Well it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. The whole intention of the site was wiped out when I found out the cottage I planned to build was too small according to the municipality (See – Building a Cottage: Shattered Dreams). The municipality rejected my minor variance application so I was stuck with building drawings and contract I couldn’t use. […]

A concern for cottage owners and potential cottage owners on small lakes is water level during the summer. Many lakes drop considerably during the summer when there isn’t much rain. It makes a huge difference for swimming, boating and aquatic life. The long term outlook doesn’t appear to be good as even the Great Lakes are being drastically affected as described in this article from the Toronto Star. […]

Blue Flag on Wasaga Beach

I went camping at Awenda Provincial Park in Penetanguishene, Ontario this weekend. It isn’t far from Wasaga Beach, the world’s longest freshwater beach. I noticed a write up about Blue Flag and was curious to see what it was about.

The Blue Flag program is run by a non-profit organization that work towards sustainable development at beaches/marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, […]

Things have taken a turn for the worse regarding my cottage building plans. As I mentioned in the Red Tape article I just found out that there is a minimum building size required by the municipality. The building kit, drawings and materials that I purchased are for a cottage that is 225sqft smaller than the minimum required size. […]

Last time I updated the progress of the cottage I hadn’t had much in the way of good news. I found out I would have to fill half of my lot for the septic bed, which would cost far more then I had planned and would knock out most of my trees. […]

When I first started looking for a cottage I figured there would be no way I could purchase a cottage on my own. I knew some couples that were interested in cottaging and spoke with them a few times about purchasing different cottages together, but in the end they felt it would be too much of a financial burden at this time in their lives. […]

For the most part I have addressed all the ‘major’ parts of building my cottage. The building plans and materials have been purchased. The septic system, foundation, and grading have been planned. I intend on heating the cottage with a wood stove and I will bring bottled water for drinking and cooking, […]

Recently I’ve started looking at boats. Once I have my cottage built I will want to have a boat to do some fishing and touring around the lake. My lake is part of the Trent Severn waterway which makes it a high traffic area for boaters going up and down stream. […]