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.