Lupins and Roses: May 2016

Monday, 30 May 2016

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Today was a real Cape Breton rainy day. It poured all day. Fortunately yesterday was beautiful as our stuff was finally delivered. So now we are surrounded by a pile of boxes. Unpacking is a lot harder than packing, especially when the house is smaller than the previous one. Where to put everything? Pearl is trying to be helpful. There was nothing else to do today but unpack and organize. The pickup truck was delivered today, a week ahead of schedule, and Paul was happy to have it back.

The stuff didn't arrive till mid-afternoon so we had time earlier in the day to go for a walk and a refreshing dip in the lake.

Saturday, 28 May 2016

Saturday Morning

We had a busy morning today. We started by going to a garage sale where I was lucky enough to pick up a small mat, a piano stool and a huge armoire which will do very nicely for storing a lot of my fabric, all for $80. The items are definitely shabby chic and I love them (Paul definitely doesn't get it). Our truck is in transit so we had no way to get the armoire home but the people said they would deliver it, no problem and it was at the house before we got home. The picture of the armoire is not very good as it is presently lying on the garage floor abut after a coat of chalk paint and possibly some new door and drawer pulls, it will look great.

Next we made a stop at the marina to look at the boats. There was the most adorable small boat, outfitted for fishing.

While we were there, we saw a boat being taken out of storage and put into the water.

Right in the center of the village live two minature ponies. So we stopped to see them.

After a quick stop at the grocery store, it was home for lunch and then spent the afternoon doing some outside work. Tomorrow our stuff arrives so that will be a busy day unpacking and organizing.

Wednesday, 25 May 2016

May 25, 2016 Update

The past couple of days have been pretty busy trying to get settled in. This morning I reorganized a lot of the kitchen cabinets and now the flow is much better. Many of the windows had white window toppers/valances that I really did not care for so I went around and took those all down. It was a beautiful day today so we decided we would take the dogs to the beach for a beach walk. However, when we got to the beach, the fog rolled in, the temperature went way down and the beach was littered with fish carcasses. Needless to say, we cleared out of there in a hurry. We opted instead to go for a walk by the St. Peters Canal. There were many people fishing; the mackerel were just jumping out of the water. We came home and saw our first sail boat out on the lake.

There is an event in St. Peters in August which is called "Swim the Canal". I have volunteered at this event the past two years and, this year, Paul will be helping out as well. We attended a meeting for the volunteers and met a few new people.

I really must figure out how to put the pictures side by side and how to add captions. That's all the news for now.

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Brigitte

Monday, 23 May 2016

The Folks

Went up to visit my parents today. I haven's seen them since the middle of March. My dad seems to really have improved since then. He is walking much better, able to get up more easily and generally seems much brighter.

Today we had two blue herons fishing in the cove. They are so beautiful. Clearly I need a better camera to get the pictures I want.

Pearl chased a bunny and went on a little adventure of her own. Came back about 45 minutes later. I was not impressed. She keeps this up, she will be going out on a lease. She looks so innocent but don't be mistaken by that look.

Sunday, 22 May 2016

Heron

This is the heron which we saw during our first evening.

We have arrived

After a 3 day drive, we have finally arrived at our new home. We got a late start on our first day, and that combined with heavy traffic, meant we did not get to our friend's house in Pointe Claire until around 5:30. We had a lovely visit and were able to get away the next morning by 8:00 am. We made this our long day and made it to Fredericton around 6:00 pm. Up bright and early on Sunday morning meant we were able to get to our new home by 1:30.

Wednesday, 18 May 2016

Pre-moving day

Yesterday and the day before were very emotional; saying goodbye to friends. Today is the final packing day. Movers are coming tomorrow.

Thursday, 12 May 2016

Canada Census

We didn't receive any census forms but yesterday we did receive a notice to fill it out if we hadn't already done so. The notice also went on to say that we could do it online. So we went online to complete it, but in order to do it online you need the code that is on the form which we didn't receive. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and try to get through to them on the phone.

The Royal City Quilt Guild had its 25th anniversary celebration this week. The challenge issued was to make a piece using 25 shades of gray. It was very interesting to see the different designs members came up with to interpret the challenge. This was mine.

You can see some of the other very creative pieces by going to the guilds website at http://www.royalcityquiltersguild.com/ca/

Monday, 9 May 2016

10 Days to the Move

The pile of boxes in the garage is getting impressive. Not much left to pack now.

Embroidery Design for a Free-standing Flower

I came across this embroidery design for a free-standing flower. I think its very pretty. If you are a machine embroiderer, you should check it out.

The design is free. Click here to get to it: Free-standing Embroidery Flower Design

Advanced Embroidery has lots of interesting designs and they regularly have very good sales.

Saturday, 7 May 2016

The countdown is on. Less than two weeks now to moving day. Still lots to do.

This is the view from our new house.

Sunday, 1 May 2016

Threadworks 2016 Show

Today, my friend Monica and I went to Elora where we met our friend Judy for lunch. Afterwards, we headed over to the Wellington County Museum to see the Threadworks Exhibit. There were many beautiful entries and we were intrigued with the materials used and the workmanship of each of the pieces. Still haven't figured out how to add captions or put the pictures side by side but that will come.

My First Post

Its a little intimidating to sit in front of the blank screen and try to think of something to write for my first post. I hope it comes more easily in the future. I have set up this blog to keep in touch with family and friends and let them know of our new life in Cape Breton. We are heading east on May 20th, and in preparation for the big trip, I had the Westies groomed. A mobile groomer came to the house. This is the way to go, much less stress on the dogs and not much more expensive than going to the groomer. Morghan from Natural Paws Pet Grooming has a very nice setup in her trailer with a full size bathtub, grooming tables and room for all her other grooming equipment. So here they are all trimmed up and clean.

I'm having a heck of a time getting my pictures to upload. It seems straightforward but its not working for me. I'm going to take a break from this, go have my shower and come back to it a little later. Finally figured out how to insert the pictures. Now I would like to add captions to the pictures but I can't figure that out right now. The top picture is Ralph and the bottom is Pearl.