Every five years the Horne Lake Planning Committee sends out a questionnaire to its residents to verify and establish the priorities for our community. Included in this year’s summary are also the results from five years ago.

While this seems like a tedious process, it’s invaluable to maintaining the quality of our lakeside experience. It’s also a great way to educate cottagers on issues that they may not even be aware exist.

Take wake boats for example. Five years ago one of the biggest issues vexing cottagers were jet skis. For those folks who didn’t own one, having to listen to their neighbor’s insistent throttling motor as they tore donuts around the lake, swamping canoes with their waves generated a lot of negative feedback. According to Murray Hamilton the Horne Lake Property Manager, the owners of these pleasure crafts grew up and moved on. Jet skis have ceased to be an issue on the lake.

It seems wake boats have taken their place according to this year’s survey. The big waves generated by these powerful boats are being blamed for shoreline erosion, dock damage and general annoyances. The underlying culprit, according to Hamilton, is a lack of respect and education. “Owners of these boats think everyone wants to enjoy it with them. Running these boats parallel to the shore is just wrong,” Hamilton explains. He goes on to add, “There is a way to enjoy them without disturbing your neighbors.”

I must admit, I secretly covet the big black Malibu that lives across the bay. I love it’s big chrome lights and metal tower. Pulsing down the lake with its throaty stereo blasting just screams cool. I also concede with my neighbors. Scrambling to grab my kids so they don’t get knocked off the dock from its massive waves breaking against the shoreline is a huge pain.

Can we have our wake and enjoy it too? I think so. While the provincial government owns the water and protects the riparian areas, it’s the federal government who regulates boating. According to Hamilton, wake boats are not on the docket at least not for now, so the onus is on us, the cottager, to manage our behavior.

Next week we will be looking at boating manners 101. I’m betting it’s not just our lake that’s grappling with this behavioral problem.

Cheers,

Julie

“I can’t imagine life without luxuriously smooth, golden brown caramel. It’s an obsession, really - the flavour of forbidden fruit.” These are the poetic words of Chef Michael Smith - the award-winning host of the Food Network’s Chef at Home, Chef at Large and The Inn Chef.

This man speaks from my heart. While some people fawn at newborn babies and Wheaton Terrier puppies, my heart melts when I come into contact with a rich caramel sauce. “Create your own caramel just once and you spark a lifelong addiction,” writes Smith in the Food & Wine section of Wednesday’s Globe and Mail newspaper. Never were truer words written.

I love this golden sauce layered over vanilla ice cream and capped with salty peanuts (a throw back from my Dairy Queen days). Sticky bread pudding drizzled with caramel sauce - heaven. Especially if it happens to be Dalvay by the Sea’s sticky date pudding. I actually had it for breakfast on my 31st birthday - it remains one of my favourite food moments.

It’s hard to believe that nirvana consists of only five ingredients, but it’s the creamy richness and the simplicity of this recipe that makes it so delectable. Make and enjoy.

Chef Michael Smith’s Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

(makes two cups)

• 1 cup of water
• 2 cups of white sugar
• 1 cup of cream
• A dribble of or two of pure vanilla extract
• A sprinkle or two of sea salt

Technique:

Pour the water into a small saucepan. Pour the sugar in a small, tight pile into the pot. The sugar will easily dissolve without forming gritty crystals. Begin heating over medium-high heat but do not stir. The water and sugar will quickly dissolve together and form simple syrup. Continue heating the mixture until the water evaporates and the mixture turns to a deep golden brown - when you see the first hints of colour (pale golden stage) begin swirling the pan to help the mixture colour evenly. At the golden brown stage carefully add the cream - it will sputter and hiss a bit - but turn the heat back on and stir or whisk until the caramel is smooth. Add the vanilla and salt. Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate.

Cheers,

Julie

There is no easy way to simply give the cottage to your children at least not where the government is concerned. Whenever there is a change of title on the property, including transferring it to your children, the property is treated as though it was sold at fair market value, and you (or your estate) are liable for the tax on the capital gains from the sale.

Given the value of today’s waterfront properties, the taxes, assuming it’s not your principal residence and therefor exempt from capital gains, can be enormous. What started off as a gift to your children could quickly become an enormous tax burden.

There are several ways to bequeath a property to your children. Once you’ve made the decision regarding who gets what, it’s best to meet with a lawyer and a tax specialist to determine the best solution for your family. The following options are from Douglas Hunter’s book, The Cottage Ownership Guide.

1. Simple Bequest - the property is left to the children in a will upon the owner’s death. This works best where there is minimal or no capital gains taxes to be incurred. The down side to this is the delay in transfer of title and the probate cost incurred during the probate period.

2. Gift the Cottage to Your Children Now - transfer the ownership of the cottage as a gift, either all at once or incrementally. While the change in ownership triggers immediate taxable gain based on fair market value, any additional capital gains won’t have to be paid until the recipients dispose of the property themselves. Parents need to secure a “life-interest” in the cottage, to be able to continue to have a legal right to use it and protect it from being sold.

3 . Sell the Cottage to the Children Now - If the parents are unable to pay the taxes or wish to free up capital to enjoy other pursuits this option secures the property for the children who want to hang onto it. Capital gains still have to be paid but it avoids probate costs. The cottage can also be sold incrementally to the kids to break up the annual capital gains burden.

4. Make Your Children Joint Tenants - You and your children each share an equal and undivided ownership of the cottage. The property is considered to have a single owner. As the original owner your rights become limited and capital gains are triggered. It does allow the property to be passed from directly to your joint tenants without paying probate fees.

5. Transfer the Cottage to a Living Trust (Inter Vivos) - You no longer own the cottage but have control and benefit from it. This is only available to person 65 years or older. There are no probate fees and no capital gains at the time the trust is created. However, it is more expensive to establish and maintain a trust than a simple bequest. A trust will provide a shelter from capital gains for a maximum of 21 years only.

6. Establish the Cottage as a Non-Profit Organization - This might be a good solution where there is a large property and many family members. Members pay dues similar to a club for access to the property. Successive generations can use the property without paying capital gains tax or probate fees. The initial transfer of the property will likely trigger a capital gain. There is also the ongoing expense of accounting fees.

If you would like more information on how to bequeath the cottage to your children Hunter’s book, The Cottage Ownership Guide, is an excellent, easy-to-read guide that explores the pros and cons of each option in greater detail. Peter Lillico’s website www.lbkglaw.com is another excellent online resource.

Cheers,

Julie

This week we are looking at ways of keeping the family cottage well - in the family. There are many issues that need to be addressed including financial, suitability and legal - all have become increasingly complex with each passing year.

Choosing the Right Child

Today we are going to examine suitability. What happens when you have more than one child? What happens if the child that really loves the cottage can’t afford the maintenance costs? What happens if both children want the cottage, but are unable to get along with each other?

When deciding which child or children should carry on the family cottage Douglas Hunter, author of the book The Cottage Ownership Guide, recommends people consider the following:

1. Why are you handing down the cottage
2. Who is going to have it
3. Is this something you’ve talked about with the kids
4. Have you sat around the table and said this is what we’re thinking of doing with it

Hunter says, “A lot of times the parents are going to be really surprised by what comes out of these conversations. They’re going to find out that the kids don’t even particularly want the cottage.” Hunter has found that owners think they’re suppose to leave the cottage to their children, “C’ause that’s what moms and dads do,” but that might not be the best thing for anyone.

When deciding which child or children should be chosen to carry on the family retreat the following issues need to be addressed:

1. Level of interest of each child - if he or she is not enthusiastic about cottage ownership, with all responsibilities and costs then including them in the cottage plans may result in long term incapability
2. Geography - distant children may not be able to contribute equally to maintenance and chores, which may be resented by the ones who live closer and who end up carrying the load
3. Affordability - capital gains issues aside- if your child is struggling to financially, they may not be able to afford their share of expenses especially with increasing property taxes. A trust with a reservoir of funds can be set up to pay for taxes, maintenance and repairs.
4. Personalities - if siblings don’t get along prepare a co-ownership agreement while you, the parents are still alive and able to mediate.
5. Is it possible to sever the property into separate lots for each sibling?

Compensation

If not all children are chosen or willing to carry on with the cottage, should the others be compensated or ignored? Peter Lillico, a lawyer who specializes in cottage disposition recommends parents who wish to provide some balance among the children leave the non-cottage child more of the other assets, or provide insurance to even things out.

If the estate assets are not sufficient to do this, then perhaps the cottage owning children should contribute to the compensation or allow the child who is not included a “Life Interest.” They would be able to enjoy the cottage while alive, but would not be responsible for sharing the full costs, nor be able to leave an interest in the cottage to their heirs.

Tomorrow we will look at the financial implications for handing down the cottage.

Cheers,

Julie

Jumping on my father’s white freckled stomach as he floated around Rice Lake on an inner tube in the hot July sun is just one of my earliest cottaging memories.

Grabbing our sun-burnt bodies he’d launch my siblings and me up high into the air over his shoulders. Screaming with terror and delight we’d crash into the warm weedy waters, popping up moments later, and beg my father to throw us again and again.

Growing up, my family cottage was a source of joy and excitement, a place I couldn’t wait to get to and a place I never wanted to leave. It would take 20 years before I was finally able to afford my own cottage with the hope that one day my children too would experience the same joy and delight I had growing up. But for many of us fostering the dream of someday passing our summer retreats onto our children, it may be just that - a dream.

When it comes to handing down the family property, most people wait until it’s too late. There are steps cottagers should be taking now to prepare for the eventual disposition of the property, particularly if they are planning on leaving it to their children.

I had the opportunity at last year’s spring Cottage Life show to hear Peter Lillico, of Lillico Bazuk Kent Galloway, Peterborough Ontario, present on this very topic, Cottage Conundrum: Keeping it in the Family.

Lillico states the Cottage Conundrum is that the tax system, financial realities and family dynamics are all critical obstacles to achieving the generous goal of ensuring the cottage stays in the family.

This week we will look at these obstacles in more detail and examine financial solutions like taking out insurance policies, declaring the cottage a primary residence or having the children assume ownership at an earlier age as some of the ways of managing the financial obstacles.

If you are going through this exercise right now, I invite you to share your experience with us.

Cheers,

Julie

Our March break holiday is coming to an unfortunate end. Six days skiing on fresh new powder have left me in a weakened state. Late nights of eating, drinking and making merry have also taken their toll. Is it possible to come off a holiday more tired than when you started?

Despite two trips to emergency, this year’s holiday was one of the bests. You know it’s a good holiday when….

1. You wake up and have no idea what day of the week it is
2. You wake up every morning in a great mood - a direct result of the fun you had the night before
3. The only important decisions you have to make each day are: where to ski, who you’re skiing with and what’s for dinner
4. Your kids are getting along and not fighting with each other
5. You’re the one making most of the noise while playing with your kids
6. The dog doesn’t want to come home
7. You haven’t checked your email for a whole week (well at least a couple of days)
8. You’re already planning next year’s holiday
9. You fantasize about living there year round

I invite you to fill in the rest.

Happy Easter.

Cheers,

Julie

I’m going up the chair lift when I feel my ski jacket start to vibrate. I slip my hand into my hip pocket in case it starts ringing. No ring this time, just a jingle notifying me of a new text message. I’m becoming a cell phone junkie.

I love texting people, taunting them with the latest ski report. A quick text and I can find out the best runs, the longest line-ups and where we’re meeting for lunch. Trying to hook up with friends on the hill? A cell phone is an absolute necessity.

In Penny’s blog, Cell Phones and Ice Fishing, she describes driving down the QEW in Toronto, while her daughter is texting a friend who is ice fishing. She writes,

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it slightly surreal that one leggy blond 19-year-old student dressed to the nines and sitting in a car hurtling along a highway in southern Ontario can chat away with another leggy blond 19-year-old sitting beside a snow machine in the bush some 400 km away and bundled to her eyebrows in winter gear? Who knew that cellphones work at —30, or that you can get a signal in the middle of winter out on a frozen northern lake? I can’t even get a signal in Parry Sound in the middle of summer!

We are living in the age of instant communication. While I love the immediacy of text messaging, not all news is good news. Despite being on holidays this week, I’m still chatting via email with an editor about story ideas. I’m arranging meetings for next week, and talking to colleagues mid-mountain. In short, I’m not really escaping anything, I’ve just expanded the perimeter of my office.

My husband is experiencing the same phenomenon. Over breakfast this morning, he received an employee’s resignation, discussed another company’s buy-out option all while helping me get the kids ready for ski camp.

Aren’t holidays suppose to be all about getting away from it all? Why then do we insist on taking it (and everyone else) with us????

Cheers,

Julie

The road to paradise can be a bumpy one, particularly if your child gets car sick. Over 58% of kids ages four to 10 experience some form of motion sickness, occurring more frequently in girls than boys. The good news is they will usually outgrow it.

Joanne, a mother of four young boys, who all suffer from motion sickness, knows only too well the challenges of taking car trips with her young nausea prone family. “We can barely go two blocks before we have to pull over because someone is feeling sick,” she explains.

According to the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto, motion sickness occurs when two different messages conflict in a child’s brain. One of the messages comes from a part of the inner ear responsible for controlling your child’s balance. The other message comes from the child’s eye. Motion sickness is a normal response to perception of motion where there is sensory conflict. It can occur when traveling by car, boat, airplane or amusement rides. I personally can get motion sickness just on swings.

If your children suffer from car sickness, here are some ways to deal with it:

How to Avoid and Treat Motion Sickness

• It’s recommended to avoid heavy meals up to two hours before traveling
• Avoid foods like dairy, protein, deep-fried or high in sodium like chips or french fries
• Have the child try to focus on a point outside the car on the horizon
• Make sure the child’s seat is facing forward
• Open the window - fresh air can bring a lot of relief
• Have the child close their eyes
• CD’s, cassettes and even watching a DVD all help the child focus on something else
• Frequent stops
• Medication -if taking gravel it should be taken before the trips starts
• Ginger (powder, fresh root, tea, liquid)has also been proven to be just as effective as dramamine in treating nausea

I’ve learned from our own personal experience that watching DVD’s and sleep are the best way to avoid car sickness. It’s also a good idea to keep a supply of zip lock bags and wipes tucked in the backseat pockets just in case you can’t pull over.

If you have a remedy, please share it with us in the comment section.

Cheers,

Julie

“Do we have ski school today?” my six-year-old daughter asks. It comes out sounding more like an accusation than a question. “Yes,” I reply in my firm non-negotiable voice. Trying to avoid an energy sucking discussion, I quickly change the subject. “But after skiing we’re going over to Hanna’s hot tub.” Hanna is her classmate and best friend who’s parents also own a condo at Whistler. We’re all up here skiing this week. It’s our March break.

Despite explaining to my children, on more than one occasion, that they are in fact very lucky to get to ski here, and that people fly from all over the world to ski on these very same mountains, they are not enjoying their March break.

Herein lies the crux of the matter. My children are over-privileged. It’s not something I set out to do. Rather, it’s come about as a matter of circumstance.

How do you teach kids to be grateful for something when they don’t know anything different. They’re enjoying activities and holidays that I didn’t even know existed when I was their age.

Leaving them at home is not an option either. It would be really hard to say to them, “Your dad and I are going skiing this weekend. When you turn 40 you can join us, because by then you’ll be old enough to appreciate it.”

While my parents bought our cottage when I turned 12, I actually didn’t start skiing until I was in junior high school. It was only from saving my summer job money that I was able to afford my first pair skis - Elans with the yellow and black stripes. When I told my son excitedly that he was getting brand new skis, he just shrugged and rolled his eyes. A dinosaur from the dollar store gets a bigger response.

It’s the same attitude at the cabin. I want my kids to be grateful for their lifestyle, but I honestly don’t think they’re going to appreciate it until they actually leave home (again, that’s assuming they actually leave home).

I’m open to any suggestions and parenting advice from those who have bravely gone before me.

Live from Whistler Mountain - home of the over-privileged,

Cheers,

Julie

There is nothing better than a shady spot, a comfortable chair, an icy cold lemonade and a good book. In fact it has just been proven that reading is good for your health. According to an article in Thursday’s Globe and Mail, Literacy Key to Longevity, by Andre Picard, the single best predictor of good health and longevity is being able to read.

New research published this week by the journal of Health Affairs has found people with a post-secondary education increase their life expectancy by about seven years. It seems that being able to read is the foundation of a good education, and educational achievement is a good predictor of income. The study found three factors - literacy, education, income are powerful determinants of health.

Did you know British Columbian’s are the healthiest people in Canada? Think it’s from going around hugging all those trees or chowing down on granola? No. Apparently it’s because we have the highest number of educated people.

In view of these recent findings, it’s only fitting that today’s blog be devoted to kids’ books and my mother, a primary reading specialist, who devoted her life to teaching kids to read.

For today’s picks, I have gone to my two favourite sources, Kid’s Books and Ruth Flannigan - a youth pastor, for their favourite kids books (ages 7 to teen).

Here are their recommendations:

7 - 10- year-olds:

• Danny, Champion of the World - Ronald Dahl
• Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
• The Sarah Plain and Tall Series by Sarah MacLachlan
  • Sarah Plain and Tall, Skylark, Caleb’s Story, More Perfect than the Moon, Grandfather’s Dance
• Because of Winn- Dixie
• Tales of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey - Edward Tulane
• The Tail of Emily Windsnap
• The Game - Diana Wynne Jones
• Nim’s Island - Wendy Orr
• The Diary of Wimpy Kids -Jeff Kinney
• Spiderwick Chronicles

10 - 13-year-olds:

• Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
• The Lost, The Dark Ground - Gillian Cross
• The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan

13 - 16-year-olds

• Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy - Ally Carter
• Right Behind You - Gail Giles
• Ring Master - Julia Golding
• Cathy’s Book (very cool interactive book complete with phone numbers and web addresses)
• Snake Head - Anthony Horowitz
• When Irish Eyes are Smiling - Suzanne Supplee
• Leonardo’s Shadow - Christopher Grey
• Mad Dogs, The Sleep Walker - Robert Muchamore
• The Clique Series - Bratfest at Tiffany’s - Lisi Harrison

My favourite adult book this year is Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. This is one book that both my husband and I loved and found incredibly inspirational. A must read.

Do you have a favourite you’d like to add to our list? Just leave us a comment. I’d love to know what you’re reading.

Here’s to your health,

Julie