Canada Day Adventures

Logging is one of Newfoundland's oldest industries, and that means that there are old unused logging roads everywhere. With our great love of the rugged outdoors, these roads are still well used; and many people have set up their weekend cabins (cottages) in these places. The government accepts applications to rent a piece of land at a nominal fee, and because some of these trails are part of the Appalachian Mountains Trail and are used by the local snowmobile and ATV clubs, they work to keep the trails and roads in 'good' condition ..... well, good for off road vehicles and 4x4's.

I spent the Canada Day weekend at my brother's cabin, and it was so wonderful! His comfy but rustic cabin overlooks a pond (we don't have "lakes" in NL -- only ponds); and the front garden and deck are always open to squirrels, chipmunks, Blue and Grey Jays and the

Toast and fruit are on today's menu.

occasional moose or caribou (although not during my stay). I spent lots of time just relaxing with my book of NY Times crosswords, got in a great hike and ate sporatic but wonderful meals. Barbequed steak, baked potato, grilled asparagus and strawberry shortcake on Sat night means steak 'n' home fries, an asparagus omlette and fruit salad on Sun morning! Yum yum! And evening visits to and from friendly neighbors means lots of Newfie music, cold beers and big, blazing fires!  

💛Ahhhhh! Fresh air at yer bum
 .... sky at your head
 .... and bird song
all around you! 💛 

My brother has a generator, so there were lights, a small refrigerator and, depending on the time of day, even a few channels on the satellite TV. And although his cabin has a bathroom with a composting toilet, my favorite 'room' was this one.  

It was clean, fresh smelling and ........... drum roll .................. it boasts a clear, plexiglass roof which provides the most beautiful view! Plus you get a heck of a lot more privacy. But yeah, that view!   
                                💖 💖💖 


I hope your Canada Day was a good one. And to my American friends, I hope your July 4th gives you something great to celebrate tomorrow.

Cheers!

I've had a grand Christmas break. 

• There was lots of laughter and family and good food and drink. 
• There was lots of sleeping late (and 8:30 or 9:30 am counts as late in my books).
• There was so much watching of Dr Who and a bunch of great movies on TV
• There was a little shopping at the after-Xmas sales.
• There was quiet and peace and contemplation.

Now I've just today and tomorrow to get back to a normal routine. Out with the sweets (okay, that task is done), fruit and veg now take dominance in the refrigerator (check!), down with the decorations (on my today-list), and go to bed before midnight and wake at 7 am (fingers crossed on that one).

Happy New Year friends.

May happiness and prosperity and peace reign in your home and heart this year.

I Always was a bit of a Swinger!

 In spite of Saturday's gloomy weather, it was time for a short 'n' sweet day trip -- Nagisa's first visit to historic Lunenburg. 

We checked out the "big comfy chair", lots of little shops; we did lots & lots of walking up and down lots of hills; and we may -- just may -- have stopped for coffee and cheesecake.  And then we found the swings.

There is something sooooo wonderful about swinging.

Something absolutely magical!

 You really do go back to being a kid again.  You're with your friends, going as high as you can; the wind in your hair; singing "Sunshine, Lollipops" or "Let's go Fly a Kite".  

 You don't want to stop.  Back and forth; up and down.  But then finally, you turn your hands around on the chain, wrists pointing outward and you ....... jump .....

... and thankfully, you land -- if not with the same distance or finesse as you did at 10 --- you land safely.

At 10, you didn't realize how therapeutic swinging was; how cares and stresses and worries and crap just fall away, float away, melt away.

At 10, you didn't realize just what good exercise this was.  And you sure didn't notice how much hard work it was to get going, keep going, gain any height.

Wow!

What fun!  What an amazingly great ride!

Hello Sunshine!

This bundle of sunshine is what I had to leave behind in NL.  I cried on the plane and several times since then.  This grandma needs to be with the boy.  (Working on that one, aren't we God.)

I had a wonderful trip; it was the first time in over 20 years that I'd gone home in the winter.  And wow!  There sure was lots of snow; you couldn't see over the snow on the sides of the road where the plow had gone through.  Nor did it stop falling while I was home. Spring is always later on the west coast of Newfoundland than here in Nova Scotia.

So in spite of my aching heart (and arms), it was so pleasant to come back to bare pavement and smaller snow piles.  We've also had a couple of days of beautiful but cold sunshine which just lifts my spirits and makes me breathe deeper & sigh.  I can "feel" that spring is on its way. 

This is what adorns my office desk this morning.  An unnecessary extravagance because a girl needs to be reminded that winter is on his way out ....... especially when she had a week's backload to catch up on.


I hope there's lots of sunshine in your life today.

Snippets of my Whirlwind Summer

Hello my lovelies!  It's so nice to be back with you again.  I had an amazing summer!  What a fortunate woman I am.  With an empty house, I got to spend lots of time alone, eat when I felt like it, run around naked and make or break my own plans.  It was marvelous!

 

AND I spent just over 2 glorious weeks in Newfoundland -- travelling with my friend, Sharon, for the first week; then hanging out with family for the second.  Here are some of the highlights.

 

My wonderful parents.  I'm so lucky to still have them with me.  My Dad is loud and silly and learning to navigate Facebook!  (He needs something to complain about.)  My Mom's eyesight is quite bad, but she has great stamina and joy for life.  She got to bug me about my weight (as she encouraged me to have another brownie), and we played several games of Skip-Bo every night. 

 



Just a few members of my family:  my eldest, Cindy and her husband Jody on the left; my baby, Libby, on the far right; and my crazy sister, Linda, in the middle.
Cindy is pregnant with my 1st grandchild, due in January.  I'm so excited!  And I love scouring the Frenchies and Value Village aisles for baby clothes. 

 

 





The 1st stop for Sharon and me was Gros Morne National Park.  There's so much to see and do here; we did a lot of driving, walking, picture taking and saying "OMG!  Look at that!"  We managed to fit in one good hike to the lookoff outside Rocky Harbour.  Only 2.6 km return, but it's straight up -- and as you can see, a spectacular view from the top.  We even saw a young cow moose on our way down, not 100 feet from us!    

Next stop,Twillingate.  We began our hike at the Lighthouse in the far distance.  The trail system took us down through the middle-earth-type country you can see (flat, green sections), around rocks, over little brooks, down to the sea, past an old copper mine and up the stairs into Mordor.  What a trek!  A 9 km return hike ..... much deserving of the amazing dinner, 2 ice cold ones and NL Screech (rum) infused bananas flambé we finished our evening with.

The next day we took the ferry to Fogo Island.  We visited Auk Island winery (unlimited samples!), ate iceberg ice cream -- Yup, made with pure, million year old iceberg water -- and viewed a little of the new luxury Fogo Island Inn.  Their rooms start at $880 up..... so we stayed at more modest accomodations.



Our last stop was the Trinity area.  The left photo was taken on our Sheriwink Trail hike (5.6 km return) -- a wonderful trail system with mesh covered boardwalks for most of the walk and spectacular rock formations.  We went to a dinner theatre and walked historic Trinity, full of beautiful old fishing captains' houses.  We drove up to Bonnavista where we saw humpbacks.  Then to Elliston, the self-proclaimed root cellar capital of the world:  that's where we saw adorable little puffins and where we both coveted this deck chair.  It's also where we ate fries, dressing and gravy -- a coronary hardening NL specialty --  and the best bread pudding either of us have ever tasted.     

 

 

 

My students returned to me the first week of September; so it's back to our regular routine --- work, school, sleep, eat.  But it also means great little day trips for the 3 of us ..... like yesterday's Open Farm Day.  We visited 3 local farms, met cute, satiny-smooth chickens, said goodbye to the cows who will shortly meet their  demise, had a wagon ride through an apple orchard and ate a delicious Airstream Cafe dinner on a hill overlooking forest and farm land as the sun was beginning to set.  We were a happy, contented bunch. 

 

It's nice to be back to "normal".  Thanks for hanging on and waiting for me.

 

 

 

 

 



My Happy List - Oct 23.12

http://www.ourdandelionwishes.com/

These things that I'm feeling particularly happy about today:

Sooo tender & delicious!

1. My Mom's cornea transplant going well, getting to spend the weekend in the city with my parents, her quick recovery and their safe return home.
2. Souvlaki at the "Athens Restaurant" Sat night.
3. Value Village shopping with my Dad.
4. A glass of wine with my Mom on her birthday Sunday.
5. Sunshine and vibrant Autumn days
6. Happy Asian daughters 
7. Korean dumplings.
8. The love of God.
9. Laura Secord French Mint chocolate bars.
10. Pumpkin carving.

What makes you happy today?