A drive, a hike, a walk and a visit.

When Sandy comes we're always looking for new places to explore.  Since I'd never been to Graves Island on the south shore, so  we headed there.  In Summer it's a very busy campground.

On this particular day we had the entire island to ourselves.

Back on the road I just had to pull over for a shot of this abandoned antiques store.

And of course I just had to peer in through the window ...

And it was just a short drive down the road to Chester where our favourite TV show "Haven" used to be filmed.  This huge house was featured in one episode.

This one wasn't.

One day we took the dogs for a walk at Shubie.

On Friday, after choir, I took her to see our new public library.

It's a stunningly imaginative and beautiful building.  It's designed to look like stacked books.

The fifth floor hangs out over the street and affords a lovely view of the city from the Citadel to the harbour.

Looking down Spring Garden Road toward the harbour.

Inside the building is bright and airy.

From outside the windows appear to be covered in leaf patterns. Up close you realize that the "leaves" are formed by letters.

The purpose of the "leaves" is to stop bird strikes against the windows and also to create shade by regulating the internal temperature of the building.

Definitely worth a visit.  

Ask Sandy.

She'll back me up.

If she knows what's good for her.

I've got mail ...

I'm not sure if you've heard about the Winter we've had here in Nova Scotia.  Suffice it to say that it was BRUTAL.  Cold.  Snowy.  And followed by a non-existent Spring.  Today is May 1 and there is still snow in the woods!

All this (and more that I'll tell you about another time) helps to explain why I've been feeling down lately.

One very special thing did raise my spirits though.

My birthday was in mid-March and about a week before the big day I got a birthday card from my bosom chum Sandy.  Then the next day I got ANOTHER card from her, and two days later I got another.

And so it went,  On and on.

And they weren't just cards.  Included with some cards were corny jokes or a fake mustache or a single puzzle piece or a few chicken feathers (if you recall, Sandy has some very lovely Chickens).

But the jokes -- oh my they WERE corny !

               "When the plums dry on your tree, it's time to prune."
               "What are the Botany jokes getting to be ?   A pain in the Aster."
               "Some Moss took a Lichen to a tree."

 The cards kept coming for around three weeks, until I'd received a total of 18 of them.

It was finally time to make the puzzle,

and check out the enclosed loot.

And see how I looked in a villainous mustache.

And replace some of the gloom with the warm, fuzzy feeling that having such wonderful friends brings.

My kind of sale !

As I may have mentioned nine or ten times, I'm a huge Haven (TV show) fan.  This show which airs on the Syfy Channel in the U.S. and on ShowCase in Canada, is filmed entirely in Nova Scotia.

Being a moderately obsessed fan, you can imagine my delight when I attended last Tuesday's sale of excess props and costumes from the show.

How many times have you walked into a sale to be immediately confronted by a box labelled, "chunks of bodies"?

And if you did, would you turn tail and walk back out?  or would you bend over an start rummaging about for the largest chunks ?  

Perhaps I should explain that many of the citizens of Haven are afflicted or "troubled" with some sort of supernatural power or other.  Most of them are not malicious about their powers, they just don't know they have them, or how to control them.  Imagine you get cut off in traffic, think a bad thought about that rude driver, and suddenly a huge boulder lands on his car !   Would you realize that your angry thought had made that happen ?   Or perhaps you are lying in bed reading a creepy story, and unbeknownst to you, the monsters in the story have come to life and are stalking the street outside your house.

Haven is that sort of place.

Our heroine, Audrey, has a talent for identifying the "troubled" and helping them learn to deal with their affliction.  But if someone just gets really ticked off and blows up, what is left to do except gather up the body chunks and put them in a box  ?

Co-starring with Audrey, are her two handsome side kicks, each of whom loves her.  Nathan the Chief of Police is her true love.  Duke, the "bad boy" with the heart of gold, acts like a shady character, but always does the right thing and achingly hides his love from her.  

The sale was very "loosey goosey" in that prices weren't marked.  You just loaded up a box with stuff and they made up a price at the checkout desk.  And the prices were very reasonable.  In hindsight I should have stuffed my box even more, but since all proceeds went to the Food Bank I can't complain.

The items on this table came from the boat that "Duke"  lives on.  I was told that the framed picture in the middle stood on his night table.  (insert dreamy girlish sigh here)

The shoppers at the sale seemed to be a blend of those who were just there for a bargain and rabid fans like myself who were hunting for treasured souvenirs.  The staff were keen to talk to fans and point out items that would only be of significance to someone who's watched the show.

There was an entire room full of clothes.  I picked up five mint condition jackets for $30,

but I passed on the decorations from the "Christmas in July" episode.

Here's some of my haul consisting of a  "Haven Herald" newspaper, a menu card from the "Grey Gull" restaurant, a full utensil holder from Duke's boat, a Haven parking ticket, wanted posters, business cards, assorted photos of the stars, a fake orchid in a pot, a wall decoration from Audrey's apartment (which now hangs over my bed) and a jacket worn by the female lead -- Audrey and of course the "Founders' Day Festival" sign of which only three were made.

And of course, don't forget the three "Chunks of bodies".

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And here, like a bonus "blooper reel" is a bit more about Sybil's past adventures in Haven.

Last summer when Sandy was visiting, we drove down to Chester where much of the filming  is done in hopes of meeting up with cast members.

In August they were using the empty rink of the curling club as a sound stage.  We knew when we saw all these trucks lined up that we'd hit the jackpot.

A very kind Assistant Director took these photos for us.

"Duke", me, "Vince", "Dwight" and Sandy

And then things got really fun.

When Lucas Bryant who plays "Nathan" sauntered up for his photo with us, I cheekily leaned over and asked if I could have a "singleton" shot ?  meaning just me 'n him.  And the following photo is the result. In it he is gently nudging Sandy out of the picture.  It's a marvellous shot of them.  Crappy shot of me. But I'm such a wonderful person that I'm sharing it with you nevertheless.  ;-)

BTW we did  each get "singleton" shots.  Lucas is a super guy.

   

We were delighted to have met everyone in the cast except "Audrey".

Hopefully we'll rectify that NEXT summer.

Sandy's "Chooks" ...

Sorry that I've been A.W.O.L. for a while.

Lost myself for a bit and went on a "walk-about" to see if I could find myself.

One of the places I looked was back in Ontario, visiting friends and family.

And one of those friends, is Sandy.

Sandy and I met a bunch of years ago at Trent University  where we both worked.   I needed a friend and generously offered her $5 to be my friend.  She did the same : so we called it even and have been best buds ever since.

You know someone is your friend when they come and visit you in Nova Scotia, not in Summer but in February !

And so when I needed to regain some balance in my life, I spent a couple of days in Peterborough, getting together with wonderful, old friends and spending time with Sandy and her Chickens, or "Chooks" as she calls them.

Her two lovely "Goldens", Digby and Rickard, studiously NOT eating the Chooks.

She has at least six varieties of Chickens.  She even has Easter Eggers which lay rather unique, pale blue eggs.

Mixed in with the hens she has a rather confused, sex-crazed rooster.

While I was there the flock had their first chance to experience snow.

All-in-all, I think they'd give it a "wattle's-down".

~~~~~~~~~~     ~~~~~~~~~~

Early morning visitors.

During my visit, Sandy arranged get-togethers with many of my chums.

me 'n Julie (Julie is the one without the furry face)

With Sandy and Cindy.

During dinner one evening Sandy reached in her wallet, pulled out a five dollar bill and without a word passed it across to me.  I said, "Thanks", and passed it back.

Here there be Whales !

Brier Island is a wonderful destination in itself.  A quiet little island with few people and lots of birds and Seals and wild places to wander near the sea.  But most folk visit Brier Island for one reason.

WHALES !

Situated at the bottom of "Digby Neck" (see previous post for map or consult Ms. Google), Brier Island is as close as you can get to "Whale central" in the Maritimes.

After driving off the ferry from Long Island, we arrived in Westport (Population 210), the only village on Brier Island. 

This was my first experience staying in a hostel, and at $20 a night, my expectations were not high.  I certainly did not expect to find a living room with a picture window looking out over the harbour, a marvellously outfitted kitchen and comfy beds.  In truth, I was also a bit surprised that Sandy and I were sharing a room with a charming young Professor from Barcelona, Spain !

The  hostel living room.

Random signs dotted the waterfront in Westport.

Each morning I got up early, and Wendy and I explored the town.

 And of course we also went for evening walks too.

That grey building on the left is the hostel.

Oh right.  Whale watching.  Yup.  We went.  We saw Whales.

It was over three hours of standing on a boat that rocked lustily on the waves, scanning the horizon as it moved UP and DOWN, and UP and DOWN.  

Because it was choppy, it was sometimes hard to tell a distant Whale fin from a wave.  But when that "wave" shot a spout of foamy, water into the air, a cry of "WHALE" would go up, fingers would point, and someone would shout the time.  Not the time on the clock, but rather to indicate to the captain where the Whale was in relation to us.  "Six o'clock" would mean the Whale was behind the boat, "Nine o'clock" meant it was on our left, and so on.  And so the captain would swing the boat in a wide circle, throttle back the engine and we'd stare and shout in amazement as Whales cruised past, toward,  AND under us.

Of course we weren't the only boat loaded with folk keen to see Whales.  I was impressed that after we'd been watching a couple of Whales close up, our captain told us we had to move along as other boats were approaching, and there is an unwritten rule that no more than two boats can be near a Whale at a time.

If you ever head to Brier Island to see the Whales, make sure you go with Brier Island Whale Watch as they are the only Whale-watching company on the Island that keeps meticulous records of sightings which they share with researchers.  Also, one of the guides on our boat was a co-op  research student from a Nova Scotia University who was adding to her knowledge of Whales and happily shared what she knew with us.  

This short video I made gives you a bit of a feeling of what it was like.

Me and Sandy

Oh wait, I forgot to show you the Seals and the "Balancing Rock", and the tilted building at Sandy's Cove and the abandoned house.  I guess this adventure is, "to be continued" ...