Penny Caldwell

I have reached the age my neighbours were when they told me they don’t walk around the cottage carrying lit oil lamps. This was a surprise. The lamp is there. 
It provides light. Why not take it with you into that dark...

Baby, it’s cold outside. Today is March 26, and the ice near our cottage is still a good metre thick. Yesterday, the pandas Er Shun and Da Mao arrived at the Toronto Zoo. Imagine their shock; when they left the Research Base of...

Ice out, pussy willows, the Spring Cottage Life Show, and the annual Real Estate section in this issue—sure signs that spring is here. Our fabulous show celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, a great run for what has long...

Do you like sparkly white lights or a multi-coloured string? Perfectly coordinated tree decorations or a scattering of mementos collected over the years? At home this year, DH and I pulled out the sparkly whites, which are...

Whoever said hard-cover books are dead hasn't opened the mail at Cottage Life. Among our favourite packages are the beautiful and surprisingly numerous volumes created by cottagers. Over the years, we’ve written about several of...

Imagine that aliens studying life on Earth found a USB key with thousands of photographs submitted to the Cottage Life Photo Contest. They could assume that the people who lived in cottages, cabins, and camps along the lakes and...

The Federation of Ontario Cottagers' Association's (FOCA) Fall Seminar will be held on Friday, October 26, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., right on site at this year's 2012 Fall Cottage Life Show. The seminar is open to everyone who...

As I write this, Canada is high with Olympic fever. When you read this, our nation will be basking in the afterglow. I love the pageantry, the drama, and the magnificence of the athletes and loyalty of their families. Olympian,...

Last summer, Cottage Life’s executive editor, Michelle Kelly, was on maternity leave. But apparently she never stops thinking about her day job, because one morning she sent me a link to a stunning video by the Toronto Star’s...

Could there be better news for cottagers on a Friday than the launch a free app that tells you what the traffic is like up ahead? Check out the new CTV Cottage Traffic app in the itunes store. And have a safe and traffic-free...