Closing up

Made the last trip of the season to Chezzetcook today. It was two full months since we've been down so it was time to get things done. It's amazing how busy life has been since Kharim is back to school, I'm back at work and Diego is in daycare.

It's a gray, rainy day so there wasn't much reason to hang out. Kharim drained all the water lines in the Avion and I cleaned out the fridge. I think Diego was excited to be there walking around the yard. I forgot to take the camera so there isn't any photographic evidence of the shutdown. Too depressing anyway.

See you next summer.

Phew!

We made it through unscathed. Relieved is an understatement. I called our camp neighbours Andrea and Dwight yesterday morning at 10:30am and things were wild but they didn't have anything to report. At around 2pm Dwight called me to say he had just done a walk-around the properties and other than a few big branches we were still holding up. They lost two trees but neither hit the house or shed. Dwight thinks Kharim's rope work on the trees helped keep ours from crashing down.

Holding down the fort

I took a photo today of Kharim and his handiwork. There's another rope behind him attaching the tree to another big one. That one makes a good clothesline. Our power was on this morning in the city so we had no trouble getting packed up to go to the camp. We arrived about noontime and it was very sunny and still very windy. That surprised me a bit because it was hot and calm in the wake of Juan in 2003. The bummer was that the power had just gone out an hour before we arrived.

After Kharim upgraded the poo pipe, we had lunch and then made our way over to the beach. We ran into Doug, Mary, Steve and Tracy on our walk out the road. There are a few more trees down on their properties. And some that were probably leaners from Juan. I think that was a big factor for a lot of the trees on East Chezzetcook Road. We saw a lot down and a lot more leaning. The chainsaws down there have been busy because it looks like many were crossing the road, but were cut and cleaned up before we drove through today.

Anyhoo, the ocean isn't bathwater warm anymore. It's still nice, but not that pre-hurricane warm that I was hoping to get in on. Diego was still liking the water and waves though. The wind was high so we had to bundle him up in a towel after an hour of playing because he started to get too cold. 

I was really hoping we'd get power back so we could spend the night but we were out of luck. After a nice visit to Mary and Doug (and their great baby swing!) we had a yummy barbecue dinner and packed 'er in. 

I did get the driveway mowed and Kharim secured a vent on the trailer and paddled his surfboard across the lake. All in all a good day. Just not as long as I'd have liked.

New sand bucket and lots of waves

Praying to the tree gods

Hurricanes Earl, Fiona and Gaston 

OK, so I'm freaking out a bit. I'm scared shitless that Hurricane Earl is going to hit and wreak havoc at the camp. There are still a lot of trees there and one I'm particularly worried about. It's the tall, weathered tree behind the camper that I'm worried will come crashing though the roof.

Tree in question: skinny one, back left

It's a pretty innocent looking tree in this photo. But it's bigger in reality and I'm pretty sure it could do some damage if Earl pushed it the wrong direction. So I've been agonizing over whether or not to hire someone last minute to chop it down. I'm against chopping any remaining trees because they've become so precious, even when they have that east-coast-past-their-prime-weathered look. 

So Kharim has volunteered to use some rope to secure it against some other trees there. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we get out there in time to do it and, in the chance that the winds hit hard, it keeps the tree off the camper.

What I don't want is a repeat of this:

Boathouse tree fell into driveway in 2009.

Property in 2009. Skinny tree, back left is pictured.

And the crazy thing is that six trees fell last year. Significant yes, but nothing compared to the 40-plus that we lost in Hurricane Juan. I have some some great photos of the aftermath but they're not digital. I'll try to get 'em scanned in.

So (at the risk of pissing off my friends in Yarmouth) I'm hoping Hurricane Earl stays south and continues up over the Bay of Fundy while dying off.

And while I love hurricane season for the warm ocean water and big waves, I tend to get nervous about this time of year. Fingers are crossed that Earl, Fiona and Gaston are kind.

Wish us luck.

Neighbours

D & Papa post-swim

The weather this summer has just been unstoppable. When I woke up on Saturday morning it was gray and I thought, “Oh, it’s going to be our first cloudy day at the camp.” But by 9am it was sunny and warming up to be a scorcher. 

But it's the abundance of beautiful days that has helped us get out and about and meet our Chezzetcook neighbours. Whether it's on a walk over to the beach or taking the green bin out to the end the road, I'm definitely feeling like we're beginning to be part of the neighbourhood. 

We met Dwight and Andrea first. Then Tracy and Steve. John a couple of weeks ago and more recently Doug and Mary. We even had a visit and tour (beautiful gardens and inspirational bunkie!) of their place when we dropped in to say hi the other night (the baby swing out front was calling!). 

And all that socializing paid off too. When the truck wouldn't start Sunday morning (we left a door open overnight) the entire neighbourhood came to our rescue. I'm kicking myself now because I didn't take any photos. It was my job to get Diego to sleep so I forgot to get a shot of the narrow driveway-two-sets-of-jumper-cables-strung-together set-up. It was one of those "oh shit" situations that was solved lickity split. 

But our first two-night weekend included lots of other fun too! Diego is loving playing in the waves during our beach walks. He wears his swim trunks so we can dip him in and out of the water. 

During Kharim's run with D, I mowed the driveway and lawn. After a couple of months of chopping and mowing I was able to lower the blade today. The lawn is looking more like grass and less like hay these days so that’s reassuring. My favourite part is mowing the driveway. It’s so pretty. Afterwards I took out my (pink!) loppers to trim the trees in the driveway. I filled the green bin so I bought some orange compost bags for extra green stuff. I have so many tree cuttings it’s hard to keep up. In some ways I think I should just chuck all the cuttings next to the boathouse where I want to put a load of fill. But I’ve decided against it because it’s too messy looking. There’s enough scrappy looking stuff on the property as it is, tree cuttings I can at least clean up. It’s all about the little things I can control.

Speaking of control, Diego’s nap schedule has turned into something I can’t. He was so good for so long but this week it seemed he had boycotted the whole nap concept. But today he had a marathon nap from 11am-4pm! Perhaps playing in the waves combined with country quiet is the perfect recipe. The lovely downtime gave me a chance to finish my book (The Gravedigger’s Daughter, Joyce Carol Oates) while Kharim paddled his surfboard across the lake to check out the surf on the other side of the sandbar. I don’t think it was surf was high but he had fun all the same, despite the nasty cut he got from a wipeout.

We had a late run into Porter’s Lake for supplies: water, duct tape, band-aids. The guy at Home Hardware even gave Kharim a short length of wire that he was going to use to clean the hot water heater pilot light. Unfortunately the little wire was just in the bag loosely and ended up being (mistakenly) dumped in the garbage with a poopy diaper before we made the trek back. So hot water is on hold till next time. (But with the hose sitting in the sun I had a pretty long hot shower today.)

Me & D after our swim to the sandbar behind us

Before dinner the whole family swam from the point over to the sandbar, which is roughly 200 metres. Kharim and I swam, Diego drove his little police boat. The water was beautiful. A wharf would’ve made the launch smoother, but I used my Crocs to help ease into the water instead.

After our social call to the neighbours we finished off Saturday night by popping open the wine the McLeods brought us last week (Jost Prima Rosa). Yum. We'll have to get some more to take with us for our next baby swing adventure. Who knows when we'll need to be rescued again.

Hodgepodge

Mom, Janice, John M., Diego, Kharim and John Z.

I will have to upload an audio file at some point. After living downtown for years the cars, buses and construction have become regular background noise. It's not until I relax at night and hear ocean that I realize how stressful regular city noise can be.

I came to this realization around 10pm on Saturday night after Diego had been asleep for about an hour. I was alternating between reading, doing the dishes and writing this entry. Elton John was playing in the background and Kharim was studying different types of poo on some type of iPhone medical text application. It's such a peaceful sound.

So to do the dishes I’ve just been heating up water in the kettle. But I’m hoping that’ll change in the near future. We had John and Janice—the previous owners of the camper—over for supper tonight. To round out the dinner party were John Zareski and Mom. We ate my first attempt at hodgepodge (successful) and John Z.’s loubeigh (check spelling) and a few beer to wash it down. It was a pretty basic set-up, plastic chairs in a circle on the lawn. But the day was so beautiful it didn’t really matter. Even the mosquitoes cooperated and were barely noticeable.

Kharim and John M. tackling the pilot light

Once bellies were full talk turned to camp operations. First up: How do you get the hot water working? John M. got to work showing Kharim where the pilot light is and how to work it. When they were working on it I was testing the taps and could tell the difference between the cold water and the lukewarm water but it didn’t get much further than that. The pilot light kept going out so we didn’t hit hot on the dial. So we’re hoping a good cleaning will fix it up good as new. A hot shower and hot water for dishes for next weekend would be dreamy.

Tim, Rosa, Jill and friendly dog

The dinner party wasn’t our only excitement for the day. We had early visitors too. Ten minutes after I planted my new garden (lilies, hosta and decorative grass. I forgot to take a photo) in the post-Juan fire pit, Jill, Tim and Rosa showed up. They made the trip all the way from Hubbards! Diego was very excited to see his girlfriend, especially since she has a cute new haircut. We had a great walk to the beach, and both of the little ones checked out the taste of sand. Mmmm, gritty.

Rosa and Jill

There were quite a few people at the beach today.  The water was warm, the wind was mild and the air was hot. And the tide was out so there was lots of sand to walk on.

The perfect mix: lots of visitors and perfect weather.

Sunday we ventured back to the market for coffee and treats and then drove out to Martinique. It was hot and sunny again. We walked along the water's edge with Diego and he loved the water and the crazy amounts of seaweed in the water. 

Kharim, Mom and Super Nanny

Back at ranch, er, camp, we had yet more visitors. Mom and Super Nanny made the trek down. I think Super Nanny got a kick out of the camper.

To round out the weekend we got in another beach walk, ate some leftover hodgepodge and packed up and came home.  

100% Patterson owned and operated

The new deed for the camp arrived today. It's been a long time coming but we finally got rid of the third (and deadbeat) owner. Laurieland is back to being solely Patterson-owned for about the cost of a funeral. Wishful thinking perhaps, but there you have it.

So we have another check in the box. It's nice to finally get that done. I've officially succeeded in doing everything I wanted to do in year one of the five-year plan. More in fact. The camper was a bonus. It puts me ahead of schedule considering I can live there comfortably while working on little projects and dreaming of bigger ones.

Speaking of that, wouldn't a wharf be a nice addition? We lost the old wharf when the ocean breached the sandbar this past winter. Check out the first picture under Ramps and Floats on the Altantic Wharf Builders website. I'm putting it on my Christmas wish list and buying that lottery ticket we talked about yesterday.

Patio lanterns

I'm writing this post at the camp. I won’t be able to publish it here because we don’t have an internet hook-up, but it’s still fun all the same. It’s 9:30pm Saturday and Diego went to bed a little while ago. Kharim did the dishes while I was getting the little dude ready for bedtime. It was nice to listen to the waves crashing on the beach while he was drinking his bottle.

It feels like things are getting a bit easier down here. This visit seems more relaxing, which is great. I was worried that I had made a mistake thinking that a trailer would be fun. I know cottages are supposed to be work, but with all the little things we’ve had to do lately I was wondering if I had complicated life instead of simplifying it.

But I really think we’re going in the right direction.

Kharim even remembered to bring long PJs this time to help protect against the mosquitoes. We’ve been pretty vigilant today about keeping the screen door shut so I don’t think we have as many inside with us tonight. I just killed one as I was typing…amazing multi-tasking skills!

We made a few more improvements to camp life today. Kharim duct-taped the accordion door between the galley and the beds so now we can close a room off. Some light gets through but it allows us to keep the lights on over the dinette so we can read after Diego goes to bed.

And we fired up the PC mini-grill for the first time today. We had gourmet hot dogs with beer to wash them down. Delish. (Diego skippedthe BBQ because he’s on a bit of a soup/stew kick these days.) Plus, to put those multi-tasking skills to further use, I whipper-snippered around the trailer while I was waiting for the dogs to cook.

In the “all-geeked-out” category, I spray-painted one of the propane tanks silver. It really does look good. I felt a bit nerdy doing it but it was worth the effort.

In the “classic-camp” category, Kharim strung the patio lanterns along the edge of the awning. I love, love, love patio lanterns. We always had them (these ones are pretty old so these might be the ones we’ve had for eons) and it just feels like home when they go up. Kim Mitchell knew what he was talking about.

And with all that excitement behind us, it’s hard to believe there’s more to look forward to but there is! Tomorrow morning we’re going to the Musquodoboit Harbour Farmers’ Market for the first time ever! Exciting. Then maybe a beach stroll with some yummy baked goods.

OK, adding to post now that we're back in town on Sunday night.

We had a great night's sleep in the trailer. Diego was up once in the middle of the night but just for a quick drink and was back down without the drama of our last stay. Then this morning after breakfast Kharim took him for a run in the East Chezzetcook Road while Steve and Andrew were on their way down for a visit!

They arrived while Kharim was still running so I gave a tour of the property, the camper, camp and boathouse. It was a beautiful day so it was fun to have visitors and talk about what we've done and what we want to do, budget permitting. Lottery tickets came up at some point during the discussion!

After a walk over to the beach we all went marketing. It took a bit of hunting but we found the market just off the main road. We had coffee, muffins, peach cake and cookies! Yum.

I also bought some lobster tails (purchase in process shown at the left) and swiss chard for dinner. I figured I should get something that didn't come from the bakery section.

And it turns out that one of the organizers of the market is Bill, a guy we swam with at Centennial Pool. Small world.

After the market we dropped by John's place for a visit and to give him a camper update. I forgot to give him the spare set of camp keys. Next time.

Before leaving we were invited to pull a bunch of things out of his garden: peas, beets, green, yellow and "magic" beans.

Yum, yum, yum. The magic beans are a purpley colour when they come out of the ground and then turn green when you cook 'em. John used to tell his kids they were magic beans to make them more fun to eat. Classic Zareski story-telling. Not sure if Diego got the magic reference but he loved the beans and gobbled down a bunch for supper.

So we're back in town, unpacked and doing laundry. But I'm already making plans for next weekend. Can't wait.

Moonlight desires

Kharim, Diego, Jill & Ned

OK, so this post isn't nearly as racy as the title, borrowed, with thanks, from Mr. Lawrence Gowan.

This past long weekend we made the trip to PEI for Maryse's (Frenchy!) wedding. Kharim and I packed Diego and some gear for a weekend with Jill, Ned and Digger. We set up tents at Moonlight Camping in Cap Egmont, just down the road from wedding site.

So the moonlight reference was from the campground name. The desire part has to do with the thousand-plus times I said out loud that I wished we had our trailer there with us.

But it was a perfect weekend to be in a tent. Beautiful weather, good friends (with a chock-a-block cooler!) and a baby and a puppy who were both happy campers.

The trip gave me a chance to take in the "RV Park" part of the campground for potential future trips. Poo pipes look so different now that we've spent the better part of the last month getting ours set up.

Summertime and the living is easy

Ah, the Gershwin tune. So beautiful and soothing.

I wish I could say our first night at the camp was as soothing as the song lyrics. And it was till about 2am when Diego woke up crying and wouldn't stop. So unusual for him which made me worry that he doesn't like camper living.

But I think I'll blame it on the full

moon. Causing havoc despite looking gorgeous coming up over the water.

After a couple really good burps, a few hundred repeats of "Summertime" (note to self: learn more of the lyrics) and about 20 murdered mosquitos, we all settled back into our bunks for the rest of the night.

Other than the harrowing half hour, things went pretty smoothly. Diego had lots of fun in his makeshift playpen between the beds. The twin beds can be converted to full size but we opted for keeping them separate so we could put him on the cushions on the floor. That meant when he went down at around 9pm we could stay up and not worry about him rolling off.

It's all these considerations that make me think of my parents and what they had to do to get Andrew and I packed up and to the camp when we were little. Clothes, toiletries,

cleaning supplies, entertainment (we need a radio!!! Or a docking station...), cleaning supplies, etc. It's a lot to remember. And still we forgot things. So when I saw the back of the truck packed with our supplies for just one day I had to laugh...and take a picture.

Having had more camp experience, I was prepared with a good book, while Kharim tried to watch a crappy download of The Big Lebowski on his iPhone. I think he'll know better next time.

I think we're also going to borrow some non-toxic mosquito-fighting equipment from Steve.

I'm not too keen on those spiral burning thingies with the baby in such a confined space.

Overall, it was a pretty low-key 24 hours. We cooked our first meals (vacation food: mac 'n' cheese and bacon 'n' eggs - yum) and realized we need a few more pots and some big utensils. We pilfered a few things out of the the camp (that's Kharim and D in the photo below getting ready to hunt for treasures) to help round out the camper kitchen.

It's amazing the difference a pot and big spoon can make to your cooking experience. And how, after cooking in a fully-stocked kitchen for years, you don't notice what you're missing till you need it. But it was fun getting used to a propane stove again.

Speaking of cooking needs, a cottage isn't a cottage without a barbecue. But seeing as we're still in start-up mode I didn't want to invest in a heavy-duty BBQ.

Enter the President's Choice mini grill!

This tiny, shiny grill was a steal for $29 at the Superstore. We haven't used it yet but I thought it fit the silver theme and would be great for a couple of burgers or steaks. I was even able to put it together myself. Shocking.

And it takes one of those little propane bottles so that makes it even easier. Especially if we ever take the Avion on a road trip (maybe next year!). Also, if you look at the photo closely you'll see a can of silver spray paint. I mark this under my "all-geeked-out" category because, at some point, I'm going to spray paint the new (white) propane tanks on the trailer so they match like the last ones.

So other than setting things up, it was generally a work-free stay, which was nice. We got over to the beach to walk in the ocean. I can see the results of just a few months of TLC so I'm feeling good about my plan. Would it be nice to tear down, landscape and rebuild right now? Hell, yeah. But the stars haven't aligned for that yet.

So to give you a little insight on my inspiration, here's a shot of the camp from Long Beach, the strip of beach separating the lake from the ocean. If you look closely you can see the trailer on the left, the boathouse in the middle and the camp on the right. Behind the stand of trees in the forefront, on the right, is where the lake opens up and earns its nickname Big Lake.

All geeked out

When my friend John told me about a trailer for sale that was one of those "silver ones" I immediately thought of the Airstream brand. Kharim has always coveted an Airstream and I couldn't believe I might be so lucky to find one.

When we drove up the hill on the MacLeod's property I couldn't believe my eyes. It looked exactly how I hoped. But upon closer inspection I noticed it was from the Avion Coach Corporation, a company I had never heard of.

But, thanks to Google, that didn't last long. There are lots of websites dedicated to the cult that is Avion, just like the Airstream following. I spent the next few days clicking through page after page of photos and information about the joys and challenges of owning an Avion.

I had so much fun that I told Kharim I had full plans to get "all geeked out" and send my photos and story in to the Silver Avion website if I was lucky enough to get the trailer.

True to my word, I emailed Avion Guy my stuff earlier in the week. Less than 24 hours later he sent me a link to my page (my page!). Yeah, it's geeky. But I love it!

In other news, we're getting closer to spending the night. The toilet/sinks/shower are all working and so is the propane stove. We just have a few city commitments (street party, Super Nanny's 97th birthday) to get through in the next couple of days and then we'll pack up for a sleepover.

Lofty ideas

One of my most vivid summertime memories is of my dad crawling underneath the camp to fix something, wearing a pair of brown and white plaid polyester pants. And it isn't just a one-time memory. He was always fixing something. Or trying to anyway. I couldn't understand why he couldn't just come swimming with us all the time.

Now I'm beginning to understand.

Yesterday was a fix-it day in Chezzetcook. Kharim did a great job putting the loft doors back on hinges. This past winter they blew off the boathouse. When I hired Sunset Enterprises to clear six big trees that had fallen on the property, Mary Anne offered to nail them back on till I could get some new hinges. Though I was grateful for the temporary fix, it was annoying to have those doors nailed shut.

So while I went into Porters Lake to check if Home Hardware sold a certain part for the trailer toilet, Kharim got 'em on lickety split--using the new ladder (it's amazing what I consider a fun toy these days). Great to have another thing checked off.

No luck with the toilet part yesterday but we called Adventure Sports RV this morning and they have what we need--a Thetford toilet valve. And apparently Costco is the place to go for new propane tanks.

Despite not being as handy as Kharim, I did contribute to the day. I got some more mowing done and I played a little game of "pick up sticks." All those fallen trees left behind hundreds of little sticks all over the property, making mowing a bit of an adventure.

I've also decided to turn my post-Hurricane Juan fire pit into a little garden. I bought six bags of dirt to get it started and it wasn't nearly enough. I'm just going to fill it with cuttings from my city garden and then in the fall put in a couple of little maple trees. More photos on that later.

Poo pipe and batcapades

The pump is hooked up and the poo pipe is connected to the septic system. We can now get water in and out of the trailer. Woo hoo!

Next up is a new set of propane tanks and then we're in business. I'm hoping we can stay at the camp sometime next week.

There was a nice breeze today while I was mowing the lawn. So when I finished I thought I'd do a little more work in the boat house. I hired someone last week to haul away a bunch of junk after Kharim did a kick-ass job of tidying it up. Now there's lots of room to move around in there. I did a quick sweep on the main level but then decided to tackle the loft.

It was a bazillion degrees up there so I only lasted long enough to take a couple of photos and sweep a bit. My cleaning spree came to an abrupt end when I took an old fishing coat off a hook and a little bat fell on the floor.

Yikes!

I probably woke it up so it took several seconds for it to start flying. It scared the crap out of me. I was very relieved when it flew down the ladder hole and out of the boathouse.

The bat was behind these old coats.

Barbie camper comes to life

When I was little, my cousin Leah and I were diehard Barbie players. So much so that we sort of became snobs about other friends' abilities to play. Each Christmas we'd get a new Barbie or Barbie accessory. It was probably sometime around 1978 that Santa brought us both the Barbie Travel Lodge Motor Coach RV. It was about three feet long, yellow with all the interior bunks and tables included. We played with those RVs a lot.

So last month, on my way home from the camp by way of Portland Street, my head almost swivelled off when I spied what looked like an avocado green version of the Barbie RV in the Forbes Used Car parking lot.

I couldn't get it out of my mind. The next day I went back to price the 1977 GMC Palm Beach. At $15,999, the dream of owning that camper died a quick death.

But it turns out the Palm Beach was a catalyst. For some reason I told my friend John Zareski the story about the camper I wasn't going to buy because of the price.

"Are you looking for a trailer?" he said. "Someone I met just yesterday asked me if I knew anyone looking for a trailer cheap."

When I asked what it looked like he told me it was one of those silver ones. We went to look at it that night and sealed the deal shortly after. The photo below is my first sighting of it.

John and Janice MacLeod lived in the Avion while building their home in Musquodoboit. Now that the home is finished, it was time to pass on the trailer. After playing the name game with John for a bit we figured out that he was my gym teacher in grade 7 at Caledonia Junior High.

They offered to sell the trailer and deliver it for what I would like to call the deal of a century.

I was so shocked and excited to find this trailer that I convinced myself that they would change their mind about selling it to me.

But they didn't. And now the Avion H-24 (for Holiday 24-foot) trailer is

mine and happily stationed on Big Lake.

Here are a couple of shots of the interior. Almost everything is original inside. The cushions were re-upholstered a few years ago and there are a couple of lights that are add-ons, but it's shocking how well-maintained it's been over the years.

The twin beds convert to a double, the dinette converts to a bed and the propane stove, according to Janice, "works like a dream."

I'm looking forward to cooking with it. I'm still in the process of getting new propane tanks and the water hooked up so we haven't spent the night yet. Though we have had a few lunches sitting at the dinette.

As Lindsay says, "Bird by bird."

Camp meet camper

This is my first post in what I hope is an ongoing account of my attempt to bring Laurieland II back to full-functioning status.

A bit of history:

Laurieland II, or the camp, as it's better known, is located in Lower East Chezzetcook, Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. It's on Meisner's Lake (aka Big Lake) and about 100 metres away is the sandbar that is Long Beach on the Atlantic Ocean.

The camp originally belonged to my Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary Patterson. When Aunt Mary died in 1996 it was willed to my father, the late, great Laurie R. Patterson. Dad re-christened it Laurieland II to signal his return to Chezzetcook. Growing up, I spent every summer at our family camp (the original Laurieland) in the Head of Chezzetcook, which my parents sold in the early '90s.

Dad was excited to be back but sadly only enjoyed a couple of years there. Cancer caught up with him in 1999.

Dad's death, a brother living out of the province, me going back to school and starting my career and 2003's Hurricane Juan all led to the camp being neglected and deteriorating to the point that it's uninhabitable.

But I have a plan. And that plan includes my new-to-me 1961 Avion camper.

Camp meet camper. Now let's have some fun.