maintenance

At the start of May, I trekked up to Kimball Lake to open the cottage and see what the winter had done to the place. The cottage suffered no damage; the winter was mild. However, the dock that I've been building for the last two years was crushed beyond repair. It would take all season to disassemble this mess, and then another two or three years to rebuild. Time for "Plan B".

I spent another couple days at the cottage, cleaning up. So far this year, I've removed

I spent this past week at the cottage, continuing my construction of a new dock. There weren't many other cottagers around, and the weather was (mostly) warm and sunny, so I got a fair bit accomplished.

This spring, the makeshift haul-out that I had installed two years ago finally decided to give me trouble. The float, an old boat fender, has folded in half, and the haul-out rope broke with the winter ice. It's time I put in a more permanent solution.

So, I bought a buoy, a length of anchor chain, and a few other odds and sods, and put together a proper haul-out buoy.

Fugawee is open for 2015.

I took a few days last week to drive up in my new Jetta and open the cottage. This trip was both a necessity and a test.

Another spring, another sprint to get the deck ready for the season.

This time, I've completed the renovations to the privacy fence, and have no more big plans for the deck. It's as complete as it's going to be.

The end of the 2014 cottaging season quickly approaches, about a month earlier this year than other years. The weather this year has been cold and wet, and I while I've spent a lot of time working on the cottage, I haven't really done much.

We have had a long, cold, icy, nasty winter, and I have waited long enough for the return of pleasant weather. Spring arrived late this year, and that has interfered with both my plans, and the very fabric of suburban nature that I live in.