Matthew seems to be in good company taking Friday afternoon off from class to head to the cottage!
Errrgh..... Traffic....... and it's not even a long weekend or really
summer yet.
Upon arrival we go for a nice walk to the river at sunset. Matthew of
course needed to burn more steam and went on a bike ride down the lane.
Up early to a beautiful day and got working in the bunky until
everyone else awoke for breakfast. I keep convincing myself that it will look good once it is all trimmed up - it's going to be one hell of a trim job to get it looking decent!
We dropped Matt off at his friend Alysa's up the road to "swim" in
their freezing little pool and play on the trampoline.
Deb and I were now free to go our own way for a few hours.... off to
Kinmount to visit the Saturday Farmers Market and of course Castle lumber yard!
On our way back from town we stop at the very small local Irondale
Garden Centre where Bob and Yuki offer their friendly advice on our
vegetable garden. We also get a bunch of really healthy looking plants; Tomato, cucumber, zuchini, peppers, basil, beans, peas, onions etc.... and many more bags of black earth!
They also provide a tip on where we might be able to get a used wheel barrow from a local up the road. Just ask the locals and you get all sorts of tips and advice!
We were inspired by the community greenhouse near home in Trinity
Bellwoods park to build a little fence of woven sticks around the
garden... so out comes the chainsaw Aaron generously gave us, the one originally bought for his wife Linda... (I guess that wasn't such a great gift... I'll stick to chocolate!).
Will our neighbour and handyman agreed to drop by and help get the
Kayak and Canoe down to the water from their winter resting place
under the deck, much easier in his flatbed trailer and ATV than
portaging! That accomplished we also manage to get the dock into the water.... so we are now ready for summer action at the waterfront!
After dinner Matthew and I suited up in our bug jackets take a hike
through the woods behind the cottage - up to the top of the hill where
there is a little clearing with very flat granite rocks and a lot of soft moss and lichens to sit on. I try to spend a few minutes meditating to the sound of mosquitos buzzing around my head while Matt heads for his favorite climbing tree nearby.
As if we haven't yet accomplished enough today I decide to carry down the hill a rather sizeable piece of very flat rock which will serve as a small table or bench near the cottage.
Originally I thought that we would do this in the winter on a sled, but there is little that beats brute strength for getting a task done.... did I mention I was wearing Crocks?
Now a few Robaxacets and I'll be good as new!
Sunday morning arrives overcast and threatening rain - but as the
canoe is by the river Matthew and I decide to grab a few granola bars
and see if we can canoe to Jacob's Ladder - a set of falls about 45 minutes downstream from our dock - we haven't seen them yet!
It starts to drizzle as soon as we head out - but if the beaver swimming along side us doesn't mind neither do we. Arriving above the falls we clearly see the portage marked with an orange stake and tie up. A nice hike to the bottom of the falls is rewarded by a fantastic view and we also come upon a piece of drift barn board which will make a nice shelf or bench... so we carry that back to the canoe. Fortunately as it starts to rain harder the way back always seems shorter!
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