Our Message Archive
August 2023
Wednesday August 23
Bluenose II seen from Blue Rocks
It is unusual for me to be updating this page on a Wednesday but it has been hard to keep up recently. We knew in the spring that August was going to be a busy month and so it has been.
Two Wednesdays ago our friends Nancy and Lauren arrived from Ontario. We didn't have much of a chance to visit because on Thursday we packed up and went on our annual pilgrimage to the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival. Ingrid and Mike once again kindly let us stay in the loft over the boat shed at their cottage on Heckman's Island a short way outside Lunenburg. We arrived shortly before we were to meet Ingrid, Mike, Kim Glen, Jocelyn, Lokman, Nancy and Lauren for dinner at the Smoke Pitt BBQ so I dropped Ann off while I went out to Heckman's to unload our stuff. After dinner we took in the evening concert which, as usual for Thursday, featured mainly local (i.e. Nova Scotian) performers. The next three days were primarily filled with workshops in the afternoons and the main stage concerts in the evenings with quick meals in between. I managed to get out for a bike ride to Blue Rocks and Stonehurst South on Saturday morning while Ann and Ingrid went to a Cajun Dance workshop. On Monday morning we packed up and drove home.
This year I particularly enjoyed Lennie Gallant, Sussex, Madison Violet and David Francey, all of whom we had seen before. There was also a very good jazz and blues workshop with Sussex, Coco Love Alcorn, and Campbell and Johnson. Of the performers I hadn't seen before I was most impressed by Jess Weddon who played back-up for David Francey and Jessica Pearson. She is a young fiddler who comes from Tichborne where my brother Nick lives.
The Mabou River
We didn't have much time to rest at home after the festival because on Tuesday, after I watched Sweden and Spain in the Women's World Cup, we were off again, this time to Mabou in Cape Breton for three days of biking with the Railers on the rail trails which go along the west coast. We shared a housekeeping suite (two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and living room) at the Mabou River Inn with Kim and Glen. We all arrived on Tuesday in time for a ride down to Port Hood where Kim and Ann went wading on the beach while Glen and I rested in Muskoka chairs overlooking it. When she returned, Ann chatted with a couple of ladies who were munching on onion rings obtained at a food truck parked on the main street. She then decided that she too must have onion rings (though in 40 years I have never known her to order them). The rest of us dutifully rode up to the food truck so Ann could indulge herself and, before we knew it, she and the food truck owner had come to an agreement that he would deliver us dinner back at the inn provided we come down to the street to pick it up, a useful arrangement since we couldn't carry it back on our bikes and all the restaurants in the Mabou vicinity were closed that evening. We returned to Mabou via the West Mabou Road which has spectacular scenery but a very rough surface. Ann arrived just in time to sit by the side of the road in one of our folding lawn chairs and collect our dinner as the food truck came by. As luck would have it, traffic was at a standstill in front of the hotel due to some construction, so it was easy for them simply to hand us our dinners through the truck window. After dinner we walked to the community centre to attend the weekly ceilidh which featured Rodney Macdonald (our-ex-premier; he's better at fiddling) and Hilda Chiasson. Ann and I were also persuaded to try some Cape Breton square dancing.
The next day, after the Autralia-England World Cup game, we joined the rest of the Railers for a longer ride (about 52 kms) up to Inverness which also has a very nice beach. On the way back I found myself alone due to stopping to take photos. As you approach Mabou on the trail, there is a set of chimes that have been installed for the amusement of the trail users. I stopped for a while and figured out how to play a fiddle tune on them. That evening, The Red Shoe, the bar and restaurant in Mabou owned by some subset of the Rankins, was open once again, so we went there for dinner and to be entertained by more Scottish fiddle music.
On Thursday morning, we packed up then went for a quick drive to West Mabou Beach before checking out. Kim, Glen and Ann all went for a swim while I walked along the beach and took photos. Afterwards we drove as far as Judique then rode along the coastal trail as far as Troy. When we got back to Judique we had lunch in the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre while listening to Joe MacMaster (nephew of Natalie MacMaster and grand-nephew of Buddy MacMaster) play more fiddle tunes in the Scottish style. Then we drove home again.
This time we were home for two whole days before we were off again. Nancy arrived again on Friday and she and Ann went to Rainbow Haven Beach on Saturday while I tidied up the garden and cleaned our bikes to be ready for our next adventure.
Ramblers at the Eagle Head Yacht Club
On Sunday, after I watched Spain outplay England in the World Cup final game, we headed off to Liverpool for another week of biking with the Ramblers. That evening, we all met in the restaurant of Lane's Privateer Inn where most of us are staying. On Monday, we rode to East Berlin along back roads. Although the chance of rain was said to be low, our luck was not in and about half-way there we were caught in several successive showers. The faster riders were lucky enough to have arrived at the Yacht Club in Eagle Head where they found shelter. However, as you can see from the photo, they were not lounging on sofas drinking G&Ts, but it was sufficient to keep them dry. I was acting as sweep (the last rider who makes sure no-one gets lost and is available to help out with mishaps like flat tires) so Ann, myself and a few others had to make do with sheltering beneath trees. Luckily, once the showers had passed, it got warmer and we were pretty much dried out by the time we got back to the hotel.
Yesterday we went on a three-pronged ride, first up the eastern side of the Mersey River, then down the west bank; it was lovely. We then passed through downtown Liverpool to do a loop through Moose Harbour and Western Head before heading out to the beach at Hunts Point. In the late afternoon, we all met at Route 3 Cellar Taproom & Grill where we had beer and appetizers before going on a scavenger hunt through downtown Liverpool. We had to find the answers to 17 questions mostly related to Liverpool history. Ann, Susan and I were a team and thought we had done pretty well but, alas, we did not place.
Today has been a down day with no scheduled rides, though some of us did go for short ones. Ann and I have been taking it easy: we had coffee and pastries at a café, visited Cosby's Concrete Creations to see the concrete sculptures (well worth a visit), stopped in at the Hank Snow Museum to listen to a mediocre country band, and did a little shopping and napping. I have also used the time to catch up on this page before we head out for dinner with Alex and Jayne at the The Quarterdeck which has good reviews.
Monday August 7
Alex at the top of the slide at Lake Banook
We have had a busy week with Andrew and Alex. On Tuesday we went to Rainbow Haven Beach in the morning. Andrew was happy to chase the waves without getting fully immersed but Alex was not impressed at all by the temperature of the water (cold).
On Wednesday, we stopped in at Two If By Sea Café for coffee and treats before taking the ferry over to the Halifax waterfront. We walked the length of the boardwalk stopping at the submarine playground and then at the Discovery Centre where we spent a happy couple of hours. We had lunch at Café Chianti near Pier 21. Afterwards Katy, Alex and Ann drove back home so Alex could nap (Ben had driven the car over and met us at the Discovery Centre) while Ben, Andrew and I walked back to the ferry. After playing at the playground in the park by the ferry terminal on the Dartmouth side, Katy picked us up and took us home.
On Thursday afternoon, after naps, we went to the Dartmouth waterfront to check out a magician who was performing as part of the Buskers Festival. After the show we had fish and chips at Evan's Seafood and then checked out the fun fair that has temporarily taken over the ferry terminal parking lot. Andrew and Alex were each allowed to go on one ride before we went home.
On Friday afternoon, Ingrid, Mike and Alex, Carl, Roxanne and Abby, and Jim and Valerie came over for a garden party in our back yard. Abby has been visiting from California for the past two or three weeks and we hadn't seen her for years. We ordered enough pizza for all for dinner.
That evening Andrew had a nasty coughing fit and was having some difficulty breathing, so Katy and Ann took him to the IWK, our local children's hospital. He was diagnosed with a viral infection that was giving him croup, and given a steroid to reduce the swelling in his airways. The following morning he seemed fine again.
Both Andrew and Alex have also been helping me in the garden. I am expanding a flower bed and filtering stones from the soil: they both helped dig. Alex was also insistent that he help me water my vegetables.
Ben, Katy, Andrew and Alex left on Saturday morning to spend this week with Ben's parents.
Yesterday Ann and I went for a ride with the Ramblers around the Aspotogan Peninsula. It was a lovely day and not too hot, so perfect for biking. The route follows the seashore down to Bayswater Beach and passes through several picturesque fishing villages: very scenic. In the evening we went to the grounds of Mount Hope (which used to be called the Nova Scotia Hospital and is the hospital which treats mental illnesses) to watch the Natal Day fireworks. It has been quite a while since we bothered to go and we had a very good view so we both enjoyed it.