Happy Halloween

Well it's been a quiet news week this week so this will be a pretty short entry.
The weather has been nice still with some sun but the temperature has turned colder now, Winter is definitely just around the corner. There was apparently snow in some parts of the province this week, thankfully I was blissfully unaware of it.

Rob has been working some long hours and has not been getting home until about 9 pm most evenings. I think this will be the way of things now until January.

It's been pretty frantic at my place too with many changes occuring, it's the end of the month and as usual we are busy trying to get all the invoicing done. As well as that we had stock taking on Friday in preparation for the change-over next week. The company that bought us out last year are now going full steam ahead and switching over our systems to theirs and installing brand new billing software... From Tuesday onwards as it will be slightly chaotic to say the least as we get to grips with billing in a whole new way.

Last weekend I found out for definite that my brother Clive will be coming over for Christmas and I am so looking forward to his visit, I just hope the weather is kind and we can get out and about a few places!

Yesterday I dragged Robert off to Stonehurst and Blue Rocks in the afternoon as the weather was gorgeous, I was hoping to capture some of the red foliage on the rocks that I found there last year, but sadly it had already gone over and turned brown. I did however manged to get a couple of nice shots of Stonehurst as the light was so pretty. After returning home we carved out our pumpkin ready for tomorrow, I haven't bothered to photograph it, as it looks exactly the same as last years :o)


Still and Blue at Stonehurst


Mirror views and not a ripple in sight

Ships Start Here

It's been a mixed bag of weather this week as Autumn rolls on. On Thursday there was a record amount of rain causing flooding in many areas of the city and beyond, some major roads were closed although people still decided it would be a good idea to drive through them with the inevitable outcome!

The autumn colours took a beating and many of the leaves got blown away sadly, but thankfully the weather improved again for the weekend and Cheryl, Barb and myself decided to venture out on another trip to Parrsboro, Wentworth and Tatamagouche. We found plenty of beautiful landscapes and found some new spots to re-visit in the future. It was another early start and a long day but so worth it.

One of my highlights was Wentworth Falls. I have never really had the opportunity to capture waterfalls properly, and Cheryl was a great teacher and helped me get the most out of the experience.

In Tatamagouche very late in the day we all discovered a really neat place called The Tatamagouche Railway Inn. What a great idea...This place originally a working station has been converted into an inn. The station house itself has rooms but the train carriages have also been converted inside to accommodate guests. We all want to go back and stay there, although it's not the cheapest place to stay, rates range from $120 - $179 per night per room.

In other news this week, Halifax Dockyard have been awarded a whopping $25 billion dollar contact to build new combat ships for the Canadian Navy. This is such good news for Nova Scotia. It will mean initially 11,000 new jobs later on 4,000 sustainable jobs. The contract it set to last for 20 years and should have a trickle down effect into other industries finally making Nova Scotia a 'have' rather than a 'have not' Province.

The only down side I can see to all this is that with every boom, house prices rise. Which is great if you already own but if you don't then it could create more problems. I think mostly likely in the next three years prices will be on the rise.


Misty morning...An early start!


Wentworth Falls


Classic Fundy Shoreline!


Abandoned homestead, Parrsboro

Another pretty river scene near Parrsboro


Tatamagouche Railway Inn

Autumn Has Arrived

Well only a 4 day week this week thanks to the Bank Holiday last Monday. The week seemed to go by in a flash. My dreaded cold was still in full force with the coughing keeping me up all night, but now thankfully it is settling down. I had by first full night's sleep last night.

On Tuesday evening we had the pleasure of finally meeting Robert (my blog follower from the UK) He was over taking in some more of the sights of Nova Scotia. We met him at the B & B he was staying at in Elmsdale...A beautiful B & B I might add. We went for an Italian meal locally and it was great to hear about his adventure and finally meet the man behind the comments and information! Robert you will now been know to me at PP Rob!

I had a dentist appointment this week on Thursday. Yet another thorough cleaning and a check up by the dentist that disturbed me somewhat...After 43 years of no dental work what so ever, I have finally got a couple of tiny cavities. So much to my utter disgust I have to go and get 2 fillings next month. As you can imagine I am not impressed by this all all. I couldn't help but wonder as Dentistry is big business on this side of the pond if these fillings are entirely necessary, but better to be safe than sorry I guess. Fillings are going to be a new adventure for me and I am not sure what to expect!

In other news this week, the Autumn colours finally popped. They literally started to show properly over night. I headed out with Cheryl and Nancy yesterday on a Photo Club field trip to Parrsboro. Wow the colours were amazing there, the whole area was just stunning. I had passed through that area many years ago, but never really spent any time there. Us girls ended up breaking away from the main group and doing our own thing most of the day, we headed off to explore Amherst and the Pugwash area as we had heard there were some abandoned houses out that was, and we definitely found a one cracking old place in particular. A bit dangerous under foot, but well worth the scary moments!

It was a long, long day, we met all the other photographers at the Camera Club at 6.45 am and we didn't get home until around 7.30 pm. The weather was great once again, sunny and warm, so much so I got a sweat on most of the day!

Autumn, just around the corner in Parrsboro

Just beautiful everywhere!


A riot of colour


Even this old shed looks great!


Five Islands Lighthouse


PP Rob, Robert and me! (Photo courtesty of Rob's camera)

Happy Thanksgiving

Yes it's another bank holiday here in Canada, only one more now in November before Christmas!

I am a little slow updating the blog this week as I have been ill since the beginning of the last week. No sooner had a stepped back on Canadian soil the lurgy kicked in. I have had a the most awful cold all week, it completely wiped me out on Thursday, and I have been trying to combat it with all kinds of remedies including Buckleys cough and cold medicine...For those of you who don't know what Buckleys is, it is by far the worst tasting medicine imaginable. If I had to describe it's taste it would be perm lotion and sick. That said it does work (if you can keep it down!).

I am still sniffing and coughing and I may have to see the doc as I think I have a full on chest infection again, will give it a couple more days and see how things pan out.

The weather here has been odd to say the least. Mid week it was as cold as can be, it even snowed a little in some parts. This weather followed a load of rain. And then, Saturday, Sunday and Today it's back to summer. Yesterday was a scorching 28.5 degrees.

Rob, Nancy and I went out on Saturday to Howard Dill's Pumpkin Farm to pick our pumpkin for this year. So nice to see the place in the sunshine. When Dad and Marjorie came over last October is was freezing cold when we visited the farm.

After spending a good few hours there we headed for Wolfville and had some lunch and then made a couple more stops at another pumpkin patch and a little nature trail place just outside of Wolfville.

Yesterday just Nancy and I headed out to Ross Farm again (yes I am obsessed about the place). We wanted to see if there was any sign of the Autumn colours yet. We definitely found some colours but nothing was as vivid as it should be. (Ross Farm Lake image at top of article)

Howard Dill's Pumpkin Patch


Pretty Yellow Leaves!

The Big Pumpkin Seat

Rob really wanted his picture taken in this...NOT!

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.