The completion of the Cottage and the end of Cottage Life for the Van Tassel's

Lynne & Norm Van Tassel, 2002, sitting on the deck of their cottage

Well, we got to do it although we don't want to. We have no other choice. It was a good ride and a lot of hard work but we enjoyed every bit of it. It made us better people.


This is 2006,almost 20 years after the fire

Every tree and every blade of grass was put there by the owners of this cottage Norm & Lynne Van Tassel of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Norm retired early in life (younger than most) so had the strength and energy to fulfill one of his dreams, the cottage for him and his family but something along the way went wrong. These things are sent to try us.


The view of the cottage from the lake

A view of the open area, living room and kitchen

The walls and ceilings were done in pine grove wood.

Lynne and her buddy enjoying their quiet time together. Sitting on the deck of the cottage enjoying each others company.

Lynne feeding her ducks as you can see they are fairly tame

A very good morning out fishing with the neighbour

My neighbour Ron Desrocher, I had the odd occasion to take him out fishing and attempted to teach him how to catch the afternoon lunch.

The exact limit as per the license requirements. 6 per license

A couple of Norm's friends showing a couple of nice pickerel

These are a couple of the cottage owners from the lake, we often went fishing together. Norm, Sepp Helfrich and Karl Meyers

Lori, Norm's daughter, Norm and young Semchuk.

Norm used to work with his father who had passed away recently and was in need of a friend

Lynne and her best friend Ginger who has gone where all good Dogs go

Ginger ready to go fishing, awaiting her partner

This is our new fishing partner, Tara.

She doesn't have the same fine qualities as Ginger did but she loves the boat, she loves people and is great company. Ginger was supposed to be my last dog, but now Tara is.

And yes there are fish at Wallace Lake

We will return with the morning breakfast, Norm & Tara

The entrance to our Cottage Lot, now under new ownership

The sign is gone, a new one is up and I believe there are a bunch of happy adults and children enjoying their new cottage.

Lynne and our good friend and fishing partner, Ginger

Ginger after 13 years of being the best friend we had became very sick and had to be put down. She was a great dog who enjoyed being in the boat, knew when there was a fish on the line and would get excited until that fish was in the boat. She would bark when a fish was caught and the local people at the lake always knew when we caught a fish. Ginger would give it away, needless to say, we often had company once she let the word out. Her ashes were spread out in our favourite fishing spot which is commonly know as the "Ginger Spot" by the locals.

Ginger you were a great dog, loved by all and missed by all.

The completed cottage in 2002

Almost 20 years after we built the cottage, did the landscaping, planted the trees and the hedges. This is the dream home we built. At this time we were told that I had immaculate degeneration and that I would be losing my eye sight in the very near future. We asked the kids if they wanted the Cottage and they felt it was too soon for them and they couldn't keep it up. The choice was to sell, which was a difficult one. We decided to sell put the word out by word of mouth that it was up for sale and it was gone within a week. A few months after we sold I had to go for another checkup and asked for a second opinion. We found that I had been misdiagnosed and that no I wasn't going to lose my eyesight. That I had one bad eye and the rest was normal and age appropriate. Unfortunately the deed was done, the cottage was gone and we were at the age where starting over again was not in our best interest.

This is about 10 years after completion of the cottage

A look at the lake from the deck of the cottage

We modified the dock because of the damage the ice did in the winter. We could remove the dock and place it back in it's original spot in the spring if need be.