Salt Marsh Trail

On Tuesday morning it was cloudy but quite warm so we decided to hike the Salt Marsh Trail.  It is a 6.5 k trail along an old railway bed and at one time connected Cole Harbour and Dartmouth.  Joan and I went for
2 k and then decided to turn back.  Bob and Earl went on for a while before turning back.  It is  supposedly a bird sanctuary, but most of the birds we saw were gulls and ducks.  Bob saw a few others - a blue Heron and some sandpipers.

There were a few flowers in bloom along the trail.  There were also warnings about poison ivy.

We kept thinking there was some kind of bird on the rock but I guess it was a piece of wood.

Sheet Harbour and Back

Monday morning we left Dartmouth about 8:30 a.m.  There was mist and fog.  We drove out along the Eastern Shore and near Lawrencetown and Seaforth we stopped at a couple of beaches to look at the waves from Tropical Storm Ophelia which were up to five meters high.  We saw a few surfers as well.

 

Our next stop was Musquodoboit Harbour.  We stopped to see the Train Museum there.

There was another train car that used to have exhibits in it but vandals cut holes in the leather seats and made the roof leak.

We went to beautiful Martinique Beach and watched the waves again.

This would be a beautiful beach to visit in nice weather.

Our next stop was Jeddor Oyster Pond (that is the name of the place) and visited Fisherman Life Museum.  This home was originally build in the late 1800's and the two end parts were added later.  The son of the fisherman who built the house lived in it and raised a family of thirteen daughters there starting in 1901.  His wife lived there until the 1960's and then it was kept by the daughters to use when they came back to visit.  Later it was made into a museum.  The fisherman rowed his dory ten miles to the mouth of the harbour and stayed on an island during the week while he fished.  The family stayed home and raised a garden and apple trees and looked after the chickens and other animals.

View from the Fisherman's Boat House

Our next stop was at Prince Alfred's Arch at Mason's Cove, near Tangier.  There once was a gold rush here and Queen Victoria's teenage son came to visit.

View from the Arch

By the time we made it to Sheet Harbour the sun was shining and it was beautiful.  We had lunch and visited one grave yard before we left to go back to Dartmouth.  Although the waves were high on the ocean, in the harbour there were no waves at all.

View from the Restaurant 

We went inland to go back to Dartmouth and went through some farming country, which we don't see much of in Nova Scotia.  We arrived back in Dartmouth at 5:30 p.m.

A Wet Day at Peggy's Cove

Although it was raining we decided to visit Peggy's Cove.  It was surprising that there were so many people there; I thought we would have it all to ourselves.  However even though it was raining it was warm.

Joan and Earl wanted to visit the information centre but when we were going in there was a fire truck and ambulance.  Later on the police came and they had the entrance blocked off.  I don't know what kind of calamity had happened and we will probably never find out.

We got back to the house just in time to watch the first session of conference and we watched all four sessions.  Bob and Earl went to church for the Priesthood Session.

A Beautiful Day at Halifax Harbour

It was rainy and foggy on Friday morning but it cleared off and we caught the ferry from Alderney Crossing to Halifax.  It was a very warm sunny day.  We watched the glass blowing demonstration and wandered along the boardwalk and checked out some of the shops.

A Quick Trip to Pictou

Joan and Earl (my sister and brother-in-law) arrived on Wednesday evening and early Thursday (well early for me) we set off to Pictou.  We first visited Baillie Cemetery and found that the sign has fallen down and the trees are growing quickly.

 Headstone of Great-grandfather John Murray

We then went in  search of the old Murray homestead where our 2nd great-grandfather and his family settled.  It has been in the Murray family ever since the 1830's but the last Murray died childless and it is now for sale.  The house is 150 years old, according to the real estate information.

From the homestead we then hustled into Pictou.  I was dropped at the archives and the others looked around downtown.  We didn't have much time as we had to return to Dartmouth in time to get to the Temple for our shift. 

Joan, Earl and Nathan joined us later at the Temple.

Nearly October Already?

Last week we managed to inspect two apartments on Tuesday.  We were at Nathan and Tara's for meals on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.  (Really saves on our grocery bill.)  Wednesday to Friday was very quiet at the Temple, but on Saturday we had a busload from New Brunswick (a big greyhound type bus) so we were busy.  There was an extra session that day.

Yesterday evening we  were again at Nathan and Tara's.  Tara made a birthday cake for me and the boys had balloons and a birthday banner decorating the house.

They are replacing the Angel, Moroni on the top of the temple.  Apparently he is going flakey.  His replacement arrived today and Bob was called to help unload him and put him in storage until they get him up on the roof.

I made Bob buy some tomato plants this spring because I didn't think I could live without homegrown tomatoes.  They don't sell many of them here and when Bob found them he paid $17 for three plants and put them in pots on our deck.  Well  we found out why they don't sell many.  When we finally got ripe tomatoes they were horrible - hard and tasteless.  I guess we will do without next year.

I remember one year when I was at summer school in Edmonton my mother sent me a shoebox of green tomatoes.   People couldn't understand why I was so exited about green tomatoes, but I put them on my windowsill and they ripened and were very good.  I don't suppose tomatoes could be sent through Canada Post these days.

Our Sorry Tomato Plants

Back to Routine

After the temple was shut down for two weeks for cleaning, it opened again on Wednesday.  We had a very busy week - several extra sessions and long hours.

There was a Regional Woman's Conference in the Dartmouth Stake building on Saturday where Sister Allred from the General Relief Society Presidency spoke.  People came from all over the Maritimes for the conference and went to the Temple while they were here.

I was able to get to Sister Allred's talk and also to hear the musical presentation called "The Woman at the Well".

Yesterday I was happy to relax when we weren't at church.

Out here in Nova Scotia people pressure wash the siding on their homes yearly with water and bleach to get rid of the mildew, mold and moss.  Our house got done last week.  Here we have a picture of the clean siding and the balcony getting cleaned.  They also cleaned the moss off the driveway.

Last week Bob looked off the balconey and saw that a squirrel was going in a hole in the roof of the shed.  The hole hadn't been there before so we can only surmise that the squirrel made it.  Bob bought some tin and patched the hole.  As soon as he took the ladder away the squirrel came out and inspected the patch.  I tried to get a picture but it ran away.  Later that evening the squirrel was back sniffing all around the patch.  Hopefully it can find somewhere else to store it's winter supplies and doesn't make a hole on the other side where we can't see it..