I understand my mother made a few requests of my father before their wedding. She wanted a dog and she wanted a cottage on a lake. The first wish was easily fulfilled. I grew up with dogs which I loved. We had Schnauzers, a Yellow Lab, and two Golden Retrievers which is really the best breed.
In 1974, my parents bought land on a small lake near Huntsville, Ontario. The next spring, the cottage was built by a wonderful man and his two sons. Unfortunately, the builder died of cancer a few years later. I became very good friends with his daughter.
This is a view of the cottage from the dock.
It's not a big cottage. One long room consisting of the living room, dining room and kitchen. On the other side are two bedrooms and the bathroom. The kitchen only holds a refrigerator and stove. No microwave, no dishwasher or laundry machines. I don't mind the simplicity. It's refreshing after all the modern conveniences I have at home. Also, this situation deters many would-be guests.
My mother had a very good friend who wanted to visit our cottage. She hinted it to me many times when I saw her. Then one day I described the cottage. She never asked again.
I had given one friend exact directions which she didn't follow so got lost. Her mother was convinced that she would get lost in the USA even though she was driving north not south. When she arrived at the cottage, all she could manage to say was how many trees there were. She couldn't believe that we were living in a forest. She wasn't there a day before she asked to go into town. Huntsville is a 30 minute drive and, when I'm at the cottage, I stayed at the cottage. We only would go into town for groceries or to do laundry. She didn't last long. She stayed on more night then returned home.
I think a lot about the cottage. Winter is a wonderful time to go up. The place is winterized but our private road is long with a very steep hill so the only way to get in is by snowshoe or cross-country ski which is fun when you're young. As I get older, I find that more difficult to do. Blue Mountain is a great ski hill near Huntsville and we skied there many winters.
Muskoka gets a lot of snow in winter. Here is our picnic table taken this year by our neighbours. You can't see their cottage because of the trees. You only see them if they are on the dock. On our other side is Crown land. It's just forest. No one can buy it or build on it and will always remain like that.
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Growing up I had some special friends at the cottage. One was Flora whom I have described in a previous blog entitled: To Special Friends. Other close friends were Bill and Evelyn Sims. They were a wonderful, warm and happy couple. Usually they would sit on their dock and I would visit with them when I was out on the lake in my canoe. They died a while ago and I still miss them.
Bob McCrae's family owned much of the land on our lake. He sold us our property and became a very good friend. I had a school-girl crush on him even though he was 50 years older than me. But even after his Parkinson's developed and he couldn't leave the house, I would call him every week. Most times he'd lose his voice after a few minutes but I would proceed to chatter away. He has also died and the cottage just doesn't seem the same without him.
I have travelled around the world but never found a place as beautiful as the cottage. I still go up every year with friends. My best friend came up last year for the first time. She is the kind of person who is always busy doing something. She can never just sit down. When I invited her to the cottage, I expected her to spend a lot of time in town. Well the opposite happened. She had never relaxed so well as she did at the cottage. She loves it up there. We plan to spend two weeks next summer!
Hope you enjoyed reading about my sanctuary. Anyone else have a cottage?
Have fun,
patty
www.pattylesser.com
@PattyLesser
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