Tempus Fugit

It seems like such a short time ago that we were opening the cottage for the season and here we are, putting it to bed for the winter. Hardly seems right when we’re enjoying a breezy +25° on the deck. I’ve put some of the boats away and Shirley has done some packing and year-end cleaning. We’re hoping to get another run in the kayaks tomorrow morning before putting them away. After that we’ll shut down the water and call it a season. It has been one of the best summers weather wise in many years and we enjoyed a considerable amount of time on Lake of the Woods. Thanks for the memories.

I was on a hike with Shirley and some friends on the Tunnel Island trails which is a beautiful hiking area between Keewatin and Kenora. The trails are well used, especially by folks walking their dogs. It’s been a while since we’ve been out on the trails, and now they are very well signed with directions, distances, and including a full trail head route map. A short distance into the trail and we come across the sign makers sense of humor. It’s interesting that most of the dogs we encountered on our hike were off leash, which seems to be the main benefit of bringing your dog here, given the fact that the trails are virtually downtown, yet surprisingly remote after only hiking few minutes from the parking area.

This shot was an excellent opportunity to try out my 1/3 owned, new Canon EFS 10-22mm lens. I like the way the wide angle puts the sign in the foreground while still showing the full expanse of this section of the Winnipeg River system as it leaves Lake of the Woods. (Full size photo)

The May long weekend is the traditional weekend to open the cottage at beautiful Lake of the Woods and this year was no exception. After driving down Friday night we a relaxed and enjoyed the quiteness of the lake compared to the city and the sounds of the waves on the lake. Saturday mornings first order of business was to get the water running. Things went fairly smoothly except a part that I bought to repair the water line from a mishap last fall was the wrong size. No problem however, because there is always a way given the number of spare parts the cottage has acquired over almost 30 years. But the intake line did look a littel funny with a 90° elbow in the normally straight line. Oh well, something to fix another day. the pump primed the first time and there were no leaks or breaks in the system, so we were up and running. Time for a coffee break and some breakfast. It rained off and on most of the day but even a rainy day at the lake is better that any day in the city.  The rest of the day was spent completing a multitude of opening activities like getting the septic system operational, hooking up all the outside hoses, taking 2 kayaks down to the dock, rolling over the aluminium boat an putting on the outboard as well as launching the swim platform out to its anchorage. All that and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff and we’re open for the season!

Sunday was a little more relaxed, at least in the morning with a little sleeping in, and several cups of coffee before entertaining any additional work projects. Shirley’s brother Roy & wife Meryl are coming over for a visit and I’m sure I can tackle a something before they arrive. The project is to replace the retaining wall at the top of the driveway. We’d used untreated timber just about 30 years go and nature had reclaimed her own. All of the timbers had disintegrated and many roots had grown along the path of the timbers, and some even inside the timbers, so they all had to go.

During the dig I made the Tic Tac discovery. Probably doesn’t seem like much to you but it brought back memories for me. My Dad had been a smoker for a lot of years. He’d tried a couple of time to stop, but relapsed. When he finally was successful in stopping, a major part of the success was Tic Tacs. Instead of reaching for the cigarette pack, he’d reach for the Tic Tacs. Only person I’ve ever know who bought them by the case. The Grandkids benefited as well, as there were always a handy treat that he’d dole out on a moments notice. My Dad and I spent a lot of time together building the cottage, so when my shovel unearthed the empty Tic Tac container, it was a bit of a “moment”.

After the visit with company, it was back to some more little projects that always seem to be waiting for some attention. This one was fixing the umbrella for the patio set we have at the dock. Late last year the string that cranks it up & down snapped and I’d bought some nice nylon cord for the repair a while back so into the shop it goes. I’m sure that when they put these things together in the factory it’s way easier to get that rope threaded up the tube etc. but it took a little creativity to get the old stuff out an the new one in but I got it in there and all back together. While I was working on the repair the umbrella was open so I could get access the the various parts, so to get it out the door and down to the dock I’d need to wind it down to close it up. So cranking away, I was very satisfied with my repair as the umbrella began to close, and then, to my horror, when it was half way down, it started to open again! The proverbial lightbulb goes on and I realize I’ve made the rope too short! Not to mention that when I cut it to length with the umbrella open, the remaining piece was now also too short. After taking the thing apart again, and tying the two pieces together, something I hated to do, and reassembling the whole thing again, we have an operational umbrella. I think I’ll be replacing that cord again in the near future.

Monday involves even more sleeping it. It’s a little cloudy and I’m thinking about going cycling, but at 7am after assessing the weather, I decide another few minutes in bed are in order. Well at about 10:30, it seems like the weather is a little better and I roll out of bed and my lovely wife has prepared an awesome breakfast. Eventually, the biking gear gets put on and I’m out for the first Ride Around Kenora of the year.

My route is counter clockwise around Kenora on the Hwy 17A Bypass and back on Hwy 17 with a stop at 57km for the Starbucks where I meet up with my duck buddies playing by the docks. After the Grande, it’s off for the final leg othe ride back to the cottage all the while looming in the back of my head is the Col du Branch Road #3. This Hors Catégorie  climb assents from the bottom of the swamp the the pinacle of Branch road #3 complete with a brief reprieve half way up that lulls you into a false sense of security. As it approaches I summon my “inner Lance” and begin the climb. I’m feeling burn but I’m not letting this mountain get the better of me. Even after a brief wheel spin on some leftover winter sand, I forge on up, victorious! Actually, by the time I’m back at the cottage after 75km, I’m a little spent so a shower and a snack are in order.

After putting stuff away at the dock and loading the truck, the weekend is over and we’re on our way back to Winnipeg, but not without the traditional stop at DQ for a little reward. Good weekend, thanks cottage.

The Eagle has Landed, a photo by Big Dadoo on Flickr.

Well, more correctly, the eagles have landed. I was surprised this morning on my walk to the end of the road to see two heads in the eagle nest. They say that eagles mate for life and this pair has been returning to this nest for many years. Once endangered, we now see multiple eagles almost every day when we’re at the lake.

Speaking of the lake, we’re out for the first time in 2011 and in spite of all the changes in the forecast, Saturday turned out to be a beautiful sunny and warm (+10) day. The ice is still very thick in the 20″-24″ range, and I’m so glad I bought that ice auger a couple of years ago. Hacking through the ice with a pick axe, the way I used to do it, is a killer workout.. Cars & trucks are still driving on the ice roads, and ice fishing shacks dot the lake.

We enjoyed some time on the side deck in the sun with just tee shirts on. There is almost no wind and it was lovely and warm in the shelter of the cottage.

New Corner Post
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

Yesterday’s project was power washing the lower deck in preparation for staining. Today, after the morning ride around the bypass, I finished off the new corner post on the cottage. Last year I replaced the deck corner post on the same corner and prepped the area for this post. Instead of concrete block pads, I’ve poured pads directly on the rock and anchored with several pieces of rebar drilled into the rock. That should stay put for a while.

On a previous week at the lake, I repaired one set of the front windows and this week, the other pair is on the list.

After completing the post task Shirley and I were completing the
staining of the upper deck, but a sudden rain shower called a halt to
that. Oh well, I guess we’ll have to goof off for a while. What? Now
it’s sunny again but we’ll need to wait for the deck to dry up again, so
it’s off to the dock for a little tanning.

Failed Parts

With the great weather we’ve decided to open the cottage a week ahead of the traditional May long weekend opening. We had a birthday celebration for Scott with the whole family on Friday and then drove out later that night arriving at a little after 1am. Eric, Dez, and Kellie are out with us as well.

After sleeping in until about 10am, I’m up and thinking that sitting on the dock and enjoying that the first coffee of the day would be a good idea, and it would have been, except for the traditional bug infestation that happen every year at this time. Since they just hang around the water’s edge, I retreat to the gazebo where there are almost no bugs and look out at the lake with my coffee. Very peaceful and enjoyable.

Enough of that, there are things to do and number one on the list every year is to get the water system up and running. Things progress well as the intake line is put back into the lake and primed, but then I notice that the water is pouring out of the foot valve. This is not a good thing. It’s also the first time in 28 years where the foot valve has failed like this and it is only a year old but the O ring is totally shot! That’s the black worm like thing in the photo with all the cracks in it is what’s left of the O ring after one season of use and a winter. They just don’t make things like they used to.

Anyway, this puts getting the pump running on the back burner so I finish up prepping the rest of the water system as breakfast is being made. After breakfast, Eric and I head off to Kenora to get a new O ring and a couple of other parts, one being a new galvanized piece of 1 1/4″ pipe. Last year, the piece in the photo was leaking ever so slightly but this year, after fixing the foot valve, and bringing the system up to pressure, it was doing a nice imitation of a fountain spray, like at the Bellagio.

After draining down the system a bit I was able to replace that piece and the rest of the water system came online with out any further complications. The rest of the day was spent putting winter things away and bringing out the summer stuff, getting deck and dock chairs in place, raking the postage-stamp yard etc. And then of course there is the septic system. Starting it up is ever so much nicer that shutting down. It’s just connecting the various components and putting the air compressor back in place and plugging it in.

Now that the water is running at the hot water tank is up to temperature, a nice shower is the reward for the work of getting the system functional. It’s been a great day, both sunny and warm, and as always any day at the lake is a great day. Looking forward to a BBQ dinner with Shirley, Eric, Dez & Kellie, perhaps followed by a movie.

Every year we try to make at least one trip out to the cottage to experience beautiful Lake of the Woods in the winter. This year has been the warmest ever with temperatures above 0°C. Arriving last night we hauled the gear in and fired up the furnace and the fireplace. Things were warming nicely when we noticed the furnace had stopped. Oh yeah, the circuit breaker was acting up last year and we didn’t get around to replacing it. In the past, it would run for quite some time and then trip off. After resetting a couple of times it generally started to stay on and work fine. Tonight it’s flipping off ever 5 minutes, and its not really getting any warmer. After some serious electrical panel investigation is seems more cooperative. We head off to sleep and the furnace runs most of the night and by morning it’s nice and toasty.

On Saturday morning, it’s actually raining! The trees are getting coated with ice and I imagine the roads are getting pretty exciting for driving. First order of business is a coffee, followed by fetching some water from the lake.

Watering Hole
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

Getting water from the lake has traditionally involved about a 1/2 hour of very aggressive pick axe chopping of a hole in the ice. As the ice can be around 2+ feet thick, you start choping a hold that’s about 3′ across which narrows in as you go deeper and you hope you break through before its to narrow to swing the pick in. If this happens, its more work, widening out the hole to about 4′ across. Many a year I’ve worked up a great sweat and taken off my jacket even at -20C while chopping he hole.

This year, brains over brawn has kicked it. I purchased an ice auger. That bad boy put an 8″ hole through 11″ of ice in under 30 seconds with very little effort. It was so easy and fun that I drilled a second hole just for the heck of it.

Water acquired and breakfast consumed, it was time to explore the neighborhood. Not to much to report, as very few people are around. It looks like all the local residents have gone south for the winter. Given the wet conditions of the snow we decided to do a little building.

Standing Guard
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

I’ve had this clock since I was about 14 and at that time is was already an official antique, being appraised a just over 100 years old. It was originally in the train station in Rennie, Manitoba near Brerton Lake in the Whiteshell. So, how did I get this little treasure? Well one weekend my Dad and one of his friends were doing some maintenance work at the CGIT Camp on the lake and that meant I was helping. My assignment that day was to paint and immense dinning hall floor a very nice shade of battleship gray. Wow, just how I wanted to spend my Saturday at the lake. The clock was hanging in the hall and as I painted, it caught my interest. The varnish finish was all cracked and pealing and it didn’t run. Well, with a little negotiating I managed to obtain ownership of the clock in lieu of payment for my days labours.

Once I had it home, I began the re-finishing process and stripped off the varnish and replaced it with a nice soft oil finish. The clock mechanism was another story. Upon investigation, one of the brass gears had a tooth broken off, something that a 14 year old wasn’t going to be able to fix. Dad to the rescue! He took the clock to an old school clock repair guy, probably one of the last in the city ,and a new tooth was fashioned and soldered into place.

Did I mention that it ticks rather loudly? The clock was installed in a place of honors on the wall at the foot of my bed. It took me a night or two to get used to the ticking, apparently it took my parents much longer to get used to sleeping with the rhythmic tick, tock, tick, tock, but everybody survived.

Ever since then the clock has been in our home. A while back the rod attachment that holds the pendulum in place broke off, so there was no more ticking. And then, during a recent redecorating spree I was informed that it’s place of honour in the living room was no longer “appropriate”. Since that day the clock has been in storage. So, this weekend the restoration began again. A fresh coat of oil finish, some brass polish and re-attaching the rod for the pendulum has it in tip top shape once more, and restored to a place of honour in my office.

I was looking through some drawers the other night and I came across some pictures from my Mom & Dad. Two little 3 x 3 booklets of black and white pictures from 1950s. Is these pictures I’m 3 and Gail would be 7, and were standing in front of the first cottage in what would be several cottages I’d experience growing up.

The cottage was build by my Grampa and Dad, all by hand, no power tools. Quite an accomplishment and one that still impresses me today. Just spend some time with a hand saw cutting 6×6 posts to length and you’ll know what I mean. I have a couple of vivid memories about this cottage. One is about a salt lick we had on the lot and watching the deer that came quite close to us to get to the salt. The other involves a car. Just to the right of the boardwalk is the driveway and it’s a little steeper than it looks. At the end of a weekend when Mom & Dad were loading up the car to go home. Gail & I were put in the back seat and told to “sit there and don’t touch anything”.

Well, after a while a guy gets a little bored and a car is a fascinating place. I leaned over into the front seat and was playing around with the steering wheel and then the gear shift leaver, and suddenly we were in neutral and rolling backwards down the driveway. Just then Dad and Grampa came out the door, dropped whatever they were carrying and came running to grab the car.

This is the view down the driveway to the lake. I was always told that the car might have rolled down, across the road, and throught the lot in front of us, and into the lake. Looking at this, I think the trees would have stopped the car first. Anyway, they managed to stop the car and get in and put the parking brake on. I think there was a stern talking to and perhaps a spanking involved, but all I really remember was being rescued. A good cottage story with a happy ending.