My husband's family has owned a cottage in Canada since the 1970's. Originally the cottage was three small bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and dining/living room. It is located on the Rideau Lakes which is part of the historic Rideau Canal system (a World Heritage Site) that runs from Kingston, Ontario to Ottawa, Ontario. It is over 100 miles of lakes connected by a series of locks - so boaters can travel all the way from the St. Lawrence river to the capital of Canada. It has actually been designated an historic site. Our cottage is on one of those lakes called "Indian Lake".
Shortly before my father-in-law retired they added a large addition to the cottage, basically increasing the size from around one thousand square feet to about 2100 sq. feet. It now has four bedrooms, a main bath and master bath, living room, kitchen and eating area, living and dining room and laundry room. The deck used to be just in front of the living room but now wraps across the entire front of the cottage. Rather than just a cottage, my husband's parents lived there all year after they retired so it is fully winterized.
Just before we moved to Phoenix my father-in-law passed away and a few years later my mother-in-law also died. The cottage was left to my husband and myself. When the children were little I would go up to the lake every summer as soon as school ended and come back just before it started again. As the kids got older it became harder and harder to get up there and instead of every year sometimes a few years would pass before we would go. The last time any of us were up there was four years ago.
This week I got a call from the man that looks after the place for us. He was going to have some of his family stay at our place for his daughter's wedding. Unfortunately when he went to start the water nothing happened. It seems we are having some kind of plumbing issue. Hopefully it will just be the water pump as that would be easy to replace. But pipes from the well may have frozen and cracked. Also, some soffits were knocked down and squirrels or other vermin may have gotten into the attic.
After being shut up for so long I guess the place smells pretty musty, the windows are a mess, the yard is grown over and the dock is in need of repair.
My intention was to head up there the last week in June, but it seems I will need to go sooner to get things done before the rest of the family arrives sometime in July. I have had to cancel a couple of my classes at the Fiber Factory but I will be back in the fall to teach again.
The good news is that I am taking my half completed knitting projects and hope to get them done as well as work on some samples for classes for the fall. Of course, being a knitting addict the trip will give me a chance to visit some of my favorite yarn stores in Kingston, Perth and Ottawa.
The last time we were at the lake, there was only dial up internet service. I believe there is wifi there now. I am taking my computer and hope to continue writing my blog, however, it may not be as regular as it is here.
I wish all of you a wonderful summer. See you in September and Keep Knitting!
Regards,
Mary Glendinning
OPYF
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