Sunset on the prairie

I am always sad to leave the cottage but sunset views on our way home make it all a little easier.

Cynthia's Cornerstone Cafe

This is a café and ice-cream spot that we drive past on the way to and from the cottage.
A year ago the restaurant on this location was closed and put up for sale. The new owners have made some really nice changes and have developed a good home cooking style menu.

Here is the Facebook page for Cynthia's if you want more information.

Oliver on the Porch

Elizabeth adopted this lovely dog from the Humane Society just over a year ago. She renamed him Oliver and they love each other to bits. The cat, Storm is still adjusting but she definitely is leading a livelier life  with that dog to put in his place. Oliver was a severely abused dog and has had a lot of physical and behavioural issues to deal with but what a difference a loving home can make.

Oliver loves being at the lake cottage. He has learned to swim and run and chase with the best of them but there is nothing quite as good as getting cuddles on the porch.

Little Round Mushrooms

I am always amazed by the variety of mushrooms that pop up on the island during the different seasons. I believe these are called Puff mushrooms, but I am not confident enough to cook them.

My Happy Place

I keep saying that my happy spot is a chair in the screen porch of our cottage. I look out on the lake, and hear the waves on the shore and immediately feel calmer and happier.  I equally love our comfy cozy, patio arm chairs but this old rocking chair was being particularly photogenic last week. This folding wooden rocking chair was in my home growing up. I really have no idea where it came from but it was always there when I was a kid.

I do meditate and I even lead relaxation based mediation sessions once in a while. I ask people to picture themselves somewhere peaceful  and to picture what is around them and what they are hearing and seeing. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean think of a real place, but I can't imagine a more wonderful location in the world.

Jasper says Hi!

Jasper, our Samoyed dog, enjoys roaming around our little island. This type of dog is not too enthusiastic about swimming so he can't wander very far away and therefore he is free to go wherever  he likes when we are at the lake cottage. When he comes back into the cottage he has a look as if he is glad to see us and that he wants to find out what he was missing.  This is just a quick snap with the cell phone but I love his expression and how he is backlit from the doorway.

He really wished we would stay outside with him and help him hunt frogs, splash in the lake, crawl under the cottage, bark at Canadian Geese, and talk to that chatty echo dog that seems to be across the water on calm days.

A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of. ~Ogden Nash

July Flowers

Flowers for the beginning of July

'Tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes!
~William Wordsworth, "Lines Written in Early Spring," Lyrical Ballads, 1798

The Beauty of the Rock

We have a large rock outcropping at the front of the island. It is part of the dock and where we stand to swim sometimes. It is really a defining part of being at the cottage. When we see it  from the water we know our cottage is located there and we can stand on it to see out into the rest of  the lake. The moss, lichen and other plants add texture and life to this space and they help to shape the erosion of the land.


The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. ~Tennessee Williams

Spring Flower

The first wild-flower of the year is like land after sea. 

                                              ~Thomas Wentworth Higginson

Yellow flowers by the water's edge. I love the tiny details. I was particularly interested in the flowers with white details on the petals.

On the Dock

Welcome to the Lake!

Mighty Oaks

It has been a long time since we were at the lake early enough to see the Oak trees at this stage.

The Cottage in May

We opened the cottage yesterday and it is still May! This is probably the earliest that we have made it out to  the the cottage in over a decade.

You know, life changes. When we first got the cottage and our kids were babies we got out there at random times... We only really had to work around Bob's work schedule. Then the days came when I was working too and then the kids were busy with school. Next it was taking time for spring extra curricular events, like Girl Guide Camp and June dance recitals. Then came the time when they had their first jobs which we needed to be accommodate.


Now everyone can kind of come and go and they can do their own thing.


We got the boat launched and all went well. Everything was the same as we left it at the lake cottage except the island dock is really needing some serious  repairs after the winter. We also have to get a new roof  up this year but that is no surprise to us.

Jasper, the dog, was delighted to find himself at the lake once again. He was so excited to put on his lifejacket and he hopped on the boat before we were fully ready to head over to the island.

Once we started to move you could just see how blissed out he was sniffing the breezes coming over the lake!

He was happy to once again run wild around the island and to woof at the Canada Geese that must be nesting somewhere near the beach.

I think we were all thrilled to be back there after the long winter season.

 The sun shines different ways in winter and summer. We shine different ways in the seasons of our lives.

~Terri Guillemets