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.