Water or Mice: opening the cottage 2013

What a glorious weekend for opening the cottage!  Sunny, temperature in the 20’s, no bugs to speak of and ridiculously high water levels.  Apparently it’s a 100 year high water level.

one of 2 government docks under water
one of 2 government docks under water

The road from town to the cottage is actually closed unless you’re “local” which everyone out here is because it’s the only road in and out of town.

While running around taking pictures for Facebook so my kids could see how crazy the water is, I met the new neighbour, Dave.  He lives in the Pride of Muskoka house and works at Pride of Lake of Bays.  Seems like a very nice guy.  For the record, Pride of Muskoka is substantially under water.

The cottage however was completely untouched by the high water levels as we’re on a hill so we’re lucky that way.

Last fall Jennifer at Oust-a-Mouse loaned me a second O-a-M unit to see if we could get the mouse population under control so it was with great oustamouseanticipation that I started on a mouse poop expedition.  Since we didn’t install it until the week between Xmas and New Year’s it’s hard to say for sure – at this point – whether it helped but, Jennifer had said “bleach everything” so I started cleaning – with bleach – so that I could get the fridge up and running, etc.

Turns out it was a good thing that I was cleaning with bleach instead of water because on day 3 (Sunday a.m.) we still have no running water.  We do have a lot of very clean surfaces though.  Unfortunately, have not been able to move the fridge single handed to bleach under/behind it and check the wiring – that will have to wait until water is running.

As husband, Joe, struggles on with the water situation (I’m staying out of the way as he’s agitated), I’m trying to find more areas to bleach and enjoying watching the bird that’s building it’s nest under the eave again, right outside the kitchen window.

So, this week will be the real test – will there be mouse poop next week?  Fingers crossed that the answer is a resounding NO!!!

Published by J. Liz Saunders

With over 30 years of experience, J. Liz Saunders delivers exceptional office and sales support to a wide range of businesses. More importantly, she does so with creativity. Her ‘can do’, ‘can solve’, ‘can source’ attitude results in the most efficient and effective completion of her clients’ requirements every time. Upon first meeting, Liz’ her most notable quality is her energy. When preparing for and running the Toronto marathon in 2004, Liz channelled this energy with discipline and determination. She uses those same qualities when organizing her many clients and delivering high quality support services in a timely manner. As a virtual assistant, Liz cold calls and generates leads for sales people; researches sites for meetings; schedules appointments and provides client support; offers transcription services, manages broadcast emails, arranges printing, handles basic bookkeeping; writes correspondence, proposals, quotes and invoices for clients; and acts as a call centre taking registrations for seminars. Liz is a certified Virtual Assistant with extensive experience in Microsoft Office. She has a BA from the University of Toronto and studied Fundraising Management at Ryerson University. She has experience in legal services, construction, insurance, real estate and facilities management. Liz builds her business based on trust, quality and a commitment to exceptional results.

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