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..

Race and Picnic

After cleaning in the temple Tuesday to Thursday  and having a relaxing day on Friday, today was a very busy day.

It was the Cole Harbour Fall Festival today and in conjunction with the festival there was a 6 mile race and a 2 mile race.  All of Nathan's family and Bob were registered - all in the 2 mile except Orson.  Tara ran by herself and was the first family member to finish.  Nathan ran with Lochlan (in the stroller) and Liam while Bob and Keaton ran together.  It was a good day for a race as it wasn't too hot.  There was a cool breeze blowing.

 Keaton and Bob at the Finish Line

 Orson at the Finishing Line

 Liam After the Race

Where was Lochlan?

In the afternoon there was a Dartmouth Ward Picnic held at Oakfield Provincial Park (about a half hour from Dartmouth).  It turned out to be an enjoyable event - the park was beautiful.  The breeze was quite cool when the sun went behind the clouds.

Foggy Labour Day

September already.  Hard to believe. 

We had four days at the Temple after we returned from Newfoundland.  Jessica left on the Friday so we have the house to ourselves.  Sunday we had supper with Nathan and family and stayed with the younger boys while Nathan, Tara and Orson went to the Bishop's fireside.

The Temple is closed for cleaning for two weeks.  We were there cleaning Monday to Wednesday.  Wednesday evening we were at Nathan's while he, Tara, Orson and Liam went to the latest Harry Potter movie.  Thursday we attended Zone Conference.

Friday morning we drove to the Londonderry area looking for information from tombstones.  After taking the wrong roads and visiting Debert and Great Village we finally made it to Londonderry.  There were three graveyards that I wanted to visit (Londonderry, Acadia Mines and Folly Mountain).  Folly Mountain and Acadia Mines are still on the map but there is nothing at Folly Mountain and I am not sure about Acadia Mines.  There was a post office at Londonderry.  We visited three cemeteries, but there must be another one somewhere in the area because we couldn't find tombstones for everyone that I wanted.

The Londonderry grave yard was called Hillcrest Cemetery and was down a narrow lane through the trees next to the river.  However it was well kept.

We found  a small cemetery next to a vacant church that had had the sign removed.  I don't know if this was Acadia Mines or not.



We had given up on Folly Mountain Cemetery, but as we started for home there was a cemetery in the middle of nowhere at the side of the highway and it turned out to be the Folly Mountain cemetery.

Although it was incorporated in 1965 it had stones back in the 1800's.

We decided to go back to Dartmouth by way of Tatamagouche and see the place where my cousin, Maggie, worked when she was in Nova Scotia a few years back.  It is a gift shop and tea room.  We had lunch there and visited with Suzy Belt, one of the owners.

 Beautiful View from Sunrise Mercantile

House Where Maggie Lived

Saturday we cleaned house all day.  I usually clean on Mondays, but we had been away the last three Mondays so there was lots to do.  In the evening we went to Nathan's for supper.

We have had beautiful weather for the most part the last few weeks.  Yesterday morning there was fog which burned off in the afternoon and today there is fog again.  I plan on catching up on ironing today.

Newfoundland - Tuesday (August 23)

The fog lasted overnight and all morning in St. John's.  We spent a relaxing morning at the hotel.  After dinner we wandered around downtown and looked in some of the shops and made our way back to the hotel along the waterfront.

 

A cruise ship was in the harbour and all the ships had signs welcoming the tourists from the ship.

The fog was still lifting off Signal Hill.

 

Later we went to the airport for the flight back to Halifax.  Porter Air serves beverages  in a glass glass, serves a sandwich and salad at suppertime (no charge), has leg room and doesn't charge for luggage - at least not for one checked bag.

Now we have been in all ten provinces!

Newfoundland - Monday (22 Aug)

Monday we spent a pleasant day with Donald, Diane & Don Jr.  They picked us up at the hotel at 9:30 a.m. and Diane, Bob and I squeezed into the backseat of Don's Honda.

Our first visit was to Signal Hill.  We went to the top where we climbed to the top of Cabot Tower.  Marconi's first overseas radio signal was sent from Signal Hill to Ireland.  We also went to the Geo Center which is underneath Signal Hill.

 Macaroni's Radio Equipment (not the computers)

After looking at the displays in the Geo Center, we went downtown and had lunch at Velma's Cafe.  Our next stop was "The Rooms" which houses the Provincial Archives and Museum.  I was wishing I had some Newfoundland roots so I could go into the Archives to do research but instead I wandered through the Art Gallery and the Museum and found out a bit about Newfoundland history.

St. John's Basilica was across the road from The Rooms and it had some beautiful stained glass windows.

It was now time to visit Moo Moos to have an ice cream cone before heading off the Quidi Vidi (pronounced Kitty Vitti by the locals).  Allthough we visited there both Sunday and Monday it was the last sight of the day and pictures weren't taken.  However, here is some advertising about Quidi Vidi.

We had supper at an Asian Cafe.  It advertised Koren, Japanese and Chinese food.  The Manager had gone to university in Qingdao.

As we were driving to the hotel, the fog suddenly started to roll in.

By the time we got to the hotel the harbour was totally covered in fog.