wheeeee!!!!!

Boat's in, dock is down, cottage is opened up. Except for the water. That will happen next time. Cottage season 2024 is officially underway! Wahoo!

no freaking filter. *Thud*

Yes I know my pictures are sideways. I'm too tired to fix 'em. Just lean your head that away ➡️. K thanks bye.

Rice Lake sea monster

waiting for the run off

We're waiting for the spring run off to happen (historical high water mark on the lake) so we can get the boats and dock back into the water and open up the cottage for the season.

Given how little snow we've had this winter, I wonder whether we'll even see a spike in the water level this year?

https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/waterlevels/donnees-data?Id=132&lang=en&siteId=100419

ice is out!

The ice is out near the island. Locals are debating whether it's the earliest ice out date ever. Woo!

Now we wait for the high water date to pass and we're back at it. 

On the short term list: master bed mattress, sofa, curtains/blinds, bunky kitchenette.

Longer term: some deck furniture.

Pictures at the marina unabashedly stolen from the Shores of Rice Lake Facebook group, posted by Susan Hofsheier.

that's it! we've closed up

The cottage 2.0 is now closed up for the season. The dock is up, the water is off.

There was a last flurry of activity this last week by the builder to finalize the stairs and lower dock, the hose faucet is installed, missing siding repaired, range hood is in, shower is installed, storeroom emptied of junk, deck is 90% complete (were just waiting on the replacement glass to come in).

Come spring, the cottage is well and truly open for business! Lord, it's been a long slog.

We have a bunch of things to acquire over the winter (patio furniture, sofa, master mattress, curtains, bunky kitchenette, screened porch), but none of it will impede our use of the cottage. 

Praise Jeebus!

Some final photos, provided by the contractor:

Semipenultimate 2023 post

The cottage closeout didn't happen last weekend due to inclement weather, so we're trying again this weekend.

There have been a few updates in the intervening weeks:

The railings went in today, and they look pretty darned good! I was seriously waffling about the colour, but I'm happy with my choice 

The bunky now has a flushing toilet. LUXURY. This was unheard of 2 years ago, when even the cottage didn't have a flushing toilet.

The lower dock and stairs have been built this week. Originally I had expected no lower dock at all (just dock to stairs, the end), but we needed to build a platform for the boat lifts to sit on during the winter months. It will be nice not to fear for my safety every time I pass from boat to cottage 

penultimate 2023 post?

This might be the second last post of the year. We're planning to close up the cottage after Thanksgiving next weekend, with one later visit to have the railings installed on the deck at long last.

We had the loveliest weekend this past weekend. Temperatures in the mid 20s, sunny and calm. The leaves are just starting to turn on the hills surrounding the lake. One of our neighbours has already pulled his dock from the water. 

We docked at our new dock for the first time. All traces of the old dock have been removed. Only the janky stairs up from the dock remain. They've deposited some rock along the shoreline in anticipation of the new lower (shoreline) dock.

This weekend we did some puttering jobs. We hung some artwork, cleaned some of the tools/moving junk out of the living room corners where it had been accumulating. The bunky now has a smoke detector.

our "grass" definitely needs some TLC.

E spent some time on the bowrider, making sure it will run. We've had issues this year with the battery dying, and it bounced off the rocky shore the one rough day it managed to jump off its lift. So far all seems well. He had to wade over to it as the boat lift is no longer next to the dock, but the water was so warm, he went for a short swim afterward! 

He drove it into the marina in anticipation of pulling it from the water and taking it to Paris for its end-of-season tune up, wash, and wrapping. I drove the pontoon behind him (in case a tow was needed) for the first time. I'm invincible!

Next weekend we'll be closing up for the winter. E has appointments in the coming days to learn how to operate the cantilevered dock and to have railings installed around the deck.