Happy Friday!

I'm especially happy because I'm on my way up to the cottage! We have a PA day today, and that means I get to do my marking wherever I want. The cottage it is.

The May long weekend means the following:

1) We have to put the dock in the water.

And by "we", I mean the guys of the street. I usually stay on the shore with Jenn and stay nice and dry. Sometimes I take pictures of people's dogs.

It's a thing.

Anyway, once we get the dock in the water, it's play time, which means I get to go out round the bend here:

and go check out my favourite little bay: Dirty Gut Bay. It's at least 6 kinds of awesome.

Of course, there's only one way to travel:

Kayak, my friends. Yes, it's a river, and yes, I know, ocean kayak. But, it works and I love it.

Last year, my cousin Catherine joined us and had an awesomely cute encounter with a younger guy down the street.

Although she got an invite over, we didn't... so she stayed behind and we played awesome board games instead.

Have you played Dread Pirate? It's a good time. Recommended, for SURE.

Anyway, I'll be back on Tuesday! Have a great weekend everyone.

My FIL in a canoe

I'll be honest, we were cheering for my father and my father-in-law to fall into the river.

And watching my FIL hold the canoe paddle the wrong way really bolstered our spirits. We already know that my Dad has a habit of tipping the canoe!

 Can you sense their excitement?

Off in the distance, towards Snake Creek they went.

Alas, they arrived back dry.

Nothing like a lack of schadenfreude to ruin our fun!

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad and a Cottage Saturday

Part of the annual Thanksgiving weekend tradition involves all the people on the street taking the docks out of the water. There's a lot less enthusiasm for this activity (versus putting them in on the Victoria Day long weekend), mostly because the water is so much colder. 

Dad walking down the street wearing hip-waiters.

I see my role, as official photographer, to be a pretty damn important one.

The beach, with more than half of the dock gone.

You see, there are dogs that need portraits done.

Promptly after running into the water.

And... well... do you want to go swimming at Thanksgiving?

Yar. Look at that strength!

After everything at the beach seemed under control, Jenn and I took a walk down towards Snake Creek.

More milkweed pods!

And, you know, because we were tired after that, we sat around reading at the cottage.

The living room

Phil and I took a quick walk before dinner just up and down River Road.

River Road at Murray Hill

I love autumn up here. I swear, no one does autumn like Ottawa-Gatineau.

View from another beach.

And what would the cottage be without eating? Nothing, I tells you.

Yum!

See the plaid shirt I'm wearing? I wore it practically every day in grade 8 (it was the grunge era). Now I reserve it for fall at the cottage, where it's kept permanently!

We're eating a poorly plated, but totally delicious Roasted Butternut Squash Salad recipe. I swear, it's the best dish ever.

Well. best dish for fall anyway.

Roasted squash, red onions, bacon, melted goat cheese, walnuts, maple... this salad has a whole lot of awesome goin' on!

Where were you this weekend?

I was here:

View from the steps of the little cottage at 8:30 this morning.

Sure, the little cottage was 2º at night, but that's what 6 layers of blankets and flannel sheets are for! Really, it was a great weekend. I got to hang out with my family (albeit, with a seriously drugged brother who has a tooth infection), play tons of games and enjoy some beautiful walks.

The colours this weekend were just gorgeous!

Our maple tree

I'll post more later, but I'll leave you with one last shot of my cousin Jenn:

Milkweed pods take flight

Hope all my Canadian friends had a great Thanksgiving!

More cottaging goodness

A few of my favourite things:

1. When we cross over the Ottawa River on the ferry, it feels like the real world just melts away behind us.

Ferry landing at Quyon.

2. Playing on the swing set up at Coronation Hall.

Me behaving geeky.

Phil likes to get in on the action too.

3. Walking along the train tracks.

And then looking at the rocks for fossils.

Can you see the fossil? I can't.

4. Little flowers all over the place.

These were right up against the train tracks.

5. A late afternoon game of horseshoes. The light is just perfect.

Just before Phil's first victory.

6. Fresh donuts, pies and eclairs from the Pontiac Home Bakery in Shawville.

7. The obligatory run to Henderson's for snacks.

The Popsicle melted all over me.

Summer bliss, I tell you.

More about the promised cottage

Since coming back from vacation and having the school year begin again, I've barely had time (read: mental energy) to get back into the blogging mindset.

I thought today I'd show you a couple of pictures of this abandoned farmhouse that's just outside of where our cottage is. Seriously, I thought places like this only existed in the minds of people like R.L. Stine or Christopher Pike. To get there, you have to take a fairly bumpy dirt road.

Fields on both sides.

 Here's what the place looks like from across one of the fields:

The dried August grass really helped add to the ambience.

Phil took the car in closer, I hopped out so I could get the next few shots.

As I was standing here, the veranda really began to intrigue me.

Personally, I love the one remaining unbroken window pane. Also, check out the pile of windows on the bottom right.

Don't the shadows just give you the shivers?

Love the doorway to nowhere on the second floor

And take a look at the fallen, Victorian style columns:

I love the hint of remaining blue paint on the underside of the post.

Best part? Across the road, and then another field...

Anglican Church

Where you would go if you wanted sanctuary. Can't you just see some teens high tailing it over to the doors of the church?

I love it! Anyone else have a great location for a horror movie?

Back and not-quite ready to face reality

For the past two weeks, I was here:

My husband poses in all his glory.

Our cottage (read: my parents') is in Norway Bay, Quebec. The place is so English, the local town ran the language police out. As a consequence, all of our stop signs read: STOP. That's right, no bilingualism for this area!

We had some terrible weather (naturally, the good stuff came in the weekend we left). The hill beside the cottage washed out after we got more than 100mls in an afternoon.

The hill was pretty smooth when we got up...
I wish I had a before shot!

Worst part about this? All the gravel on our property now.

The rain washed out the beach too.

In spite of the crumby weather, Phil and I got out on the kayaks three times, including one last run that had us paddling in waves the size of which I hadn't seen since Hawaii. We practically surfed in to the beach, it was that awesome. I wish I had a waterproof camera for photos!

We had a horseshoe tournament. It was a hard fought
battle of middling skills. Out of respect for my husband
I won't gloat about who was declared the overall winner.

Ah, a trip to Henderson's (the local Depanneur) wouldn't be
complete without frozen treats! Or so we told ourselves. It was a 5k
walk, round trip!

Stay tuned for posts about peach cobbler, pizza on the BBQ and a grilled thyme limoncello cocktail. Oh! And stories about our neighbours and the Creepy House.

I sense a teen novel location here...

Summer party things I love

I keep dreaming of hosting a dinner party up at my cottage. The thing is, my cottage isn't classy enough for that. So, I just day dream about a cottage on a lake... with willow trees... and tables with mismatched chairs.

10. Lemonade Jars - don't you love the gradation in the strawberry lemonade picture?

(from Sur La Table)

9. Burlap table runners - the perfect rustic fabric

(Style Me Pretty)

8. Natural, organic feeling flowers - as though there's a field nearby with them in it. (My cottage has a swamp... doesn't quite count, does it?)

(Style Me Pretty)

7. Low, huge paper lanterns - I'm madly in love with lanterns... and have been for years!

(unknown)

6. Fava Bean, Mint, and Pecorino Romano Bruschetta - mmm. Bruschetta.

(Martha Stewart)

5. Food on Sticks - That's probably my time in Japan speaking. Nothing says summer like food on sticks!

(Galaxyguides.com)

4. Dinner on the Dock - ah, I love this - especially with the palm branches and tiki torches! (If only we were directly on the river!)

 (sanctuare.com)

3. Bonfires - who doesn't love a big bonfire? There's something totally young at heart about them!

(darrellinjapan.wordpress.com)

2. Grilled Corn on the Cob - I love this stuff! The sugars in the corn get all caramelized and totally delicious.

 (slashfood.com)

1. A Relaxed Picnic Vibe - maybe it's the red, maybe it's the hamper. I love picnic food though. The sandwich is my all time favourite eat. You cannot beat a good sandwich.

(http://www.pigglywigglync.com)

Now, this is what my cottage actually looks like: