Headline: Awesome Ottawa Couple Buys Even Awesomer Cottage!

Most of you have actually been aware of this "breaking news" for a while but it became official on Friday evening when we picked up the key in Sharbot Lake.  Christine and I now own a cottage on Crow Lake.

Huh...This is Jean-François, by the way...For most of you, I'm some sort of in-law.  Short guy, glasses...

Don't know where Crow Lake is?  Don't feel stupid, no one else seems to.  If it's any help, it's about a half hour from Perth.  If that isn't any help, well...That's why God made Google. ;-)

Here she is in all her split-level splendour.  The two pictures below are from the virtual listing.

It is on a significant slope but features a daschund-friendly grass patch along the width of the property.  You can get a better a look at that here:

Showing listing pictures of the inside already borders on the pointless.  Of course, the previous owners (the Milligans) have removed some of their personal belongings/decorations but Christine also wasted no time applying her HGTV skills.  A number of the rooms have already seen significant changes.  I kept the pictures though and will likely do a before/after thing once our redecorating is more or less complete.  More on that later.

We arrived on Friday night, and after confirming that we have power and figuring out how to get water flowing, we got to see how the place withstands a wicked thunderstorm.  Apparently quite well.  Now that we know, let's not have any more of those, m'kay?

The following day's weather was mostly miserable as well, but we had some business to take care of anyway.  We went to Kingston to relieve Nanny of a number of her belongings (to be clear, she was a willing participant in this.  We didn't shake her down or anything...) including the bed from the Florida room.

The reward for getting all these tasks done in lousy weather was a spectacular Sunday morning.  Dig:

Ain't that something?

We have a lot to do and a lot to learn.  The Milligans were kind enough to leave detailed instructions and a number of contacts to help make the transition smoother.

Once better established, we look forward to having people come by and enjoy it with us.  Maintaining the place's history was important to the Milligans and that is the purpose of this blog.  We'll use it to record visits, events, changes, etc, so fair warning: If you drop by some time, there's a good chance you'll end up on here.  Now you know. :-)

More to come.