Williams Cottage - Spring 2014

Wow, what a winter! I can’t remember a winter as long and as hard as this one was. It is over and we are glad of it. However, in opening up the cottage this year we got a few surprises. We knew that the long hard winter would throw us challenges, but little did we know what we were in for.

Our initial visit to the cottage to see how it faired revealed little. We had been told that the roof was leaking and there was water damage, so we were prepared to re-shingle the roof as soon as practical. However, the ice was still on the lake in late April and there was little that we could do to get ready for the the cottaging season.

When we returned 3 weeks later, things were totally different. The ice was gone, the bugs were starting and the troubles became apparent. I have been cottaging at this cottage throughout my entire 53 years and this year we had our first ever BREAK-IN.

We had decided to take an extra long weekend for the Victoria Day weekend and head up earlier on the Friday. Friday was my birthday and we were going to take the day off work and get a bunch of things done and get to the cottage before the traffic. Picking up our new (to us) boat along the way.

Upon arriving we noticed that the Workshop/Shed was not secured as we had left it and things that were left in it were now on the ground outside of it. In examining the shed we found that thieves had stolen virtually all our our tools and a few other things as well. I guess it could have been worse. There was more that they could have taken. As we looked around the property to see if other things were taken (nothing else was), but we saw that the dock that was fine three weeks ago was now at a forty-five degree angle to the shore with the poles that hold it in place were damaged and no longer secure. Then we went to turn the water on and found that the main line to the pump was no longer connected to the building’s plumbing system. Time to call the plumber as well. The wainscotting on the porch was mainly ruined by the water damage and the new carpet that was waiting to be put in place was now wet and home to a mouse nest.

The plumber came the next day and we got running water again. A new dock was ordered to replace our 25 year old dock. Our friends and family helped out by donating tools to help us replace the stolen ones. The mice were removed and their entry hole plugged. The new carpet was put in place the old carpet taken to the dump. And a work weekend is arranged to shingle the roof.

What a start to summer on Ril Lake I sure hope it gets better from here on. And this was supposed to be the year of getting outstanding projects done! We will persevere and try to get all of the projects done in spite of the decidedly poor start to the year.

We are looking forward to things getting better and to seeing all of our friends and family at the cottage again this summer.

All the best,

Al & Sue