Here’s the dock that our neighbors had for years. It just got worse and worse and even had a tree growing on it. This year they finally replaced it. Continue Reading
Cottage Living: No Words Required
Cottage Living: How to Hang Clothes When You Don’t Have a Closet
I’ve shown you photos of our cottage in the past. It’s adorable, but there are no closets and really no room for an armoire anywhere. Hooks are ok, and we have plenty of them, but sometimes you just want to hang things on a hanger. So here’s our simple solution.
Mike located the stud in the wall, screwed in two heavy duty hooks, and strung chain between them. Easy peasy.
Are you lacking in closet space? How have you solved the problem?
More Cottage Living posts you’ll enjoy:
Cottage Living: Decor
One of the most enjoyable things to me about having a cottage has been renovating and decorating it. The cottage was in poor condition and we (by we, I mean Mike) gutted it, raised the ceiling to make a cathedral ceiling, sheet-rocked, built cabinets, and so much more. I helped where I could and did much of the painting. We spent little on the decor, shopping at garage sales, dumpster diving and accepting the many beautiful gifts that friends offered. Here are a few photos – hope you enjoy.
Come on in! I’ll show you around.
Cottage Living: No Running Water
So. This cottage of ours. It doesn’t have running water. And we’re ok with that. Here’s how it works:
Bathing. We take our daily baths in the lake. Well, at least in the summer. Mike will go in the water from April through October. For me, it’s June through early September. Otherwise, a sponge bath will have to do. But, in the summer, I love getting in the lake first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It’s so refreshing.
Washing Dishes. We boil lake water for this. We use two basins of water – one for washing and the other for rinsing. Washing goes quickly this way without having to constantly turn water on and off.
Drinking and cooking. Our neighbors graciously allow us to get well water from their outdoor spigot. We fill a five gallon jug and place it in a swinging holder that we found at a garage sale. This allows the jug to easily tilt to fill glass jars. The large jug is kept ouside on the back porch and the glass jars are brought inside. Some go into the fridge and some are left on the counter.
Bathroom. We have an outhouse. What can I say? We keep it clean, light a candle, and do what we have to do quickly, so it’s not so bad.
Handwashing. Outside the outhouse, we have a nice system for hand washing. My sister showed us how to set this up after she learned about it at Girl Scout Camp. We strung a rope between two trees and put a hook in one of the trees. A towel hangs on the rope and a plastic jug filled with lake water hangs on the hook. We poked a hole in the bottom of the jug which is plugged with a large nail. One end of a string is attached to the nail and the other end is attached to the neck of the jug to keep the nail from getting lost. A bar of soap goes into the toe of a woman’s nylon knee-high and the top of the knee-high is tied to the rope. When it’s time to wash our hands, we remove the nail, wet our hands and soap them up. We rinse, replace the nail and use the towel to dry. In the house, I always keep a basin of lake water in the sink for hand washing and change it frequently.
Brushing Teeth. We fill a glass with drinking water and dip the brush in it to wet. We apply toothpaste and brush as usual. Then we rinse with water from the glass and swish the brush in the remaining water to clean. It doesn’t seem like it would be necessary to explain this, but overnight guests often ask this question.
That’s it! Easier than you thought, right? Oh, I almost forgot. Here’s how Gabe gets his water:
More Cottage Living posts you’ll enjoy:
How to Hang Clothes When You Don’t Have a Closet
How We Safely Drink Lake Water
Cottage Living
Growing up, I spent my summers at a cottage on a beautiful mountain lake in northeastern Pennsylvania. We never called it anything other than “the cottage”.
Fourteen years ago, Mike and I purchased our own little place on a lake a little farther north. And, we call it “the cottage”. But visitors all seem to have their own name for it.
It’s been called “the lake house” and “the cabin”.
I was a bit taken back when one visitor proclaimed, “You have a really nice shack here.” A nice shack? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? I learned later that she lived in Alaska for years, and that’s just their term for cottage.
We visited Russia a few years ago and were telling a new friend about our cottage. “Oh, you have a dacha!” she exclaimed. Hmmm, ….. dacha. I think I like that. So, what’s your name for a cottage on a lake?
More Cottage Living posts you’ll enjoy:
How to Hang Clothes When You Don’t Have a Closet
How We Safely Drink Lake Water