HealeyLake.ca

We spent our last day as Healey Lake cottage owners on Saturday July 9th, 2011.  Due to busy work and life schedules we were not getting up enough to justify all the costs and work that go into cottage ownership.

Healey Lake Sunset on Canada Day Weekend 2011

The 7 years that we spent on Healey Lake will never be forgotten and we have made many life long friends.  We were touched by all the invites for visits back to the lake and they will certainly be cashed in for years to come.  We sold to family of friends on the lake and we’re excited for them and the good times and memories they will create.

Appreciate your time on the lake and please respect it so many generations can continue to enjoy it.

Here is a post for all of you dog owners that make the trip to the cottage every weekend with furry family members.  We recently took a road trip to Florida and decided to take 2 dogs with us, our Portuguese Water Dog and my parents Miniture Schnauzer.  Since we where most likely going to be traveling through snowy weather we wanted to protect the back seat from slush and salt carried in on eight paws after one of many pit-stops along the way.

Kurgo Wander Installed

After a little bit of research online I stumbled upon the Kurgo Wander Hammock Dog Seat Cover by pet travel specialty company Kurgo.  The two reasons it appealed to me were it seemed to be made of a heavier material than most and it didn’t just cover the back seat but created a “hammock” which gave the dogs more room and freed up storage space in front of the back seat.  It also helped that it had good reviews online.

Beds and blankets in place.

After buying it and opening up the package it didn’t disappoint, well constructed and extremely easy to install with clipped straps that went around the front and back headrests of the Jeep Cherokee that we were taking to Florida.  Installation takes less than a minute and you’re ready to load the back seat with dog beds, toys and of course dogs.  The only down side we found was they use a plastic zipper in the middle that can be opened to give the dogs access to the front seat, our Porty Zucca being less than a year old got bored and decided to chew it off, a tip for Kurgo would be to use a metal zipper instead.

Zucca and Chloe on the road

We have since used it for trips to the cottage in our Ford F-150 and it works just as well in a bigger truck.  Come summer time it will be perfect for Zucca our Portuguese Water Dog since she lives up to her breed name and typically makes her way into the lake before the drive home.   If you’re looking to protect your back seat and get a little bit more storage space this is a great durable, well built product.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Zucca taking in the mountains

To buy a one of these Hammocks click here for what we found was the best price.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate which means if you decided to buy this from my review I would get a small compensation.  As of yet this is the only review I have ever written and only consumer product affiliate link I have ever posted.  I did use this product and this is an honest review so there you go.

A quick post to point out the new healeylake.ca logo and tell you about a pretty cool website that has little to do with Healey Lake or cottaging.  Check out a fun site called fiverr.com where people post what they will do for 5 bucks.  Beyond all the odd things available there are several people offering to do a logo design for five dollars and since I happened to have a fiverr in my pocket I jumped in.

I ended up using a fellow that goes by the name of Wadheanand who not only designed the logo you see at the top of the page but he did it quickly and even made changes for me.  A pretty sweet deal for sure.

Go see what you can get for a fiverr or maybe make yourself a couple of fives.  Have fun.

During the winter at the cottage many of us don’t have running water which makes cooking and more importantly cleaning up the mess a little difficult.  For this reason we prefer to keep the prep work at cottage to a minimum by doing it at home the night before we head up.  To make life even easier we use our slow cooker to prepare our big dinners, set it in the morning and after a day of playing in the snow we return to a hot hearty meal.  This method also lets us carry the ingredients to the cottage in the removable pot and and at the end of the weekend we bring it home to clean for the next visit up.  We keep the raw meat in a re-sealable bag and the liquids in their container so all we need to do is empty into the slow cooker and start cooking.

One recipe we enjoy is the Auburn Ale Slow Cooked Ribs borrowed from the Cameron’s Brewing Company website (notice a beer theme here?).  Use tinfoil in the oven for easy winter clean up.  Hope you enjoy.

Here is how their recipe goes…

Slow cookers are great for so many reasons – it does the cooking for you, it allows the meat the soak up all of the flavours and the meat is always some of the most tender meat you will ever have.

This recipe is a brewery (and personal) favorite.

Ingredients:

1 full rack of pork ribs
1 cup of ketchup
2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce – pick one with a bit of a bite (I use PC’s Smokey Habenero BBQ Sauce)
½ cup brown sugar
4 tsp. oregano (fresh oregano is always best)
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp chili flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste
¼ bottle of Cameron’s Auburn Ale

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)

2. Season ribs with salt & pepper. Place in a shallow baking pan. Brown the ribs in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn over and brown for another 15 minutes. Then drain the fat. While you’re waiting for the ribs to brown, enjoy an Auburn Ale.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the ketchup, BBQ sauce, brown sugar, oregano, worcestershire sauce, chili flakes and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour mixture from bowl over the ribs, turn and coat. Pour 1/4 of a bottle of Auburn Ale into the slow cooker over the ribs and let it work its magic.  If you’got a smaller slow cooker and a full rack won’t fit, cut the rack in half and stack them and rotate them halfway through the cooking process.

5. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. If you can, sprinkle some brown sugar on the ribs

Do you have any simple winter cottage dishes you’d like to share, please leave a comment?

A full moon over Healey Lake

Just got back from our last visit to Healey Lake for 2010 and it is getting pretty cold on the lake.  This is a loved time of the year for us on the lake since it’s so quite and the air seems so clean.  We had a pretty lazy weekend with the exception of helping friends on the lake install some new windows to help battle the winter chill.  The windows went in pretty easy and was a great addition to the feel of the cottage, modern windows really do improve the view and the insulating effect were felt immediately.  A big bang for the buck upgrade for those of you still struggling with single pane windows.

Around the edges we’re starting to get a little bit of ice which gets me excited about winter fun at the cottage.  Based on the forecast it doesn’t look like we’ll have ice over anytime soon but that little bit of ice is a reminder that it’s on it’s way.

Get up there before the snow hits, it’s a beautiful time of the year.

Some exciting news from Cottage Life Magazine in regards to the Fall Cottage Life Show held on a new date this year, Nov. 26-28.  This year they have joined four shows together so in addition to all the great stuff to see at the Cottage Life Show you also have access to the Canadian Home Workshop Show, the Explore Show and Outdoor Canada Show.  With all these shows under one roof I would think it’s worth the trip to the International Centre for a full day.  If you make it to the show let me know what you thought in the comments section of this post.

Click here to see a list of the shows features.

Have you ever had one of those weekends at the cottage where you really wished you could get online to find a recipe, look up repair tips for that old outboard that won’t start or heaven forbid check your work e-mail.  Well I had one too many of these moments and decided to bite the bullet and get a USB internet stick for my laptop.  At the time we were using Bell Wireless at work so I decided to go with them, it didn’t hurt that they were offering free hardware at the time with no obligation.  The product that I purchased has been replaced with Novatel Wireless U998 which is $129.95 with no contract and free if you sign up for three years.  If you’re not a big techie and don’t need the latest and greatest it might be a good idea to go for the 3 year deal but if you’re like I am and prefer the freedom of no contract $129 isn’t too much to shell out for this convenience.  I have been using mine for a while now and have been very happy with it’s performance and has definitely done what I needed it too, it’s not as fast as our highspeed at home but it’s a world better than dial up.  As a note I’m using mine on an Apple Macbook Pro so they are compatible for you Mac people.

These give you wireless internet access at the cottage.

The new option in the mobile wireless arena is the Wireless Hub and this looks like it may be the ultimate cottage communication solution.  Like the USB stick it catches a 3G signal but instead of having to plug into your computer you can access it wireless by up to 15 computers or any type of wireless device.  It also has ports so you can plug in up to 4 Ethernet cables in case your computer doesn’t have wireless and it even gives you the option to plug in a landline telephone (of course there is a $20 a month fee for this).  Priced at $399 without a contract or $149 with a 2 year contract it is a little bit pricey but if you have a family of laptop, Iphone, Blackberry… users it could be the solution you’re looking for.

The one thing you really need to pay attention with any wireless, you pay to play so make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.  That said, the data plans are getting better and you can scale it to your usage.  Click here to see Bells rates for the hub.

Rogers and Telus also offer solutions along the same lines, I can’t speak to them since I have not tried their services.  I have heard everyone complain about cell service on different parts of the lake so I would reccomend using the service that seems to get the best cell/3G performance where you are.  We are in Pine Bay and Bell seems to work best for us though rogers is not far behind (except in our kitchen for some reason).

Have you used any of these services on Healey or have a different solution to get on-line, please comment about your experience.

Next tech article will be on the Ipad at the cottage.

With winter fast approaching I figured it might be handy to put a list together of places you can get your snowmobile fixed when in need.  Some are full dealers, some are mechanics but they all could save your day in a pinch.  I’ve also added a couple of Gas stations for your convenience.  Make sure you call ahead, hours vary in the winter months.

Close to Mactier/Healey Lake

The Cove (Parts/Repairs)- 7062 Hwy. 400 – 705-375-2099

Moon River Marina (Parts/Repairs/GAS)- 714 Healey Lake Rd. – 705-375-2342

Gordon Bay Marina – (Parts/Repairs) 55A Hatherley Road – 705-375-2628

H&H Resort (GAS/Food) – 60 Kapikog Lake Rd – 705-375-5323

Crane Lake House (GAS/Food) – 510 Blackstone Crane Lake Road – 1-705-378-2206

Muskoka Gas – (GAS) – Hwy. 400 (beside the cove)

On the way to Healey Lake and the Muskoka Parry Sound area you will pass the following big brand snowmobile and ATV dealerships just off of the 400 highway.

Polaris – Marsh’s Marina – 5 Duck Bay Road – Waubaushene – 705-538-2285

Ski-Doo – St.Onge Recreation – 74 Saunders Road- Barrie – 705-733-2280

Arctic Cat - Team Powersports – 2985 Mayhew Road – Waubaushene – 705-538-2222

Yamaha - Gordon Bay Marina – 55A Hatherley Road – Mactier – 705-375-2628

Hope this helps you enjoy your snowmobile trip in the Healey Lake area, make sure you support the local businesses where you ride.

If you know of any other repair shops in the area please comment and I will add them to the list.

After spending that last week raking leaves at our house in the city we had the wonderful pleasure of raking even more at the cottage.  To be honest when doing it at the cottage it seems much more relaxing and even our dog Zucca gets into the groove.  That’s her head poking out of this poor quality cell phone picture, I tried to get closer but she bolted.

Zucca in the leaves at Healey Lake

We also shut the water down this weekend which is pretty simple since installing a water system from Cottage Water Supply.  If you’re not using a submersible pump and self draining system, I highly recommend taking a trip to the Queensway to see what they have to offer.  We don’t use ours in the winter but the convenience of not having to drain and winterize the pump and then prime it in the spring is worth the little bit more you pay.  We’ve had ours for 4 years now and it’s been excellent.