You're all fired.

Yes you. Sitting there, smugly looking at your computer.

I didn't get a single suggestion from you about what I should do with my rustic ropey frames. Are they really that bad?

Well nuts to you all, I've come up with an idea all on my own and it's going to kick ropey-frame butt. And then you'll be all, "gee, why didn't I think of that?" and you'll wonder what you ever did to deserve my greatness.

I'm just saying.

This weekend: cottage. Weather is supposed to be a little wet, but I think we'll survive.
Grand plans:

1. I'd like to scour the stove and apply the white high-heat enamel paint. Maybe when I'm doing that the captain and the kids can wash out the "new" fridge and get it all set up inside. I'm still unsure if/how long the enamel paint will last on the stove, but it's a short term fix until we find/can afford another stove.
2. I'd like to empty the bunk room of furniture and rip out the flooring in the back half of the cottage (=bunk room, back hall, shower and loo)
3. I'd like to wash down all the walls in that area and prep for painting.
4. If I have time left over, I want to wash down the kitchen cupboards to get them painted too. The sooner they're painted, the sooner I can load'em up with stuff.

We realized last weekend that there are no electrical outlets of any kind in the bunk room.
I guess I'll need to get that situation rectified, too.

Cottage Kitsch

Gosh, has it really been a week since I posted anything?

We didn't visit the cottage last weekend. The winds were strong which means the lake was roiling.

(photos from Rice Lake Today)

I think I also needed a weekend with no to-do list!

I did do a bit of cottage shopping for kitchen items (measuring cups, scissors, that kind of stuff) and picked up some cheapie decor items at the Dollarama. You might remember my struggles early on with the living room colour-scheme. I couldn't decide if it was retro or fresh, remember? Well, maybe it's a bit of both.

I found these fantastically ugly - so ugly I love them - owls at the 'rama. Aren't they horrid?! Pure 70s kitsch. I'm calling them Hodge, Podge, and Lodge.

"Toowhit toowhee! Toowhit Toowhoo!"

Now, before you think I've totally taken leave of my senses, here's a photo of Hodge, Podge, and Lodge with a fabric sample.
Eh?! They kinda go, don't they!? Gosh they're ugly.  They'll look great hanging out on a shelf together.

The other 'rama find was an 8x10 frame. I bought three. Please ignore the "artwork" shown in the frame.
I like the rough and the ropey look to them. I'm thinking about putting these in the bunk room. I don't know what I'm going to put in them, though.
*puzzle* Suggestions welcome!

I was thinking nautical flags.. then I was thinking "Hodge Podge Lodge" (one in each frame), then I was thinking just patterned paper, then I was thinking cross-stitch, then I was thinking photos of fishing lures, then I was thinking photos of fish, and now I'm so awash in ideas I'm aimless. Thoughts?

Boat insurance

(We have a special guest blog contributor today. Everyone put your hands together and give a warm welcome to the captain of cheap himself, Eric! Take it away, dear...)

If you're going to be using that shiny new boat of yours at the cottage make sure you insure it, both to cover any unforeseen damage as well as liability for those times when you drive over that luckless swimmer by accident.  


Because our boat is more than 15 years old, most insurance companies required a completed Marine Survey before they would cover us.  A handy list of marine surveyors in Ontario can be found here.

Be careful though. There are no regulations governing who can be a marine surveyor. You should pick someone that belongs to an association (like SAMS) to ensure that you're not getting some guy who fixes bikes and does Marine Surveys on the side.

This kind of Marine Survey is useful if you are buying a boat and want to make sure it is in good condition (like taking a used car to a mechanic to check it out before you buy). A more detailed survey would be a good idea if you didn't know the history of the boat or you didn't know the people you were buying it from and wanted to get a better feel for what you were buying (and make sure it wasn't a lemon). 

The Marine Survey only looks into the condition of the boat and not the motor itself (though they do note the type and make of it for insurance purposes). The surveyor could have done a more thorough survey than the one we requested for the insurance company, but since we already had the mechanic look at the boat and we had already bought the boat it didn't seem necessary. 

Everything checked out in our survey and two things were noted.  One was to make sure the battery was strapped down properly so it doesn't move around (the battery is already in an acid proof battery box).  The other was to replace our fuel line with one that can withstand ethanol in fuel without degrading.  Most gas (even for boats) contains up to 10% ethanol and this can lead to condensation in fuel tanks that are stored partially empty for long periods of time as well as deterioration of the fuel line over the long term if not using a USCG Type A1 neoprene line.

With the report and the pictures of the boat sent off to the insurance company, all I need now is to finalize the policy and we're good to go.

Eric

Cletus the slack-jawed yokel

Dear lord. I'm related to BOTH of them! 

This is my Dad and caro sposo suited up in their spiffy chest waders about to go work on installing the dock. 

I'm so proud. 

"I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl." Dangit. I forgot how funny that show was. They don't make them like they used to.

That's right folks. They're standing in the "living room" at the Lodge! 

We made our first trip out to the cottage as a family this past Sunday. Very. Exciting. Stuff. 

Our goals for this trip were fairly simple: get the boat into the water, and set up the dock. Marvin at Wood Duck helped Dad and the Captain-o-cheap get the boat into the water while the kids and I waited at Mom's. The Captain called once he and Dad got the boat in and running, and we drove up to join them.

We were fortunate that our neighbor Ron allowed us to moor at his dock for the day while we set ours up. Dad and Sposo got to work on the dock, section by section.

As it turns out, the dock is considerably longer than I remembered. That's a good thing! The wind and waves picked up yesterday, so it'll be interesting to see how well it handles the continual pounding. We need to buy some cleats or rings for it, though, because right now the only place to tie up your boat is around the uprights. A ladder or hand rail is also probably going to be a good idea.

While the boys were up to their middles in icy water, Mom and I remained in the chilly cabin emptying out the cupboards. We wanted to inventory what was there, but also needed remove some items in preparation for painting. I'm amazed that, in such a tiny space, there were three coffee makers (one still had a moldy filter and grounds in it. Yuck), two toasters, 27 coffee mugs, six pot lids that had no matching pot, and eight frying pans. I took the opportunity to jettison the fly swatter and burger flipper that were hanging beside each other. Ick. I also discovered that we have an entire chest of drawers filled to the brim with ancient VHS tapes. Joy.

I generated three bags full of garbage and moved three good-sized Rubbermaid bins of dishes out into peaky for short-term storage. I'm not convinced all of it will find its way back into the cabin, but it's out of the way for now. I also have an extensive shopping list of things I need to pick up.

Whilst Mom and I emptied and sorted, the kids ran amok and fell on their heads. Literally. Mostly they played on the swings. They played off the swings. They rolled down the hill. They played in Slanty. They drilled under the cottage. They drilled into the dirt (scowl!). And then the princess fell off the swings and landed hard on her head and that was pretty much the end of the outside play time.

We enjoyed our first family supper (re-heated chili. Not glamorous, but it was warm) and then packed up to head home before the sun set. (side note: that's not the moldy coffee perk on the counter. It's one of the other ones.)

I think we'll be out again this coming weekend to work at washing off some of the grime before we start to paint. We might also see about getting the former owner out to help us hook up the water supply. Running water = good.

Until next time....

There's a hole in my bucket...

Actually, there was a hole in my boat; several of them!

Fortunately they were only in the fabric cover and were fairly easy to mend. Unfortunately, I've been busier than a one-armed paper hanger this past week with two dance competitions and haven't had much extra time for cottage work (or blog posts - *toe grind*). I needed to get the boat cover mended before this weekend, as we're planning to take the boat to the marina today and it'll be a lot trickier to fix them once it's in the water.

Hooray for my 20-yr-old Kenmore sewing machine! It's a real work horse. How long will the repairs last? Probably not as long as they could. I didn't use UV resistant fabric or thread, and I'm sure they'll fade and/or rot after prolonged exposure to sunlight, but by that time I hope will have enough extra cash kicking around that we can just pay to have the cover re-built.  

I bet my sister is looking at the plants in the background thinking "what have you done to my spike!?" 'cause I inherited it from her when she moved out west. Hi Mel! Sorry 'bout the plant. Ahaha. Turns out I have a black thumb.

I had been waiting this week for the captain to log a post about obtaining boat insurance for an older boat (we hit some speed bumps in that undertaking, and I thought it would benefit the world to learn from our foibles), but he's been.... lax. Soon. I hope.

Das Boot!

We've got a boat!

Very exciting stuff. While I was away this weekend at a dance competition with the girl, The captain took the boy to Oakville to purchase our boat. It passed the marine testing with flying colours. They got trailer plates, and had the boat's license number transferred into our name.

Now all we need is a dock! That and a weekend with no dance competition sucking up my weekend days. I'm very bitter about dance this year. Weekend hog.

The Armada grows and is picking up speed, too.

The Armada

We appear to be amassing slow-moving watercraft. Over the Easter weekend we went to see some old family friends about a pedal boat. You know, I've always called these types of boats "paddle boats". Who knew!?

Anywho, back to the boat. Seems our friends had this boat at their old house where they had a big pond. Now they have a new house with a wee pond and a beloved boat gathering dust.

When we were at the Cottage Life show recently, I asked my dear son what he wanted most to play with at the cottage, and he quickly answered, "A paddle boat!" (because his mumma taught him what they're called and has corrupted him for life.) He had hours upon hours of fun driving the paddle... errr.. .pedal boat around at a friend's cottage last summer. When we learned about this one that was for sale, we pounced on the opportunity.

It looks a LOT like this:

It's a three seater. The third person sits on the blue hatch for the storage area. I like that it has a canopy and drink holders, and I really like that the seats are adjustable; we can move them forward when the kids (or short-limbed adults like yours truly) are in the boat.

As soon as we gain access to a boat trailer, we'll swing by to pick it up, assuming its current owner can bear to part with it by then (she's suffering some seller's remorse. I don't want pedal-boat guilt!)

Bunk beds status report

Howdy all.

Sorry for the lack of posting of late. Excuse #1 is that there haven't been many new developments; just a whole lot of waiting. And yes, it's killing me. KILLING. ME. I've never been known for my patience. Waiting for the ice to leave the lake (it has) waiting to get a boat (we haven't).

Excuse #2 is that I got derailed last week working on the tutu tote for my wee dancing daughter and this week putting coats of paint on the bunk bed boards. (More on that in a minute).

Then, Easter weekend turned out to be absolutely gorgeous (25°C? Yes please!) so I spent all of it working way too hard in the gardens around the house getting them ship shape before I utterly abandon them for the summer.

So back to the bunk bed boards. I figured it would be easier to paint the boards here and then transport them to the cottage and assemble it there. It's taking a fair bit of time (at least 6 hours so far), but it's worth it. I'm really happy with the colour.

Step 1 was to prime the unfinished wood boards. I opted to use spray-on BIN primer sealer. I love this stuff. It will cover and seal anything (stain, oil, latex, pine sap, water damage, smoke stains, you name it). Would I use it again? Absolutely, but I'd buy a can of the brush-on primer instead. The spray cans didn't yield the coverage I wanted so I went through four of the darned things, and they had a tendency to get gummed up while spraying - even though I was diligent about inverting the cans and spraying to clear out the nozzle after each use). That and my garage is now coated with a fine, white mist. Good thing I used a drop sheet over the important stuff!

Where was I? Oh, right. Primer. I wanted to use a grey primer so it wouldn't show through the paint as much, but they didn't have grey BIN. Once the boards were primed I gave them a light sanding because the primer had raised the grain a little bit.

After that, it was on to the paint. I used a pint (honestly - how anachronistic are the paint companies!? In no other situation do I refer to something as a "pint". Maybe I'm not drinking enough draft beer?) of Benjamin Moore Confederate Red. It's a medium red with just a hint of rust in it. The first coat went on with reasonable coverage, and the second coat is nearly perfect.

If I were being extremely fussy, a third coat would be warranted, but I want the room to have a bit of a rustic country feel to it and it is, after all, a cottage. There is no room at a cottage for perfection, with the following exceptions:


- weather
- sunsets
- meals
- company

So the boards are very nearly done. I still need to do the second coat on the back side of a few of them, then I'll be pleased to have that job out of the way.