Spring Activities

This spring has been a little different for me, this year.

A few weeks ago, I went up to the cottage, to open it for the year. I had hastily closed it last fall, between my mother's hospitalizations and during my brother's hospitalization. Because of that, the opening needed to be more elaborate; I had laundry to bring back home, an inventory to make, and memories to live. Two days isn't nearly enough time to make an impact on the work left to do.

I brought things home, spent a couple of days doing laundry, and sorting out the discards from the materials that would return to the cottage. I also accumulated a number of additional supplies: new kerosene lamps, and kerosene for them, a new bedframe for the master bedroom, shelves, a repaired generator, gas for the outboard and generator, oil for the outboard, a new siphon, food, a coffee maker, etc.

Before returning to the cottage, I held a memorial gathering for my mother and brother. Family and friends were invited; there must have been between fourty and fifty people attending during the day. A gathering is nothing without refreshments and food, and I had stocked up on both. Mom and Bob were remembered and honoured that day.

A week later, and I'm back at the cottage for a couple of days. Peak blackfly season, but with cooler temperatures and stiff breezes, the bugs stayed away. I cleaned out the master bedroom, removed the old bed, and installed the new bedframe. With the freshly laundered bed clothes returned, the bed was clean, comfortable, and warm. Mom's blinds from her apartment fit the front bedroom window perfectly, and I no longer have a blanket as a window covering.

I cleaned out the back bedroom and the loft, swept all the floors, and put out new mousebait. I bagged all the cottage clothes that my mother and brother had left up there, to be brought back home, laundered, and donated.

The repaired generator took over from Mom's generator (hers wouldn't start after it's long winter break), and I had electricity again. But only for the fridge; all the electric lights had burnt out, and I'll have to bring up bulbs on my next trip. Fortunately, I had the kerosene lamps, so I had light at night.

I bundled all the clothes, the generator, some garbage, and my personal effects back into the boat, along with four containers of old gasoline and gas/oil mixture (of varying ages) and headed home. The old gasoline will go to the recycling depot for disposal, the old clothes to Value Village, and the generator will get servicing and return to the cottage.

It looks like, this summer, I will spend more time at the cottage than I will at home. Feel sorry for me yet? :-)