#342 - Moving Wood

After the late-night drive to the cottage last night and staying up late to chat with my sister and brother-in-law until one AM, I wasn’t about to start my Saturday getting up at the crack of dawn.

The sun shone thorough the two windows and the birds chirped outside in sing song falsettos. I could hear that my young niece and nephew were already up and causing mischief. That was around seven thirty, and I when I checked to see of Robyn was awake, I could see she was dead to the world.

She managed to sleep until about eight thirty before getting up and going to play with the kids. I grabbed my copy of the Sand Pebbles and read a chapter before getting out of bed.

I started the day by helping Robyn’s dad, Bill, trim branches from a tree fifty feet in the air. Bill produced a saw on a pole. It came in segments and you could just keep adding them on to make it longer. At fifty feet it got a bit unwieldy, but eventually we managed to trim the tree until Bill was happy.

Then the real work began.

The job of the day was to move the dumped pile of firewood from where it was to a spot behind the cottage into racks to allow it to dry. My brother-in-law, John, drove an ATV with an attached trailer, his two kids in riding on the seat with him. One team loaded the logs, and then John drove it up a hill and behind the cottage were a second team unloaded and stacked the wood neatly.

We stopped for a nice breakfast of bacon, English muffins, cheddar cheese slices, prosciutto, tater tots, and fried eggs which I used to make a sandwich out of. I added some of the muffuletta I had brought to add a little tang to the sandwich. It was delicious.

I had a coffee afterwards to wash it all down and give me a little more energy for the second half of the day.

We continued loading the trailer and after it left, we would gather the smaller pieces and stack them into a wall of kindling. It ended up being two feet high and twelve feet long. In total we moved about eight cords of wood. By the time we finished the last load we were all ready for a dip in the lake.

We changed into our suits, and I grabbed the S.S. Woodzo and headed down the trail to the beach. Out on the dock the sun was shinning and there was a nice steady breeze. The water was cold but not terribly so. I floated peacefully in the Woodzo and then spent the rest of the time on the dock sitting under the shade og my umbrella, relaxing in one of the red Muskoka chairs. I felt much refreshed and was enjoying the family, the little ones being little ones and the nice weather.

After some time, the kids all left and I spent some time with Robyn’s dad and mother -in-law on the dock chatting. Bill fished while we sat hoping to catch another massive pike like he had the day before. He sent me the picture of it, and the fish was as long as his leg.

There is a strong chance we will be eating that pike this weekend.

The rest of the family left to go into town and get some ice cream. I returned to the cottage to get out of my damp swimsuit and do a little writing. With the cottage nearly empty, and completely empty of children, it seemed like the best time to get things done.

After all the physical labour this morning and afternoon, it’s nice to sit and have quiet moment to myself before I have to go get dinner ready for everyone. And if I was smart, I would make sure to take and an Advil now so that the stiffness and muscle aches aren’t so devastating later on in the evening.

I’m really looking forward to eating some Chicken Ruby tonight as well. I brought some instant mac and cheese for the little ones as they likely won’t like the other offerings I have prepared.

I spent about an hour in my guest room writing and watching a few videos followed by a very short game of chess. My opponent gave up to easily in my opinion. In his shoes, I would have fought on, waiting for a moment for my opponent to make an error.

I went downstairs and played an invented game with my niece while they watched Night at the Museum and then it was time to heat up the Chicken Ruby and the chana masala. We put the naan bread in the oven and the basmati rice into the microwave.

The meal went down well, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I made some microwavable mac and cheese for the kids as I assumed they wouldn’t eat the very flavourful Indian food.

After cleaning up we had a bonfire on the beach. The wind was blowing the smoke out onto the lake and the temperature was just a little cool. Basically, it was a perfect night to have a campfire. And best of all, I didn’t see, hear, or feel a single mosquito the whole night.

Before leaving the cottage to go down to the beach, I put on the air conditioning because the upper floor felt like a sauna. I’d set the temperature to 19 degrees Celsius and by the time we made it all the way up the hill to the cottage and then up the flight of stairs to the upper floor, which was still warm and humid, I was very glad to walk into our cool room.

The day was filled with plenty of physical exercise and good food that we welcomed our bed and the sweat sleep that was to follow. The only downside to the room we were assigned this time around was that it was smaller. We are used to King sized bed and once you have that it’s impossible to go back to anything smaller.

Until tomorrow.