Cottage Life

The go-to source for cottagers, the award-winning Cottage Life offers valuable advice as well as profiles, how-to articles, recipes, essays, issues pieces, and lifestyle stories that help readers look after their cottages, entertain guests and, of course, kick back and have fun.

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The great north gift guide • Gifts! Gifts! Gifts! We’ve got ideas for every cottager on your holiday list.

Barbecue coffee cake recipe • Impress guests with your baking prowess—on the barbecue. You can prep the ingredients for this classic coffee cake the night before (see “Make Ahead, Save Time”).

Board games you know and love • THE WEATHER outside is frightful. Time to bust out the cottage entertainment! But what to play?

Cottager pays it forward with defibrillator donation to cottage association

How long is your cottage commute? • WE ASKED ON INSTAGRAM: How long is your cottage commute?

CNR pleads guilty to pesticide use along wetland corridor

Journal article finds ravens are allies in habitat restoration

Vanilla Ice partners with Samsung to promote new refrigerator

-460°F • Temperature of the Boomerang Nebula, 5,000 light years away from Earth, and the coldest natural object in the universe.

Fun fact about how birds stay warm in winter

Reasons to consider an inland cottage

2021 Holiday Gift Guide • Helping you put ace gifts (not gift cards) under your putterer’s tree since 1988.

Holiday gift guide for the DIYer in your life

Outhouse hack for keeping your buns toasty

Avoid tear-out with these tips

4 ways to fix scratches on furniture • It takes just one scratch to mar a piece of cherished furniture. But repairing it can be fun and satisfying, especially when many of the remedies are close at hand.

Homemade curling stones

The mysterious shoe thief

What is happening to my cedar tree?

Are tankless water heaters an option for our three-season cottage?

Help! My toilet vent stack keeps breaking off

Can we post a no trespassing sign on our private road?

Is having Christmas at the cottage a good idea? • Attempting to re-create the festive season of yore can work in theory, sure, but it can also go completely, hideously pear-shaped

Transform your cottage with chairs • Whether you need a new seat to take in the sunset or more room at the dinner table, combining the chairs that you already have with a few new pieces can transform your cottage

SKATE YOUR HEART OUT • Some of Canada’s most beloved athletes have found their edge on our wild ice. With these expert rink tips, a shovel, and your skates, you can too

How skating on wild ice is life with no limits

7 ways to make the best rink on the lake

The magic of skating outside • IT WASN’T THE STANLEY CUP FINALS. IT WAS SOMETHING EVEN BETTER

How to get water all winter • (without blowing your cash, breaking your hair dryer, or busting your plumbing)

Cottage Life Photo Contest 2021 winners • More than 10,000 entries, nine judges, and many hours of heated debate later, we have the winners of the 2021 photo contest

Your new favourite comfort dish: spatzle with bacon and gruyere • This easy but sumptuous dish from superstar chefs Lynn Crawford and Lora Kirk might just be your new favourite comfort food this winter

A curated collection of winter beers • The onset of winter means restocking the beer fridge for warm meals and post-shovelling refreshments

How to make a handmade canoe paddle • More than 30 years ago, we published this projectas a gift...