Critters

Life is stirring on the island. The following critters were spotted by the captain and Handy Dad.

This is a turkey vulture. They're about as attractive as their name suggests.

Though when I think "vulture" I always picture this guy in my head:

And this furry little fellow is a muskrat. I'd say he's about as big as a soccer ball, wouldn't you? You better not gnaw on my fuel line, muskrat or I'll brain you with an oar!!

Water, Water everwhere and not a drop to drink!

When we had the cottage inspected, the inspector (◄That's Mike) informed us that the bladder in our water tank was ruptured and the tank itself was undersized (read: needs to be replaced).

We picked up a spanky-new bigger one at the Despot that winter, and it languished all last summer under the cottage because at first we didn't have the right connector bits, and then later because installing it would've meant disconnecting the water (!? - ya, I'm not sure how that's a valid reason either. Sometimes it's better not to think too hard about it.)

But at long last, it's installed! It's Big! It's Blue! The increased capacity means the pump will have to run less frequently, extending the life of the pump. Hopefully the water pressure will also improve now that the bladder in the tank is whole.

Once the water was hooked up, they realized the shower faucet was left on, so they had to run and turn that off. The water all headed down the drain, though, even though there was no grout yet on the floor tiles, so that tells me I'm an awesome shower-floor-slope-builder lady. There's also a leak from somewhere under the bathroom that they didn't have a chance to troubleshoot yet because.....

There was a bigger problem in Peaky. At some point the water supply for the Sheeter-to-nowhere in Peaky came apart. Once the water was turned back on, the bunky began to flood. By the time they realized, the floor was soaked.

They've since capped off that pipe into the bunky and installed a spigot on the end of the supply line until there's time for a more permanent fix. Of course the captain didn't photograph the wet floor. That would've been too interesting to look at and we didn't want to be responsible for any heart palpitations.

I still need to pound my head against the idea of some sort of pre-filter before the pump. Lake water isn't the cleanest, and any debris in the water will plug up faucets and, oh, say, things like shower heads. I really don't want to have to continually remove them and clean them out. I'm sure it's also not very good for the hot water tank to be full of all that guck and sediment.

So, if you know of something, or have suggestions, I'm all ears!

Water, Water everwhere and not a drop to drink!

When we had the cottage inspected, the inspector (◄That's Mike) informed us that the bladder in our water tank was ruptured and the tank itself was undersized (read: needs to be replaced).



We picked up a spanky-new bigger one at the Despot that winter, and it languished all last summer under the cottage because at first we didn't have the right connector bits, and then later because installing it would've meant disconnecting the water (!? - ya, I'm not sure how that's a valid reason either. Sometimes it's better not to think too hard about it.)

But at long last, it's installed! It's Big! It's Blue! The increased capacity means the pump will have to run less frequently, extending the life of the pump. Hopefully the water pressure will also improve now that the bladder in the tank is whole.



Once the water was hooked up, they realized the shower faucet was left on, so they had to run and turn that off. The water all headed down the drain, though, even though there was no grout yet on the floor tiles, so that tells me I'm an awesome shower-floor-slope-builder lady. There's also a leak from somewhere under the bathroom that they didn't have a chance to troubleshoot yet because.....

There was a bigger problem in Peaky. At some point the water supply for the Sheeter-to-nowhere in Peaky came apart. Once the water was turned back on, the bunky began to flood. By the time they realized, the floor was soaked.

They've since capped off that pipe into the bunky and installed a spigot on the end of the supply line until there's time for a more permanent fix. Of course the captain didn't photograph the wet floor. That would've been too interesting to look at and we didn't want to be responsible for any heart palpitations.



I still need to pound my head against the idea of some sort of pre-filter before the pump. Lake water isn't the cleanest, and any debris in the water will plug up faucets and, oh, say, things like shower heads. I really don't want to have to continually remove them and clean them out. I'm sure it's also not very good for the hot water tank to be full of all that guck and sediment.



So, if you know of something, or have suggestions, I'm all ears!

Buddies

This isn't just a boat on the lake.

This boat heralds the arrival of Nathan, the very best thing about the cottage, as far as the kids are concerned.

Without the princess there, the wee lad had Nathan's undivided attention for the entire day, and he couldn't be happier.

They found an old fishing bob and pretended it was a bomb.

They tossed a stick back and forth between the two docks, but then the stick broke.

The wee lad changed into his swimsuit (!? it really wasn't that warm - the lake is only 59º) and  they shot each other with the water-squirter thingers that I bought this winter.

They tried to jump over the large flooded swamp and sang up to their knees in guck. Oh, wait. That was just the wee lad. Good thing there was a change of clothes!

They played with the whizbang I bought for a dollar (purely because I had so much fun playing with the same - albeit better-made - thing when I was a kid).

In short, they picked up right where they left off.

My fears were not unfounded

We were very fortunate that our cottage escaped major damage in the recent wind storm that struck the lake. Others were not as fortunate. In addition to our neighbour's docks that went walkabout, there were trees down around the island.

This is a poplar tree from up by our firepit. It was already dead, so no big loss, and we were lucky that it fell away from the buildings.

This other cottage was not as lucky. Their boat house took a beating when a big tree fell on it. I hope they can repair the damage without too much effort.

From what I've heard, the north shore of the lake got hit much harder than the island did.

Dock, 2011

On a gorgeous Spring Saturday, the good men of The Lodge headed out to install our docks.

While the water was cold, apparently the temperatures were lovely and their always attractive hip-waders kept them dry (except for the captain who managed to fall into the lake. Bwahahahahahaha! *sniff* *wipe* Oh, I wish I had been there with my camera! At least he had the good sense to leave his cell phone on the deck. *ahem*)

The docks went in with ease, according to reports, and they had extra time to putter around attending to other cottage chores like connecting the water and emptying the poo hole.

Gosh the lake looks lovely. *contented sigh*

And that fella in the hip-waders is looking pretty fine, himself!

I can't wait to get back there. We're planning a day trip on Saturday (arg with the dance schedule conflicts already! arg arg arg) even though they're calling for rain. We need to launch our own boat, transport some more items, and do some spring cleaning before settling in for the summer.

Happy clap!

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!

Cottage season 2011 has finally gotten underway!

On Friday, Handy Dad and Sewing Mum launched The Waketania III, their pontoon boat. (Waketania II was Dad's old 500 lb concrete* canoe that we now own. I don't know if he's aware that I'm naming his boat for him, but tough beans. I don't know what the Waketania I was...)

Once afloat, they puttered over to the island to see how things held up over the winter. Originally my main concern was whether the flooring had survived, but after the windstorm at the end of April I was more interested in learning whether the cottage was intact and that none of the buildings had been crushed under a falling tree. I guess sometimes it's good not to have a lot of trees at the cottage.

Upon arrival, the first thing that they saw was that the two sections of our neighbour's dock (installed Easter weekend) had ripped out and were semi-submerged and wedged on either side in front of our cottage.

(click for close up)

and here's another

and another

Dad was able to dock and get in to check out the cottage.  The cottage itself was unscathed by the wind or trees, and better yet - the flooring was in good shape! Calloo Callay!

Fortunately, our own docks were dandy fine.

The wee bird house was still standing

(better than our poor neighbours with the docks)

And none of my ungrouted shower tiles had popped off over during the winter freeze.

According to Dad, the cottage looked like we closed up yesterday, and best of all - no stink! We weren't sure how it would smell after shutting up all winter with the composting toilet. I guess it was just fine. (Yay!)

Dad and the captain hatched a cunning plan to return the next day and install our docks while the princess and I attended our last dance competition of the season. Perfect timing!

---

*no, not really.