Our Last Day in Nova Scotia

Today Nathan was off work and Orson and Liam had a p-day so we thought we would drive to the Bay of Fundy. Orson didn't want to go on a "boring" drive, so he arranged to stay with a friend for the day. It would have been a lovely day - except for the howling wind.

The drive was beautiful with the trees in leaf and some trees in bloom. There were lots of white blossoms, a few pinks, and even a tree covered with purple flowers. To add colour to the mix there were numerous bushes with bright yellow leaves. I don't have any idea what the name of the plant was.

We drove along the shore of the Minas Basin part of the Bay of Fundy. We stopped at Cheverie and could hardly open the door because of the wind. The water was rust coloured and the tide was coming in.



It was too windy to stay long. Our next stop was Walton. It claimed that the Minas Basin had the world's highest tides, although they didn't look that high to me. It also claimed that Walton was the home to the richest and largest deposit of Barite in the world. By the way, what is barite?

The tide was getting closer while we were at Walton.

Hold on to your hat!

We visited the Walton lighthouse - a rather small wooden structure.

View from the Lighthouse

We didn't hang around long to enjoy the wind. We continued back along the Basin and then cut across country to the Halifax highway. The country was more open and there were less trees this way.

We stopped at Elmsdale Subway for lunch and got back to Dartmouth at an early hour.

Another Day in Nova Scotia

This morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies for the third day in a row and there was no wind. It was the first day I wore shorts. After lunch the wind started to blow. We drove to the ferry that crosses the harbour from Dartmouth to Halifax. By the time we were on the ferry the sky had clouded over.

When we got to Halifax we walked to Nova Scotia Mall and did a bit of shopping and then went and walked along the boardwalk along the harbour. We had a brisk sea breeze to accompany us as we walked.

We could see St. George's Island from the boardwalk. This is where deportees (such as the Acadians) were imprisoned until ships came to haul them away.

We could see across the harbour to the Esso Refinery.

We returned to the ferry terminal in the rain. By the time Liam had to go to play soccer it was raining pretty good.

A Little Windy but Blue Skies

Today we woke up to beautiful blue sky and the temperature went up to 20 degrees Celsius. However, as the day went by more and more white clouds appeared. It was quite windy. Tara thinks the Halifax area has as much wind as Southern Alberta.

We drove to downtown Halifax and picked up Nathan at noon and went to Mexico Lindos for dinner and then we went to Point Pleasant National Park. It is a nature preserve on the end of The Penninsula and thus is surrounded on three sides by water. Many people in the area complain that the park is not as nice as it was before Hurricane Juan.

Most of the park was an off-leash area for dogs and we saw dogs. Most of them were great big types. Apparently people in the area like their dogs.

There are still some of the defense fortifications that were built to protect the harbour. The following picture shows the Prince of Wales Tower - not very high as towers go, but they could see out over the harbour from it.

The Cambridge Battery

We could see barges floating down the Northwest Arm (of the Halifax Harbour).







We sat on a bench and watched out over the Northwest Arm to where it joined the main part of the Halifax Harbour.

No Snow in Nova Scoltia

On April 23 - 25th I was in Calgary with Jeremy's family. There was snow in Calgary on Saturday evening. On Sunday evening I went back to Lethbridge to help with a family history class and on Tuesday morning we went back to Calgary and caught a noon flight to Halifax where Nathan picked us up.

It has been cloudy and rainy most of the time we have been here but there has been the occasional glimpse of blue sky. Bob has taken Keaton out for walks most days that we have been here, but I have only been out of the house twice since we have been here. Bob and Nathan spent time on Friday looking for a good used car for Nathan.

On Friday afternoon we went out for a drive through Eastern Passage.

Today Liam and Keaton were coughing and so I stayed home from church with them, but late in the afternoon we went for a walk on the Salt Marsh Trail.

The Salt Marsh trail follows an old train bed. It goes through the woods and over the Cole Harbour. If you click on the sign below you can read all about the railway.

There were a lot of fallen trees along the way. Apparently they were from the aftermath of the storm following Hurricane Juan. They call it White Juan here.

Liam really enjoys the scenery.

It must be spring

A tulip is in blossom in our flower bed. Exactly one week ago only a leaf was poking up through the snow. It has been above 20 degrees Celsius the last two days.

April 14 - Is It Spring Yet?

Our tulips are up. Look there is one of the leaves poking through the snow.
The Iris plants are coming along.
It snowed all day Tuesday and overnight and didn't quit until 11 a.m. Wednesday morning. There is our first glimpses of the results of the snow out of the bedroom window. It was wet heavy snow. One of the branches of our birch tree snapped off. On Sixth avenue some big branches broke off and damaged cars.

Later in the morning Bob went out and snapped a few pictures.




Then he shoveled part of the driveway.
The electrical power went off sometime during the night. It came on again for about an hour at 5:30 a.m. Then it was off until 1 p.m. We were able to cook some breakfast and some lunch.

Easter Grandchildren