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