The Cottage

Everyone here goes to "the cottage" for summer (or The Caaarrrttage, as we like to say with our new-found North American accents).


Our first attempt was a complete failure - found on an internet ad, simple and basic, but right on a lake.  The owner assured me it would be clean (and she was Australian too).  the kids and I arrived and it seemed to be as we expected: a basic little cottage, bits and pieces of odd furniture etc, but ok.  Unfortunately on closer inspection we realised that it was grotty and grim.  Urrggghhhh.  We spent 2 nights there while we plotted our escape.  Whew.


Second cottage is a little place right on another lake, part of a lodge, which is really not much more than 6 cottages/huts and some caravan spaces.  It's got a good cafe, friendly staff and we couldn't be happier.  


John is joining us Friday night so we have beer and meat in the fridge to welcome him.  We might even cook "smores" on the fire pit.  (Haven't done the research, but it's plain sweet biscuits, marshmallows and chocolate - our friends the Randles have made them when we've camped with them, but they are still a mystery)


Someone told me that summer here ends on a single day - you get a cooler day after lots of very warm ones, and assume that it will warm up again soon.  It doesn't.  Summer is over.  I suspect that we may have seen the end of our lovely warm summer already.  The cottages around here are mostly empty, so the locals obviously know something we don't.


Photos to follow soon.

It's summer here

The sun shines, the birds visit, the markets are full of abundant produce:

The kids have new (new-ish) bikes, and new (yes, proper new) helmets, which they are both more thrilled about.  At home S had an ordinary run of the mill helmet, and C had a tiger stripe helmet which we got away with for a few years, but didn't really cut it for a 7 year old girl.  Now look:

I still am wheel-less.  Almost no women's bikes available second hand.  However, I do know how I want to accessorize any bike that I get:

http://www.nantucketbikebaskets.com/

(I don't think that they are available in Australia, but if they are, and I am hopelessly out of touch, please excuse.)

Just like at home, there's very little on the telly, despite what appears to be literally hundreds of channels.  AND we have pay tv at the moment, but the offerings seem so poor that we may forgo cable/satellite tv and stick with the meagre free to air offerings, supplemented by hired dvds and books.  We have an excellent local dvd shop ($2 tv show Tuesdays) with a great range, and the local library has just been reopened. Finally reading The Corrections (Jonathan Frantzen) which beckoned me from a book shop, but from here on I am staying away from book shops and frequenting the library.

As of today we also have other new wheels (Chrysler Dodge Caravan no less), all registered and licensed.  No mean feat to achieve I can tell you!

I plan to hit the local op shops this week, while Cluny is at summer camp.  Yes, she is participating in that great North American tradition, just down the road at the Ottawa Tennis and Lawn Bowls Club aka the OTLBC: http://otlbc.com/index.shtm

She's having a lovely time, mixing with other kids and learning some tennis too.  We couldn't find anything suitable for Silas at short notice, but he may be able to fit in a music lesson or two. 

Next week it looks like we'll be experiencing another Canadian summer tradition: a week at the cottage.  Stay tuned.