I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth…

Too many distractions, I guess, but still I was shocked to see I hadn’t posted any ramblings since the end of March! So here’s an update:

We were at the cottage for Easter weekend. It was, unfortunately pretty cold, but we had a good time anyway.

I love the way the sun heats the leaves so they melt into the snow in perfect outlines.
 

We saw lots of sunken leaves.

Lots of puddles but very little open water.

We had a nice turkey dinner – you can’t go wrong with that!

We scared out a few deer on the cottage road.

On the next weekend the office girls went to the Women’s show in Ottawa, and had fun – but this is probably our last trip there for a while. Next time it’s shopping all the way! We did stop at a few stores this time as well, but I have a hankering to spend a day at Ikea, sometime.

Onyx loves to nap in the sun, where he can keep an eye on the feeder.

Stitches was exhausted from her trip to the vet, and curled up under the covers for the afternoon.

We made a quick trip to the lake near the end of April, just to drop off a few items, and the lake was wide open!

Ah, open water! Hooray!

We got back to the lake at the beginning of May, and the weather was much better. We worked outside most of the weekend, getting things in order; and my camera didn’t even come out for a minute, since I was so busy!

Last weekend we did the annual Yard and Bake Sale at the church.

Stuff really sold - the table is pretty picked-over at this point.

Fun, as always, but I am glad to not have to hit the baking aisle again for a while.

A Busy Weekend

Oh, so nice to get away to the lake for a couple of days, and even nicer when joined in so doing by fun people! Carl, Irene, Dodie, and Myles all stayed with us, and we had the usual wonderful time!
Friday night snacks and martinis, and so happy to have Joann and Kerri for a visit. This week is Dodie’s birthday, and Joann brought a gift and cake for her. Quite yummy too!
Saturday we started with coffee and muffins, a slow wake up. Then a heartier breakfast of beautiful eggs with hollandaise sauce, ham, and english muffins, which gave us energy for the big “cut down the dead tamarack” project.
I’d been afraid to do this – was hoping to have a professional come in – but Iain convinced me that with some help from his friends it would come down safely. Kevin, who is an incredibly handy man with a saw, just happened to be at his cottage this weekend, so Iain enlisted his help, and he made short work of it.  Iain had tied a rope up as high as he could, and he, Carl, and Myles all went onto the ice and pulled on it to guide the tree fall.

We ended up with a nice pile of wood out of it, though I understand it burns very hot, so we’ll have to be careful using it. Thanks and hat tips to all the guys for their hard work!

Iain just about wore himself out cutting this up! Good thing he had help.

Since we’ve lost two trees already to the pine borer (it was a different bug that killed the tamarack), I’m hoping it isn’t too late for our one remaining young pine. I put tanglefoot around the base of it, hoping to snag any pine borers that try to climb it. If they already went up last year, though, it’ll not do any good. Fingers crossed!

Die insects, die!

The snow that fell Saturday was sticky, and perfect for snowballs! We girls tried to hit Roger’s stop sign, but were all pretty bad shots, so Iain gave us a larger target.

I couldn't even hit it when I had the bigger target...

I noticed that the snow on the old place seemed to be concentrated in the centre of the roof, and I was puzzled as to why it was melted around the edges only. Then, I realized that the inside of the cottage is so darn cold, it is keeping the snow from melting. Not too cold for the mice, though. I did a cursory inspection and found they’d made a mess of at least one blanket and the drawers have lots of nice mouse poo in them. Yucky. Lots of cleaning to do once things warm up, and so much for the mouse repellents keeping them away.

You can tell we've had a lot of snow melt already, because there was about 2 ft. of snow on it last time we were up.

Saturday night we had broiled pork chops. The original plan had been for barbeque, but the cold snap changed our plans. After dinner we relaxed and Iain took us through a little role-playing exercise, which was a lot of fun!
When we went to bed, there were plenty of gorgeous stars visible – a great way to fall asleep!
Sunday: Carl and Irene treated us to a pancake breakfast; so good, I ate 5 pancakes (well, they weren’t huge, okay?) and several sausages. After breakfast it was clean-up time and we all headed home. That was a great weekend.

Just Some Cat Pics

Onyx and Snaps!
Onyx is STILL over-grooming obsessively. The fur on this back and head and tail (anywhere he can’t easily reach with his tongue) is soft and healthy-looking. He has a vet visit in a couple of weeks (check-up time), and we’ll see if there are any ideas there.

That little blue fish is his favourite toy, of late.

He seems very happy and healthy, and his appetite never fails; but I think he is bored. Wendy was home with him most of the time, and he was an only cat, which meant he got a lot of attention – a lot more than we have time for, both working full time and having three other cats to attend to. I make an extra effort to entertain him, but I know it falls short.
Snaps is becoming more of a lap cat, which is nice – I like a cat that curls up and keeps you warm. There’s plenty of him to love, as you can see in the picture. I’m guessing he weighs about 15 pounds, and that may be missing on the light side.

Our gorgeous orange baby!

They play together, but they don’t cuddle; Onyx likes to stretch out in front of the fireplace on his own. Occasionally he’ll sit on my lap, but not often. I was really surprised last week when he leapt onto our friend Tom’s lap to get some pets!

A Weekend

Going to the lake for a weekend is such a nice change, during the winter months. This is one of the coldest Februaries ever, and still we were glad to go.
Since we only stayed until Sunday afternoon, we didn’t plan to do much. We did have company on Friday night – so good to see our cousin Jo again, and she was kind enough to bring us some homemade doughnuts! They didn’t last the whole weekend.
On Saturday we dragged ourselves out for a short walk, and it was all I wanted. Slogging along a skidoo track isn’t quite as easy as walking on a plowed road.

On Eldon's and Janice's driveway.

Very little wildlife was in evidence this weekend. Besides birds, we saw nothing: no squirrels, chipmunks, or any other mammals. With the deep cold we’ve been having, they must be staying close to their homes.
On our walk we did see where someone, possibly a chipmunk, has a nicely sheltered spot. They tunnel underground for their homes, so this would have just been where an entrance-way was situated. Otherwise, it could have been some other animal, but I don’t know what.

Hello in there...

One of last year’s nests is still standing up well. I like the way it is full of little ribbons.

When we got up on Sunday morning, everything was covered in fresh snow.

The pile of snow on the neighbour’s table makes us wonder: Is there something under it that makes it pile so high, or is that all snow?

Of course, it COULD be all snow. It really has snowed that much.

Relaxing in the morning with lots of coffee and goodies, we watched the Chickadees enjoy the seeds and suet. We also had visits from a couple of Blue Jays, a White Breasted Nuthatch and a Red Breasted Nuthatch, and a Woodpecker – I think Dodie said it was a Downy.

I like the way this little guy looks in the window.

I’m already looking forward to going up again next month!

Cold, Cold, Cold

That pretty much sums up the winter thus far. We’ve been staying inside lots, recovering from various ailments (colds, infections).
The highlights:
It’s so nice to finally have birds at the feeder. They have really enjoyed eating the Scott’s Wild Finch & Small Songbird mix.

Seriously, this stuff is the best. It’s expensive, but it doesn’t go to waste.
We’ve had Goldfinches,

Juncos,

and Redpolls!

The cats enjoy sitting in the window, where they can see the birds but not disturb them.

Snaps is a big cat, but so skittish – here is his “should I run away?” face.

The other big highlight of January was having the chance to tour some houses with my cousins as they consider the possibility of moving to town. We looked at a variety of places, including this one where I couldn’t resist checking out the bar. It met with my approval!

At the beginning of February we helped a little with Kyle’s move to his new digs. This is the view from the dining room. I think on a clear day he may be able to see Parliament Hill.

Winter has settled in

 

The quiet cold of the lake and woods on a winter day: this picture pretty much sums it up, for me.

I have to say that I love this shot.

Well, that was 2014

Jezebel and Onyx enjoying a Christmas morning nap.

Just a quick note: I usually like to post more than I have lately, but December flew by, and for the last week and a half I’ve had a really awful cold. Christmas day was very foggy in my brain! I’m on the mend, now, and the New Year looks better.

Wishing everyone out there a very happy 2015!

November endeth

With the cold weather and the addition of good seed to our finch feeder, we’ve noticed more birds in general. The dining room window is the perfect spot to keep an eye on them!

Eyeing up the tragically flawed cat feeder.

We had to make one short trip to the cottage to offload some laundry and a bunch of building materials cluttering up the basement. Not much “buildy” stuff gets used at home. The basement is a small space to work in and cold as anything in the winter!

You can see all the small branches that have fallen.

We found a lot of branches down, but the only big ones were from the dead tamarack.

The bay, mostly frozen.

A lot of the lake is lightly frozen, but there are gaps at the edges.

Wah! My tree! Gonna miss it.

Yep, the top of the tamarack blew off! About the top six feet or so. I sure hope we get it cut down at New Years as planned.

When it fell, it just shattered to pieces.

It must have been quite a wind, as the top of the tree landed at least 40 feet away.

A November Update

The cottage is all closed up for another year. We actually closed it up the weekend after Thanksgiving – it was easier to just have it done.

It was a dreary day when we shut things down; we still hated to leave.

And now November is upon us: in fact, today is the 15th, which means half the month has slipped away already. We have most of the yard work done, and probably that is all we will do, lazy souls that we are. Hopefully it will be alright.
When cleaning out the mess around one of the rose bushes I discovered this vine, which I believe is Climbing Nightshade. It’s a weed – I’ll have to take it out in the spring; but look how pretty the berries are! Not good to eat, though.

It would have little purple flowers in the summer.

We have put out two feeders, one with a niger mix and one with sunflower seeds. The mix has been very popular with the goldfinches: it is made by Scott, and though a bit pricey is worth the money, as it attracts plenty of birds.

Goldfinch!

Stitches keeps an eye on what Wendy would have described as the “tragically flawed cat feeder”.

The birds flew away when I took the picture, natch.

Today a Chickadee had the feeder to himself for a while, but there are usually 3 or 4 Goldfinches on it. We’ve also had some Juncos.

The little sticks are improvised perches; the darn squirrel keeps breaking off the plastic ones.

Onyx has been lively and happy for the most part, but he has, in the last year, been grooming excessively on his stomach, and now on his legs as well. The vet had an explanation for it which involved the use of steroids as a possible cure, but we decided that unless he became  aggressive in his grooming (to the point of doing damage to his skin) we would just let him be.

Tongue out to lick!

Any spot he can’t reach is thick and soft.

This time last year, he was just starting to work on his belly, but he keeps making more bare spots.

You can see how bare his legs look in this picture. He still runs and plays, and attacks Snaps when he wants a tussle, and eats well. We have put all of the cats on a grain-free diet to see if it helps. We were, up until recently, using a grain-based litter, and until all of it is gone we won’t see if this makes any improvement. Here’s hoping.
My spare time – when I’m not goofing off on the computer like this – will go to baking, for the next month: first, baking for the church sale, and then baking for Christmas. Busy times. The snow is falling right now, and there will probably be some accumulation when we get up tomorrow. This should bring on the Christmas mood!

Thanksgiving

The cottage year is winding down. Thanksgiving usually marks the last full weekend at the lake for everyone. Most of us shut down the water and close our places up soon after.

Iain enjoying the sunset while barbecuing dinner.

We were blessed with warm weather and no rain (none of the s-word, either).

Sheila came to visit!

It was nice to have company for the weekend! Thanksgiving isn’t the same without family. Not everyone could be there, unfortunately, but we were happy to have those who could come. We ate tons of food and visited. I was too busy enjoying myself to take pictures, but you must trust me when I say the meal was amazing. Dodie and Myles roasted the turkey (Mom supplied it) and stuffing, made cabbage salad and cranberry sauce, and made awesome gravy! Iain made bacon-wrapped stuffed mushroom caps, mashed turnips and sliced carrots. I helped a bit and made peas. Sheila brought yummy buns. Janet whipped up some great potatoes, Brian brought tomato juice, and Carolyn provided us with TWO pies, one a deep-dish pumpkin and the other an amazing apple!

I took this pic with my phone, so it isn't the best quality, but just LOOK at the autumn leaves crust!

We were so stuffed, but we sat down to the same meal of leftovers on Monday before going home!

Mom enjoys sitting in the sun with a magazine or puzzle book.

Mom has had a pretty good summer with us. Since Dodie and Myles were at the lake so often, she spent more time there this year than she had for the last several.

There was hardly room for the Blue Jay to fit on the feeder, but he managed it.

Between the birds and the squirrel and chipmunks, we couldn’t keep the feeder full.


My favourite view!

At the narrows.

The Little Lake.

This oak gets more beautiful each year.

Still and lovely.

The colours were less than spectacular this fall, and many of the trees were past their best by this weekend, anyway, but the views were still wonderful.

Hitching a ride.

We encountered a red dragonfly which appeared to be cold and seemed to be having trouble drying out its wings. Iain picked it up and it perched on his thumb, tilting its wings down so they wouldn’t catch the draft as we walked along. After a few minutes it suddenly took flight, finally warmed and dry enough.

Now grow, dammit!

We finally got around to transplanting another tree, which we hope will survive the winter. We are told the fall is the best time for this, so I hope this little guy can make it. This one is a Quaking Aspen, and I wouldn’t mind getting a Big-Tooth Aspen and a Swamp Willow as well. Iain is interested in an Olive tree, and we’d both like a Cottonwood (not sure if one could survive in this soil, though – the sand seems most suited for poplars, willows, pine, birch, and tamarack).
Next weekend will be busy with putting away lawn furniture, chimes, and ornaments, and putting some plants to bed. Then the water shut-off, and good-bye to the lake for a while. We are thankful to have had another year to enjoy here.