Sue here...I've hung up my paint brush! All the winter projects are done and the house is beginning to take on a finished feeling.
Last month I painted both the down and up stairs halls. Dan chose a deep colonial blue for the walls that matches a section of a newly acquired painting of Big Bend National Park. We purchased it right off the living room of the artist, our good friend Anne Cain. Dan's big house project was continuing on the cabinet doors for the kitchen area. It is nice to have the closets enclosed, especially under the sink where all the pipes are.
The end of April turned out to be pretty hectic with both Sue and Dan leaving for trips. Sue left on the 30th for a ten day visit with her daughter's family in Ontario. Dan left on May 1st for a trip to Connecticut for 10 days to stay with his mom while his sister and brother-in-law went to a wedding in Arizona. This also explains why we are a little late this time in getting our journal updated.
Dan was able to spend time with his mom at her home in Connecticut. They had time to take some walks together, go on a trip to a local greenhouse and out to lunch and just enjoy being together again. It just so happened that Susi, Dan's daughter who lives in San Francisco, and her husband, Tim, were in New York for a short vacation. He was able to take a train down from Hartford to spend a day with them in the city. He enjoyed the trip on AmTrak and found it a very convenient and relaxing way to get to New York and back. Nice timing on that one!
My visit to the grandkids broke my painting routine, and I had such a hard time finishing my last painting job. Before leaving I got the entire master bedroom/bathroom painted except for the floor. Getting back into painting mode after a long, lovely break was like pulling teeth. Only the motivation of Dan's book club arriving this Sunday moved me to get the thing done. We happily moved back into our totally finished bedroom on the 29th and I happily put away all the painting paraphenalia.
Dan's big project this month was the greenhouse. He brought in several loads of horse manure and soil, planted radishes, mesclum greens, spinach, carrots, beets turnips and rutabaga. We are now harvesting salad greens on a regular basis. A friend from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College visited and brought us two very well developed tomato plants that are now producing fruit. As I type, Dan is pruning Nina's fruit trees and then plans to clear more trails in the berry patch for easier harvesting. We should be eating well this year.
What complicated the outside garden project was that all beds had to be protected from cats and free-range chickens. The cats figure you are creating nice litter boxes for them, and the chickens think you are providing them with a free lunch. Dan used all of the old windows and doors we had inherited with the house to build "garden city", a series of enclosed areas with chicken wire over the top. The advantage of the structures is that they protect the beds from the wind and help hold in the heat, but the area looks like a miniature version of a shanty town. Dan assures me this look will disappear as greenery starts to grow and soften things up.
The story of the month is the "cat saga". For several weeks before our trips, we had been having an orange stray male cat around the property. He finally learned the cat door trick so was coming in at night to feed, much to the distress of our cats. He was also marking his territory, much to our distress. We finally decided we had to do something before we both left, so rented a live trap from SPCA. We put it out the first night and caught a cat - a gray and white male who was obviously a stray. Off to the SPCA with him. We set the trap again and caught a cat - a tough looking pure white male. Off to the SPCA with him. We set the trap again and finally caught the originally targeted orange cat. The strange part was that we had no idea those other ferel cats were around. Guess they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
We finally got to do some kayaking on May 20th. Local friends introduced us to the Yarmouth harbour. There is a very handy launching area downtown and the paddle in the harbour offers both protected areas or a more adventurous trip out to the light house. There is much nice scenery to be enjoyed and it would make a great introductory trip for any of you coming this way. We are anxious to go again.
To keep up the exercise program we bought mountain bikes. They work very nicely on our road and the dirt roads off of it. There are just enough hills to make it interesting. We just got the bikes so are still getting used to them. We have a rails-to-trails path that we are looking forward to riding. But it is really nice just to open the garage door and go...rather than having to load up the boats and digg out all the paddling equipment. The two forms of exercise compliment each other nicely.
As usual, we are doing environmental work and helping at the local theater. Dan is now Vice-President of TREPA and I am working on fund raising projects at th'YARC. We need $100,000 for a new roof. It looks like I could have a career as an Events Planner if I wanted to, as so many groups around here need to fund raise .
Finally, I am now taking piano lessons. Last Sunday I attended a musical recital at the home of the lady who catered our wedding...Joan. This was put on by the Yarmouth Musical Society in order to raise money for a grand piano. Afterwards, over tea, I was chatting with one of the singers and mentioned my lifelong wish to play. She replied, "If you are serious, I give lessons." So that was the start. I have had my first lesson and am on page 60 of the first book.... Can't wait to get my hands on that grand piano!
We are finally getting around to doing the things we came here to do....Permaculture, paddling and personal interests.
Early in June we attended a Solar Power Workshop at The Falls Brook Centre, an environmental education center north of Fredericton, NB. We were genuinely interested in the workshop material, but the trip also served as a scouting trip. Dan will be teaching a course on Permaculture Design there in the Fall and needed to see the site first-hand. It turned out to be a wonderul place with organic gadens, chickens, a conference center, barn, strawbale museum and lots of displays and examples of how to live sustainably. Most of the facility is solar and wind powered.
We learned how solar panels work, how to live with solar energy and had the opportunity to build a small panel. As with most workshops, the human connections were fascinating. All participants were involved in alternative living to some degree, so meals were a time to share lots of stories and make new connections. The instructor, himself, is heavily involved in teaching solar workshops in Nicaragua to landmine victims with the help of CIDA. The finale was a barn dance on Saturday night, with live music supplied by a local family. A great time!
This trip also produced our first anniversary gift to each other....a new piano! Sue started taking piano lessons in May and was practicing on a small, cheap electronic keyboard. It soon became evident that this was not going to work for long....the keys were actually narrower, so the reaches were different. We took the opportunity to visit Tony's Music Store in Fredericton to 'look' at pianos, since there is no where in Yarmouth to buy one. Two hours later, we had purchased a Yamaha Clavinova 950...a digital piano, which got packed into the van. What an amazing thing! It has a full keyboard and looks and feels just like a piano because of the way the keys are weighted. It has 12 voices (grand piano, harpsicord, etc.) But the one's Sue loves are the strings and the choir. Nothing like having the orchestra and choir join you as you practice a simple piece. We are both looking forward to the time we can create music together. The piano (see 'Our House' photos) has taken up residence in the Bay Window Room...now renamed the Music Room.
The rest of the month we spent on two big projects we have been working on. Sue has been concentrating on MacKinnon's Neck, a 200 acre site we are trying save from development. We are trying to set up a non-profit organization, get a publicity brochure together and make contacts. Dan has been working on a bioregional mapping project for our environmental group. We have some funding for that so he was putting together some base map material. The project will be worked on in the local schools and will be tied in to the Gulf of Maine Institute Without Walls project, another of our connections.
On the lighter side we got 45 new chicks that will grow up to be meat birds, 94 grape vines planted in the wrong place by the previous owners got root pruned and fertilized to be ready to move next spring, our berry patch paths got trimmed again, paint got stripped, and Dan did a kayak trip with in Lobster Bay, with new friends.
We got a chance to spend half a day at a tin mine reclamation site. This is the same mine that caused the Tusket River Environmental Protection Association to be founded 15 years ago. The mine lost money from day one and caused all sorts of pollution problems before closing. It has been under reclamation for 10 years and is finally starting to be stable with treatment of all water that falls on the site. In 80 years it may be stable enough so that treatment of acid water will no longer be needed. But, it was nice to see that the pressure of TREPA and others paid off and that the site is being reclaimed.
We took a couple of days at the end of the month to visit friends who had just bought an old house on St. Margarets Bay near Halifax. We went up on Sunday and toured around, finally getting to see Peggy's Cove. We met up with our friends in the evening and looked over the site where they are planning to build a new house. On Monday, they rented kayaks and we explored the bay. If felt good to be in the boats again.
Now I see why the month seemed to fly by. Guess one of these days we had better retire so we can get in a bit more relaxation time!
One of the things we are finding we like best about Yarmouth is the scale. The Canada Day (July 1) celebration we attended was a great example. A local family has designated part of their property, which overlooks the Chebogue River, as a small park. For the last 15 years they have been holding Canada Day celebrations there. The Mayor, along with about 50 locals, turn up to hear speeches, listen to bagpipes, sing 'O Canada' and then eat strawberry shortcake and visit. A nice way to start the summer.
Dan's work with the Gulf of Maine project took him to Wells, Maine, for the summer conference. The event was attended by teachers and students from states and provinces around the Gulf of Maine. Students gave presentations of the projects they had worked on all year and took field trips to environmentally important sites along the Maine coast.
As an extension of the above, Dan has been busy organizing the material for a bioregional mapping project for the Tusket River and St. Mary's Bay areas. He is hoping to have students in the schools working on thematic maps that relate to areas they are studying.
We have had several good days kayaking. As soon as Dan got back from Maine we took off for an overnight trip on Lobster Bay as assistants on a local outfitter's trip. We had two beautiful days of sunshine, fog, clearing, and light winds. The next weekend we helped out with an all day rendezvous at Ye Old Argyle Lodge (nice place to stay if you visit this area) where we usually launch. Sue did rolling instruction and Dan did navigation and packing. Helping out on trips gives us a good reason to get out and paddle more. We also did a late afternoon canoe paddle on the chain of lakes that runs through the north part of Yarmouth. This time of year is just great for getting out.
The chicken tractors are finally out into the orchard with chickens in them. These are portable cages that get moved along the ground to a new location as the chickens wear out the present location. It gives all the ground a good scratching, does away with bugs, and fertilizes the soil. After all that good work these chickens still end up in the freezer. That chore will surface in about a month.
House renovation? Well, we are still doing a few projects. Dan had to do some work on sealing ridge and around skylights on the garage/shop. It has always leaked during heavy storms and needed to get done. Playing around on a 45 degree slope roof just isn't that much fun so job had been put off. Finally got the old paint burned off of the inside of the front porch so that job is progressing. Hope to finish sanding and painting it in August.
Gardens are doing well. The greenhouse is full of ripening tomatoes and the outside beds are giving us a good supply of fresh greens, turnips and beets. We get a supplement of vegetables each week from our neighbor down the road who has a big farm. The berry patch paths got cleared again and it looks like we will have a good crop of blackberries.
We are still trying to work out a process for the preservation of the 200 acre, MacKinnon's Neck, in Lobster Bay. It is taking us awhile to find the best legal structure to use. Have been looking at non-profit and charitable status and trying to get a draft agreement with present owners.
Sue doing very well at practice on her piano each day and is making progess. Dan still working on harmonica. We even have a couple of things we can play together.
It has been a good and varied month of activity. It is feeling like summmer weather now and we look forward to the next few months. The late summer and fall are just a wonderful time to be here.
August kind of slid by here with a variety of activities, lots of fog, and just enough rain to keep the garden productive and insure a bumper crop of blackberries during September.
Work on the house took a bit of a back seat but Dan did finish the front porch up through primer coat. Sue will do the final finishes soon. We also worked on a couple of leaky garage skylights and hope that problem is solved. Have decided to put storm windows on downstairs windows. They are being built locally but Dan will have to do final fitting and painting. One installed so far. The final set of drawers in the kitchen cabinets got done so, except for a few details, that room is finished.
Dan had the chance to take two watercolor workshops this month. The first was a one day event and the second lasted for two days. Both were conducted by local artists at new shop/gallery at the waterfront run by our friends. Since the workshops he has been putting in some practice time each day. Nice to get back to something creative that he loves doing.
Sue has been faithfully practicing her piano with a variety of books and is making good progress at reading music and playing well-known tunes. Dan is still working away at the harmonica and making progress. We are not ready to do concerts yet!
On the recreational front, we had a good month for paddling. Don and Donna, two of Sue's paddling friends from Ontario, arrived. Sue had a day of kayaking with them in Lobster Bay while Dan was at the watercolor workshops. We did a neat trip down the Tusket River to Lobster Bay with them and two other local friends. The defining moment of the trip came at the last moment before reaching the cars which we left by 'The Sluice". The Sluice runs under the bridge separating Morris Island from the mainland. It can vary from large standing waves to merely a swift current. At the time we arrived, it was about midway between these two extremes. There was no option but to cross using an upstream ferry--river talk for facing the current and angling your boat into the current ever so slightly, so the current helps you move across. If you choose too large and angle, you get swept down stream. The good news is that any risks were not fatal....an error just gave you a very long ride out to the ocean again. Don and Donna were seasoned experts at this, having recently paddled the Yukon River and used this skill daily. They lead the way. Sue and Dan were a bit rusty and had never done this in a double kayak before, but managed to make it across amid the butterflies. Andrea and John had never heard the term before today. A video camera would have captured the look of 'excitement' on Andrea's face as she grabbed the gunnels and screamed "Yahoooo". All was well, as they reached the other side. Lots of good stories will come from that crossing!
And, we finally got to go to the Tusket Islands.
The Tuskets are a group of islands extending out from Comeau
Point near us. The water around them is shallow and the tide waters
run in and out around them sometimes looking, and acting, like
rivers. In the early 20th century the islands were home to a vast
fishing and packing industry with a good sized population, schools,
churchs and small homes. Today all of that is gone. There are
concentrations of left over "shacks" and docks for lobster
fishing but most of the islands are abandoned or have sheep grazing
on them.
We hit a beautiful day and got to see many of the islands and
learn about their history.
We also had a "picnic" day at Cape Negro Island where we have helped with sheep roundup in the past. The picnic day ended up being mostly a day of work on the sheep pens as the people that were supposed to be the paid help didn't show up and we "recreationers" turned into the work crew. Or maybe that is just the way Nova Scotia picnics are.
On the cultural side we got to hear a wonderful concert in a local home that was done as a benefit for the Yarmouth Musical Society. They are raising money to buy a concert quality grand piano for the new art center building downtown. The concert was given by an accomplished violinist and his wife who were here on vacation from Florida. He is the son of the host for the concert and a member of the Naples symphony.
We finally got to visit the Acadian Village which is about 45 minutes away in Lower West Pubnico. They were hosting their first sheep dog trials event. Various trainers run their dogs (herding three sheep) through a standard course that emulates daily farm activities such as bringing sheep to the farmer, putting them in a pasture, getting them into an enclosure (where the sheep don't want to go) and separating one sheep from the rest (which they also resist). The performance on each trial is rated by judges and there are several classes of entry. It was lots of fun to watch and the day ended with a big barbeque.
Environmental work continues with our participation in the Tusket River Environmental Association, Dan's connection to the Gulf of Maine Institute Without Walls project, and our work toward preservation of MacKinnon's Neck. We always seem to have some bit of work to do that is connected to at least one of the organizations.
The garden continues to grow well. Tomatoes in the greenhouse are ripening daily and keeping us well supplied. Swiss chard is still productive, eggplants are coming in, potatoes are ready to harvest, and cabages are forming up nicely. The berry crop has been productive of currents and blueberries. The blackberries are just starting to come in. We will have a small apple crop by October.
Here it is the first week of October and we are just getting to our update for September. So it is with busy retired folk!
First of all, the September weather was just wonderful. It was mostly clear, cool and dry with just enough rainfall to keep gardens growing and to provide good color to the foliage. All the fall flowers are in bloom, the days are still warm and the nights cool. It is an ideal time of year here in Nova Scotia.
During the month we completed the kitchen. All the doors are on drawers and cabinets, and the trim is all painted. That is -- room finished! We also got all the cabinet doors and drawers built, painted and installed in the master bathroom. That is -- room finished! The painting and clean-up on front porch was done. Room finished! All the window mullions that had not been done were painted and all the glass cleaned. Eleven windows finished! So, it was a pretty good month for wrapping up lots of little projects. Storm windows were built locally and arrived but still need to paint and install them.
Early in the month Dan had a short trip to St. Andrews, New Brunswick, to attend a meeting of the Gulf of Maine Institute Without Walls, a group of sites around the GOM that work with K-12 students on bioregional projects and holds a conference for them each year. Connected with that is another GOM project called the Gulf of Maine Expedition. This is a group of people that will do an educational kayak trip around entire edge of the GOM. It will stop at 10 cities along the way to run seminars about the GOM. Sue and I have been invited to be on the core team to make the whole trip. We will start in May in Cape Cod, MA, paddle up the east coast of US into Canada, up the Bay of Fundy along the New Brunswick coast then down the coast of Nova Scotia and end up at Cape Sable, NS in September. Will keep you posted on developments.
This was the month to get our meat chicken supply moved from their summer quarters into our freezer. Spent several days doing that deed. We had about 40 birds this year so we had to get a regular production line going to kill, clean, cut-up, and freeze them all. Glad that is done. It isn't any fun at all.
We continued to pick berries and got a good supply of blueberries, blackberries and cranberries. Some went into pies, some into jam or sauce, others into freezer and some into wine. We had more blackberries than we could pick. Apples and Mountain Ash are still to be harvested. Our garden is still producing kale, beets, cabbage and tomatoes. Had a pretty good season.
At the end of the month we went to Ottawa for the wedding of Sue's niece, Sarah. We took a couple of days going each way visiting relatives along the way. We stayed with Karen, Sue's daughter, and her family. Had the ususal family get-togethers. The wedding was held out-of-doors on a very nice day and all went well. While there we managed do do some shopping (lots!!!) for things we don't find in Yarmouth (many!). (Brackets added by Sue)
Did the usual stuff with concerts and environmental group work. Sue keeping up her piano and Dan his harmonica practice. Visiting friends and being good neighbors and all the other stuff that keeps life varied and interesting.
For those of you who asked what we will do with ourselves once the house is finished, it seems the answer is...lots of things!
Big News! For next summer, we have been invited to join a group of paddlers who will circumnavigate the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod to Yarmouth. It is called "The Gulf of Maine Expedition" or GoMEx for short. It will take place next summer from May to September. We are part of the core group of 8 who will do the whole trip. Local paddlers will be invited to join as we pass through their neighbourhood. Its mission is to raise awareness about the ecology and culture of this watershed. The group will be presenting seminars at various urban areas. For more info, check out the website at: www.geocities.com/gomexpaddler
On a more local front, Sue and her friend Anne decided to do something positive in response to the Afghan crisis. They found a dozen more women friends who felt the same way. Over the past 2 weeks, they have formed 'Yarmouth CARES', with the latter standing for Community Afghan Relief Efforts. They are planning a major event for December 8 which coincides with International Human Rights Day. There is so much need everywhere that one could fill one's life with fundraising activities.
Meanwhile, back at the house, we started the last two big projects...the library and the staircase. These are the last two areas that need to be done before we can claim we are finished - or at least as 'finished' as one ever gets on a house. Pleased to report that all the old paint is off of both areas and we are in the process of sanding. We will just refinish the stairwell but the library will have some shelves and counters built as well.
In the 'never gets finished" department we finally had a failure of the primitive septic system (a 50 gallon drum we hear) so now face the installation of a new system. We had been expecting a problem at some point and managed to get over 2 years out of what was there when we moved in so can't complain much.
We got all the storm windows up on the downstairs and they seem to have made a difference to the drafts in the house. We still have four more being made for the upstairs windows. We found out that the summer is never so hot that we have to open a lot of windows. With the ones in the back and the skylights we get plenty of ventilation. A little winter protection was in order this year.
We had a big day of harvesting at friend's house in Tusket. We did apples, grapes, quince and kiwi. These are hardy kiwi, about the size of grapes. We made them up into jam which is quite tasty. The grapes went to juice and the quince are on their way to wine.
In the middle of the month we hosted an island walk for our environmental group. It provided us the needed incentive to clean up the whole house, shop and garage space. That took us about three days. The event was fun. People showed up to go to hike to the islands in the marsh that can only be done at low tide. We came back and had a nice potluck dinner.
We did our big day at the sheep round-up on Cape Negro Island. We head out with a big group of people, sheep dogs, and lots of picnic lunch on a lobster boat. The dogs bring in the sheep while we fix up the pens. Lambs are separated out, tied, put on boat, and brought back for market (sad part). We get one (good part). The ewes are given worm medicine and set free to roam again. Pretty interesting event.
Dan is working with nursing student student on a project dealing with mapping of the location of illnesses that might be related to environmental factors. We found a whole new area called "medical geography" where people study such things. Do a web search on medical geography and you find all kinds of interesting things.
Dan is taking art classes with Anne (same one mentioned above) and Jenny, two local artists. Nice to see him relaxing!
And finally, our neighbour, Nina, has moved out to MacKinnon's Neck, so we are now in charge of the chickens and the eggs.
Life is good here in Yarmouth.
November has been a very busy month dominated by a trip to Maine and Connecticut, Dan's working on renovations to library room, and Sue's work on Yarmouth C.A.R.E.S, the Community Afghanistan Relief EffortS.
We made a trip to Maine to meet with the other team members of the Gulf of Maine Expedition in Bar Harbor. We had a busy two days getting to interact with the 5 others that make up the core group so far. Three of them we hadn't met before and two of them only over a weekend here. We had some intense time planning the trip and getting to know each other. It was a very successful meeting and we have been working on keeping the planning effort rolling since then.
After the meeting in Maine we went down to Connecticut to see Dan's family for a few days. All were doing well and it was nice to get to visit and have a few days of relaxation with them. Of course, we stopped at L.L. Bean on the way. By the way, we heard that L.L. Bean just bought Nova Nada, an old monestary site here in SW Nova Scotia, that they plan to convert into a lodge. Has anyone else heard of L.L. moving into the resort business realm?
Once back from our trip it was time to get serious about house renovation once again. The quick job was getting the last four storm windows painted and installed on the upstairs rooms. They really help a lot. After that it was into the library for Dan for much of the rest of the month. He has been building book shelves, worktable space and cabinets for weeks. Faced the usual problems of putting "square" construction into an "unsquare" old room. By the end of the month all was built just leaving sanding and finish to be completed during the next couple of months. The stairwell is on hold until the library is done.
Sue was off and running on the Afghan Relief project as soon as we drove in the driveway. They have a great committee pulling together several events to raise money to go to OXFAM, a reliable NGO in Canada. The core event is a Treasure Sale to take place December 8th but special gel candles have been on sale for the last two weeks and are very popular items. Connected to the Treasure sale is a fancy tea, a bake sale and a silent auction. Between committee meetings, publicity and visiting businesses for contribution, Sue has been on the road daily.
Sue did get her five minutes of fame from her involvement. She and her friend, Joan, were invited to a luncheon in Halifax where Lloyd Axworthy, a major player in Canadian politics, was giving a presentation on his recent visit to Afghanistan for OXFAM. Sue and Joan took along a few candles for the event hoping to give one to Axworthy. When they got there he was in a press conference but the organizer said they could present the candle when it was over, which they did. But, the press was still there so after the presentation Sue and Joan were bombarded by questions from the press. They made the major newspapers and Canadian Broadcasting System programs. Also sold a lot of candles!
The rest of the month was the usual stuff of doing environmental work (review of environmental assessment of mine site), art classes (doing well but need to spend more time at it), septic system problems (need to put in a real system to replace 50 gallon drum), helping neighbors (we all help each other on projects), taking care of chickens (our neighbor, Nina, moved out so we took over the birds), help at local theater (sold over $200 worth of soft drinks and junk food in 20 minute intermission at Scrooge), and had American Thanksgiving at MacKinnons Neck, the 200 acre peninsula we are hoping to preserve.
Not a bad month for a couple of old retired folk.
December was a very busy month nicely divided into two parts. The first half of the month we were home working on house and community projects. The second half of the month we were in San Francisco visiting Dan's daughter, Susi, and her family.
The library project continued on for Dan. The building, filling and sanding got finished and the staining process got started. Shelves sure have a lot of surface area. By the time they are finished they will have one coat of sealer and at least four coats of stain with the undercoats being one color (maple) and the upper coats another (walnut) to give color variation and depth. Looking good so far.
The weekend of December 7-9th was dedicated to the final event in the Yarmouth CARES project for Afghan relief. Friday we set up the hall for the Treasures Sale. On Saturday the event ran with sales of "treasures", a silent auction, candle sales, a bake sale, and a tea. It was a full day of activity. That day brought in about $12,000 to the project. On Sunday, Sue and I ran a table at the local flea market and raised another $300. The total for the whole effort, including donations and candle sales, reached almost $18,000. All who worked on it were well pleased. The funds have gone to OXFAM to further their work in Afghanistan.
A couple of days after finishing the Yarmouth CARES work Sue gave a talk on Tibet at the monthly travel series sponsored by the museum. As she started to get ready for the talk her slides showed up missing. Panic time! We finally found them stored in an obscure place behind the wine making supplies in the pantry. So, she had the right slides and gave a very well received talk.
On the 19th we headed off early in the morning for our trip to San Francisco. The van shuttle from Yarmouth got us to Haliax in plenty of time for the flight to Toronto but the plane left an hour late. That messed up the next connection so we had to be rescheduled from Toronto to San Francisco. Finally, 21 hours after waking up in the morning we were headed for bed at his daughter's loft in Oakland. We had serious jet lag for a couple of days.
We had a wonderful time visiting with Susi, Tim and the three boys (Ashton, Trevor, and Zachary) over the Christmas and New Years holidays. It was mostly rainy but we had a couple of good days to get outside. Saw some sites, did some shopping, read books, watched videos and just had a good relaxing visit. Tim, Susi's husband, is a talented metal worker and sculptor. He made us a beautiful fire poker for Christmas that goes just perfectly with our little woodstove. For New Years Eve we all went out to a Japanese restaruant for as much Sushi and Sashimi as we could eat. It turned out to be that we could eat quite bit.
We took two days to make a trip to Mountain Ranch, east of San Francisco, where our friends Dana and Gwen Nichols have a strawbale house. Several years ago we had helped them with the mudding on the outside. It was great to see all of the buildings done and to be able to spend a day with them getting caught up on news and sharing stories.
We flew back to Nova Scotia on January 2nd. Mostly uneventful. The plane left 3/4 of an hour late so we missed a connection in Toronto. They managed to get us on standby on the next flight out to Halifax and gave us first class status. That was a nice treat. We got to our B&B in Halifax at a reasonable hour, had a good nights sleep, spent the next day in the city and caught the shuttle back to Yarmouth in late afternoon. Three cats were very happy to see us!
Looking forward to the new year.
After getting back from San Francisco, which we mentioned last month, we spent a couple of days getting ourselves back into our normal routine, such as it is.
The big events of the month were completion of the library except for a few details and the less exciting installation of a septic system for the house.
The work left on the library consisted of staining the cabinets, installation of doors, putting wall paper below the wainscoating, and painting of the walls and floor. By the end of the month had that done and all of our furniture, books and decorations moved back in. We are having a braided rug made for the floor and a cushion made for the window seat. Susi's husband, Tim, is crafting knobs for the cabinet doors. We really love the cosy, warm character of the space. It is set up for reading, for watercolor and drawing, and for music and videos. There is no cable connection! We find it a nice, quiet, get-away spot.
What can we say about a septic system? Well, the 200 gallon "tank" that came with the house failed in December. Fortunately, we had a mild January so the contractor could come in and dig up the hillside to install an engineer designed, Department of Environment approved system. We think it is certainly large enough to serve three homes but is what the regulations call for. The hillside is recontoured a bit but once the meadow gets reestablished the work will mostly blend back in. Wish we had had the lead time to design and try to get an alternative system approved. In any case, it is done.
Just as we finished the library Dan's lower back muscles decided to seize up a bit. Guess the twisting and movements of staining shelves and moving of books got them down. So, for the last couple of weeks we both have been going to massage therapy and the YMCA. We were planning on the YMCA part anyway to do some training for our summer's kayak trip. We both have strength building and aerobic training plans. The muscle problems have got us into Yoga and stretching in a big way. The goal is to have Dan be able to stand and touch his toes, something he hasn't been able to do for 20 years.
We have had a very mild winter. Some days it seemed almost spring-like. It was warm enough to work outside without a jacket for a few of them. That does not mean that February and March will not have something in store for us even though the days are getting noticably longer already.
Have kept up with our usual environmental, theater board, and social calendar. Sue has been diligent in practicing her piano and has devised a new way of learning note locations which has helped her a lot. She thinks it is much better than the approach usually taught. (If anyone is curious, they can ask her about it) Dan has been enjoying his book club and other reading. Don't forget the chickens - feed, water and collect the eggs, and clean the cage for the wonderful compost material.
Planning for our Gulf of Maine Expedition continues. We are getting good support from equipment suppliers, a few grants have developed, and donations are coming in. We are developing a list of contact people and media along the coast and getting lots of volunteers to help while we are in their section. We are planning various events for towns along the coast where we will visit for a day or two to run programs. May seems like a very short distance away at this point when we think of all we need to do.
This point was reached by a concerted effort by us to get the staircase done. This involved final sanding and finish of the rail and newel post,15 stairs, and 59 spindles. After that was done we had to spend time cleaning up the dust and prepare for final finishes. All that was 99 percent of the work. The final finishes went on in just a couple of days. The rail and newell post are walnut so we did those in a stain and satin finish to show the grain. The rest is painted in lighter colors that match our other trim. It looks great and was well worth the effort.
This does not mean that we never have anymore work around here, we indeed have lots of organizing to do and maintenance never ends. However, we do feel free and able to concentrate more on other aspects of our lives here.
Dan managed to get his sprained back on its way to healing. For awhile he could not sit or lay down without pain upon getting up. Bending to put on socks or tie shoes was out of the question. A combination of massage therapy, stretching and sauna at YMCA, resting and being careful finally resolved the worst of the problem. Now he is on maintenance with lots of stretching each day, yoga, and regular visits to massage therapist who claims he will be able to touch his toes soon, something he has not been able to do for at least 20 years.
Sue has been in massage therapy and doing stuff at the YMCA too. Its a good place we can go to together and have a productive time. And, there is a nice cafe across the street for a quiet, healthy, lunch (if we skip dessert). She has been spending a majority of her time on community projects for the theater, selling lobster draw tickets for our environmental group, and writing grant requests for our Gulf of Maine Expedition project.
The weather has been quite mild and some days it is almost spring-like. This allowed Dan to make a few repairs on the outside of house and to help with move of over 80 grape vines from next door to our site where we can keep better watch over them and hopefully end up with a small vineyard. This is not the perfect climate for them so will have to develop some techniques for getting them wind protection and warmth. Any that survive the summer with us away should be the most hardy of the group and worth working with.
Managed time to visit friends and have people over and to make our usual rounds of things to visit and do around town. Chickens are happy and productive and cats are starting to spend more time out of doors again. Looking forward to the days rapidly getting longer during March which will be a very busy month for us.
March was a very busy month for us but lots of good things took place. The weather was highly varied with some beautiful spring-like days and a few where we thought for sure that winter was on its way back.
On some of the good days we got a chance to scout th Nova Scotia coast in preparation for our trip this summer. We worked our way along the north coast of St. Mary Bay and then out a place called Digby Neck which is an extension of North Mountain that runs all along the Fundy coast of Nova Scotia. It is a big volcanic formation with steep cliffs and little coves. Very attractive but tricky paddling. At the end of the month we completed that scouting with a weekend trip to Annapolis Royal and a drive along the coast up and down from there. One benefit of the scouting is that we have discovered many out of the way but wonderful spots along our coast.
On another day we made a scouting trip to visit Cape Sable and Clarks Harbour where our trip will end. The southwest part of the coast has lots of bays and islands and the landscape is less rugged than the Fundy coast. Clarks Harbour has a park and boardwalk where we will land and they have just finished renovating a historic building where we will have an evening reception. The Mayor and local people are involved in getting that together for us. Found a wonderful place to stay if you are interested in coming to our arrival party and having a little vacation - Cape Sable Cottages.
Have had several projects related to the Gulf of Maine Expedition going on. We developed a way for people to become supporting Members of the expedition and get regular news bulletins and newsletters about the journey. As part of that package we developed logo decals and enbossed visors as part of the membership package. Sue had the idea of making notecards from Gulf of Maine pictures so we did that and put together sets of six that we will sell to help with expenses. She is also putting together matted photos that will be available at our presentation stops. We have also made big decals and lettering for out boats and cars.
Sue's work on getting sponsors has also been working well. So far she has been successful in getting eco-safe toilet units, paddling gloves, a six months supply of vitamins and herbal supplements, and a sponsors banner donated. Has some other promising irons in the fire. Dan managed to get the trip's supply of biodegradable soap and a no-charge bank account.
We have also been working with our trip companions in Maine and New York on the organization of the trip and trying to stay coordinated in our efforts. There seem to be hours spent on e-mail trying to work things out. I don't know how we could have pulled this together without it.
A press release was sent out about the middle of the month. As a result of that we had radio interviews on CJLS, the local station, and CBC out of St. John, NB. They were fun. We had an article about us in the Halifax Daily News and there is one coming up in our local paper, The Vanguard. Have also been covered in a number of newsletters.
The big social event of the month, for us, was our "its finished" open house. Sue and I got the house ready. A couple of our good friends did the snacks and punch. What a great help that was. We had about 50 people visit during the afternoon and had a good chance to chat and show them the house. We had a selection of our "before" pictures around just to remind us of what we had done in three years.
At the end of the month we took a weekend trip to Annapolis Royal as mentioned above. In addition to the scouting, we met some new people who will be helping with our public event in the fall when we paddle through that area. The plan is to paddle up to the town wharf during the weekly farmers' market and have a celebration there and a presentation in the evening. Had great enthusiasm from the group we met and looking forward to seeing things develop.
Other than that Dan worked on museum stuff, Sue worked on theater things, we ran the bar for a performance of God Spell, had a reading group meeting, did some yard work and grading, took care of the chickens, looked at some property for sale and decided not to buy it, went to dinner at friends houses, made a presentation at the Southwest Paddlers club meeting, installed the cabinet knobs made by Tim, Dan's son-in-law, went to massage therapy, read, played piano and harmonica, and generally had a good time.
This will probably be the last update you get for awhile as
we will be away until the end of September. But, if you want to
keep up with the Gulf of Maine Expedition journey you may find
what is happening by visiting www.gomexpedition.org web site.
There you may find our happy faces, pictures of where we have
been, and tales of adventure.