Kottage-tek - MP3 Edition

Episodes

1. 93

   Episode 93: Snowshoes and Uproarious Applause.

   We finally get a live audience and boy do they ever like us. Ok, so it helps that they are family and well bribed with food and liquor. My applause sign probably didn’t hurt either. Everyone went snowshoeing today and it was nice to just go for a quiet walk in the woods and enjoy the peace and...

   May 31, 2020
2. 92

   Episode 92: Rain chains and roasting coffee.

   I solved the sagging rain gutter problem by installing a rain chain. This is a concept from ancient Japan that became popular in North America during the Victorian and Craftsman eras. I did a Kottage Knowhow video on our YouTube channel. I experiment with roasting my own coffee beans using a hot...

   May 20, 2020
3. 91

   Episode 91: Tornados on Six Mile lake?

   We had some serious storms with high winds come through the north end of the lake. Everyone thought it was a tornado that cut a path through the forest, but it was actually a “downburst” that flattened all the trees. Everyone had to literally cut their way down the cottage road but at least there...

   May 19, 2020
4. 90

   Episode 90: The scourge of Invasive Eurasian Milfoil.

   We start out with a whole wheel of Oka cheese and nobody likes to cut the cheese more than Walter, Bruce , and I. Nothing beats Charcuterie at the cottage. We mostly talked about one of the latest invasions in Muskoka. Its not party animals from southern Ontario, Its Eurasia Milfoil. A water…

   more
   May 18, 2020
5. 89

   Episode 89: From canoes to steampunk?

   Boy when Bruce said Deb dragged her canoe from out east, he wasn’t kidding. There were some serious holes worn all the way through the fiberglass. Luckily, Walter has lots of experience repairing fiberglass boats, so we put him to work. . After most of the prep work was done, we headed into Honey...

   May 18, 2020
6. 88

   Episode 88: The vanity is not in vain.

   We started the weekend by visiting Christie's Mill in Port Severn for a nice dinner together. There was a wonderful musician named R. G. Peever playing guitar that we thoroughly enjoyed. He seems to go by the name "JazzTEX". wonder what "JazzTex is up to now?. We finally got around to installing...

   May 12, 2020
7. 87

   Episode 87: Ten pounds of rotting flesh.

   Well I think Bruce and I were in fine form this time. Our segment on Cottage Cheese finally aired on Cottage Life TV so that's our seven minutes of fame. We are going to have to do one more show and a commercial if we are going to get to 15 minutes. The snow has been so heavy this winter that it...

   May 10, 2020
8. 86

   Episode 86: “Someone get me a hoe”

   It became blatantly obvious that beer belongs in glasses and not potato chips. And just to ice the cake, mother nature is keeping us snowed in well into the spring. Even the cottage road looks like it belongs in the winter Olympics. Thanks to the heavy snow pack the spring runoff is flooding the...

   May 10, 2020
9. 85

   Episode 85: What the heck is a growler?

   We started out with a project that we thought was going to be at least a three or four beer job. It turns out we were in and out in under an hour. Bruce has a “Greenway” UV light as part of the water filtration system and it fell apart and started leaking shortly after the warranty expired....

   May 10, 2020
10. 84

    Episode 84: The Ugliest Bird In The Woods!

    Well this time we had to deal with a leaking hot water heater. Somehow the pressure release valve failed and sprung a leak. We also discovered that not all presure release valves are the same so you may want to take the bad one with you when you go to town to get a new one.. We also talked about...

    May 10, 2020
11. 83

    Episode 83: The Walk Out Beer Cooler.

    Its "SNOWMAGEDON"! We’ve have had so much lake effect snow this year that the temporary garage Bruce puts up for his car has collapsed under the snow load. Everything else is buried under several feet of snow. The first priority is digging out the Muskoka chairs, so we can get in some serious…

    more
    Nov 4, 2018
12. 82

    Episode 82: Splitting mauls, ax handles, and Francie Dancer takes a dive.

    Bruce picks up an eight-pound splitting maul but it didn’t come sharp from the store, so I had to grind an edge onto it before we could use it. This was to compliment the six-pound maul that has done years of service at the cottage. Bruce also picked up a new ax handle to replace a broken one and...

    Oct 13, 2018
13. 81

    Episode 81: Cliff builds another woodshed

    Bruce and I were supposed to build a new woodshed this week but he got called back to the city. How convenient. That left me all alone to get the job done. I enlisted several cheap/free apprentices to help. This was definitely a 24 beer job.

    Aug 6, 2018
14. 80

    Episode 80: Biblical Rain and A Space Odyssey

    Mother Nature gets “Turkey of the Day” for raining on our parade this weekend. The rains were biblical at times and confirmed our belief that a metal roof, although not as quiet as regular shingles, isn’t as noisy as some people will say. We did get a few small breaks in the rain, so we did…

    more
    Mar 25, 2018
15. 79

    Episode 79: Bush Buggy Envy

    Hydro One has been in to brush the hydro right of way for over a week now. It's slow going because of the rough terrain but they sure came equipped. They have a big orange articulated boom truck that is well set up for the task. Complete with chain saw holsters, a couple of Stihl ms260s, a...

    Feb 28, 2015
16. 78

    Episode 78: Hot swapping water pumps

    We started out with pump problems again so we made our usual trip into Parry Sound to the Home Depot for a new pump and other assorted parts. OF course we were all decked out in our finest kottage-tek T-shirts from our swag shop and we actually got some attention from a couple of hunnies. Wow! I...

    Jan 5, 2015
17. 77

    Episode 77: Swimming cinder blocks and The Wolverine is sick.

    I can’t believe Bruce even considered swimming a cinder block more than 50 feet out into the lake where it has to be about 15 feet deep. At least he plans on taking a life jacket along next time. I think I'll stick to using something with a bit more buoyancy like a boat. Even the paddle boat is a...

    Sep 22, 2014
18. 76

    Episode 76: Cheese In Aerosol Cans.

    We got a lot of small chores done today but the biggest was taking down the temporary garage. It's been up for two years so it's about time it came down. Bruce should know that you just can't stop the demolition man. Especially when he is fueled by beer. We did finally get it taken apart and…

    more
    Sep 14, 2014
19. 75

    Episode 75: Yellowknife, and Beer makes us smarter!

    This time Cliff talks about his travels to Yellowknife. It may not be "the cottage" but there's lot of roughing it and being outdoors that they both have in common. Everyone should try to spend at least a bit of time there. Everything from incredible fish that are pulled from Great Slave Lake, to...

    Apr 12, 2014
20. 74

    Episode 74: Recreating The Bleeding Edge.

    Bruce had a good friend named Walter Martindale join us this time for a boys weekend. It turns out Walter is a master knife sharpener. We of course put him to work sharpening every knife in the place. He also brought along a few interesting ones to show us as well. One of them has quickly become…

    more
    Feb 17, 2014
21. 73

    Episode 73: The Belkin WeMO, IfThisThenThat, and Daniel Steele is a chair leg?

    The first project this time was replacing some of the trashy novels that were holding up the furniture with actual legs. We left a couple of books under the corner of the sofa because we figured nobody will want to read them anyway. WE also played with a Belkin WeMo. This is like a high tech…

    more
    Jan 26, 2014
22. 72

    Episode 72: Tis The Season To Hang Tchotchke, And is it ready for human testing?

    It's Christmas time in Muskoka and there's no better time to get all the old skis, snowshoes, and other paraphernalia off the floor, out of the hallway, and up onto the walls where it belongs We also got to poke fun at Bruce's Dr. Seuss Christmas tree We also followed up on the water purification...

    Jan 19, 2014
23. 71

    Episode 71: The LED Electric Guitar

    Cliff installs LEDs into a clear acrylic electric guitar And we come full circle with the LED guitar playing Smoke On The Water so close to the Whatta reserve.

    Dec 4, 2013
24. 70

    Episode 70: Cottage Life TV visits Kottage-tek.

    Blue Ant Media comes to shoot a segment for the upcomming "Cottage Cheese" show. on the new Cottage Life Television channel Now we know how George Clooney and Brad Pitt feel. Or maybe it's more like Steve Martin and Martin Short!

    Nov 17, 2013
25. 69

    Episode 69: The history of cottaging in Muskoka.

    We talked about the history and traditions of cottaging in Muskoka as well as most other places in Canada We told stories about moving the outhouse, cooking on a real wood stove and of course the town pump which we still use today. If that's roughing it, I'll take it any day of the week.

    Aug 14, 2013
26. 68

    Episode 68: Water Water Everywhere and now we can drink it!

    Bruce finally pulled the trigger on a water purification system. Paul Godwin Plumbing took care of the project and boy does it make a difference when professionals do the work We put in three "Big Blue" 20 inch filter canisters and a Greenway GAUV-12H UV Disinfection System which uses a 35 watt…

    more
    Jul 4, 2013
27. 67

    Episode 67: Bruce you sak of krete!

    This time we get into a bit more detail about pouring cement. We covered scribing forms to the uneven rocks which is a handy skill to have. We also talked about mixing cement. We discussed different kinds of cement and just what makes it concrete. Bruce went with the old wheelbarrow method which...

    Jun 26, 2013
28. 66

    Episode 66: Patio stones and cement. All for fresh water.

    Bruce is finally installing a water purification system so we don't have to keep hauling water from the city or at least the town pump. We did a bunch of cleanup in the crawlspace and prepared a place for the installers to set the new pump. We did this by scribing a plywood for to the un-even…

    more
    Jun 26, 2013
29. 65

    Episode 65: Two Bruces and The Montreal Crew.

    Bruce and Asis, aka The Montreal Crew show up imediately jumped in to help with cleaning out the beer fridge. Their years of training and experience pays off as we actually had to re-stock before the visit was over. We also announce the grand openning of "The Kottage-tek Swag Shop over on Cafe Press

    Jan 13, 2013
30. 64

    Episode 64: Infrastructure is a pretty big word!

    We talk about a couple of big projects at the cottage like the bathroom vanity and a new steel roof We also talk about the loons amassing on the lake in preparation for their winter migration.

    Dec 25, 2012
31. 63

    Episode 63: The 802.11ac Wi-Fi Cordless Extension Cord

    First the Rogers 3G hub melts down but we get that working again. Then I create the 802.11ac Wi-Fi Cordless Extension Cord.

    Oct 20, 2012
32. 62

    Episode 62: Misting Bruce with a paint gun.

    We finished off the re-siding job on the old bunkie. I also get to mist Bruce with the paint gun. Boy hes going grey!,

    Oct 13, 2012
33. 61

    Episode 61: Outsourced labour for residing the old bunkie.

    We finally replace the old siding on the bunkie and even get on a couple of coats of paint We also have a toast to the war of 1812.,

    Sep 9, 2012
34. 60

    Episode 60: The beer machine that goes BING

    Bruce has a dead battery and a flat. The machine that goes "Bing", and maple syrup collection re-invents the beer me zip line.

    Sep 3, 2012
35. 59

    Episode 59: Hunting with a plate glass window.

    Bruce catches a Ruffed Grouse. Actually it flew into a window so we cooked it for dinner.

    Mar 20, 2012
36. 58

    Episode 58: We need to flush at least 5 times each night!

    We work on ways to prevent the water line from freezing. It's truly a franchise opportunity.

    Mar 11, 2012
37. 57

    Episode 57: The Newfie Screwdriver.

    Sarah gets stuck in the truck thanks to the kiddie locks. and we build a new platform deck for the tin garden shed. Bruce and Sarah get to work driving deck screws with the Newfie Screwdriver

    Jan 8, 2012
38. 56

    Episode 56: Cooking ribs at the cottage.

    First we BBQ some ribs and chicken. Then we find that someone has been putting food in the beer fridge. blasphemy!

    Jan 2, 2012
39. 55

    Episode 55: The Fridge of DEATH

    The food fridge is renamed the fridge of DEATH and Bruce wants to open a micro brewery.

    Dec 24, 2011
40. 54

    Episode 54: The Water Garden Beer Chiller Hot Tub

    Cliff creates a unique water garden at the cottage. It does double duty as a beer and wine chiller by day and a hot tub by night. Pure genius!

    Sep 16, 2011
41. 53

    Episode 53: The Kottage Kreations Beer-Me Zip Line

    We have a problem down on the dock that needs a solution. Fortunately I figure out a solution and implement it. Finally, cold ones on the dock.

    Aug 15, 2011
42. 52

    Episode 52: A couple of curmudgeons if you please.

    We do a major spring cleaning both inside and out. Karen fires the cottage mower and I cut up the old paddle boat with my demo saw. Then its of to the dump and them Mactier for plumbing supplies.

    Aug 12, 2011
43. 51

    Episode 51: Do we have to go tubing?

    Faced with a boat full of bikini clad women, Bruce and Cliff take the neighnours tubing and waterskiing

    Aug 12, 2011
44. 50

    Episode 50: Damn Beavers!

    Violent storms hit the Muskokas We also went for a field trip to check out some beaver baffles.

    Aug 3, 2011
45. 49

    Episode 49: The BBQ Fleet and Stolen Sleds!

    We add another "newish" BBQ to the ever growing fleet lined up on the deck. We also talk about some dumb crooks who stole a snowmobile and got caught.

    Aug 3, 2011
46. 48

    Episode 48: It was a dark and stormy night!

    Violent storms hit the Muskokas We spend the rest of the day repairing the washed out gravel on the driveway and walkways.

    Jul 23, 2011
47. 47

    Episode 47: The Touring Troy-Bilt.

    First Bruce starts the old two stroke snow blower in the dinning room Then he buys a sweet Troy-Bilt 24" 2 stage dream. Then I go to work on it. "Stay off the roads".

    Feb 26, 2011
48. 46

    Episode 46: Pipi the septic sucking truck.

    Pipi showed up today with his septic sucking truck. The biggest baddest shopvac on the cottage road

    Feb 18, 2011
49. 45

    Episode 45: Finally, WiFi at the cottage.

    Bruce is finally able to get internet access at the cottage. And without a phone line or modem. We also rescued a chickadee on the deck and a crawfish in a beer can.

    Feb 6, 2011
50. 44

    Episode 44: Breathing fire into the Stihl dragon.

    Well its firewood hunting season and Bruce actually had to buy firewood this year. we talked about just what is a bush cord and a face cord. We also cut some windfall trees with my new Stihl chainsaw. Thanks to CVR Motors (cvrmotors.com) for a sweet deal.

    Jan 22, 2011