Boat names ...

The back windows at the Curves gym look out on the dock at Fisherman's Cove.  Not a bad view. 

Sometimes when I'm jogging on the spot I look out the window and ponder how people come up with names for their boats.

Some are sentimental liked the one called Mom and Dad. 

Several seem to be named after girlfriends or perhaps daughters: Emerald Rose,  Little Stephanie, Oralee, Lesa Marie, Rhian-Lee and  Sonya Marie. 

Some are funny like Crabs R Us and  Fish'em Not Wish'em.  

I wonder about the captain who named his boat "Hurtin' Unit".

One boat is Overdue.  Is it the boat that's over due or payments on the boat ?

Then there's the rather colourful Fiddler's Green.  Sounds more like the name of an Irish Pub than a boat.

That leaves Time Out, Michael & Lisa and Captain's Pride. 

Each name says a little something about the Captain who sets out in fair seas or rough to make a perilous meagre living.

Chandler digs the beach

Have you noticed most of the beach photos are of Wendy and Trey ?   I actually walk with three dogs, not two.

I have one of those throwing sticks and Wendy and Trey love blasting at full speed after balls hurled down the beach.

But where is the third dog, Chandler (the mini schnauzer) in those shots ?  The answer is, he's not.  Chandler has his own beach agenda. 

After parking the car, the dogs and I walk down a gravel road to the beach.  (Wait. Did that sentence make it sound like the dogs park the car? )


While the others are chasing the ball, Chandler disappears ahead of us to his favourite place. His favourite place is a varmint hole.  Keep in mind that the ground is frozen but that doesn't deter him.  Chandler loves to dig.  Dig, dig, dig. 

Can you see the hole in the picture ?  Can you see the little grey bum sticking out of the hole in the picture ?  If you click the picture it will expand to full screen.  The beach and the boardwalk are in the background.

Chandler has been visiting the same hole for weeks.  I walk on to the beach with Wendy and Trey.  We don't see Chandler for ages.  Then suddenly Chandler will come tearing down the beach to check on us, his face all mucky, front legs covered in dirt.   I swear, he's smiling.  "OK.  So you're here" he grins.  "I'm going back to my hole" and takes back off again.

And so that's how it goes for the entire walk.

Two dogs chasing a ball and one little dog digging and checking in, digging and checking in.

Frozen in time

In the winter the waves make many wonderful shapes at the beach...

Frozen waves.

Some big.

Some little.

Some in between

Some forming concentric layers on rocks.

Some mixing with frozen sand in a losing battle to roll back to the sea.

The beach is a magical place in winter.

Walking on water ...

There's a lovely lake less than 2 km from our home up Caldwell Road.  It's a short narrow lake. 

Driving by it this afternoon, I noticed a lot of cars parked by the road so I stopped.

I wandered out onto the frozen lake my camera to see what was going on.

It turned out a lot was going on.

People had shovelled numerous small skating rinks.  There were even some paths cleared around the icey surface.   Families were picnicing on the ice.  Children who were just learning to skate were pushing chairs around the meandering paths.  

At one end of the lake a major game of pick-up hockey was going on.

At the opposite end of the lake, several different concentric circles had been cleared and people with motorbikes with studded tires were racing around.  Their bikes leaning precariously on the corners.

I was glad I stopped.

It's a pity that tomorrow the temperatures will rise.  The rains will come.  And the lake will turn back into a lake.

The "On Golden Pond" effect

Many years ago there was a film staring Jane Fonda with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn as her aging parents.  It was a pretty, quiet film that centred around the family cottage and the dynamics of her relationship with her parents as they aged. 

This blog isn't about that.  It's about expectations and how they can affect your reaction to something.  "On Golden Pond" was a real phenomenon.  People RAVED about the film.  I just HAD to see it I was told.  "You'll love it !"  everyone said.  So I went.  It was a nice, sweet film but because my expectations had been built so HIGH, I was disappointed.  If I'd never heard anything about the film I would have liked it more.  Instead because I expected so much, I was disappointed.

So what am I leading up to ?

I went eagle watching yesterday. 

On several weekends in Janury and February, tourists are encouraged to visit the hamlet of Sheffield Mills to see scores of Bald Eagles that gather to feed on chicken bits thrown out by local poultrey farmers.  The whole thing was begun by one farmer in the early 90's who fed some migrating eagles.  And those eagles told their friends.  And that farmer told his friends.  And so on.  And so on.

Sheffields Mills is near the Fundy side of Nova Scotia.  I took Hwy 101 west from Halifax.  Unfortunately once I neared my destination I floundered around finding the exact location.  It was a one hour drive that probably took me 90 minutes. 

Roads were clear.  The day was sunny and cold.

As I neared my destination I spied a Bald Eagle sitting in a tree just over country road.  Then I saw a tree beside the road with three Bald Eagles and two hawks !  I thought of stopping to take pictures but I talked myself out of it thinking what lay ahead would be far more spectacular and besides, I could always take a picture on my way back.

You can guess what I'm leading up to can't you ?

When I arrived at my destination I found a field beside a car-lined road.  Hoards of people were lined up along the edge of the field with binoculars and telephoto-lensed cameras.  An eagle soared high above.  In the far corner of the field was a tree that seemed to contain 8-14 Bald Eagles.  (Although the people in the photo above seem to be looking left, the tree with the eagles is at the back right of the field.  They're looking at a flying eagle.  If you click on the picture you can just barely see their tree).

It was a true test of my zoom lens to try to take a picture but I tried anyway.

Occassionally one would take to the air and every lens would follow it as it wheeled above us.   There were seagulls too and amusingly a woman with a digital camera excitedly took quick shots of the seagull thinking it was an eagle. 

But it was a cold day.  I could hear the grumbles of disappointment as others stood with cold feet waiting for more eagles to make an appearance.

The concession road had cars parked on both sides.  Throngs of people walked up the road, weaving between the slow moving cars that tried to get through.  It was not possible for two cars to pass. 

I had expected too much.  I expected to see 40, 60, 100 Bald eagles !  Instead I saw maybe a total of 15.  If I had expected nothing, I would have been thrilled to see 15 Bald eagles in one location.  Instead my expections and the comments of a stranger "no where near as good as last year" left me feeling disappointed.

So that's it.  The "On Golden Pond" effect sorta ruined the experience for me.

On my trip back home I got lost several times.  I never think of as really being lost.  I think it's just bad signeage.  I ended up on a dock looking out into a huge bay at low tide.  It was lovely.  A lovely surprise.

I never found the tree with the Bald Eagles I'd seen on my way but did find a single immature eagle in a tree over the road and stopped this time to take a couple of pics.

So there you have it.

Here is a link to "Eagle Watch" as it's called:   http://www.eaglens.ca/

You'll see why I had such high expectations.

Still it was a nice day.  And I don't regret the drive.

Just me and my shadows ...

I'm really starting to enjoy my early morning walks with the dogs at Rainbow Haven.

I used to drive Kait to work and then go back home to bed !  Now I take the dogs in the car with me and head to the beach.

It was cool this morning.  Maybe minus 3 or 4.  Light breeze.  Very damp feeling.  But the sunrise was rather lovely and created wonderful long pink shadows of me and the dogs.

We walked from the first boardwalk down the beach to the second long boardwalk and then came back along the back road to the parking lot.

A nice one hour walk.

Another Saturday adventure

For the second Saturday in a row I had a "Saturday Adventure". 

While Kait was at the Groomers helping out, I took Wendy and Chandler to explore what I call the "Western Shore". 

We discovered a Fort. 

York Redoubt it's called.  I walked about and found these weathered cannons hidden in the snow under an aged apple tree.

Other more modern canons looked out over the wall of the fort facing toward the harbour, McNabs Island and Eastern Passage in the far distance.

We continued driving as far as the village of Sambro.  There, on an overgrown peninsula I spied a cemetary and stopped to walk between the head stones and ponder about the people around me who were no more. 

What were their lives like ?  How did this place come to be so neglected ?  And who placed the plastic flowers on the grave of Melissa Henneberry who died in 1920 ? 

The scenery is much more rugged than on the eastern side and the roadsides (in the prettier spots) are dotted with "Franken Homes".  A more personal name for "monster homes".  Out of place monoliths.  What on earth do the locals make of these over-housed folk ? 

'

Scared to get out of bed ...

Those of you who know me well, know that I've been through quite a lot lately and am still struggling.
I retired July 1 and impulsively decided to move to Nova Scotia with my daughter, Kaitlyn and her fiance.

Barely a week before we left, my younger brother died quite suddenly.  New Year's day a friend died unexpectedly.  And sadly, on Tuesday, Kait's fiance returned home to England on his own.

Life can be tough sometimes.

I never gave myself a chance to figure out who I was as a retiree before I moved.  So I struggle to figure out how much of my sense of sadness is the loss of work identiy and how much is loss of my entire home base "world". 

What I am leading up to is yesterday's horoscope for me which read:

"Something will happen today, tomorrow or over the weekend that has a profound effect on your beliefs and opinions.  You may never took at the world around you quite the same way gain -- and that must surely be a good thing."

Oh really ? 

I'm going back to bed.

Wake me on Monday.

The mellow pack

We've established that Kait and I have too many critters. 

She has two dogs (Sooki and Trey). And I have two dogs (Wendy and Chandler) and three cats.

I just wanted to share some pics with you and hopefully make you smile.

Trey and Kait's puppy, Sooki

Chandler and Thumper

Wendy reluctantly tolerate Sooki.

Chandler, Roswell and Wendy. 

All my critters:. Wendy, Butters, Chandler, Thumper and Roswell together on my bed.

Chandler, Wendy, Sooki and Trey

Surfers in January !

I'd been told that Lawrencetown Beach attracts surfers year-round.   So Sunday afternoon with Kait and Matt in tow I set out to see for myself.

While the previous beach we'd been to had a parking lot with four or five cars, the Lawrencetown Beach had a full parking lot with 10 or so cars.  As we pulled up, so did another car with three surf boards on its roof.

I scrambled over the boulder strewn breakwall. One lone surfer paddling out was all I initially saw. Then I looked to my right, to where the beach curves into a rocky point.  I guess that outcropping causes the waves to break better there.  And that's where the surfers were.  Eight of them were out there in wet suits lying on their boards waiting for the perfect wave to come by.

It was late afternoon and quite cold.  I only lingered long enough to take a few pics. 

I'm definitely going back.

Saturday's adventures ...

Yesterday, Kait went to a dog groomers on the Bedford Hwy to spend a few hours helping out and learning about aprenticing there.  Bedford Hwy is on the west side of Halifax and so it made sense for Matt and I to drop her there and continue on to have an adventure of our own.

So we drove to Peggy's Cove.  

BTW you can click on any of these images to see them full screen.

It was a lovely morning for a drive.  Trees covered in a new dusting of snow.  Roads pretty clear.  It was a 40 minute drive at 60-70 km per hour.  And we kept stopping to take pictures along the way.  We were lucky enough to see a lovely red fox standing alertly on the snow bank by the side of the road. 

The scenery along the way was very different from that of the Eastern Shore.  It was rockier with many stunted, bent trees that permanently bow before the prevailing winds.

It was low tide. 

During high tide,  bays fill with water that covers rocks and forms an ice crust.  When the tide recedes, the water disappears leaving ice balancing on rocks or crumbling without the watery support below.  The effect is rather mysterious looking.  The first time I saw the phenomenon I puzzled for a while over what I was looking at.

Just before we arrived at  Peggy's Cove we passed a sign for the SwissAir Flight 111 memorial.  I wanted to pull off to see the memorial but the parking lot wasn't ploughed and I feared we'd get stuck.  So I'll save that for a future visit.  Perhaps I'll bring a carnation to cast into the sea.

Peggy's Cove is a tiny, colourful hamlet.  Can't imagine it even qualifies as a "village", though I confess I don't know what the stringent standards are that allow a hamlet to graduate to village status.

The winding road takes you past the requisite sheltered cove with boats hauled up on shore and wind-weathered cottages.   Finally it curves around a long, restaurant and souvenir shop that looks out over the lighthouse.  It was colder here.  We parked and went to take pictures and see the view.  The Atlantic wind is unobstructed.    It was VERY cold.   The lighthouse sits surrounded by smooth snow dusted rocks.  Rather a desolate spot. 

Inside the souvenier shop there were two staff to take care of the tourist throngs that probably wouldn't arrive for another four months.  Matt bought items for family back home.  I bought some goofy post cards.  In the restaurant we took a table a the long window looking out at the lighthouse and the Atlantic and had a cup of tea and decaf coffee while we read the paper, gazed out the window and chatted.  Sea gulls occassionally wheeled by the window.  But one large "gull" caught my interest as it approached.   It was bigger than the others and was dark with a white head.  Of course as it got closer we realized that it was a Bald Eagle. What a special treat !

We saw postcards in the shop of a carved stone wall memorial to sailors who had died at sea.  I might not have noticed the carving as we left Peggy's Cove if I had not seen the post cards.  No sign heralded the lovely monument.  Just a small picket fence enclosing a snow dusted wall.  It was all the more lovely with the snowy coating.

We were back to pick up Kait by 12:30. Hard to believe only  few hours had passed since we'd first dropped her off.

Our days are numbered

Two months after moving in I am still occassionally reminded of the ordeal of the  big move here.

Did you know that moving companies put stickers on EVERY item ?

I'm still finding stickers in the oddest places. 




One of the funniest was on the decoration that I'd put out front at Christmas.  Can you see the sticker ?

A Curve in the road ...

So after a one week trail I joined the local Eastern Passage CURVES.

I've never joined a fitness club before.   Didn't have the time.  Well THAT excuse is no good any more. Didn't want to have some guy yelling at me to work out HARDER !   Not a problem here.  Didn't want to have to be working out next to some cute, blonde, buxom, bimbette.   No worries on that front.  Average age is around 55.

The Curves system involves 10 or so "stations" or different pieces of work-out equipment.  Between each piece is a stepping board.   A spring-loaded board that you can jog, jump or walk on.  You use each piece for only 30 seconds then move on to the next piece. 

You work your way around the room 2 1/2 times. Then you move onto the stretching station.  You move at your own pace and I've never been there when there were more than four of us using the equipment. 

It's certainly the right system for me. 

Wonder about what's outside those windows ?

Storm surge

A storm surge is sorta like a mini tsunami.  There's a storm a'comin' and high tide at the same time and the on shore winds push the waves ever higher and harder.

There have been surges for a couple of nights now.

At Rainbow Haven sand and rocks have been washed up and over the high water mark and blown over the grassy dunes leaving a bit of a mess in its wake.

  

The second long board walk on the beach no longer ends at a lovely sandy point.  Instead the steps end a few inches above piles and piles of rock.  No sand.   The  top "before" picture was taken at low tide and shows the great expanse of sand beach.  The picture below is same location at high tide and sand in foreground has been replaced by rocks and much of embankment in the background has been greatly eroded.