Last week I sent a letter to Dorothy to tell her about Brad's trip to the cabin with Anders and Nate and also to ask a few more questions. To my delight, I received her reply today. We are planning a trip there this coming weekend, so I will write a new letter then.
Here is her letter:
March 3, 2023
Dear Karen and family,
Your letter made my day! It's been hard giving up the cabin, but just knowing that it has been passed along to the "exactly right" family has made it so much easier.
I can't say whether or not your Mom could function with the rocky ground, but I'm sure she would love a few days of it, just to see the place. We didn't have any guests who used walkers, but some had small children, and there were two (one of my in-laws) women who were petrified of using the biffy at night. On those occasions, we used the chemical toilet. You probably can find the chemicals for it at a plumbing or hardware store. It's easy to carry out to the biffy and empty it. Before Karl died, he had consulted Mark Merhas, about putting in a septic system, but we couldn't afford to do it.
You asked if I had been up there in the winter--no thanks! I have Southern blood, dating back to the late 1700's. Anything below 45 degrees in winter, is too cold for me. Since we didn't intend to use the cabin in the winter, we didn't insulate the floors. Henry had to go up there, one winter, and said that while there, he dropped the dishcloth, in the kitchen, and it froze to the floor as he was picking it up. He also used firewood and the propane heater (in the living room). The cabin had been broken into, and the sheriff notified us, that had happened and wanted him to come and see what was missing and to lock up the place.
The mirror that you asked about, was a birthday gift, to me when I was about 14. (I'll be 94 this July 4th). I grew up in Houston, Texas, and was around boats and ships until I was grown. My Dad was a US Customs officer, so I was able to go aboard some ships, when they were being searched. I didn't care much about the large oil tankers, but I liked the tug boats. They escorted the large ships through Galveston Bay, and through the Houston ship channel.
I'm glad you are enjoying the canoe. It isn't as stable on the Grumman. We had the kids use the "G" if they went out by themselves.
Karl used to scrub out the water tank each year before we came home. There is a stiff brush, in the shed, that we used.
I used the sewing machine quite a bit for mending. The leather drive-belt got so stretched and loose, it was hard to use it. The last thing I made, was the curtain under the stairs. It might sell at an antique store. I also majored in art, so I made the macrame stuff.
I enjoyed the pictures, too. In the picture of your boat at the dock we had some logs on that side where we paddled up the canoe and always docked on the other side. The high water last year must have washed most of them away. Also, I noticed that the gate wasn't on the porch. It did deter the bears from the porch. Since the windows are single-pane, we didn't want one to break the glass and get in (we had a hummingbird feeder hanging from the overhang. The hooks are probably still there. )
At the time we built the cabin, we weren't allowed to cut the vegetation in the first 100 feet from the lake. Don't know if the rules have changed. The USFS people used to come inspect the lots every summer, and tell us if we needed to do anything to the lot. The last few years, we didn't see them.
I'll stop now, you've probably gotten bored to sleep. I love hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Dorothy
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