Haliburton - lake cottages

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Geo: 45.1285, -78.555

Haliburton is three hours north of Toronto, in an area crammed with glacial lakes, large and small. My favourite is Lake Kashagawigamog. For decades Toronto residents have been holidaying in lakeside summer cottages.

P&P built their cottage on the shores of small Lake Cranberry, 40 years ago. They have extended it and built a separate structure they call a "bunky" on their one acre lot.

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Photos

"Studio tours"
This weekend and next (Canadian Thanksgiving) a number of local Haliburton artisans (painters, weavers, quilters, jewellery makers, etc.) cooperate to stage 'studio tours'. A brochure advertises the wares and location of each artist and it's a sort of open-house from 10-5 where you can visit their studio, chat with the artist, sip their homemade hot apple cider and hopefully buy some of their work. It's a fun way to view several types of local art and to see the countryside.

Studio Tour brochure
The foldout includes 30 short advertisements to match the lettered map labels.

The Wilkins' cottage
It has been an unusually warm (and dry) summer and the fall colours are a little late. At this time of the year the leaves turn yellow, orange and red within a few days of a cold night. They are used for Thanksgiving decorations and of course to marvel at.

"Bunky"
Planning rules do not allow the bunk house to have a kitchen; but it sports a small fridge, microwave, bathroom, two bedrooms, fireplace and a loft area. Very practical for a family retreat, especially as the family grows into the third generation.

Private deck and dock
They have a 90hp speedboat for fishing and waterskiing. This has been stored for the winter. Their small dock which runs off this deck and slots into pipes anchored in the lake bed has also been pulled up and stored. The lake is about a mile long and half-a-mile wide and has ten cottages on this side. It's mostly shallow (8-10 ft deep) but has areas along the far shore that can be 30 ft deep. The lake freezes solid except for the deepest sections.
There's a beaver lodge nearby and if the weather permits we may canoe around to check it out.
Peter says Canada uses the metric system, but clearly imperial units are still front of mind.

Dining
Peter and Penny enclosed their deck with sliding plastic windows. The plastic sheets can apparently withstand a blow from a baseball bat, but not from anything sharp. Does the main job of insect protection very well.

Comments

[Morag]

How simply gorgeous! Shame the colours arent as I imagined they would be but thats seasons and weather unpredictability for you. Be fun to see the beavers if you get the chance.