Our lakeside summer home has always been ~ "the Cottage".
When Aunt Margaret married Uncle Bob, and went to live in Vermont, she quickly adopted his way of calling the family cabin in the woods ~ "Camp".
Being an Easterner transported to California, I was thrilled to discover a shop in near-by Carmel Valley devoted to Camp and Cottage Lifestyle.
So, whenever I would get homesick, I would put on pink Minnetonka moccasins, and head out to Carmel Valley for a fix.
An old clunker of a truck was always parked out front of the shop, which consisted of a conplex of red clapboard farm sheds, which contained Molly's eccletic collection of: Adirondack, Twig and Hickory furniture; worn brown leather club chairs; primitive oil paintings;
Beacon and Hudson Bay blankets;
Feedsack pillows with colorful graphics, canoe paddles;
Skookum dolls; rustic lighting; birchbark souvenirs; baskets; vintage turquoise and silver trade pieces;
and other sundry trinkets. Tiny balsam bags with the scent of the forest were a popular take -home item.
The shop and yard are now empty, and a sign is posted which announces that the owner, Molly, has moved South. Come September, I see a road trip in my future.
Savoring my last few sunsets by the lake,
Marjorie
