Year Two Day Forty Five - Calzone

Dear all, 

We have worked hard all week on the cottage so what better way to celebrate but with a mighty feast at 'That Place' in Canarvan. http://www.thatplaceincarnarvon.com/

We started out with a delicious appetizer of Scallops wrapped in bacon (divine) and then moved on to the main event, a dish that Darren had had a craving for and suggested would be a fabulous blog worthy treat. 

We ordered a calzone and couldn't resist some of their very special perch fingers on the side ( cos we didn't have enough food, clearly). The calzone belongs to the Italian born Pizza family and consists of a pizza crust filled with mozzarella, tomato and other favorite pizza ingredients and then folded into a crescent ( much like a beloved Cornish Pastie) and either baked or deep fried. 

We elected to have the calzone deep fried ( I'll run a half mara tomorrow...) and it arrived with a side of a fabulous hot tomato sauce which we could either dip or spread over our food. 

The whole meal was delicious and topped off with a pint of Steam Whistle, a delicious, Canadian lager (http://www.steamwhistle.ca/), fabulous! 

Year Two Day Forty Four - Rafting on a Floating Dock

Dear all, 

It was yet another fabulous morning at the cottage and we were quick to get going and start work (after a spot of fishing of course)

We started off by breaking up the large (and some might say) eyesore, a makeshift canoe rack that was standing prominent at the front of the property. With the help of some powerful Gibbs (http://www.getgibbs.com), we managed to get the bolts out of the large planks of wood and get everything packed away ready to be recycled down the line. 

We then got to work finished off the dock - Bob used a plank of wood to draw a line along the side of the dock and then used a skill saw to finish off the ends while I collected them for later use as firewood. 

As you can see, it is a major improvement and looks fantastic!

I then got to work chopping back one of the trees we had dropped to make room for the hydro lines (The brush was rather too close to the fire for comfort and needed a major trim). Darren and Bob had 'home made' a neat little saw for me to use and I got to work immediately. 

And here is a picture of my finished work! It was hot but I didn't let up until I had finished and rewarded myself with a swim in the lake.. sigh. 

Darren and Bob were busy moving the cottage 'fire number' ( similar to house-number for any confused Brits) onto the dock, seen below with new rail in pride of place on the dock. 

Darren then started work on the ramp for the dock - seen here cutting the slates and assembling them on the ramp... Lots of little tasks but all just as important as each other and we are ticking them off one by one.

The highlight of the day was when Ryan and I decided to relocate the large floating dock that had been left behind by the previous owners. It was right around the corner from the main dock (hard to see even in the picture below but in the far left hand corner).

We managed to get the dock free from the various ropes and debris that was keeping it lodged onto the shore but only after about 10 minutes of hard rowing did we realized that the dock also had an anchor.. Ryan was very savvy to have made this discovery and it certainly made our trajectory much easier.. Darren managed to get a video of our adventure but missed the SNAPPING TURTLE that both D and Ryan spotted while I was IN THE WATER to fetch a rope. No worries though, I love turtles... at least it wasn't a bull shark.

Here is the new dock! An after thought, but looks great and a superb addition to our ever growing wilderness empire - The cottage is coming together!

And in other news:
1. The new coffee maker is out of the box and ready for action! As long as there is coffee, everything else just falls into place..


2.

Year Two Day Forty Three - Cupboard Through The Window

Dear all, 

Today we started the serious work on the bunk house, our strategy being that we would renovate this first after which we would work on the main cottage. The bunkie is still fairly big but needs a significant amount of work doing before it would be able to accommodate us but we were not undeterred. 

Bob had made ( from scratch!!!) a whole set of kitchen cupboards and bought brand new windows for every window frame which we bought up to the bunkie from the boat. While the boys were acquainting themselves with the new space, I got to work cleaning out the back bedroom - I [rather triumphantly] smashed up an old bed and box spring, removed it from the room, unlocked the back door and swept the place clean. I also (with Ryan) managed to remove a large 'nest' found in some old shelves and numerous bags and boxes full of junk. 

We had managed to get most of the cupboards inside the bunk house but then realized, with concern, that the two larger corner cupboards where significantly larger than the door - they were stuck, outside *aggg*. 

But Bob came to the rescue and took the window frame apart which would hopefully allow us to hoist the [large] cupboard up and inside the bunk house. 

With all four of us lifting, we managed to get the cupboard up and over into the bunkie through the window! Although it felt like a challenge more suited to the Krypton Factor, we did it and now all the cupboards are  safely in the bunkhouse and ready to be assembled!

Everything is coming together, the Bunkie is looking better and better all the time....

....And here is the first window now in place! It looks fantastic! 

Year Two Day Forty Two - The First Fish

Dear all, 

Ryan is on fire!!! Today he took to the waters and tried out a spot of fishing. Armed with a box of tackle and the infinite wisdom of Bob, he spent the morning casting out his line and seeing what he could catch for dinner..  

It was another fabulous day and the boys had a great time checking out what was lurking beneath in the depths of the lake. Despite me asking about the presence of Bull Sharks and Sea serpents ( apparently very rare in this area...), there was plenty of other fresh water activity in our lake and Ryan's first fishing adventure was a royal success.

And here is the first fish! A bass, normally found hiding amongst the rocks but can be seen chasing minnows and are clearly suckers for nice juicy [floating] worms.

We thought it was important to document this moment properly so here is a video of Ryan's first fish and  first fish of the cottage! 

After that, Ryan caught the bug and ended up catching at least 20 fish over the course of the afternoon. A great yield and very exciting ( although the fish did escape the grill...). 

Year Two Day Forty One - First BBQ at the Cottage

Dear all,

After a big day of work up at the cottage, everyone was very excited about tucking into a major feast and  what better way to use our, already smouldering fire to BBQ some sausages and christen the new grill. 

As you can see, we had some major lifting to do and made use of some very handy pieces of equipment including Bob's big red cart. We shipped cupboards, wood and all sorts of tools up to the bunkhouse and main cabin...

We managed to form a temporary bridge between the land and the floating dock which allowed us to move the larger items across to land. Here are a couple of snap shots of all the boys in action - they make it look easy!

The kitchen is currently out of commission so we cleaned up the grill ( using Bob's ingenious method of removing rust using a stone which he rubbed across the metal) and were ready for cooking. 

Darren got the fire going while I got the meat ready and laid out the condiments on our makeshift table [a tree].

The fire also kept the bugs at bay which was much appreciated despite their recent demise since the heat wave. We are lucky not to be hounded by any particularly sinister wildlife in the area with bear sightings at a minimum and nothing in the least bit venomous. (Ryan did claim to hear a moose call however which was rather exciting - apparently they sound like a cross between a large cow and an elephant)

Here is our wonderful grill ready for her first meaty treat! Darren and Bob organized the fire pit perfectly to allow the circular grill to fit on top while I grabbed the spicy dogs...

And the prize for the Master Chef goes to Ryan! He took up those tongs like a pro and dominated that grill!

Ryan is clearly a natural, this being one of his first outings as BBQ chief and he cooked us up a storm. 

A* for Ryan and a brilliant first meal at the cottage! Hot dogs in the wilderness, I love it!

And in other news:
1. Darren took us all for a spin around the island to check out some prime spots for fishing the next day...

We  had eyed up a couple of other boats that seemed to be 'hovering' around certain areas of the lake so thought we would check it out.

We found a brilliant spot next to a natural spring cascading down the rock face from the forest. The adjacent land is all protected parkland so free from any development and an area of astounding natural beauty ( and great fishing spots!)