Innehållsförteckning för March/April 2020 från Cottage Life

Free preview is back! Big buzz around here. We’re excited about our latest slate of shows on the Cottage Life channel—and good news, from Mar. 2 to May 3, you can watch them all for free, including our new series, Life Below Zero Canada (premiering Mar. 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT). Visit cottagelife.com/channel-finder. This one goes out to the putterers We love to feature DIY projects built by our awesome readers. You may remember the Tarzan raft (June/July ’19) or the floating sauna (Oct. ’19), and be sure to check out the cottage tiki bar on p. 29. If you’re reading this and thinking, I could do that (or maybe you already have), we want to hear about it! Send photos and a description of your build to edit@cottagelife.com. The…

As our cover story suggests, we’ve been thinking a lot around here about going off grid at the cottage. Much of this chatter has focussed on the nuts and bolts: the latest battery technology, the resale value of off-grid cottages, the potential of DIY installation. But we’ve also pondered the bigger questions. Specifically, despite it being technically easier than ever before, we’ve wondered: how many cottagers are psychologically ready to make the switch? To us, “going off grid” means choosing to reduce your dependence on an outside entity for energy. For some, it means a few solar panels on the roof of a bunkie to juice a phone and, say, turn on a light or two for a couple of hours in the evenings. For others, it means using the…

That’s what you get for scaring Miss Muffet, fool! Elizabeth Aubin was taking photos of the flowers near her Dorset, Ont., pond when she snagged this shot of a frog about to chow down. “When the frog got the spider, I flinched—I’m terrified of spiders—but in doing so I hit the shutter button on my camera,” she says. Kermit’s lunch that day was a mature male Dolomedes dock spider, says Robb Bennett of the Royal BC Museum. At best, all the spider could do to save himself was “bite the frog’s tongue,” says Bennett. “But that probably wouldn’t accomplish much. It’s a tough life being a frog. It’s a tougher life being a spider.” Now, who’s hungry?…

THE OPPORTUNITY Sheryl Joseph noticed that her husband, Barry Tschetter, was accumulating wood left over from projects created by his Calgary-based fence company. She wanted an outdoor entertaining space by the firepit at their Buffalo Lake, Alta., cabin. So the family drew up a design for a fun new project. THE OUTCOME Over two weekends, the family helped build what may be the world’s first Albertan take on a tiki bar. “Three generations of folks were out there giving their input,” says Sheryl. “We made it almost entirely from materials we still had from other projects.” 1 What’s the use? Sheryl and Barry used scrap cedar for the walls, pressure-treated 4x4s for the posts, and corrugated aluminum (the only material they bought) for the roof and the bar. “The tiles…

If your window frames need repainting, consider linseed oil paint. It’s non-toxic, has no volatile organic compounds, and hardens by chemical reaction with the air. I first used linseed oil paint on wooden windows in 2008. They haven’t needed any maintenance and only need repainting now. There’s been no peeling, just a surface coating that’s weathered away. You’ll get the best results if you first slake the thirst of the old wood by brushing on boiled linseed oil. I use a protein-free formulation (you can buy it and the paint online from Sage Restoration) because it doesn’t turn black when you use it outdoors, unlike the kind you get at the hardware store. Linseed oil paint can stain exterior walls below windows as rain washes the pigment downward. Apply two…

Q: “Every year all kinds of stuff appears on the shoreline at my cottage. Mostly it’s junk, but one time I found a perfectly good canoe that I returned to a family across the lake. Did I really have to? Can I just keep things that wash up on my beach?” A: A non-scientific survey of cottage people I know reveals that just about every cottager has been the recipient of random flotsam and jetsam. Some of the usual suspects, like waterlogged fishing bobbers and crispy pool noodles are just plain crap. The rest run the gamut from the good (a shiny new cooler) to the bad (soiled diapers) to the ugly (a dead terrier, the top of a human skull). I spent a good part of my cottage childhood…

Weather phenomena In your Winter ’19/’20 issue, you came up with “101 Ways to Love Winter at the Cottage.” We think we could add #102: ice feathers, one of the most delicate shows of nature you will ever see. We found them by accident while walking on the edge of the lake one frosty winter morning. At first, we thought they were sparrow feathers, but then we realized the entire lake was covered. We’ve lived here for 18 years and have only seen this once. —LINDA AND AL, LOWER BUCKHORN LAKE, ONT. Mother Nature Please tell Tim Tiner that I love his Nature Scrapbooks. Since June 2001, I have laminated and spiral bound several pages to make a little book for cottage guests to read while spending a few quiet…

I was intrigued by a new Canadian-made product called CarGenerator, which uses your car as the power source as an alternative to a backup generator. You hook up this 11 lb device to your (idling) car’s battery (careful: red to +) and then run an extension cord (I recommend a 12/3 cord) to your home/cottage/camper to power essential operations. For the average three-season cottager, that would likely mean enough time to top up the fridge and freezer before moving on to power other devices. The manufacturer claims it consumes less fuel per hour of operation, makes less noise, and has greater dependability than traditional generators. There’s no question it’s quieter, and your car is usually better serviced, so you can count on it running when you need it (not always…

A well-cleaned paintbrush will perform better, since clean bristles will spread finish more evenly. Residue can cause flagged bristle ends to clump, reducing their ability to distribute finish. Nearly all finishes used to be petroleum-based, so brushes required mineral spirits for cleanup. But water-based finishes dominate now, and along with them, the ability to clean up with water and soap, which means you can avoid harsh solvents. 1 Mix a liquid solution of 1 tsp laundry or dish detergent to 1 litre of water in an empty paint can. Swirl your used paintbrush in the can to dissolve residual finish on the brush. 2 Work the bristles with a rubber-gloved hand before rinsing them with clean water. 3 Put a lid on the can, and label it so you’ll be…

Ann McGuire just wanted a bite to eat under the clear blue skies of a July day. But when she arrived at one of her favourite water-access restaurants, the Craganmor Point Resort, the water was about five inches high on the patio. So she did what others were doing: she enjoyed her meal while ankle-deep in the waters of Georgian Bay. The Overend family, which owns the resort and restaurant, admits the high water levels last year on the Great Lakes and Georgian Bay made the season a challenging one. They invested more than $10,000 to build walkways above the waterline so that people could stay relatively dry. They also put up boards along the sliding doors to stop boat wakes from going inside the restaurant, which they came close…

IT WAS NEARING THE MIDDLE of another gorgeous day in Desolation Sound. We were sitting down to lunch on the deck when we heard a woman scream. The harrowing cry tore across the calm blue water and bounced off the granite cliffs that buffered our cabin on three sides. My family instinctively looked up toward the sound, glancing around the leafy arbutus tree that provided us noontime shade. My wife, Jill, spotted it first: a black, two-metre dorsal fin, gleaming in the sunshine, sliced through the surface of the ocean a few feet away from a woman in a fibreglass kayak. A great exhale burst from the blowhole, misting the shocked paddler. Her screams morphed into joyous cries of laughter when she realized her once-in-a-lifetime baptism of whale snot. “Orca!”…

Millions of beaver ponds and meadows across the country burst with an incredible diversity of species in early spring. Each typically spreading over several hectares along a stream, they are the regenerative handiwork of Canada’s largest rodent, an ecosystem engineer par excellence. Trees drowned by beaver dams draw hordes of bark beetles and other tiny wood munchers, speeding their demise. Woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches follow, both feasting on the insects and excavating nest holes, which later house tree swallows, owls, bats, flying squirrels, and a host of others. Nutrients from falling snags join with silt and organic sediment trapped behind beaver dams to support several times the density and diversity of invertebrates found in undammed streams—from clams and crayfish to dragonflies. These, in turn, sustain a much greater abundance of…

TOP TEN Opening up? Pair one of these refreshing brews with the following boring chores. (It’ll make them less boring.) Know thy enemy, know thyself Test your invasive and non-native species IQ 1 The northern snakehead—a predatory invasive fish—is able to: A Latch on to prey fish (and feed on their blood), thanks to its suction-cup-like mouth. B “Walk” on land by wiggling its body. C Survive out of the water for up to 10 days. D Both A and B 2 Touching invasive giant hogweed (it looks a little like Queen Anne’s lace) can give you: A A rash B Blisters C Warts D Both A and B 3 Which of the following is not an invasive species in Canada? A The earthworm B The common starling C The red-backed vole D The quagga mussel 4 Which two swan species are native to Canada? A Tundra swan…

I follow a ritual whenever I go out: I pat my pockets. One pat for my wallet, one for my keys, and my right pants pocket for my Swiss Army knife. I couldn’t leave the cottage without it because there’s often a rope to cut or a screw to tighten when you are far from the shed. It’s portable, uncomplicated, and multi-purpose, an ideal cottage tool. Indeed, there are probably more Swiss Army knives at cottages than there are in the Swiss Army. We have been through so much together, my knife and I. Hand and handle. With it, I have carved ducks (wooden) and steaks (beef). Cleaned fingernails, spread butter, pried off bottle caps, and whittled walking sticks. I have screwed with the screwdrivers, cut with the scissors, and…

Card-style wood scrapers, available at Lee Valley, are thin carbon-steel sheets that you can use instead of sandpaper for smoothing torn-out or figured grain. They’re capable of making a curly maple charcuterie board smooth with no sanding. A uniquely formed edge confers fine cutting action via a burr, despite being called a scraper. You can pull across a hardwood surface for a fine cut or push for a more aggressive cut to remove wood shavings or paint from a vintage tabletop. In comparison to sandpaper, the scraper will do the job more quickly and with far less dust.…

Q: I regularly feed the hummingbirds at my cottage with a sugar-water solution. I am wondering if it is junk food for them. Is it better for them to get the natural nutrients from flower nectars?—CASEY NOLIS, VIA EMAIL A: Well, adding native plants to your cottage property is always a win, and hummingbirds do love them some brightly coloured blooms. Examples include trumpet vines, scarlet runner beans, and lilies. But, “we don’t know that nectar is healthier than sugar water,” says Cindy Cartwright of Hummingbirds Canada. Assuming that you’re filling these feeders with the appropriate one part sugar, four parts water mixture, and using plain white table sugar (not, say, brown sugar, raw sugar, molasses, or Splenda), you’re providing a useful food source. “Table sugar is very, very close…

Jackie Davis: Oxford says a ghoul is “an evil spirit or phantom.” Is that the same as a zombie? I will die in the next 10 seconds. It’s me versus zombies and nobody wins that fight. I’m at a log cabin, pursued by flesh-eating ghouls who want to shred me to pieces. Suddenly, the skies darken as zombie paratroopers float down around me. Now I’m outnumbered by battle-hardened undead soldiers. This is it. It’s do or die, fight or bite. The ghouls snarl and shuffle closer. I breathe deeply and yell— JD: I don’t think the army would hire zombies. Or…maybe no live people enlist anymore? “CUT! Great take. Let’s do another, but with 40 per cent more smoke and blood.” I’m directing a movie at this gorgeous mountainside cabin,…

Admit it, you cottagers who are tethered to the electricity grid: as much as you hate paying the utility bill, some of you secretly think cottagers who generate their own power are a bit eccentric, even downright weird. At worst, perhaps you think they’re apocalypse-any-minute-now preppers who look like Duck Dynasty extras and want to swap recipes for squirrel stew and tips for booby-trapping the property line. At best, they’re quirky tinkerers who go to bed early because both lightbulbs are flickering and they’re exhausted from a day of chopping wood and analyzing battery chemistry. In fact, almost everything about off-grid power generation is getting more efficient and more reliable—from the solar panels and the battery systems to the appliances that use the power. Maybe it’s time you reconsidered. Here’s…

The recipe is simple. Take the remote North, add some extreme weather and near-24-hour winter darkness, toss in a few nerve-racking experiences and a splash or two of danger…and you’ll serve up some good TV. Life Below Zero Canada—a new documentary series premiering in March—follows five Canadians in Northern Ontario, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. They hunt, trap, fish, and earn a living in some of the toughest-to-handle (and toughest-to-film) locations in the country. “It’s a very, very unforgiving environment,” says Paul Kilback, one of the show’s directors. “Out there, everything is stripped down. It’s cold and it’s hard.” But, as he points out, “that’s what makes it worth it.” Behind the scenes Director Paul Kilback spent time on the set of the original U.S. version of the show—a…