Labour Day Weekend

The early morning calm.

A quintessential loon.

I can’t believe that we’ve actually come to the cottage this weekend.  Usually we stay home and prepare ourselves logistically, physically and emotionally for the start of the school year.  It is so exciting to be here rather than stressing at home. 

Lauren, Anne and Pippa enjoying a campfire

After we picked the girls up from camp, we went home to Guelph to do piles of laundry and so that I could go in to the school to plan, prepare and set up.  John and I were busy with meetings, conferences and workshops until Thursday afternoon, so once those were all completed, we jumped into the car and headed to the lake!  Joy!

Anne and Kate have brought their friend Lauren up for the weekend and they all seem to be having a lovely time.  Friday and Saturday were intermittently rainy, but with enough dry, calm times to allow for more water skiing.   We played some games and the girls did some artwork and other indoor activities during the rain.

We’ve had some visitors too, this weekend.  Our friend Don Mann arrived Thursday evening and helped John out quite a bit with closing-up jobs.   Don’t worry he also had time to relax!  

Lauren, Anne and Kate loving smores!

John’s brother Bruce and his partner, Cathy joined us Saturday evening and stayed until Sunday afternoon.  They made the drive from New Jersey primarily to visit John’s parents in Cobourg.  John’s mom is still in hospital and as you can imagine she really appreciated the visit.  They also got to see John’s dad who at age 90 still gets around very well.  He has never had to prepare meals for himself though, so he is struggling with that a bit.  When Bruce and Cathy joined him, he was on his way to a church supper.  I had no idea what a church supper was until recently when John’s parents started attending.  Most of the local churches offer a meal to the public about once a month.  The cost is minimal and the food is good and is along the lines of meat, potatoes and two veg., which is just the ticket for Ev and Don.  Their calendar is loaded with the dates and locations of all the church suppers in the area.  

Cathy and Bruce

Although rain and possible thundershowers were predicted for Sunday, they failed to materialize and instead we have had one glorious day.  John and I got up and jumped into the canoe for an early morning paddle.  The mist off the lake was beautiful.  We saw some loons up close on the way back and they graced us with the sound of their haunting cry.  

Sunrise.

After breakfast the day was all about fitting everything in that will be impossible for the next 8 or 9 months.  I think Anne and Kate went skiing three times each today.  And...bah, bah, bah, bah...I also went waterskiing, and I got up slalom skiing for the first time in my life!!!!!!!  How exciting is that!!!!!  I don’t think I skied with much finesse, but hey, I stayed up and that’s what counts.  That and hearing my teenaged daughters cheering on my efforts.  What fun.  

The last time we were in Cobourg, John picked up Bruce’s old archery set.  Kate, fresh from her success getting her level 2 archery badge at camp, was very excited to get an archery “range” all set up.  So after a bit of creative use of tarps and old boxes, they got a backdrop and target set up.  They’ve been having fun with that.  In fairness, I should mention that Anne got her level 3 archery this year at camp.

Lauren takes aim

As I sit here, at the picnic table, looking out over the lake and listening to the crickets chirp and cicadas sing, I think about what a wonderful summer we have had and how lucky we are to have a cottage, on such a lovely lake in such a beautiful part of the world.  It is so nice to share it with friends.  

We plan to come back for Thanksgiving weekend, which is around the 11th of October.  It will be much different then--water too cold for swimming, leaves a riot of colour, boats turned over or stored in the garage.  There will still be that special calmness and serenity that comes from de-stressing, looking at sunsets and spending time with family and friends.

The archery range

Just John and me...and oh ya, the doggies.

The cottage as viewed from the lake.
John has since stained the docks and chairs so it looks really nice.

John and I have spent a lovely week at the cottage, just the two of us.  Both Anne and Kate are at summer camp and so we decided to spend this week here, enjoying the lake, the views, the occasional paddle and relaxing by the water.  With no set schedule we have found ourselves having lattes at 11 am, lunch at 2 or 3 and dinner at 8.  Everything is pushed back as we stroll through our days.  

Another amazing sunset.

We have had the opportunity to visit with a few of John’s cousins too, this week.  Heather and Walter invited us for dinner on Tuesday evening.  This is so nice, not just because they invited us for dinner, and not just because Heather makes the best cheesecake in the world, but also because it was a workday for them, but they still managed to have us around.  Heather and Walter live in what John’s family calls “the Big House.”  It is the house where John’s Mom and most of her siblings were born and grew up.  It is a classic old Ontario Red Brick Victorian, with green shutters and high ceilings and the most amazing woodwork ever.  The mink ranch that Walter runs is behind the house, and just beyond that is a lovely little lake called “Cedar Lake.”  There is a cute change hut down at the lake, a nice beach and a fire pit.  We met Walter and Heather down there and were joined by Julie (Walter’s sister and also John’s cousin) and her husband Karl, and by Sharon (another cousin-in-law).  The breeze down at the lake was most welcome, and some of us went swimming too.  When we returned to the house we had wonderful mile-high lasagna that would make Garfield swoon and the promised cheesecake for dessert.  We shared a lot of laughs.  

Heather loves to do all kinds of things and is often organizing people to go to this or that.  She loves the show “Downton Abbey,” and recently had a Downton Abbey party.  All the guests dressed up for a garden party.  In order to make sure that everyone had just what they needed, Heather ended up making several (dozens?) of gowns for the ladies to wear.  She found hats etc.  She went up to the walk-up attic in the house and found all kinds of paraphernalia from the first world war period, including letters from John’s grandfather stationed in Egypt.  These artefacts were arranged in the front hall for guests to see and to evoke the period of the show.  The last time I visited, Heather was astounded to hear that I hadn’t seen Downton Abbey so this time guess what she had for me?  Exactly right, a DVD of the first series.  We have already watched 5 episodes and I must say that I am hooked!  All very fun.  

Julie, John and Karl on a typical summer's afternoon.

John and I had talked about taking a cruise to the other end of the lake, and just as we were trying to figure out when to do that, don’t we get an invitation from Julie and Karl.  Now Karl’s parents bought a place up at the opposite end of the lake, back in the 1950s.  They owned the farm up at the road and 5 cabins down at the lake.  They used to rent 4 of those cabins to people for the whole summer.  The remaining cabin they kept for themselves.  Karl now owns one of the cabins and has converted it to a lovely cottage, and his sister owns the neighbouring one.  Julie and Karl invited us for lunch, which was lovely and was topped off by amazing raspberry pie.  

It took us about 45 minutes by boat to get to Julie and Karl’s.  Loughborough Lake is quite interesting in that it is almost like two distinct lakes.  Our end, the East Basin, is pure Canadian Shield with big rocky islands, white pines and lots of shoals.  As you motor along you eventually get to a road bridge that crosses over a narrow section of the lake.  It is this bridge that separates the West and East Basins.  The West Basin is Kingston Limestone with flat sections and some very steep sections too.  The water is very deep, 120 feet deep in places, with very few shoals.  It was my first time heading up to that end of the lake, although I have driven over that road bridge a few times.  It was a beautiful afternoon with sunshine and just the right number of fluffy clouds.  The breeze was light so travelling up the lake was comfortable, with very little choppiness.  It was a great afternoon out!

The Canadian Shield of the East Basin.

Tomorrow we head to Guelph, stopping en route to pick up the girls.  It will be so wonderful to see them again.  Kate has been gone a whole month, and Anne has been gone two weeks.  I'm sure they'll have lots of camp stories to tell!  Then it is a busy week of getting ready for school, but our plan is to return to the cottage for Labour Day weekend.  Yahooo!!!

Dermot and Pippa love canoeing--there's so much to see.

Back at the cottage.

My week at Kripalu was amazing!  My program involved learning about how to use yoga in the classroom and also about helping teachers use yoga techniques.  It was very practical and I will be using many of the techniques right away.

The people in my course were lovely.  They ranged in age from about 60 to 29.  They were all so interesting.  Sara, the 29 year old, was from Northern California and was my go-to person for information on which yoga teachers to try, what their style was, and what other events were best.  She was great.  There were social workers looking to use yoga techniques with the at-risk population they serve, classroom teachers and yoga teachers.  We really got a wealth of information and experience from each other.

There were four other Canadians in my course, including my instructor.  another attendee, Leonora is from Toronto and we may try to bring our show on the road, doing workshops for teachers in Ontario.  That would be fun!

The food at Kripalu was amazing, fresh, local and largely organic.  The weather was great most of the week and so we ate outside at picnic tables a lot.  What conversations we had over dinner!  There were some fascinating people and presenters there.

I did a minimum of two yoga classes per day plus usually an evening event such as attending a comedy show or doing a rest and relax type workshop.  All that was in addition to the 40 program hours I put in to get my Yoga Ed certificate.  It was busy!

The natural environment around Kripalu is beautiful with lots of opportunity to hike in the hills and woods and to go swimming at their private beach.  It is located very close to Tanglewood, an outdoor venue for musical performances.  The Boston Symphony Orchestra practices there and you can bring your lunch, sit on the lawn and listen to their rehearsals.  Yo yo Ma was there last week.  The Boston Pops also practice and give concerts there.  Neat.

Sunday morning I got up early and was on the road by 6 am.  It meant for clear sailing along the highway, through the toll booths and no line-up at the border either.  I arrived back at the cottage at 11am.  The dogs were there to greet me, but John was out getting groceries.

Aunt Virginia came over in the afternoon with a beautiful dresser that someone was throwing out that she cleaned up and refinished.  It looks amazing in our hallway.  It certainly is nice to be so close to John's extended family.

So now it is just the two of us plus the dogs, hanging out for a few days on the lovely shores of Loughborough Lake.  Nice.

Kripalu

I know that this is supposed to be a cottage blog, but I've actually left the cottage to come to the beautiful Berkshires of eastern Massachusetts to the Kripalu Yoga Centre.  I am here taking a week long course called Yoga Ed for grades K to 8.  When I am finished the course I will be qualified to teach yoga in my classroom and to teachers, so that they can use yoga techniques in their classrooms.  I'm very excited about the whole thing.  I think that I'll be able to use the tools I learn extensively in the classroom.  More and more there is a need for the calming and compassionate elements of yoga, along with the opportunity for movement.  I'm hoping that using yoga in my classroom will reduce the need for behaviour interventions.  We'll see!

I just arrived today, (Sunday the11th) after a six hour drive from Kingston.  There is another woman from Kingston in my class!  I jumped in right away with a yoga class about an hour after arrival.  Bliss!  Then it was off to dinner, which was amazing.  It was served buffet style and there was a wealth of choice.  I opted for the fish option (since I never get that at home), accompanied by the freshest, most organic salad I've ever had.  There were oven roast potatoes, and a couscous thing, and yummy poppyseed loaf for dessert.  Of course, the total bonus is that I didn't have to cook or do dishes--just enjoy!

Tomorrow morning there are three options for morning yoga.  I'm thinking about the outdoor sun salutations.  Doesn't that sound wonderful?  And that's before breakfast!

Early Morning Paddle

Although I am decidedly not a morning person, the dogs are morning dogs. At first light they can't wait to get up and out and start exploring.  I think they realize that the early morning is when all the interesting creatures are up and about.  The other morning, when John got up to let the dogs out, he decided that it was a perfect morning for a paddle.  The water was still and there was a gentle mist rising up from the lake.  All was quiet and lovely.

We jumped into the canoe, along with the dogs and set off to explore the east basin of the lake.  There are numerous small bays and many islands in this area, so it makes for interesting paddling.  Along the way we saw several Great Blue Herons, a painted turtle, numerous other birds we did not recognize but no mammals.  Sometimes when you get up early you are rewarded with a glimpse of a deer or even a black bear.

Over the last couple of years, there have been a few wind storms and we really noticed the trees that have come down along the shore. It is really changing the landscape of the shoreline.  It is incredible to think of the strength of the wind that can bring down large white pines. 

Speaking of the shoreline, John and I have become members of the Battersea Loughborough Lake Association.  The association was started 50 years ago and John's Uncle Norman was one of the founding members.  It is great to join an organization celebrating 50 years, because the meeting is short and there is cake!  We even got a copy of the book they have produced for the 50th anniversary. 

Settling in nicely I would say.  No pictures this post--I'm at the library using their computer and so no access to photos.  Next time though!

Water Skiing Extraordinaire

Nice rooster tail Anne!

The past few days have been cool and very windy.  That has not stopped Anne from wanting to water ski.  Plus it takes her mind off missing Kate, who is currently at summer camp.  Anne is slalom skiing and cutting an impressive wake.  It reminds me of my brothers and their friends who used to come to our cottage on Lake Wahnapitae.  It seems to me that they spent the entire day skiing.  My brother, Glenn, in particular was a superb water skier.  I must admit that Anne reminds me a little bit of Glenn out there on the skis.  It is nice to see.  I also got out water skiing, albeit on two skis.  It was fun.  If the stars are all in alignment, I’ll try slalom skiing later in the week.  

Just cruising along.

The motor on our boat is too small to pull John, so he has to wait until Bruce is here with his boat to get out skiing.  Actually, I’m relieved because although I have my boater’s license, I am reluctant to pilot a boat.  There are so many unmarked shoals on this lake, and wooden boats and shoals really don’t mix.  So I am a happy passenger and John looks forward to the day that the Chris Craft is ready and he can ski behind it.  (Big Question:  Will he expect me to pilot THAT big, powerful, scary, wooden boat?)  

50 is the new 40

Today is a lovely, sunny day with just a bit of breeze.  There is enough breeze that we have tried out the laser again, this time at a leisurely pace.  We zipped around back and forth in front of the cottage and just spent time getting the hang of sailing.  It’s getting back into the dock without bashing anything that is the trick.  So far John has had to jump out and hold the boat as we approached shore.  That works for me.  

Emily, Lydia, Nancy watch as Donna shoots

Pippa may not be a water dog,
but she is a boat dog!

It has been a very nice August holiday weekend, with lots of leisure activities and few “jobs.”  We even had John’s cousin Nancy and her family, Dale, Emily and Lydia for a BBQ.  I’ll attach a couple of photos of us playing Bocce.  It was cool for water sports that day, but the delightful breeze meant no bugs for our Bocce game.  Good Fun!

Problematic Poison Ivy

On the mend!

Well I may be the only member of my family who does not suffer from motion-sickness, but alas, I seem to be the only one who gets poison ivy.  Now, I have known since my summer camp days, that I am sensitive to poison ivy, and I keep a solid look-out for the plants whenever I travel in cottage/canoeing country.  Unfortunately I didn’t see the patch of poison ivy that we have on the edge of our property.  The end result has been the worst case of poison Ivy I’ve ever had.  Argh.

The offending plant!  Notice loonie for scale.

It all started out innocently enough with just a smallish spot of the itchy blisters on my calf.  Somehow that migrated to my right calf and to my left wrist and elbow.  Two weeks later and I’m still dealing with new blisters.  I eventually gave up on all the over-the-counter medications, although I will say that the Benadryl anti-itch spray was excellent at stopping the itching.  I went to the doctor and got a steroid cream, and things seem to be healing up nicely.  In the meantime we went anti-green and bought a giant bottle of “Poison Ivy Round-Up,”  which is only available behind lock and key at the hardware store.  John put on his bio-hazard suit and rubber boots and went out to eradicate the nasty stuff.  One spray application and there is no longer any sign of the poison ivy.  A bit frightening really, I mean what can possibly be in that Round-Up that it kills the most resilient plant going?  However, no complaints here.  Honestly, if I just look at the plant I seem to get blisters.  

Not very green I'll admit--but effective!

So I am reminded of the yin and the yang, and recognize that no matter how perfect a place may be there will likely be little glitches along the way.  In the meantime, I sit at the picnic table, in the gentle breeze, listening to the birds, the cicadas and the waves lapping against the shore, and I feel very lucky indeed.

Sharing the view with friends.

Stuart, Charlotte, Lucy and Rosie with the bass Charlotte caught

Dermot loves fishing!

As far as I’m concerned one of the best things about cottage life is the ability to relax, unwind and share time with friends.  A great thing about “The Shire” (still trying out that name--unless someone else has suggestions?) is that once we put in new floors and painted, we were ready for company.  No need to repair roofs, or jack up the basement, or put up additions or anything major like that.  The fact that it is only 2 bedroom could be a bit problematic, but really not a big deal.

Our first friends to arrive (after Bruce who is, of course, family as well as a friend), were Ang and Stuart and their 4 lovely children, Alex, Rosie, Charlotte and Lucy.  Alex and Kate were in kindergarten together and have been friends ever since.  Ang and Stuart are so laid-back and positive and a lot of fun to be around.  Their children are great too and we all had a great time.  I can tell that you are wondering about the 2 bedrooms with 10 people.  The Shire has a loft area with one bed, we have two couches and of course my personal favourite--The Westy!!!!!  We actually all fit in very nicely and got on very well.  In fact the tiny, no-room-to-swing a cat kitchen is trickier to navigate around meal times, but once again we all managed nicely.  

Yikes!  John, Alex and Kate
picking up speed

Of course the main events at the cottage are outside.  I’m pleased to say that Alex got up waterskiing while she was here, the other girls got out tubing, we all swam quite a bit and Stuart, Rosie, Lucy and Kate went fishing several times.  They caught some big ones too.  Kate, Alex and John also went out for a scary sail on the laser.  Alex was a trooper, but we may have turned Kate off sailing forever!  We also played a few games of Bocce, the Italian version of lawn bowling, which is fun until the deer flies get hungry.  

After Ang and Stuart, Arlene, Beren and their daughter Oriana arrived for a visit.  We haven’t really seen Arlene and Beren for two years because we were away on sabbatical in 2011-2012 and they were away on sabbatical this past year.  It was sooooooooooooo nice to see them again and catch up on all the happenings of the past couple of years.  We ate great meals and did all the usual fun outdoor stuff.  Arlene tried to get a run in, but was shooed back home by the nasty deer flies.  I’m happy to say that deer fly season seems to have abated and we haven’t been bothered by them at all since our return.

Arlene and Donna in the sunset.

After that my good friend Claire arrived with her two children, Giselle and Matthew.  Originally her husband, Mike was supposed to come too, but John and I had to switch dates and unfortunately Mike couldn’t switch his time off.  We felt badly about that, but Claire says that since Mike is like a “schlep-rock” (Flinstones reference) he would have hated the deer flies.  Note:  if you are like a schlep-rock, plan to come in late July or August!  Once again, so lovely to catch up with friends.  

The weather was hot and humid while our friends were here and so we spent a lot of time in the water.  John ran out and bought an air conditioner to replace the old one that died on the hottest day of the summer.  Once we had that running the cottage was so much cooler and drier.  All very nice.  

Gee Gee (Beren's Mom), Arlene, Oriana and Beren
enjoying fine wine and amazing Quebec cheeses

When we were driving home to Guelph, on yet another hot, humid day, a cold front came through and the heavens opened and the most torrential rain I have ever experienced pummelled us as were driving along the 401.  The weather reporters were advising people in our area to seek shelter immediately.  Yikes!!!  No shelter in sight.  Happily things moved on rather quickly and there were no tornados in our immediate area.  The weather has been cool ever since that event.  Today we got up to 25*C but no humidity, so very nice indeed.  At night it has been really cool, about 12*C.  All this has resulted in cooling down the lake temperature considerably, but still, all very nice indeed.  

Music Night

The chalkboard!

Just about every year that we were at the Ramparts, we hosted a "music night" for John's cousins, aunts, uncles and their families.  Music night has always been a great time to re-connect with family that we don't see very often.  Typically there is a potluck meal, some swimming, nice conversations and usually a jam session that has evolved into a sort of musical variety night.

John and Wally playing a tune

There are lots of musical people in the Runciman/Freeman clan.  So for example, this year we had a couple of guitars, a fiddle, two bagpipers, a saxophonist, a flugel horn, and several beautiful voices.  Unfortunately, none of those was me.  So I just concentrate on making sure that people have what they need and are enjoying themselves.  Frankly, with Heather's amazing cheesecakes I don't know how anyone couldn't be enjoying him/herself, so really it's a fairly easy job for me.

Uncle Mac on Fluegel Horn

I should say that John's cousin Walter, who is a member of a Kingston drama theatre, usually recites a funny poem, or monologue.  This year he had us in stitches with a recital about "The Stolen Copper-Coated Clappers."  I don't know where he gets this stuff, but I think we should start charging admission!

Dynamic Duo, Walter and Heather

The gathering was a bit quieter than usual this year with John's brother Ross and his family not in attendance.  Ross and Karen's children have reached the age when they are busy with other things, and so to get time to come "east" gets trickier.  Also, their eldest son, Will graduated from Queen's this year, so Ross and Karen were in Kingston twice this spring for events surrounding that celebration.

Our family was joined by Mary Ann Horne who is actually related.  I think she and Ev share a grandfather.  Mary Ann has a lovely home on the North Shore of Loughborough Lake and we were delighted that she could join our gathering.

Kate on Soprano Sax

I'm attaching a photo of the chalkboard that is in our cottage.  John rescued it from the garbage and I must say that we are having fun with it.  That is the only photo I have of music night at the moment, the rest being on my camera at the cottage, but I will attach more when I get a chance.

We head back to the cottage today (Yayyyyyy!!!!!!)  I don't know when I will next be able to post, as our cottage is not on the internet, but I do get into the wee library in Battersea occasionally, so will be in touch.

Pippa and the Porcupine

Can't resist those sunset shots.

Pippa

As you can imagine, Dermot and Pippa LOVE the cottage.  They basically spend the entire day running around, chasing chipmunks, digging holes, fishing, lifeguarding and other doggie pursuits.  They have the most incredible hearing.  When a chipmunk chirps, a sound that is so integral to the landscape that it doesn't even register with me, the dogs jump into high gear and take off at full speed in the direction of the chirp.  Happily for the chipmunks, Dermot and Pippa have tiny little legs and rarely get a piece of the chippy.  Our older dog Sula, when in her prime, could catch chipmunks and squirrels.  We had a tail-less chipmunk living in our woodpile who we think barely escaped Sula's jaws.

Dermot ready for action.

Now I know that many dog owners are not exactly objective when it comes to their pets. That said, Dermot and Pippa are the most wonderful little dogs.  They are gentle, active and fun with just the right amount of attitude (Pippa--Dermot doesn't have much attitude).  They are so sociable and like to curl up  and be with us.  The big bonus for us is that both Dermot and Pippa are relatively quiet.  They rarely bark.  So imagine our surprise when one morning they are over beyond the marine railway, on the edge of our property, barking like demented things.  I put on my flip flops (the dumbest "shoes" ever invented) and headed over to check things out.  As I arrived Pippa was diving under a large rock.  From my angle above the rock I could see the tail of a porcupine.  Yikes!!!!  Naturally I called John, who presumably is wearing more sensible shoes and is more willing to tackle a porcupine.  It turned out that the porcupine was dead, having got stuck in the space under the rock, but its quills were still barbed.  By the time John got Pippa out, she had about a dozen quills in her, including a couple attached on the roof of her mouth.  Ugh.

Pippa begging to go out!

Bruce was with us at the time, and he and John recalled their grandfather, the local doctor, cutting the ends off the quills to let the air out before removing them.  Pippa was a trooper and barely whimpered as John took the pliers and yanked the quills out.  By the time the last one was coming out, three of us had to hold her still.  I'm hoping it's a lesson learned.  Dermot, stood back and watched the whole process with his ears back and his tail between his legs.  He's a sensitive little guy with more sense than to tackle a porcupine!

You may be wondering about my reference to "lifeguarding" above.  Jack Russells are definitely NOT water dogs.  They have fallen in a few times, and although they can swim, it is with little buoyancy and considerable upset.  Once we started diving in off the dock, Dermot and Pippa started hanging out at the end of the dock and barking at us--basically saying, "Are you nuts?  Get out of there now!"  After a while, when they decided that barking wasn't working, they started trying to deter us from jumping in by grabbing our calves--ouch.  So we had to tie them up while we were running and jumping in, and now they more-or-less leave us to it, but we get the sense that they don't really like it.

What's going on at the waterfront?

So, despite the need to be careful of water, rocks and various creatures, the cottage is a great place for little dogs to get an action-packed day of excitement, visitors, chasing and digging.

Wrapping up the school year

May 2013--the swimming dock has just been lowered
and is ready for its first swimmer

Many of you probably know that this June was a particularly busy time for me.  In addition to all the regular end-of-year work, such as report cards, I was taking two courses which consumed vast amounts of time.

Kate was the first one in--May 24 weekend--brr!

On top of that, I have moved to a new classroom to accommodate my new grade-assignment (Grade 4)!  At one point Kate said to me, "Mom, you haven't done much baking lately," no doubt as she munched on yet another store-bought cookie.  However, we got through all of that and managed to head off to the cottage on the 30th of June.

This was early on too.  Here, Anne, Donna, Aunt Virginia
and Kate are taking a break from renovations.

John and the girls actually took the Westy (you may remember the Westy from my other blog???) up to Loughborough Lake on the 29th and were there with bells on, and more importantly with food in the fridge, when I arrived on the 30th.  What is it about cottage life that allows you unwind the moment you arrive?  It's not like there is no work to do.  For example, we've had plumbing problems which have resulted in John crawling around in the greebly crawl space under the cottage looking for leaks.  He has got our 20 year-old AEG washing machine up and running.  This involves some hocus pocus with the electrical panel as it is a European machine.  So nice to have a washing machine at the cottage!  He put up the "pulley," which is a wonderful contraption that we brought back from Scotland with us in 1993.  It is a slick way to hang wet clothes indoors when the weather requires.  Essentially, it is a clothes drying rack that you can hoist up to the ceiling. I'm at home in Guelph at the moment, but when I get back to the cottage I'll take a photo for you to see.  There are all kinds of jobs we have done, too numerous and boring to mention.  The end result, however, is that we are more-or-less ready for company!

John's brother Bruce was the first to arrive.  Bruce is great.  He is easy-going and affable, brings his own boat and works so well together with John.  Bruce helped John with a variety of projects, but I'm happy to say, also got some time in fishing (he caught some big ones).  Kate accompanied Bruce a few times and was thrilled to catch a Large-Mouth Bass as big as the fake one that sings that we have on the wall.  Fortunately for the fish, Anne is allergic to fish, and so it is catch-and-release and the only evidence we have of their size is the odd photo--I'm sure they haven't been doctored!!

Can you see the little fish that have
captured Dermot's attention?

John's dad joined us for two nights while Bruce was visiting.  He enjoys fishing and seemed to enjoy being with us at the cottage.  Unfortunately, John's mom was in hospital at the time and so didn't make it up.  We're hoping Bruce will return in August, and perhaps both parents can join us then.

And so the summer begins.  We have unwound.  We are relaxed.  The weather turned hot and we've been swimming--a lot.  The girls have been slalom water-skiing and are really honing their skills.  We're reading books and sleeping in.  We've joined the local library.  We marvel at the sunsets and the stars.  Cottage life....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Our new cottage

The winter sunset viewed from the cottage. Really some of the best sunsets on the lake! 

I have recently been editing and creating a new draft of my book "Westfalia Wanderings,"  which is a hard-copy of the blog I kept of our travels in Europe last year.  Naturally there are some great photos included, and I got thinking about how much I enjoyed actually creating the blog for an audience.  I've never been much for journalling, but somehow blogging has captured my attention.  So here is a new blog for anyone who might be interested in hearing about life with/at a cottage.

Pippa and Dermot enjoying some rest after a long day
of chipmunk-chasing.

This past January, John and I purchased a cottage on the shores of Loughborough Lake in South Frontenac County, near the village of Battersea, north of Kingston, Ontario.   We have a happy history with this lake, as John's grandfather and then his uncles owned a large, old cottage just along the shore from our place.  That cottage is known as "The Ramparts." Every summer for about 20 years John and his family would gather at the Ramparts for some high-quality cottage time.  His brothers and their families along with John's parents would all arrive for a week of fun, renewal, and connection.  Sadly for us, the cottage was sold out of the family in September 2011 and so began our search for our own cottage.

Kate laying hardwood.

Although we looked at a number of cottages, on a number of lakes, wouldn't you know that we ended up a stone's throw from the Ramparts?  Our cottage is lovely, private, and is all ours!  Our adventures with the cottage began when we took possession in January, and promptly set about making some improvements.  We really wanted it to be liveable when summer arrived.

We have been trying to come up with a name for the cottage and the name we keep coming back to is "The Shire."  That's because several doorways, and bits of some hallways have rather low clearance, making it seem like a cottage fit for Hobbits.  As you know, John is not exactly Hobbit-sized, so the first job he did was to raise the height of some doorways, allowing easy clearance even when wearing shoes!

Anne painting.

We have done a lot of painting and have removed really very old carpet and replaced the floors with lovely, local maple hardwood.  Along the way we have had some help from family and friends.  Kate and John did the flooring and for the really big job were joined by our Australian friends Dorothy and Richard.  Thanks Dorothy and Richard!  What a difference it makes to have help and camaraderie on jobs.  John's cousins Nancy and Dale arrived one afternoon to help paint (how nice is that?)  and his other cousin, Heather came and spent hours cleaning yukky closets, bathrooms etc.  We really can't thank these guys enough!

Renovating is such great father-daughter time.
Note Hobbit-height ceiling behind John.

The garage--great storage!

I should mention the garage.  Our cottage has a garage!  When we were looking at places in October, Anne and Kate were with us.  When we walked into the garage Anne said, "Okay, take a picture."  When asked why she responded, "This is the moment Dad decides to buy this cottage!"  She's not far wrong.

Love that new flooring

So I will include some photos of the cottage and of the renovations.  I have some catching up to do on the blog as we have been at the cottage most of the summer.  I''m hoping for several quick posts in succession.  I also hope you will enjoy reading about our adventures on Loughborough Lake.  If you have received an email about this blog, then please consider yourself most welcome to join us at the cottage--we'd love to have you!

The girls' room.

The main room as viewed from the loft.