In and Out

Our lives are distilled to two realms: Inside the cottage or outside to work on projects and go for walks. Its all so simple. No need to keep track of the date, no need to plan days and movements around social events or the numerous groups we each belong to. So we go out whenever weather permits, and when we are tired, cold or wet – back in. Some other things going in and out:

The old sheds and deck went out.

And loads of new lumber came in.

Piles of weeds and other green waste went out…

And a fresh load of clean crush came in to be spread about.

This pine tree, which was getting a bit big for its britches, came out…

And a new deep planter for growing potatoes went in.

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Co-Coronavirus Coccooning on the Coast

It’s almost like we knew. We planned holiday travel for February instead of our usual May, and we blocked rentals on the cottage until late July so we could “enjoy it ourselves.”

And here we are, enjoying it as much as is possible in these unprecedented times. We can go out, work on the property until we are so tired we sleep deeply, and take a walk on the beach when we need to see a bigger piece of the sky. We are so lucky to have this option. Each day it sinks in a little deeper that this is likely to be our principle home this year. So, let the projects begin! Might as well make this time count.

We are rebuilding a shed, revamping the garden, tearing down an old deck, clearing massive amounts of overgrowth and then…well we’ll see. This may be the biggest transformation the place has seen in decades, so better document it here for our records.

A rotting and dangerous deck that predates us must go.

Ditto this shed, to be replaced with a larger and more weatherproof version.

This topsoil isn’t gonna spread itself.

But also making time (like that is hard) for health and wellness.

Hereafter: more pictures for the most part, to record our progress and our errily quiet lives at this most unusual time.

Sidebar, I’m going to learn how to drum via the internet, lose 4 pounds and reconnect with my core muscles.

These projects can’t mask the fact that the news is very distressing and I have to limit my consumption. So many people are in much more difficult circumstances than us, and the means to help are not clear as yet. Except of course, stay home.

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A Restraining Wall for the Retaining Wall

Fall is a favourite time at the cottage. We put a king duvet on our queen bed to avoid tussling over the covers, then open the window and sleep so well in the cool, fresh air.

We blow leaves around, drink too much coffee, then make a list of projects and jump right on it.

First on the list this year was to somehow reinforce the unmortared stone wall that runs behind the cottage. Over the 10 years we have been here, the combined forces of gravity, roots and wet weather have begun to compromise the wall’s integrity.

The problem wall.

A few stones dislodged, then a few more, and over the last year it really picked up speed. So, time to act! If not, it became clear the whole thing would come down, bit by bit, or maybe kinda fast.

I proposed using chicken wire to create a semi – molded exterior barrier, and short pieces of rebar, pounded into the embankment, to secure it. Rand feared the rebar would further disrupt the stability of the bank.

Instead he built a series of reinforcing walls from treated timber, then screwed them together to make a single wall. This contraption exterts pressure along the vertical surface of the wall, and also downwards, for stability, owing to its mass. We dug it into the ground, a few inches here and there, in the interests of leveling, and then I hand fitted the fallen rocks both into the embankment from where they had fallen, and in strategic areas to add further reinforcement. It looks nice, and when all the wild sweet peas and periwinkle push their way through in the spring, it will look even better. We hope to have forestalled any further damage, and consider this to be, potentially, a 10 year solution. Time will tell.

The finished structure. Off the list!

Total cost was about $300. Rand spent 8 – 10 hours on it, and I about 2. If the doesn’t sound fair, I also made these amazing orange scones.

We really love this kind of project: Brainstorming a solution and putting it into action, preferably with as much time spent out of doors as possible.

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Paint Crazy

I set out this summer to redo the exterior paint on the cottage. It was a bit of a challenge finding chunks of time between rental guests when it was also warm and dry enough to get to it.  And then there was the scraping. I estimate I spent 5 hours prepping for every one hour of painting.

the trim was pretty bad too

Prepping before painting

As a result, I got slightly less than half the cottage painted, but gosh it looks nice! And it is the important half – the front half. It was also the hard half, since the front takes all the sun, and there are lots of windows with finicky trim, and posts and whatnot.

So satisfying once it is done

The trim is a BM colour called Mannequin Cream. The cottage itself use to be BM Duxbury Grey, which has a hint of green in it.  I love the colour, but here in the rain forest, paint already has a tendency to take on a green tinge, both reflected and from algae. The driveway shed was a different, slightly mauve grey of unknown origins, and it was this shade that I had colour-matched for the cottage paint. On the advice of a house painter acquaintance, I went with a premium Behr paint from Home Depot

Next summer I should be able to get the job finished. There will be much less prepping, but more ladder work, which I do not love. Meanwhile, I’m fired up to do more painting, and will start with the front hall of my home, which needs an all-over redo.

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Farmhouse Style Light

Two years ago the Cottager and I made a trip to Portland for our anniversary. On the way we stopped at a Cabela’s near Olympia, and purchased a pretty bonnet ceiling light complete with seeded glass, from a clearance shelf for just under $US 12.00. And then it sat around waiting for a purpose.

Recently I found a YouTube video for a recessed light conversion kit, available from Home Depot. Together these became my solution for a truly ugly recessed light at the cottage. Here it is, as was.

 

And here is the conversion kit.

 

And here is the  light in its new and improved version.

 

 

 

Total cost was about $50, including a rather expensive old fashioned incandescent light bulb that casts a lovely, yellow candlelight-like glow over the table.  Not task lighting, of which there is more than enough, but very atmospheric. And in my view a big improvement. Love it when I find a use for something this way.  We have a couple of recessed lights in our home which we will also now convert, including one situated between our bedroom closets that does not manage to cast any light into either one.

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Driftwood Art

My sister made this. I am very jealous. She was always the artistic one. I have strong artistic impulses but no real eye or talent. She found this beat up and broken glass insulator in the boathouse of our family cottage near Nelson. Two pieces of driftwood and two nails later, she had created something I would pay to own. So cool that it perfectly holds a tea candle, making it both beautiful and useful.

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Hello Again

I see it’s been nearly a year since I posted anything here. I’ve missed writing about cottage life, and a variety of other topics which interest me. I always hoped to get back to it. Writing used to be fun; then it wasn’t, so much. Perhaps it can be again?

I’ve taken a year off of work, for a variety of personal reasons. It has allowed me to take better care of myself, which is wonderful. I’ve been eating better, and exercising more, reading a lot, travelling a bit, walking my dog, hanging out at the cottage, teaching myself to play the ukulele (yes, really) and just generally enjoying each day. But always, always, I have intended to start writing again. I just haven’t been able to make a start. So here is a start.

So, whats new at Keats View Cottage? In a material vein, the bed is new; the barbecue is new; these fishing float lights on the mantle are new: I really like these!

More importantly, I have a new pleasure in spending time on the Sunshine Coast. Instead of squeezing in a weekend here and there, I have been spending a week at a time at the cottage. This has allowed me to do the usual home projects and gardening but also to spend long hours walking the beach, sipping coffee on the porch, getting to know people in the community better and considering what I want for the future. This gift I have given myself is, truthfully, the best gift ever.

My work involves a lot of writing, and over time, it seems the writing I was obliged to do drained most, if not all, of the pleasure from the act of writing. I’d like to get this back, if I can.

But I don’t want to look too far down the road, or raise my expectations too much. Reactivating this blog is a good starting point, because it’s true purpose was always to keep a record of the years as they whizzed by. While the cottage was a convenient focal point, what is most interesting when I look back is to see what we were doing at any given time, and what activities and ideas interested the Cottager and me (and the Urchins, of course.)

So now I have lost a whole year of recording those things, and although quite a bit of it hasn’t been “the best of times”, I’m still sorry not to have that record. And I feel motivated to write here, if nowhere else, once again. For those fifty or so folks who have continued to follow my blog throughout this long silence, your interest is appreciated. Thanks for hanging in there. More soon, I hope.

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