Closed for the Season

Last week, I closed the cottage for the 2013 season.

Closing usually doesn't take very long (sweep the floors, gather laundry, put away tools, lock up, and leave), and I can accomplish that all in an overnight stay. This year, however, I gave it two full days, took my time, and did some extra work.

The first full day at the cottage, I built a new firewood storage rack. The old one had rotted to the point of uselessness, and I didn't want my hard work of felling trees and splitting logs to go to waste. So, I took the first full day (a lovely, sunny day) to build a new rack. Twelve feet long, one foot wide, and 6 feet tall, this rack will store enough firewood to last even the coldest visit.

I took the second full day to split more wood, strip beds, rearrange storage, and clean the wood stove. I had (mostly) dreary, wet weather that day, so I enjoyed staying indoors and getting the last of the big work completed.

In my final (half) day at the cottage, I washed the floors, cleaned the last of the ashes out of the wood stove, put away all the remaining little things, closed up and left. I pulled away from the dock at 12:00 and drove out of the parking lot at 1pm.

Even now, I look forward to the first visit to the cottage, in the spring of 2014.