Our Cottage

We decided to buy a cottage in Parry Sound, Ontario. We have been going there since about 1995 to visit our friends the who have had a cottage there for a long time. We have always enjoyed the scenery and the boating, as well as the camaraderie. We also met friends of our friends who also have a cottage there. Our cottage is right next to them and they are right next to our friends.

The cottages are just that, cottages. They are not very big, but they have enough room that we can have guests. We love having visits from family and friends. 

I work from Parry Sound in the summers. I love being a telecommuter! Here is the view from my office in the summer.

Also: Winter 2006.

	This is a map that shows where Parry Sound is located. It is about 2 1/2 hours north of Toronto. It takes about 13 hours to get there from Northern Virginia. Note the US Border and the City of Buffalo in the lower right of the map. Directions to the cottage once you get to Parry Sound can be found in Parry Sound Directions. For those who have not been to the cottage before, here are some cottage hints. Here is a list of what is at the cottage (so we don't bring up more of it and don't forget what we need). And this is my cottage closing checklist.
	Here is the cottage from the front. The cottage itself is 24'x36'. There is a 8'x42' deck in front with a walkway around the back to the garage and driveway. The stairs lead down to the area in front of the cottage and a path to the natural rock stairs that lead to the dock. We put a new roof with two rotating vents on the cottage in 2002.
	This is the view off to the left from the deck. You can see Long's Island in the distant left of the picture. Our Canadian friend Liz Cooney has a traditional swim from the cove she lives in to the far point of the island. Cindy participated in that, although I towed her a lot of the way with the canoe (I was safety patrol). This event is part of her Cooney camp where some of her young relatives come up for a week or so each summer. Our kids and the our friends' kids have now become part of that and enjoy spending time with the Cooneys. They e-mail each other between summers.
	This is the view straight out from the deck. I have cut down a few small pines, but I am just going to prune the others to see a little more of Killbear Park.
	Here is a shot of the dock with the boat moored just out in the water. We moor the boat so it won't get banged on the dock by the wakes of boats going by or during stormy weather. Also, the water is a little low right now and the boat would be in pretty shallow water right next to the dock. To get on board we canoe or wade to the boat and bring it up to the dock for everyone to hop in. You can also see the stone steps down to the dock. There is a metal railing.
	This is the unobstructed view of Killbear Provincial Park from our dock. The park is right across from the cottage and guarantees that we will always have a nice uncluttered view because it will never be developed.
	The kitchen is quite nice, with lots of storage space.  We were fortunate enough to get to take a lot of Dad's dishes, glasses, pots and pans, knives, etc. We kid that we have everything in Canada. The stove was replaced in 2002. In a fit of cheapness I bought the lowest priced one from Sears. It has only one rack and no drawer in the storage area below the oven. Nice going!  I just paneled the kitchen in 2007.
	The dinning area is pretty small but we eat outside most of the time anyway.
	Here is the living room. We have since turned things around so when you are seated you look out the windows. I paneled the living room, dining room, outer wall of the kitchen, and part of the main bedroom in 2005. Cindy made me. Now she wants the floor, which is just painted plywood, covered with real flooring. I guess we'll do pine planking.
	This is the new woodstove. It is really efficient and heats up the whole cottage even in the coldest winter. I manage to have a fire quite a bit even in the summer, but particularly in the spring and fall. If it is too warm for the stove to operate normally there is a screen that replaces the door and allows the stove to operate as a fireplace and not heat the place up as much. Nathaniel and I put in the stone flooring for the stove. The stove itself was professionally installed with a new chimney.
	I am very proud of my new notebook computer. I can transport my computer, second monitor, docking station, external keyboard, and UPS in a carry on suitcase setup. It gives me a really capable workstation that is easily assembled and disassembles and can be taken with me anywhere.
	The main bedroom is actually two smaller bedrooms joined together. It has a queen size bed.  I usually stay on the boat when we have guests. If we have lots of people, Cindy can also stay on the boat. We can probably handle up to about eight guests without too much trouble.
	This is the right hand small bedroom. It has a full size bed, nightstand and lamp. It does not have a dresser. There are a bunch of stacking plastic baskets in the closet for storing clothes. It has some cute bedding that had a previous life as Casey's bedding in Alexandria.
	This is the left hand small bedroom. It has a long twin bed. It has a night stand/lamp with drawers and a dresser. The bedding is pretty basic.
	This is the garage. This is a very handy thing to have because it can serve as a shed for tools, etc. and can store all the outside stuff in the winter. Currently one of our friends is keeping his sailboat in it, while we have our canoe hanging from the ceiling. There is an extra refrigerator where we store the garbage until we can take it to the dump. There is also a small refrigerator where we keep extra beer. There are lots of tools from Dad.