When you say you are 'living' somewhere it means you have packed up your things and your family and you have left to a new place for good. I don't think you are now living in rural Quebec. I think you are only on vacation there and in that case you need to use the proper English word 'vacationing' or 'visiting'. Maybe you have moved in which case you should just say so because I see you are now in Kenya and you say you ran away from Canada and you are now living in Kenya. I'd ask you to stop playing word games and just respect your subscribers by saying when you are visiting somewhere and when you are living somewhere. Maybe you are planning on staying in Kenya for a few months or longer because you are hiring a housekeeper and a French teacher. It's possible you want a French teacher because you plan to move to Quebec and need to learn French. Or it might simply be that you are interested in learning French because you were recently visiting Quebec and people don't speak English much in Quebec outside of Montreal. As for the water on the edge where you saw the ducks, that kind of water is more stagnant and is called a swamp. It isn't neglected but a natural body of water. It looks like it's feeds into the lake or the other way around. These kinds of swamps are common on many parts of Canada and are wonderful, natural habitats for all kinds of wildlife. Where you are showing, I don't think the swamp is totally separate but a part of the lake itself. That 'boat' you saw on the water looks fairly new and in good condition so I'm sure it is in use. I believe they put a gate on the dock so people don't trespass there. By the way, lakes in Canada are not typically maintained unless they abut a park for the public. Lakes are natural bodies of water and many of them are in isolated areas and left as they are except man made lakes which are normally maintained. Also a lot of people only live at the lake for a short period over the summer. I notice there are boats in the properties which you say are abandoned. I doubt very much they were abandoned because they are expensive boats sitting in the property for use on the lake. They probably didn't arrive yet for their summer vacation at the lake. Most of the 'cabins' at the lakeside are not that fancy or big because they are not meant for long term living. Also, homes in rural areas tend not to be so large. Big, big homes are more of an American thing than a Canadian thing. Only people with a lot of money in Canada want and build huge homes.
