BEACH TREASURES

April arrived with clear, bright skies. Temperatures remained crisp, and the north-west wind bit as it puffed around the corners and into the coves. 

The dogs and I bundled up and went for a walk on the beach in Cornwallis. Well, I bundled up. They carry their fur coats with them all the time.

Some treasures were found, as always. Treasures like this lovely whelk shell...pastel pinks whorling across its exterior, the varigation of swirling colour attracted this casual beachcomber.

    More often, those conical shells are broken, revealing the startling white interior. I think this might be a Northern Whelk. There are an abundance of mussel shells on all our beaches. Sometimes barnacles are attached to them, which I think is hilarious. Imagine, hitching a ride on a mussel.

This beach is rather impoverished in beach glass, but I did find a couple of small bits of green glass. I love the glaze caused when the glass tumbles in the waves. 

There is always a bit of crab claw somewhere on the beach....

...and occasionally there are odd items, like this bit of metal.

      I think it comes from an engine.

My favourite item on this beach was the weathered logs, twisted with seaweed, string, and rusty wire.

 I imagined that they might be the masts or spars from pirate ships (yes, even at this age my imagination gives me joy) The Annapolis Basin is rumoured to have housed smugglers, and I reckon it may have included pirates from the Caribbean on their summer holidays. I didn't see any pirates, but perhaps it's too early in the season. Yo,ho,ho, but no bottle of rum.

An intertidal pool  revealed that the wood posts were probably  supports for a weir that collapsed from  neglect years ago. I don't care about that truth...I'd rather pretend the spars came from a pirate ship. It made the outing much more enjoyable; my pace became jaunty, swathes were cut through the air with my sabre, and I found shimmering gold, translucent with the sunlight shining through the whorl.      Treasures of beauty found on the beach.  

The dogs, as always,  enjoyed their outing, running on the beach after dipping their toes in the cold water from the Atlantic Ocean that twice daily, with the tides,  refreshes the water in the Annapolis Basin via the Bay of Fundy. 

One of the pleasures about living here, on the edge of the ocean,  is the proximity of pebble beaches,  with lovely views and little treasures,  where I can replenish my mind and soul while meandering beside the sea.

 

EVENING BEACH

 Smith's Cove Beach, a favourite haunt when the weather gets fine. We can look up the Annapolis Basin from the benches perched just beyond the high tide mark. I always enjoy the initial surprise of the beach, located at the end of  a narrow dirt path.  

I enjoy walking along the beach, even with our two rather naughty dogs. To personify them, the dogs seem to take great delight in running wild on the beach - no leash to hold them back. The hare up and down from the water's edge to the high tide mark. I try to simultaneously watch where they are and ignore them. Phiri, with her motley beige coat,  seems to blend into the landscape. Toti, with his black coat, seems to disappear in the landscape. They have occasionally startled me when, after I have been shouting and shouting for them,  they run up behind me.   It is especially difficult to keep track of where they are when my head is down looking for treasures on the beach....

....like this wooden spoon.

                                                                            

 We had a gentle sunset this evening, and it was a joy to experience it on our community  beach.

SPRING EVENING ON OUR BEACH

A fine day here. I came home as soon as I could, and took the dogs down to our wonderful Smith's Cove Beach. This is where I like to walk the dogs because I get to walk along the beach collecting beach glass and shells, and they get to romp and run distances. Chasing seagulls is a favourite pastime - for the dogs, not me. 

I collected a three pieces of beach glass and a shell today. The tide was very low when I went down to the beach, but for some reason there was little treasure to be found today. Maybe my eye is not yet re-tuned after a winter hiatus or maybe many others had been down scouring the beach today. 

The tide was coming in, and when the wind shifted, it became a bit cool down by the water, so we returned home. Two contented dogs, and their owner.  Time to reinstate the evening walk along the beach, I think.

DEER IN KEJI

We went to Kejimakujik Park recently. We saw groups of deer in three locations. These ones were contentedly munching on the new greenery at the side of the road. Eventually they scampered across the road, and down the embankment to another meadow on the other side. Perhaps the grass was greener....

Our challenge was keeping the two dogs quiet. Toti was determined to protect us. Phiri was nosy. 

We stayed watching these animals for about 15 minutes. Then we moved on, and lucky us, we spotted more deer further along the road. We also spotted some pheasants. So, all in all, an enjoyable outing.

MARCH BREAK

March Break, a week long holiday from work. Students and teachers both desperately need the time to relax, and recharge their energy for the long haul ahead. We shall work from now until the end of June without pause, except for a long weekend at Easter.

Nigel, who is working in Fredericton, suggested that I spend a few days of the holiday in that city, with him.

What a good idea. That meant that I'd get away from the house, and its various responsibilities with animals, and the usual, continuous requirements for housework. It meant that I'd have a holiday, in fact.

I realised how desperately I needed this holiday away when I spent most of the first day on holiday in a semi-aware state of mind. It was a glorious day, but I could not seem to rouse myself to do more than the occasional logic puzzle, watch mindless TV shows, and snoozing. However, once I. was replenished, I was out and about.

It was a few days of visiting... friends from Saint John days, a first cousin whom we quite enjoy seeing, and a first-cousin-once-removed whom we also enjoy. The highlight, though, was a tour of the bridge work that SNC-Lavelin is doing in Fredericton. This is where Nigel has been working for the past few months.

I donned a hard hat, a reflective safety jacket, leather gloves, and some work boots, all necessary items to go onto a construction site.

Seven flights of steps later and we were at the lower deck where the work is currently underway. We made our way along a metal mesh walkway, with a wooden platform underneath it, with our guide,the health and safety officer..

He pointed out various features of the construction,

and shouted greetings to the men working away.

There were a few older men working on placing steel forms, into which cement would be poured later in the week, against one of the pilons that supports the bridge. Further along we found a couple of younger lads checking the steel supports and cross beams. The men were all smiling and cheerful. It was jokingly suggested that this was because I was wearing official company gear, and was mistaken for an inspector. So, I looked serious, and took plenty of pictures to help maintain the illusion. Always good to keep the labourers on their toes.

The Beaverbrook Art Gallery was also on my agenda. I always like visiting that gallery. Two of the visiting exhibits were to my liking: the English sketches (“Feel around the Form”) because I harbour the illusion that I can sketch a bit, and the Tony Urquhart. (“Ambiguous Geographies”) because I enjoyed his whimsical interpretations of the sombreness of graveyards.. I, surprisingly to me, found the Goop, Guck and Globs exhibition intriguing. I don't generally like paint scraped onto canvas, but there were a couple of thickly painted and textured Riopelles and a boring Harold Town, plus some other rather lively pieces. The “Surf and Turf” exhibit had an interesting Lawren Harris painting of a wharf scene, and a lovely rendition of an iceberg by Blackwood (although I understand its purpose, I did not like the caricature style pitcher plant in the foreground.) http://www.beaverbrookartgallery.org/exhibitions.asp

The drive down to Saint John, was the usual route, along the military road.

This is the straightest, and therefore the fastest route. It has all been upgraded since I lived in New Brunswick, and it is a continuing process. This is all good

The Bay of Fundy is always a welcome sight, even if the drive was only from Fredericton, slightly more than an hour up the road.

We stayed with favourite cousins overnight – well, I did. Nigel returned to Fredericton.

And then, for me, the other usual route, using The Princess of Acadia to cross the

Bay of Fundy. I fortified myself with anti-sea-sickness tablets. I am a poor sailor, but I tackle this crossing so that I can get to and from Saint John from my “expat” (which is here called CFA - “Come From Away”) life in Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, CFA is quite a derogatory term, used frequently by people who rarely leave Digby County. It ensures that we stay well labelled, and prevents new-comers from settling easily into the fabric of local life. It is, for me, quite an intriguing, and disappointing, aspect of our life in Nova Scotia.

But, Saint John beckons from across the Bay of Fundy. So near, and yet so far. I generally manage five or six trips a year to my home province, and this March break meant a slightly longer stay than the usual weekend trip.

As Saint John disappeared in the background, I was grateful for the previous few days of rest and relaxation in Fredericton, the capital city of New Brunswick.

March Break, as always, drew to an end far too quickly. It was time to leave behind my home province and return to the province where I work. Thankfully, it was a bright, sunny day, and a relatively calm crossing. That, I reckon, bodes well for the next few weeks.

SNOWY WEEKEND

Nigel was home for his usual 26 hour weekend, and a forecast winter storm actually happened. There was snow, blowing snow, and more snow. Our driveway was scoured and then refilled with snow. This morning, Nigel decided it was his turn to use the snow blower. He was welcome to it. The machine is heavy, but it does clear the snow much more quickly than we can do it with two shovels. Most of the work was done by the time I got outside to capture this brief episode. As you can see, he is having fun, or as much fun as a person can have shovelling snow.

NEW YEAR'S DAY 2012

A favourite cartoon from my youth...and I still enjoy The Broons. This is not recent, but it remains amusing. One regret about living in Canada is that it is exceedingly difficult to get the comic annuals. I miss those books. The year has begun with bright sun shining. I hope that bodes well for our family, both the close and extended families. There are big changes afoot for some of us - cousins are moving to undertake new and exciting projects, and doubtless will have many interesting adventures along the way. Catriona has some long planned trips on her agenda, and we hope that she pursues those options this year. Nigel - fingers crossed - will be gainfully employed on a long-term project. If not, he will be farming in Nova Scotia, which is also a lovely option. I shall continue with my regular employment, teaching junior high English to a delightful group of pupils at a decent government school. I think I shall travel during July and August, but the destination is not yet formalised. There are a couple of options: a road trip in North America, or a visit to Scotland and possibly with an extension to the UK or Europe. Resolutions - not yet considered, but I shall make three resolutions for this year, I think. Three is enough. One will somehow be connected with Catriona's challenge to me. She challenged me to prepare for a long-distance hike, perhaps along the Appalachian Trail. One resolution will involve specific goals associated with the physical preparations for that hike. The other two remain unresolved - unspeculated actually. I'll mull them over today and formulate them later this afternoon. Nigel and I must drive from Durham, New Hampshire to Saint John, New Brunswick today. We are due there at 1730 today...and we must leave half an hour ago to make it in time. ,