Time to Close the Cottage for the Season

Closing time at the cottage is bittersweet.

I absolutely love Autumn at the cottage. I like that there are fewer people out on the lake and the quiet that goes with that. I love the changing colours, the birds on their migration routes stopping by the island for a snack of acorns or that sunset time when Canada Geese land in the water in front of the cottage in massive honking mass. We can feel the air pull us forward as they swoop a few feet over our heads and splash into the water.

I love cold evenings as an excuse to light a fire in the fireplace and cuddle to keep warm under a pile of blankets and quilts. I love baking warm dishes in the oven and sipping hot cider on the dock. The last of the smokey bonfires in the backyard turns into last chances to clean up some stray branches in the yard.

Sadly it becomes clear that it really is time to pack up for the year. The cottage is not insulated for year round use and it becomes hard to keep the place warm enough to sleep, even with a roaring fire.
When you wake up and find your water glass has a skim of ice on top you realize that winter is truly on its way. A bigger concern is when you try and turn on the taps and you discover the water in the pipes has become frozen. We have to worry about draining our hot water tank and getting the water pump out of the lake before it becomes frozen and damaged.

We bring in all the furniture and drapes off the porch and bring in the outdoor furniture and decorations that we want to protect from the wind and snow. We put a lot of quilts and fabric items in large rubber tubs and I try to bag up as much of the dishes and kitchen items as I can cut down on the washing in the spring and also as protection just in case any little critters find their way into the cottage despite our best efforts at rodent proofing.

We load our boat and bring home any food or clothes or hobby materials we might want over the winter or items that might be damaged by freezing like paint.

The boat ride to the mainland dock is short but then comes the job of lifting the boat out of the lake and onto its boat trailer. Finally, it has to be winterized, drained and then wrapped up in boat covers and tarps to protect it through the winter.

This year we finished with the boat just as we witnessed a spectacular sunset. It was such a fitting finale to our cottage season.

Fall view from the Front Yard

Ours was the last boat to come out of the water at the mainland docks

The Boat Launch in Fall

Sunset Farewell

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

Arriving at the cottage

 

 

 

When we approach the cottage we slow down and do a little bit of maneuvering to get lined up at our island dock. I must admit my heart does a bit of a pit-a-pat when we get near, I love this view of the island and the cottage.  Maybe it is not because of the look of this spot but more the memories it evokes.

 

See that white building? That is the cottage peaking out from the trees.

 

 There is  Ol' Blue.. our old boat taking up one spot on our dock. You can see Bob's flag and flag pole by the dock and the ladder coming down from the dock when we can climb down for a little swim or to catch crayfish. The huge rock out front of the cottage is a pretty amazing feature too.  There are enough levels and layers that it is easy to climb down to the water and when you reach the water you realize there are more layers hidden under the surface just right for wading.

 

You can see the shore line behind the dock wrap over to a rock wall that is part of the reason our dock is in such a nice calm tiny little harbour.  You can see sensational views of the lake from the top of that rocky out cropping.

 

This is the point of our trip to the lake when I have a sense of coming home. 

 

Poplar Bay Camp Shore

 

 
 

 

This is taken right beside our mainland dock. The owners of the campground maintain a boat launch right there, a dock for people arriving by boat at the campground and a little beach area for the campers. There is a small red building with running water which is the filet house.

 

Shore to Shore

Our daughters were already staying at the cottage when we came out this week so we called for a ride over to the island once we arrived. We unloaded our things by our dock and waited.

 

 

 

Thanks for getting us Emily!

Ducklings by the Dock

We drove the boat up to our mainland dock and these little guys were napping with their mom. Mom flapped up and into the water but the babies looked up questioningly even though this big boat pulled up within a couple feet of them. Mom gave a little quack. Still nothing but then she got out of the water again a bit in the distance and the little family stood up and waddled over to the next dock..  Five little ducklings all in a row...

The Pontoon Boat

It is summer at the cottage once again. We got here late this year because  warm weather was really slow arriving and there was a late thaw in our lake country.

Also adding to our slow start was all the concerns we had with our boat last year. Bob ordered parts to do the necessary repairs and we waited a long time for everything to arrive.

The second day we went out to work on the boat I sat in the parking lot near our dock with Bob working on the engine. We still hadn't been over to the island this year. We were approached by the guy that owns the campground where we rent our mainland dock space. He told us he heard we were interested in getting a pontoon boat and might need a bigger dock space. We wanted a pontoon boat but we were imagining it in the distant future.  

Trying to power wash it clean.

The camp ground owner told us he had an older boat for sale that he bought from someone who needed to give up their trailer space last year. He offered us a good deal on boat, trailer and motor and would arrange for us to switch to one of those rare bigger dock spots.

We took a look.. and it was not in bad shape really. It has a lot of mildew and the carpet has several major tears but it works fine!

SOLD!

We now have our very own pontoon boat and a new rental dock that we will need to fix. A pontoon will handle rough water better than our smaller boat and it will be easier to haul larger material and more people. As one friend commented we didn’t purchase a party boat -- we got a barge!

 

 

 

 

Closing the Cottage for Winter

It is October 15th and the cottage is closed for another season. I am always sad to shut it up, but at the same time I usually feel ready to get on with life in the city. All the fall activities are long underway and I am wearing out from wanting to be at both of our places at the same time.

As Fall goes on the weather becomes not only colder in lake country but much windier. The boat ride can get down right hellish. I get pretty panicky when the water is very rough and find myself muttering prayers under my breath the whole way. Yesterday we were banging so hard that I wound up with a sore back and a headache. Our poor little blue boat doesn't have shock resistant seats.


We were going to go out on the Friday. Our oldest girl drove out that direction earlier in the day and came home  without ever getting to our boat because the winds were obviously not safe when she looked across the water on one of the highway's bridge crossings.  Saturday morning there was a lull in the winds so four of us went out for the day and we just got on with closing it up.  The winds were NW 30 k/hour and the temperature was a chilly but tolerable 8 degrees C   (winds of 20 miles/ hour and temperature of 46 degrees F )


 Closing up the cottage is actually pretty easy. We are not in a location where we are terribly worried about waves and winter weather damage. Our big fear, because of past experience, is rodents. We have the cutest little mice on the island but inside they have chewed through food containers, eaten holes in a couch and destroyed our bedding. One little creature fell into Bob's rubber boot  and didn't make it out. The boot was quickly disposed of but smell lingered for a long time.  Rodents in our area can carry a respiratory disease that can affect humans, so it isn't just property damage that I am concerned with.


We drained the water tank and poured an RV antifreeze down the drains. We packed up anything food like to go home and made sure all cooking surfaces smelled more like disinfectant than  lingering peanut butter. We put the majority of the dishes off our open shelves into Rubbermaid tubs, and we took the linens and pillows and put some of them into the two trunks we have and tied the rest of it into a bunch of big garbage bags. We packed up the half read novels, the guitar and the clothing we might want over the winter. Bob packed up our little Honda generator, the pressure washer and any glues or paints or water seal that should not be left to freeze.  We grabbed my two pots of herbs and loaded up the boat to leave one last time.


We got to the cottage around one in the afternoon and we left there around 5 pm. We pulled the boat out at our mainland docking area in Poplar Bay where we will be leaving it on shore for the winter. Bob and the girls winterized the boat and tied down the boat cover; it was almost two more hours before we were ready to head for home again.

Dinner was at Drifters, a truck stop in Lac du Bonnet, and we got home a couple of hours later.


Now we get to figure out what to do with all the stuff we hauled home for the winter. We will sit and  make plans for what to take back int he spring and make plans for all the projects and adventures we want to have in lake country next year!

The Propeller

Our boat propeller has taken a beating over the summer. 

We have a brand new one on order.

 

 

Tucking in the Boat

When we go home we tuck our boat in. The cover is really essential because the last theing you want to see is water in the bottom of the boat and swamping the engine.

Shadows and the Boat

Shades of Blue and Tiny Ripples

Cool Shades Bob!

Bob jumped into the boat so hard that his sunglasses bounced right off his head and into the reeds where we dock our boat. We drove out to our island and Bob changed into a bathing suit and wading gear. We went back to our dock and I sat on the shore with the camera and Bob went "fishing" for his sunglasses. It took a while with him wading and feeling around, encounters with blood sucking leaches and a fair bit of frustration but eventually he found them suspended above the bottom caught in some reeds. I got a picture of the triumphant Bob with his big catch of the day.