Salutations

Greetings from the lodge! Posts will be infrequent as we kick back and enjoy the fruits of all of our hard work.

More to follow when we return to the land of wi-fi.

Happy cat

Last year we pretty well decided we were done taking the cat to the cottage with us. He's getting up there in years (21 at the time we made the decision, 22 now) and he really hated the hour-long trip in the car. Hated it so much he'd invariably poop or barf on the way. The kids would freak out because his carrier was always buckled between them in the back seat and they'd be stuck smelling it, but we got pretty efficient at changing the pad in his carrier, cleaning up the cat, and getting back on the road.

Because of his dislike of car rides, we'd been leaving him behind at home on weekend trips and only bring him with us when we'd stay for a week or longer.

This plan had to change this year. He has started to suffer seizures in his old age. We couldn't, in good conscience, leave him alone in that condition; who knows what we'd return home to?! So, we packed him up in his carrier for a weekend trip and set out for the cottage.

He mewled and he howled as he was miserable. The kids were flipping out over every little movement he made, convinced he was depositing "presents" in his cage for them.
In desperation, I let him out of his carrier as held him on my lap.
And he sat there happily for the whole trip!!

What?!?

We've now made 4 trips this way and he's been as good as gold. He fidgets a little bit, but mostly he's a happy cat. I know this isn't the safest way to transport him, but he never leaves my lap, and he's content. At the ripe old age of 22, I think he has earned that much.

Spook Island

For years we have heard rumours about a sand bar at the lake, known to locals as "North Beach".  Visitors can drive their boat up, beach it on the sand bar, and spend the day in the water swimming, visiting, and generally having a lovely time.

I don't know if this is the same sand bar, but we've found the one on the east shore of Spook Island. For maybe 10-15 meters out from shore, the water is only about 1-2 feet deep (there I go, mixing my units of measurement again.) It's nice and sandy, no weeds, and the water is warm because it's so shallow.

Because we arrived aboard the cousins' verybigboat, we anchored a short way out from the sand bar and swam in for a visit.

Some of us did suicide jumps off the boat.

Not me, though.

The little boys splashed and played

and tackled each other.

The big boys circled some local girls like wolves

and wormed their way into some "beach" volleyball.

I've read that there are issues with the island cottagers not taking too kindly to trespassers (can't say as I blame them). I've also read that there are issues with broken glass and water snakes in the water (otherwise they'd be land snakes, I guess?), but we saw neither. Probably just as well. I think I'd need a change of swimsuit if a water snake came sidling up to me.

I'm happy that we found the sand bar, though. Now we have a "destination"!

Green Heron

We've found a new critter on the lake this year.

We first noticed him when we were sitting on the porch and he landed on the branch of the birch tree right in front of us. At first, I thought it was a duck because of its size ("What's a duck doing in a tree!?"), but as it flew away we could see it was no duck.

It was only a fleeting glimpse, but we got the Ontario Bird Book out and decided it was either a Bittern or a Green Heron. I didn't even know they made Herons in green!

This weekend when the kids were out on the water and I had my camera on the dock, he flew by again, and I was able to get a better picture. It's definitely a Green Heron.



I love discovering new wildlife at the lodge!

Well, unless it's floating.

Cousins

Do you remember my cousin, her family, and their piddly boat from last year? (memory refresher)


Well, they came back! Even after the horrendous poo-hole Stink Off of 2011, they still took the chance and decided to come back.

And they brought their new boat. It's a wee little thing. (holy cow is it ever nice).

They were kind enough to drag all of us over to the sand bar at Spook Island (more on that later) for an afternoon of fun and sun. The boat ride was soooooo smooth, even though the lake was a little choppy. I could definitely get used to cruising like that.

Here are a few photos of our boat next to their boat. 

To say that their boat dwarfs our boat is a little bit of an understatement.

I have boat envy.

Happy Birthday, Derrek!

The cousins were up visiting this weekend. Before the clock runs out on 7-22, I need to get this Happy Birthday post up, complete with a photo of the banner made for him by his adoring chatterbox cousin, the Princess.

HappyBir thda yDer rek!!!!

(I made it pink and girlie, just the way you like it. Please note: I'm playing some Justin Bieber [beiber? beeber!] in the background right now, just for you)

Boys are weird

 Like I said.

Weird.