PEELING AWAY THE LAYERS

My sister soaking up the sun!
TAKEN: AUGUST 4th, 2025

Summer was chugging along nicely and it was time for my sister to travel to us and spend ten days at L'Hotel Orillia Lake. We chose the same time for her stay as last year, and the weather didn’t disappoint.

Just like last year, I had an extended long weekend but had to work through the week. She didn’t seem to mind. She read four books and tethered to my hotspot to enjoy her electronic breaks; all and all we had a very good visit.

I am always reflective when I think of her. When our kids were small, we spent a lot of time together. But as my business and ultimately my career took off, distance grew between us. Though she was only an hour away, she could have lived in Europe. If I am being truthful, I will always have regrets for those lost years.

I don’t know about you, but for decades I haven’t been especially close with any of my siblings. I took the individual journey to nurse both my parents to their death before I turned forty, and none of them were anywhere to be found. 

Then there is the relationship I have with my sis. She made the choice to become estranged in November 2013. I was devastated.

Once we reconciled, in November 2023, it took me a full a year to fully understand what happened during that time. You see, she reminds me of an onion. I had to peel away the layers of that decade very carefully.

And, just like when I would peel layers off a real onion, sometimes I would weep. Her struggles were very real.

All I can say is thankfully all of those tears belong to the past. 

Today, we generally celebrate with tears of laughter, which are usually produced via us endlessly picking on my husband!

#yagottalaughaboutit

15 DEGREES BABY

Miya & Me shooting the breeze!
TAKEN: JULY 29th, 2025

I woke up Monday morning and headed up the hill at 5:30am to work from home. 

I guess I haven’t mentioned here that about a month ago my boss offered for me to work remotely 100% of the time and I jumped on it. Just another reason to hang with him until retirement.

Anyway, though I technically ‘live’ at the cottage in the summer, if I have a big proposal going out the door, the high-speed internet at my home office is a must have.

I am OK working from the cottage but because I tether a mobile network from my phone taking and changing data in real time is a challenge. Out of respect for my boss and our process, when a big one is headed out the door, I head home.

Yesterday, after loose ends were tied-up, I headed back to the cottage. Believe it or not, next to the water (thanks to a light breeze and boats zooming by) it was 15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than in town; or 9.44 degrees Celsius for the Canadians in the crowd.

On my way out, I stopped and bought an Aqua Lily Pad. I have always wanted one but couldn’t justify spending the money. But, with my sister arriving Thursday for ten days I though it was as good a time as any.

You see, she struggled with our dock ladder last summer, so I am hoping my investment helps her easily get on and off the dock simply by walking on it and stepping up. If she hates it, I know my pups are going to love it!

If I am being honest, I am pretty sure my husband thinks I bought it for the dogs. I know I have talked about buying one for them for years but his tell was obvious… He took one look at it, rolled his eyes and said, “you need to have your head examined!”

So, it's either he thinks I bought it for the dogs, or he really isn’t keen on my sister coming for ten days!!

... May be best to admit I bought it for the dogs, to ensure he doesn't feel the need to discuss my other theory.

#yagottalaughaboutit

SUMMER WOES

The worse part about using a chainsaw
in a heat wave?
Steel toe boots & long denim pants!
TAKEN: JULY 13th, 2025

I would love to be able to write something as poetic today as, ’summer woes, I don't got none’; but that would be a lie.

Now that the mosquitos and blackflies battles have ended, enter the humidex and UV rays working against us. 

Yesterday we did an extensive repair to our dock ramp. Just the two of us. With the help of a come along, a floating picnic table and a ton of rope. It was 32C outside with a humidex making it feel like 38C.

Today, in hotter conditions, we finished cleaning the stairs of fallen trees with the dueling chain saws so that they can be repaired next week when my travel buddy hubby is off. 

At this point, I think we have processed 80% of the trees on the ground but only burnt 5% of the waste. I honestly think we will be into next year, with all the broken trees are still standing and need to come down.

As I hear my husband begin to remove stair treads so new stringers can be constructed, I am sitting upstairs in my office, typing and hiding. Something I have never done in summers previous. 

I just feel that this year, with work being a 50-hour week and the magnitude of exterior work required, it's made me realize it may be time to sell.

Afterall, the plan was to use the equity to send the kids to post secondary school. We manage to weather that and got the cottage paid for AND we managed to burn our mortgage on our house on the 29th of June.... So, not all bad but still not all good.

As I hear my husband come in downstairs I am sure he’s looking for some assistance. Therefore, I will knowingly alter my sentiments today to… ‘Summer woes, I guess I got a few!’

#yagottalaughaboutit

MY CANADIAN GIRLS

Happy Canada Day!
TAKEN: JULY 1st, 2025

I would be remiss if I didn’t put up my annual dog shot of the pups at the cottage on Canada Day. 

The last few years Miya has been my model; this year I thought Katie Kate could wear our Canadian (dollar store) crown.

With cookie pals behind my ears to bribe her, this was as close as she was going to allow me to put this silly thing on her head. Still a cute shot but this is what a hard NO from a cheeky yellow lab looks like.

All and all we really enjoyed the day. Next year I think I may have to try and snap a photo when she’s a sleep.

... Though I am sure my result will be precisely the same!

#yagottalaughaboutit

A PAW-FECT TEAM

Katie Kate is the epitome of a great team player!
TAKEN: JUNE 28th, 2025 

What a week. 

I was so grateful when end of day Friday of the Canada Day weekend officially arrived. When we started our chores on Saturday morning, the magnitude of what had to get done really hit home. 

Finding a good balance of owning and keeping a home and a cottage maintained twenty kilometers from the other, has always been a challenge the last two plus decades. Throw in an ice storm of a lifetime and the reality that there will never be rest is a harsh reality.

We’ve always invested in the right tools to do the exterior maintenance efficiently but there is just so much we literally choose our battles wisely. Saturday was 'whipper snipping, leaf blowing, and clearing the upper drive and ATV trail', as I took the hacksaw to any saplings’ I wanted gone. 

With my travel buddy hubby in the hospital last summer, all our ongoing maintenance was overlooked; and the ache in my lower back Sunday morning was the reminder it was missed.

When I finished on the ATV trails and septic bed area, Miya and I headed to the top to see how our other crew was making out. As you can see, they were just finishing up and the team leader was rushing up the drive to give me her report.

Specifically, that her coworker WAS wearing his hearing protection, but NOT his safety glasses. After careful consideration, it was decided not to formally write him up. And that a verbal warning (this time) would suffice.

The corrective action was successful implemented once he began leaf blowing! 

#yagottalaughaboutit

Important Notable: Not a single treat was not used to entice a favourable recommendation from our paw-fect team leader!

FEEL THE BURN

The first of many controlled brush burns.
TAKEN: JUNE 21st, 2025

Well, we moved into the cottage this weekend. We moved in with a well thought out plan of attack. A plan that was a total waste of time making the effort to organize.

For the twenty plus seasons we have owned our cottage, bug season has us always planning to work outside in the rain. And the weekend forecast said, rain Saturday and sun Sunday. Well, there was no rain on Saturday which had us pivot.

With the day long burn on hold Saturday, the washing machine was taken off the dolly and connected and up went the clotheslines for laundry. Then I tackled whipper snipping and raking the ATV trail, and more work with the chainsaws filled the day.

On Sunday we got up, I went into the lake to remove more leaf and stick debris, and my travel buddy hubby began to burn. In an effort to process the pile faster, we decided to divide and concur. Branches bigger than a certain circumference were limbed and placed in a "bonfire later" pile.

You can see the start of that pile behind the fashionable guy that dressed when he got up Sunday morning to match the hew of the flames he would create. Safety shirt jokes aside, our six hour burn barely made a dent in the brush pile that was a tall as I am; which only accounts for about 20% of the tree damage processed.

When we finally stopped mid-afternoon, though we were happy with the little progress we made, a hard reality was acknowledged. The cottage yard clean-up is so large in scope that it will bleed into 2026. 

That, and our best guess is that the quantity of firewood we will stock pile will rot before we will ever get around to burning it.... Which will definitely contribute to a lower carbon footprint on Orillia Lake.

You're welcome climate change!

#yagottalaughaboutit

I SAW THAT!

 

As we took our third stab at cottage clean up this past weekend, our focus was on the immediate beach front.

Our challenge wasn’t only that the submersed trees were larger, but that as a team we were in a ‘lift and pull’ effort to get them out of the water and up our hill to be processed.

With my travel buddy hubby’s mobility issue, I drew the only straw to get in the lake, trim the trees to remove as much weight as possible, then heavy ho them up to him and a chainsaw.

With no foresight to get into a bathing suit, I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and legging rolled to the knees. Within five minutes the leggings were soaked. With the pups helping, within fifteen minutes, everything was soaked – and not in a good way!

We processed three large trees out of the water last Saturday afternoon. The fourth, and last remaining,  is in the photo I am sharing.  

THAT sucker is the one that my hubby hit heading backward on his ATV, that severed the artery in his right leg and cause three brain bleeds, that landed him is St. Mike's Hospital Trauma Unit last summer. 

That said, last fall we discussed cutting the tree down. A sort of cleanse to the shoreline of the constant reminder of a horrific accident that changed our lives.

Then the winter ice storm happened and it was almost as if the universe was sending us a specific message in the form of the tree falling. 

...That message simply read, "I saw that!"

Signed,

Karma

#yagottalaughaboutit

MAKING A DENT

After yesterday, everything aches!
TAKEN: MAY 31st, 2025

Well, we were back at it yesterday, with our dueling chainsaw in action at the cottage. 

We landed at about 10am and put the bad boys away at about 2pm. All in the hope of cleaning up from the ice storm before Labour Day!

We would have worked on today, but my travel buddy hubby left his medications at the house in town, so we spent the night at the cottage and headed home first thing. By doing so, sipping my coffee this morn produced a reality check that I hadn’t considered.

Though we are privileged enough to own two properties fifteen minutes apart, the amount of effort to support the maintenance of both is a balancing act. Previously, we would be lucky enough to have one afternoon of rest (each weekend) for the entire summer.

This year, I don’t think there will be any weekend rest. Except for an exciting long weekend, I have planned in July to celebrate my husband’s milestone birthday; the summer of 2025 will be the summer of sweat. Hard core labour sweat.

Like anything we are faced with, there is a give and take. Yesterday the ‘give’ was that neither of us had any energy or desire to deal with the task at hand. The ‘take’ was that the weather his a balmy 4C, which meant the mosquitoes and blackflies did not impede our efforts.

As you can see from the pic I am sharing, yesterday I tackled the start of clearing the stairs. I took this on because there were three steps to complete here and hubby has an issue bending over for hours at a time.

With the fire hazard surrounding us, I took clippers to the small limbs, then my electric chainsaw to anything that I could quickly process for the woodstove. Then, for tree trunks that had to be cut and would need to be split with an axe – out came my Husqvarna.

Though that might seem all organized and well thought out, there is always one large hiccup that presents itself when I bring this slick beauty out.... I have no ability to start it with the pull cord.  

I have to seek out my hubby, have him get ‘er going, then head back to my task at hand. Not gonna lie, I always try, then fold like a lawn chair and give up.

Glass half full? 

At least I always try!

PS: Can you do me a favour? PRAY for a ton of rain in June!!

WOODEN YA KNOW!

The only good thing to report?
We've opened up our view!
TAKEN: MAY 17th, 2025

When the ice storm of the century hit Muskoka the final weekend in March, the damage around town was brutal. Fortunately, at the house, we escaped with a couple of days of cleanup and a handful of well organized burn piles for the fall.

Because we were leaving for Aruba the weekend following that storm, and with my getting pneumonia shortly after we returned, this past weekend was the first time we landed at the cottage to turn the water on and assess possible carnage.

When we pulled in the driveway, I had to hop out to move limbs so my travel buddy hubby to get up the lane. Once loaded up and headed to the top of the hill, nothing prepared us for the level of damage we would see. There was so many downed trees, we had a hard time navigating to the bottom.

We immediately focused on getting the water on (our lake intake was damaged by felled trees) and then I focused on a deep clean and getting beds made. Late in the afternoon I began cutting and moving the smaller brush (from the firepit area below) with my chainsaw; but it seemed hopeless.

Hubby assessing the damaged plumbing
stack and fascia damage.
TAKEN: MAY 17th, 2025

Pink arrow shows how healthy
trees just snapped off from the weight.
TAKEN: MAY 17th, 2025

Clotheslines gone and our more than 50 stairs are pretty much a write off. The only thing that seemed to survive was 'the shed that won't die', left to us more than 20 years ago - from the previous owners. 

The red graphic below is where I would like us to built the new stairs and electric 'Grocery Bulter'. 

A fancy name for a 4'x4' powered winch system to move items up and down the hill. Not all cottagers will want to climb that hill, like we have for the past 20+ years. 

The shed that won't die.
(The tin boat remained all these years
so I can reach my clotheslines.)

By mid-day Sunday, we managed to clean the top drive, the ATV trail, the firepit landing, and removed the large trees off the roof. 

We spent about six hours, with two chainsaws going, and never argued once. Just effectively communicated on how to untangle this serious puzzle Mother Nature left us.

Wouldn't you know it. The one year we don't check in, is the one year we are gifted with a good month of yardwork that will leave us with a bonfire wood pile fit for a King.

Hope the King can spare some Rub A535.... Because every single muscle in my body is yelling at me today to "HIRE SOMEONE TO CLEAN THIS CRAP UP," which is simply not an option for us. 

Not because we can't afford it. But because we want to prove to each other that we've got this.... No matter how painful and totally delusional that statement may really be! 

#yagottalaughaboutit

Z IS FOR ZEAL

I definitely have ZEAL!
(Image credit almay.com)

As I finish my 11th April A-Z Challenge, I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that I have always struggled with my very last letter. I think my plight is somewhat associated with the fact that I have yet to use the same word twice.

This year, I think my word came to me in around-about way. As I brainstormed letters with a pad of paper (and then the help of Google) I began to hone-in on my word of choice; then I found the graphic I am sharing.

Though sometimes most think of it as dedication or enthusiasm for religion, my personal sense of zeal differs.

I am willing, energized and motivated – still after all these years – to keep contributing to my electronic journal; and this annual challenge has always done that. 

When I look at all the words in the graphic there are a few words that apply to this post. 

Victory, excitement, success, determination, and even emotional.

All excellent descriptions of how it feels to make it through another twenty six posts in the crazy month of April!

Y IS FOR YUMMY

Doesn't my puzzle look yummy?
Katie Kate thinks so!
TAKEN: FEBRUARY 15th, 2025

A few years ago, I went to the local Habitat for Humanity, and for a whopping ten bucks I bought myself a puzzle table. Prior to that I have an old piece of plywood I would fetch from under the spare bed on Sundays, then I realized it was worth setting up a 'puzzle specific' table.

You can see I am sitting in front of our exterior sliding door but to my right there are big living room windows with base board heaters. Each year after the holidays are put away, I tuck the dining room table to the side to maximize heat output and minimizing the hydro bills.

For whatever reason, I tend to do puzzles with vibrant colour that also tend to have a focus on with food. The one after this one was yummy too – dogs making pizza!

I only puzzle from New Years Day until I leave for my birthday trip. Not only does it relax me, it helps we gain extra light in the winter months and relax while sports plays on the television in the background.

X IS FOR X-TRAODINARY

A coincidental dinner party...
Created a memory of a lifetime.
TAKEN: APRIL 7th, 2025
Palm Beach, Aruba 

Before we landed in Aruba, we knew we wanted to eat at a specific steak house. Trouble was, there were only two seats in an evening, and they didn’t take reservations; you had to line up outside.

So, on our second night there we decided to roll the dice and see if we could get in. 

We landed in line about forty five minutes before the doors opened and we instantly began chatting up two young ladies in line. 

As they came out of take names and numbers of people dining, we asked the two if they would like to have dinner with us, as a table of four had a better chance at getting in than two tables of two. They cheerfully agreed.

As always, my travel buddy hubby was as comical as ever. He kept them laughing the entire time. When one of his jokes crossed the line, I call him by his name and said “that was far enough.”

The young girl (in the photo above) instantly turned white and asked if his first name was really what I had called him. When we said yes, her eyes filled with tears, and she began to cry. What she shared next had our jaws drop.

Earlier that day she had spread her husband’s ashes on Palm Beach (he had died of brain cancer), and he and my hubby shared the same first name. She was overcome with emotion, as were we once she'd shared.

In a nutshell, I believe we were meant to have dinner with those two, on that day. And though we never did get their names…. We will remember that evening together for the rest of our lives. 

Truly X-traodinary!