Welcome to the 2013 Lake Season

This last weekend, we drove up to the cottage to open it up for the season. What does that mean? It means we have to haul a bunch of things from the house back to the cottage. We have to take all of the towels and washcloths. We have to haul all of the sheets, blankets and pillows. We have to haul all the cabinet stock item that would freeze if we had left it over winter (shampoo, bug spray, sunscreen etc.).

In addition to the hauling, opening the cottage means work.  It means that we have to clean the refrigerator that has been unplugged for the last four and a half months. It means reconnecting the water system and restoring service to all of the fixtures in the house. It means removing items (table, burn pit) from under the carport and placing them where they belong in the yard. It also means that we do some cleaning to remove any evidence that the place was closed up for 4-5 months. This was best accomplished by taking everything out of the house a room at a time.

 

 

We got a lot of our tasks completed, but still have work to do. When we started this adventure, we thought we would complete a task and it would be finished. We now know that completing a task means that it is only complete until it isn’t any longer. Like any dwelling, upkeep is important. I hope to keep you up to date on what is going on at the cottage. It amazes me that after 7 years, we still have items on our original to do list. This summer, my goal is to have the original items crossed off that list.  

Pier (part two)

Since we bought the boat (exactly one week now), we had a pressing need to finish the pier. We put out three sections a couple weeks ago, but they were not strong enough to keep a boat secure. I assembled frams for three sections, and used one frame as the the first section in the water.

I had to install the decking and notch the pier sections so they would line up on the posts. I took most of the measurements from the sections of the pier that we are replacing.




Once the two sections were complete, we hauled them to the waterline (we used the truck, because the treated lumber was heavy) and replaced the outer two sections. We decided to put in a fourth section, and reused one of the older sections as the last. So, the section closest to the shore is a new frame with old decking. The next two sections are new frames and decking, and the last section is the old style.




Next week, I will take the new decking down to the pier and replace the decking lumber on the first section. We may or may not, wait until next year to replace the fourth and build a fifth section. We will also used a stain or dye to provide additional protection to the treated lumber.