The Sky

The sky is  beautiful. I had rarely stopped to enjoy the sky in my previous rush and bustle in Ontario. Not to mention it was not always the easiest to see between buildings and through the light pollution.

I have taken the saying "stop and smell the roses" and adapted it to the sky. It is not just the sunrises and sunsets, although those are glorious, it is also the interesting cloud formations and layers, the fog settling in valleys, the brightness of the moon, the stars...oh my goodness, spend an evening out at the bonfire and I can see more stars than I have ever known. It is all just so beautiful. I am not a photographer like some facebook friends (you know who you are: Heidi Fast and Kelly Bigger-Vail) who take some magnificent images. I am just a point and shoot and have not done justice to the beauty-but trust me, it is beautiful!

Progress....

A year after starting the demolition on Zoes bedroom, we are finally making progress. We have removed two closets, dropped a chimney, removed a wall and then it sat there for months until our friend and all around good guy Dave agreed to do the drywall! We have now purchased the window and paint and are ready to move onto the next steps. We are hoping she will have a room by Christmas! A great bonus to this is it will free up an actual guest bedroom (instead of Zoe moving to my room, or me moving to the couch!)

I have been continuing to burn all the debris that has built up, cleaning out the flower beds, cutting firewood (and seeing woodpeckers), and of course I am still working my way through the vegetable and herb gardens trying to process as much as I can. Canning, drying, blanching and freezing now. I had wanted to make spaghetti sauce, salsa and ketchup, but my tomatoes are still very green. I have tried a few strategies to ripen them, from hanging whole plants, roots and all, upside down in the basement, to wrapping tomatoes in newspaper. Hopefully something will work! It is such an unusual year. My tomatoes are still green, my potato tops are still in full leaf, yet I rototilled around these so I could get my fall garlic planted. I think it is just that we had such a late planting season due to cold and rain. I do not think it is something Nova Scotian that I will have to adapt to, but I guess the next few years will tell.


I noticed when looking through my phone over the past few weeks that I have really slowed down on taking pictures. Note to myself: start taking pictures again. These posts are much more interesting with visuals in them!

Happy Thanksgiving

It is our second Thanksgiving living in Nova Scotia. Last year we celebrated very differently than we ever had before with a fashion show theme. We did nails, hair and, makeup then went to two local sites and did a photo shoot all glammed up.

This year we were invited to a friend/neighbour/coworkers house to join her and her family for dinner. The dinner itself was delicious, the company was wonderful, and it was another moment that confirmed my decision to move to this area, was the right one. Never in my previous years had anyone ever invited me to join their holiday meal. Perhaps it's because I had family I could always count on, but perhaps it's because no one in Ontario ever asked.

I have so many things that I am thankful for. My family of course. Those that I get to see everyday (Zoe) and those whose smile I hear through the phone lines every week (Brandon, Mom, Dad, and Aunt Judy). Our animals who make me smile constantly (except maybe crazy Dixie, but she's getting better). I am so thankful that I get to wake up everyday and look at the water. I am so thankful for the food I was able to grow to put on our table and being one step closer to that dream that brought us out here. I am so thankful for the peace that I feel when I breathe this clear Maritime air. I am so thankful that I had options and could choose this path I currently walk.

We wish all our friends and family a fantastic Thanksgiving!

And Then There Were Two...

Thursday, Mom and Dad headed back to Ontario, and thus marked the end of the planned company. It has been a wonderful summer with both planned and unexpected visitors. I have enjoyed my time with everyone of you, no matter how short your visit may have been.

Mom and dad stayed for two weeks and we were able to accomplish a lot. I realized that I have fallen out of the habit of photographing everything, so my selection is rather slim this week however...

We worked on clearing rose briar from one of the islands only stopping when we were afraid we might pass out from blood loss. The dirt area in this picture is the area the rose covered!! The sad thing is this was only one of so many rose briars around the property, but one by one I am trying to work through them.

We had a few delicious desserts thrown in for good measure.

And thanks to mom and dad, we have someone working on drywall in Zoe's bedroom so a year after starting her bedroom, we are finally making some progress in it.

I have some work that needs to be done in a spruce forest. Dad and I had walked to it, but found that after the hurricane there are so many fallen trees we couldn't walk through it. This has become the next job on my priority list to tackle. Now that it is just the two of us again, I talked Zoe into coming out with me to assess what needs to be done. We walked half way there and Zoe was swarmed by bees and stung repeatedly. I have been advised that she is never leaving the house again! I am so frustrated that she finally agreed to come out and help me and this happens to send her running. I can't blame her though, it was the same type of bee sting that sent me to the hospital 17 years ago. Luckily she is ok. Ice and time and she is still sore but no severe reaction.