Jul 31 - and now we are three

At least as of this morning, August 1.  Jeffrey, Sara and the gang left around 6am.  Sandy has lots of towels & sheets to wash !  I just did a bit of tidy-up but there's more to do, naturally.  Once J&S had picked up all of their kids' stuff, we found what Lauren had left behind :).

I understand that David might come to the cottage this upcoming long weekend but I won't see him.  I'll be riding that 1000k.

Yesterday was a busy one.  I tackled the rest of the cottage-attached deck which runs from the front through the clothesline at the kitchen.  The rest of the deck - that side and around the back - is self supported, i.e. on posts and deck support stones.  They've settled a bit and I will re-level, but likely not this year.

I worked my way under the deck, crawling in places, to cut back the tarpaper that is between each stringer.  Accumulating a few mosquito bites, you can now see daylight all around which should help with any dampness.  Apart from the deck, I'm surprised at this cedar, which has dry rot in a couple of places on the railings.  I wouldn't have expected cedar to rot that way.  One day I might have to replace the railings but for now, I'll likely replace those top pieces ... perhaps next summer ... unless I feel industrious when we get back here in the fall. 

Speaking of bites, I folded back the tarp that was covering the woodbox that David and Vanda had filled and it seems that the wasps liked that secluded spot with the tarp and were starting a nest.   The first sting was, I thought briefly, simply a sliver but the second woke me up.  My right arm is still a bit swollen and my left hand quite a bit so.  It really ached all day yesterday and it was swollen enough that I couldn't make a fist.  Lorraine had one benadryl tablet and Sandy found some more, so I had two.  It wasn't long before I was very snoozy and had a nap. 

Once up again, the fun started ...water fun, that is.  The kids went tubing - Emma + Zoe; Zoe + Matthew; Matthew alone; then Emma and Matthew on one of the kids kayaks.  Jeffrey tried to get up on the slalom ski once from the dock and then twice from the water, then gave up and went tubing.  In all this, both the Bayliner and Whaler had a workout.  It was fun.

Pork loin, asparagus, brussels sprouts, potatoes etc. filled us up afterwards.  The kids ate twice as much as usual, perhaps having burned off some energy in the water.

Now it's quiet ... Sandy went back to bed; there's mist over the lake; it's windless, the calm AFTER the storm :).

Onward !