Shadows and the Boat

Shades of Blue and Tiny Ripples

Sundial in Fall

We have a cute little sundial in the front yard of the cottage. It kind of blends into the rock and I hardly ever notice it. I really should line it up properly and use it to tell time.

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.
~Aaron Rose

The Corner of the Kitchen

My kitchen at the lake is full of my little treasures. I kind of have a thing for dishes and ceramics and here we have a mix of all sorts of things to make me happy.

I should start with the fact that 20 years ago Bob designed and built these great dark blue shelves. We started out looking at cupboards but decided the open look was best and Bob created the supports and worked hard rounding out the shelves. It was an early woodworking project for him and he learned a lot doing it. I still love them.

• The top shelf has an old brown coffee/cocoa set that was left at the cottage by the former owners. We mainly use it in the spring and fall when nothing quite warms you like hot cocoa by the fireplace. Next is a collection of wineglasses- some 50 years old from my parents house and some brand new. The great blue canisters are only a few years old and hold our sugar, brown sugar, tea, coffee and spaghetti. Below that is a cheap but pretty tin plate that is just perfect for butter tarts! That dark blue tea pot and mugs got a lot of use this year because I like multiple cups of tea in the morning while Bob nurses along his mug of coffee. The cow creamer was my grandma's.

• The green ceramic canister is my Mother's mother's "Cookie Bucket". It is peeked into a lot by people with very hopeful expressions. The tan container I have cooking utensils in was my mom's crock for making pickles. The bean pot ... is full of cookie cutters at the moment.

• More stuff I love on the adjoining wall. Old canisters, baskets, Italian ceramic pots, lots of Onion soup bowls. The wall displays a couple of other strange things; signs from dollarama last year, a copper rubbing I made when I was about 6 years old, a reindeer bell, and cookie cutters I really like.

Black Eyed Susan

Earth laughs in flowers.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Troll in our Kitchen

Elizabeth brought back a surprise to keep at the cottage. This handsome little troll is an oven mitt that she picked up in Norway on her last big trip. I pulled it over a canister that was just the right size and put in on a higher shelf so he can keep an eye on us when we are cooking.

Haze on the Shore

A Line of Haze by the Shore

Alicia captured these lovely images on an early Fall day, just as dusk was approaching and the temperature started to fall. She was standing on our island dock looking toward the mainland.

Alicia's Strawberry Salad

Wild Strawberry Plant

Alicia's Summer Strawberry Salad

1 head of Romaine Lettuce
5 large Button Mushrooms
1/4 Green Pepper
7 Strawberries

Clean, trim and chop the vegetables and toss together.

Strawberry Dressing

1 tb vinegar
1 tb honey
2 crushed normal sized strawberries
combine the above 3 ingredients thoroughly

mix in
1 1/2 tb of canola oil


This was an end of the summer treat for us. Alicia was in charge of the veggies for dinner and surprised us with this lovely fresh tasting salad She made it using what she found leftover in the cooler. It was perfect for one of our last dinners out on the porch for this season. We ate is so quickly I didn't even think of taking a picture. I do have a picture of a wild strawberry that was growing in our cottage yard taken by our son, Bob in July. Wild strawberries are tiny tiny things but they have as much flavor in the one tiny morsel as supermarket strawberries have in a giant overgrown berry.

Planting Joy

Planting Joy on the front porch

I have been to several sessions by a fun Life Coach named Deb Dunn at a local fitness center. I got a lot out of her sessions and had fun at the same time.

Deb had a great idea ..

By focusing on the people, places and activities that bring you joy, you will create a lighter and more joyful attitude, family, community and life!

She provided this cute flower and you are supposed to take pictures of it bringing joy.

Our cottage is somewhere that I feel relaxed and creative and happy and plain old joyful so that had to be the first place I took it for a picture!

Alicia got in on the "Joy" too.

Please visit Deb's website to learn more. Get it Dunn

My Lake Bedroom

My bed pillow out on the porch

Last year we decided it was time to brighten up our bedroom at the cottage. The walls were old and yucky - brown fake woodgrain 70's style press board paneling. A paint job did wonders. It is so much brighter and happier a place now and I even find it a more relaxing place to be. We bought a new quilt set in fresh colors, and I sewed window drapes and a fabric cover for the closet opening out of a nice sage green color.

The old dresser and a few special things

Bob's parents old anniversary clock, glass candlesticks I got as a present years ago, and a picture of trolls my daughter brought back to us from Norway this year.

Sea glass glows in the light

I have sea glass in an old rose bowl on our window sill behind the bed.
We actually have a tea light in the middle of it and it gives off such a great glow at night.

Bob's side of the bed

Yes, really, I can't sleep if we change sides.

We have just put new pictures on the wall with photos of our family at the cottage. It was hard to decide on only a few favorites to frame.

Linda's side of the bed

We are trying out 3 larger frames on the wall and soon we are going to pick out some large pictures of berries found growing on the island. We are going to get rid of the existing matting and cut a matt with only one picture per frame. How to pick just three photos? Decisions, decisions.

Wood Working Project

Long ago, maybe even a decade ago, Bob made a couple of wooden holders for the entrance hall of the cottage. One is for our paddles and one for fishing gear. He did a great job but he wanted them to be even more special so he did not do any finishing coats on the projects.

He had a drawing for the longest time that he thought would look great wood burned on the paddle one. It took a little while but the holder is now beautiful and and very detailed. He has a talent for wood burning! Here he is putting a stain and seal in a rich color called "Olde Maple" over the wood burned project. I kind of don't want to put the paddles back on and block the view of the wood-burning.

The next project will be to finish off the fishing rod holder.

The paddle holder is back on the wall and doing it's job.




Great details in the wood-burning!