Lunch Date

Today I ventured off on my own, and drove into Halifax to meet Shelagh for lunch. I met Shelagh through the blogging world last year. She is such an inspiration for me...she's a very talented artist and photographer and writes a blog full of lots of interesting and informative things. We had lunch at The Coastal Cafe......coffee and dessert at the very modern Fred (an interesting place...hair salon at one end, restaurant and art gallery at the other end).

...and toured some side streets with our cameras. The houses above are apparently known as the "3 Sisters". There is a house beside them that must be the ugly brother...it's the same style but a dull beige.Thanks for a great day Shelagh!

A walk on the beach

Much to my horror and amazement, we discovered that we have not walked on the beach since the long weekend in September. We had to remedy that situation immediately and headed out to Risser's Beach today.I could hardly believe it was mid November! No gloves, no hat, and an unzipped jacket. The sound of the waves gently rolling in and the seagulls crying. A visit to the beach soothes my soul (not that it needed any soothing!) and makes me feel peaceful and, well, just good.

Just my man,my dogs,and me enjoying the afternoon. Two hours of sunshine and beach walking.I am the luckiest woman alive.

Everything but the kitchen sink

This is the first home I have owned where I can stand at the kitchen sink and look out the window as I wash the dishes. (the deal around here most of the time is that John cooks and I clean up). Unfortunately our window overlooks the driveway and car park...not too inspiring.

So...I have my windowsill cluttered up with Sara treasures. Here are my goodies...a glass candy dish that belonged to my mother-in-law...she was the sweetest lady in the world. In the dish are sand dollars and sea urchins found during our beach walks, an empty robin's egg I found on our driveway, and a glass pig. The pig has no significance...I just think he's cute.The small red glass cup says "Roseneath" and is being used as a toothpick holder. This was on display at my parent's house as far back as I can remember, and then my sister had it, but I don't know the history of it. The photos are of our first dog...a Siberian Husky named Bailey, and one of the last photos taken of my sister and me...Canada Day the year before she passed away.

My wee chicken collection...

An old fashioned mason jar filled with beach glass collected during our beach walks. An old marmalade jar given to me by DIL, holding two fantastic forks artistically created by Linda at the LTCreatesJewelry etsy shop. I ordered them to use in one of my stained glass windows...I was going to create one or two "kitchen windows" filled with stained glass and kitchen doodads...but I liked the forks so much I haven't dared use them yet! (by the way, Linda makes lovely jewelry too if you're looking for a unique Christmas gift). Lastly, the crystal butterfly was given to me by my dad...a most unusual gift from him. He used to give me practical things like outdoor thermometres and plastic things to put under your car tires when you get stuck...that kind of thing. So I treasure my butterfly, and it throws lovely rainbows on the kitchen ceiling on sunny days.

What treasures do you have on your kitchen window sill?

A visit to Peggy's

Yesterday John and I drove into Halifax for an appointment. We had lunch at a place called the Cobourg Cafe. I think we raised the average age a fair bit while we were there...seemed to be a favourite of the university crowd. I had a fantastic lunch of spicy peanut soup and greek salad. Yum.

We toodled back on the Lighthouse Route, and took a side trip to Peggy's Cove. I think it's the first time we've visited when it was warm! I love going at this time of year, because there are just a hand full of people around. Just the sound of the waves...oh yeah, and a helicopter giving us a fly by!
A final reminder...today is the last day to place your order for a 2010 Nova Scotia South Shore calendar.

Frosty

As of yesterday, we still had flowers going strong in our garden. I've never experienced garden flowers in November before! Last night we had a heavy frost, but some of them are still hanging in there. They are tucked into a sheltered spot just outside of Purgatory (our screened in porch).

The frosty morning had me headed outside with my camera and macro lens. John just shook his head and took both the dogs down for the paper as I moseyed my way along with camera in hand.I liked the way the sun was shining through one of our apple trees...looked black and white except for one of my windows.

Remember

We attended the ceremony in Bridgewater this morning. Usually Remembrance Day is cold and rainy, as if the heavens are weeping for the fallen. But today was lovely with blue skies. As the names of the dead were read aloud, a soft wind blew and leaves were gently falling.I found this photo in an old scrapbook of photos my dad took during World War II. He was a navigator in the Canadian Air Force and never talked about his experiences. His brother was killed in the war and buried in England in this cemetary.

2010 Nova Scotia South Shore Calendars

I'm really excited to offer professionally printed 2010 wall calendars of my favourite photos from our travels this year. Eleven of the photos I selected are from Nova Scotia's South Shore, one from Halifax, and one from Peggy's Cove. Here are snippets of the photos I chose: Each calendar page is 11 inches wide by 8 1/2 inches high (meaning the opened calendar will be 11 inches wide by 17 inches high).

The calendars include photos from LaHave, Dublin Shore, Carter's Beach, Blue Rocks, Peggy's Cove, Halifax, Lunenburg, Broad Cove, Beach Meadows, West Berlin, Voglers Cove, Northwest Cove, and Mahone Bay.

$15 each for the first 3 orders I receive (Nov 10th Update: the first 3 calendars have been sold...all orders are now $20), $20 each for everyone else. Add $3 for postage if you need them mailed. Orders will be accepted until Friday November 13th!

Want one (or more)? Email me: saraharley(at)ns(dot)sympatico(dot)ca