Silent Sunday – July 19, 2025

Posted on July 21, 2025 by Mama Cormier

Closing the Cottage for Another Season

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Mama Cormier

…despite the warm and sunny weather

I brought home all the bedding to wash and the canned and bottled food. There is no heat in the winter so any food left behind would freeze and cause the bottles and tins to explode. All the clean bedding, pillows and paper products age packed in sealed containers or bags so that any mice that might find their way into the cottage don’t chew them up for their nests. Luckily in the last few years there has been little evidence that mice moved in.

It’s very difficult closing the cottage in September. Many believe that this time of year has the best weather. Warm during the day and cooler at night….perfect for sleeping. Normally I wouldn’t close until mid October but this year we have a family wedding to attend and Thanksgiving is going to be at our daughter’s place.

All the outdoor furniture is brought indoors and the propane tanks are turned off and the BBQ is covered and moved closer to the building.

Good-bye Christian Island. See you next year!

Opening the Cottage – June 21-24, 2024

Posted on June 24, 2024 by Mama Cormier

…after making sure that someone I know was going to be close by

It’s getting harder and harder to find people to go up the cottage with me to open up but I have to admit that It’s actually getting easier and easier. I’m more worried about falling and not having someone close by to check up on me.

Of course the weekend I chose to open it rained all weekend. I did, however, manage to set up the BBQ, put out the deck furniture, rack the leaves and sweep the the deck. Inside the cottage there was very little to do. For some reason, the mice stayed away this winter (hooray!) so I just had to wipe down the dust and put away the groceries that I brought along. Luckily I had a new book with me so I managed to get a good start on that.

Naturally, the sun came out today when I was getting ready to leave. The next visit will be easier and I will actually start the refrigerator. This time I just kept my food on icepacks. Maybe I’ll even go for a swim but I’m sure the water is freezing.

Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Sunsets

Posted on June 6, 2024 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Sue W and GC for hosting Weekly Prompts https://weeklyprompts.com/2024/06/05/weekly-prompts-wednesday-challenge-sunset/

Over the years I’ve taken numerous photos of sunsets but the most spectacular have almost always been at my cottage, overlooking the bay.

A Bittersweet Weekend

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Mama Cormier

…closing the cottage for the season

It’s always harder to close the cottage when the weather is so lovely. It had to be done, though, because Kevin and I are taking a road trip to the east coast before Thanksgiving. I drove up Saturday morning and only brought enough food for one dinner and one breakfast. I didn’t have to worry about turning on the fridge because I wasn’t staying long.

The line up for the ferry was half way up the hill when I arrived and more cars arrived. Luckily everyone got on the next ferry.

02-C33-DD0-843-F-49-F9-A58-A-9-EFA05021-C6-C

EC2-A20-BC-010-E-47-E5-BCE9-9592-E7-F63442-1-201-a

68-AABAB8-89-D6-43-A2-9-D1-C-5-AF1-BD3-B5-A89

DF80975-D-5-F7-B-40-A0-884-B-BE42905-CCD4-D

When I arrived at the cottage I took some time to go to the beach and go for a long walk. It was surprisingly busy for September. You wouldn’t know it from my photos.

A1-CEFFD9-3-D26-4781-AD36-2-CFA02-C6332-C-1-201-a

FB6-BC6-BC-F8-A8-43-D7-A244-954328777-D13

E1-F6-FC39-9-EDB-4-BF4-90-EE-A77-B4-D32-D49-B — *Dinner consisted of potato salad that I picked up in Tiny Village*, *a couple of slices of bread from the Inn with ham and cheese, a cup of soup and of course a glass of wine*

B5511-E39-F4-AC-40-FA-A8-D7-C844-DC127-B68 — *Breakfast was the same bread but toasted on the BBQ and a cup of coffee. Before I started to work I read a few pages of my book and had another walk on the beach*

Closing up the cottage involves stripping all the beds, storing the pillows, cushions and blankets in storage containers, taking all the liquids and canned good out of the cupboards to take home (otherwise they freeze over the winter and the cans bulge), packing away all the candles and anything that the mice like to chew on (hopefully they’ll stay away this fall), closing and locking all the windows, moving the BBQ and covering it, bringing all the outdoor chairs inside and boarding up the doors. It was a lot of work but I managed.

6-BD2-EDE6-0-CD1-4786-81-DD-0777-D4-F33-A22

72-AC5-D66-1-BFA-477-C-BFE6-786-B4-FFA58-BD

I left at 2:20, dropped the garbage and recycling at the top of our laneway and headed for the ferry dock. I knew there was a 2:30 ferry but I didn’t expect to catch it. I thought I would be waiting in line for the 3:30 boat. When I got to dock the boat was still being loaded and to my surprise I was the last car on the ferry. I don’t very often get this view going across the bay to the mainland.

AF2-A6-AD3-862-A-47-F4-8071-941-CC1-FB1-FBA-1-201-a

Au revoir, Christian Island. See you next summer.

Which Way Photo Challenge – August 18, 2023

Posted on August 18, 2023 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Alive and Trekking for hosting the Which Way Photo Challenge https://aliveandtrekking.com/2023/08/18/which-way-photo-challenge-august-18/

The Sand Dunes at Big Sand Bay overlooking Georgian Bay and beyond.

0788-CC0-F-75-DB-413-B-AD47-0776-FAE4-B0-A8

CE47-E1-AA-7-F04-4891-877-A-08050-F793636

2-AC8397-C-CD58-481-C-BEB9-B6-B66-C09-EC2-B

AD32-C4-CA-34-CE-4578-BC1-D-E7-D444436707

DDBFBC23-848-B-4-B9-B-BF07-0-EEC128711-F7

Silent Sunday – July 15, 2023

Image

73-CEF265-ABBF-4-D45-A92-F-CEDE81-BD95-A2-1-201-a

An Evening Walk on the Beach

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Mama Cormier

…this past weekend I went to the cottage

After an afternoon of sharing a meal with the neighbours and playing a long game of Crib Wars I went for a walk along the beach. It was a somewhat cloudy evening so there was no sunset to speak of but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.

2410-E373-73-C6-4-C46-8-E98-8-DFE6-F4-DCA2-A-1-201-a

239958-E8-2-E3-B-4-F85-8194-F81-ED6-A0-C5-F6-1-201-a

61-EED524-0-F63-4-D78-98-F3-1-D80-B19-D31-B6

6-EA51-EA0-D646-4-F8-E-A644-A72-B154-DE7-EE-1-201-a

E7-CFE77-B-014-C-4-F6-E-B1-C8-14-D67-CD073-ED

4620-C1-C9-E3-E7-4213-901-B-E312-BA443584

814369-AF-1-B93-46-BF-96-FD-CDA1403-C5905

My Happy Place

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Mama Cormier

…yesterday I went north to open my cottage

With the help of my dear friend, Liz, I drove to the cottage to open it up for the season. I always dread the first visit because it is often a lot of work. This year, however, the cottage was very clean. There was very little evidence of mice. They hadn’t run over the dishes or gotten into the cupboards.

We raked the leaves off the deck and the pathways, set up the BBQ, filled the water barrel, made the beds and put away the clean linens, blankets and pillows that I had brought home last fall to clean. When most of the work had been done we made dinner and took a walk on the beach.

17795488-C9-DE-4-BEF-A9-E7-51-F9-AD5-E50-B5

C46-CB8-CB-1-A6-D-4-BA9-A004-2295-A4-C0-E2-EF

403-B8332-A0-C3-4413-90-C0-33-FFF0-C15826

36-FCC52-D-CC32-4-EF5-836-C-CE16-C5-B861-DD

This morning we woke up early and Liz actually went swimming. June is very early to be diving into Georgian Bay but Liz did it and actually swam for about 10 minutes. She went for a second swim later in the day. We went for another walk along the beach but this time we walked to both ends and took lots of photos.

B82-A4-DB4-10-B0-45-E1-9-F92-07-EC224-D250-F

E33-CFD61-0-B57-40-D7-9913-F7-E498-DB0-A5-D — *Our first meal at the cottage*

52614-F57-84-BA-4536-8-E62-FAE19-F27-CCDC — *Heading down to the beach for a swim*

52-BAB419-E32-D-44-DB-9-B11-7-B50009-CBCC6

5-EB505-D3-0-C3-C-4-B0-F-B175-AD8-D862423-C4 — *She did actually go under and swim*

86-A2-D604-199-F-437-F-B879-4-DEBDBCD0-F3-E — *I on the other hand, paced up and down the beach to make sure she was okay*

11-E6-A54-F-BE0-F-4-CAE-9-DC6-A773-D2144-CC4

622-A939-E-396-B-4703-BC28-4497-F312-E278-1-201-a — *This is as much as I could handle…it was very cold*

165-FD179-1224-4-A55-BB54-42-AD7-A30-F04-E

1-CCD3-B4-A-0-E36-4-B62-A3-F8-C091-CE8643-CF

834-F4-F3-C-97-C4-4-D3-B-A120-9151-FB4-AB934-1-201-a

19-AC771-A-59-FF-4194-AAE2-F3-DE161-C1-EAB

5-AE3-E151-CE23-4027-B046-D4-AA10-C8090-D

It was difficult to leave because the cottage truly is my happy place and the day was perfect. I can now go back up knowing that everything is in place and most of the hard work is don

At 5:30 we caught the ferry to go home. I wanted to be home for Father’s Day so that our daughter, daughter-in-law and I could take Kevin out to celebrate this special day. As the ferry headed for the other side I noticed that it took a turn and was headed west instead of south. We soon discovered that we were in pursuit of a disabled boat with three passengers. When we reached them they climbed on board but before that one of them fell into the water. Thankfully he was all right. Then the crew tried to tie the disable boat to the ferry. After some trying moments they succeeded and we headed back to the island to drop off the exhausted boaters. Eventually we were headed back to the mainland and arrived about 40 minutes later than expected. Being a Saturday night the rest of the trip home was quick and uneventful.