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In the islands you go big
or you go home.
Janice had her final 5-year post cancer checkup this month and was given the 'all clear' by her doctors. They told her they did not want to see her anymore and she told them the feeling was mutual. We are thrilled to have her back from the dark side.
It never ends
We are often asked if we are all done with big projects, either here or anywhere else. The idea being that with nothing left to do, we can relax. We think that we have the relaxing thing down pretty well, but as any homeowner can attest, there may not be any big projects in the offing but maintenance and remodeling pretty much never ends.
This summer, for instance we will have to re-roof. Time flies when you are having fun but it has been 17years since we initially had a quick and dirty roofing job done when we bought the place to prevent the leak doing any more damage over the first winter when it was leaking like a sieve. At last we can use that pile of cash we had no idea what to do with.
Roofing is not the end of the world but it's no small chore either. The siding on the back of the cabin maybe replaced also in preparation for the two ends of the cabin being done in 2018. This will require the back deck being remodeled at the same time since they are tied in together. All of this interferes with flying so it is less than amusing.
Roofing is not the end of the world but it's no small chore either. The siding on the back of the cabin maybe replaced also in preparation for the two ends of the cabin being done in 2018. This will require the back deck being remodeled at the same time since they are tied in together. All of this interferes with flying so it is less than amusing.
The summer of 2019 will surely see us re-coating the logs of the cabin to preserve the color. None of this takes into account all the great new ideas Janice will come up with between now and then that will have to be slipped into the schedule. No complaints though, just keeping it real.
We got a call from my sister one night this past month telling us that my 48-year-old brother had just had a stroke. Janice and I drove to the hospital in Montreal while my sister and mother drove from Toronto. Since he was in the Jewish General hospital, in a moment of levity l was tempted to tell him they were prepping him for the circumcision he had signed up for, but thought the better of it since he was barely conscious.
The dock
Last month I wrote that our main dock would probably be toast and would likely need to be destroyed and re-built as a result of the rising water raising one end at an angle. Many locals have placed drums filled with water on their dock to 'hold them down' and prevent them from floating away.
I thought I was probably past the point of no return when we got here because of the time lapse but since I had a bunch of drums in preparation to build a floating dock extension I thought I would give it a try. As I had suspected, the raised end had pulled the wood piers right out of the bottom of the river and was now 'floating'.
I thought I was probably past the point of no return when we got here because of the time lapse but since I had a bunch of drums in preparation to build a floating dock extension I thought I would give it a try. As I had suspected, the raised end had pulled the wood piers right out of the bottom of the river and was now 'floating'.
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| Somewhere under here is a dock |
I loaded seventeen
40-gallon (160L) drums at roughly 200 pounds (90 K) each filled
with water on the problem end of the dock and it settled back to its relative level position. It turned out to be a worthwhile move. It was hard to take
any pleasure in sinking my dock but it had to be done. The
trick will be keeping it there when the water level drops. Steel piers
are probably in my future.
The unintended consequence was that our "Little Free Library" that so many count on for a source of books, had to be removed as it was now under water.
The unintended consequence was that our "Little Free Library" that so many count on for a source of books, had to be removed as it was now under water.
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| The water level is currently to the very top of the dock seen in the background |
The only other disappointment was that after we filled our little flower boat with flowers and put it out in front of the island as we do every year, 48 hours later a boat came by and created such a wake that it flipped it over and put $300. of flowers to the bottom of the river in 7 feet of water. I dove down and found all the pots right side up (the bottom end with the dirt is heavier).
I salvaged them all and put the soaked pots on the edge of the shore but the next boat that came by flipped a 3-foot-long tray over and it went all over hell and gone. The bottom line is after 6 weeks of being here, there is little change in this once in a lifetime high water level.
It could be much worse though. We jet skied to a friends cottage and got off at their submerged dock. (They will not come this season) I sloshed up through the water to their front door and looking inside through the glass I could see all their furniture bobbing around in 1 foot of water. We have offered to try to salvage anything of great value to them as they are not in a position to get it themselves.
I salvaged them all and put the soaked pots on the edge of the shore but the next boat that came by flipped a 3-foot-long tray over and it went all over hell and gone. The bottom line is after 6 weeks of being here, there is little change in this once in a lifetime high water level.
It could be much worse though. We jet skied to a friends cottage and got off at their submerged dock. (They will not come this season) I sloshed up through the water to their front door and looking inside through the glass I could see all their furniture bobbing around in 1 foot of water. We have offered to try to salvage anything of great value to them as they are not in a position to get it themselves.
Is this a house or a cottage?
Hmmm.... we have asked ourselves the same question. I always thought that a cottage was a place that grandparents owned and where you spent a week or two in the summer, swimming and boating with campfires at night. Our family never had one but we did rent a cottage for a week by a lake one year when I was a child.
It was what I always assumed a cottage was. That is, a dilapidated wood clad building with exposed framing on the inside, no insulation or drywall and torn screens on the porch to allow all the mosquitoes to share the space with you. NO electricity, water drawn from buckets taken to the lake. Pretty much what we bought here.
It was what I always assumed a cottage was. That is, a dilapidated wood clad building with exposed framing on the inside, no insulation or drywall and torn screens on the porch to allow all the mosquitoes to share the space with you. NO electricity, water drawn from buckets taken to the lake. Pretty much what we bought here.
I know that many people own cottages where they spend a few weeks to a month sometime over the course of the summer. The name carries the connotation of an old fashioned small building. For us, check! on both counts. An 1100 sf. (100 sm) log cabin certainly can't be called big (Janice says it barely has enough room to swing a cat!) so maybe it is a cottage.
Then again, the interior hardly reflects my grandma's taste in decor and with a washer and dryer, dishwasher, trash compactor, satellite TV and island wide WI-fi, it doesn't quite fit the cottage mold either. Nobody has to take a pail down to the river to get water with a commercial water filtration system in place and we had power and a telephone line brought in by submarine cable.
The thing is that when we bought the island we decided then and there that it would have all of the amenities and conveniences our home in California. We even added a mosquito magnet to ensure that the island would be a mosquito free zone. I think the thing that pushed it over the edge for us was the fact that we live here for a third of the year so it is not a place we go vacation to. It's our home. That settles it, it's a house.
The thing is that when we bought the island we decided then and there that it would have all of the amenities and conveniences our home in California. We even added a mosquito magnet to ensure that the island would be a mosquito free zone. I think the thing that pushed it over the edge for us was the fact that we live here for a third of the year so it is not a place we go vacation to. It's our home. That settles it, it's a house.
Speaking of houses...
We have had our home in California for some 34 years so it's obvious that we bought the property we built it on somewhat cheaper than we would pay for it today. The other day I came across a tid-bit of information that reported that the median price for a home in our community was now at $700,000. (US) The problem is that the median income for a millennial in our community was somewhere around $35,000. By their calculations, a young person in that income bracket could garner the traditional down payment in as little as 31 and a half years. That is faster than Los Angeles 32-year average.
No wonder all of our kids moved out of state.
No wonder all of our kids moved out of state.
Family Drama
We got a call from my sister one night this past month telling us that my 48-year-old brother had just had a stroke. Janice and I drove to the hospital in Montreal while my sister and mother drove from Toronto. Since he was in the Jewish General hospital, in a moment of levity l was tempted to tell him they were prepping him for the circumcision he had signed up for, but thought the better of it since he was barely conscious.
The fact is that his general health is poor, so after two weeks in the hospital, he is expected to be in a rehab center for 1 to 3 months. We sure hope he improves.
From the flight deck
Putting the graphics on the new floats
Last month I wrote that I might not be able to put the plane of floats this year. Update: I can and I am. Turns out that its not that hard to see trash in the river from the air, so I am moving ahead. A flying buddy put his plane on floats also, so the summer adventures will now begin.
I simply cannot think of better therapy for whatever ails you than to go dancing with the angels.
Putting the graphics on the new floats
Last month I wrote that I might not be able to put the plane of floats this year. Update: I can and I am. Turns out that its not that hard to see trash in the river from the air, so I am moving ahead. A flying buddy put his plane on floats also, so the summer adventures will now begin.
I simply cannot think of better therapy for whatever ails you than to go dancing with the angels.
Flying tip of the month:
Nothing is more useless than the runway behind you.
