Our 2013 Send Off

CFB Crow Lake has been closed for a few weeks now.  If I recall correctly, we spent the weekend after Thanksgiving there, then went for a day trip the following Sunday to wrap things up (literally.  We bagged up the mattresses, then boarded the windows, emptied the fridge, etc.)

On the Sunday of our last weekend, while doing some of the outdoor work, I heard (and eventually located) a woodpecker.  I tried to get a good picture of him, but since it was cloudy and because he was partially hidden by branches, I struggled to do get one any better than what is displayed at your right.

That reminded me that we'd seen relatively little wildlife this year, I thought.  In about two months of ownership the previous year, I'd come across raccoons a couple of times, we'd seen a fox in our garden, Christine is convinced she saw a lynx on our deck (sure you did...).  Based on that, it seemed like we should have seen more than turtles and ugly-ass vultures.  But whatever.  I shrugged that off and went on with whatever I was doing.

While walking Oscar that morning, we came across something that we had seen earlier in the year and found kind of funny.  I didn't have my camera on me at the time though so I couldn't act on it. But when we got back to the cottage I grabbed it and went back to the scene.

There's a cottage around the corner from ours.  It has a long driveway that is gated at the far end.  We could tell from the road that there's a note attached to that gate and curiosity got the better of us..

If you view this from the blog (and not the e-mail version) and are able to open the picture in a separate window, you should see that it reads...

KEEP OUT

Police will be contacted if anyone caught trespassing on this property

ESPECIALLY ...

...And it goes on to include a list of names.

How...inviting!  That cracked me right up.  I wasn't sure if I should get (and post) a picture of it, but then it occurred to me that the person who put it up made it quite public him(or her)self anyway so there should be no harm.

In any event, a few minutes later I was walking back towards our place, looking at my pictures to see they came out.  A movement to my right caught my attention and I was rewarded with this view, directly across the road from our driveway:

I squeaked a little.  His little buddy was just over to his left.  They didn't mind me much when they saw I was clearly not a threat (pretty much what anyone's assessment would be) and simply resumed their frolicking.

So I just sat back and fired away.

They were there long enough, and so unconcerned with my presence, that after I incorrectly thought they'd gone and I went in to tell Christine about the whole thing, she was able to see them when she next went to the car.  I was quite happy about that as I would have hated for her to miss it.

So while I wasn't looking forward to leaving, that was a nice way to go.  We haven't been there in a couple of weekends now but may make the occasional appearance to make sure everything is cool.  And in the "off-season" we're going to work out our 2014 reno plans, which should include putting in a new floor in the guest bedroom, some deck maintenance, perhaps plumbing upgrades and maybe a little painting / sealing.  We'll see.

The Fine Line Between Decorating and Cluttering

But before we get to that, let's flashback to thanksgiving.

That spectacular weekend turned out to be the last one during which we had visitors.  Rob and Deb, as previously mentioned, dropped by on the Saturday.

It might not be a skill that you'd immediately assume they possess, but they can gather leaves like nobody's business.  Look at how clear that lawn is.

Mind you, you were elbow deep an hour later, but it still makes for a pleasant afternoon activity.  And, unlike the time Rob was chopping wood, I was far less concerned about someone perhaps going home with one fewer appendage.  I waited with great impatience for Debbie to step on a rake, but it never happened. :-(

The following day, my dad popped by.  My mum and sister were in mid Montreal shopping roadie that weekend so we invited him over for Christine's bliss-coma-inducing Thanksgiving dinner.

Now, many people visit and bring a bottle of wine...a loaf of fancy bread...Desert...Something like that...

My dad brings bathroom taps.

Apparently these are something of a family heirloom.  If our recollection is sound, these taps have belonged to Caroline and my folks had them for a while now.  Renovations at their respective homes made the taps obsolete at those places and so they've been passed on to us.  Therefore, we have the following "before / after" shots.

Isn't that much better?  Boy, that bathroom has received an unexpected boat load of love this year.

Now then...Something we agreed on when we bought the place, when discussing what-would-go-where, is that we need to be careful not to clutter the place up.  In fact, we were trying to make more space by dumping a couple of couches, removing certain decorations that weren't to our liking off shelves, etc.

We were quite happy to use CFB Crow Lake to help us DEclutter Manoir Fournier.  Hence our joy at hitting the "sisterload" some time ago.  That worked right along with what we wanted to accomplish.

But...empty shelves still suck.  So we found ourselves making a couple of purchases, against our original plans.  Both involve a little fancy metal work.

Check out the tree under Gordie Guitar.

Nice little filler.  We also got an inukshuk (let's see if THAT gets past spell check)!

I like the message an Inukshuk (by whatever spelling you want to use) sends in a cottage.  However, our shelves are shallow so a traditional stone one might have been a little much both in terms of weight and girth.  This thin metal version is more appropriate in that sense.  Both pieces were bought at one of the many, many souvenir stores in Westport.

We still have a couple of shelves to fill, but we'll do it at our pace.  There's no hurry.

Except one.  There's an item that I want and as such, we have launched what I refer to as Operation M.K. Ultra.

Here's one of the alcoves in the dining room (and leading into the kitchen, obviously).

The light switches have been left in the shot deliberately as a size reference tool.

Ah...I can't stand that lamp.  We don't use it and it doesn't fit in with the rest of the changes we've made.

So during a phone call last night by Michelle Katherine, Operation MK Ultra (see where I got that now?  I was actually kayaking when it came to me and tried to think of a way to write it down) was put into play.

Kathy (currently in Nova Scotia, for those who may be unaware) will seek to acquire a lighthouse decoration for that spot.  The space is six inches across and 24 inches tall.  Ideally, and Christine seems to think I'm setting the expectation too high, I would love for it to serve as a night light.  If it actually rotated, I would spend hours just starting at it in the middle of the night.  A candle might be nice, but you know...probably a fire hazard...

So let's see what comes of that.  But even in the unlikely event that Operation MK Ultra fails, in this case, an empty shelf would be an improvement to me.