Cottage Wise

You want to buy a cottage or retirement home?


You want a large family monster you can fill with comfortable sofas and grandchildren and that enormous vintage dining table you saw last week in the antique store...

...and your partner wants a tiny, one bedroom elf house that isn't big enough to swing a cat in!

Help! 

I think it's time to sit down together and discuss the pros and cons and just what is it yer lookin' fer sweetheart? 


Let's talk about some of this stuff and I'm not going to do it all at once on ya either! 


Today's word is SIZE.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Look up size in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The word size may refer to how big something is. In particular:

• Measurement
• Dimensions: length, width, height, diameter, perimeter, area, volume

First of all, you need to figure out what size of house you'll need when you move. No, not where you want to live, because different locals offer different sizes of houses. You can't find a one bedroom cottage at a prestigious address just as you can't likely find a castle in a small lake village.  So you'd better figure out what size of habitat you'll require of compromise on.



Do you want to fill it with furniture or have no furniture to buy?
Do you have forty two grandchildren that will all come over at the same time and you need bedrooms instead of sleeping bags on the floor?
Do you want to spend all your time cleaning or can you afford a cleaning staff? Can you find cleaning staff in the area you think you're going to move to?
Does what you have now suite your lifestyle?
Are you capable of looking after the size you're looking for?


Size. It's always meant more to men than women, but it's the first step to take when relocating and you need to figure it out before looking for a home.

November sunrise at our cottage

The other day I posted a picture of an awesome sunset taken from my front deck. I couldn't resist going outside and taking these of the sun rise from my same front deck.

My Retirement Home Will be:

When I finally get to live in the cottage we've bought to retire to, it:

-is only about 1,200 sq feet inside.
-won't take too long to keep clean.
-has 2 bedrooms, one will fit a king for us, one for an office.
-has enough room for our two lazy boy chairs and a 46 inch TV.
-has a dishwasher.
-will have a big bathroom that has a two man shower and a tall toilet.
-has a big front porch to sit out on to watch the world drive by.
-has sunsets out the front window.
-has a full, dry basement with a workbench all mine!
-has central air.
-has a back yard big enough for a small garden with raised beds.
-has a car port.
-will have a two car garage for Dick to putter in.
-will have a shed for our Harley.
-will have a double wide paved lane way.

Won't it be swell? What will yours be like? Let me know!

Are you the ones that bought the cottage?

Congrat's! You've bought your cottage .... Good for you!

Having lived in a few cottages, I have to say, I'm all for owning a cottage and living in it full time. But if it's a weekend getaway you have bought, well, I'm all for that too! Or is it only a part timer until you retire?

All the better.

Are you going to renovate or did you buy a property that is all done up? Maybe, like us, you're into the vintage look or don't mind a bit of ramshackle in order to get the feel of being on holiday every day.

What ever you have bought, my very best advice to you is: Live in it awhile until you decide what it is you do want. After a year goes by, maybe you decide you can stomach with the original siding, but it just needs a fresh coat of red paint? (Check our back door in a previous post and you'll see what I mean.) The money you would have spent on new siding can now be used for landscaping, or maybe the new plumbing that you didn't know you needed until late one night one of the grandkids used too much TP and plugged the T soo bad it blew out a pipe? (You know how kids are with toilet paper?)

Is your new piece of real estate on the water, in the woods or in a park somewhere? Honestly, it doesn't matter. Just make sure that when you drive up, you're proud. When you fling open the door, you feel like the weight of the world has fallen from your shoulders. When you sit on the john, it's your throne.

After all. Is this the place you will retire to for the golden years of your life?

My late mother once sent me an email joke and it ended with the only thing golden is the pee. If you've just bought a cottage, you are ensuring your retirement years will be golden!

The first frost at our cottage.

I had to go outside last night on the back patio to rescue my few remaining tomatoes. Bah! I hate the coming of November! Those gloomy, dreary days with no sunshine and nippy winds. The lake is all steely gray and the waves crash onto the shore.
Once you get into the twenties of October, you just know the warm days are numbered!

This spring, I felt compelled to grow and nurture something. Obviously a throw back to my farm raised childhood and when you retire, you need some intersting hobbies to fill those hours your jobless situation has created. I have fantasies of wandering a raised bed backyard with pruners and basket in hand, harvesting heritage tomatoes. Mulit coloured, intersting shapes, mouth watering.... mmmmmm!
So one day, I turned into Canadale's after work and spent an enjoyable hour wandering the isles of lush green bedding plants. I made my choice: One plant that would bear yellow, pear shaped fruit in miniature the tag said and having paid for my potted plant, rushed home to bury it!

When we did the renovation last summer here at our cottage, I had the carpenters build two multi tiered wooden planters that in their expert opinion, would cost only one hundred dollars apiece. Two days later and a couple of trips back to the lumber supply for more wood, screws and god knows what all else, my five hundred dollar planters were complete. (The realtors let me think that the addition of decorative features in our back yard has increased the value of our house?)

And what a wonderful receptacle the one has made for my single solitary tomato plant!

I planted it, (it was all of 20 inches tall when it went in the ground,) watered it and eagerly awaited the harvest. Juicy, delicious tomatoes grown by my own hand!

The thing about this summer, was that we had very little extreme heat and lots of rainy days! It turned out perfect for growing patio tomatoes, I guess, because before long, Dick and I were on the ladder staking and tying my one little tomato! It was the beanstalk kind perhaps? As you can see, it grew over six feet tall!

Mid August, sure enough, we started getting tomatoes and what a haul we've picked. They have been luscious and lovely and I have enjoyed every single one.

So I had to go out and pick the last of them and they are sitting on my counter now. I'm hoping they'll still ripen. The plat is gangly and thin, many of the leaves withered and fallen. Before the real estate sign goes on in spring, I'll have to clear the debris away and make the yard look all nice - nice.

But I think I'll plant two next year. Maybe I can start my own veggie stand!

The price of your cottage?

Somebody gives you an offer? Is it Yahoo or Boohoo?

I suppose I would consider what I wanted to do after I sold the cottage.
-Do I want to travel the world on the proceeds?
-Do I want to quit my job?
-Do I want to have a nest egg?
-Do I want to make sure my kids are taken care of?
-Do I want to buy another, bigger or smaller or better one?

What do you want to do with the money?

Is the offer a fair one or have they offered many thousands of dollars less than you were asking? If it's many thousands less, is it because you were unreasonable or they are? Is your house priced more than anybody Else's? Feel out your realtor. You have a right to ask questions about the buyer, like: 'Do they think we're crazy?' or... 'Are they trying to take advantage of us?' You have every right to tell your realtor to go back to get a higher offer.

I remember one time, Dick and I were selling a place and the realtor came to us with a ridiculously low offer. I took one look at it and fired it back across her desk, stood up and said: 'We're done here!' She was all; 'What's the matter?' surprised, but you just knew she was in cahoots with the buyer and they just wanted a deal so they could flip it!

If it's important for any reason to get what you want for the place, stick to your guns. What the heck! You've loved coming here every summer for years, so a few more can't hurt... or can it?

Price, Price, Price!

The guy up the lane sold his cottage for a bazillion bucks and you sure should too, but are you comparing apples to apples? Here are some things to consider:
Do you have as much land as he?
Is your cottage the same square footage as his?
Is your place as spick and span as hers?
Do you need renovations and they don't?
Is theirs waterfront and yours not?
Does he mow his lawn faithfully like you?
Who has better landscaping?
Do you have a boat dock and she doesn't?
Is there a right of way on your lot?
Are you in the same municipality or town?
Do you pay the same property taxes?
Does your furniture look as swell as theirs?
Do your neighbors need appliances and yours are stainless?

This is just a short list of considerations when pricing your property and should be thought on long and hard. Make a list. Check it twice and see who's naughty or nice!

You think you want to sell?

So you think maybe it's time to put the old place up for sale? Let's do the reasoning of that.
First of all, none of your family members want it? I would suggest, if you don't know the answer to that, you may want to start asking the kids, your brother, your sister or that cousin that shows up every August. The very last thing you want to do is start a feud over money! But before you start asking around, do you have any idea of the value of your vacation property?
I, of course, have tons of suggestions about selling your cottage. If you're fairly cognisant of the local real estate market, then you know how much she's worth. If you don't have a clue, there's many vehicles at your fingertips for determining just that.
-One. Call a home inspector who specializes in your neighborhood. Don't be afraid to ask for references with these people. You have a right to check up on them!
-Two. You could call a couple of local Realtors. (Make sure they are local so they know the area market.) Those appraisals are for free, but they want to please you so they can get the listing, so beware of the high, too good to be true price.
-Three. There will be an assessed value on your property from your tax office.
This value is only a guideline, because in my opinion, they really aren't an accurate idea of what you could sell your cottage for.
-Four. Come on! Do your own homework! Buy the local real estate papers and shop the office window posters for properties like yours. When you're talking to these folks, you don't want to come across as a dummy who knows nothin' about nothin', do you?

The Family Cottage

Do you continue to travel to the cottage every week? Do you still love it or do you dread the weekly trek? Is there a drive of many hours involved, hurling down a four lane, other holiday makers bumper to bumper, all driving at breakneck speed? Do you grip the dash of the family van with one hand, the other hugging the armrest, both feet firmly planted up against the firewall the whole way? Does your partner hunch over the wheel, a grimace of concentration adorning his face as he travels those roads one more time?

Does it take three days to pack enough stuff to survive in the woods each trip? Do they manufacture enough bug spray and sun block?

Do you long for different highways? Maybe just the view from your own living room for just one summer weekend?

Maybe the easiest way of solving the dilemma of who gets the cottage when we go is simply to get it gone while we can still enjoy the profits? Have you listened to your local realtor brag about prices lately? Pick up a magazine with lake properties advertised sometime. you might be shocked!

Your will: Dealing with your cottage or summer home?

So you have a cottage or summer home. Awesome! Warm evenings by a campfire. The birds in the morning and the grand kids snuggling in under those colorful quilts you so lovingly made. Maybe it's an RV you parked in a seasonal campground years ago, like my mother in law did? Maybe you were lucky enough to have inherited a vintage cottage that you yourself spent summers at when you were nothing but a sprout.

You are getting long in the tooth. The doctor has warned you the old blood pressure is over the top or you just feel time is marching on and in spite of all your best efforts, you are going to have another birthday and the number involved just blows what's left of your mind?

Oh my god! This is the place of your dreams. You have lived most of your life running to this safe haven, away from the ills of the world and the strife in our busy, 'at home' lives. In every corner is a memory of this child and that visitor. Where you and your spouse made love. Where you roasted the marshmallows and grilled the process cheese sandwiches. Sitting in that rickety wooden chair, reading a mooshie love story or titillating spy thriller on a rainy day.
This will be my subject for the next couple of days.

A Couple Of Imports!

I have invited two writers to join my blog; my sister and my closest friend. We are all going through this stage of life together and the more opinions and advice to help us, the better.

We go north again this weekend to drag the other trailer out of it's spot in the park. Saturday will likely be our last ever in that campground and as far as I'm concerned, the time can't come fast enough! I have enough memories to deal with and I would rather dwell on the good ones instead of these we will create this weekend.

If you have a trailer or a summer home. How will you deal with it when it's time for it to go down the road? ...More next week.

I was always told I had to start at the beginning.

Hello to all my readers and future readers!

        My first statement has to be; remember... we're all in this together! For every one of us that approaches middle life there comes many decisions and dreads as to what on earth are we going to do with ourselves? I might solve some of those questions for some. I might create some questions some have never asked before, but one thing is certain here:

        Dick and I are determined to create a life that WE want. Not somebody else's idea of retirement... but our own.

      Want to share the ride?

       My nickname is Lucy and Dick and I already have some of the hard stuff figured out. We live in a small fishing village on one of the Great Lakes in a big old vintage cottage with a killer view of the Lake and Harbor. We are in our mid 50's, (how did we get this old?) and never had much of a nest. (Now it's empty.) We have a Maine Coon mix cat; Suzie who was a rescue and 2 lazyboy chairs. We drive a fat ass Chevy one ton truck that's never pulled anything and a gray four door Buick called Rosemary that was my mom's. In the garage sits a big old white Harley that was our first joint purchase.  We have a little saved up and good solid jobs. We are healthier than a lot of our friends.  This winter we're going to Florida for a month. We are still in love. 

        We are two very lucky people.

         So what's this blog going to be about you ask?  

         Well, people keep asking us how we do it and to be brutally honest, we seem to have more fun and a fuller life than others. We have lesser jobs and are just folks so I am going to babble on now and again and share some of our stories and give some advice on how I see it. I hope something creative comes of this for other folks and if I touch just one life in a positive way, I'll be happier. 

How To Meet Your Life Partner

       So here I am, going to give you advice already! Dick and I met in our mid forties and by god, neither one of us wanted anything to do with a relationship.  The only thing I have to say about this is that if you are still living alone and run across somebody who catches your eye, do not let the opportunity pass. Say something! Catch their eye and make them say something! Let your chair fall over in front of them or drive in front of them. Ask for directions or to try on these gloves please because their hands look the same size as your brother / sister. Lie if you have to but never, ever let an opportunity pass to meet someone. 

     Always remember that at our age we all have gobs of baggage and for every one of his, you have one of yours to match. Tolerance and negotiation will become your new best friends, but remember; life is more fun with somebody to play with. Decisions come easier with another's support and really... isn't it difficult to brainstorm with yourself? 

      All I can suggest if you still have your original model of partner and you wish you didn't is: Is this a package that you can work with? Is he/ she still better than putting yourself out on a line to get a new partner? Sure, there's ones that drink themselves into a stupor every day or have just poor genetics and I'm all for disposing of the ones that have a tendency to tune up their spouse just for the fun of it. But if your relationship has just gone a little south and you've got lazy with each other then that's stuff you can fix! 

      And to have a good retirement, you'd better get it done before you're stuck in the house together every hour of every day! Get medical help. Get some new clothes. Take care or your personal grooming and pleeaaze.. fix your teeth. If you clean up your own backyard, your partner should start to tag along with you. 

     Go for walks and talk. Yes, about what you dream about and where you want to head. One of the things that I believe has made us so different is that we have a business meeting every six months or so and draw up a business plan for our lives.  We include short term goals, (what we want to get done in six months,) and long term goals. ( Where we want to live in a year or two years. We want a new car in what year?) Not only does it help your finances, but gives you common ground and a connection to each other.  Ask your partner to help you pick out an outfit or just a new pair of those gloves. It all leads up to something, right? 

         My guy is a good one and I'm damned lucky, but we work at it!  

So! It's Saturday afternoon and we're going to the stock car races at South Buxton tonight. (My idea.) I can hardly wait! It's this little dirt D track in Southern Ontario and they really get it on! We'll stop at a grocery store on the way and buy some food to take in 'cause neither one of  us can eat hotdogs or fries anymore.  It'll still be a blast!

So, 'til next time and that won't be far away; It's been great chatting and thanks for coming into my life.