Friday, April 16, 2021

Opening up the cottage for the season

 

One of the kitchen windows.  The breadbox will not "live" in that particular spot; it's just handy there for now as it contains napkins for the kids to use for their cookies.

Although snow is currently falling outside my window -- a crazy spring storm that is frosting the forsythia and other seasonal blooms -- there were some beautiful days last week, and we were able to open up our little camp for the season.  Very exciting!  Here are some photos from one of those days.

Here's another shot from the same window (but there are four windows in this tiny kitchen!).  This one doesn't show the dilapidated outhouse, soon to be replaced.  It also doesn't show what I saw when I first opened the windows last Thursday:

Yes, there were sap buckets on some of those trees!  Lord willing, next spring there will be even more.  But I'd forgotten to bring the camera on Thursday, so couldn't get a photo.  Before that day was done, Mr. T and the grandkids had taken all the sap buckets down.
Another kitchen view.  The canisters at this point contain K-cups and clothespins.  I've yet to use that percolator but I think it looks so perfect there.  We bought a Keurig on a black Friday sale to use at the camp.  So convenient!  We don't even have one of those at home, but it's just right for the camp.
Out the bathroom window.  So many old stone foundations around this place!  we plan to plant bulbs and summer flowers out there.
The sleeping nook and its window.  This view looks out to the dirt road.

The old pump organ in the large room.  You can see into the center room (those curtains -- which I assumed were gray until I soaked them multiple times in Oxi-Clean -- hide the sleeping nook) and on into the kitchen where you see my hubby standing.  Love the slightly curved archway into the kitchen.  The green area above the pine paneling marks the original roof line of the little logging camp that forms the first two rooms.  We'll be keeping it green for the historical value.

The coasters above were a Christmas gift from our two  oldest granddaughters.  They selected these designs with the camp in mind!
Out a screened window: Loon Lake is in the distance.
Large screened windows with the table beneath.
Mr. T made this bookcase for my sister.  When we cleaned out the old homestead, we decided the bookcase would work well at the camp.  It's next to another of the large screened windows.
 
My hubby works at cutting up some fallen limbs that came down over the winter.  Arielle (below) helped by carrying the pieces to the campfire pit.  Then she turned to collecting sticks from around the yard and placing them at the fire pit as well.


Grandson Sam is just emerging from the woods between their place and ours.  There's not much sweeter than seeing them come along one of the paths through the woods or riding up the dirt road on their bikes!

Hope you've enjoyed this look at our simple little cottage as we prepare for a spring and summer of work and play over there.  Lord willing, a lot of exciting changes are coming.

8 comments:

  1. Lots of memories there and many more to be made. Sweetness all over the place. How handy to have helpers! My mother collected tins for camp and put everything edible into them from bread to cookies, marshmallows to tea. Have a splendid time!

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    1. Thank you, Vee! I went to this post to send the link to a friend and found several sweet unanswered comments. My grandmother kept things in glass jars or tins. I will never forget the special tin that held the Campfire marshmallows! 😊

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  2. OH I love this SO much! I love the idea of having a camp for the family to gather in for play, retreating from the world, and just good old fashioned family fun. How I envy you, but I know I'm not supposed to do that, but it has been a dream of mine for SO long to have such a place. And I love the pump organ especially. I may have told you that my paternal Grandparents had a cabin in PA when I was a child, and they had an old pump organ in it. That is the one memory that sticks in my mind the most about their cabin. They sold it when they retired and moved to Florida, as did we all move around the same time so no one was going back to PA anymore. How I wish we could have kept it in the family, but it was not meant to be. Please make LOTS of happy memories together there, and I hope you will record many of them for us here to enjoy with you vicariously. Thank you for making my day. I can smell the fresh NH air. Was it really warm enough for the little one to be in her bathing suit already? And now you have snow again! I remember those kinds of springs in NH/Maine. So excited for you. Thank you for allowing us to share the adventure.

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    1. Pam, thank you for your sweet comments. That's just the kind of place we want it to be! I'm glad I could make your day!

      Yes, it was very warm that April day. I wouldn't have said quite warm enough for a bathing suit. I think a tank top and shorts might have been a better choice, but she showed up in her swimsuit. And survived! 😊

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  3. Happy Camp Opening!
    This is an exciting time of year. The sleeping nook looks a daydreamer's delight.

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  4. I love your cabin...looks so cozy and think of the all the past memories and memories to be made.

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  5. Yes, you're so right about the memories. And it has indeed become such a cozy spot, and so precious to us!

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