The last weekend at the lake
Wendy, Mark, Ollie, the dogs and I just got back from a freezing weekend at the lake. We went up on Thursday and got back not that long ago. Despite the incredible wind, we had a pretty good time and managed to close up the cabin as well.
It was most definitely our last weekend of 2008. We got up to the lake and Mark and I took Maggi for her traditional swim in the lake. I was tossing a stick to her and wouldn’t toss it into the water in case she didn’t want to go in. After the second toss near the water, she grabbed her stick and just jumped in. Once she goes into the water for the first time, she turns into a different dog. She is relaxed, laid back, and sleeps for hours. Every morning I try to take her down to the water. If you don’t she is constantly on alert in case one of us may try to sneak a swim in.
Arlington Beach was incredibly quiet on Thursday. For a long time the only thing I heard was the crunching of leaves under Mark, Maggi, and my feet. Mark and I always do a couple of things when we are at the cabin. We take Maggi for long walks where we can talk and him and I will play some games on my PSP. This weekend we managed to do both. The game of choice was SOCOM. Through both of our combined efforts, democracy is safer all over the world.
After supper on Thursday the wind picked up and it got quite cold. That night I almost froze to death. Despite three space heaters, it was COLD up there and the temperature dipped down below freezing with an intense wind. It was awfully cold in our uninsulated cabin. While Mark and Oliver had lots of quilts and blankets and slept fine, Wendy and I underestimated what we would need. On top of that both dogs decided they were cold and crawled into bed which shoved me up against a series of 2×4 studs only some plywood keeping me from the elements. It’s a 3/4 bed which isn’t big enough for Wendy and I let alone a large dog who likes to stretch out. It definitely isn’t large enough for Wendy, myself, Maggi and then Hutch. On top of that Wendy decided to move the heaters around so we had three space heaters on one breaker all night which kept tossing the breaker. I was too out of it to know what was going on but it meant all night we were listening to the breaker go off and with it the heat.
On Friday we drove from Arlington Beach to Regina which is about an hour and it takes you through part of the stunningly beautiful Qu’Appelle Valley. As we were driving through the town of Bulyea, Wendy yelled out Boo Yeah and that sadly was yelled by her or Mark every time we saw the sign to the town. We took in Cornwall Centre and Chapters. We did some Christmas shopping and picked up some books. Mark picked out a book of 1001 unbelievable facts and was determined to read each and every one of them to us. I picked up Fiasco by Thomas Ricks and also Big Russ & Me by Tim Russert. Wendy surprised all of us by seemingly surrendering to the household of guys by picking up a book on World War II.
Friday night I pulled out every blanket that we owned (we have quite a few quilts up there for this very reason). There was so many quilts and heavy blankets on the bed, I could feel them pushing me into the mattress. After waking up and feeling like I was sleeping on the surface of the sun, I scaled back the mound of blankets on the bed and was okay. A re-arrangement of the heaters made the cabin a lot more tolerable as well. The dogs were given a choice between sleeping in front of the heaters comfortably or sleeping in a crowded bed with Wendy and I. They chose the bed. We even tried to get them to sleep with Mark but they would get out and sleep with us.
Today the wind was just incredible. We heard it was around 100 km/h. It was a battle just getting the garbage out to the dump. I did manage to brave the wind to take some measurements of our cabin and some decks of cabins around us. The plan is to build a 8×10 deck on the back of the cabin and a small 10×4 front step on the front. Neither will be very expensive as we plan to use simple post and pier construction on concrete blocks. The end result is that we should have 120 square feet or 25% more usable space next year. I think I posted this before but the decks are inspired by these buildings.
With some sadness we cleaned the cabin up, secured the barbecue cover around the grill, locked the place up and said goodbye until next spring. The winter will be spent pricing out insulation and our new decks. Mark is trying to get me to spring for a flat screen television but his chances of that happening are about the same as the Leafs winning the Stanley Cup this year.
Our Cabin Weblog- Recently listened to music
- David Gray – Be Mine October 19, 2008
- David Gray – December October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Knowhere October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Real Love October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Last Boat To America October 19, 2008
- Recently additions to my library
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2 Responses to “The last weekend at the lake”
Posted by: Bill Kinnon - 10/26/2008
I’m still cold from my overnight at the island. I’d still like to go back one more time but the water taxis stop this week so it won’t happen. At least not until the ice is in.
Posted by: The last weekend at the lake for the season « Wendy Cooper’s Weblog - 10/26/2008
[...] fundraiser but this weekend was the last weekend at the lake until 2009. Jordon has wrote about the fun here and posted some photos [...]
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