Ahhh...The Cottage Life!

As a cottager I have a responsibility to the environment. We are located right on the lake and what we use for cleaners can have a huge impact so I decided to investigate "Green Cleaners" for home and body. There are now a fair amount of green cleaners on the market, just beware that you read the labels to see how "green". It doesn't matter where we live, we all have a responsibility to the environment! What we should be checking for are specific ingredients that do harm to the environment.I thought adding some home made cleaners would be a good start!


Lemon-scented all-purpose cleaner
1 tbsp borax
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup hot water
Mix ingredients in spray bottle (the lemon scent lingers). Use for cleaning bathroom and kitchen surfaces, as well as other water-safe surfaces. Discard any remaining cleaner and make afresh batch next time. 

Toilet bowl cleaner
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda
Pour the vinegar directly into the toilet bowl and let stand for 30 mins. Sprinkle baking soda onto toilet brush and scour.
To keep bowl fresh, pour 1 cup of vinegar into the toilet bowl once a month and let stand overnight. Alternatively, pour 1 cup of borax into the toilet bowl before going to bed. In the morning, scrub and flush.


Furniture polish
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tsp lemon juice
Mix in spray bottle. Spray liberally on wood surfaces and wipe dry.
 
Drain Opener
1-1/2 cups vinegar
2 tbsp baking soda
Pour the ingredients into the clogged drain. Wait 5 min, and turn on the hot water. Repeat if necessary.
 
Polishing silver 
Line a glass pan or pot with tinfoil. Add a tablespoon or two of baking soda and salt. Pour in boiling water. Leave silverware to soak. Polish with toothpaste and rinse. 
 
Glass Cleaner
1 part vinegar
1 part alcohol
1 part water
Mix in a spray bottle and use to clean windows or any other glass, chrome and stainless steel surfaces, and tile.
 
I also found this web page on making your own soap and shampoos. I may have to think about that one! Hmm..... How much time have I got on my hands?

 
These are the "bad" ingredients we need to look for:

Triclosan/Triclocarbon - used as antibacterials in liquid soaps and toothpaste
 
Benzophenone - A UV blocker used to keep sunlight from damaging liquid soaps, shampoos and scents. It is a mild estrogen mimic.
 

Parabens(methyl. propyl, butyl, benzyl) Another week estrogen mimic and suspected endocrine disruptor   
Parfum/fragrance - persistent synthetic musk's, look for natural fragrances from natural essential oils
 
EDTA - a product that binds to metals to soften water and keeps products stable
 
Look for Canada's Environmental Choice certification on soaps and shampoos. They have been tested for biodegradability, don't contain the banned product phosphate and harmful products like EDTA, alkylphenol ethoxylates, surfactants that break down to produce nonyphenols.
 
We are paying for the fact that we are a time consumed people and tend to look for the fastest, cheapest way of doing things. I know I do. Unfortunately we are seeing the effects in nature, all around us!I think though, with a little bit more elbow grease and good ingredients we can accomplish the same, if not better results. I found this great list of how to make your own cleaning agents online. Simple ingredients and said to work wonders! 

We had a great Thanksgiving at the cottage. My self and my sons family arrived Friday night. Holiday traffic was pretty good, and we managed to get to the cottage around 9pm. I always find it a bit unsettling going over to the cottage in the boat after dark at that time of the year. We settled for the evening with a nice fire on and I had my electric blanket pre-warming the bed! Saturday arrived in great shape, very sunny,around 5 Celsius, so nice weather to work in. First on the agenda was tearing away an addition on my Mom's cottage that had the soil run off and build up around it unfortunately rotting part of the floor and of the wall. With two strong guys going at it, it was surprising how quickly it was gone!

It was so nice to go to the cottage this weekend. I had been waiting for awhile! So busy here and the weather has been very cool as well. Stopped on the side of the road on the way up to photo this Canada Goose Family. It reminds me how far along we are in the season for it to be so cool!

I got to the cottage all by myself at around 5:30pm. I wasn't expecting my son and his family until 10pm. Too late to get the pump primed and the water going in the pump house behind the cottage so I decided to do it. The black flies this year are horrendous! It took me about an hour to get the pump primed and I swear that I ate so many black flies I wasn't even hungry anymore! The black fly is about 1/8 in. (3.2 mm) long and has large eyes, short legs, a stout, humped back, broad gauzy wings, and piercing-sucking mouthparts. The female inflicts a painful bite, sucking the blood of birds and mammals, including humans.

Doesn't state how much protein per!
I finally got the new foot valve on the hose into the lake and the pump cooperated and primed quickly probably due to still having water in the pipes from the last try at priming. After about an hour waiting for the water to warm up I was able to have a great shower and make some dinner after all. the Family arrived around 9:45 so i boated over to the marina and picked them up. Everyone was tired so we called it a night pretty early.
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day! It was also warming up fast. Thank goodness black flies don't like the heat so it was fairly bug free.
My son and I like to work together at the cottage and there is always plenty of things that need working on, real and imagined. (Remind me to write about battling rocks with fire one day) We are digging out the bank behind our cottages and adding it to the front of the property by the lake to build up the front and stop any erosion. So far many many wheelbarrows full have gone from front to back!

The granddaughters seem to enjoy this digging to. It is pure sand, cool on the feet and they look for neat coloured rocks to add to their collection. Sometimes you may even find a new friend like this red newt that Kiandra found!

We kept a fire going to further discourage the black flies. Smoke keeps them away too. Ki fans the fire to keep it going.


We worked outside all day only stopping to have lunch and a cool one. Soon enough it was dinner time. We all wanted to roast some marshmallows in the fire after dinner for desert.

When the smoke floats through the air
Rare fragrance it imparts.
While hungry flames nip at the logs-
As the campfire starts.

Flickering sparks go flying high,
in gleeful leaps and turns.
The cheery flames light up the sky-
As the campfire burns.

The flames recede. the light grows dim,
A solemn spirit reigns.
the time has come to bid the night adieu-
As the campfire dies.

By Thomas Wheatley

For I, methinks, till I grow old,
As fair before me shall behold,
As I do now, the Cabin small,
The Lake, the Bay, the Waterfall;
And Thee, the Spirit of them all!

Wordsworth

Where Sunset hence must be

For treason not of His, but Life's,

Gone Westerly, Today --

The Sunset stopped on Cottages

Where Morning just begun --

What difference, after all, Thou mak'st

Thou supercilious Sun?

Emily Dickinson

Well I finally got up to the cottage on Kawagama Lake to put the boats in and put the water on. It was only a day trip. My son and I left about 10 am in the morning, picked his boat up along the way at a friends and and continued the 3 hour drive to the cottage. We got to the lake, successfully launched his boat amongst thousands of black flies trying to get a taste of us and drove over to the cottage. You can only get to our cottage from the water as we are on a peninsula with no road access. It is not far from the Marina, you can see our dock in the middle of the pic.



Now, normally the black flies and mosquitoes are only bad over at the marina. For some reason they are usually not nearly as bad over at the cottage. I had heard form others that the bugs were particularity bad this year but I just thought they were "bug wimps".
So we land, up the stairs to open the cottage (to put on coffee) and shed for tools. The bugs are bad. Hmmm..... the other boat is in the bush where the bugs are worse. It is not looking good!

Bring out the bug spray. Well I, as any self respecting person who has lived in the north knows, that only McKirdy's Repel-a-Fly works on Black Flies. Well there was none. The only thing there was Off! I don't use the stuff, find it useless but when that is all there is... So we spay each other and head off into the woods. Just as we pass the rockery we see this little guy sunning himself on a rock so I asked him to keep still while I got his photo and he complied.


Now my son has a fashioned a natural looking ramp to push the boat onto and down into the water. It is made of lengths of tree trunk slopping down to the lake. Works quite well unless the boat gets caught on the only huge rock at the bottom of the ramp and you have millions of black flies and mosquitoes flying around all eager to get get a part of you... and poor Son instantly wrenches his back, which he "NEVER DOES" and Mom being Mom doesn't want him to lift any more, but poor Son has to now get into the water (which is still freezing) and push the bottom of the boat away from the rock and oh yes, did I mention the millions of Blackflies and mosquitoes?
So now I am getting a little weary of the boats and the bugs and so on. Son had cleared the back end of the rock so I lifted the boat over to the left a couple of times from the front end and pushed! The boat accommodates and slides into the water! Nice! My son looks up at me and says" What did you do?" and I responded with "Got angry!'. It really was because my Son had cleared the back for take off though, it was easy after that. Now I have to jump into the boat and paddle it to the dock at the other side of the lot as the battery is dead and we forgot the gas tank in the shed but at least it is in. Two down and only the water to go!

So next is getting the the water on which starts with bringing up a couple of buckets of water from the lake for priming the pump. There is just enough of us left over from the flies in the bush for them to now feed on us getting the water on. Son is going to do the priming behind the cottage, I am cutting the lawn. Huh? How did that get in there? Well Son decided that there would be less bugs next time if we cut the lawn. True fact, but more flies this time. Argh..
Son gets the pump primed and asked me to turn on the pump in the cottage. IN the cottage! Those are lovely words. No flies in the cottage! And so I ran into the cottage and turned on the pump. We actually caught the prime right away which rarely happens only to lose it again just as quickly. But we got it going again successfully.Time for some much needed respite from the great outdoors and time for some coffee.

As we are sitting, enjoying a much deserved coffee filled mug, the pump comes on. All on it's own. It is only supposed to come on when you are running the water which means somewhere water was either running or leaking. Gee, why wasn't I surprised? So we check the cottage. Nope, no leaks, no leaks out side, maybe the foot valve on the end of the pipe going into the lake isn't closing properly. Check this out and yes this is the problem but, it is actually broken and we will need a new one. So, we lost the water prime and will have to do this pump priming all over again. Not this time but next time up. Son and I had about had it for the day and we still had a 3 hour drive home. So we cleaned up our tools, locked up the cottage and took the one boat over to the marina, to put in it's slip. The worst is over, the boats are in ready for us for next time when we can stay longer. Time to go. Round trip will be about 12 hours.
As I look back on our little cottage nestled in the beauty of a Haliburton forest, I wish I was staying. Blackflies, mosquitoes be damned! It is so green, so beautiful and in it's nature, so relaxing at the cottage, on the lake. I will be back soon!

Ahhh... the Cottage Life!

I am sad! I didn't get to go up to the cottage for the long weekend. What we call the "May Two Four" in Ontario. Better known as the Victoria Day weekend, the Queen Victoria's B'Day. A very traditional weekend that is the unofficial start to the summer and when most of us open up our cottages.
I didn't go, as there was no one else to go. Now normally this is no big deal. Except on the first weekend because the boat is on the shore. Which means that one needs to get a water taxi to go over. Normally this is trip is one way as we would then put the boat in the water and boat back to the marina. This is not a chore I can do alone. Older son got a wonderful bonus from his boss to go to a spiffy resort for the weekend so he took his family there. Younger son and girlfriend were invited to a friends cottage with "The Gang" for his B'day party. Hmm.. probably a lot more fun than going up to the cottage with "Mother". Can't say I blame him! So.. No cottage this long weekend.

And then there is the "Nasty Black Cat"problem. Our 15 1/2 year old cat Buster who was so nick named as he would sooner bite you than look at you for his first few years with us. Very lucky he was a good mouser. He came to us as an abused stray. It took years but he bit less and less and kissed more. He still bites, just "Love Bites" now. Any way he is old and arthritic and has fluid problems so I need to give him subcutaneous fluids and meds. He can't be left on his own any more. He also hates cars so he doesn't travel. I had no cat sitter. So no cottage.

I was alone and bored so decided to take a trip around the yard with my other kitty, Cleo, close on my heals. One bonus for staying here. I almost always miss the Crab Apple tree in my front yard blooming a I usually go to the cottage when it starts to bloom and sure as the sky is blue, it will pour rain and wreck all the flowers before I get back. This time I caught it!
















Notice the dark sky in the left corner of the pic. It is going to rain imminently. So taking these pics gave me an idea. I would take pics of what was blooming or almost blooming in my yard and gardens. Taking pictures always makes me feel better and so does checking on things growing in my yard. So, here are the results, so far. Next up was to see what was coming up in the garden. There was a parrot tulip that I never planted. Courtesy of my neighbourhood squirrel I think. But it is such a unique colour. The irises are almost there. These ones smell like grape!
















The buds on the spruce trees are beautiful. This Blue spruce and the general spruce are lush with new growth!


















The flowering Japanese Lilac will open in the next couple of days. Amazing aroma from these.The bees just flock to them.

















The back yard is large with white pines, apple trees, a few spruce and at the back of the yard, just into the bush a thorn tree. The flowers on this are very pretty and smell really sweet! I have 4 apple trees that are ancient. I never have pruned them to get fruit, just have kept them for the spring show of flowers and the greenery they provide.





















This little Chick-a-dee and I spoke for some time. I have a spruce in the back which is not a species of spruce I have ever been able to identify. It's a really neat spruce with tons of cones every year. The Honey Suckle is just coming out in bloom. Very fragrant!
















Looking off from the backyard into the distance I can't believe how green everything is getting again. This is Mustard, just a weed really, but I love the colour.


















It was a cool wet day and it has ended with a beautiful sunset and quite cold temperatures. They are even calling for snow in cottage country! Maybe it is not so bad being here. At least it is not supposed to snow!



Have a great weekend everyone! I am calling it a day!

Canada being such a diverse ethnicity from our beginning, we don’t have a lot of truly traditional foods. Flour was a luxury item in the early days of the fur trade. It was used to thicken pemmican style soup. Pemmican is a mixture of fat and protein used as a nutritious emergency food. The word comes from Cree word pimihkan, “pemmican”. It was invented by the native people of North America. Flour was used as well to thicken Rubaboo which was a stew eaten by the Coureurs des bois and voyageurs (fur traders) and Métis natives. This was made of peas and/or corn and bear or pork fat thickened with bread or flour. They often mixed in pemmican and maple sugar. Occasionally when there was enough, flour was used to make galettes. Galette is the name used by voyageurs of the North West Company for an unleavened flour-water biscuit made by baking in a frying pan, or in the ashes of the campfire. Bannock is the name used by voyageurs of the North West Company. The Selkirk Settlers referred to their flour water biscuit as bannock. Eventually bannock became the name accepted. Bannock acquired other names, too: bush bread, trail bread, or grease bread. The traditional way to prepare bannock was to mix the ingredients into a large round biscuit and bake in a frying pan or propped up against sticks by the campfire. The frying pan usually was tilted against a rock so that it slanted towards the fire for part of the baking. Bannock is a truly Canadian food.

Bannock

Bannock is cooked in the oven or over a charcoal or open fire. Recipe for Bannock on a stick follows.

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups of all purpose flour
2. 1 tablespoon of sugar
3. 2 tablespoons of baking powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon of salt
5. 2 cups of water or milk

1. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Measure the water or milk and add it to the flour mixture with a fork. A dough should form. If it is too dry and crumbly add a little more liquid, a tablespoon at a time.
3. Turn the dough out onto a surface lightly coated with flour. Knead for about 3 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 Celsius
5. Pat the dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Transfer the dough onto a well greased cookie sheet. Prick the dough all over with a fork.
6. Bake about 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Bannock on a Stick
   

1. Prepare bannock dough as above. Have ready several sticks 3-4 feet long.
2. Divide the dough into golf ball size balls. Shape each ball into a rope about 8 inches long by rolling between the hands.
3. Wrap each dough rope around the end of a stick working length wise down the stick.
4. Hold the dough over a bed of red hot coals, turning frequently to bake the dough evenly.