Flowers everywhere!

I went to the cottage on my own, on Friday. The plumbers were coming to install an iron filter (which seems to be working nicely, and I hope it continues to do so).
The day was hot and still. It was almost eerie, how quiet the day was. This was the first time in years – longer than I can recall, actually – that I was at the cottage entirely on my own.

Our one resident rabbit was on the move.

The roses at the old place are in full bloom. I love their deep pink colour.

They are at their height, here.

Lots of bees!

They get right in there.

I sat in my “happy place” for a few minutes, just enjoying the view. The wind had picked up a bit by then, so the breeze kept me cool and took away most of the bugs.

The steps go down to the water at the deck's edge. Before the wooden ones were built, there were rocks inset. The wood is starting to rot a bit and we may have to go back to using rocks!

We had a mess of wings on Saturday night for dinner. We’d worked hard during the day, painting the gazebo in preparation for putting on its new roof.

I can’t adequately describe for you how mouth-wateringly good these were. I don’t know what Iain puts in his sauces, so no requests for the recipe, please!

Le Chef.

It just wasn’t possible to get a decent picture of our flying squirrel family without use of a flash, so I broke down and took one with it. Sorry, big-eyed-night-seeing rodents.

Mom and two babies.

On Sunday, the paint was dry enough that we could put on the new canopy. We purchased it online, through Garden Winds Canada. They are supplied out of the U.S. but the roof shipped to us from the Canadian site. It fit perfectly, and seems to be of a very resilient material. The hooks to hold it on were place a bit short of the mark, so Iain had to bend the ends a bit with pliers to make them stay on, but that was the only problem. We bought this in 2008, so the old one lasted 5 seasons: we’re hoping this one is good for that long.

It looks almost new!
 

The cottage is surrounded by daisies, in glorious abundance! I love wildflowers.

Wildlife, not Wild Life

Our lives are pretty quiet: we get very excited over little creatures showing up at our place.
Our familiar groundhog, Nibbles, has vacated the premises for the summer (too many dogs around, possibly). In her departure she left behind at Dodie’s cottage a group of five little groundhogs. All adorable!

One of the Nibblets

Seeing a young spotted fawn is pretty exciting, too. There were reports of a newborn a few weeks ago, and I think this may be the same one (they do need to grow very quickly to survive).

We were awoken from sleep on Saturday night by a coyote howling nearby (probably just across the bay). It was answered by howls from far off. We can't help but worry about this little guy, but that's Nature.

Deer must be the source of the saying "high-tailing it".

There is a family of flying squirrels (a mom and two little ones) nesting in our shed. They are quite camera shy, unfortunately.

The area is also overrun by at least 4 chipmunks and 2 squirrels - all of whom are tame enough to not bother getting out from under foot when you walk by - and one very handsome rabbit, who sat and regarded us quite calmly, yesterday, before slowly hopping away. Carl remarked that the place is like being in a Disney movie.

I was surprised last Monday morning to see a groundhog looking for a home, outside our basement window. Snaps was surprised too!

A Few Hours at the Museum

The thing with summer is, it’s so short, and so busy, one doesn’t blog as often as during the long, bleak winter. So here is a brief update:

Iain and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on June 3, and to mark the occasion we spent a day in Ottawa with friends, touring the Royal Canadian Mint and the War Museum, dining out, and just enjoying the day and evening. It was a lot of fun! I have a few pictures from the War Museum to share (no photos allowed at the Mint, so I left my camera in the car).

The museum covers the history of war involving Canada from before the country’s beginnings, including first nations artifacts. I don’t know if these items are preserved originals or reproductions.


Good grief, hockey players wear more armour than this!

Like most Canadians, I find the War of 1812 very interesting, but I didn’t get a picture of Sir Isaac Brock’s uniform (if you haven’t seen it, check it out here ). Brock represents for me the quintessential Canadian hero: one who dies and achieves greatest recognition after death. That bullet hole has always haunted me.

This WW1 gas mask creeped me out a bit.

Rather reminds me of a Far Side cartoon: "Oooooooo".

A very blurry pic of Iain in the trenches. I used the “museum” setting on the camera, so this low-light shot, and many others, were somewhat out of focus.

Not often you see someone happy to be in the trenches.

A little boy’s letter to his dad at war, and the memento his father carried. Any Downton Abbey fans out there may be reminded of Mary’s gift to Matthew.



No trip to the museum would be complete without Hitler’s Car. I was reprimanded by a guard for touching said car, years ago at the old museum. The sign clearly stated “PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE EXHIBIT” but I was strangely compelled to do it anyway: I had to connect with that old evil, it seemed.

The new museum has put the car safely out of reach - I don't think Shaquille O'Neil could touch it.

There is way too much to see at the museum in a few hours. I could easily spend a full day there.

The mannequin in the display seems to be checking out my picture-taking.