MAN AND BEAST ...NOT FIT FOR EITHER!

Our weather conditions are fit for neither man nor beast these days, but here at the cottage both are being kept busy doing little jobs.

My sweetie has been keeping the generator going in the day time and our wonder dog is so wanting exercise that he has been going up to the workshop to supervise the job.

We are still without power, not to be daunted, last night's dinner was baked potatoes (microwave), then made hamburgers with fried onions to finish off the mains, and as we have lots of pickled beets, we added those.   Not the best of meals, but it tasted so good considering I am able to only use one burner at a time .

Today, the first of our company arrives.  Bob and Mary are here as the advance party to prepare for the week end feasts.  We should have power by this afternoon.  Am making pizza dough in anticipation.  If we don't have power, well maybe the BBQ will help us through this.

Our neighbours have closed their cottage and have just left. Their dog however, wanted to stay here with my guy.

 We are in our last week of living here.  After this, we are off to house sit for Bob and Mary, for a few weeks, then off to Panama City Beach Florida.   An adventure awaits us.

Favourite things Friday is on holiday, but if I was posting this week, I'd say the generator and the guy that makes it work is absolutely my FAV.

NB>  In the last 20 minutes, the power came back on, we started the dishwasher, washing machine and the heater is on in the sun room.  The neighbours weren't even gone five minutes when Helen (just arrived at another dock) shouted to them that the power had just come on....so they came back and finished their cottage and are now on their way home till next spring.   It's like we wait 15 minutes and life changes.....a big thanks to Hydro One for their efforts.

DID YOU GET A STORM TOO?

 We woke up around 4 am to so much noise from the winds, only to realize we were once again without power!

Not only that, but our boat was sitting sideways in the dock area.  The wind and rain on the lake actually caused two of our dock lines to break! 

We couldn't go down to see if there was any damage done, because of the winds and the gusts.  We awaited day light to
find this.   The propellor actually saved
the boat because it achored itself in the
sand.

So, my sweetie is having another busy day securing our life here at the cottage, and on his birthday too!

The motor was raised and our boat was then gently pulled over to the dock and secured with new ropes.

I've been saying that the water was very
low, well here is a photo of our beach!  Actually the water is usually up to the top of the blue steps till September, when the water from our lake is diverted to continue the use of the Trent Canal system.

 Amazing that in this day and age, a hundred year old tradition is still in use, and we suffer from it.

Now, we are comfy due to the wood stove,
the beloved generator, and of course my
guy doing his best.

Yesterday, was a great day at the machine.  I tell you, I made lots of big bags and little bags to fit into them.

They are a sight.  I used a shower rod to hold them in display as I have no room in my little corner.

Now, I'm going to buy some little zippers to make more of the little bags as they have multiple uses.

The saving grace of today is that it actually isn't cold, just raining.  The winds are calming by the hour and our neighbours are still coming up to close their cottage. 

Hopefully we will have "the hydro" back up by the time they arrive.

POWER IS WONDERFUL!

First, let me say KayJay at My Fat Quarter is having a big giveaway...go see her. I don't know how to link...it must be easy though as everyone does it....just not me.

We now have our power back.  First thing  I did was turn on the dishwasher, then loaded the washing machine, turned that on while my sweetie turned on the heaters in the sun room.

It truly is amazing what we take for granted.  I tell you I try to not forget how
wonderful electricity is.

I cut out and made the first bag on Tuesday afternoon.  I also added the little pouch to go inside it.

I didn't have any strapping that matched, so made my own which, by the way is simply three inches of fabric, halfed, then pressed to the inside again so that the selvages don't show.

I hope that the recipient loves them.

A few more man bags are required, so I've done a couple more.  I bought the grey strapping which was 60 Cents a metre on sale at Fabricland.

I'm using up so many scraps!  I am going to run out of zippers for sure, but I plan to cut more of the smaller bags to insert into these larger bags.

I could never go into production to make any money as I can do a little here and there and then I have duties to do you know, such as put wood in to the stove to keep us warm.
I don't know how people get an etsy business going.  I'm good to make a few a day, never mind even a quilt...

This last bag is for my granddaughter who is at Ottawa U.  She has a computer bag of this fabric.  It's from Liz Claiborne fabric.

Anyway, we are winding down our stay at this place.  The season I feel is coming to a close.  We are planning to be here till the end of the month.  Our neighbours to the east are leaving next week.  That will leave just us.  Everyone on our island has closed up.

Yesterday the dog and I took a walk along the shores of the island to see that even the hardy youthful owners have packed up and left.  It's the water levels more than weather I suspect, although the storms of November do rock and roll the water.

The winds have changed to the east.  Good for me!  The sunroom will be cozy warm, and I can sew.  More rain is coming for the next couple of days.  It's everywhere isn't it?

I don't care.   I'm happy because we have a gang coming for the weekend.  I'm getting ready for that. 

MONDAY...WITHOUT POWER...DAY 3!...HELP!

 Yesterday, our neighbours left with the top down, faces into the wind and went for it!

Their dog Mac wasn't so keen though, he's not a fan of boats, but he went because that's where the family was..

There will be a return to close for the season later this week, because without power it is difficult to drain and winterize.

Here we are day three of the storm, well it has diminished to the point of just windy and choppy out on the lake.

Inside, it is cozy as we have this wood stove which gives us the warmth required for even the coldest of days, however, there is no going into the sunroom without heaters.   It's just too cold because that room has no insulating.   Those big windows don't have any of the R factors needed.

We have lots and lots of wood.  We have food, so what more do we need?

The power was supposed to come on last night....nope, now the report says maybe 4 pm today.

There are about 200 customers without power.  Here in Ontario, we call it "hydro" it is the name of the company that provides us, so everyone has come to call it "the hydro".

The hydro is still off is what we are telling Bob and Mary who were supposed to arrive on Saturday...So not today then either.

So, (sew) I am knitting my little fingerless gloves.  What else is there to do? 

SUNDAY...THE STORM CONTINUES

Of course one never loses power in daylight!  Last night around 8 pm, we lost power at the cottage.  We are all without power still.  We probably won't have any till about 10 pm tonight.

We have a generator which we purchased about 15 yrs ago.  When we bought the cottage we moved it here.  It is the best thing we've brought here, honestly.

(nb.  I can hear the helicopter searching for downed wires as I write this)

We didn't put it on last night as we felt that we needed to preserve the fuel.  But this morning we put it on, had a pot of coffee made and stoked up the wood stove too.  We are cozy at the moment.

Just as I was putting on another pot of coffee to take to Kent and Kath, who should appear but Kent with a coffee pot to be plugged in.  "Most important item of the day" says Kent.  He had a coffee while he waited to take his pot back to their cottage.

It isn't cold, so no worries there, but the winds have come up again, the boats are rocking like crazy, but we really may not have enough fuel till the power comes on so my sweetie has gone to the marina to get the gas.

At times like this, one appreciates the little things in life that we take for granted.  Electricity is so necessary and it isn't till we have none that we realize how much we depend on it. 

If I can get some of our precious wood heat into the sun room, I will be trying to sew today as intended.  Otherwise, it will be the knitting.

At least it isn't raining....yet....but oh those winds!