Nova Scotia Road Trip

September seems to be the perfect time to go just about anywhere.  This past fall, we ventured to Nova Scotia.  We drove from northern Virginia to Portland, Maine. From Portland, we ferried to Yarmouth and then continued to drive all through Nova Scotia. Total miles driven in my mom's fairly new car, 1200+miles.

First, Nova Scotia is beautiful and I want to go back.  A week was really not enough to visit all the wonderful sites of Nova Scotia.  But what we did see, we LOVED! So where did we go and what did we see? We went to many beaches and lighthouses toured a winery, national historic sites, museums and gardens and chatted up with local boat builders. Every place we ate at was a delight.  Tim was most excited to see so many boats, see them being built, talking with the boat builders and of course witnessing the highest tides in the world.  That was really amazing.

Shelburne and Carters Beach

Our Nova Scotia road trip started off at Yarmouth, the southern most tip of Nova Scotia. From the belly of the car ferry, we drove north along the coast up to Shelburne, home of the Dory Shop Museum.  Tim carefully researched all the places that made Dories, his favorite kind of fishing boat.

Shelburne

From our quick stop in Shelbourne, we headed to Carters beach, a top contender for Nova Scotia's most beautiful beach.  I can't resist a beautiful beach.  

Carters Beach

Old Town Lunenburg

Final stop of the day was Lunenburg, where we stayed for two nights. By far, this was my favorite place to visit in Nova Scotia. The entire town is picturesque whether viewed from the steeply banked streets in the center of town or from across the harbour.  Colorful historic homes, cute shops and restaurants line the streets. I could have spent days and days shopping and eating at every restaurant. I loved the quaint and charming atmosphere surrounding this town.  

The Boats

Mahone Bay and Peggy's Cove

The next stop on our drive was Halifax.  We took the scenic route and stopped at the towns of Mahone Bay and Peggy's Cove.  More shopping, boats, boats and good food. Mahone Bay is known for the three churches.  From left to right: St. James Anglican Church, 1887, St. John's Lutheran 1869, and the Trinity United church built in 1861. There were at least three house boats on the bay, all colorful and adorable. 

Mahone Bay

Peggy's Cove

Note the crystal clear water in the bottom pictures.  Yes, you can see the aquatic life below the surface! Amazing!!!

Halifax

We were in Halifax only for one night and we spent the following morning at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. More boats, all types of boats, just boats. 

The Annapolis Valley and Yarmouth Area

The last places we visited on our road trip were Grand-Pre/Evangeline Beach, Halls Harbour, Annapolis Royal, Annapolis Highland Vineyards, Cape Sable Island and Cape Forchu. We made a quick stop in Grand Pre/Evangeline beach which overlooks the Minas Basin.  Here we saw the basin at low tide.  At high tide, the water reaches the rocks where we were sitting at.  That is a lot of water!  Across the view is Blomidon Provincial Park which we got to see the following day. 

Grand-Pre

Hals Harbour

Blomidon Park

Annapolis Royal

Annapolis Highland Vineyard

 Cape Sable Island

 Cape Forchu

The End

Fun was had by all! Except Tim was disappointed to go home without a new boat... Next time!

Winter in the Garden

I've been loving this long cold snowy winter.  It's allowed me the leisure to not think about this years' garden. I'm usually excited about the start of spring, getting the garden ready, planning annual flower plantings - but this year, it's different.  While yes, I am looking forward to seeing my flowers come up and the trees to bud, longer days and warmer weather, I am not looking forward to all the labor that goes into making a garden pretty - weeding and mulching.  No fun.

I'm enjoying this rest from garden work.  I love the stillness and calm of winter.  I think the point of winter is to slow down, sleep more and reflect.  Snow days are the best!

While Tim spent a great deal of time shoveling the neighborhood this winter, I spent time watching the birds at the feeder.  I've identified 12 different types of birds that visit our feeders (thanks to my iBird app, Luv it!).  Black-capped chickadee, black-crested titmouse, carolina wren, cardinal, mockingbird, purple finch, red-bellied woodpecker, dark-eyed junco, song sparrow, house sparrow, downy woodpecker and morning doves.

Top Left: Mockingbird. Top Right: Northern Cardinal.
Bottom Left: Female Downy Woodpecker. Bottom Right: my favorite, the Chickadee.

Winter has been great.  I've been enjoying my weekends just putzing around around the house, cooking stews and bird-watching, but it's now time to spring forward.  With Tim's encouragement, I started on some vegetable seedlings.  They're two weeks old now.  We also bought some fruit plants.  The seedlings below - that's just one tray.  I have another tray that I'll start next week.  In total, I probably have about 15 different things that I'll be growing this year.  I will not bore you with the entire list.

Very ambitious indeed but we now have more room in the back yard and more sun since we sadly had to get rid of one of our maple trees.  It was in bad shape and the limbs were starting to fall and lean on the power lines. It was time for that tree to go.  No worries, I will certainly plant more.

Here's our backyard (top).  Tim has started the foundation where his new shed will go.  I'll probably add several new raised beds around that area.  I'll also interplant some veggies in the front yard (bottom pic).  

This will be the year for edible landscaping!  These veggies and herbs look gorgeous surrounded by flowers. Just think how lovely spearmint looks planted with roses and lavender. Below is a great picture of edible landscaping.

http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/MEN-ON10-edible-landscape-2.jpg

On my list of books to read:

                             
                             

I hope everyone gets to plant & grow something yummy and beautiful this year!  But before you do that, breath, relax and enjoy what's left of winter.