Living the Dream

Cottage life is one of Canada’s jewels.  As a child I was always envious of friends who disappeared ‘to the cottage’ every weekend during the summer.  My father being a farmer, meant we had to wait until the last two weeks of the summer holidays, before we packed up and excitedly headed for a rental cottage somewhere to the north of Toronto.  Advance fifty years, and we are lucky enough to have good friends who have chosen to live out their retirement in their family cottage.

Situated north of Ottawa in the Gatineau valley, this ‘gem’ was built in 1963 as a ‘kit house’ made of Western Red Cedar logs.  Anecdotes of childhood fun have kept us fully amused during our visit – walks in the woods, climbing trees, larking about in boats on the lake, jumping off rocks into the lake and generally only turning up at the cottage when it was meal time!

On retirement, our friends decided that they would like to enjoy cottage life all year round and took on the monumental task of winterizing the cottage. It was literally lifted by crane, and a basement was constructed underneath.  Bearing in mind that winter temperatures can drop as low as -40C!!, insulation was added to walls, followed by vinyl siding.  Also a new roof (insulated), new double glazed windows (with argon gas for extra insulation), new doors, and new floors. A septic tank and indoor toilet facilities, help with full time living ‘at the lake’.  Decking and a fully screened sun room mean you can enjoy the sun or the shade, and escape the ever present bugs when necessary.  Mosquitoes, black flies and ‘no see ‘ums’ are part of life ‘at the cottage’.

There is a further tiny cottage on site, built in 1920, and recently modernized to provide picturesque guest accommodation.  Wonderful patchwork quilts adorn the beds, their colours set off by the beautiful logs of the cabin walls.  The original quirky angles and slopes on the stunning wooden floors still exist – or perhaps the G&T’s were stronger than I thought!  With lights out, and lying in the heady silence, we were captivated as the fireflies came out to play.  Dozens of tiny twinkling lights danced outside in the woods.

Set back from Blue Sea Lake, the cottage is surrounded by 4.5 acres of boreal forest (consists mostly of pine, spruce, larch, and birch).  A quick geography lesson – most North American bird species rely on boreal forest, for both nesting and a migratory stopover.  Canada accommodates about a third of the world’s boreal forest, mostly north of the 50^th parallel. Lake Blue Sea is at 46 degrees north.  The lake itself covers some 20 sq km and is dotted with a dozen islands.  Each cottage has its own boat house and dock. Sunny days are idled away swimming off the dock, or paddling on the lake.  Paddle boards and kayaks provided us with good entertainment (and balance issues!)

Winter brings heavy snow falls, but modern snow blowers soon make a track to the road, which in turn is kept clear for children to be transported to school.  Snow shoeing, cross country skiing, skating or snowmobiling on the lake keep the ever present outdoor activities going year round. Log burning stoves and a recently installed heat pump keep the cottage cosy and warm.

It was wonderful to see our friends ‘living their dream’.  A stunning sunset completed our delightful visit.  And we’re now all set to ‘head west’.

For those of you setting your ‘clocks’ by the blog, my apologies that this is late!  We are presently crossing the wilderness of Northern Ontario, where there is very little WIFI.