I was relieved to see the spider, who spent the night up in the corner of the skylight, above my bed, was still there. She, our spider, could have straddled a good size coffee cup and not got her feet wet. Later today, we’ll send her on her way to spend her spring outside, to do all things dock spiders do. I fed the boys, Border Collies not spiders, Sullivan and Hugo, then collected water at the lake to make coffee. The Collies are always up for a trip to the water.
I took the pair of galvanised steel buckets to the lake, filled them and carried them to the cabin. I put one of the buckets on the propane stove to make hot water to do the dishes and poured some into the Berkey. After collecting firewood, we got the fire going in the main room’s wood stove. Once the fire was going strong, I poured a coffee for myself and returned the bodem to the old red brick on top of the woodstove. I figured that I’d have my coffee by the fire and see how the weather was doing before starting to paint.
Anxious to survey the painting and photographic potential of this 4 acre island, I took the boys for a walk. The screen door shut behind me with that smack that most cottagers love.
There was a full covered porch on this side of the cabin.
It flows onto solid Canadian shield. On the west side of the granite there is a small circular garden, called the Fairy Ring, which contains yellow greens and blue green mosses and a few foxgloves. A 1950s, metal, shell shaped chair, which had been repainted with many shades of greens, ruled over the fairy realm. However, my favourite place to sit is on the porch steps looking directly at the very old oak tree that I refer to as “The Ancestor”.
South of the porch, beside The Ancestor is the fire pit. We will give it a good sweep later in the day to remove all the leaves and pine needles that have accumulated over the winter.
Logs have been placed in a circle around the large fire pit on the sloped granite. It is easy to imagine all the past stargazing, the bonfires lighting up the night sky with the prayers said to the God Stars that ruled it.
This cabin was built in 1910, a past pandemic must have passed this way. I can almost hear the ghosts saying, “may we find safety, for us and ours”. This seems so relevant now, during our own pandemic.
Of course, those who were here before the cabin was built, have witnessed things from another age, but I’ll leave that for a later journal entry, with one exception, that this is a place that has always been ruled by the feminine.
Look at me, the artist, doing my best to describe this place with words instead of paint and I haven’t even left this porch yet. While I’m still on the porch, I have to tell you about the old 1920s enamel table and its press back chairs which have all have been painted white. I’m going to sit here after our walk and draw in my sketchbook.
Well I’m off for my walk, I’ll report back tomorrow, if I can get to it. Be well, dear reader.
