The Indestructible Pest

But before we get to that, let's talk about another "first" for us.  Our first flood!

We had been warned that once the ice start to melt on the lake, the water level rises to the very top of our retaining wall.  It seems it was particularly motivated this spring and it's actually gone beyond it a bit in some areas.

This is probably not all that unusual.  At some point soon they'll pull the plug on the lake and let it drain out.

The only feature potentially greatly affected would be the shed, which is an eyesore anyway, but still practical enough that we want to keep it.  So there's some concern there.

In a way, we're grateful to have seen this happen because it'll figure into our plans for that structure.  We had found a wooden build-it-yourself (also known as a "watch-your-dad-build-it") shed model that we were considering buying, but unless we elevate it a bit, it doesn't seem like such a great idea anymore.  We'll need to work that out.

Now no amount of flooding will deter our titular Indestructible Pest from making its presence felt.  And unfortunately, we came across some during yesterday's visit.

Christine went to great lengths to ensure that rodents would not enter the cottage during the winter.  Much more so than I would have thought of; probably my method would have consisted of, you know...locking the doors.

We also know that cockroaches can survive a nuclear holocaust and that earwigs have exoskeletons strong enough to survive having a bank fault fall on top of them.

But they are not the indestructible pests that we encountered yesterday.

That's right, friends and family.

We were visited by Jehovah's Witnesses.

It's not like we were busy or anything.  We were trying to stuff the two carpets that we pulled up recently into the car to take them to the dump (which was closing in about a half hour).  But our JW's were kind enough to stop, acknowledge that we looked quite busy...and proceed to offer us a copy of Watchtower magazine regardless.

Now truthfully I couldn't care less if you believe in God, Vishnu or vampires.  We were surprised to be visited in such a lightly-populated area though.  But anyway, we now have additional reading material at CFB for those of you who may be so inclined.

With our souls partially purified, we headed off to the dump.  It had been a while since I'd seen Dumpmaster Gary and I wanted reassurance that he was in good health.

There were plenty of laughs, and perhaps a few tears...but we had to get down to business.  We dumped our carpets then scooted to Sharbot Lake to grab a pizza to bring back.  Damn, The Maples make a good pizza.  Calgary folks, I'm telling you, it's worth the flight.

I did notice one unusual ingredient in the menu though; fried dill pickle. On a pizza?  I'm conflicted on that one. It might require a couple of ciders first but I'm not ruling it out.

Then it was off to Kingston to visit Nanny in her new apartment, my first such visit since her return from Halifax.

She seems nicely settled in and to enjoy her location both within the building (she's close to all the facilities) and in the neighborhood (walking to distance to grocery store, etc). We told her about our encounter, and she was reminded of how much grandpa LOVED visits by Jehovah's Witnesses.  LOVED them!  I would part with a lot of cash to have access to a "highlight reel" of those visits. :-)

We headed home in the early evening, which also meant that I got my third nap of the day in.  I don't know what it is, I'm incapable of staying awake in a car anymore.  What the hell?

Now we're hoping to get the plumber in this week to set us up for our first overnighter of 2014 next weekend.  Hopefully by then the lake won't be halfway up our living room windows.  Fingers crossed.