Now in my 50's as I write this, it is obvious to me, that I wasn't so much trying to break into the cottage, as I was trying to find my way back to something very special which my family had for generations held onto, which was in essence, a way of life. A way of life which reached out and said: "come on in, your welcome at the party and there is always room for one more around the table."
Just a normal part of Irish hospitality. After all you need to whet your whistle if your going to sit a while and tell some stories.
It was a carefree place, full of food, fun, drinks, and stories, and probably a bit too much of all of those were consumed every weekend from the first time my grandparents were in residence.
Of course, under this tough exterior was a man with a very caring heart, and so, by the time my own children knew him as grandpa, he had mellowed to the point where he was utterly idolized and adored by them, and seen by all as Captain Dan, fixer of any problem, driver of large fire trucks and huge boats and softy towards all pets and children. My parents by then owned a large 46' trawler called the Thunderbird that had in some ways acted as a substitute for Banchory Lodge for them. (As I said, my dad loved anything BIG). It was large enough to take out a party of people on the lake for the afternoon, and my mother's "room for one more" attitude, had many people spend a night onboard.
So I put the thought behind me, and if fate had not intervened that would have been the end of it. After all, it wasn't like I could move Banchory Lodge across the lake. However as is the case with most wonderful things that happen in life, there is nothing you can do to purposely make them happen, but if you simply let go, and trust in the ways of God and the universe, the most amazing things do come about, and right at the perfect time that they are needed.
Brenda went on to share that her Grandparents had had a lakefront cottage similar in some ways to the one I grew up at in Grand Beach, and she began to tell me of all the fond memories from her childhood there. She went on to say that her grandparent's cottage had been torn down, but they were on the search for a 4 season cottage that could eventually be a retirement home for them and a place to visit with their American grandchildren. Brenda concluded her story with... "Oh, and there was this one cottage, that was totally vintage" and she went on to describe a cottage that sounded so similar to Banchory Lodge, that I was pulled down memory lane with everything she said. "It's over a hundred years old, and it's right near the lake, and it's never been remodeled, and Wendy I couldn't help but think of you and Murray and how good you are at renovating." and we all laughed..... And two days later, we bought that cottage! Thanks for reading. This blog will be a place where I will chronicle the physical restoration of our 110-year-old Cottage which after consultation with my mom, and permission from my aunty Lorna will be re-named "Banchory Lodge" in honor of our family legacy, and in search of the special magic that the Mailey's knew how to create. We want of course to hand that legacy down to our children and grandchildren, but we also want to let them the hear story of where that legacy came from. So each of my posts will talk about the past and the present. I want to share some of the family and friends stories and memories from the Banchory Lodge and also invite you to watch the complete restoration of a 110-year-old original lake house, as we work our special kind of renovation love and style into its future as Banchory Lodge 2.0 So if you are reading this, and you have a memory, a photo, or any other record you can share with me about the original Banchory Lodge in Grand Beach, I would love for you to share your thoughts in the comments, or send me your photos and memories to: [email protected] Watch for my next blog post where I will share photos and details of the "new" Banchory Lodge as we found it on the day we purchased it.
2 Comments
Joyce & Lloyd Woods
12/12/2020 11:27:26 am
Thanks for sharing & very interesting.
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Myrna
12/15/2020 07:55:11 am
Oh WENDY I was so excited when I thought it was the Grand Marais location that you were coming back to. Nevertheless I’m looking to continuation of this story as only you can tell it.
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