Cottaging

Jer and I have been trying to get up North to my cousin's cottage all summer, but it just hasn't worked out. I've been without him, but we wanted to go together. At the last minute, this weekend just happened to work out so on Friday evening Jer, myself, and my cousin Annette piled into our car and headed up. It was cold and rainy, and we were concerned about our packing jobs which were all light on the sweaters and warm socks, but once we got out of the city the skies cleared up and we were surrounded by a dark, star spotted blanket. I know it's enough to make some people cringe, but I love driving down a dark, deserted highway at night. The Sunday late night commute under the stars was one of my favourite parts of my year in Peterborough for this very reason.

We pulled up to the cottage just before 10 and were greeted by a pair of deer outside the front door. We turned off our lights and waited until they fled into the forest behind the neighbour's. After unpacking the car, we started up the fireplace, made some hot chocolate, put on a movie, and cuddled up for the night.

Saturday was cold, but beautiful. After relaxing a while, Annette set herself up with hours of homework and Jer and I went into town to get out of her way. I was excited to see the earliest of the changing leaves (have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Fall?). We followed the signs for an advertised Fall Fair, which took us on a long and confusing journey which ended with a tiny parking lot carnival with an $8 fee to park. We decided to skip it in favour of a walk by a river, some antiquing, and lunch at a local restaurant.

Sunday morning Annette was back at her pile of homework and Jer situated himself with a book on the deck. I decided to go exploring. Even though I know the area well, there are always new places to see. Down a side road I found a wooded trail, so I texted Jer to let him know where I was and spent an hour or so wandering around (and even spotted a deer!) before I let the story of a neighbour's recent bear sighting scare me into leaving. We've never known there to be bears in the area, but this neighbour feeds the deer (even though it's frowned upon) and found a bear at her 'feeding station' one morning.

 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, collecting some acorns for crafting, and cleaning before heading back to the city for a family dinner to celebrate the Jewish new year (we are a culturally diverse family!), a recent retirement, and an even more recent engagement. I'm so glad we were able to get away this weekend. It was the perfect break from the city.

(the Pyrex was an antique shop find from Saturday)

Some views from previous cottage trips can be seen here and here.