Innehållsförteckning för August/September 2021 från Cottage Life

Canada’s best kept secret We’re long-time subscribers and look forward to receiving each new issue. We were pleased to see the Atlantic provinces get represented in “Canada Room with a View” (June/July ’21). We locals know how wonderful living and cottaging in the Atlantic provinces is: changing tides, fresh seafood, and fresh salty air. Based on the record number of people who have bought real estate in Atlantic Canada over the past year, we expect there will be a lot more cottagers like the ones in your story ready to discover one of Canada’s best kept cottaging secrets. Shhh…don’t tell too many people!—Brian and Brenda Rendell, Northumberland Strait, N.S. Disrobe and conquer In response to “So Close, Yet So Fair” (Zim Weighs In, May ’21), while my grandparents didn’t have…

RED FOXES ARE RED. Well, except when they’re black. Or brown. Or black and brown at the same time. “Red foxes come in a range of colours,” says Fiona Reid, the author of A Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America. “But note the white tip of the tail: all red foxes have that.” About 10 per cent of red foxes have a glossy, bluish-to-slate-grey coat; they’re called “silver foxes.” (Not to be confused with Idris Elba and George Clooney. They don’t have a white tail tip.) MIGHTY MORPHIN’ Red, in shades from light to dark, is the most common red fox colour “morph,” but there are many other variations.…

TABLE AND FLOOR LAMPS can have a long life. But as they age, their three main electrical components—socket, cord, and plug—may need to be replaced. With a few simple techniques that make sure you do it safely, about $20, and an hour of your time, you can have a like-new, rewired lamp. Start by unplugging the lamp and removing the shade and bulb. With a screwdriver or a strong pair of hands, remove the upper shell of the socket. The socket shell, the sleeve, and the base (which is usually secured onto a threaded rod with a set screw) can be reused if they’re in good shape. If the shell is metal, make sure that you check that the cardboard insulation sleeve inside is intact. If you are just replacing…

NEED TO CUT PLYWOOD and other sheet goods? Track saws combine the portability and flexibility of a hand-held circular saw with the precision of a table saw. Just lay down the tool’s aluminum track wherever you want to cut, then clamp it to the sheet. Interlock the saw with the track and make your cut. The saw slides wiggle-free along the track, eliminating any of the side-to-side deviations inevitable with a hand-held circ saw. A replaceable, rubbery strip on the track edge presses against the sheet right next to the blade, so even chip-prone materials, such as melamine-coated MDF, cut with a perfectly smooth edge every time. Although you could use a track saw to cut dimensional lumber such as 2x6s and 2x8s, the tool is really meant for plywood,…

THERE ARE ARGUMENTS to be made for the strawberry and raspberry; but in my own gustatory opinion—a bias derived from perhaps five million berries picked and processed—the tiny blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium, is the queen of small fruit, the singer in the band. Its name alone is simplicity verging on poetry. And its shape is a teensy echo of the planet itself—which, as any spaceman can tell you, is mostly blue. But it is on the palate, of course, that the little blue prodigy really comes to life. Biting into a mouthful of ripe blueberries is a tactile as well as a taste sensation, each berry releasing its inky, ambrosial load with a subtle pop, followed by a burst of muted tartness, then the inevitable rush of fruit sugar that evolves…

“FROM WAY BACK, I WAS ACCUMULATING STUFF FOR A COTTAGE THAT I DIDN’T OWN” THE SETTING: A modest, rustic-looking water-access Ontario cottage, tucked among birches and maples on the south shore of nine-acre, four-property May Island, in Lake Rosseau’s Venetia island group; a 10-minute boat ride from the mainland THE CHARACTERS: Alan Marr, a semi-retired advertising copywriter, a director of TV commercials, and the cottage’s current owner; claims puttering is an Olympic event, and he’s in training for the Canadian team; a.k.a. “Monk,” from the name of his long-ago high-school band, “Monk Marr and the Clergy Reserves” Sheila McCarthy, award-winning actor, Monk’s spouse, and self-confessed 100 per cent city girl Gillian, Meredith, and Andrew, Monk’s three grown kids Don Fairbrother, original owner of the cottage with his wife, Kitty, who…

WHERE WERE YOU IN 2001? The Plaunt family, campers on Pogamasing Lake in Northern Ontario, were in the pages of Cottage Life magazine. In our August issue, we featured their multi-camp compound for an extended family of 60 (“The Family Compact”). “There are still copies of that issue strewn at everyone’s camps,” says Laura Thomas, who married into the ever-growing Plaunt crew several years ago. “The hairstyles are amazing.” Flash-forward: this summer is the Pog gang’s 80th anniversary. “In the last 20 years, the brood has grown to more than 90 members. We’ve built four more camps—plus countless bunkies, sheds, and saunas—and the traditional August long weekend celebration is still a big hit,” says Laura. “The teenagers in the 2001 article are now parents, with kids who run up and…

THEY CHOO-CHOO-CHOOSE YOU All aboard! This spring, the Ontario government announced plans to launch a 13-stop passenger train service between Toronto and Timmins or Cochrane. At press time, the plan was to include stops in Langstaff, Gormley, Washago, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville, North Bay, Temagami, Timiskaming Shores, Englehart, and Matheson. Improved service “would provide people across Parry Sound-Muskoka with another way to travel both north and south to access services, and it would give visitors to our local tourism operators a comfortable way to travel to the area,” says Norman Miller, the MPP for Parry Sound–Muskoka. LIQUID COURAGE If we handed out a Cottage Life Hero of the Year Award (mental note: good idea), we’d give it to this man: Michael Jeffery, of West Kootenay, B.C. He had the guts to—very…

Q: “I share a cottage with a sibling and two cousins. I’m the only ‘handy’ owner, but we all pull together for chores and big improvements—except for one of my cousins. He doesn’t lift a finger to help and avoids the work weekends that we have twice a year. He pays his share of the cottage dues, but that’s all he does. The others don’t seem to think it’s a big deal, but I’m starting to get mad. How do other cottagers do it?” A: A brilliant entrepreneur I know (my wife) has this to say about co-ownership situations: “Ideally, when starting any new venture, the only business partner you should have is the bank.” Wise words. And I think the same could really be said about cottage co-ownership which,…

WHEN WE CONSIDER ACCESSIBILITY for those of us growing older or who live with a disability, cottages don’t leap to mind. They’re usually situated on rock or sand, neither lending themselves to stable footing. They feature decks and docks, which means navigating stairs or steep grades. Floors might bear the dips and divets of generations. For indoor visibility, we rely on lamps. Outside at night, we rely on moonlight. When my 92-year-old father fell four years ago, the hospital asked whether it was safe for him to return home. What they wanted to know, of course, was the likelihood of another fall. His environment was mostly safe, thanks to my mother’s foresight when she and my dad retired to their cottage on Lake Huron. The renovations to turn it into…

MAY 2020 MOST OF THE COTTAGES on the bay are still shuttered. The dock in front of the log cabin that we are hoping to buy is floating, disconnected from the shore to protect it from winter’s crushing ice. Dennis, our real estate agent, pilots the barge to the dock where Karl, the cabin’s owner, is waiting to greet us. We throw him a line, but the boat drifts away and pulls Karl with it. Now he is hanging off the side of the barge, feet dangling. His rubber boots fill with water before we can hoist him up. “Never hold on, that’s the first rule of boats,” says Dennis. “It’s important to know when to let go.” After the inspection, he hands me a stack of purchase papers. “Sign…

FIRE SAFETY AND PREVENTION has always been a priority for cottagers on Koshlong Lake, Ont. Known for their pre-COVID-19 “Fundays” at YMCA Camp Wanakita, the Koshlong Lake Association also incorporates fire safety into their family events. Two years ago, the KLA even hosted their first successful lake fire drill. But what happens when a real fire starts? After a local cottage burned down last year, the KLA “learned some real lessons on what could have been done to improve response,” says Mike Palmer, the fire and emergency coordinator for the KLA. “The fire was at a cottage about 60 feet up, so the only way to get water to the fire was with a tanker truck. But it was too steep of an incline for the truck to drive to…

The backstory: When he was growing up in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B., 46-year-old film producer and consultant Sandy Hunter spent time at his family camp near the St. John River, fishing and hiking with his father and brother. After moving to Toronto in 1997, Sandy regularly made the trek home to visit family and friends. “But it was always my dream to get my own camp in the Maritimes,” he says. The search: When COVID-19 struck, Sandy found himself trapped in his Toronto home for the first of many lockdowns. He’d heard of countless Ontarians escaping to the Atlantic coast—eager to do the same, Sandy drove from Toronto to New Brunswick in July 2020. After quarantining in his family’s garage, he prepared a detailed itinerary of 30 listings to tour and set…

WITH JUST ONE connection for water coming in and one drain heading out, a toilet isn’t a particularly complicated device. But replacing one often means working in a small, awkward space, manipulating heavy parts, and dealing with a job that can get, well, messy. 1 First, put on rubber gloves and an air of determination; this ain’t gonna be pretty. Close the shut-off valve on the supply line. If the valve gives you any grief, has signs of damage, or seems unreliable, turn off the main water supply and take the opportunity to install a new quarter-turn ball valve. 2 Flush the toilet to get rid of most of the water, push more down the drain with a plunger, and sop up any remaining in the tank and bowl with…

Q: I have a row of Swedish columnar aspen that has been eaten and killed by yellow-bellied sapsuckers. What could I replace them with that’s fast-growing but is not favoured by those woodpeckers?—Julie Hink, Beaver Lake, Alta. A: Let’s not throw the sapsuckers entirely under the bus: the reason that your trees died could be because Swedish columnars aren’t native to Canada. “Native aspens have been dealing with sapsuckers for thousands of years,” says Chris Earley, the author of Feed the Birds. “They know what they’re doing.” Since your trees probably didn’t evolve with yellow-bellied sapsuckers, it made them weak to this woodpecker’s onslaught; another species could have taken it. That said, while sapsuckers will drill into “a very long list” of trees, they are particularly fond of aspens, says…

THE MOST UBIQUITOUS VERTEBRATE in eastern Canada’s temperate forests, abounding by the billions, is almost never seen. Emerging only on very damp or rainy nights, the tiny eastern red-backed salamander tips the scales at under a gram but is an ecosystem heavyweight. RED-BACKED SALAMANDERS are the dominant predators in their domain, often far exceeding by weight the total heft of all birds in the forest. They thrive on hordes of beetles, mites, and other leaf litter- and microbe-feeding invertebrates; these creatures are among the organisms of decay that collectively consume more than 90 per cent of the energy produced by trees and plants. BY EATING SO MANY forest floor shredders and munchers, salamanders slow litter decomposition, moderating the flow of nutrients in the ecosystem and locking more carbon into humus.…