Man's Spa 2015 a Snorefest

Seven snorers!?  It's not possible to know for sure how many participants there were.  We do know that one camper sought refuge in a car at 4 a.m. to get some sleep.

Another first this year was the interruption of the camp fire at 11:00 p,m, Friday night so we could combine our talents to electronically submit a work related proposal that was due that day.  That was fun.  And as expected, it became the basis for one of Tim's improvised songs!

And we almost had donuts this year! Maybe next year?

Thanks to everyone for making it another success.  Special thanks to John for brining his pillow. Here is the official photo of 2015.

 

Reviving an old tool - a scythe

I have mentioned some of the stuff inherited from my parents cottage from time to time, including the rusty sledge hammer and the canoe built circa 1974.

Much older than both of those, however, is the scythe.   I have resisted buying another gas powered tool and have been using the scythe to cut back growing brush along the edge of the cottage clearing and the driveway.  A few years ago, I joined other cottage owners to cut back the growth along the main road. Not surprisingly, I was the only one to show up with a scythe.  Everyone else had their gas powered trimmers. (It wasn't the first time I was caught doing things differently from the crowd.)

I can tell you it's good workout, but with a sharp blade, it works quite well.

The background of the old scythe is a little unclear.  We think it belonged to my grandfather, which would make sense given how old it appears to be.  I'm guessing he would have used it in the 1940s or 50s, but it could be older still.  Our uncle then would have had it for a period of time and passed it along to our dad when he was moving out west in the 1980s.

I know Dad used it at his cottage, and I think that's the first place I did too.

By today's standards, its design is quite primitive.  The wooden shaft is attached to the steel blade with an unusual hardware design. Instead of a collar with clamp to tighten, it has two pieces that secure a short arm of the 'L' shaped blade against the handle.   Last fall, while clearing some brush, the lower end of the shaft of the wooden handle finally broke off just above where it meets the steel hardware that attaches it to the blade.  The original end had been shaved and worked to just the right width and shape for the hardware components to fit and two holes through the shaft held the nuts and bolts securing the two main pieces of steel in place.

This week I undertook to cut off the base of the broken handle and replicate that shape on the remaining shaft and reattach the hardware to extend the life of the scythe.  Using a wide range of hand tools, including a saw, drills, files and chisels over 5 hours, I was eventually able to reassemble the pieces and reattach the hardware.  You can see the results in the picture above. Hopefully, it will all hold together when I next clear the brush around the lot, quietly. 

Hot Water!

Warning: the following post contains technical information of interest to persons conducting research for a DIY project,  or other people interested in off grid projects. If you're looking for the wildly entertaining blog post normally featured here, you might want to skip this one. I decided to post this entry because I found it hard to find information about small scale off grid projects like this one for a cottage.  Please do your own research by talking to solar power experts and viewing other sites and you tube videos.  I am just sharing my experience to help you identify possible options for your own plans. Feel free to post a comment if you want to ask me a question.

Come Along, with Me and my Boat

Already the end of another season!

2014 can be summed up as a poor year weather wise, with regular rain and few hot days making conditions favourable for bug populations until later than normal. At least we had a couple of wonderful weekends late in the year to remind us of how great a cottage escape can be.

Projects this year: install screen door - done; move basement ventilation fan to opposite side of the cottage - done; change fridge door to open from the other side - done.  Plans for next year: solar power, hot water heater, dock repairs, replace fireplace hearth. Notice we don't even bother listing painting the bedroom anymore.  That's on the "someday" list now.

Closing up for the winter means bringing home anything that can freeze, clearing the water lines and pouring RV anti-freeze in the drains. It also means hauling the pedal boat and the aluminum fishing boat up on shore. Having bought the boat in 2013, last Fall was the first time I had to pull the fishing boat out for the winter. There's a slope at the shore and while it's doable to pull it up using manpower, its easy to strain your back or to slip on the damp leaves carpeting the hillside.  My dad had a "come-along" at his cottage years ago for this type of work.  Over the summer I searched in vain to find one and I wondered if  they stopped making them. I asked around and eventually a co-worker told me it is also known as a hand winch. Bingo! It's a hand winch!  With the proper name, I found them in a few places online, including Canadian Tire. When I went to buy it, I told the saleswoman in the automotive section that I needed a hand winch. From her startled reaction, she must have misunderstood what I said. I think she heard me say "I need a hand, wench."  Once I repeated myself, carefully articulating the sound of the "i", she said she had never heard of that and brought me to her supervisor, an older gentleman.  Predictably, when I told him I was looking for a hand winch, he said "come-along?" Yes!

October 18th we closed up the cottage for the winter and here's the picture of me with this neat little gadget. I just attach one end of the cable to a tree and the other to the boat, crank back and forth and along it comes.  Old technology, but it's all I need to make hauling the boat up the slope a much easier task.

Man's Spa 2014: Photobombed by an Outhouse

By popular demand, for Man's Spa V, we extended the duration of the annual gathering of high school buddies to three days.  Emad made his return to the Spa after skipping a year and joined Tim, Al, Billy Two Steps (AKA Billy Two Sheds), and myself.

Tim, Bill and I kicked things off on Friday with a grand tour of the lake, foregoing canoes and kayaks for the motorized version, and spent the much of the day cleaning up a section of the lot, cutting and chopping wood, and burning it in a great campfire.  A first this year was the dueling harmonicas Friday night which worked surprisingly well, thanks to Tim.  Our only potential audience member was snoring in the cottage through much of our performance so impartial reviews are not available.

Emad and Al joined us on Saturday, a rainy day that prompted another first for the Spa - Trivia and Scrabble games.  Below you see our Scrabble board results. It seems that the presence of beer cans helps move the game along faster. Try it some time! In a show of good sportsmanship, we allowed Tim's use of the word "promo" early in the game. That proved to be a bad move as he then went on the kill us on the scoreboard. 

Once again, we had a really good time, enjoying the company, reminding each other of incidents that occurred in high school and solving the problems of the world.

 

 

 

Below: The first selfie ever photo bombed by an outhouse! Tim, Billy, Neil, Al and Emad.  We hope the human John and the rest of the lads who couldn't make it this year will be back for Man's Spa VI.

A Tippy Start to Season 5

It's hard to believe this is already season 5 for the cottage! The place has come a long way in five years, with the addition of running water, propane appliances and most recently, a large deck making it quite comfy for living in the wild.

We opened the place for the year on Victoria Day weekend. I'm very pleased to report that everything was in good shape. There were no surprises and no water leaks when I opened the water like there was last spring when there was a small flood in the basement from a pipe that froze and split over the winter. Evidently, the repairs I made withstood this winter’s freeze. I was most relieved to see that our new deck, that Greg and I built last summer, looked as good as new. I was confident that the design and workmanship would make it a solid deck for many years, but with the huge amount of snow this past winter...well you never know.

And then there's the dock to attend to.  Each year, the dock needs some adjustments after the forces of freezing and thawing on the lake. The water was so high that the shore pilings were 6 feet from shore and had been pulled up somewhat and leaning towards the lake.  So I spent a couple of hours making adjustments, standing in water to my knees, one hand straightening the shore piling in the water while the other lifted and dropped the sledge hammer to drive it into the lake bed. Luckily, there were no misses with the heavy hammer and the dock is once again accessible.

Having accomplished all that, I decided to poke around the bay in the canoe.  I didn't take the wide beamed veteran fibreglass classic, but instead I used Andrea and Alan's less stable Coleman variety, as it was closest to the water.  While paddling, I noticed some debris in among the bushes about 50 feet from the dock.  I wanted to retrieve it and tried to move close enough among the bushes extending over the water.  It turned out it wasn't worth the risk and I ended up doing something for the very first time in my life: I tipped a canoe.  As I was being dumped, I jumped and landed standing in frigid water up to my waist and immediately righted the canoe as I landed.

Man's Spa IV - back to its roots

Not since the flip flop of the New Coke has there been such a dramatic branding and marketing about face!

The people have spoken and SPArtan weekend is reverting to it's original moniker as "Man's Spa", reclaiming it's proper title.  I tried to get Canadian Tire to sponsor the event but they couldn't afford us and instead they blew their modest budget on naming rights for a suburban hockey rink. Too bad for them.

Billy was back, joining Pat, Tim, Al, Johnny and me for round four. In a clever move, Billy had us sign an oath of secrecy for eternity.   I'm not sure how long that is so I waited a couple of months before posting this just to be safe. If I just broke the oath, oops, sorry about that.  It was an accident but seeing as it's already broken, I might as well just carry on blabbing.

Imagine, if you can, musical icons Johnny Cash, Neil Young and Bob Marley entertaining Man's Spa attendees around a roaring fall campfire in the Upper Gatineau.  Have you got that image in your head now?  Well, that's nothing like what happened at this year's Man's Spa, although we did do our best to pay tribute to them with some of their best (and most difficult) tunes. Thanks for the music Tim.

Every year at Man's Spa Johnny takes a Sunday morning plunge off the dock to wake himself up and refresh. For the first time, he wasn't the only nut to brave the chilling waters as 4 of 5 made a splash. Then we had to fight for the hammock.  Next year it's BYOH.

Oh Johnny, before I forget, please remember to thank your sister for the pillow.

And finally, RIP hawks.

Next year we'll gather again, during the harvest to keep the ring of fire burning with no woman.

Thanks for coming!