Pirate Attacks Woman on Birthday

On Halloween a pirate snuck into Huronview and abducted a woman from her room. Reports say that Erma Hartley was surprised by a pirate just before noon on her ninetieth birthday. She was taken to a room where she was met by others that were in on the plans. She was forced to eat a wonderful lunch followed by a beautiful birthday cake decorated with candles that gave her age away. It was a harrowing experience for the woman. Sources say that her daughter and son-in-law were behind the abduction. Other known conspirators were Brian and Gayle King from Bayfield, Jan and Bob Hartford from Goderich and Jean and Dell McCabe from Clinton.

Let the Good Times Roll

After getting the ceiling nailed up it was time to have our blower test for our energy grant money. Last fall a home inspector came and tested the cottage for insulation and energy efficiency. He hooked up a machine to the door and measured the air leakage of the cottage. We had lots of room for improvement and after this year's test the inspector said we were every bit as tight as a new house. The only down side is that we have to leave a window cracked open so the house can breathe when we are heating with the propane stove and cooking with the vintage Moffat gas stove. At least we are warm and it is wonderful to have insulation in the floors, walls and ceiling.



After the drywall had cured it was time to break out the paint rollers and get two coats of primer on the walls. It was also time for me to choose the colours...not an easy thing to do from a paint chip the size of a domino. Our friend Gayle had loaned me a wallet of Benjamin Moore colours and after looking at dozens of shades in daylight and at night I decided on a colour called filtered sunlight for the front room and saphirre berry blue for the back room. Rob and I are both pleased with the colours and both shades look wonderful with the cedar and pine. After Thanksgiving Rob will start sanding and varnishing the pine beams and at that point I will be moving home to the condo. I have lots of catch up to do at home and besides it is best that I stay away from the wood working mess. We have ordered the pine flooring/ceiling for the loft from a sawmill in Bomanville and are hoping that if we can get the pine varnished it can be nailed down this fall. Jurgen is seeing about a stair builder and a man who builds glass railings. Our plan is to have glass railings both inside and out to keep an open feeling and not block the view to the lake. There is still lots to do; however it is exciting thinking about the plans for the loft and upper deck.

We are having Thanksgiving dinner at the cottage with Gayle, Brian and my mother. I am cooking a 9 pound Mennonite chicken and Gayle is providing the trimmings so we are in for a feast.

At Long Last...Bell and Bath

After months of waiting we awoke one morning to see men in orange coats going by the cottage. At long last Bell Telephone had come to finish what hydro had started last December. Hydro had re-placed our old poles with new taller ones to allow us to raise the roof on the main cottage. Bell's wire had never been re-done and had been held away from the new roof by a rope tied to a birch tree. At least the Bell wire was not a safety issue but we went months without a main line into the new building.
September has brought with it cooler weather and a change to some in-door work on the cottage. It was now time to get the bath tub taps installed as a warm bath became more appealing than an outdoor shower....at least for one of us!? Our friend James helped Rob and I wrestle the tub in and out of its corner and install the taps. We are happy to say that the taps and the jets work just fine. We have gone from showering under a solar bag of water outside to a whirlpool tub for two inside an insulated building. That being said I still love showering outside on the bluff in the buff in warm weather;however you can see by my picture I am a happy girl in our new tub!

The Joy of Windsurfing

What a joy it has been to windsurf after a year of nursing a frozen shoulder. I had thought on many occasions this last year that my windsurfing days were over; however it would seem that I am not quite ready to throw in the surfing towel yet? I had always said that I wanted to surf at seventy; however I am now aiming for sixty and we will re-evaluate at that point?!?! The water is cooling as you can see by my outfit but it is still great to be out on the water. It has always been the place where I feel my father and Java's presence. Both my dad and my dog used to watch me from the shore everytime I was out on the lake on my board. As I have said in other blog entries the cottage holds a special place in my heart.

Lake Huron Majesty

Lake Huron is beautiful. There is no other place on this earth that we love being as much as the cottage. These are just a few pictures of the many faces of this lake. We never tire of watching the sunsets or storms. Lake Huron's majesty still brings tears to my eyes.

Tug Boats for All Seasons

Last year before we headed to The Bahamas we were reminded of why we go south to go boating in the winter. We watched three tug boat fishing vessels out in open water beyond the ice in December. They had been out further in the lake fishing and now wanted to get back into Bayfield Harbour. We were amazed to see each of them try to break through the ice. We were certain that they were going to have to head further south to Sarnia to get into a harbour; however one by one they tried valiantly to push through the ice jam and finally one had some success. With diesel engines roaring and lots of black smoke one by one they followed the leader into the harbour. Evidently this is not an unusual occurence and the fishermen push the season as far as they can. Personally we prefer both fishing and boating in The Bahamas.

Solar Success

The panel in place on the roof. Rob installed the plumbing to the panel and the solar boiler. We purchased a new 60 gallon water tank in anticipation of lots of hot water.

The panel begins to get sunshine in the early afternoon. We are thrilled that it begins to work without a hitch or a leak!

A very happy lady about to have her first high tech solar shower. Of course she is no stranger to low tech solar showers having showered under the bag for many years both at the cottage and on Celebrian. This is definitely an improvement.

One of our dreams when planning the renovations to the cottage was to have a solar hot water system. When we first checked into the possibility we were slowed down by the cost; however we didn't want to give up on our dream. After much research we decided we were going to join the natural resources eco-grant program and get the cottage audited. Our plans of only putting a new roof on the building grew to include all new windows, doors, full insulation, low flush toilets and the piece de resistance....the solar hot water system. The grants were made available over the past year to support home owners making energy saving improvements to their dwellings. Once we get our cedar ceiling up and our dry wall taping done we will have the home inspector out to do our post construction audit.
Even with the grant money assistance for the solar system we won't likely save money; however we are happy that we are doing something good for the environment and besides how can you put a cost on a dream?

Beach House Unplugged

My mother returned to her home at Huronview on the 25th of August and no sooner had mom left than the beach house was being transformed once again into a work site. Jurgen had arrived just in time to see her and say hello. He has known mom since the days he used to cut grass for she and dad in Clinton.

Jurgen and John's first job was to finish the soffet and fascia. Rob was hoping to work on the siding; however Rona made a mistake in our order so we have had to wait another week. No worries about things to do. Rob and I borrowed John's truck and trailer and headed south of Woodstock to Curries to pick up our cedar tongue and groove ceiling. Then we proceeded to begin sanding and oiling almost one half a mile of cedar boards. Rob would spend the first few hours of each day sanding and then he and I would apply the Danish oil. In between sanding and oiling we stuffed the rest of the R28 Roxul insulation into the ceiling. This was most disheartening as the insulation rained down on everything and our once clean beach house is once again very dirty; however the good thing is that after the insulation was done Jurgen and John were able to finish putting up the vapour barrier in preparation for the wood ceiling. Rob and Jurgen have started to put up the ceiling and it looks stunning...all our hard work is paying off and the beach house may be unplugged, but it is definitely becoming more beautiful.

Transformation

From Work Site to Beach House

Somewhere akin to working at the theatre just before opening night or being a member of a pit crew during the Daytona 500 was how we felt getting ready for Erma's visit. Sweeping compound, bleach and assorted cleaners,lots of brooms and elbow grease were used to clean things up while furniture, dishes, bedding, linens and assorted cottage things were brought back into the building and cleaned. The bunkhouse and the shed have been warehouses for everything in the cottage and they are far from empty; however it is now possible for us to have friends stay in the bunkhouse. In fact Gayle King who I hire to look after my mom will be staying there during mom's visit. Gayle was also very helpful in setting up the cottage and the transformation from work site to beach house has been amazing. While Gayle and I worked our magic, Rob the plumber was busy hooking up connections. After four long exhausting days we stood back and admired our new welcoming beach house complete with flushing toilet and hot water!!

Mom arrived on the 9th of August for her summer vacation. Although she had little warning of the changes we had made to the cottage she has adjusted remarkably well. There are things that both she and I will miss from the original cottage; however everyone agrees that the new beach house is beautiful. The weather has cooperated and mom has had days of paddling in the lake as well as a couple of bonfires.


She has enjoyeed visits from her good friend Jean, our friends Bob and Jan, cottage neighbours as well as her great neice Alison and her two children Chase and Sherry. Evening entertainment, the new Life series by the BBC has been a real treat and she has even had a chance to eat outdoors on a couple of occasions. Rob provides the daily entertainment as he puts the new siding on the building. Gayle and Brian have been wonderful and mom seems to be having a good holiday at the ripe old age of 89.

Happiness is Windows and Doors

Getting Closer....the Windows and Doors Arrive

There is something about windows and doors that makes one feel like you are getting close to living in a home. Although our windows and doors were delayed they arrived before panic set in. It was exciting to see them come down the hill on the trolley. It took five men to carry the two eight foot sliders that are on the front of the building but what a view! Over the next couple of days Jurgen and John installed them and I learned the value of Goo Gone. Rob continues to work on both the plumbing and the electrical as we countdown to my mother's holiday.

Raise the Roof Party

 

The annual beach bash was an evening get-together to celebrate the cottage renovation. Due to the damp weather we moved the indoor/outdoor furniture into the front room of the cottage. We had plenty of room for our friends and had a wonderful evening. We served homemade chocolate cupcakes and icecream after a toast to the new cottage. The cupcakes were decorated with loonies and served up with one hundred dollar napkins to represent the demise of our bank accounts!?
We are on schedule for my mother's holiday in August....the interior won't be pretty but we will have utilities!!

The Cottage Excitement Continues

 

We continue to be busy with our renovation. This next week will be exciting as our doors and windows arrive. Wish us luck and or better still stop by and see the excitement first hand.

Raise the Roof and More

 

Since returning home from The Bahamas in mid April we have been working very hard on our cottage renovation. Rob spent a good deal of the first 6 weeks doing the prepatory work for Jurgen our builder. Rob saved all of the cedar timbers from the roof and hopes to re-use them as trim on our windows and doors. Jurgen, along with his helper John have just finished our green steel roof. We can finally be dry once again. Rob is busy preparing to do the plumbing and electrical while Jurgen and John are building decks this week. The next major thing will be putting in the new windows and doors and doing the insulation.
It is a very exciting time for us. As for me...I am the site manager,cook, gopher, cleaner upper and designer. It is very neat to see what one has drawn come to life, albeit a bit scary at times too. I don't enjoy the process quite as much as Rob does; however I am thrilled to see my cottage dreams come to life.

Three Years and Still Smiling

We took the afternoon off from working on the cottage to celebrate our three years together in Bayfield at The Black Dog Restaurant. After a most enjoyable lunch we returned to the cottage for a champagne happy hour. Three years and the honeymoon continues.

Snorkelling Delights

Sergeant Majors are a popular reef fish. I took this picture in the Sea Aquarium in the Exuma Land and Sea Park. They were nibbling at my arms hoping for soggy bread crumbs.

We saw this small stingray snorkelling at Pipe Creek in the Exumas.


One sees quite a few large stingrays buried in sand for warmth. This one was resting along a reef in our Bell Island anchorage.


Rocky Dundas is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Rob took this picture of Christine in one of the grottos.


Rob caught this clown fish being inquisitive.


The colours can change with the sunshine.


This green turtle is sleeping. We were able to get quite close to him without disturbing him. We found a gorgeous reef within swimming distance in our anchorage at Bell Island.


Rob dives down and takes most of our underwater pictures. I stay on the surface because of my ears and only occasionally have a camera.


Parrot fish are so pretty. If you follow them around you can watch them bite off pieces of coral and if you are very lucky you will see it come out the other end as sand...recyling so to speak?!


Lionfish are spectacular fish to look at but divers are encouraged to kill them all over the Caribbean. They are a tropical tank fish with poisonous barbs; evidently good eating but you have to get by the poisonous barbs. They have invaded the reefs in The Bahamas and elsewhere in the Caribbean and they kill off many of the indiginous reef fish. No one knows for sure how they got south but many believe it was the dumping of fish tanks in the ocean that started the problem. We saw them most everywhere we dove so they are thriving.


One sees schools of yellow grunts on most reefs.


This Sergeant Major almost came up and kissed me at the Sea Aquarium, a snorkelling spot in Exuma Park. I have a theory that the fish are less afraid of divers in the park because they know that they are safe. We do see far more fish, turtles, rays and nurse sharks in the park than elsewhere so the conservation is working. I have also seen my one and only lobster in the park.


This is the airplane that missed the runway at Norman's Cay during the Carlos Lehder drug heyday. This plane would have been flying in illegal cocaine from Columbia. At Norman's it was made into crack cocaine and flown in small airplanes to Florida.


The airplane has turned into a nice reef for fish as it has been underwater for over 30 years. It is within swimming distance of the anchorage in Norman's Cay so it is a great spot to go. We often see stingrays around the wreck too.

The Bahamas has some of the best diving in the Caribbean because the water is so clear and relatively warm; although a wet suit is desirable if you are going to be more than a few minutes in the water. We thoroughly enjoyed our diving this past winter and look forward to seeing some new reefs next season.