Bits and pieces

I'm gradually picking up bits and pieces of things we're going to need at the cottage. One of the things I distinctly remember at my grandparents' cottage was a tall metal cupboard in which they kept all of their dry goods. It didn't occur to me at the time, but it makes perfect sense; keeps the critters out! To me it always smelled like Shreddies.

So I got to thinking about our less-than impervious shelving, and decided to stock up on some glass jars with clamp-locking lids. Nicole spotted these lovelies at IKEA last week for cheap, and picked them up for me.

Aren't they wonderful?

The largest jars are 1.8 L. I'm thinking of picking up some adhesive-backed vinyl that I can run through my Silhouette cutting machine to create labels for these jars. OOooo. crafty.

So pretty.

A little Chair-ity

I haven't been up to much cottage-y stuff lately. The weekend was a little loco with all the kid stuff that happens. There are some weekends when I suspect there wasn't really a weekend at all. I just go to sleep on Friday night and next thing I know it's Monday morning.

The one thing I have been working on a little bit each day is re-covering the seats of some lovely teak chairs that will go in the cottage kitchen. These items were donated by M'nik (a clark-by-association and therefore good people) when she decided to turn her dining room into an office.

Again, my industrious brain said "re-covering seats? Easy as pie..."

Stupid, stupid brain.

That's not to say the chairs have been hard to do. It's more that they've been interminably tedious. It's my own fault, really. I wanted to strip them down to the wood and reupholster them from that point, rather than just slapping another layer of fabric around them and stapling it in place. Ahaha. I'm an idiot.

Step one: Remove staples that are holding top-most fabric in place. Check.

Step two: Rope your favourite ginger into the doing the dirty work. Check.

Step three: Remove staples that are holding the batting in place. Check.

Step four: Remove staples that are holding the black band in place. I'm sensing a theme. Check.

Step five: Swear at demented Danish chair manufacturer who used spindly, brittle little staples to attach black vinyl band. Check.

Step six: Remove staples that are holding the sisal-y fabric in place. Check.

Step seven: Swear even more at Demented Danish Staple Wielder, bark knuckles on chair bottom repeatedly whilst trying to pull staple shards from wood. Marvel that each chair appears to have required 1 cup of staples. Consider buying proper staple-pulling tool. Abandon staple-pulling to search the Internet for such a beast. Find one about half an hour away for roughly $20. Realize that the staple puller would cost more than the chairs. Swear again and return to pulling staples with a flat-headed screwdriver and needle-nose pliers. Check.

Step eight: Peel back the sisal-y fabric. Yes ladies and gents, that's powdered seat cushion you're looking at. The foam in the seat was rotten. I think I threw up a little in my mouth. Check.

Step nine: Wearing industrial strength rubber gloves and a gas mask (possibly overkill), remove the sisal-y fabric inside a garbage bag to contain the mess. Realize half of the foam is still "good", relatively speaking, and firmly glued to the wooden seat. Dig around in toolbox for something to scrape the powdered foam, good foam, and glue from the wood. In a garbage bag. While wearing rubber gloves, a gas mask, and a pained expression.  I settled on a paint razor. Check.

Finally, I'm ready to start re-covering the chairs!

Chair re-covering:

Step one: Trace wooden seat on 1-in. upholstery foam and cut. I used kitchen scissors. Check.

Step two: Cut chunk of cotton (or polyester) batting larger than the seat by at least 3-in. on all sides.  Check.

Step three: Cut a piece of fabric larger than the seat by at least 3-in. on all sides. More would be better; you need something to grip when you're stapling. While you're at it. Grab your awesome stapler. I love this one, the staple comes out directly under the end of the handle, so as you're pushing down, all the force is over top of the staple. Nice. Check.

Step four: Layer the foam, batting, and fabric on the top of the wooden seat. Flip it over so you're working on the underside. Line up any stripes if you're foolish enough to have picked a fiddly striped fabric. Staple! Check!

Step five: If any of the staples haven't gone in all the way, whack 'em with a hammer. Check.

Step six: Staple like a madwoman (or man) all the way around the chair. Take extra care to gather around the corners. You don't want big, pointy folds. Trim any excess fabric or batting. Check.

Step seven: Fasten the seat onto the chair with Robertson wood screws. No other screw will work. Trust me on this. (Slowly we will convert the world to our Genius Canadian Screws.) Check.

Step eight: Send the new chair to the chair inspector for approval. Kitty approved! Check.

Here are the chairs, before and after. For what it's worth, using the striped fabric was a serious pain in the hiney because you continually have to check that you aren't introducing waves in the lines as you pull the fabric taught.

Oh, and one more recommendation for re-covering the chairs: Use A Lot of Staples. It'll piss off the next person who re-covers the chairs.

I might be insane

I know there are some of you reading this who are saying to yourself, "'might be insane'!?", but hear me out. There's a reason for my confession.

I've been gifted, nurtured, born with a handy gene. Primarily this manifests in crafty ways (scrapbooking, sewing, knitting, etc.). I've also been raised to be thrifty; I pinch my nickels so hard the beaver is uncomfortable. Every so often these character traits collide in a perfect storm of thrifty creativity and I catch myself uttering the dreaded phrase:

"They want how much for it?! But I could make that!"

I've done this quite a bit lately. Buying a cottage has turned my thrift level up to 11. Where there is thrift, creativity takes hold.

"Necessity is the mother of invention!"
"Uncomfortable beavers lead to insanity!" (I just made that one up.)

I've been re-covering the seats of some teak chairs donated by a friend (you'll see that in a later post), and my fruitless search for inexpensive bunk beds is now leading me to a scary place: I think I want to make my own beds.

It always looks easier than it turns out to be in real life (much like decorating a cake). There are countless free plans on the web for bunk beds, from the bizarre to the practical to the deluxe. I drew some sketches last night of a bunk bed that might work, but then I found this on the Interwebs:

 

 (photo from http://woodgears.ca They have nice plans for single and double beds too, if you're curious)

It's kinda nice, no? I like that it's a single over double too. I'd like to put a bunk bed in every room to bump up the available sleeping space in the cottage for crowded weekends. It's made with common Big Box timber (2x4, 2x8, 2x10, 2x2, and 1x4) and doesn't look that complicated to assemble. I'd add a rail to the top bunk though. It's scary otherwise. I figure it'll be sturdy, looks not too bad, and it won't break the bank.

I have a compound-mitre saw, and I know how to use it!

UPDATE: Oh, dear. I might be in love. link (with thanks to Alison)

Cottage Run: Addendum

More photos of the move: these ones from Drew.

Is your name Clark?

If it is, then you are Good People. At first I suspected it was genetic, but it would appear that Clark-by-association also yields Good People.

Since the ice-road expedition was a success, Eric drove out on Sunday in the CR-V with a load of stuff (1000 lbs of flooring). As he was driving across the lake he spotted one of our kitchen cupboard doors that fell off his sled a week earlier, just sitting there on the ice. [facepalm] At least he found it.

On Sunday afternoon (yes, Valentines day) he kidnapped Drew and went to Drew's parents' place to borrow their big trailer. They're Clarks. They're Good People. They gave us a TV too. Drew's wife is also Good People for letting us steal him both on Valentines Day and the following Monday, which was Family Day. We owe them BIG.

In addition to Family Day, Monday was also Moving Day - or at least, one of many moving days as we slowly transport stuff to the cottage. Eric and Drew managed to transport a LOT of heavy stuff. The concrete backer board, the "new" fridge, a sofa, a chair, a T.V. two dressers, a kitchen table, and the shower supplies. They came back with two nasty fridges, two nasty sofas (each of which had a lovely cache of nuts stowed inside *boggle*), an old kitchen table... and other heavy, dirty junk like old TVs, etc. Certainly they came back with a few aches, pains, and battle scars.

Now we need to co-ordinate a big junk pick-up with the town to get all that icky junk out of my somewhat cleaner garage. Which Drew helped to tidy. Because he's Good People.

Here's a photo-journal of their day (click to enlarge):

Not without a hitch

We did end up getting a trailer hitch from U-Haul. They call it a Class III, but as it's only rated to 3500 lbs, we're thinking it's more Class II.

The installation didn't go off without a hitch though. (badump *chssssshhhhhh*).

The Captain called ahead to see if they had the hitch in stock - they did - and made an appointment for 3:00 on Saturday to have it installed. He dropped the truck off on time and was told to come back in about an hour and a half. Since he had no other means of transportation, he and the wee lad walked over the nearby Canadian Tire and sat in the waiting room of their automotive department and watched the Olympics on their t.v.

After an hour and a half he returned to the U-Haul and was told they didn't have the hitch in stock. He was fuming! They tried to call the house, but wrote the number down incorrectly (wouldn't have mattered either way, because no-one was home). They had the hitch at their Warden location, but it had to be delivered.  If he left the truck with them, they would get it installed for him that day. Eric figures they were contrite about the inventory snafu and were attempting to make amends.

Eric called me to come rescue them, which we did. We went to Mr. Sub for dinner, then did some shopping at Walmart before returning to the U-Haul for the truck. The hitch was installed and they gave him $50 off the cost of the hitch (essentially waived the installation fee for the wiring, I think.) When you're dealing with Eric, dropping the cost makes things better.

At the end of the day, the hitch is installed, the wiring works, and he saved $50. He lost a bit of time, but he's placated.

I still don't have my chrome propeller though.

A hitch in his gait

The intrepid adventurer has a bee in his bonnet right now about getting a trailer hitch put on the CRV. We've been meaning to do this for some time if only to be able to transport kids bikes to campgrounds, etc., but now with the imminent need to tow a boat Eric is springing into action.

For Eric, this means sitting on his butt and doing Research. The capital R is necessary in this case because he doesn't do research; he does Research. Research involves prodigious googling, trolling Red Flag Deals for recommendations and bargains, and many many phone calls to hitch purveyors.

Because, you see, he's cheap. I love him for it, but I would never in a million years put this much effort and leg-work into finding just the right hitch for the truck. But he will. And he does. And we save money because of it.

Here's what the sleuth has uncovered. We probably only need a class I hitch. Did you know there were different classes? Neither did I!

[this graphic lifted from www.trailerhitch.ca]

He started his inquiries at the local garage. They scoffed and said it would be WAY too expensive (~$600) to get a Class I with the wiring harness through them and they suggested he call U-Haul. After checking online, this appears to be a common recommendation. U-Haul will install a Class III hitch for ~$275. Much less than the garage, and a better hitch to boot. But oh no, that's not good enough. Now he has to call around to see if he can get it for even less. Currently "Truck and Van World" is winning at $271.

All I need to know is: Can I put a chrome propeller on the truck?

Winter cottage update

Today Eric, our intrepid adventurer, set out across Rice Lake on cross-country skis to get a sense of what the lake is like in winter. He brought a cordless drill with a monster wood auger bit to see how thick the ice was in preparation for us possibly heading out onto the ice with a vehicle. Every spot he drilled was at least 18" thick; That's as far as he could drill and he never hit water.

Here's the view from the end of Wood-duck where there's a public boat launch. You can see a local unloading a sled from his truck on the ice. In the far distance is an ice fisherman setting up his clamshell.

This next photo is the view from water level at the boat launch, out towards the Island. Hello Eric's shadow!

Hmm. Or maybe he's halfway and snapping a picture of the shoreline? Judging by the shadow direction of the snowmobile dude, I think this is the case. (This is what happens when your photographer refuses to contribute to the blog.)

Clearly we are not the first people to think about driving out to the island. This truck was parked outside #28.

I'm not 100% sure, but this next one looks like the view from the end of our dock (if it were in the water) back towards the mainland. Note the tracks.

And this one is the view from our porch in winter.

Here's the hill up from the cottage towards the park in the centre of the island. If we had a bit more snow we could toboggan!

And lastly, this is an ice rink that Eric passed on his way back from the cottage, replete with hockey net. Nice!

Since he had such a favourable outing today and the weather is promising to remain cool this week, I'm 99% sure we'll be venturing out to the cottage with a few loads of stuff next weekend.

This is the first time we've been out since taking possession of the place. It was a good fact finding mission. We got to see what the lake is like, and whether people were driving on it. Also, I got Eric to measure a few places I hadn't measured yet and photograph the cupboard contents so I could see what was left behind (a visual inventory before I go shopping!). Lastly, Eric removed the kitchen cupboard doors to bring them home so they could be retrofitted to remove the narsty orange  plastic and be painted before the spring.

Good times!

UPDATE: Just saw a posting on the local Rice Lake BBS from someone who was talking to an ice fisherman at the Island today who said the ice is 24-in. thick. For what it's worth, the government of Canada claims that 61 cm of ice (24 in.) will support a 13-ton aircraft, parked. "Metric ton or imperial ton?" you ask? (African or European?) 13 tons is 26,000 pounds. 13 tons (long) is 29,120 pounds.13 metric tons is 28,660 pounds - or, about as much as an empty schoolbus.

And you thought you wouldn't learn something today. tsk tsk tsk.

UPDATE UPDATE: The curb weight (unloaded) of a 2004 CRV is 3,318 lbs. The gross vehicle weight rating (the max it can carry, including curb weight) is 4,320 lbs. Somebody's been googling!!

Leggo my Eggo!

Yep, I'm waffling.

I'm starting to think again that maybe we could still get out to the cottage in winter. It's all a question of ice quality and ice thickness.

If the ice is clear (not white ice, or "snow" ice), you can take a medium truck out on ice that's 12" - 15" thick. Double that if it's white ice. Bet you didn't know that.

They (in this case the Minnesota DNR) also recommend parking vehicles that weigh a ton (2000 lbs) at least 50 feet apart and moving them every two hours, or else this happens:

*SNORT*  Those yutzes!

I'm a terrible person for finding their predicament so amusing, but dangit, that's funny! At the same time it sends a little shiver of terror down my spine imagining my CRV sunk up to the door handles in the lake. [resumes biting her nails]

Call me quirky ("quirky!"), but I'm willing to bet the insurance company frowns upon claims for vehicles in lakes.

Terror aside, if I know how much the truck weighs and I know how thick the ice is around the island, I can make an informed decision about heading out. I think a walking foray with a power drill, a long wood auger bit, and a tape measure (and maybe some PFDs and some rope) might be in order to see what the conditions are like around the island.  It's about half a kilometer (1600 ft) walk across the ice to the tip of the island. Probably a grand total of 2 km to walk to the cottage from shore.

The weather appears to be remaining below zero until the Family Day weekend, so that will help with the ice situation.
(thank you, weather network)

The cause of my indecision is that I keep hearing reports of vehicles driving around the Island, and it would just be so gosh-darned handy to move some big items out there when they don't have to arrive by boat!

Plus, I'm keen to get out there to see what was left for us, so I have a better idea what I need to be scrounging for now.

*waffle waffle*

So you want to know more about the lake?

I can't say that I blame you! I need to know more about it myself. After hearing yesterday that the doofuses (doofi?) went through the ice between Rack and Shearer islands, I got to thinking: "Where are Rack and Shearer islands, and why was the ice so thin there?"

So, after a bit of net scouring for a map that labels the islands on Rice Lake, I found this (click the logo for the map):

You can't zoom in super close, but it has all the islands labeled (even piddly little "West Grape island" which you can see in this photo) and it shows the depths of the lake - mostly not deep - and some markers/hazards and such.

Yutzes!

Just when I think I might pluck up the courage to head to the island mid-winter, some yutz goes and drives their ATV through the ice. (Fortunately no-one was killed, otherwise I'd feel awful calling them a stupid yutz.)

Well, that settles it. No number of pickup trucks and monster shanties will lure me out onto the frozen lake with a false sense of security.

 

(photo by ricelakemermaid at ricelaketoday.ca)

I'm sick of it being winter already! *HARUMPH!*

I am so sick of winter.
Seriously. It can stop. Like, right now.

We visited the Despot yesterday to acquire the last few building goodies before the reno tax credit expired. Most of it was wire shelving for our basement closet (yeah!) but I did nab some tile nippers, the cement backerboard for the shower reno, some fibertape and screws for said board, and some smaller niggly bits.

We didn't pick up the paint (called at 3:23, paint store closed at 3:00! Dammit), or the 2x2 tiles I wanted for the shower floor, as they were all out. We almost bought a ladder and some halogen pot lights, but didn't, and gave serious thought to buying 1x1' ceiling tiles for the living room, but I'm not convinced that's the route I want to go for finishing the ceiling. I'd much rather put gyprock up, but that's an ugly piggy job to install, let alone tape and mud.

So, indecision means the ceiling purchase is still unresolved.

And now, we wait.

*sigh*

I suppose I can start working on some upholstery in the meantime, and I'll continue to troll kijiji for a white stove and some bunkbeds.

Here's a photo of the lake from Harwood. (I hope you can see the photo, it's from a BBS that requires a log-in.)