Cottage Adventures

Well, I did have an adventure yesterday.  I was invited back to my friend's cottage to spend a day (or a couple of days) because the weather has been very hot and humid recently.

I had decided to make it a day trip, because I had my last pilates class this morning (and I didn't want to miss it), and because I'm pretty sure my girlfriend is a world class snorer.  I know I snore myself from time to time, but there's nothing worse than being trapped overnight in a strange place with someone who is literally sawing logs.

This decision meant that I would follow my friend up to the cottage and then drive myself home.  Before I continue with the story, I had better explain that I have no sense of direction.  It's a genetic gift from my father, who could get lost in a phone booth.  I know intellectually that moss grows on the north side of trees, and also that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west but this is not really helpful when (not if) I get lost.  Last visit I rode with my friend, who has been driving to her cottage for over 25 years.  I tried to make mental note of landmarks on the way, however, it's not like there are a lot of landmarks in lake country Ontario.  Basically you are looking at rocks, trees, the occasional swamp, and then repeat the rocks and trees.  If I wound up going the wrong direction it would take a long time for me to realize it.

We stopped for lunch at a beautiful restaurant, and had a great visit at her cottage.  We sat in the shade on her deck, and enjoyed a peaceful view of the lake.  Around late afternoon, the weather changed abruptly from sunny and hot to very threatening.  When the storm got started, it was really neat.  There was thunder and lightening and the wind started to gust violently from every direction.  We were standing in the cottage watching the show when a total of 3 trees (2 maples and an oak) were blown over.  It must have been a microburst, because everything happened in less than 10 minutes, and there was never the sense of a funnel cloud or tornado.  We really enjoyed feeling safe in the cottage, and seeing all the debris in the lake and around the property.  We were also very lucky that taller trees remained standing, and nothing landed on the building.

I was nervous because I wasn't sure if any trees had blown over on the private road leading to her cottage, so I left as soon as things calmed down.  Fortunately, the road was clear, and by the time I got to the highway there was no sign of a storm passing through. 
Then I had to find my way home.  I don't think I breathed until I passed Yellow Rock Road (somebody painted a large rock highway line yellow) and then a tourist teepee attraction I recognized from our trip in.  Once I found the first small town I knew for sure I was heading the right direction, and it felt good to see the familiar landmarks flash past.

Odds and Sods

I've been oot and aboot enjoying our weather, since the rainfest which happened last week.  I am procrastinating on the garden and containers, so things are still not the way I want them to be.  It's hard to point the blame at anyone when the problem is me.  I've been enjoying hand piecing quilt blocks (I have a total of 4 completed blocks and one work in progress) under the umbrella on our deck.  When I get frustrated I dig the pitchfork out of the shed and root around in the gardens for a while, then return to the deck.

We poured boiling water on a small anthill on the patio, and it worked spectacularly.  It didn't appear to be a big deal at the time, but the next morning the ants had brought out hundreds of dead, and they abandoned the site.  So last night I got inspired and boiled the kettle and my two biggest pots full of water, and poured them over portions of the biggest anthill by the rose garden.  So far there doesn't seem to be the same result, possibly because the original kill site was between the patio and the house foundation so there was a lot of concrete to trap the boiling water.  The big colony is just a patch of weedy dirt in the middle of the lawn, and there is ample room for the ants to just move over.  We've tried putting ant bait on wax paper for them to take back to the queen, and that seems to have reduced the numbers somewhat.  The problem with the bait is that we have to pick a time when it isn't windy, or rainy, and we know that our grandpuppy won't be visiting.  We're not always that organized.

Huck and Tuggy are having a blast.  They're spending most afternoons in their crate on our deck, enjoying the fine weather too.  Last night they discovered at least one fly in the house and spent the evening chasing it from window to window.  Someone must have eventually caught and eaten it, because I haven't seen or heard it since yesterday.  Every time I came into a room I found one cat or the other clinging to the windowsill with all four paws, following the fly  with their eyes.  I guess I should explain that because we have an older house the windows are actually flush with the wall, there is no actual sill.  This means the window has to be open for the cats to sit there, and even then there isn't a lot of room to spare.  Tuggy in particular overlaps the sill in an alarming fashion.

I have not abandoned this blog.  I know I haven't posted regularly and I may not manage every day during the summer, because I tend to have a short attention span in good weather.  There are so many things to do, and I enjoy being outside when the weather is decent.  Please check in from time to time, and I'll do the same.  If there's a stretch of rotten weather, I'll probably be here a little more often. 

I hope you have a great summer.  Get outside, dig in the dirt, read a good book.  Go to the beach, barbeque instead of heating up your kitchen.   There will be lots of time to blog and play on the computer when the weather is bad.    Or maybe the computer fairy will bring me a laptop (but don't hold your breath).