Cottage Life

Sharon67

Greeting Ladies, from Northern Michigan

What a wonderful thread you all have started. I have grown up all my life with going "up north" to my grandmother's cottage home on an inland lake. Years later, when I was around 28, I was fornature to purchase a small cabin house a few doors down from her home on a land contract. This cottage had such fond memories with my children. I was lucky enought to meet my husband on this inland lake where after a year or so, we married and moved into his home on the other side of the lake. I regreated the day I sold my small cottage, but we just had enough lake living (kids, boats, breakdowns in the middle of the lakes, etc) So we sold our home to live in the country and on 25 acres, where I can now enjoy real peace and quite in the "middle of no where" according to my children.

On the cottage restoration note: Last year, my husband and I purchased a "carriage house" in our little sleppy beach town. After researching the history of this house/cottage, it turns out to be about 150 years old. I seen it by fluke one day, driving by, it was all overgrown, and had been served as a rental. The owner of the home was 91 and lived across the street, he also was a patient of my husbands. I am kind of known as a joke as "Mrs. Villa" because I am always tearing down something and remodeling. (I Love Power Tools!!!) So for my Anniversary Present my husband handed me the deed to the home he purchased for me. This was right about the time I was dx'ed with Breast Cancer. The first thing I did was name this Carriage House, I call it "The House of Hope" I started tearing down everything in the house that renters destroyed over the years. There must have been at least 15 coats of wallpaper dating back to the earily 1920's. And under all of this ugly vinyl tile is original oak plank flooring throughout the house. The best feature so far are the wavey glass panel windows!!! You women made my day today, Spring is just around the corner and I can not wait to start my summer project once again. It even has an old cast iron claw tub and all the cabinets are original.

You also gave me a wonderful idea with your painted floors; One room has a wider plank board that has extreme water damage, what a great way to keep the original floor, with Paint!!!

As for you gardening ladies, I am a professional commerical landscape designer, although I downsized my company and cutback due to the BC, I would be happy to answer any questions that all you garden people may have. Over the past 10 years, I must have designed 1000 gardens and homes. Mostly in the Michigan and Northern States, but like I said before, I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks for the thread.....

Sharon

anneshirley

Hi Sharon--I hope you don't come to regret your offer; for sure I plan to take you up on it.  I really need to do something with our garden.  Taking down wall paper is for me the worst thing about fixing up an old house.  It seems to take forever.  But floors can be very painful too.  We once purchased an old house in the Catskills, which had a vinyl floor in the kitchen.  We started taking it up and every time we got to another floor, we'd say here it is finally.  But it was usually a plywood floor.  We had to go five layers deep but we finally found the old pine and beech floor and it was great after we sanded and stained it.  Have fun, but don't be surprised to see my name on lots of messages.

Sharon67

Anneshirley,

I would never regret helping someone with advice, and I hope you, and other ladies will take me up on the offer. I used to do a small column for a small newpaper, and as the saying goes, there are no questions too small. One of my specialities was garden and landscape reconstruction. You would be suprised how many people have wonderful plants that are just planted in the wrong locations. Also, my first lesson for my new plant students is this: never pay attention to the tags, unless you just don't know the name of the plant you are purchasing. Usually the only thing correct is the environment location, ie. sunny, part sunny, shade, that's usually about it. The distance is usually always wrong, unless you want to wait 3 or 4 season for your garden. I don't know about you, but when I designed a garden for a client, they want it now, not 4 seasons from now. I also don't recommend planting from catalogs unless it is for bulbs, or root planting. And never purchase trees or bushes from these catalogs unless you really want to wait along time!!!! Soil testing is usually a good idea, unless it is a small area that you are planting, then it is just easier to amend your soil and compost is not always the best solution. One final thing for your info....If one of your problem area has Black Walnut trees, forget about planting anything in or under that area, the roots produce a toxic acid in the soil and not much will grow in that area. So fire away, spring is almost here. Just also remember, no matter how tempting it may be for us garden and flower lovers, do not waste your money on anything until the weather breaks. Local retails Love this time of year because all the southern commercial greenhouse are clearing out the houses for the spring annual planting, so they ship early in hopes that consumer's will purchase early, just to plant early, then a frost arrives, and what does the customer do? You got it, buy more outdoor stock.

Feel free to pm me anytime.

Sharon

anneshirley

Thanks Sharon--I've made all the mistakes you mention, from planting too early to planting too deep.  I once ordered about ten peony plants from a catalog, and couldn't find my glasses to read the instructions.  I told my husband to dig a ditch three feet deep.  He complained the whole time as our soil was full of huge rocks.  When he finished I went to get the plants, found my glasses, and read the instructions again.  It said three inches, not three feet.  I didn't know how to tell him, but I finally did.  We had to buy soil to fill in the holes but they still didn't come up for two years.  I love peonies and we're in Maine, near the coast.  Do peonies demand a particular type of soil? And when should I plant them? Thanks.

Anonymous

Sharon......your find of that gem sounds amazing! What a find! I love the name you gave it too, you'll have the place looking like a magazine cover before long with all that talent.

Maybe everyone would like to post some of their favorite cottagey pictures..(if I could figure that out I will)

Bliz

Went to the "camp" property yesterday. It replenishes me every time. 

Finally a little warmer.  Took a walk in the woods and found two really cool old bottles.  (One of my hobbies). 

One was a complete creamer bottle, circa 1900.  I have never found one that was perfect.  The other was a very intensely embossed, "Jumbo" peanut butter jar, circa 1930. 

Also crept up on some beavers which I had never seen at work on the river.  Very exciting and makes you forget BC.

Anonymous

Blitz, I can almost smell the water and the woods reading these posts. We have lots of beavers at our camp up north. Busy little guys. We could usually time them like clock work during the day. Each morning we would see them swim past to their hideout for the day and each evening we would see them swim by again to come back to new building sites or looking to down some building material. It amazes me how such a small animal can take down such a big tree!! These little busybodies are in a continual battle with my 70 year old nieghbor over a dam they are determined to build and he is just as determined to not let them. All season long the nieghbor hikes past with his spade in hand to keep an opening in the dam, if he lets the beavers win, they would flood our road into the cottage. It's funny to watch. Also, there is plenty of firewood thanks to Mr Beaver.

anneshirley

Here's a photo of our first wood stove.  We found a piece of very stained slate in the yard and used it for the floor protection (completely forgot the name for what that thing is!), painting it with black stove paint.  We used a picture frame to cover the outside of the brick facing.  Miguel, my husband, had a really difficult job putting the flue etc. together so he's very pround of his handiwork.  We put another in the back room near the kitchen but installing that was a breeze after the first.  It's a Jotul stove and we love it.

Help:  How do I upload a photo from photobucket.  I've tried it a few times by clicking on direct link in photobucket and then clicking on tree in comment box on thread and then hitting insert, but nothing happens.  Any advice would be appreciated. 

anneshirley

anneshirley

Our woodstove above. We found the slate platform in the backyard and painted it with stove paint.  My husband really struggled putting this thing in, but it works great.  It's the smallest of the Jutol stoves and supposedly they last for years.

Viv--you can post by uploading your pictures to Photobucket and then linking them to this forum.

1.  Establish an account with Photobucket

2.  Upload he photos you want to Photobucket by clicking on the browse button in Photobucket.

3.  Reduce the Photobucket window and open another window on your screen.

4.  In the second window, open the Cottage thread.

5.  Under your photos in Photobucket you will see three boxes below each photo.

6.  Click on the html code box (you will see a yellow "copied" indicator).

7.  On the Cottage thread, click on the green tree in the comment box.

8.  A form will open; click on the right button of your mouse and then select "paste."  The code you just copied will be pasted in the Image URL box.

9.  Now click on the "insert" button at the bottom of the form. You should see your photo in the comment box.  Click "save" and it should be included with your post.  

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Bliz

Crazy Daisy,

Glad you liked the beaver story.  This beaver was so huge.  I thought it was a big dog.  He must be checking out a new site because I didn't see a dam. 

We have found the remnants of beaver activity, but not actually seen one in many years.  I will have to slink by there again.  I was skulking between the top of the river bank and the actual river.

My 81 year old Mom was so excited.  First thing she said was, "Be sure to tell your father".  Apparently she and Dad had a huge disagreement, decades ago, about there being beavers in this area. 

Now I know why she was lying on the foot bridge, hour after hour, scouring the creek, when we were kids.  We just thought she was being odd.  Too funny thinking about them fighting about this and still remembering. 

abbadoodles

Anneshirley, does the photobucket cost anything?

How about raccoon stories?  Boy, I have a few.  But, you go first.

Tina

anneshirley

Tina--it's free and easy to use.

AlaskaAngel

Wading in.... jeez, the water is nice and the breeze is great here and the sand around my toes feels great... What a nice way to move beyond bc!

One story to share at a time... The first cabin I played in was one my dad (a builder by trade) did some minor repairs to for the couple who owned it... it was not on a lake but stuck on a hillside just above a river in a canyon in the Sierra Nevada mountains... My dad was raised a country boy and taught his 3 daughters to enjoy the woods back when the woods were not full of people and the messes they leave behind... The cabin was a lot more rustic than artistic, but it was old and plain and very friendly with all kinds of very practical hand-made inventions to improve life. I remember making pancakes and bacon and eggs with my sisters there on the woodstove while dad started work, and recall vaguely that the bacon burned but we ate it anyway while dad kept a straight face and recognized our silent shared conspiracy not to admit it was awful. We went barefoot all we wanted, and checked out the river and fished and swam and hiked until we fell asleep in the sun.

I'm so glad to have grown up when we did.

AlaskaAngel

Anonymous

Anneshirley....thanks for photobucket, I will try it when i have time to sit and play with it......would love to see everyones pics! Nice woodstove BTW!

Abbadoodles....now come on! Let's hear the racoon story!!!

AlaskaAngel.......I think lots of kids don't get away like that anymore....to stuck in the citie and hooked to their ipods, cell phones and nintendo games.......they wouldn't know what to do with themselves! Our family holidays always consisted of going to a cottage for a week or two when we were kids.....that tradition has been carried forward by my sisters and I. Gee, that's where we learned to do the "DOG PADDLE" while dad cheered us on from the dock.......he couldn't swim himself...go figure....but all us girls learned how! He used to make us wear those awful rubber coloured bathing caps...remember those.....so he could easliy see our heads above the water. When we thought he wasn't looking we would duck under the water and yank them off then go a little deeper out so we could actually swim, he'd get so mad at us cause then he couldn't see us and he'd whistle and whistle for us till we gave in and went back! Poor dad, 5 girls to control!

sccruiser

Okay--here's a raccoon story. We were camping at Yosemite and sleeping in our tent. The couple next door had arrived, put up their tent and gone to bed before we came back from dinner. I noticed they had left out all their food. About 3 am we heard this terrible screaming, looked out the tent and saw a family of raccoons all over their table. The screaming was from the young Japanese girl and her boyfriend was trying to calm her down. Their tent was down and they were packed up and gone in about 25 minutes. We laughed so hard!



The other raccoon story I have took place when I was about 15. We had this gorgeous female kitty, long haired and fluffy with a coat similar to a raccoon. Oh, you probably know where I am going. She was a feisty one. We lived on 1/3 of an acre in the county area of Redwood City. Her name was Cleo and she loved to be outdoors "guarding" the yard. Oh yeah, and we also had a 15 x 30 foot inground pool. One night my dad was up late reading and he heard all this "caterwailing" outside. He looked out and saw two animals in the pool. One was Cleo who he recognized and dashed out in his tidy whiteys to rescue her. He scooped her out, and over swims the other animal--a raccoon--very interested in climbing up his arm and out of the pool. He jumped back and ended up grabbing the leaf skimmer and scooping up the raccoon, flinging it as far as he could, and running like hell in the back door. We laughed so hard the next day when he told us--great story when you and your sibs are between 7 & 15 yrs old.



Also have a skunk story--and the cabin to go with it! We were visiting my grandparents who had a cabin on Fife Lake in Michigan. All the relatives were over, and the cabin was definitely too small for all of us, so my cousins and stepcousins slept outside in a tent. One night a skunk wandered into the tent and curled up on Sandy's tummy. She woke up and couldn't move for hours until the skunk finally got off of her. The tent and her clothes were stinky for awhile! Those of us kids inside were glad we were!



how about some more animal stories? Any good bear ones?



grace

anneshirley

Skunks.  Miguel, my husband, grew up on a ranch in Uruguay, and his father found three baby skunks whose mother had died.  He took them home and they became pets.  The babies, one at a time, would curl up in his hand like a ball and he would roll them across the floor, and they'd come back for more.  One day he took them to the local bar (with billiards table) took one of the babies out of his pocket and put it on the table.  Everyone in the bar ran for cover, but they never sprayed, not once he says.  Unfortunately, his mother also kept prize chickens and the skunks, as they grew older, would attack the chickens and kill them.  In the end, they gave them to a friend, a local doctor, who kept a private zoo.  My husband and his one sister and two  brothers visited the skunks every week for years. 

They also had a pet cow.  They had lots of cattle raised for meat, but just one pet cow, who loved oranges.  The cow's mother had died at its birth, so Miguel's mother made a pet of it.  It continued to be a pet in the house for its whole life and would often wander into the kitchen (they kept the door open in nice weather) and would take an orange or two out of the bowl on the tablel and walk out again.  It would surprise visitors quite a bit to see this cow having the run of the kitchen.   

Sorry, no bears! 

Bliz

I sleep outside at our river property in a very small trailer.  Pretty much a bed on wheels.  Often in the middle of the night I would wake up to the smell of skunk.  Yes, it was so bad it woke me up.

I didnt realize they stunk all the time.  Thought it was just when frightened.  I have also seen the skunk when I get up in the middle of the night.  Too funny.

Knock on wood, we have not seen many racoons in recent years.  Not sure why people would be that afraid of them though.

abbadoodles

Wasn't there recently a commercial on TV where a skunk is shown going into a house, going upstairs and into a bedroom, then crawling up into bed with some guy tho snuggles him in?  A pet skunk, I guess.  Very cute.

I live in the country and we have a coon dynasty living in and around our buildings.  For several years mama coon would have babies in the crawl space under my bunny barn.  You could hear all the racket and see them when she eventually brought them out at night to look for food (mostly from our bird feeder).  Sounds cute, and it was, to see mama and five baby coons scampering up and around a tree, but I always worried about them getting into my rabbits.  Coons do kill rabbits.  I won't regale you with the details.

Anyway, last year I was so happy that there was no sign of mama coon under the rabbit barn but it turned out she and the babies were in another building and she had made a nest in my kayak!  Tore out all the styrofoam in the fore and aft and made a mess in general.

We had the animal control officer here to try to help get rid of all but we were limited to moving the kayak out of the building and setting it down in the woods not too far away as state law prohibits relocating litters.    Naturally, the next day we found the coons back in the barn tucked into some old storage drawers.

One day my dh got brave and decided he had had enough of them and the mess so he went out there with a shotgun to do them in.  Well, he came back to the house with a red face because he just couldln't do it.  Seems that mama had seen him approach with the shotgun, ran away from her babies and huddled in the corner with her paws over her eyes, knowing she was a gonner.  Totally stopped dh in his tracks.  Men are not as cold as they would like you to think.

Later last summer, we awoke to a loud explosion outside the house.  At the same time, our electricity went out.  DH went out to investigate while I called the power company.  Obviously the transformer on the pole across the street had blown.

When the truck came (this was about 2 AM) the guy looked around and said "There's your problem."  A coon was lying either dead or mortally wounded in the street.  Seems it had climbed the pole for some reason and had nuked himself. 

What a year for coons.  Mama is back now under the rabbit barn.

Oh, and I'm afraid of them because they are in a rabies epidemic and they bite.

Tina

Anonymous

Grace......haha....I could just picture your dad in his tidy whities running like hell....too funny!

When we went to the cottage as kids, one of our most exciting outings that dad did with us was to go bear watching! Back in the day we had the old rambler station wagon and at dusk at the cottage mom and dad would pile us all in there and off we would go to .......the local dump!!!! We would all sit in the car holding our breaths(not just because of the stinky dump), in anticipation of the bears arrival. We hardly dared talk either in case they heard us and were scared to death of being included in their feast if they found us hiding out spying on them. As it grew darker first would come the racoons and smaller night creatures. It was not until it was almost completely dark that the bears would come! One time we counted 6 at a time! Once one came soooooo close sniffing and leaning up on the car.........I think we all stopped breathing. I'll never forget those nights and am still tempted to go to the local cottage dumps to see bears but these days the areas are fenced and gated.....no fun!!!

We have lots of bears up around our northern ontario camp! One year in may we went up early and decided to venture a little further past our place up over the rock ridge behind us to see the rest of the camps there. We came up over a crest and whoaaa......there was a beautiful young black bear right in the middle of the road in broad daylight. He looked at us for a few minutes and we did the same with kinda stunned looks....then he took off into the bush. I think he may be the same one who has been visiting our side of the ridge last summer........no more trips to the LOO in the dark for me late at night!!!

mke

I've actually seen almost as much wildlife in downtown Toronto as in the woods of northern Wisconsin.

Skunks:  Back when I was a trying to quit smoker I usually smoked on the patio but one night it was raining so I was puffing away in the laundry room with the door to the patio propped open.  I caught a whiff of skunk and thought "Maybe I should close that door"  and then saw a black and white tail disappear behind the dryer.

Fortunately the door to the rest of the house was closed so I did the prudent thing and went to sit in the rain until the skunk had finished its explorations and exited.  Only minor lingering effects.

Raccoons:  Toronto is the raccoon capitol of North America, I am sure of it.   I have a bunch of raccoon stories, I admire the critters they are smarter than just about any other land mammal.  Most of my encounters have occurred as a result of my accomodations to my pets.  It doesn't take long for raccoons to discover a cat flap door and the goodies that lie on the other side.  Leave the back door open for the dog?  Ha, the coons will nip in for a bit of dog chow and check out other cupboards.

sccruiser

Here's my bear story. We were at Yosemite camping. Went to bed and I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee bad. The bathroom (sorry, running water, flush toilets--the only way I camp) was about 50 yds. away. Dh said he would keep the flashlight shining so I could see my way. I'm in the bathroom and I hear this loud noise and snuffling. The damn bear is right outside the door going through the garbage can. I was stuck in there for about 15 minutes and the whole time dh is laughing so loudly I can hear him all the way into the bathroom. Luckily the bear moved on and I moved fast to get back in the tent. Now it's funny, then I was a little scared!



grace

AlaskaAngel

Up here until the dump shut down and a massive incinerator was built with a fenced area for trash, we used to take all our guests who wanted to see bears to the dump, which also was the main display for bald eagles foraging.

In winter we can keep our trash cans outdoors between our runs to the disposal facility without much problem from the bears, but the birds and dogs can spread the trash just as well as bears so we keep them inside the shed.

Most recent bear story: I was on our front porch working away (as I am a computer commuter). I got up to refresh my decaf in the house, and as I turned to head out again I looked out the big picture window that faces the porch. There amidst my work was a nice black bear contemplating the foolishness of human endeavors. It scratched its ear in puzzlement, and then toddled off to more interesting pursuits.

I longed to do the same.

AlaskaAngel

Bliz

Sounds like the key to keeping the coons away is no hospitable resting spots, like crawl space openings, kayaks, holes in the barn floor etc. 

Also they are scavenger to the hilt, so any dog, cat, bird food, they will go after.  It is kind of funny that coons are more of a problem at my house in the city. I suppose from all the garbage cans.  

I've probably jinxed myself now and will be harrased by racoons all summer.

sccruiser

It's fine weather today up here in the Coastal Redwoods.



I'd like to ask Sharon what to do about this: living with tall Redwoods all around us, we are in total shade from October to May; and then have direct sun overhead for the other months of the year. Our soil is very clay-like. I love the big ferns, hydrangeas, albutilons, and japanese maples. What other plants would you suggest? I have a large area on the north side of the house. It does get a little winter sun but in the summer it is blazing. Any suggestions for plants that get big and bushy. We want to create a large screen of green that maybe has some red in the leaves or yellow/green in color. I mean like 15 feet high by 8-10 feet across.



The sun business and lack thereof makes it hard to know what will grow. I'm always moving plants around. Am now making sure that whatever I buy and plant is a perennial. Any annuals are few and limited to pots on the patio.



Well, our weather is warming up this week. I know what I will be doing this weekend--some pruning and weeding of the garden. Have to get rid of the French broom cropping up in the draw behind our house.



Leaving now to take the dogs for a nice long walk on the beach!



Tomorrow I'll be on my deck with a good book and a cuppa java in the morning. The light filters through the trees and warms this nice little spot w/our adirondack chairs. Ahhh!



grace

mke

Still shoveling snow here and my wildlife watching is limited to the squirrels and sparrows at the bird feeder.  However downtown Toronto is not without its wildlife, it is the raccoon capitol of North America I think.

We have had many encounters, none dangerous to either party fortunately.  I admire raccoons, they are really smart critters.  Anything that we did to make life easy for our pets the coons quickly found out about.  They are quite fond of dog and cat food.  It took them about 48 hours to find the cat flap door we installed.  After another few days when the pet food bowls were empty they actually looked indignant.  I herded them out with a broom and rethought the cat flap.

Anonymous

I'm just loving all the input here!

Grace......being in the loo with a bear outside would be safer than in a nylon tent no? Funny how we think a bit of nylon or canvas will keep us safe inside?

Now I am soooooo envious of that java on the porch while I'm digging my dogs out of the snow! The poor little guy almost disappeared when I let him out this morning. I gave him a few minutes but when he took a bit to long I envisioned him sinking in a drift and not being able to climb back out.....I had my boots ready at the door but he managed to make his way back! Then I had to nab my niegbour boy to help dig me out to get to work........aaahhhh...the joys of winter!

Anonymous

Well Ladies......how are your days going? Any of you have your gardening gloves on yet?

Daylight savings time this weekend..........wooohooo

Here's a little story about my hubby Dave...the wannabe carpenter.

Last summer we began our new sleep camp and sauna. We had to tear the old one down as it was no longer functional and served only as a tool shed and pump house. We finally found a design we liked after looking at cottaging magazines and modified it somewhat to fit our needs without having to put up extra stuctures to house a pumphouse and work area, sauna with shower, and extra bunk room for guests. The two of us slaved away at this project all summer, bringing in building supplies, buying the sauna heater, shower etc. I got to be the carpenters helper....pounding a few nails, holding stuff in place and oh ya....getting a cold one for breaks. After much hard work we finally got the trusses up and the building closed in.

My hubbys final job for the season was to get the steel roof on. So, up to the camp he goes by himself this time to tackle the job. He proceeded to get onto the roof when.........BOOM......out go his feet from under him and down he goes! While he lay on the ground wondering what he broke along comes the neighbour in his fishing boat......lucky for Dave. Next thing you know the old neighbor rounds up his strapping sons and over they come and put the whole roof on while injured hubby sheepishly fed them a few brewskies.

AAAHHHH..........gotta love those cottage neighbors.

Anonymous

BTW.....you should see my old neighbors gardens!!!!!!!!! The best on the lake......I need to get some of her stuff to start mine!

sccruiser

Glad your dh wasn't seriously injured. Doesn't sound like something he should have done alone. I'm always scared when my dh goes up on the roof to clean out the gutters. One side of the house is two stories high!



Regarding the best gardens on the lake--I don't know about yours, but my mom's is unbelievable. We owe it to the fact that for years it was a horse paddock. All she has to do is put the plant in the ground, add a little water, and it grows like the giant's beanstalk! AND she's been there now for 30+ years and it continues. I call it the magical garden.



I don't have my gardening gloves on just yet. DH spent yesterday afternoon putting together the composter. I had three huge plastic bags in the frig ready to dump in and he kept putting me off for two weeks. Wow--I can actually put food in the frig now.



We are doing everything we can to reduce our footprint on the earth. Just little things one at a time. I hope to reduce our actual garbage run to 2 cans after 2-3 months. It's amazing what can be recycled and used in the composter.



Well off to give the cottage a good sweeping, and cut some flowers for table tonight. The hyacinth look gorgeous and are so aromatic. Having company for dinner.



enjoy your weekend everyone, living the cottage life!



grace

PS: Yes, but I was thinking that if I got back to the tent, dh would "protect" me. Silly me!