Innholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2025 i Cottage Life

Advice versa In “Captain Canadiana” (Winter ’24), Ryan Tarrant says “dipping into automotive fuel is risky” for snowmobile use. Huh? What other type of fuel is he recommending? I understand not to use E15 ethanol blend, but the vast majority of gasoline fuel available in Canada is up to 10 per cent ethanol, not 15 per cent. And as for fuel that is “months and months old,” you would have to be using a filling station that is extremely underused or remote to have not sold all their stored gasoline in months and months. Most urban stations have fresh fuel delivered at least weekly if not more depending on sales volume of course. Just some clarification would have been helpful in that article.—Steve Morris, St. Jacobs, Ont. Thanks for clarifying,…

NICE HAIR, MAN. “You know you’ve made a good catch if your head feathers stand up,” says Rachelle Mack, who captured this shot of a fish-scarfing green heron on Lake Scugog, Ont. That’s right: there’s a green heron. “It used to be called the green-backed heron, for obvious reasons,” says Doug Tozer of Birds Canada. We can’t blame a cottager for never having heard of The Bird Formerly Known as Green-Backed. Its cousin, the great blue heron, gets far more coverage. (Check out the winners of our 2024 photo contest: “Life in Pictures,” Winter ’24.) Green herons, on the other hand, tend to hide from cottage-country paparazzi. “They’re secretive,” says Tozer. They also don’t look much like herons: they’re compact, with short legs and thick necks. Yet, they’re excellent water-wading…

FOR LAC SINCLAIR, Que., cottage owner Mark Potter, repurposing materials was the starting point for his bold and playful shed. “Not wasting things became the framework I operated in,” he says. “A whimsical look—but consistent with the rest of the cottage—that’s what I was going for.” He used board and batten siding left over from his cottage renovation, painting it a bold cobalt blue to complement his grey cottage and the surrounding environment. “From a distance, cottages on my lake that are blue blend into nature quite well,” he says. “But when you get close, they can be striking.” The weathered cedar boards came from a recently replaced dock. The dock had been in the water for nearly 20 years, and it almost gave way under foot, but Mark didn’t…

WORRIED ABOUT PEOPLE or animals breaking into your cottage through windows and doors? Security screens add to your peace of mind while preserving the current look of your cottage, all without ugly security bars. These screens look like they’re made with regular insect mesh, and they allow the same ventilation, but the mesh is far more resistant to being cut or bashed open. Blows with a sledge hammer or axe, and even slices from a sharp knife, won’t get through. Some manufacturers even rate their products specifically for resisting bear entry. The heart of these systems is a super-strong mesh, typically heavy-gauge, 1 high-tensile stainless steel that meets Australian (AS5041) standards for resistance to shear and impact. (The Australian climate encourages open windows, so security screens are especially popular there.)…

SEASKY COTTAGES, NAMED for the surrounding land that stretches from the Gulf of St. Lawrence all the way up a high mountain ridge, offer more than just panoramic views. Beyond the six-cottage compound’s coastal-chic interiors, and the sea and the sky that stretch for miles, lies the kismet story of how these modest residences—similar in style but unique in essence—came to exist on 150 rolling acres of Cape Breton, N.S., coastline. Stewart Applegath and Bell Fraser, the artsy owners of SeaSky, met at a painting class at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the 1980s. Bell, a Nova Scotian, brought Stewart, a Torontonian, to visit her family in Cape Breton’s lush Margaree Valley for a weekend trip one winter. He was smitten—both with the woman and the…

THIS IS A story about Muldrew Lakes, so let’s start by setting the scene. Like every cottage lake, including yours, Muldrew is perfect: rustic cottages amid picturesque shores and forests. But Muldrew is also very different from your lake. Even a brief visit there gives rise to a flurry of unfamiliar and contradictory emotions that your lake probably doesn’t provoke. Muldrew Lakes—North, Middle, and South Muldrew—are actually just one long, s-shaped lake located 200 kilometres due north of Toronto, just outside of Gravenhurst, in Muskoka. It meanders through what must be one of the longest, narrowest gouges ever laid down by a passing glacier, about 15 kilometres, making two, full 180-degree turns before slowly emptying into Muldrew Creek. At first glance you’d think, This isn’t a lake, it’s just one…

Andrea Curtis Award-winning journalist, accomplished author, and Georgian Bay cottager Andrea Curtis has been writing for Cottage Life for more than 20 years. “I’ve covered a lot of different topics for the magazine,” says Andrea. Her subject of choice this time? Cormorants. In “Playing Devil’s Advocate” (p. 41), Andrea outlines how the controversial, openly hated species is actually one to be cele-brated. “They are an environmental success story,” she says. “But our collective memory portrays them differently, and that tension really intrigued me.” At its core, Andrea’s story encourages us to confront what she calls “creature coexistence.” “One of our greatest challenges is learning how to live peacefully and respectfully with other creatures, remembering that we have a shared interest in sustaining our environment,” says Andrea. Mike Zikovitz He’s a…

TO DEFEAT MICE, you need to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Brush up with our true or false quiz. (Mark the correct answer, then turn to p. 22 to find out if you’re right.) 1 Mice have collapsible skeletons. ● True ● False 2 Mice have an aversion to the smell of fruit. ● True ● False 3 A U.S. man once filed a patent for a mouse trap that, when activated, shot the rodent with a handgun. ● True ● False 4 Cats are effective at mouse control. ● True ● False 5 The expression “Quiet as a mouse”? One hundred per cent appropriate! ● True ● False mighty mouse control 1 ● True ● False C’mon, no vertebrate has a collapsible skeleton. But mice are pretty flexible. And…

ANY COTTAGER WHO’S ever heard “I’m bored” during a rainy or buggy cottage weekend, or who has needed to occupy a troop of kids on an island, knows the value of having an activity or two up their sleeve. How about having 37 of them? Sticks, Stones & Pinecones: Games to Play in Nature (Mountaineer Books; $17) collects and adapts both classic and new games for the outdoors and tells you how to play with items you can sustainably scrounge from your surroundings. The collection by Jen Ball, an outdoor educator (and a Muskoka cottager), includes both one-player games to entertain a solo kid (a Sudoku-like game using stones; puzzles and memory exercises; a collection of river-crossing riddles), plus a wide range of two-player or multi-player games. The book also…

Q: There appears to be a debate between our lake residents as to whether increased lake water levels are a good thing. In one camp, they like the higher water level. They believe less aquatic and perhaps invasive plants are present, and they prefer the overall aesthetic. Others argue that higher levels are eroding the shoreline; more trees and retaining walls are undermined and fall into the lake. Who is right?—Michel Bourque, Val-des-Lacs, Que. A: Nobody. Both high water levels and low water levels have pros and cons, says Meaghan McDonald, the lake planning/shoreline stewardship coordinator with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority in Manotick, Ont. “And fluctuating water levels are a normal part of ecosystem functions.” It’s true that higher water levels could mean fewer plants, at least in the…

LET’S START WITH the OG: Snugger, a legendary, circa 1947 wooden shoe boat with a canvas top. It looked a bit like a clog (yes, the footwear) and had a similar following too: it probably wasn’t for everyone, but those who loved it were fans for life. Snugger’s biggest fan is Cottage Life founder Al Zikovitz, who bought the boat about 20 years ago. “The first time I put it in the water, it sank immediately,” he recalls. “So I made a system where, each spring, I’d launch it at the beach. I’d tip it on its side, fill it with water to expand the wood, wait a bit, and then pump it out. Then I’d do the other side.” He eventually realized he’d get the same results if he…

MY FIRST COTTAGE Life Show was in 1999, its fifth iteration. The show was a grand success out of the gate, and we intended to keep it that way. For weeks leading up to the event, the whole Cottage Life team—those who made the magazine, the original CLTV series, and the folks who worked as support staff—went flat out to pull off the action-packed, three-day event, which had already become the biggest of its kind in the country. At the time, I was working as the receptionist, so I remember those days involving constant deliveries, 24/7 faxes, and many fights with the rickety office postage machine, which was working harder than anyone. These were important tasks, but I was the office junior, never in the heart of the action. Even…

WHEN WATERSHEDS CANADA offered an opportunity to lake communities in Hastings County to participate in a fish habitat enhancement program, which included restocking the lake with fish, Lake St. Peter’s Teddy Windmoller was keen to sign up. Teddy and his wife, Diane, moved to Lake St. Peter permanently about six years ago. He’s the former vice president of the lake’s cottager association and now volunteers at the North Hastings Community Fish Hatchery, in Bancroft, Ont. “The lakes in our area were struggling to repopulate themselves,” he says. The fish population in Lake St. Peter, in particular, had dropped because of overfishing, “and a lack of natural habitats where the fish could find safety from predators.” Habitat enhancement is a multi-phase process. For Lake St. Peter, the first phase involved adding…

KATHRYN IVY HAS fond memories of the time she spent with her parents and her four siblings at their family cottage on Minnicock Lake, Ont., in the ’80s and ’90s. “We’d go every weekend and all summer,” says Kathryn. But as the years passed, the cottage upkeep became difficult—and costly—to manage. They sold in 2000. “We were heartbroken,” says Kathryn. “We loved that cottage.” After having her first child in 2018, Kathryn yearned for her family to have the same cottage experience she did. So she rented cottages on Minnicock Lake with Sarah, one of her sisters. The duo contemplated buying a place together, but at the time, they were priced out. In 2022, after the sisters had saved up more money for a down payment, they revisited their cottage-buying…

IN 2017, WE asked off-grid cottager and writer Catherine Jheon for a list of staples to pick up at the beginning of the cottage season. “Tape your list to the pantry door, and cross an item off when you run out so you know to replace it,” she wrote. Flash forward eight years, and her advice still holds true. Olive oil Cooking oil* White vinegar Balsamicvinegar* Rice Pasta Pasta sauce Pesto Canned beans Canned tomatoes* Canned tuna Jarred olives Sun-driedtomatoes Bouillon cubes Oatmeal All-purpose flour Pancake mix (your own or a box) Sugar (brown*, white) Salt Pepper Spices (e.g. curry and chili* powder) Coffee Tea Maple syrup Honey* Tamari orsoy sauce Ketchup Mustard Hot sauce Forgot something? No worries. See “It’s an Emergency!” for ingredient substitutions. QUICK TIPS It’s an emergency!…

FOR ME, OPENING up is lubrication time. Most of my gear sits unused all winter; lubricating everything in the spring (and any time it needs it) means it will all work better and last longer. 1 I always tend to my chainsaw in the spring. I remove the chain, clean out the bar track, wipe down the bar, and then top up the oil reservoir—I never want the chain to overheat. While I’m at it, I check oil levels in our generator and other power equipment. 2 WD-40’s Precision Pen is a handy application tool that avoids the overspray you get with the can. I use it for outboard motor linkages, squeaky hinges, and scissors—really anywhere I want just a tiny bit of the stuff precisely placed. 3 A can…

I REMEMBER WHEN the cormorants came back. It was the mid 1990s. People around our Georgian Bay cottage said the black waterbirds with the long, snake-like necks were an invasive species eating the perch we like to catch. There was talk about oiling their eggs to limit the population. Since then, double-crested cormorants have become a common sight on our stretch of the bay and elsewhere in cottage country, part of the familiar fauna, mistaken from a distance for the loons with whom they share a love of fish. But, it turns out, they’re not invasive after all. Double-crested cormorants are native to Ontario. The population declined dramatically in the 1960s and ’70s because toxic chemicals, such as DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), in the ecosystem thinned the shell of their eggs and…

Growing up to 30 cm in early spring, field horsetail’s pallid, distinctly jointed, cone-headed stem appears akin to an elongated mushroom. Indeed, it lacks chlorophyll and releases hundreds of thousands of pale, green spores within days of appearing. Yet it is one of the world’s most widespread and adaptable plants, inhabiting low-lying forests, fields, watersides, wetlands, and high arctic tundra across the northern hemisphere. As the succulent fertile stems shrivel after shedding their spores, they’re quickly replaced by far more numerous green, non-reproductive horsetail stems rising separately from the soil. While they look like miniature Christmas trees—with circular whorls of needle-like branches sprouting around each joint of their hollow stems—they perish with autumn frosts. Horsetail feels rough to the touch because its stems and branches are frosted with silica—minute particles…