COTTAGE BLISS!

Did I tell you that our arrival at the lake this year was like this? Crystal clear waters, several loons on the waters and blue blue skies! It just doesn't get any better than that for a day.

We were loaded with our food supplies for about a week and all the other "stuff" we need to make our stay comfortable.

We arrived just as our docks were being put in, our neighbour was there also, having beat us to the lake once again this year.

The first thing my sweetie did was unwrap the funicular, known as the lift from hereon in and turn on the power and move $200.00 worth of groceries, clothing, tools etc up to the deck.

This is the deck as we saw it on arrival. Our neighbour had come over and blown all the debris from the winter off so that our arrival would be smooth. Isn't that sweet?

This is how the deck looked when I walked up to it, all bare, fabulous views of course, and warm for the end of April in the north of Ontario. As we were a week early opening, we dressed for the occasion, winter coats, hats and gloves coming across the lake because it was cold, the ice had only been out for a week, so imagine.

We then opened the doors and this is what the great room looked like when we entered. It was dark as we had shutters on all the windows, and we had piled all the outdoor furniture in there to protect it from the winter.

Most people who don't have a cottage, camp, trailer or somesuch have no idea the work it takes to just get the seasons started.

This room wasn't the priority at all. We had to get the water started, warm the cottage, by starting the wood stove, (I had left it ready for a match) .

Once the food stuffs had arrived up on the deck, it was an hour putting everything away, starting up the fridge....did I tell you that this 22 cu.ft is simple with no gadgets at all. No ice cube maker, the freezer is on top and it is so much better than the stainless steel one I have at home which cost 3 times what this white one costs. It's bigger for one, and the freezer is huge ...I love this fridge..

I had put an electric blanket on our bed last fall, turned it on to medium, went to make sure that all was well with the world regarding the water pump etc and took 2 chairs out to the deck and opened a bottle of wine.

Wilson, the wonder dog spent the afternoon hunting mice, wonder what he will do if he ever gets close enough....nah that will never happen.

We settled in early after a light dinner of salad and sandwiches. We had our books, the bed was warm, the cottage cosy. We slept like babies...

SEND ME BACK!

We have returned to the city for a few days for doctor appointments. I am coughing so much that my stomach is sore! I hold it while I hack! Ok, too much information there, right!

The weather at the cottage has been brisk to say the least. We have only about 640 sq ft to heat for the main part of the cottage, so I have just been using a little heater that I bought last year.

It's amazing how well it works, so I haven't had to start building fires in the stove each day.

There are only a few of us on the lake at this time of year. Brave souls only and of course the fishing fools as I call those that fish in the blowing lake, and rain storms....

We went to the waterfall yesterday, (Monday) and it is flowing like a good thing, so we did take photos which have yet to be downloaded. As we were leaving Jerry turned the boat around so that his back was to the waterfall so that I could take photos of him etc. I noticed what looked to be one of the biggest trouts I've ever seen in the water, then a whole school of them were swimming in about 2-3 ft of water near the edge of the waterfall stream! I will see how the other photos are and will post them later.

They were all about 16-20" long and there were more than a dozen of them. We turned on the fish finder and it showed the temperature at that part of the lake to be about 15 degrees warmer than the main part of the lake. That's why they were there, keeping warm. They are pretty safe as there aren't more that 4 or 5 guys fishing and they think trout like to be deep!

We noticed that there were a number of trees down on properties due to winter and early spring storms, but amazingly enough not one cottage was damaged...close though as we have a neighbour's small hemlock leaning against a bigger hemlock almost on top of the edge of our little bunkie...this weekend they are removing it.

Lots of docks are floating on the lake as the water is so high that when the ice went out the docks which were up on the shores were dislodged and they float down the lake and people will start looking for them when they come up for the May long weekend.

There are lots of wild turkeys around for some reason. I have heard them, but not seen one yet. I think they are on another island but it's hard to tell as we get so many echos out our way due to the winds and the islands being fairly high up.

I am glad to be back to pick up my quilting supplies. We are taking the table and new machine up next week. I must get organized for summer projects even though we will be back and forth a few times.

It's nice to write again, but we are going to try dial up next week when we return to our little piece of paradise, so that I can post. Don't know about photos, but I'm going to try.