June 1: Cold and Windy

Yesterday we set off early to go to Port Hawkesbury. We first stopped at Brigitte's parents to pick up their dog Keisha. We then stopped at the Strait Richmond hospital to get our water sample tested--as every new homeowner should do. The instructions said that it must be dropped of between 9 and 12 Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. We were there at 11:45, only to discover that now the latest time for drop off was 11:00.

We continued on. In Cape Breton you don't actually just go out and buy what you need, as we Ontarioans do, you actually go out and shop. You have your list of what you need. Then you start shopping at the Dollarama. You then continue on to the Walmart. If there are still items on the list you go to Canadian Tire for hardware and the Atlantic Superstore for food. I even got caught up with all the bargain hunting. I wanted to get Highliner fish fillets that I like. When I found them they were $14.99. I exclaimed to Brigitte, "These were only $13.99 in St Peters and $10.99 at Zehrs". Food is significantly more expensive here and the fresh vegetables are often of dubious quality.

Next stop was the NSLC. I said to Brigitte, "I'll just pop in and get a box of wine." She replied with, "You better get two, we have to start cutting back". I looked back at her and we both laughed.

Next stop was to see the vet. Pearl and Ralph like to go to the vet as they always get lots of attention and plenty of treats. Keisha made it quite clear she didn't want to go in to the clinic. When we got into the exam room she saw the metal table and tried to go back out the door. She got a clean bill of health. Our Westies got their nails trimmed without issue.

When we left home at Corbetts Cove it was 15 degrees. In Port Hawkesbury it was 11, windy as hell. While I don't like to shop at Walmart because of their strong anti-union policy, I had to go in and buy a light windbreaker jacket for $7.00. There are not a lot of department store options in Port Hawkesbury.

Overnight the temperature went down to 1 degree and there was a heavy frost.

Sorry no pictures, more tomorrow.

Paul

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