When at home in Ottawa she kept busy with her darkroom work, corresponding with publishers, keeping up with assignments and soliciting new ones. She sent photos out to potential customers wherever she thought her work would be a good fit and, like any self-employed artist she had successes and rejections. In between she fitted in camping and canoeing trips with like-minded friends, mostly to remote lakes, rivers and woods - and recorded much of them in reams of notes, diaries and letters to friends as well as photographs.

For almost a decade Rosemary rented an old log cabin in the Gatineau Park, 17 miles from her Ottawa home. Initially she and her friends were not impressed by its name, Shilly Shally, but the name soon became an important part of their lexicon and the cabin was the centre of their universe during the winter months. There are hundreds of photos, pages of notes, detailed diaries and innumerable references to Shilly Shally. She shared the rental arrangement with friends and with one or more, or even by herself, headed for the cabin at every opportunity. A winter weekend that didn't include at least one night at Shilly Shally was a cause for regret.

They kept a guest log which some seasons had more than a hundred entries. As well as entertaining friends she was always pleased to encourage and promote their appreciation of outdoor life and nature, to say nothing of the joys of skiing in the snow-filled woods. Rosemary revelled in the opportunities for cross country skiing and other winter activities, embraced the bare bones living accommodations, the companionship of good friends and the lovely, unspoiled woods and wildlife. She developed a keen interest in birds, enjoying their antics as well as photographing them. A group of friendly chickadees adopted the site and were soon alighting on the outstretched hands of the delighted cabin occupants and their guests. Some guests brought children and Rosemary joyfully encouraged and captured on film their delighted responses to nature and the wintery surroundings. She was a great believer in bringing children and nature together and this belief was a driving force in her later advocacy for preserving accessible natural open spaces in proximity to urban centres.