tom and we settled on a European style lager which will be called Wilno Heritage Beer....due to be launched on Father's Day weekend.

Another distinctive Wilno moment.

Robert Yeretch and Jon Whitehead

2008-05-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

Our Mother's Day dinner was a wonderful success with Robert Yeretch performing....here his nephew Jon Whitehead joins in for a song. Mike and Diane Whitehead and Jon's girlfriend Mandy and her parents came down for the occassion. A good time was had by all!

2008-05-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

Another pleasant evening with Ian Tamblyn on April 18.
We've had several evening of live music already since we opened in February....and we've been hosting Songwriter's Circle on Thursday nights and hope to make that a weekly event in the summer.

Ian played some great tunes from his Cd "Superior; spirit and light." Then we all sat up late with Pete!!

this little piggie....

2008-05-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are raising these piggies for our kitchen! They are living happily at Pete's Pristinely Perfect Piggery and dining on Red Canoe Cafe scraps. One of them...the Princess Bride, we call her, is destined to be the centerpiece at Robin's September wedding.
Meet what you eat!

songwriter's Circle

2008-04-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

Various musicians participated in the afternoon. Here's Rick Reimer doing some of his raggae-rap tunes from his album "Killaloe Rastaman".

What a great way to spend a holiday Monday afternoon.

Sunshine also after this long winter.

Songwriter's Circle

2008-04-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

And a week later, on the Easter Monday afternoon we had our first "Songwriter's Circle" with a talented group of musicians, young and old(er).

Here Clark Guettel, a founding member of the Wilno Express talks about his early songwriting days...when those great Wilno Express classics like The Wilno Hound were written.

Clark's early hit "Let it Rot" a tribute to composting is now more timely than ever.

2008-04-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

Our local historian and raconteur Barney McCaffrey regales the audience with songs and stories of the Kashubs and the Celts.

He also played a few old favorites from the Wilno Express days...songs that will go down in history as local classics...The Breeding of the Pig...The Wilno Hound...Mrs Recoskie's Waltz and others of such note.

Kashub-Celtic Day

2008-04-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

And this was the green scene at our first "Kashub-Celtic" celebration with Barney McCaffrey telling the tales of the Celtic migrations through Europe.

The menu featured colcannon and corned beef and Polish sausage and red cabbage. Lots of fun!!

Red Hatter lunch at cafe

2008-04-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

We re-opened for the season with a lunch for the Barry's Bay Belles, resplendent in their finest Red Hatter attire. February has never been so lively before!!!

2008-02-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

Before we left for the sunny Med, we attended one of the many social events in the Wilno hills. This one was a pig-roast featuring a small pig of our acquaintance which had been fed on Red Canoe Cafe leftovers all summer. Here's neighbours Pete and Dan with the main course. Pete found a method of BBQing which worked wonderfully and we all had a great feast.

2008-02-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

Tom enjoying the Costa del Sol. We had fabulous weather with 29 days of sunshine and warmth...a few hours of cloud and one day of chilly breezes. Our apartment was in a great location and we spent many happy hours walking along the Mediterranean which was moments from our door. Also discovered a great new Spanish "chirinquito"....open air beach front bar on Playazo beach. Great tapas and friendly staff.

And of course, we had a marvellous meal at The White Truffle...where Sian and Lisa set a new standard for food and service in Nerja. We volunteered to be kitchen slaves for them next year during our holiday. It would be fun to work in someone else's restaurant for a change!!!

2008-02-26T18:22:00.000-08:00

And so here we are in our favorite Spanish Mediterranean village, Nerja, enjoying a month of sunshine and blue skies, good food, excellent wine and friendly people. We are hoping to turn our winter vacations into a little business, organizing holidays for our fellow Canadians...and eventually hope to spend more time here ourselves.

Merry Christmas from Wilno Station Inn

2007-12-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all our friends and customers for your patronage in the past year and hope to see you all again in spring.

Tom and Joanne and our staff in 2007: Josh Hayes, Robin Vornweg, Krista Gansterer,Lotte Vornweg, Vanessa Killeen, Lois Losole, Ritzuko Honda and Pete, Provider of fine Pork Products, Christine of La Finca for fresh vegetables, MJ Rice at Riceland Farm for local beef and everyone who brought us goodies from their gardens.

2007-12-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

And after a great year we are looking forward to our gala New Years Eve dinner featuring Robert Yeretch.

Then, its time to start closing things down...and anticipating our Jan 15 departure for our favorite Spanish village, Nerja on the Costa del Sol.

2007-12-18T16:36:00.000-08:00

And Halinka decided that Santa should dance.

2007-12-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Old friends..Marie (Chippior) Finnerty and Robert Yeretch team up for a tune. Marie's grandmother used to own the house at 13 Sczypior street which is now part of our bed and breakfast....and Robert is the youngest brother of Diane Whitehead who used to own the Wilno General Store...above which, Tom and I lived for five years in our early days in Wilno. And Robert's niece, the dynamic and cheerful Cindy (Lou Who) worked with us in the early days of Wilno Station...No strangers here.

2007-12-18T16:27:00.000-08:00

and the next night....another party with another group of dancers...

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A lively party, as you can see.

2007-12-18T16:20:00.001-08:00

Turkey after turkey...and finally this gigantic creature for a Barry's Bay business staff party...and besides this guy, they had ribs and salmon and still had room for chocolate mousse. It was a great evening with Robert Yeretch entertaining and we moved the tables for dancing and dance they did!!!

2007-12-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

and snow....

2007-12-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

And more snow.

2007-12-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

And then there was snow.

2007-12-18T14:55:00.000-08:00

And at the end of November, our annual Poetry in the Cafe afternoon ends with Barney McCaffrey reading "A Wilno Hills Christmas". A goodly crowd attended and we thought also of our poets and writers...Barry Goldie, Peter Ritchie and Lee Lafont who weren't here this year, as they are off in Russia building log houses and hopefully drinking lots of vodka and writing morose verse in the true angst-ridden Russian fashion.

2007-12-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

Another "Philosopher's Cafe" hosted by Stan with Honest Frankie and Rev. Ken and Barney as special musical guests. We debated war and peace....an issue of interest in this area as we are so close to CFB Petawawa and we have friends, neighbours and relatives in Afghanistan.

2007-12-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

Hunting season, once again in the Ottawa Valley. There were so many deer this year....everyone will have lots of venison in their freezers. The boys on the farm are making venison sausage and burger and we'll be invited out to dinner parties where the speciality of the host is "MVMVML" otherwise known as Madawaska Valley Moose and Venison Meatloaf." Right on, Barry!!

2007-12-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

Gwenn and her friends enjoy lunch and some music in the cafe. It's become an annual event!! The singalong is fun!!

2007-12-18T14:42:00.000-08:00

We hosted a birthday celebration for some of the Wilno girls....a good party and everyone had fun.

2007-12-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

Mr Reiche at the abbatoir said Lulu was the fattest pig he had seen in thirty years. No wonder...she dined all summer on gourmet left overs from our cafe...everything from organic salad to chocolate cheesecake. And we usually threw in a bit of leftover beer for a treat on Friday night. It was a good life and she is now equally appreciated in her incarnation as delicious sausages.

preparing sausage for winter

2007-12-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

Neighbour Pete's adventure in pig-raising turned out well and we had a day of sausage making in the kitchen. We borrowed the Zomers family sausage machine and Tom made chorizo and bratwurst and smoked some of them....delicious. We rendered the lard for pies and Pete ended the week with a grand pig roast in the snow at the Jacksons. It was minus 20 that day...but the piggy was delicious.

Wild Women in Wilno

2007-10-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

And with the completion of our new wilderness gallery, we were pleased to host the Wild Women in Wilno exhibition featuring wilderness art by Joyce Burkholder, Linda Sorensen and Kathy Haycock.

These creative painters paddle, hike and snowshoe into the Ontario wilderness with brushes and easels and return with amazing images.

2007-10-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our music series was a fabulous performance by alt-roots artist Cara Luft accompanied by Hugh MacMillan from Spirit of the West. Cara is touring with her new CD "The Light Fantastic".

Cara is a founding member of the Juno award winning group The Wailin Jenny's and is now doing her own thang....see her if she's in your town!!!!

2007-10-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Tom's birthday with a great performance by Cris Cuddy and Dennis Delorme. Here's artist Linda Sorensen and Terry and Patrice Walsh enjoying the music....and Tom of course, wearing his usual black cap!

Dennis Delorme and Cris Cuddy

2007-10-26T10:27:00.001-07:00

2007-10-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Our booklaunch for artist Horst Guillhauman was well attended by area notables such as the Reeve of Madawaska Township, John Hildebrand. Guillhauman's beautiful limited edition book documents his fifty year career as an artist and showcases his artistic career with vivid full page reproductions of his paintings and sketches.

2007-09-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

And here we are transformed into an elegant environment for an afternoon wedding luncheon.

One of the most enjoyable things about our business is the constant variety of events and people.

This summer we had Vittles and Fiddles, a wedding, various lunches, lots of music, a couple of art openings and the usual outdoorsy gatherings of campers and canoeists and cottagers.

2007-09-19T13:29:00.001-07:00

An annual event is the Great Sneezy Waters and Zeke Mazerak performance in the cafe. Here, Wilno's own Rev Ken Ramsden joins in with his fiddle.

The dramatic paintings are part of the Wild Women in Wilno show which is here in our cafe and the new lower gallery until Oct 8.

2007-09-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

And outside, we replaced our old fading sign with a bright and shiny new one with a more modern script and style.

And we have plans for next year which include expanding our dining area into the sunroom overlooking the hills and moving our bar (actually building a new and longer bar) into the main room so we can save ourselves a lot of steps back and forth to the beer and wine fridge in the rear kitchen.

2007-09-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

In between cooking, Tom is renovating the downstairs so we can open our new gallery for the Wild Women in Wilno show on Sept 1. We decided to use steel on the ceiling which gives the place a very distinctive look. We call it "agra-chic". The original idea came from the shop at Dad's farm, where they covered the walls of the old granary with steel to make a new workshop area.

Tom's sister sent us a clipping from some Seattle magazine which touts this as a very dynamic urban look....and Margaret and Ben have done their own house with this sort of steel on the back wall.

2007-08-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

A funny song full of doggerel and wit...our server Krista is holding up the lyrics so Ian can refresh his memory...the beautiful canvases by Linda Sorensen on the walls of our Red Canoe Cafe are a fitting backdrop for most of Ian's music.

By Sept 1, we hope to have a new gallery open on the lower level. Tom has been plastering and painting in between kitchen time. We always swear there will be no major building projects on the go during the summer but rarely seem to be able to stick to it.

2007-08-20T13:43:00.001-07:00

And one of the highlights of our year is always a visit and performance by Canadian songwriter Ian Tamblyn. This year, he was on his way back from a Voyageur canoe trip on Lake Superior. We've been listening a lot to his new CD called Superior- Spirit and Light...and so it was lovely to hear some of the songs performed live. I think the reason Ian's shows always have such dynamic intensity is because he is always involved in some new creative or travel project.

2007-08-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

And in a rare foray into the world outside the inn, we managed to take part of an evening off on the long weekend in August no less, to attend the candlit lakefront reception for my niece Diana's wedding. Here is the lovely bride.

2007-08-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all the summer busyness, I still manage to squeeze in our writers group meeting...we call ourselves the WWW which is the women writers in Wilno...here is Sandra showing us the mock up for the cover of her new novel...Mistress of the Sun. Jenifer also brought us the first draft of "Death and the Virgin" a mystery set in Mexico. This is Jenifer's third novel and Sandra's fourth. Me...I just rewrite the menus and keep this blog and hopefully will be able to pick up where I left off when we retire.

2007-08-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

A quiet Wilno sunset over the hills. The red-roofed building houses our two suites. Hard to believe you are just on the edge of the village because all you see on three sides is the forested Wilno hills. You're a three minute walk from Heritage Park and the rest of the village.

2007-08-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Lovely hot summer weather in late July and early August made for lots of outdoor dining. The patio is an especially popular spot on Tuesday evenings when it seems that everyone for miles around heads to Wilno for Blues Night at the Wilno Tavern. Of course, they can't all fit in there for dinner so we have lots of diners here all getting revved up for an evening of dancing at the tavern. We ourselves are happy to close at ten and go home and lie abed listening to the music through the open windows...

2007-08-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Here's Laura and Tom working away in the kitchen at dinner time. Laura is the third of the Burchat sisters to work here...starting way back at the beginning in the late nineties with Leah, then Lynn and even brother Mark mowed lawns for us one year....but now Laura is off to college and there's no more little Burchats at home to follow in her footsteps.

2007-08-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

And then there's Kirby, Yates and Mazurek whose lively bluegrass entertained us on two occassions this summer. Fiddlin Zeke has a deceptively rustic appearance which does nothing to disguise the fact that he is an accomplished classical musician....and also a bit of a clown when give the opportunity!! He'll be back again in September with Sneezy Waters. In the meantime, these three guys are having fun as a trio with all sorts of great old tunes.

2007-08-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

We kicked off our third year of "Vittles and Fiddles" with old favorites, Glen Reid and "Rev" KenRamsden. Glen is a wonderful songwriter whose Heritage River CD is always on our cafe music rotation. "Rev" Ken is now a Wilno local and can be found fiddlin all around the area. Behind the musicians, you can see the gorgeous canvas by Linda Sorensen which was sold and shipped to Fort McMurray just after we took this photo.

2007-08-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Our entertainment season kicked off with Ana Miura who was touring with Dave Golden. She has ties to this area as her parents met in Combermere and she still visits friends at their cottage in Kashuby. The Ottawa Citizen calls her "one of the ten young rising stars in Canada." We believe them!

2007-08-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here's neighbour Pete helping with the installation. It's a classic mid-June day in the Ottawa Valley with wispy clouds, a cool breeze and lots of mosquitos! We have lots of inn bookings already for the summer and its been steadily busy with shoppers and art buyers. So much work to do at this time of year...my gardening is not going well, as we have had too much cold, too much heat and then too much rain for my poor seedlings to really acclimatize.

2007-08-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Part of our new look this spring is a real red canoe atop the lovely old hand-hewn beams that John Foreman gave us. The new sign will be more visible to motorists coming down the hill and will reflect our increasingly Canadian sensibility in art, food and music...

2007-08-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

So here we are once again, back from our rejuvenating holiday in Andalucia Spain. We arrived back in early April and were greeted by two major snowstorms. It had been our plan to reopen for Easter weekend but a combination of jet lag, cold weather and post-holiday inertia combined to delay our opening until the last week of April.

2007-01-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here's Pete and Ritsuko all dressed in their finest kimonos on their way back from a social occassion. They dropped in to say hello on New Year's Eve day...Ritsuko helped out with serving on the New Year's Eve gala with Robert Yeretch and Pete kept company with Zigmund and Tomasz and various other local folk in for dinner and the music. After it was over, we all went over to the old General Store for a party and stayed out until almost three a.m.!!!It was a great evening and on New Years Day we made breakfast for our inn guests and then closed up for the season. Happy New Year and see you at Easter!!!

2006-12-20T16:06:00.000-08:00

2006-12-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

Another artistic event on Sunday Dec 18 saw Deedee singing and playing original tunes with Tom Martell accompanying on drums. The audience was in festive spirits and Judy, Erica, Keetch, Colleen,Mike and Liz, Joyce and Dan, Terry and Patrice enjoyed the music and the Christms snacks. We also all met Helen and Kirk Mandy who are the new owners of the Wilno General Store...now renamed Pickles and Quilts and slated to open this spring....all beautifully renovated and with a bright red roof just like ours!!

2006-12-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

The artist and designer, Linda Sorensen (left) poses with friend and fellow "bag lady" Elsa Steenberg. It was a jolly afternoon of shopping and chatting and socializing...all the more cheerful despite the gloomy mild day outside which is rapidly melting the accumulated snowfall....oh, the weather outside is frightful...but the fire is so delightful....guests in attendance were Peter and Leslie from Combermere, Robin and Leonard, Patricia, Linda, Sue and various others, all in full Christmas shopping mode.

2006-12-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

Sunday Dec 10 we hosted a festive Christmas social and sale for artist Linda Sorensen who brought in over a hundred sparkling new handbags from her new collection....each one handcrafted and unique....and as we thought, they were a big hit with the group who gathered for mulled cranberry cider, cookies and just a bit of wine....shown here..."bag ladies" Erica and Patrice pose with the merchandise.

2006-12-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

The show was a good incentive to decorate the cafe with various Santas and Nutcrackers and Victorian carollers and candles. It was a great evening and plans are afoot to perhaps have Robert back for a gala New Years show.

2006-12-04T18:33:00.000-08:00

The boys enjoy a beer in the back kitchen. That's often where all the local lads congregate when we have events....

2006-12-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

Cindy has been part of so many of our special events and celebrations over the past years...always smiling and often wearing silly headgear....and always the efficient server and hostess...tonight is special because Robert is her uncle and so she's really in high spirits.

2006-12-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

Supportive sisters Diane and Viola enjoy the show.

2006-12-04T18:20:00.000-08:00

Robert Yeretch winds up a rousing rendition of "New York, New York" to an appreciative audience in the Red Canoe Cafe. The paintings in the background are wilderness images by Linda Sorenson.

festive snowflake supper & show

2006-12-04T18:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday Dec 3 we hosted our "Festive Snowflake Supper and Show" starring Robert Yeretch who is a wonderful singer and dancer and also has a strong connection to Wilno (his mother was Stella Yeretch and his sister is Diane Whitehead who ran our village general store for years...and of course he is the uncle of Cindy....who has worked with us many times over the past seven years....the cafe was lit with candles and a full house enjoyed lamb or chicken or a roast pork dinner and the entertainment.

2006-11-13T15:15:00.000-08:00

While various cultural hooptedoodles take place inside, Pete roto-tills the garden in an early October snowstorm.

2006-11-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

The cafe is in darkness for the Third Annual Wilno Film & Video Festival. We premiered new videos by Edwin Echavarry,Adam Thompson and Andrew Brose as well as old favorites.

2006-11-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

Gwen Woermke and a group of ladies gather for lunch and a few songs from the olden days.

2006-11-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

Dee Dee Sanderson and the launch of her first book "If Heaven Can Wait: Finding Grace through Alzheimers....a memoir of life with her granny.

In the kitchen at Red Canoe Cafe

2006-11-13T15:04:00.000-08:00

Tom and Jay behind the scenes at one of our events this year

2006-11-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

Some of the creative people in our community.

Philosopher Stan and the Wilno thinkers.

2006-11-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

The topic "Creative Space" was obviously of great interest to this community, as most of us live here because we are committed to some sort of creative endeavors. The group contemplated the signifigance of environment on the creative impulse...many interesting and different opinions..no final consensus but general agreement on the beneficial influence of nature, diversity, community support, tradition and discipline.

Philosopher's Cafe

2006-11-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Nov 12, we hosted another Philosopher's Cafe. Titled "Creative Space" the afternoon's discussion ranged far and wide, punctuated by musical interludes from Honest Frankie, Rev Ken and Natsuko. The black and white photos on the wall behind are from Barney McCaffrey's exhibition Film...Noir et Blanc.

a lively weekend

2006-11-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

The snow is falling and the members of the Wilno Heritage Society are having a lively debate about all things Kashubian. Stan from Gdansk (Lesno) actually is telling us about his guesthouse in Kashuby...we will go there someday to visit. A great weekend here...we had the British Invasion...a band from southern Ontario staying here for two nights...they are playing at the tavern tonight...and tomorrow we have philosopher's cafe and so philosopher Stan and his wife are also here, as is Beatrix and her son so we are packed to the brim in this dull month.

First day of hunting season

2006-11-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

Gray branches rattle

on a cold wintery morning.

Icy rains falling on dry dying grass.

Men dressed in orange

in mud-spattered pickups.

They're carrying shotguns.

They're carrying flasks.

They've come to drink whisky.

They've come to shoot deer.

Dealing cards by the fire

where wet socks hang steaming.

The fire needs feeding

The stew still needs stirring.

The socks still need drying.

The branches still rattle

And the bottle's still good.

That fire they're feeding

In their sock feet they're dealing

and pouring out whisky

while the fire still roars

By that great roaring fire

They're drinking and swearing

bare branches still rattle

on a cold wintery morning.

with snow pellets falling

they'll wake and shoot deer.

Neighbour Pete in hunting gear

2006-11-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

hockey and the Geminis

2006-11-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

This morning Mike came over to our house for coffee and we sat around for a while gossiping about Wilno life in general and various village renovations projects in particular. Rumour has it that the Craft Gallery may be going up for sale shortly...even in a small place like this, change inevitably occurs. We've just gotten used to Lillian being gone! A quiet day in the village. A couple of lads in for take out and a few desultory shoppers. Finished cleaning the pantry shelves, rearranged the gift shop to allow for Father Christmas and the Nutcrackers and set up some better spotlighting. It's a grey day outside. One can see the beginning of hunting season with the appearance of old truck campers heading into the hills. Mother said that Benji shot a deer with his bow but they can't find it. A good night to go home early and watch the Sens take on Carolina. First time Martin Gerber will play against his old team. Living here in the valley means that one begins to look for activities to amuse one during the long dull winter days. Hockey was our passion when we were children...so why not regain an interest in that most Canadian of pastimes. And to think...the Geminis are on tv tonight also. Will it be Corner Gas, Red Green or the Air Farce which walks off with all the accolades? Such a bucolic nation! Perhaps Gordon Lightfoot will hand out a statuette...or even Ann Murray. Too bad Lorne Greene is no longer with us. Oh yes, and the great rivallry for newscaster of the year.....Count Floyd, or Peter Mansbridge or Kevin Newman or Guy Caballero.

2006-11-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

Two of our lovely, cheerful, enthusiastic and very competent servers with heaping plates for our "Vittles and Fiddles" summer dinners.

2006-11-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

Our inn in mid-summer. I like to think of it as being this bright and green and blue all year round but of course, that's fantasy!

log-house moving day in Wilno

2006-11-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

This morning's weather is typically November...some sun, some cloud, some cold snow flurries, a bit of rain, a lot of wind and in the midst of it all, the old Burchat homestead securely mounted on the old grey Valley Cottage Moving truck sailed majestically down the very steep hill into the village. A stationary log truck winch at the top of the hill was attached to the rear of the house, to hold it back in case of brake failure or some other sort of fiasco...which would have resulted in a heap of very old splinters in the valley. By the time the house...log walls and tin roof and all...reached Hwy 60, pretty much everyone in the village was out with cameras and video equipment and all work on the general store porch roof came to a dead halt. I rushed out with my video camera and got some good footage of them coming around the Stoppa Lake Parkway and on to the new house site. Some interesting maneuvering to get the building backed into a fairly narrow laneway and the added complications of overhead hydro wires and all that sort of thing. But the able men of Wilno did their usual best and when we drove home tonight, the house was sitting high and dry on its temporary foundation.

We had barely arrived at the cafe (via our own back road) when a contingent of local press and heritage society movers and shakers arrived hoping for hot coffee and muffins. Fed them a rich streusel coffee cake and also coffee for Pete, Henning and Ritsuko who had also been out watching the truck. That was it for the day's excitement. Spent the rest of the day cleaning out shelves in the kitchen, looking for paperwork for our liquour licence renewal and made a lovely apple crisp for dessert.

We were home early in our little Wilno hideaway, had a lovely supper of tarragon chicken stew and mashed potatoes and plan to do little or nothing on this chilly night. I see the temperature in Malaga is 27 today. Four years ago this day, we were in Spain for the first time...driving from Toledo to the Costa Blanca and our fabulous hilltop villa Alta Punta.

film festival's a wrap and so is bull moose!

2006-10-31T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tuesday....a sunny Tuesday and our second day off in a row!!! The Wilno Film Festival has come and gone and successfully so. I am always amazed at the variety of cinematic portrayals of this area and its people...and more every year. This year we had a great little doc by a student filmmaker...Andrew Brose from Lake Dore who brought us a hilariously funny piece called "Six Packs, Sleds and Pigeons". Watch for the flat dead cat shot! And we had six short pieces from a former student Adam Thompson who is now travelling the world doing all sorts of really professional and interesting films...a Cuban music doc and a piece in Africa on local peace activist Ben Hoffman...And we had a second screening of the Marija Gimbutas doc as well as a piece on Madonna House in Combermere. The goddess in all her forms shows up on our screen!

A day of rest and lounging about with my new hi speed internet connection here at our winter hideaway. Life in Wilno is truly a mixture of old and new technology. Our wood stove is chugging away with nice dry firewood from the bush in Brudenell (my home village) and my internet connection is buried inside old garden hose running under the snowmobile track, through the trees and via the culvert to this house from the main building. Intrepid ingenuity wins the day every time.

Tomorrow we start to winterize the cafe and the inn and send out publicity for the next event which is our Philosopher's Cafe and Music afternoon on November 11. And of course, hunting season starts next week....doesn't have as much impact here as it does in some villages. At home, at Oma's farm...the gigantic bull moose who hung on the tractor forks last week has been cut and wrapped and stowed in various freezers. Farm work has resumed for a week before deer season opens. Marty and Daisy Mae were busily mixing and pouring cement to fill in the gutters in what was the dairy barn and will now house Marty's herd of blondes...(Acquitaines or Limousin or Charolais...never sure which province of France these pricey bovines hail from).