June 26th: Fun and work continue at the Island cottage

Another great sunset

Sauna wood burner steam unit

Monday we continued working on the sauna room. Nick removed the heating wood burner before he left. That was appreciated, it was very heavy. We weren't able to remove the chimney because we had no materials to close the hole in the roof. So I used some styrofoam and duct tape to seal the opening. The mosquitoes would have loved to find that opening! What would we do without duct tape!

Sauna bench removal

The sauna bench went from one end of the room to the other. I think it was constructed before the walls were installed. The wood was very high quality and we wanted to save it for future use. Very hard to get good wood to the island.

It was a challenge, but after removing literally hundreds of screws it was a success. The room was cleared out and the wood was saved.

 

Nick's Dad's bed

We ended up with a nice little bedroom for Nick's Dad.

Randy made screens for the windows and Cindy had Nick's Mom's room looking very nice. (We were told Danny snored loudly so we created options for Debbie and Danny to sleep.)

We spent a significant amount of time trying to seal the two doors against mosquitoes. We finally settled on a rolled duct tape weather proofing type seal which worked.

 

The Bunky overlooking the water

I would move back to the Bunky for the weekend. I did not want Debbie, Nick's mom, to have to climb up and down the hill to get to the Bunky. Not that she couldn't handle it, but she was coming to relax and have fun! And the Bunky is very scenic and comfortable so I was happy to return to it.

Climb to the Bunky

The Sauna room was completed so we were ready for the coming influx of Nick' parents, Debbie and Danny, Nick and Niki, Liam and Mea, Nayla dog 1 and Peanut dog 2).

We needed to do a trash run, pick up some groceries, hit the liquor store and get a chart of the lake. Fortunately, we could accomplish that in Temagami, a 20 minute boat ride. Of course we had to stop at the marina to get Randy's truck to haul our trash to the dump.

Quilt

We went to the renovated train station in the town hall for the chart of the lake. They had a gift shop with a lot of beautiful art by Native American artists. Here are just three of my favorites.

Painting

Interesting owl

Chinese Restaurant

We planned our trip so we could pick up Chinese food in Temagami. Although it is a very small town, this Chinese restaurant is excellent. It was take out only but that was fine.

We were ready for the weekend. Niki, Liam and Mia arrived early Friday. Nick would be coming later after work. Nick surprised everyone when he showed up with a brand new pontoon boat. It has three pontoons and goes 60 mph! Very all around versatile boat including water skiing.

As you might remember from an earlier blog, the propane refrigerator in the main cottage was freezing everything. We could not correct the problem and learned it was so old parts were no longer available. It was an old porcelain unit that was extremely heavy.

Removing the old fridge

Nick was able to find a replacement propane refrigerator. It is also quite heavy. He and his dad were able to load it onto the pontoon boat and bring it to the cottage. Fortunately, Nick and his dad are accustomed to heavy lifting. Randy and I provided minimal assistance!

The most difficult part was getting the old unit out. We decided to take the door off which helped.

The new fridge worked great so we no longer had to go back and forth between the main cottage and the guest house. The guest house had a fridge, but no running water nor water heater, so all meals were prepared in the main cottage.

Canada Day 

Canada Day is like our 4th of July. One of the cottage owners hosted a Canada Day get together every year for all cottagers and we were invited. The cottagers were very friendly and seemed eager to meet and welcome Nick and Niki. The conversations were fun and interesting. There was talk about the best type of septic system, solar power versus propane, the best firewood for buck stoves and where to get it, and fishing.

Danny by our festive pontoon boat

I learned a lot about winters at the cottages. Once the lake freezes, the lake becomes a roadway, complete with markers and plowing if needed. Virtually everyone has snowmobiles with sleds for hauling stuff. But in addition, people just drive their vehicles to their cottages. A lot of heavy hauling takes place in the winter when people can just drive their trucks to their cottages. I've been invited to come in February to ice fish. Sounds like something else. The best fishing areas are about 20 miles away but I was told we'd get there in no time going 90 mph on a snowmobile down the lake. I was assured it's perfectly safe! Right!!!!!! I must say I'm certain it would be gorgeous and if I had my own snowmobile I could maybe control my speed to my comfort level. Still, ... it's cold, but I'm tempted!

Liam and Mea, Mario Kart

Linda spent many hours while traveling on the Trent Canal playing Mario Kart with Liam and Mea. I decided to bring the Nintendo Switch with me to see if they were still into it. They are! We had a lot of fun playing and it brought back fun memories.

Mario Kart

As usual, I always lost, but Nick was pretty good! Mea was good about cheering me on after she finished way ahead of me! For whatever reason, Mea nicknamed me "Stevie" during the game. It's my new Mario Kart moniker. I feel like I should have my own character!

There's always plenty of projects at the cottage. Nick noticed the light above the door was falling apart. Fortunately, after looking through the maintenance shed he found an exact duplicate. He had it replaced in no time.

Nayla

The Andrews' dogs were very laid back and friendly. Nayla was always on a leash when outside at home. This was an island so she could roam free. Which she Did! She went up to visit Ross which Ross clearly enjoyed. Peanut, lacking a lot of fur, mostly tried to stay warm. She loved the sun!

Peanut's nose!

Mea and Peanut

Cindy and Debbie
using the new grill 

Niki had decided it would be great to do all the cooking outside. She brought a restaurant sized griddle that worked on propane. Not only would it keep grease from splattering inside, all the cooking odors would be outside. I learned Niki doesn't mess around when it comes to breakfast. We had sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs and toast.

There were many, too many, excellent meals cooked on that grill. Good thing we were getting a lot of exercise!

It ended up being quite warm on Saturday so Niki led the group into the water. It was quite refreshing and enjoyable. The new float toys were put to good use. The plan was to go tubing during the week when Liam and Mea were staying with us.

Fishing lures

Cindy, Nick, Liam and I in particular like to fish. Fortunately, the former owner left numerous fishing rods, lures and equipment. The bins in the picture are filled with very organized lures, pike, walleye, surface lures, deep water lures, etc. We were told many fish could be caught off of the boat house dock as well as the guest house dock.

Cindy and the 1st Walleye

Cindy caught the first walleye thanks to Nick bringing some worms. (Worms work best for walleye and most other fish.) It was a perfect size. Walleye need to be less than 16 inches or more than 22 inches in length in order to keep them. Hers was 15 inches! It was great eating!

Nick and 17.5 inch Walleye

Nick, not to be outdone, caught a 17.5 inch Walleye. Fun to catch and take a picture, but not a keeper, too big!

The competition was on. Next Cindy caught a 25 inch Pike. It was heavy with very sharp teeth. Nick held it up for Cindy!

Bass in front Pike in Back

I caught quite a nice sized bass to go along with Cindy's nice pike.  I cleaned and filleted the pike. I knew from past experience they are very tricky to fillet. Many people just don't keep them for that reason but they are very tasty. It took me quite a while but I ended up with a lot of nice pieces of fish. The bass in the picture was easy by comparison.  Cindy did a great job making several wonderful fish dinners with them. 

Can't Stop

Evenings were game time. I had brought Can't Stop, a game I enjoy. I seem to be in the minority as far as enjoying the game but I thought the kids would enjoy it. They did! We played several times.

Uno was also a favorite which I hadn't played in years. 

Liam, Mea and Willa would be staying with us for the week. Nick and Niki returned home to report for work. Willa had shown up with a new summer haircut. She looked very sophisticated! She always came to look for me in the mornings. Somehow she knew when I was up and moving. She would just stand outside the door until I noticed her, at the Bunky and the Sauna room. Nice to be greeted in the morning!

Willa with her new haircut

Willa before haircut

July 20th: Plenty of action at the Island House

Being stuck at Randy and Cindy's for three days has given me ample time to catch up on the blog. 

Ross and his black bear skull

Ross's homemade beds

Randy, Cindy and I met our neighbor, Ross, on the island. He is in his eighties and still spends summers at his cottage. He has owned the cottage for many years and is very knowledgeable about the area. He invited us to come up the hill to see his place. It's a large cottage that can sleep 16 people. He is an excellent wood worker. He made the beds and built a lot of the additions over the years. 

He took us to his work shed to show us the moose rack above the door. He found them in the woods. The moose apparently were fighting and their antlers became locked together. He also showed us the black bear skull from the bear he shot on the island. The bear came looking for food when a neighbor was grilling steaks outside.

Ice Age moccasin

Ross also showed us a moccasin he had found. He knew it was very old so he had it carbon dated and discovered it was made during the Ice Age. It will someday end up in a museum.

Nick and Nicki's bedroom

We decided it was time to get the sleeping areas ready for the weekend visit by the kids and grand kids. Cindy prepared Nick and Niki's bedroom. It has a great view.

Guest house bedroom

We also replaced Randy and Cindy's double size bed with a king size bed we had brought from their home in Utterson. It's on the second floor of the guest house. It's a great room with lots of space. The double bed would be moved to the shower/sauna building for additional sleeping capacity. The shower room in the middle would remain as is. We would need to remodel that building to use it for sleeping areas when Nick's parents came but we wouldn't need it for the coming weekend.

I had already moved into the Bunky so no work was needed there. Same for the kids bunk room.

Sunset view, back porch

We relaxed with a nice dinner on the back porch. There are many widows overlooking the water and we had a fantastic sunset.

We had a couple days before the kids arrived so work continued the next day.

Wire from outside supply
panel

Outlet installation

A priority for the guest house was the installation of an electrical system with the use of a generator and solar power. Randy is an excellent builder and he went to work installing wiring. First he set up the electrical supply system in an outside cupboard. Next he installed a few outlets to make some power available. 

We fished a wire through the wall to the outside electrical set up. It went well and that night the generator side of the system was operational.

Next the solar panels needed to be mounted on the roof. I was quite concerned when Randy said he was going to go up on the sloped, steel roof. Bad idea! I was reminded of the T-shirt his daughter gave him. Fortunately, sanity prevailed and we planned several alternatives.

We decided the solar panels could be attached via the ladder and the window at the peak. It took some reaching and stretching by Randy while I held the ladder but all went well.

Randy picked the kids up by boat late Friday night. They were warned about the mosquitoes and Niki brought mosquito netting for the beds.

Mosquito netting
 over bunk beds

Solar panel batteries

The focus the next day was getting the guest house solar panels connected to the batteries and working. We now had Nick to help move the very heavy batteries from the truck to the closet on the side of the house.

Liam going into 
 the crawl space

A wire needed to be run through the attic crawl space to the closet where the solar panel batteries lived. Fortunately we had 12 year old Liam for the job. It is a very tight space and he had to be careful to stay on the rafters. He did a great job!

Randy connected the wiring and the solar panels worked great! Success!

We had a great dinner and then played a game of Can't Stop! I brought the game because I thought the grandkids would enjoy it. They did! Mea won!

Liam and Mea liked to fish when Linda and I were with them on the Trent. So of course we had to give it a try. We caught a few small ones but left the keepers for another day! It was a very pretty sunset. 

Nick, Niki, Liam, Mea and Nick's parents, Danny and Debbie would all be coming up next weekend. That meant getting the shower/sauna building converted to bedrooms. While Nick and Niki were here to help, a closet was removed from one room and screening attached to the ceiling to keep mosquitoes out. We would finish the job the next week because the Andrews family needed to head back home. The kids visit was short because Liam and Mea were still in school. In Canada, school is in session through the third week of June. And of course Nick and Nike are still working! 

Willa

They left their dog, Willa with us. Willa is a great dog. She always came to see me when I was at Randy and Cindy's and also came up to the bunky to find me. By the way, we learned that many cottagers have what is called a bunky. It is a separate cabin used for private, extra sleeping space. I like mine a lot and so did Willa. Mine is perched at the top of a hill overlooking the water. Very fun.

The bunky

So ended the first week at the Island. It was a good week. It was quite cool but good for working. We still were able to enjoy happy hour on the deck. Cindy decided it was time to break out the wool blanket! The mosquitoes were winning so far but we were learning and gaining on them.