March 7, 2012. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Lobster.

One great blessing of visiting  Nova Scotia in the winter is eating lobster.  The season opens December 1 and closes May 31, so if the weather is fine, the lobster we eat tonight will have been  caught this morning.   The lobster men must harvest well out to sea but as long as the ocean is calm, they will work, and they will bring in the lobsters.   They don't seem to mind the cold but the snow and freezing rain along with the strong winds keep them on shore, the men that is.  The lobsters just stay on the bottom and migrate out  and out and out.

Vinal helps his cousin with lobstering, so we are able to buy the lobsters directly from the boat and at wholesale price.  It helps to have friends.  Tonight we will dine like kings.   And we don't even need to freeze ourselves while cooking the lobsters outside.  Vinal has already cooked the lobsters and Betty has baked biscuits.  My task is to set the table and set out a tray of fresh vegetables to nibble as appetizers.   Before we eat our lobsters, Ken and Vinal will inspect their garden and decide what need changing for summer 2012.   Last years garden was a huge success but they must make changes.  But some things never change.  We love eating lobster in Nova Scotia!!

March 6. 2012. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Shopping.

Every day I go shopping, purchasing the belongings for the Guest House.   Today I shopped at the hardware  store in the morning and at the grocery store in the afternoon.   Then when the shopping has completed,  the cost must be entered into the list of belongings for the insurance company reimbursement.   On each receipt must be written the page and line on the list.  It is tedious.   Graham, our insurance adjuster, tells me that many people don't even bother with turning in the receipts, but rather take the 65% of the value given by the company.   I am too cheap, so I take the exercise seriously, but I don't really enjoy the process.

Firstly, shopping is difficult for me.  I don't like shopping and I don't know why.  Most normal people love to shop.  Secondly, I hate dealing with details.  Sitting still is also something I don't enjoy, unless I am reading.   I make a list and proceed with the shopping, then after the evening is done, I make a new list for tomorrow.  It seems to never end.

Gill will be here this weekend so we will go to Canadian Tire  and Zellers in Bridgewater to purchase shelves and towels and sheets.  Today I bought a washer and dryer from Sears.  For a while, we wondered if our old one would work.  It looks perfect but after closer inspection, the interior has rusted.  Evidently, the water used to put out the fire was from Victoria Lake, just across the road, and the water is brackish.  Thence the rust.  

Normally, I can make a good game  to  complete a difficult task, but this shopping job is tiresome.  It will soon be ending!!  And I am certainly grateful the Carriage House was small.  A whole house fire would be really terrible so I should stop complaining.   And I will.

March 5, 2012. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Shelburne.

We are in Nova Scotia to complete the task of purchasing the furniture and accouterments for the Guest House.  Today we drove to Shelburne to pay for objects we bought over the phone.  In addition, we were hoping to find a few other pieces of furniture that we are still missing.  Lastly, I wanted to talk them into storing the furniture for a few more weeks.  I bought a few things last September from the same store and they were kind to allow me to be kept in their storage.  But I told them that definitely, March 1st would be the day to deliver the furniture and unfortunately, the Guest House is not far enough along to allow the delivery to take place, so I need a little slack.

I could have them deliver the stuff to the main house but that means we must move them trice so I prefer not to do that.   They are very nice but they really do need their storage space, with the summer furniture arriving and my stuff taking up space.

This furniture is an usual store.  It has been in business for a long time.   Shelburne is a small town but the store is big.  They handle all kinds of furniture plus appliances and gas stoves.  And the sales staff has been with them for ages.    I bought several other items such as lamps and benches and , bless their hearts, they will deliver in a few weeks.   I love dealing with small local companies!!

March 4, 2012. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Dinner.

Every evening we eat dinner, at least most of the time.   It is a pleasant time, the dinner hour, with the glass of wine and the pleasant food and conversation making for a lovely end of the day.  But some dinners are especially pleasant.

Tonight, Betty and Vinal brought over dinner.  They brought the whole dinner, including wine, salad, main course and dessert.   Betty loves to cook and they both love our little home by the shore, so every so often, Betty cooks at her home, and we dine here at our home.  My only task is to set the table.

Betty especially enjoys cooking foods for us that we have never eaten before,  so tonight she prepared rabbit and hashed carrots.  Vinal snares the rabbits.  It was an interesting meal.   Betty simmers the rabbits, removes the meat from the bones, then pan fries and seasons the meat.  It was very tasty.   She always serves  hashed carrots with the rabbit.   It is cooked carrots and cooked potatoes, then mashed and seasoned.  It looks like a pale orange mashed potatoes, but it does not taste like either potatoes or carrots.   It was good.  And the tossed salad was tasty too, made with spinach.

One of the best part of the evening was the kitchen.  It was clean.   Betty and Vinal carried the food into the kitchen, put it into the oven, and it was done.  No pots to clean.   All we had to do was talk and eat.  It was a lovely dinner and a pleasant evening, all done by Betty and Vinal.

March 3, 2012. Western Head, N.S. The View.

It happens every time, driving from town to home.   You turn at the last curve and then you see it.  Every day,  different and beautiful.   You come around that last corner, and right in front,  driving down the hill,  you  see the bold Atlantic Ocean.  It is a glorious sight, even in the rain.  

My habit is to turn right out of the driveway at home and drive into town right along the shore, passing Scotts Bay and Moose Harbor.   It is a lovely drive past the crashing waves.   But coming home, I always turn right at the fork of the road,  toward Western Head, which takes me cross country through a farm and several modest homes.  It is not an attractive drive, until that last curve, when you get to see the Ocean.

The brain is better than any camera, and I have  pictures of many scenes that bring me pleasure, but the pictures in my brain are never as good as seeing the pictures in real life.   Today, on the way home from town, I remembered when I always take that route.  It was worth the trip here to Nova Scotia, even when raining.

March 2, 2012. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Staying Warm.

Any good Canadian knows how to stay warm.   They know how to stay warm both outside and inside.   The first time Suzanne, my daughter-in-law, visited us in Nova Scotia,  she was cold all the time.  After a few days it became apparent that she was cold, even though it was in the middle of summer, so I asked her what she was wearing.  After all, she was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and summer for her did not involve keeping warm.

I taught her a system for keeping warm, which included wearing thin wool socks at all times.  Tucking her shirt into her pants was step number two. And finally, wearing an overshirt or light jacket to protect from the wind would make her warmth complete.  She also took to wearing my rubber boots and felt insoles.  Finally, she was warm.  We called it her uniform.

It has taken me two days to remind myself of my system, but now I am warm and cosy at last.  Wool sweater, on top of a long sleeved shirt, over top of a tight fitting T shirt.  Heavy pants.  Thin wool socks first, and finally a heavy pair of hand knit woolen socks complete the outfit.  It looks very cold outside, but inside I am warm and cosy.  It took me two days to put on the wool sweater.  Bingo.  I was warm at last.

March 1, 2012. Western Hear, Nova Scotia. The Storm.

This is the first real winter they have had this year, here in Nova Scotia.   From inside the warmth of our cosy home, it looks lovely.  The snow comes down parallel to the ground, while the rooster tails on the waves blow high into the air, making for a spectacular sight.   But venturing out is another thing entirely.    The wind is blowing hard so in order to walk,  you are forced to bend right over into the wind  in order to make any progress at all.   Ken says he hates cold weather but he has been outside in the weather for the last two hours, puttering around the yard and the guest house.   Fortunately, he has a warm jacket, with a hood that protects his ears.

The snow is supposed to continue all night, so we might end up with a foot of snow on the ground.    So far this winter we have not had the driveway plowed at all, but Ken thinks we should move the truck into the garage, so the snow plow can clear out the drive.  "Surely not", said I.

It is really a treat to see the Atlantic Ocean in the winter.   The water is dark and the waves are big, even though the water temperature is warmer than the air, which is why the surfers come out at this time of year.  It is quite a sight watching the surfers from the comfort of our living room.  They have not appeared yet, but soon when the strong wind stops, out they will come.  Amazing to watch.