It's a different kind of relaxing out here, especially on rainy days. We can relax on a rainy weekend at home, but there's always something that could be done. Laundry, house cleaning, washing dishes, editing photos. Even if you resist temptation and try to just relax, the thought that you could be productive is always there, tickling the back of your mind.
At the cabin, there's no internet, no phone. I keep a bunch of paperback books there, lots of DVDs, cookbooks, some non-fiction books. It's a fun place to try out a new recipe, but if I don't feel like experimenting, after almost 15 years of cabin ownership there are loads of recipes that I know by heart that make perfect cabin fare. We can go for a walk, or go geocaching, or just relax and cuddle a kittie while we read.
The cats always come to the cabin with us, and they are completely different cats when they're at the cabin. Just as we're more relaxed there, so are the cats. Of course, you need to know the cat to know whether they're more comatose than usual... To the untrained eye, James looks happy and sleepy. I know better. She's way beyond that. She's at the stage where you could tickle her feet or play with her ears, and she'd never even know it.
The cabin is one of my favorite places to quilt. I set up my tiny Singer Featherweight on the 1950s formica table in the kitchen, and spend hours piecing blocks together. It's a cozy place to sew, with no distractions other than the occasional eagle or osprey flying past the windows, ducks and geese on the lake, or fisherman drifting past in a boat.
The cabin is the perfect place for a movie marathon. On one rainy, cold day we watched all the Star Wars movies in order. And because the main floor is one big room, I could bake cookies in the kitchen, tend the woodstove in the corner, and still enjoy the movies and wide-open views of the lake.
I love my little 1950s kitchen. There's no counter, none at all. But it's yellow and bright white, my favorite colors for a kitchen. The 1950s yellow formica table is my counter, and has plenty of room for several people to work. We bought the cabin from Lois and Bob, and she knew I loved the table. So when we bought the cabin, she gave me the table. I also love the mismatched wood chairs. I've thought about painting them all the same color, but can't decide what would be best. So I've left them alone.
Because we're surrounded by nature at the lake, there's always something to do if we get bored with relaxing. Mountain biking, right from the cabin. Or we take the canoe out. There are lots of hiking trails, new geocaches to hunt for while we explore some back roads. There are wetlands trails to walk, and in the fall, we watch salmon spawning in nearby streams and rivers.
The best thing about our little cabin is that it's different each time we go there. In winter, the lake is pristine under a shroud of ice, surrounded by snow-covered trees. In spring, the ducks and geese take their new families for a swim around the lake, and the fishermen descend in droves. Summer, we watch ospreys and eagles fishing, and we can sit on the deck from dawn until way after dark. And after Labor Day, most people pack up for the season, and we have the place to ourselves for the fall and winter months. That kind of peace and quiet is pure heaven.
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