Canadian Chronicles: Day One, Year 16

OK, so we've been doing this for about 16 years: leaving civilization and hanging out in cottage country for a chunk of our summer. One would think, after all of these years, a girl would get the drill down.

And, I do have some of the drill down. And, some of the old drill, that I have down, doesn't necessarily meet the drill of the modern day needs.

For example, tonight we had popcorn with Lava Vine Olive Oil (so yum if you haven't had Lava Vine wines or olive oil, you should make a point of seeking it out) and truffle salt. Yes, in my frenzy of packing, I packed my favorite olive oil and truffle salt.

I also brought a Kitchen Aid stand mixer that we've had for at least 10 years. It makes for a heavy carry on, but it made it in one piece.

Now, why would one lug a stand mixer to the cottage? Because here we cook. There is no Whole Foods that we can storm into and whip up a salad and pick up a roasted organic free range chicken at. We cook here, and I hope it sees some more action.

What I haven't learned, note to self, is that we have enough adult clothes here to outfit a small nation. We don't need dress shoes, purses, belts or anything. We literally could come here and dress in the finest of fashion (well, some of the fashion is 20 years old, but no one is going to go naked or chilly, that's for sure).

Also, the cottage reno, as I groaned about the amount of money and hassle and lack of actual time to effort ratio, had this small gleaming promise of making a "mouse proof" environment.

And, in this small gleam of a promise, I did the unthinkable. I did the thing that I have gone above and beyond not to do in the 16 years that we've owned this place. I put clothes in the drawers and on the shelves and left them there. I put pillows in plastic bags, not to seal them off from the famous winter mouse population, but just to keep the dust off them. In keeping the dust off them, I did not seal the ziplock seals.

When I was a kid, I read this poem once:

If you build a better mouse trap and
Put it in your house,

Soon Mother Nature,
Will build a better mouse.

I learned the hard way not to mess with Mother Nature this time around. The mouse families had a field day last winter. They visited every drawer possible. They chewed through clothing and made a nice comfy nest and made themselves right at home.

I am still working on my "lesson."

Notes to self:

1. Seal everything. Keep putting everything in bins. Do not leave anything out, because it makes cleaning up the next year all that much harder. It also means that you will be doing laundry until the loons come home.

2. Do not bring any clothing. It only makes for a sore back and an overflow closet situation.

However, if mice have chewed your underwear, it is nice to have some clean back ups from home. Oh, and some olive oil and truffled popcorn to drown your sorrows in.