Redstone Lake

The Main Cottage

CC and I are very fortunate to have friends who have a cottage on an island on Redstone Lake, and were even more fortunate to have had an invitation to stay with them this past weekend. We both needed an escape from G-town, not having had a vacation this year.  It was a restful weekend with lots of food, drink and great company.  I spent a lot of time in the water and CC spent a lot of time sleeping.  It was a bit cool and overcast, but the air and scenery were perfect for recharging our batteries.

There are are two outbuildings for guests to stay in, so we had some privacy, much needed for CC's many naps! I'm not much of a napper, myself, so I spent my time swimming and walking around the island (it only takes about 15 minutes).  I took lots of pictures as there are many good photo-ops available.

Although it was cloudy and cool on our first day, there was a lovely sunset that night.

After a restful night's sleep, we made our way to the main cabin and had breakfast. The day was even more overcast, and there was quite a bit of rain throughout the day, but at least we had expansive vistas to look at and the air was incredible. There was also lots of good food and conversation to keep us occupied.  I took the opportunity to explore the island in more detail when the chance arose and was especially interested in the plant-life that ekes out an existence on seemingly barren landscapes.

The next day was much the same to start with, but then we happily spotted a thin blue line of sky on the horizon and prayed to all the gods we could think of to reward us with some sunshine. The water was quite frigid, but once I was in for a while, moving constantly, it didn't feel at all bad. Getting out was, shall we say, refreshing, especially when the wind blew in.

What I couldn't get over was the many interesting colours and textures of the live and fallen trees.  Their importance to the environment is evident when you get a good look at the multitudes of lifeforms that they support.  Even as driftwood, trees belie a beauty that is hard to match.

Well, the gods must have been happy with us and our sacrifices (kidding!), because we were rewarded with an afternoon of glorious, Vitamin D-providing, soul-warming sunshine, and took full advantage of  being outside, in the water and on the water.

Even a mother dock spider decided it was time to sun herself on the rocks while her many spiderlings hatched and clustered in a dense web-cum-nursery.

We had another extraordinary sunset for our last night, and were feeling sad that we would be heading home the next morning.

We were up bright and early the next morning and I took a final tour around the island with my camera to catch the rising sun and the mists on the water.

I then had a quick dip to wash away the night's sleepiness.  The sun had not yet come around onto the diving rocks, so my feet were in for a chilly surprise when I exited the lake!  We had a big bacon-and-eggs fry-up for breakfast, packed up our things and got a boat-ride to the mainland and headed back to G-town.  It looked like it was going to be another beautiful day, so we were sad to leave, but thankful we got a chance to enjoy our time with our friends and their hospitality.