Friday, January 7, 2011

Summer on my mind

Well, here we are on January 7th and I'm pretty much fed up with winter.  I'm tired of being cold.  I've been cold since late October and it's getting really old.

SodusBay Painting About now I start pining for my summer cottage (where it's usually too hot).  I start thinking about the wonderful view (which about now is totally gray/white:  gray sky, gray ice (where the nice blue water is during the summer) and white ground where the snow is. And the snow is probably a couple of feet deep about now, too.

But my head is in April.  Or, at least March.

We had to cut our season short in early October because the water heater died.  Well, it was 30+ years old. As our plumber told us, it was the equivalent of a 10 year old water heater in that for most of its life it was drained and out of use for at least seven months of the year.  But now we need a new one and we didn't see the need to buy one for a couple of weeks only to drain it again.

I like to start going back to the cottage in mid-April.  It's cold there, too.  But now we have baseboard heat and running water (I hate paying for it, but I love municipal water) and it can be quite pleasant.  I'll call the plumber in mid-March and order that water heater (which doesn't look like a conventional one--it's short and squat and lives above the shower).

I have several projects I'd like to complete this summer.  Last year we did a bathroom face lift.  This year it's the kitchen that will be in line for a little cosmetic treatment.  (A real ceiling and some new lights.  Maybe a skylight???)  And I'm thinking about getting a new rug in the living room.

So while it's still winter here at home, it's summer at the cottage in my mind.

I can't wait to go.

Are you dreaming about summer already?