More weeding, decluttering, and day camp

Another week with lots of weeding, interrupted by rain, trips to day camp, and some crafting.

I spent three hours on both Saturday and Sunday tackling the weeds in the area outside the side door and in the raised flower bed. The original plants in this bed are the day lilies and poppies, as well as some other plant that I didn't like and dug out last year. The bed also had the red oxalis. It was overshadowed by the larger plants and wasn't doing very well. Next spring, I plan to remove the day lilies and poppies. There are lots lilies elsewhere and I'll keep seeds of the poppy to seed later in another bed. In my mind they are in the wrong space - they should be at the back of the bed, not the front. Another project for next spring is replacing the fence. It is in rough shape and my brother braced it for us in a couple of places. So I don't want to move anything to rear of the bed until the fence replacement is complete.

Last year I added a small piece of Lamium (pink flowers) from the yard at the old house. It is a form of dead nettle, of which there was another variety here (yellow flowers). I moved a piece when we had the air conditioning unit installed. This year, I've planted tulip bulbs, gladiola bulbs, and two small rock cress in the back of the bed. I'd cleared the bed, as best I could early in the spring, but by the time I returned it was overgrown with cleavers, bindweed, thistle, and others. Our problem is the next door neighbour and their un-used dog run. By late last summer the weeds in that area were taller than the fence. D called the bylaw officer and they did cut things down, but did nothing to get rid of any of the weeds. As I was weeding, I was pulling on plants that were coming through the gaps in the fence and growing into our side. I suspect we'll continue to have issues, as the  weeds in their yard will continue to go to seed. It does look like they may be mowing that area this year.

Just in case, you are concerned about me removing the daylilies, here is the area behind the house where the lilies are almost a hedge!

Another view taken from the bottom of the stairs provide a view of my container garden. There are five tomatoes here, peppers, parsley, sage, and basil. Since this area gets a lot of sun, I've added a pot of portulaca for colour.

We had a rainy and cloudy day on Monday. It didn't rain a whole lot; the gauge held about 4 mm, just over a 10th of an inch. But it was enough for me to declare it an indoor day. Besides some housework, I did a bit of crocheting and knitting. D is planning to make sunflower pens for appreciation gifts for Eli's teachers. She'll wrap the pen with floral tape, and glue two flowers together for the head of the pen. I think they will be cute. I finished a toque I'd started some time ago, and started another. These will be added to the bag for Eli's school to provide to children who don't have the proper winter gear. 

Tuesday and Thursday were Day Camp days. Eli enjoys the camp so much. It's offered through SaskAbilities. Their mission statement is, "SaskAbilities supports people experiencing disability with program and services that enhance their lives". The Day Camp he attends offer opportunity for indoor and outdoor play, as well as field trips. Eli loves it! They offer the program during school breaks in February and at Easter break too. Thursday was exciting as they brought in a bouncy castle!

D and I took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping and a whole lot of browsing without buying. One of our stops was the Book Worm, a used book store, and picked up a pile of books for ourselves and Eli. Everything in the store was buy 1, get one free. The store owner told us she is moving the store in September to a larger pace, about twice the size of the current store. I can understand why. There are wooden shelves (appear to be homebuilt) that are at least 8 feet tall. She keeps step stools available so one can climb to find books on the upper shelves. In back, she has an curtained off where the books she hasn't room from out front are stored. She wants to sell as much as she can before she moves. Like a regular bookstore she has the books organized by genre and by author. As far as I know, she works alone, so it must be a lot of work!  She told me the books come from donations, from garage sales, and through exchange. Once we've read the books we can return them for a credit against the cost of new books. (obviously for less than what we paid). It is pretty impressive for a one woman business.

Wednesday, Eli and D went to the library for their summer program. I met them there towards the end of the day's event, and had a chat with the librarian. She's agreed to allow me to set up a Stitch and Chat group in the fall. We'll put up a poster in the library, and D will post to local FB groups later this summer. I've been here for just over a year, though not full-time, and I've yet to meet any folks my own age. There is a senior's center, but I haven't made it there, as yet. I should, but I seem to fill my time with things at home.

I also did some sorting and rearranging in my bedroom. When we bought the house (over a year ago), I asked that the nine drawer dresser in the room be left behind. I quickly filled that up, with clothing, bedding, table cloths, and personal items. I've found another space for the table cloths and some of the toiletries. We have no linen closet and our bathroom is tiny! I found a box of books that hadn't been unpacked, and I set aside half of them to be donated. Along with three bags of other items D has gathered up, we dropped them off at the thrift store on Thursday.

I was ready to get out early on Friday, and finish weeding the last area in the side yard. First, I went to the front yard and weeded between the cracks in the city and our sidewalk. When I finished there, I took the now full bag of weeds to the garbage bin, and managed to trip over a downspout landing on my knees and jamming my left wrist. I lay on the ground for a couple of minutes catching my breath before I got up and continued on. I did manage to finish half of the area before giving up and heading for the shower.

We still have the parking area behind the back fence but D bought a weed torch to work on that...and I'll let her do it. I'm hoping, once I've done the weeding in the main yard, that I'll only have to maintain - maybe a half hour each day? We'll see.

Out in the wee garden out back (Wednesday's photo) are peas, carrots, onions, lettuce, asparagus, and strawberries. The last two were here when we moved in. We did get a few misshapen berries the last two years, and I think the plants are just too old. While they are lush and green, I plan to pull them this fall. It will give me more room to get the bed fully weeded, and more space to plant vegetables. I picked the last of the peas on Friday - Eli's had three feeds off the few plants. The carrots and green onions are looking pretty small, but they still have time. The lettuce that Eli planted at school is doing well, and I've picked the first bit for a salad this weekend. I also have sweet peas planted on the trellis - it' a throwback to my mother's garden which grew (like crazy) on a lattice fence.

Today, I hope to finish off that last area of weeding, and then it will be time to go back over the areas I've already weeded to get rid of the stuff that's popped up. We're supposed to get rain starting this evening and continuing the next few days. The gardens will be happy...as will the weeds. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday funny

 

Off to Baddeck, via New Glasgow, Arisaig, and Antigonish.

The next few days involved more driving. After four nights we checked out of the hotel in Bedford, saying see you later, with the Cabot Trail Motel in Baddeck our planned destination for the night.

We had lots of time, as our driving time would have been around 4 hours, and we weren't scheduled to check in until 3 p.m. Though the Pomquet Beach outside Antigonish was on the spreadsheet, it was a cool, cloudy day with rain in the forecast, so we decided to forgo the beach day and find other spots to visit along the way.

But first of all, here are a few photos of the scenery along the highway. I can't tell you exactly where we were, but do know the photos were taken before we reached New Glasgow.

D did some research on the "Google machine" and came up with a historical house in New Glasgow, the Carmichael-Stewart House Museum. Built in 1880, the house was a wedding gift to James Matheson Carmichael and his bride, Christian Matheson from his parents. His eldest daughter, Maria Carmichael inherited the property. She married Robert Bruce Stewart. The couple had no children and on their passing, the house was bequeathed to the Town of New Glasgow. Maria passed away in 1959, Robert in 1962.

We happened to arrive on the day the museum officially opened for the 2025 season. The staff were busy setting up for the event which included the renaming of the property as the Pictou County History Museum.

We were welcomed in, admission was by donation. One of the staff shared some information with us about the history, and provided a quick tour of the main floor. In addition, she told us they were having a scavenger hunt, and we happily agreed to take part. We were provided a sheet of paper with clues as to where to find the rocks that had pictures attached and off we went to explore. 

The museum holds artifacts including household furniture, glassware, tools, toys, tools, and guns. Eli found a pair of wooden swords in the children's bedroom and was told to go ahead and play with them. (That surprised me). We found most of the rocks inside the house, and then headed outdoors to the garden and yard to find even more of them. When we returned indoors, the staff member was kind enough to point us in the direction of the last one or two we were missing. Eli was presented with a prize for being the first to complete the scavenger hunt. It was a fun stop and I think we all enjoyed it.

Leaving New Glasgow we started on our way to Antigonish. Again D did a little research and found a unique option, the Arisaig Lobster Interpretive Marine Life Centre. The centre offers touch tanks, a scaled down lobster fishing boat, and lots of information about the lobster fishing industry. There were two young men working the day we arrived. One, was the grandson of a man who built many of the boats that were used in the area for lobster fishing. His father recently sold his fishing license as this young man plans to go to university to become an engineer. The second young man had just graduated two days prior from highschool and was planning to go to university in the fall as well. 

The biggest draw was the lobsters in the touch tank. They were various colours, blue, green, and brown. (I didn't think to ask why. Their claws were banded shut, but the critters were still aggressive towards one another. Sadly, neither D nor I got a decent photo of the tank. The best I can offer is the mounted lobster. According to the note, it weighed about 20 pounds, and was thought to be about 40 years old.

Nearby was the Arisaig replica lighthouse. The original burned down in 1939, but was rebuilt by local volunteers in 2007. It contains an ice cream shop on the lower level. Had it been a warmer day, we might have enjoyed a cone. We did, however, enjoy the views from the shoreline.

Leaving Arisaig, we continued on to Antigonish where we stopped at the Peace by Chocolate store. Originally from Syria, the Hadhad family lost their chocolate factory in Damascus in a bombing in 2012. They originally fled to Lebanon, later found their way to Canada, where they built their business in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. If you ever have the opportunity to taste their chocolate, I can assure you it is delicious. We bought a couple of bars to bring home with us, and each picked out a single chocolate to enjoy in the car as a treat.

Since we were planning to stay one night in Antigonish a couple of days later, we decided to wait to do more exploring then. We headed for the main highway, and I did an oopsie mistake, taking the wrong exit. We were off course for probably 15 minutes or so before our GPS maps gave us a reasonable option to return to the highway. (There were a couple of roads it suggested we turn on that looked a wee bit suspect to me).

We arrived at the motel mid-afternoon and were ready to get out of the car. Our room was up on the hill above the main office and restaurant. The view of Bras D'or Lake was lovely. The lake has a connection to the Atlantic Ocean, but also has fresh water inflows - we learned the water is called brackish. Before we left the following day, D and Eli crossed the highway to put their toes in the water.

The motel did have a restaurant on site, but we had passed by the Red Barn Gift shop and restaurant, a few minutes away. The meal was memorable, not only for the meal, but for D's interactions with several other guests. A couple came in shortly after we did, having ridden in on a motorcycle. They were from Quebec and spoke just a little English. D is functionally bilingual and was able to assist the couple and the waitress with their order. Later another group was trying to order dessert, and she assisted with that request as well. Back to our meal, would it surprise you if I said I ordered fish and chips? Both D and Eli had French fries a well, and we all agreed they were the best we'd had on the trip. After a brief stop in the gift shop, we headed back to the motel for a good night's sleep.

We had big plans for the next day!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg

We were all excited to leave the city of Halifax and get on the road. I was tired of battling traffic to get to the downtown area of the city. Bedford was better, though still more traffic than we're used to in our small town. As one of my readers suggested (thanks Kim), we chose the scenic route to Peggy's Cove, a winding two lane highway, rather than the main highway. Every curve seemed to provide another beautiful view, of the trees, water, and small communities.  Sadly, there are no photos - I was driving and my daughter was so fascinated by the scenery she took no photos!

We arrived in Peggy's Cove ahead of the crowd that would soon arrive. There were just a few vehicles in parking lot near the visitor's center. After a stop to pick up a map (though it wasn't really needed we made our way towards the lighthouse.

Eli was very interested in walking on the rocks, however we managed to keep him away from the ocean.

Unfortunately we were too early in the season for many of the shops, though likely by just a few days.

One of the buildings we had hoped to visit was the old schoolhouse but, it too, was locked up.

Leaving Peggy's Cove, we made our way to Lunenburg. We were able to find a parking spot just a short distance off the main shopping street, where D was lured into visiting. After dropping off her parcels at the car, we walked a little further down towards the water.

After a short walk down the boardwalk, we went to visit the Bluenose II. The original Bluenose was launched in March 1921 in Lunenburg as a fishing and racing schooner. It would reign as an undefeated racing champion until 1946 when it ran aground on a reef off Haiti. The ship is featured on the Canadian dime. Bluenose II was launched in 1963, and currently spends it's time in Halifax and Lunenburg. Open for on deck touring, one can also book a two hour cruise available twice daily. The price was a bit much for my pocketbook so we limited ourselves to a wander on the deck of the ship. Eli was quite disappointed to learn he wouldn't be sailing on it...maybe next time.

Another short walk brought us to the Fisheries museum which featured a restaurant on the wharf with an incredible view of the bay. (Pricey but good). While the temperatures had moderated somewhat from the two previous days, it was still quite hot and the shade of the patio umbrella was appreciated.

After lunch, it was time to visit the museum itself. I had not been there in 2015 and found it very interesting. There is a large room towards the rear of the building that was full of exhibits, ship models, ropes and other equipment, and several interactive displays.

A visit to the museum's gift shop capped off our afternoon, and we made our way back to the car to return to Halifax for our last night at the hotel in Bedford for a few days. 

A road trip to Baddeck was our plan for the next day!

Halifax - Day 2

I neglected to take notes so am relying on memory and photos. So I won't bore you with the time we woke each day and what we ate for meals. 

While on the waterfront the day prior, we had noticed the Harbour Hopper, an amphibious vehicle that does a tour of downtown Halifax, as well as a water tour of the harbour. Eli was quite taken by it, so we looked into the cost. I should note that D was able to get an access pass through Easter Seals, that allows a caregiver free access to various events and attractions. As a result the cost for the three of us wasn't unreasonable. After parking the car, we walked down to the kiosk and purchased our tickets for the 10 a.m. tour.

We started with the city tour, with our tour guide providing information on the buildings we were passing. A quick drive around the Citadel and then it was down to the harbour. What an odd feeling to suddenly be floating in the water! Captain Jack made certain to make a big splash. Various buildings were pointed out as well as other attractions along the water front. About ten to fifteen minutes into the tour, the Captain beckoned Eli to come forward. D went with him, and Eli was given the opportunity to drive (is that the correct term) the vessel with a little help. 

All too soon, the tour was over and Eli wanted to stay on board. He was quite disappointed when we explained it was someone else's turn. From the drop-off point, it was a fairly short walk along the waterfront towards the Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. We did make a quick stop to allow Eli to play and run off some energy.

The museum also took the Access pass, plus I was given a discount for my CAA membership. It's always nice to save a dollar or two.

Eli's favorite exhibits related to the Titanic (no photo - but he was fascinated by the various model ships). Apparently he and his mother have watched a few documentaries so he knows about the fate of the ship. My favorite exhibits related to the immigrants as they left Halifax for other centers across Canada. There is a train car that one can sit in and imagine the long trip west. There are also several "children's trunks" - one that struck me was that of one young girl's belongings containing clothing, blankets and toys, as well as walnuts! Apparently her grandmother had stuffed their luggage without the father's knowledge and it was quite the surprise for him and the customs officer. My daughter is a history buff, so I think the entire museum was a highlight.

Our final destination for the day was the Citadel. We did not make it there in time for the noon gun, but were fortunate enough to find parking right on the site. All national parks have free admission this summer so the only cost was the parking, about $8. As a result we didn't have to climb the hill, but we did climb to the top of the walls of the Citadel for the views.

We checked out the cannons first and the cubbies were extra shells were kept. As we continued our walk around the top of the wall we came across a employee dressed in the garb of a soldier explaining the firing of a muzzle loader to several young men. After a demonstration without the ammunition, one of the young men signed a waiver, put on the coat of the uniform and was allowed to fire the gun. It was loud!

Making our way down the ramp, we went through several exhibits, and another young man explained the purpose of the rooms, the tailor's space and an officer's room. He explained that there was only one tailor responsible for the dressing of all of the men at the fort.

Before we left, we stopped at the main gate for Eli to have his photo taken with the guard. There was a trip to the gift shop as well!

Then it was time to return to the hotel, for more time in the pool. The next day would be cooler, and we'd be heading out of the city to our next destinations, Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg.

Rollercoaster weather, more weeding, day camp and shopping

Summer time, and the living is easy.....not around here! I spent much of this past weekend and week weeding, clipping spent flowers on the peonies, and catching up on housework. We did have a morning or too with a bit of rain, but as long as it was cool, I managed two or three hours a day. 

We had a trip into the next community over on Tuesday, as Eli had day camp. He'll be attending two days a week for 3 1/2 hours each time. I drove my car, as D's car continues to act up (despite the repairs that were recently made) and she would prefer not to drive long distances. It was just as well, as we managed to fill the SUV with our shopping! I picked up two raised garden beds on clearance that I plan to set up next spring. For now they'll be tucked away in the shed. We also made a trip to the thrift store where we found a next to new bread machine. D was gifted one nearly ten years ago, and while it continues to work, it had vibrated its way off the cabinet so has some cosmetic damage from the fall. She listed it on the local free site and someone was happy to pick it up. I found a vintage set of two small mugs, a creamer and sugar set that I couldn't pass up. The colours bring back memories of my childhood. 

A stop at the dollar store for just a few items, and then we went to get groceries. We were low on a number of items, including cat food and treats, and I had a list of a few things that were on sale. Our local Independent Grocer's pricing is quite a bit higher than these prices. However, I do buy locally most often, it just made sense as we were there for Eli's program to pick up what we needed. 

Wednesday's photo was of a funnel cloud that my nephew spotted in north Regina on the weekend. There were a number of funnel clouds spotted, though thankfully none touched down. We didn't see the same weather here, though we're a mere 90 minutes away. 

It was a scorcher here on Wednesday, with a high of 35C/95F. For gardeners this story might resonate. While we were away we had a young person come in to feed the cats and water the containers. When we arrived home, it was clear that, at least one of the tomato containers had not received water consistently. The leaves were curling up and it looked stressed. I've been watering regularly, but we've taken to calling it the dramatic plant because whenever it gets hot'ish, despite being watered, it does the same. It is my signal that the containers need water - on Wednesday I watered three times! Our rain barrels still have lots of water; I'm thankful not to use city water - it's expensive.

Thursday was another day camp for Eli. We dropped him off and went to get breakfast before doing a bit more shopping. At the thrift store we found two curtain rods for $4.99 each (we saw similar ones at Wally world for $17.99 each). We have tacked up black out curtains on the large dining room window, and need to cover the kitchen window as well as the early morning sun heats up the kitchen.  D also scored finding two full bags of Lego for about $15. Retail pricing would have been closer to $40. Both she and Eli enjoy building with Lego...I'm good with it unless I step on a piece.

The sale flyers for the week were out, so we picked up a few grocery items on sale. I also found a half price hanging basket of flowers. One of two basked that I purchased this spring appeared to have been missed a few times when we were away, needs some tender loving care to come back. In other words, I'll cut it back, tuck it in a less sunny area, fertilize and hope it comes back. 

We were under a smoke advisory in the morning, and it was particularly bad in the next town over. By the time we left at noon and headed home, most of it had cleared out, and it was getting quite warm. I didn't get out to weed, but spent time indoors prepping meals. I seasoned several chicken breasts for the air fryer, boiled eggs for egg salad, and par-boiled potatoes for hash browns. Later I cooked up some bacon, cut up peppers and onion, for a chicken bacon ranch pizza for our dinner. Delicious. 

Friday as an indoor day, rainy and much cooler. We had about a 1/4 inch overnight, with the light rain continuing to fall throughout the day. The temperature reached only 17C (63F). Quite the difference from the temperature from earlier this week.

In the morning, I caught up on my financial spreadsheets, reconciliation and budget for expenditures from the last few days. In the meantime, D set a batch of dough in the new bread machine. It works perfectly, though it was a small batch; I only got ten buns out of it. I guess that's the point, fresh buns or bread every few days. Not like the baking my mom used to make when I was young. We'd arrive home on a Monday after school, and she would have a dozen loaves of bread made, often a pan of ooey-gooey cinnamon buns, and a week's worth of laundry done too! I loved slicing the heel of the bread while it was still warm and slathering it with margarine. There was a price, she usually left the ironing for me when I was a teenager.

My next task was to start re-organizing the pantry and cleaning the shelves. I did not take any before pictures because it was a mess. Items were purchased and put away mish-mash. What I originally thought was a container of chocolate chips was actually a container of cat food! Good thing I checked. I cleared a shelf at a time, scrubbing it down, drying it, and replacing items in an order that made sense to me. I made certain to explain my logic to my daughter with the hopes that it will remain (relatively) tidy.

Today, we're expecting a temperature closer to 24C/75F. D is planning to take Eli to the pool at some point, and I'll be back outside doing more weeding. The raised flower bed is a mess of weeds, so much so, that I can't see the gladiolas I planted this spring! One of these days I'll be back to just maintaining the yard, but for now, it's a challenge.

Have a great weekend everyone!