August 31, 2023. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Surf's Up.

Finally, the waves are pouring into our shore.  Starting last evening, the water was noisy with the waves crahing up on the rocks.  All night it was noisy so I knew that as soon as the sun was up, the surfers would be out in the water trying to catch a ride.  I do not know how their day began but their cars were on the causeway all day.

Up until today, the Atlantic Ocean looked like a lake.  But no longer.  The Atlantic Ocean is noisy.  And the waves are big.  All day, there were 10 surfers trying their much.   So far this year, they have been unable to surf but today they are out in force.  Now we will see what the day will look like tomorrow.  

August 30, 2023. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Stones # Two.

 A small tray sets on my buffet.  My brother brought that tray from Japan and gave it to me.  That was many years ago.  I have used it ever since.  But when I brought the little tray to Nova Scotia, I turned it into  Japanese rock garden.  I have enjoyed it ever since.

Objects in a Japanese rock garden should have lots of space so my objects were few in number.  Three small smooth stones at one end.  A sand dollar and a sea urchin in the center and a flat stone at the other end.  On top of the flat rocks I placed a few tiny shells.  And that was all.

But over the years, my stones increased to 7.  And the tiny shells have grown too.  Now there is a separate group of tiny shells close to the sea urchin.  And the flat stone is covered with little shells along with a few very small and smooth stones.  No one has ever admitted to adding to my Japanese Rock garden.  And I certainly have not brought any additions.  

Soon, I must whittle down the number of stones on the small tray.  The goal is to keep the spaces empty.  But not yet.  At the moment, my little Japanese garden pleases me.  But I do wonder how my stones are multiplying, just as the window sill collection.  Makes me wonder.

August 29, 2023. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Stones.

 The first year we moved to Nova Scotia I brought 6 carefully selected stones from our property and placed them carefully on the window sill in the dining room.  Stones are everywhere here.  Every one unique.  And beautiful.  Just to the right of us is a cobble beach, which is made up of different sizes of cobblestones, on the way to becoming sand.  The cobble beach is beautiful to see but difficult to walk along.  But I like the look.

Now, 24 years later, I have 17 stones on my window sill.  Again, each is unique.  But none brought into the dining room by me.  No one has ever admitted to adding to my collection but I know they did not get there by themselves.  Once upon a time, the stones were nicely spaced apart.  But now they are almost touching.    Some day, I must cull my collection.  But now yet.    Every stone is unique and beautiful.

There are stones everywhere in Nova Scotia, all left over from the age of the glaciers.   We have huge pillow racks and big rocks just setting by themselves.  In fact, you could know you were in Nova Scotia because of the rocks.  And some of them reside in my dining room, left by invisible hands.  Interesting.

August 28, 2023. Western Head, Nova Scotia. The Weather.

 Today was unbelievably beautiful.  The sky was blue.  The sun shone all day.  And the temperature was 70 degrees.  It was a perfect day.

Sandra and I went to White Point for lunch.  As usual, the place was busy but now crowded.  And we sat with a great view of the water and the rocks.  This place is great asset to Liverpool residents.  Our waitress  returns to Dalhoursie University tomorrow so we were her last official customer for the season.  I have no idea how the resort will staff the place when the students leave.  But once again we were well looked after.  And of course we enjoyed the food too.

Late August and September is a good time to be living at Wester Head.  The weather is perfect.  To celebrate our  good fortune, Sandra and I ate ice cream on the way home.  We sat in the full sun and enjoyed our ice cream treat.  And we felt smug.

August 27, Western Head, Nova Scotia. Friends Who Stop By.

 One of the pleasures of living at Western Head in Nova Scotia it the proximity of my friends.  My best buddies are within walking distance of my house, so they pop into my house just to say hello.  Sometimes they stay for five minutes and other times they stay longer.  But their visits are a highlight of my day.  And they bring me great joy.

For instance, today at 11:30, Gill stopped in during her daily walk.  Very often, she stayed only ten minutes but today she stayed and talked for ages.  She had not yet seen my latest piece of art  now hanging on my wall.  It is a piece given to me by my Maryland friends, called The Glass Ceiling and made by a stain glass artist whose studio is in downtown Liverpool.

Then at 5:00 friend Wendy walked over with one of her dogs so she stayed for a visit.  And we talked.  And I enjoyed her company.  And of course I always like to see Jamie, her newest dog..  He is a short haired collie and is very handsome.  This is only the second year I have seen Jamie so I was pleased to see them both.

Yesterday, Sue and Steve,  who live just along the shore came for a visit.  They brought two bowls for me, one a bowl of salad and the other a bowl of fruit.  And we sat in the living room and talked for an hour.  After they returned home I devoured their good food.  I enjoyed every bite.

I never know what will happen next here at my house by the sea.  I especially appreciate the visits from my good friends.  This never happens in Mississippi.

August 26, 2023. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Moving.

This weekend granddaughter Sarah moved into her apartment in Dallas.  She is excited to be renting her very own place.  And I am excited for her too.  David and Suzanne drove in their vehicle to move all her belongings from home, which includes her art.  Sarah drove her own new truck, also full of her belongings.  And today the movers were bringing her furniture from law school, where she was sharing a house with two other girls.

Katey, Brock and Astrid have just driven to Ontario and tomorrow will go to Wendy's cottage in Muskoka.    I will be interested with how Astrid enjoyed the lake.  At one years of age, she might now enjoy the chilly lake.  And they have just moved into a new larger house at Purdue University.  Katey is my Wonderful Wendy's daughter, so is my grand niece.

In Jackson, Sebastian and Cheryl along with their children have moved into the Greaves old farm house in Madison.  They have officially lmoved  out of their Jackson home.  So my friends Eleanor and Jim  have neighbors at their home on the family compound.  They are excited to be out in the country and bit by bit they will make improvements to the old but gracious large home.  I wish them well.

So while I stay in place in Nova Scotia, my family and friends are on the move.  Great fun.  

August 25, 2023. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Christmas Lights.

 Christmas is just around the corner, according to the Lighting Company in San Antonio, Texas.  They have contacted me twice to order the Christmas lights at the home of David and Suzanne.  And they asked me if I wanted to add more lights.  David thinks the lights are fine while Suzanne said that anything would be fine.  

Ken loved outside Christmas lights.  The more the merrier in his opinion.  Every year after Christmas, Ken bought more outside lights so come next Christmas, when Ken installed the lights we got brighter.  Sometimes we were garish.  But not for Ken.  He loved them so we had a lot.  In 2015 we moved into our Mississippi home but by Christmas Ken was not able to hang any Christmas lights outside which did not please him at all.  In fact, Ken felt sad.  So later in the year I asked the young man who had just redone our outdoor lights front and back, if he would ever install outdoor holiday lights for us.  He just laughed and told me that was his winter company.

Bradley has been installing our exterior lights ever since.  And as part of their Christmas  gift, he also put  the lights at Christina's home too.  Andrew always installed their lights so after Andrew died, Christina did the job.  But she never enjoyed the task.The next year, i started to do the same for David and Suzanne, again as part of their Christmas gift.  David turned the Christmas lights to Suzanne so she was thrilled to have the task taken off her shoulders.

The company uses their own lights.  And they install the lights and remove them in the new year.  And they store the lights, all set for next year.  Both Christina and Suzanne appreciate the gift.  Now we are all set for Christmas 2023.  Merry Christmas.