Opening the cottage

Last weekend, with some minor grumbling from the children, we drove down to the cottage for a check-in.  The second week of April, the water department had connected the water at the street and then we received word (via a bill) from the plumber letting us know that the water had been turned on in the cottage.  Hiring a plumber to turn the water off and on was one decision I do not regret at all.  Especially after the water fiasco last spring.



On the way down, we stopped for a picnic lunch next to the canal.



Can you see how there are no leaves on the trees on the other side?





Apparently, I wasn't paying attention to the weather after our last visit because there was some very minor storm damage this time around.  The top of the light fixture next to the driveway blew off and then someone ran over it.  And then we found this in the backyard



from a pine which sits right on the property line.  At least it didn't take out the fence.



Rich determined that the line from the street to the house that was down across the driveway was the telephone wire.  It was actually written on the outside of the wire.  That was an easy fix.  The hook holding it up at the roofline just had to be reattached to the house.



We had stopped at the library before we hit the road so the girls had some reading material to keep them busy.  They were really good with keeping themselves entertained.  So much so that when we said it was time to go, they didn't want to.  One of them said, "It was more fun than I thought it would be."



While Rich cleaned up branches from the yard, I vacuumed and dusted inside.  I feel much better with where we stand now than last year.  I feel like decorating can actually happen this year.  Last spring, we had problems with winter water damage and then we discovered something had happened to the toilet so we decided to have the entire bathroom redone instead of patching the problem and having to revisit remodeling the bathroom at a later time.  This year, we have water and we're good to go.

We didn't see any turkeys at all last year but these two were running around the neighborhood last weekend.  Every other person on our street has a dog so I'm sure they'll be moving along when their furry friends show up.



Because the weather was "nice" we spent some time walking on the beach.  See the jackets the girls are wearing?  I was wearing my winter Michelin Man coat because it needs to be 70 before I feel warm.
















Caught dancing.











On our way home, we stopped for dinner at The Skipper in Yarmouth.  The bread basket was so, so tasty.  There was some sort of spice bread that we all loved.