Back Home!

So I am back from my travels in one piece. I had a wonderful trip with my father on a cruise around the Med. We visited Barcelona for a couple of days before sailing and then on route I got to visit Florence, Pisa, Pompei, Sorrento and Capri. There were other stops in Italy and Palma, but I got a bit lazy and chose to sunbathe on board instead of taking yet another gruelling 10 hour excursion on shore...Can you blame me!

After the cruise I headed back to the UK for a couple of days and got the chance to catch up with my some of my friends and family. Although I didn't get a chance to see everyone (Sorry I missed some of you but time was so limited) it was fun. I have missed you all very much. I hated saying goodbye all over again. Sarah are you okay now? :o)

The weather was superb throughout the whole trip but sadly I came back to rain, rain and more rain here in Nova Scotia. I fancy it will take me a while to get back into my routine now, always the worst thing about taking a trip.

Before I left I answered a phone survey for a travel company, and we have been invited to to promo thing on Tuesday evening, I am only going as there is a chance of winning a travel related prize, so wish me luck!!

Out tenants in Templecombe have decided to move out which is annoying to say the least. We just hope that the letting agents can get another tenant as soon as possible otherwise financially this is yet another burden we cannot afford.

Not much news this end so far...I am sure I will have more to report in the coming weeks. In the meantime here's a couple of images from my travels!

Pompei, Itlay

Parc Guell, Barcelona

La Pedrera Chimnies, Barcelona

Almost Autumn at Stourhead

Late again!!

Sorry to my regular Monday morning readers...Sylvie! I just didn't have time yesterday to write anything as I was out most of the day.

Nancy and I went...drum roll please...to...Ross Farm. Yes are you all getting a feeling of Deja vu? Nancy hadn't been there in years and I so wanted to go back and take some more photos...and see my cat of course.

As soon as we got there, the man who brings out the cows said to me (I must have one of those unforgettable faces) Your cat's gone. He told me someone else had taken a shine to him and taken him home. He said he thought I would be back and was gutted I was two days too late. Let me tell you, I was not best pleased!

Of course it didn't stop me fussing the other kittens at the barn. Hence this seems to be the special cat edition!!

I have actually been up to other stuff since my last update, Last weekend on the Bank Holiday, Rob and I went to Pictou, I had fond memories of staying there a few years back when we caught the ferry over to PEI. However, having gone back there, I am not entirely sure what I was thinking at the time. It's a very small, blink and you miss it place, and the waterfront area is quite nice, but that's about it. The surrounding area is very pretty though. We visited a Lavendar farm, I was scouting for photography opportunites next year. after that we headed to a provincial park called Caribou Island. Very nice indeed. The weather was scorching and the beaches there were pretty much empty with just a few people scattered around and as it was so nice we decided to take the plunge in the sea. It was a tad cold at first but then so welcoming! We had a picnic (of sorts) on the beach and laid in the sun for possibly too long as I burned yet again!

We also got to catch up with friends from the UK this week. Elaine Fraser and her partner Ian are visiting for a couple of weeks touring around the Province. We had the chance to take them out for the now famous fish and chips of course! Great to see her! Now I would have some photos of her and Ian, but sadly Elaine forgot to bring her camera out and I didn't realise I didn't have a card in my camera. Not bad for two members of the Wincanton Camera Club! How damn annoying is that!!!! I took one photo on my phone and now have no clue how to get it off the phone...I hate mobile phones!

TV...Strictly! It's almost back, as is Dancing with the Stars, I have to say the line up for the UK looks so good, I think there will be a couple of dark horses in there the only downside is Lulu is part of the line up. Words cannot describe how I feel about her. We will now sadly be subjected every Saturday to her slipping in and out of that Scottish accent that she does all the time...Grrrr

Big Brother USA reaches the final this week, that's been a real filler for me, and oh joy BB UK is back on Cahnnel 5, I am pleased to day it is already shaping up better than the really bad celebrity version prior to the non celebs going in. I am hooked it's offical. Thank you Channel 5 for not letting me go without.

Righty ho, that's about it I think. Have a lovely week everyone. The sun is still shining here.

There will be no updates for a couple of weeks now as I am off on a jolly with my dad. I cannot believe it's been nearly a year since I have seen him.

In the words of Arnie...I'll be back!

Two adorable fluff balls at the farm, Crusty on the right...
So called now by me as he has terrible crusty eyes, so much so Nancy and I went and washed him off...I do like him...and then there's Bowie with white half brother of
my cat. I named him Bowie has he has one blue eye and one green eye. These little cuties need homing before the winter.

The Beautiful Lake at Ross Farm

The Barn and the Cottage

Pictou Lighthouse. I fulfilled my quota of lighthouses last
weekend with Caribou Island and Pictou.

Labour Day Weekend...Hooray!

First off before I tell you what I have been up to, I have to congratulate my UK blog follower Robert. If you have been following the message board here you will know that he is the font of all knowledge when it comes to Nova Scotia and follows the NS web cams all the time. Well on Friday morning at around 7.30 am on Kool FM they were talking about the the web cams and people following them and Robert was mentioned...Famous before he even settles here!

Due to an excess of hours I took Friday off to make this weekend even longer as it is Labour Day weekend, and once again all week the weather has been fabulous. I gave Cheryl a call to see if she wanted to go somewhere on Friday as I was determined not to waste the day. In turn she called Deb and the three of us ended up heading to Ross Farm. This is the place we went to a few weeks ago now but the weather let us down, but not this time, it was super sunny and super hot!

We had a great time there pottering about and taking zillions of photos. The thing I love about Ross Farm more than anything is the cats. There are always kittens and farm cats around, but this time I was smitten with one in particular. A gorgeous white cat possibly about 8 months old, so friendly. Apparently he just wandered in one day as a stray and has stayed. I spent the whole of Saturday trying to persuade Rob we should have him. The farm said we can have him if we want him...once again it comes down to cost, but I just cannot stop thinking about him.

Having said goodbye to 'Shakespeare' (the new name for my would-be cat) we headed off to Lunenburg for lunch and then onto Stonehurst as neither Deb or Cheryl had been there before and I knew the way...That never happens in my world as I have no sense of direction.

It was a great day and I think I ended up getting home about 7.30pm int he end. Rob had Saturday off and after a late start on my part as I was knackered from yesterday we drove down to the Seaport Farmers Market to have a look around, we hadn't been before, nice environment, but personally I thought everything was way to pricey.

We walked along the harbour walk to see what was going on and caught a glimpse of the big event on right now which is the Junior Beach Volleyball Championships. The city have built 4 sand volleyball courts especially for the event, a pretty impressive set up and it was sold out Saturday, plenty of atmosphere for sure. All along the harbour front there are great places to sit and eat and everyone was either out sailing or enjoying the good weather, it had such a nice vibe today.

If I could describe to you Nova Scotia right now, it would be, hot, sunny, laid back with the smell of hot dogs and coffee in the air with the sound of crickets at evening...which I love listening to.

I have no clue what I will be doing for the rest of the long weekend. Mostly catching up at home tomorrow while Rob is working at UHaul, but if the weather is still nice on Monday no doubt we shall go somewhere.

How could you not fall in love with him!!

Prtty and Picturesque Ross Farm


The Old Barn and One of the Houses


Yes, It's my cat again!


A moment of sillyness...I had the giggles so bad!

Left to Right Deb, Me, Cheryl.

Batten Down the Hatches!

Another rather uneventful week, it has been hot and humid and pretty unbearable on some days. Sleeping has been pretty tricky in the White household as there is literally no air flow in our house. Every day at work has seemed like 2 and the weekend couldn't have come fast enough.

Robert has been working down at UHaul most of the weekend, so time out doing stuff has been limited. I went to the lake yesterday with Nancy and Brenda for a swim which was just what i needed to cool off. The water was surprisingly warm and we stayed in a good hour or so just bobbing abut chatting.

In the evening Rob and I took a drive out to Terence Bay, it was beautifully sunny still...for a while and then the fog came in. The mosquitoes were out in full force and I have a few bites today even though I had covered myself in lotion to try and keep them away. After we got back we got a Chinese take out, I had been hankering for one again, and still have enough left over for today!

As for today, no plans, I have some editing to do and it's raining outside. Tropical Storm Irene is on it's way, and tonight we are supposed to get winds of up to 100 km an hour, so that's to look forward to. I can't say I am looking forward to my trip into work tomorrow across the bridge as it really moves in the wind. Power outages are definitely on the cards, so I am getting this post in now before we get cut off.


Sandy Cove Lighthouse at Terence Bay Yesterday


Another shot of Sambro Head Island Lighthouse

Slightly Underwhelmed

Apologies for the delayed update, I don't really have much to report.
This past week was hot, hot, hot all week, definitely a nice time to be in our air conditioned office and definitely not a nice time to be in my hot house...My god has it ever been unbearable at home. Rob and I have both had trouble sleeping in the heat, me more so than him, and this whole week has left me tired, slightly sick and underwhelmed in general.

On the hottest continuous week so far this year, Rob completed his very first full week of employment! He also did a shift at UHaul on Sunday.

As for me I went out with fellow photographers on another model shoot. Trouble was it was scheduled for 1.30pm kick off, it couldn't have been a worse time to be out in the heat. The humidity was so bad, my head leaked like a running tap, still we kept going each and every one of us lacking inspiration and wishing the day would end, but then we got to the beach and oh that welcome breeze. I even waded in the sea, it was cold, but oh so good. I finally got home at around 8.30pm last night, and didn't have anything left in me to write an update.

Sad news today in politics here. Jack Layton leader of the NDP (the opposition party) and the most charismatic politician of the bunch died aged 61 after a long battle with prostate cancer. He stepped down I think it was last month, as leader of the NDP to battle the disease and had hoped to be back on the job in September but sadly he didn't make it. I think they will be hard pushed to find someone as likable as him as a replacement.

Fellow photographers reading this...That's you Rob Cochran! Might be pleased to hear that I have met the renown Canadian photographer Sherman Hines, he comes in for printing jobs every now and again. Currently I have some of my images up on a big screen display in store rotating round in slide show. Well he told me how much he admired my work! Coming from him, that's quite the compliment. He asked me about my processing techniques and thought he might pick up a trick or two in that department. Before Rob and I lived here we visited the Sherman Hines Museum in Liverpool, well worth a visit if you are ever passing that way.

Who knows one day I might have my own museum :o)


Jessica looking sexy in the sand dunes.


Yes, we found yet another really impressive graffiti backdrop.
Click images to view larger.

Happy on the tracks. There's something pretty exciting
about taking images on these tracks as it is a working railway
route, and at any moment a train came come along. This
particular location is about a 5 minute walk from my house.

Long Drives and Lighthouses

Crikey, I don't know where to begin. Putting up an early post last week has thrown me all out of whack.

Rob and I decided to take a very long drive last Sunday and drove all the way round to Yarmouth via Digby and then eventually back home via the South Shore stopping at Shelburne on the way back. I have highlighted the area we covered on the small map insert below.

This is a part of the Province that neither of us had seen yet and there is much to explore in that area, of course we couldn't do it all and I had to be pretty selective as to where I wanted to stop. My main reason for heading down that way was to visit Cape Forchu Lighthouse at Yarmouth (Pictured below). It was the perfect day to see it weaher-wise and after an early start we got there at around 11 am. I was so impressed by the lighthouse, it is an odd shape, but the grounds around it are so beautifully maintained. I half expected it to be like Peggy's and crammed full of tourists, but when we got there I think there were 3 other people milling around.

After spending quite a bit of time there we than headed to a place called Lower West Pubnico which has an excellent Acadian Historical Village, sadly the fog had rolled in a bit by then so it was a little on the grey side, but still very enjoyable. From there we headed to Shelburne, and oh what a treat. This place is just so beautiful...Yes you guessed it I found a house I would like to live in there...in fact there are several. A new adaptation of Moby Dick (TV Mini series) has not long been filmed there and it was also the backdrop to the film "The Scarlet Letter". The whole old Dock Street is like stepping back in time. More and more movie companies are looking at Nova Scotia to film now as it can pass for New England and it costs a lot less to film here than in the States.

Talking of films, I watched "The Shipping News" again this week, and for the first time noticed that part of it was filmed here. You can almost see our house in one scene, where Cate Blanchet has been killed in a car accident (supposedly she and the chap she was with had driven off The Jersey Bridge)...In actuality that is The Mackay Bridge just around the corner from us. I also found out this week that a number of stars have holiday homes here mostly in St Margaret's Bay, Tom Selleck being one of them.

I digress, so after Shelburne, we were pretty knackered and stopped only once more briefly in Liverpool to grab a couple of shots of the Lighthouse there. Then it was back home. We left at 7.30 am and got back at 11 pm and boy did I sleep well that night!

I have been to the doctors again this week and have been referred for an X Ray of my hip which had been giving me a lot of pain over the last few weeks. My doctor thinks that I have arthritis, but the X Ray should confirm this. Rather this than a hip joint problem although neither is good. I am falling apart lately!

Hip problem or no, it didn't stop us getting out and about today, gorgeous weather, a real scorcher. Rob, Nancy, Suzanne, Cheryl and myself headed off to Sambro for a boat trip out to Sambro Head Island Lighthouse (featured at the top of the page). They only take people over to the island once a year now. It was so lovely on the boat and the Island was fab, even though getting on it and up it was very tricky for me especially, rocks and boggy grass on way up and down, but worth it, So pleased I went and got to see the oldest working lighthouse in North America! Big thanks to Rob (UK) for initially finding out about this event for me. It was certainly a highlight of my time here so far.

After taking yet more photos around Sambro and Ketch Harbour on the way back we then attended to annual Photo club BBQ out in Fall River, a lovely evening to be sat under the trees and having a few beers.

It's Rob's birthday tomorrow, and we don't really plan on doing much, but one things for sure fish and chips at Wharf Wraps will be on the cards in the evening.

Cape Forchu Lighthouse Yarmouth


Acadian Village at Lower West Pubnico


Picturesque Shelburne


Gilbert's Cove Lighthouse Nr Digby


Where we went!

Natal Day and Thunderstorms

I am updating the blog a little earlier this week as I have plans for the weekend and it looks like it's going to be a hot one...Thank god is all I can say to that as on Wednesday night we had one of the worst storms yet. Absolutely no fun for yours truly, just 5 hours of shear hell as the thunder and lightening sent me into freefall. I actually felt physically sick with my nerves! At one point the Lightening struck literally just outside our house, at which point I think I nearly fainted and Rob couldn't really cope with me anymore...lol I had little or no sleep and my eyes felt like they were hanging out of their sockets the next day.

Fortunately the rest of the week, prior to this was superb, so I'll move swiftly on to the fun things, like last Sunday, where I left off in the last post.

Rob and I headed off to the free concert, it was so hot outside, we sat and watched the early acts, Some folk music in the form of Old Man Luedecke who was surprisingly enjoyable followed by some rock from a woman called Carmen Townsend...who wasn't really my cup of tea and reminded me very much of Catatonia!

Then finally the wait was over, enter Steven Page. I had some reservations as to what it would be like seeing him without the rest of the band, but I certainly need not have worried, his performance was cracking and he sung plenty of the old BNL tunes to keep me singing along and added in a bit of that famous humour. I have been on a bit of high ever since actually. I took a ton of photos as I barged my way to the front at the start of the show. Had no clue what settings I needed as it was dark, but managed to get a few good ones including the one featured at the top here. I have loved BNL since my dear friend Paul Byrne introduced me to their music back in 1992 on a trip to Toronto. I have seen them twice live in the UK and couldn't wait to move over here thinking that I would get so see them more when they toured....and then the unthinkable happened...They broke up! Is that the definition of irony I wonder?

Robert was surprised at how many older people were there (when he said older he meant 40 plus) to see Steven play....I had to remind him that fans grow older with the artists...including him and I!

At 10 pm, Steven stopped singing just for a bit while the fireworks display illuminated the sky. It was impressive seeing them launched from the bridge, they only do it that way every few years.

Then it was back on with the singing. It think it ended around 11.15pm in the end, by which time we had been there for about 6 hours.

Sunday the weather was again lovely and we took a drive out around the Blandford Peninsular, there's a few spots (one in particular) that I hadn't visited since before we became residents. Northwest Cove is the place and it's a very pretty spot.

That I think about brings you up to date. Just want to wish my father a Happy Birthday for next Tuesday!!


Natal Day Fireworks


Fox Point


Northwest Cove...Notice that fog bank just out at sea?