Adventure to Cape Breton

Back in June Bruce and I drove to Cape Breton with my mom for a week.  My aunt passed away in the spring and wanted her ashes scattered where she and my mom spent their summers as children.  So off we went.  We left bright and early on a Saturday morning back in June  It is about a twenty hour drive from my parents house to Glace Bay on Sunday afternoon (where we were staying with family) and we have usually done this drive over two days. On the way up we stayed in Moncton, New Brunswick and on the way back we stayed outside Bangor, ME; honestly we didn't do much sight seeing while in those two places after spending 10+ hours in the car.


We did however do a little bit of sight seeing while in Nova Scotia and lots of visiting (in true Christine fashion I forgot to take any photos of people). Tuesday I could not be convinced to get back into a car.  But Wednesday Bruce and I were off to drive the Cabot Trail.  I encourage you to go to Nova Scotia, enjoy the scenery and partake in the amazing treats the province and especially Cape Breton have to offer.




We left Glace Bay and drove to Baddeck, picked up some maps and took some photos of the Bra's 'dor Lakes and the Schooner Ameboa which gives tours.  At some point while chasing the Ameboa to take photos Bruce remembered that he really enjoys photography and confiscated the DSLR, so the photo credits in the post all go to him (unless he's in the photo).


From Baddeck we drove to Cheticamp where we had lunch which was excellent. It was rainy when we left Glace Bay but just as we got to the coast it cleared up and the weather was beautiful, as was the scenery.  Then headed into the provincial park.


We stopped at pretty much every "scenic overlook" so I apologie for the photo-dump.  We also saw a bear cub crossing the road but I couldn't get the camera up to take a photo of it, You'll just have to take my word for it.


We stopped at MacIntosh Falls for a short hike.  It was around two miles total and flat, it was a great time to get out of the car and get some blood flowing back in our legs! There are many great places to hike around the park, with difficultly levels for everyone.




From there we drove to St.Ann's for dinner.  Now if we had wanted to we could have taken a short ferry and maybe cut down on our driving but we really wanted to complete the whole Cabot Trail and we would have missed the very end by taking the ferry.


We got back to Glace Bay just in time to watch the Bruins game. It was another 10 hour day in the car but it was definitely worth it!  Thursday night we had an amazing lobster dinner, which I failed to take any photos of because I was way to busy eating it!  Friday we climbed back in the car for the long drive home.  Saturday we stopped in Freeport and did some shopping, we got some great deals at the L.L.Bean and Northface outlets.

It's Just Nice

One day last week it was flurrying but bright out.  The amount of natural light in our bathroom in the morning makes me happy.

This photo just screams winter to me for some reason.

Working From Home

During the one of the big snow storms we got last month I did some work from home.  We knew the storm was coming and I brought my work computer home so that I would be prepared for our weekly conference call.

And this is what it looks like when I conference call from our office during a snow storm.
Kenny loves working from home.



Sometimes We Get Bored

And we torture love on Kenny Puppy, when he's being antsy about not really having a backyard to play in. 

We also do things like play Civilization V and Catan, procrastinate about fixing the last few storm windows and watch things like season 3 of the Tudors. 

Ok so maybe we've been hibernating but hibernating in a "we just got engaged" love bubble.

It's Very Important

To be prepared for hibernation.

Fuzzy Slippers - Check
Cheerful Socks - Check
Leggings to fit under Boots - Check

What!!!

I just bumped this week's posts back a day. For this: I woke up to a sound, it was familiar and unwelcome. My first though was No which continued with nowaynowaynoway as I vaulted out of bed, over Kenny puppy and to the window to see:

That's right, today the eighth of November it is snowing.  The storm windows aren't on the house, I'm not sure where the shovels are, and I'm pretty sure that my snow brush for my car is somewhere in the garage.

Happy Halloween!

From Mom & Dad's kitchen circa 1988 with Michael one of my best lil' buddies growing up!

First Fire

Tuesday night we had our first fire in the fireplace of the winter.  We ate chilli and watched the last two episodes of Rome. Which I highly recommend. 

One Last Summer Adventure: Part 1

Sitting here in long pants and a sweatshirt it's hard to belive that two weeks ago it was 90 degrees and I was in desperate need of a swim! Wednesday morning on the first of September, Kenny and I were up with Bruce as he was leaving for work.  We packed up and were on our way back to The Pond where my cousin Laura, her two children, and my cousin Andy and his dog Brady were there waiting for us.

And Kenny was excited to be back.  He loves his cousin Brady, he loves to swim, he loves three year old Will who is at his eye level and calls him Kennay (think Jennay from Forest Gump), he loves six year old Elizabeth who talks to him like he's a person, pretty much he loves being at the pond with the family.
We had great take out seafood that night and just before they left Thursday Will wanted to know if they could come to our house "to visit Kennay".

Dining Room Make-Over

My main mission before the party at which we celebrated my graduation/our housewarming, was to re-wallpaper the dining room.  Half the readers gasp in horror, whatever wallpaper has its place.  Here are a few photos of the dining room before and while we were moving in and getting settled.

This was and has always been one of my favorite features of the house.

Original light fixture, I always liked the crystal but it definetly needed some help.

And of course the original switchplate, just like the one in the half bath.

The mess while we were getting settled.

This was our first dinner in the dining room, with Bruce's parents the weekend they came down to help us with cleaning.

Shannon came and helped take down the wallpaper, which came down surprisingly easy.  The former owners were smokers and the paste behind the paper was brown from absorbing years of tobacco smoke (the stains are visible in the first photo). I washed, sanded, filled holes, primed then my mom came down for a few days to help hang the wallpaper.  It took two full days to do, I then painted under the chair rail, trim, and china cabinet.

My mom picked up a sideboard which matched our dining set, she and her cousin John picked up the curtains and rods, and table cloth. That table cloth is amazing, it's microfiber and doesn't stain!

I painted the back walls of the china cabinet with the lightest shade from the paint chip that the color from below the chair rail came from.  I also painted the outside and the shelves of the china cabinet the trim color.  I switched out the knobs for some clear acrylic knobs and spray painted the screws to match the light. I didn't get the top door on the cabinet until last week, it was very time consuming to paint!

I painted the radiator the same color as the trim, by first using a spray paint primer then a foam roller with the trim color. I love the way it turned out, I stayed true to the house by keeping the original light fixture and switch but now it's updated and clean!

You're Killing the Letuce!!!

You would think that we live in the South with the amount of afternoon heavy rains we've had.

This is a shot of our front entry way (with a full gutter).

Garden Update

Considering how many trees we have (little sunlight) the garden is coming along nicely. I would say that half of what I planted has grown, most of that is doing really well.

The peppers get an A

So do the tomatoes.

And the zuchinni and summer squash. 

The radishes get a B, along with the broccolli and peas.

The letuce is questionable the brutal thunderstorms we've been getting are really beating them up, I might try again in the fall. The melons, cucumbers, beans, asparagus and spinach were a no go, most likely not enough sun for those guys.  Yes, the garden is very weedy, it's the first year and we expected this. I have been weeding.  I also started some things in the house for a summer crop, stay tuned for cucumbers (again) spagetti squash, butternut squash, acorn squash and sugar pumpkins.

Backyard Adventure

     Our latest and greatest adventure has been planning, prepping and planting the garden.  I've had the spot in the backyard picked out since before we owned the house, those long months in limbo . . . I was plotting.  The first step was to till the soil, now we had an idea (after burying poor PeanutButter) that we would have a lot of rocks to contend with and would need some mechanical assistance.  So after much deliberation, Bruce purchased a Boylens tractor, circa late 1970's, that he found on Craig's List.  It has attachments to mow, roto-till and blow snow.  He adventured a few Sundays ago, in the big red truck, to pick it up and the next day after work he was ready to go!

Notice he's still wearing dress socks from work. "It's working, it's working, wait what's it hitting?"

"Oh it's a rock" Notice the tree in front of Bruce and the beginning of the rock pile.

It took us a week (with the weather and mechanical delays) to till roughly an 8' x 19' plot.

This is the rock pile after one pass with the tiller.

My job while Bruce was operating the machinery was to follow behind him, remove rocks and notice where the "big ones" were so that we could excavate them with the pick. We did two passes with the tiller to even everything out and to get as many of the rocks as possible, looks pretty nice right?

After the tilling was complete I got to work planting, the very next day, which happened to be the hottest day so far! Each row had to be raked into place, more rocks and roots removed, raked again to even out, then planted.  I had started tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and summer squash in the house and they were ready to go!I also planted lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, watermelon, cantaloupe, beans, peas, broccoli and cucumbers.

Last weekend we got the fence up to keep the Chipmunks out. More on those guys later. I still have a few tomato and pepper supports to go in, but now that everything has been in the ground for a week it's looking promising, I have shoots popping up everywhere and have already thinned a few rows.

Check out that final rock pile, way more than we expected!

I also love that I can spin around in my desk chair and the garden takes up the entire view out the window!

April Showers . . .

bring May flowers

This is the first peony to bloom, I love the pink veins.

and it looks like there will be a few more. Its like a happy little friend welcoming us home, surrounded by all my potted herbs (and some weeds). There is another plant it the back of the house, I can't wait for the rest to bloom.

Half Bath Makeover

I've been slowly making-over the half bath. I love our little black and white bathroom, it's cute and classic.

Here's how it started, not to bad, the painters tape was there when we moved in and it was partly primed.

This is how it looks now. These photos don't do the brightness of the room justice, but it's pretty dreary today.

The color is not quite white, If you remember from an earlier post, in February that I spent some time picking out just the right color.

This was the little project that took forever! The space is so small I don't know that anyone bigger than me would have been able to do it!

Source List
Paint - Benjamin Moore Natura - Glacier White (trim and walls) - 3 quarts - $54
Shelf - Moen at Lowes, $25
Bathing Beauty - gift from mom
Vase - found in house
Sunflower - part of graduation bouquet
Towels - target (bought for last place I rented)
Framed Art - I already owned the 8x10 frame, the mat was $3. 11x14 with mats, $12. The art were black and white photos I had taken the prints cost about $5. - $20 total.
Glass Bowl - found in house
Potpourri - $1.99 (Ocean State Job Lot)
Total Spent = $101

Spring has Sprung!!

I waited so long to take these pictures that our daffodiles are already gone, both outside and the ones I cut and arranged inside, not to worry we have lots of other things blooming!

We have so many colors of tulips.

I was sad to not see any pink though.

These are my favorite, both red and yellow!

I love how pretty this looks every time I pull up the driveway, granted it is the only spot with good grass.

These are down by the driveway, I spot yet to be raked.

We spread some grass seed in the back yard last week so hopefully we'll have some grass by the time my graduation party rolls around!