Sunday, 30 August 2026

Cottage life

People wonder why the big mansions in cottage country are called 'cottages.' I think it is about location, rather than size or costs!

My friend, Nancy Tapley, features in this piece about cottage life in Muskoka. I wonder if it hits home with you? I didn't like the changes in behaviour to people visiting. Cottage life has changed. Fireworks, jetskis, snow machines, bonfires, loud music on the lake...

  

There are so many complaints about the noise, the disrespect for nature and the environment. There are many trying to protect it. Safe Quiet Lakes and many lake organisations have been standing up for shoreline preservation.  People treat the lakes as a Nascar track in both winter and summer. 

📅  Town has been crazy. Kids here go back to school Tuesday, Sept. 1st. Ottawa's public school board (OCDSB), as well. The reason for this is that according to the Education Act, schools must be in session 194 days, with 9 PD days. Some school boards have chosen Sept. 1st as a start date but others will begin Sept. 7th, ending well in the last week of June. OCDSB's last day of school is June 25th. 

There is no question the season is slowly coming to an end. They are warm days, but cold nights (11 ℃). Cinnamon had breakfast and went back to bed!


Our days haven't changed much, we still enjoy time on the back deck. We've both been reading Regime Change. It's enough to make your blood boil, which keeps us warm! 


Joe Brian has long sleeves. He was writing some poems. More on that later!

I have a sheep fleece, from Topsy Farms, and I put it on my Muskoka chair! Soft and cosy.
 

Another sign, our 2nd monarch chrysallis turned dark green, ready to eclose! 


I kept my eye on it. 



Joe found a dead one on the highway, near our mailbox. They fly low across highways, and are very susceptible to vehicles.


I popped the macro lens onto my phone and tried some photos. You can see it is a male, by the black dot they have.



I leave you with this... 

14 comments:

Jeanie said...

Thanks for sharing that youtube, which I'm going to watch in a minute and share with Rick. But even befroe seeing it, I so agree with your assessment of "cottage life." We can't walk out the door (or sometimes even be in the cottage) without hearing lawn mowers, weed whackers and leaf blowers (and believe me, the grass doesn't get that long in a week before the Noise Boys come again. My neighbor and I are sandwiched in between two big houses; one even has a seaplane. We hate the jet skis. I don't mind the power boats or fishing boats but the jets are incredibly loud and annoying. My parents were in their 40s when they bought this cottage, which was typical in size of most on the lake. I have no idea how a middle class family today in their 40s could even consider a second property, and when I think of our times growing up here and what it meant, that makes me sad. I think you may have given me an idea for a new post. I want to hear more about the poetry!

Anvilcloud said...

Hereabouts, and surely not everywhere, I think you are right about cottage referring to location and usage.

RedPat said...

I think cottage means location to me too.

Barbara said...

We had friends visiting from Australia who laughed when we went up to “cottage country”. She said they were homes not cottages. However, like you, it’s location and use.

Barbara Rogers said...

Good shots of Monarchs!

tz_garden said...

The peace and beauty from nature should be open for everyone. The "racing" sounds awful, ugh. Beautiful butterflies!

Granny Sue said...

This seems to the trend everywhere there is shoreline. I remember a trip to Florida in the 70s when we drove down the A1A,and could see the ocean almost the whole way. Now the coastline is hidden behind huge houses and high rises, and one can only get occasional glimpses of the water. So sad.
I hope the poems will be shared! I know many poets are shy about putting their work out there, though.
Definitely cooling down where you are. Here, not so much, although there are sure signs of Autumn's approach.

Mary Kirkland said...

I love butterflies although I don't see a lot of them here.

Tom said...

...the middle class has been priced out of many things!

Brian's Home Blog said...

Nice place! Anything with or around water seems to be high priced. Love those wonderful photos!

Shiju Sugunan said...

Beautiful macro shot of the monarch. Enjoy that cozy fleece on the deck!

Irma said...

School has started again here too.
Beautiful photo and video of the monarch butterfly.
I wish you a lovely week.
All the best, Irma

Marit said...

The photo of the Monarch butterfly is very beautiful!

Iris Flavia said...

Sad with the change on cottage life. I think this is no German concept, but I read in fellow blogs about it.