Isle Madame

Today was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot.  We decided to take a little road trip to Isle Madame, specifically, we were interested in visiting the Pebble & Fern Market Garden.  After winding around the roads of Isle Madame, we finally ended up at Little Anse which is on a small island off of the main island of Isle Madame which is itself an island off of Cape Breton Island.  The garden is wonderful; very whimsical with its driftwood adornments.  Its a wonder anything grows here but these two ladies have managed to plant a beautiful garden and make their living with it.

After an extensive visit of the gardens and buying some fresh vegies, we continued on our way around the island.  Before leaving this community, we had to stop and get a picture of these whimsical characters.  

I

Our next stop was Pondville Beach - a full kilometer of sandy beach where we took the dogs for a walk.  Continuing on our drive, we passed through D'Escousse.  The Groundswell B & B and Pub really stuck out with its vibrant yellow and turquoise paint job and this most peculiar moose statue.  

Trying to Catch Up

This has been another busy week.   When we moved here, I thought I would have more time to work on my fiber arts projects but instead I seem to have less time.  We did accomplish a fair bit last week:  we had some landscaping done although it doesn't look like much right now,  we ordered a wood stove and arranged for a chimney to be installed and we ordered a greenhouse.  Its pretty much impossible to have a garden here without one.  The summers are so short and cool that you really need to extend the season with a greenhouse.

Last week we were at the beach walking the dogs.  At the far end of the beach there is a grassy bluff and a cliff of about 10 feet down to the shoreline.  All of a sudden, we realized we were missing Pearl.  We looked down over the edge of the cliff, and there she was down at the shoreline, rolling in something disgusting.  We were wondering how we were going to get her back up and exploring how we could get down to the shoreline, when up she came over the edge.  I don't know how she got down there or how she got back up but we will be keeping a much closer eye on her in that area.

Before

After

Last week, I also recovered our dining room chairs.  We bought this set on Kijiji and I have wanted to recover them since we bought the set.  The existing fabric was very traditional and I didn't really like the colors.  The move to the new house inspired me to finally get it done. The new fabric looks like waves and I just love it.  Here are the before and after results.

Jinny Beyer MoonGlow

Some time ago I purchased a Jinny Beyer quilt kit called Moonglow.  I really liked the pattern and the colors and I didn't pay attention to the fact that it was designated an advanced kit.  After watching several videos on paper piecing and y-seams and consulting with Judy E., this week I finally got started on it.  My goal is to make one block per week.  One down, 25 more to go.  I am really not happy with the borders on this first block so will likely redo them at the end.  The kit seems to be fairly generous with the fabric amounts provided so I will probably have enough fabric to redo them but won't do that till I am sure.   This first block took me hours to put together but I feel confident that I will get better and faster with the rest of the blocks.
                                               
I have also been working on a whimsical cushion for our new home.  This starfish is appliqued, embellished with decorative stitches and the center part is a piece of an old earring.  I went out of my comfort zone and made piping for the outer edge (thanks Judy E. for showing me how to do this).  I am quite happy with this cushion and am planning some other ones.






We almost got taken in by a scam today.  We put our RV up for sale and advertised it on Kijiji.  This morning I received a text from a man in Yukon saying he wanted to purchase it and he would have it shipped out to him, but he would transfer the money to us via PayPal prior to having the RV picked up.  Well immediately bells started going off in our heads as our experience has been that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  After several emails back and forth, we suggested that he send the money to our lawyer in trust.  Our lawyer would keep the money in trust until he took possession of the unit.  We received one more email after that in which he stated that he preferred to deal with people directly and that was then end of that.  It would have been so easy to be taken in by this individual.

Swim the Canal Event Makes the Front Page

Check this out. Swim the Canal made the front page of the newspaper.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2016-08-07/article-4609121/Swim-the-Canal-event-in-St.-Peter%26rsquo%3Bs-a-success/1

Swim the Canal

Yesterday was a big day in St. Peter's with The Swim the Canal event.  This event started three years ago as a means to raise money to preserve our lighthouse.  The event has grown tremendously since the first year with over 180 swimmers this year.  The first year we had 77 swimmers.  As the event grows, other organizations are interested in participating.  This year, we had a log roller and ax thrower, a hotdog stand, a martial arts demonstration and vendors selling jewelry and herbal vinegar and oils.  There was musical entertainment before the swim and after the swim there was fresh fruit, water and tee shirts for the swimmers.  Everyone had a great time and many are already marking it on their calendars to return next year.  Here are some pictures from the event.

Getting Ready for Registration

Waiting for the Bus

Little Mermaids

Swimming with my Dog

 

The Locks open and everyone comes through

The Log Roller

The Ax Thrower

Spice & Herb Jars

I've always wanted to have a set of matching spice and herb jars.  I hated the mismatched jars.   I seized the opportunity to do this when packing up the house in Ontario.  I started by throwing out all the old jars and their contents.  I found some 4 ounce jars at the dollar store so I bought quite a few.  I then found some round labels and printed out the spice and herb names.  I'm very pleased with the result.

This has been a busy week.  Wednesday I took my parents to have lunch with some friends. Four people in their eighties and me; both men are blind and have mobility issues.   Thursday I took my mom shopping and on the way home we saw a doe standing at the side of the road with two fawns.  I tried to take a picture but I was too far away.

After falling in the water earlier in the week with my phone in my pocket, I had to replace it as it no longer worked.  The new phone was free but I had to pay out the rest of my contract which was $500.00 so the phone really wasn't free.