Escape To Serenity Cottage

Fall Has Been Terrific At The Cottage

Fall is officially on now with the colours changing.  Time to put away the boats, do all the winterization things you always need to do around the cottage and chop some firewood.

On Thanksgiving weekend we went out for a family boat cruise to look at the leaves and get a final glimpse before the colours were gone.

That weekend was also the last water skiing of the season the air was in the 45 degrees F range and the water was a bit warmer at about 56 degrees F. 

Our friend Marco just threw out the concept of going skiing naked since there wasn't anyone left on the lake so of course I said yes.  Just as I pulled him out of the water on the skiis I saw a boat pulling into one of the islands we were going to pass.  I thought... here it goes, they'll call and complain, I'll get arrested for pulling a naked skiier, blah, blah, blah.  Even worse, right in the bow of that boat was a 75-year old lady going over for dinner with her son and his family.

To my amazement, as we pulled up by their island, the lady saw us, took a second look, and then raised her hands and started cheering.  The rest of the family turned around and did the same :).

We were all laughing in the boat and taking photos of Marco.  Take a look at what our Thanksgiving was like on Stoney Lake.

 

We Set A Stoney Lake Water Ski Record - Earliest Water Skiing Ever On The Lake

On the Easter weekend our cottage neighbours Elwyn and Gloria and I decided we couldn't waste the fantastic weather we were having... we had to go water skiing!!

I organized getting our Malibu ski boat all ready for the water before we came up for the weekend BUT when we arrived the water level was down over two feet!  The depth in our bay averages about 5-6 feet in the best of times so we were worried about tearing the prop off.

There's always a solution.  We decided to ski behind our Seadoo.  Over our crew Rylie's objections (he didn't think we could be towed with it) we threw caution to the winds and got the Seadoo into the water and assembled our gear.

I'm a wimp so I got dressed up in my dry suit - I wear sweat pants and shirt under it to keep warm and cosy and the only parts exposed are my feet (they go in the ski) and my head (which I have a hood for).  Elwyn is a bit tougher than me and he just wore his wet suit.

After suitable prayers to the sun gods we jumped in and did it.  The Seadoo pulled us up without a problem and it felt FANTASTIC to be back on the water again.

After skiing, it was a bit difficult getting OUT of my dry suit - seems it shrunk around the hips over the wintertime :).

Take a look at the video...

We Spent The Chrismas Holidays At The Cottage

What a great time up here in the winter wonderland.  Over the past week all of our family was here at one time or another... sometimes even all at the same time.

The last few days have been steady snowfall... light and fluffy.  Sally and I took a walk with the dogs out onto the lake ice yesterday during the storm and it was amazing.

The ice is already about 10" - 12" thick so it's perfectly safe for walking as long as you know where to stay away from.  We typically go about a couple of hundred feet off shore most times until later in January when the ice gets really thick.

Yesterday we ran into some of our neighbours ice fishing - apparently the first time ice fishing has been permitted on the lake in over 80 years.  We even got offered refreshments - some hot tea.

Here are some photos we took while on our ice journey.

A Spring Ritual - The Docks Were Reconnected This Weekend

One of the cottage rituals for most owners is to take out the docks in the fall and put them back in once spring arrives.  If you don't, there is a danger on some lakes that moving ice will crush the docks or tear them from their moorings and allow them to drift away down the lake.

We've got ours pretty systematized now.  In the fall, we disconnect the floating sections from the fixed dock and float them down the shore to a very protected bay.  There they're protected from wind and shifting ice by several small islands.  We lift up the fixed dock so the feet are above the ice level during the winter.

In the spring the process is reversed... lower the fixed dock, float the platforms back over and reattach to the weights which rest on the lake bottom and hold the docks in place with chains.

We Moved The Sauna Down The Lake On The Ice This Week

Last summer when we moved from our old Stoney Lake cottage to our new one (about 1/2 mile west on the north shore), we didn't move our sauna building. The thought was we'd leave it and sell it with the cottage.

However, since the old cottage hasn't sold yet :(, we decided to dismantle it and move it down the lake.

Our lake neighbour Elwyn Cartwright took on the project and, with the help of a couple of other neighbours, removed the roof and the walls down to about three feet above the sauna floor. Then he had to prepare it so it wouldn't 'fall apart' on the move... he reinforced the bottom framing with joist hangars and added a couple of logs under the platform for it to slide on.

The plan was to roll the platform up over a deck, around a tree, down a hill and onto the ice for its final trip down the lake to the new cottage lot. I used my Kubota tractor to do some of the heavy lifting and pulling and Elwyn, Jim and Ian used their muscles to keep levering the platform until we had it in place (I had the better job handling the tractor controls).

As you'll see in the video below, it was quite the exercise. Now that it's on our new lot, after the frost disappears we'll prepare a site for it and put in its final resting spot.

Our First Ever Halloween Trick-or-Treaters at the Cottage!

Colleen and Chelsea Lockhart and Eric Boulton are our cottage neighbours and unexpected (but welcome) first-ever visitors on Halloween.  Up here they need to drive everywhere to go 'Trick or Treating'.

Luckily we had some candy to had out !