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Nothing so good as peace like a river! Can you catch fish there?Close, the river is less than 200 yards from the front door.
You're right, Dragonlady, I do love that shared picture: It's so colorful and serene at the same time.
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Nothing so good as peace like a river! Can you catch fish there?
That's so fabulous, Dragonlady. Those colorful trees remind me of how good maple syrup is because we flew up north to the Eastern Board of the US where we were promptly classified as "leaf peepers" because we went in the fall at what they said was one of the most beautiful years for fall color. We were overwhelmed. Your home away from home must've been like heaven for your family.I cannot tell you how much I miss the cottage. I understand why Mom and Dad decided to sell it. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive for us to and from Toronto in light traffic, but it was more than 4 hours one way for them, and Dad was over 70. We were wishing that we had enough money to buy the rest of the family out, but we didn't, and even if we had been able to do it, we couldn't have afforded two houses.
My mother-in-law bought the lot, and the family camped out in a tent on the lot, throughout the early 1970's. They started construction on the cottage the year after we started dating, and he was spending EVERY weekend up north, camping in a tent, helping his father, his brother, his uncles and cousins, build that cottage. They subcontracted out the things they couldn't do themselves, like excavating and pouring the footings and foundations for the basement, but they did all of the framing, and above ground construction.
I was able to find REAL pictures I took from our dock, but no really good outdoor pictures of the cottage. My husband kept the one he had on his night table. The cottage was set into a hill, and the back door of the basement walked out into the back yard. The main floor door from the kitchen, lead to a large raised deck which went across the whole width of the cottage, and looked out over the lake on one side, and the woods on the other.
The cottage has an A-Frame roof. One end was almost entirely windows and glass. The original plans called for a platform bedroom in the top of the A but they left it open with a high, high ceiling and lots of light in the living area. the views were spectacular. So my MIL put up these hideous cafe curtains so people couldn't see in. THERE WAS NOBODY ANYWHERE NEAR US TO SEE IN. We were so far off the main road, and directions were so convuluted, in the days before cell phones, we had to meet people at the highway and lead them to the cottage.
Here are my pictures from our dock:
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I guess you were taking the pictures that day. Nice!My brother with one of his prize catches.View attachment 681474
It was my boyfriend at the time, he loved aquariums and a good friend of ours would supply the fish. My favorites were the Koran Angels, Yellow Tangs and this funky psychedelic fish that burrowed in the sandWas it your dad's idea? My mom's brother, Uncle Wimpy, served in the Navy in WWII. By the time I was 10 years old, it was fun to go to Uncle Wimpy's and Aunt Mattie's house because every wall in the living room and dining room had rows and rows of tropical fish, each tank had a different species. There must have been a hundred tanks, all with different colored fish in each tank. They were so beautiful. *sigh.* After Aunt Mattie was gone, he moved to Australia and married a lady in Sydney he met in the war, and who was my mom's pen pal for at least 30 years before Uncle Wimpy decided to marry her, both were widowed. He passed away in Sydney 5 years later, but I know he was happy before he got lung cancer and passed, sometime in the mid 70s. Here's a modern one, but uncle Wimpy's aquariums were from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, and I don't think I'll find anything like what he had in his charming home.
That's so fabulous, Dragonlady. Those colorful trees remind me of how good maple syrup is because we flew up north to the Eastern Board of the US where we were promptly classified as "leaf peepers" because we went in the fall at what they said was one of the most beautiful years for fall color. We were overwhelmed. Your home away from home must've been like heaven for your family.
I don’t have much urge to travel, but I would like to see the Northern Lights.In going through the pictures there were so many happy memories. The air is so clear and clean, and we frequently had northern lights in winter. We tried hard not to use the electric heat because rural power is expensive, so in winter, I would lay in bed and pretend to be asleep so I didn't have to get up and start the fire in the woodstove.
I would often hear loons on the lake, but you very seldom see them. The place was just a post card, in every season except spring. Black fly season. Horrible things, black flies. They start around Mother's Day, and are gone by July 1st, and good riddance. People have gone mad in the bush after 3 days during black fly season. I stayed in the city until they were gone.
All the pictures were happy smiling kids, loving the outdoors, and the sheer beauty of the place. We were only about 50 miles from the western edge of Algonquin Park - the largest of our National Parks 7700 square kilometers of Canadian shield wilderness.
We had a canoe and swimming off the dock in summer. In winter, it was a great place for cross country skiing or snow shoeing.
Every time we arrived at the cottage without my in-laws, I opened up the dumb cafe curtains so I could see out the windows.
We took one of those wonderful cruises to Alaska. There were several things on my bucket list I really wanted to see including among many others: Denali, the Northern Lights, a moose in the wild.I don’t have much urge to travel, but I would like to see the Northern Lights.
I don’t have much urge to travel, but I would like to see the Northern Lights.
There was one winter night driving up to the cottage before our daughter was born, when the lights started right around Orillia as we drove straight North up Hwy 11. The green and blue "curtains" rippled and flashed for more than 40 minutes, completely filling the front window of the car. My husband finally pulled over in a safe spot because the lights were so distracting. They made a kind of tinkling glass sound. That was the most spectacular display I've ever seen because it filled the whole northern sky. But I've never been further north than Timmins.I don’t have much urge to travel, but I would like to see the Northern Lights.
That all went away when Jack went to sea for the whole time American soldiers were in Viet Nam, fighting for freedom of people being tormented by a Communist neighboring country. That's why this day is special to me. Jack was such a good brother, and hopefully he is up there watching over the US Navy which took over his whole life, and he served in a way that made him such a totally useful guy to his fellow sailors. It's 5 am, and I am reminded how good of God it was to give me such a great bro. 
