Cottage Life by Janice Carter

It's almost the end of June and finally I'm settled in at the cottage.  In the days before retirement (how sweet to say those words!), the move from city to island was hectic and drawn-out. A few weeks before the end of school, our family would make the three hour drive from home to Garden Island near Kingston, Ontario, transporting clothes, books, toys, some cooking utensils and kitchen staples. All of this would be loaded into our station wagon, then loaded into our small-ish boat for the 15 minute ride across the St.Lawrence, then unloaded into wheelbarrows and rolled down the long lane to our cottage. Then the unpacking, organizing and cleaning would begin. The whole process would be repeated for at least three weekends until we were finally ensconced for the summer. Of course, the reverse would occur in mid-October on our Thanksgiving weekend. Think holiday traffic and add another hour and a half to the trip back! But now, thanks to retirement, all of that can be accomplished - like everything else in my life these days - at a leisurely pace.
     I've written about Garden Island and its history before in this blog, but just to recap for newcomers, the island has been privately owned since the late 1800s by a family (sadly, not mine!) whose ancestors operated a ship building company that constructed sail and steam ships, along with giant timber rafts, on this 65 acre island. There once was a village of 750 people here! When the company closed down after WWI, the family converted it into a holiday retreat, using the remaining buildings - a schoolhouse, a post office, workers' houses, a dining hall - into rental cottages. Although none of us own our cottages (except the real owners), we're allowed to keep our places from year to year. That means we can leave all of our stuff here all the time. We've been in our place for 34 years! 
our cottage in the fall
the living room

    There are many wonderful aspects to island living,but the best is the community that shares the island with us. Our children were lucky to spend whole summers here, thanks to my job as a teacher. We've never had a TV and only got the internet a few years ago, so the kids spent their days biking down the lane, producing and performing plays like a comic spoof of Pride and Prejudice written by one of my daughters called Dimwits and Damsels, attended by the whole island. There was an island newspaper - the Garden Island Gazette - for a few seasons and the kids played night games (tag, hide-and-seek) in the apple orchard, camped out in the walnut grove, swam (always with an adult - the only island rule for kids) and went treasure hunting.
         
More treasure
A treasure box
The adults organized - and still do - an annual Canada Day 'cocktail' party (July 1st) on a cottage lawn, a Thanksgiving pot luck in the former sail loft and a pumpkin carving contest. Nowadays with more retired cottagers staying here for longer periods of time, we also have rotating retiree dinners.
    My husband (who surely must have been a farmer in his former life) plants huge veggie and flower gardens, keeps beehives and raises chickens, which are given to a farmer on the mainland every fall when we leave for the city.
 

a swarm of bees
 
Beekeeper husband collecting swarm
  I like to pick the flowers and veggies 😊 cook and bake family favorites (Asian flank steak, fruit pies, any kind of pickle...you get the picture),

pickled turnips
rhubarb pie

 write romance novels while listening to the chatter and songs of the large variety of birds on the island or simply sit in an Adirondack and daydream.
   
cool refuge on a hot day
    In spite of some inconveniences - an outdoor privy, the need to ferry drinking water - and some critters that many people don't like (non- poisonous garter and water snakes plus more species of spiders than one can have nightmares about) we enjoy meadow, marsh, woods and shore with no traffic, other than bikes, wheelbarrows and occasionally, a tractor.
    We've known the community of people here for so long they are like extensions of our own family and we've watched their children and grandchildren grow up here, too.  It's not so much cottage life, as a way of life and the perfect antidote to the stresses of the city.

Where and what is your healing place?

Thanks for joining me today!

Janice Carter


 

Comments

  1. Your "cottage life" fascinates me so much--it's like a cross between Elisabeth Ogilvie's Bennett's Island and PEI, where I spend so much time with Anne of Green Gables. I'm so glad you share it with us. I hope you're having a great summer.

    My healing place is here in the cornfields where we live, I think, although I do love beach sojourns and times in mountains. And always, always, peace and healing can be found in the pages of books.

    Thanks for the post, Janice.

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    1. Yes to peace and healing found in books, Liz! And the beauty of that is you can be anywhere with one. I get the tranquillity of a cornfield though....my brother lives on a farm next to cornfields and they can be almost mesmerizing.

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  2. Admiration for a gently detailed ‘Swallows and Amazons’, with perfect, idyllic photo illumination!

    Chris McN.

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    1. Idyllic is a good word to describe Garden Island, Chris...at least most of the time. And the Arthur Ransome reference fits, too, as this place is in many ways a relic of the past. In a good way of course. Thanks for joining the blog today!

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  3. Sounds like wonderful life! Wanting to pack my bags and visit you (kidding!). I used to have a weekend place in Young, AZ, the most remote town in the state. Was a great writing retreat. Sold it a couple years ago, however. One of these days, I'd like to get another cabin in the cooler pine country.

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    1. There’s no better refuge than any place connected to Nature, Cathy. And yes, if you’re ever up our way....you know how to reach me!

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  4. Anyone with a retreat is a lucky person. I have to just dream of one. I'd pick someplace near the ocean where I could hear the waves roll in. Hope you have a great summer.

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    1. We get the sound of waves here too, Roz, when the wind comes up. Though not oceanic, which is a good thing for our small boats. As to refuges or retreats, I think we can find one almost anywhere. In my city home, my fave place is the sofa next to our backyard sliding doors where I can watch urban wildlife - squirrels. :)

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  5. I'm relaxing just reading about your way of life, Janice. A whole summer of puttering about. Sigh. Enjoy!

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  6. I wish I had a whole summer of puttering, M.K., instead of typing. However, am not going to complain too much about that! :)

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  7. What an amazing way of life! Wish I could have been there to watch Damsels and Dimwits with the rest of the islanders. My healing places are outdoors, whether it's walking on the mesa in Arizona or watching the goslings grow up in the park in Anchorage. Or sometimes just being alone in the garden looking at flower buds or tiny green squash and anticipating.

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    1. The play was pretty funny and my daughter, a budding feminist at 13, had most of the male roles as the dimwits while the females were decidedly outspoken damsels. I know how beautiful Arizona is and would love to see Alaska. The inland passage cruise, someday maybe. And you’re so right, Beth, that gazing at sprouting plants can be a satisfying escape!

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  8. Thanks for the lovely description and photos. It's great to change the rhythm of our days and weeks now and again--get a taste of all different ways to live and enjoy them all.

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    1. Too true, Virginia. The cliche of ‘stop and smell the roses’ can’t really be improved on, can it?

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  9. I'm thinking perfect place for a writers' retreat. When do you want us to show up? I'll bring chocolate :)

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  10. Love your post, Janice, and photos. To me, you're cottage life is the dream life.

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