This is the face of someone who has just stayed at Raven Wood Cottage for three weeks. Maria came all the way from Germany for a retreat at our little cottage in the woods. She came with the intention of finishing a book, which she did. Early on in her stay I checked in with her. She’d been meditating a lot, and hiking. “It’s so beautiful here, and I can’t believe how you can walk and walk and never see anyone,” she said. In the guest book she left a note, “Being here, I’ve learned about the power of nature.”
a Canadian retreat
August 16, 2011 at 12:48 am (summer 2011)
Tags: Canada, retreat
oysters and firewood
March 25, 2011 at 5:36 pm (spring 2011)
Tags: alder forest, beach walking, cottage, downhill mountain biking, harvesting oysters, nettles, Quadra Island
It was a long wet winter on Quadra Island this year, with the snow having only just melted before we arrived. The grass and salmon berry bushes were only beginning to green up despite it being spring equinox. We had sunny days, however, though cool, and did a lot of beach walking. Low tide was in the afternoon, so we collected oysters one day for dinner. I think they’re best at this time of year, with all the fresh water run-off coming down onto the beach. We saw nettles poking up. They should be ready for picking the next time we’re there. There are so many growing wild in the clearer areas of the woods where the alder trees grow.
It must have been a windy year too, judging by the amount of branches blown down. We stacked them all up for a bonfire next time. In early winter we took a few small trees down to let more sun shine on the cottage, so we cut that up and stacked it too, in the woodshed. It’ll be good and dry for some cozy evenings by the wood stove next winter. It had been some time since we’d been up. I found it took a couple of days for me to wind down and relax and just enjoy being there. The kids didn’t lose a moment though, launching into biking and mucking about almost as soon as we arrived. We heard some frogs, and birds singing in the morning. We’re all very much looking forward to our next trip up.
mushrooms and leaves
September 10, 2010 at 5:33 pm (autumn 2010)
Tags: at the beach, autumn leaves, chanterelle mushrooms, new rates, testimonials
Autumn at Raven Wood Cottage has come, and though we were sad to see the long hot days end, autumn has a delicious flavor of it’s own. As the light seems to slip sideways, the maples catch it in coloured leaves, as do the chanterelle mushrooms that glow gold in the moss of the forest floor. We put a little bit of firewood away for the coldest days of winter, or should the power go out in a storm. And, autumn always being a good time for reflection, we realize that we’ve learned a lot from our first summer season, which we intentionally took slowly. We are delighted with the success we had and glad that we spent some time at the cottage ourselves finding ways to make the space even more comfortable. We look forward to having our first autumn guest. Please see that we’ve updated our “Rates” page and have added a “Testimonials” page. Thank-you Justin and Akane for your kind words!
time for everyone
July 30, 2010 at 12:11 pm (summer 2010)
Tags: arrowheads, biking, childcare, hiking, kyacking, Quadra Island, Quadra Island Children's Centre
I’ve been driving my son to the ferry quite often lately. He’s been heading off to Mt. Washington for some riding. I’ve been stopping in at Aroma Cafe for a freshly roasted cup of Joe and have been seeing some finds from the beaches, ancient arrow heads, knives, weights–real treasures. We’ve also checked out the highly renowned Quadra Island Children’s Centre for some fun kid-time for our youngest. We’re looking forward to heading out for a good hike or paddle soon, on our own, as the centre does drop-in care (with some preliminary arranging).
our first guests loved it
July 23, 2010 at 10:57 am (summer 2010)
Tags: beach, bedroom, cabin, dappled light, glorious weather, guests
Our first guests, who were visiting the islands from Beijing, really enjoyed their stay. In fact, they stayed longer than they expected to, and yes, we took that as a compliment! I’ll post a few comments they made shortly, perhaps on a new page I’ll call “testimonials”.
We’ve been enjoying the space ourselves since they’ve gone, spending a lot of time at the beach in this glorious weather, but also just hanging out at the cabin, it’s so pleasant with all the dappled light. We don’t really feel the need to go anywhere!
making magic
July 10, 2010 at 4:54 pm (summer 2010)
Tags: finishing projects, magic, Open Bay, Quadra Island, raven, raven's eyes, the cosmos
As with so many projects, the list of things left to do as you approach the end never seems so bad until you actually embark on accomplishing the tasks. I guess it has something to do with wanting to be finished before you actually are. Such was the case with the last few things I had to do at the cottage before our first guests arrived. I installed curtain rods in the bedroom, put together IKEA furniture, scrubbed the place from top to bottom, including the windows, pushed a bunch of stuff up into the loft, mowed the lawn (until the lawnmower died)…yada, yada. How could I have thought that doing all that wouldn’t take a lot of time? But really, I didn’t mind. It’s such a pleasant environment there that it makes whatever you’re doing alright. I felt especially encouraged, like the cosmos was on my side, when I woke up the morning before the guests were to arrive to a huge raven sitting on the roof right outside my window. She hung around quite some time with me looking at her from my pillow and her looking at me from the ledge. Raven’s eyes are very dark, deep. I decided to take it as a sign that the cottage was aptly named, and that I was somehow on track. The guests finally arrived, tired from their journey, and, when I returned later to deliver some propane, I could see, and they agreed, that Open Bay had already begun to work magic on them.
wind and wolves
July 2, 2010 at 9:59 am (summer 2010)
Tags: beach-combing, Chai, driftwood, driftwood furniture, Little House in the Big Woods, living off the land, remote locations, sand castles, the bay, weather, wind, wolf song, wolves
The weather is everything when you are in a remote location, there is no distraction from it. This week was a bit gray and stormy, but we braved being outside anyway because the temperature was so warm. We headed down to the beach during a sunny break, thinking we might fit in some sun-bathing and castle-building, only to face the wind coming up again instead. We gave up our sun worshiping plans, then, to wander the logs, to beach-comb, and to take breaks watching the white caps gnash about. We enjoyed our time on the beach despite the wind, or, perhaps, because of it. I was delighted too that I had found some missing pieces for our driftwood table. We headed back up the hill for Chai and read some Little House in the Big Woods. My daughter has been playing games about living off the land ever since. We heard wolf song ringing out across the bay later in the night, such a moving sound.
so much personal space
June 14, 2010 at 9:49 pm (spring 2010)
Tags: bbq, beach, deck, family, forest, freedom, friends, green forests, lambs, natural space, summer living, tiles, trails, woodwork, young ravens
We’re full-on into summer now at Raven Wood Cottage. I’d forgotten how many shades of green there are, and all so vivid. There is so much texture too in the varied leaves of the forest.
I love how there is such a diminished need to be inside at this time of year; the deck is our dining room (especially since the barbecue is up and running now too), the lawn, our over-sized living room, with trails like hallways branching off into so many alluring places. I walk around sometimes with my arms outstretched. It is a luxury to have such space. We walk to the beach, come back to the cabin for lunch, wander over to see the neighbours lambs and rarely encounter another soul, save for the birds, and they were certainly letting us know they were our neighbours this weekend, young ravens trying out their wings and exercising their trickster calls. Don’t get me wrong, we do get together with friends too while we’re there. Our seasonally extended abode facilitated both a sixteenth birthday dinner and a brunch. Summer living at its sweetest.
Carpenter Adrian did an awesome job too, putting some finishing touches on the place. And I’m quite proud of my tiling job that I just grouted this weekend.
It was pretty hard to leave.
a little love
May 16, 2010 at 11:55 am (spring 2010)
Tags: artisan cottage, building with local materials, building with reused materials, coast of British Columbia, gnome house, island, Italian tiles, love, Nanaimo, old wooden windows, remote, reno, retreat, woodstove
We’ve been showing the cottage a little love lately. Carpenter Adrien has been putting on some finishing touches that were as yet left undone: baseboards, aprons under the window trim, trim around the door in the bedroom, and some upgrades to the outhouse (I expect it will look more like a gnome house when done). And when we were up there last, I finally tiled under the woodstove with some Italian tiles that Peter’s dad had kept from a reno on their house in Nanaimo years ago. The tiles will keep in with the theme of the cabin, that being that it has been built largely of reused and local materials, from the reused wooden windows, to the flooring, ceiling panels, and beams that came from trees on the property. It’s so good to see the place getting the attention it deserves. It really is a special little cottage.
a place to decompress
April 19, 2010 at 8:56 pm (spring 2010)
Tags: birds, booking, fresh air, ocean, quiet, relaxation, sleep, visiting family
One of the things I love about Open Bay is how quiet it is. I was only there for a night and had to leave in the morning, but I still managed to decompress. The place is very conducive to a good night sleep. I had a great run in the morning. It had just rained so I could smell the fresh scent of all new spring vegetation. I ran to the end of Valdez Road for a quick peak at the ocean and back. There were so many birds out and nettle growing in big patches everywhere. I returned to an email from a Quadra Island friend asking if her visiting family might stay for a week. Our first booking! Time to order the bed, and probably a hide-a-bed too. Nice to have the phone in.
