Camping at Lake Rossignol

It’s a holiday weekend in Nova Scotia (and in many of the other provinces).The holiday is known by a variety of names in different provinces and municipalities, including British Columbia Day in British Columbia, New Brunswick Day in New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan Day in Saskatchewan. In Alberta, Heritage Day is an “optional” civil holiday, having been downgraded from a statutory holiday following the introduction of Family Day in 1990.

The holiday is celebrated as Natal Day in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, but is not an official holiday in either locale.

Unlike most holidays, there is not much of a reason for the Civic Holiday to exist, other than its timing. Between Canada Day and Labour Day there are no recognizable holidays, one of the longest stretches on the Canadian calendar without a holiday. Thus, this contrived holiday was placed roughly halfway between Canada Day and Labour Day.

Cameron and I decided to spend part of the long weekend camping at Lake Rossignol. Lake Rossignol is the largest freshwater lake in Nova Scotia and is located in the south-western area of the province.

The lake was quite choppy in the afternoon so we spent our time setting up the tent and establishing a fire pit. Come evening the wind had died away and the lake was lovely and calm. Our first thought was to jump in for a swim but this is as far as we got…

Although the lake is large and shallow the water wasn’t very warm. We decided to take the canoe out instead. After a paddle we cooked dinner and spent a pleasant evening by the camp fire. We had however managed to set our tent up over some serious tree roots and hence we were awake by 5:30am! It was lovely watching the sun rise whilst being out on the water canoeing.

We decided to have breakfast before heading back to civilization.

The road to civilization:

Oreo Flavored Blizzard

To many an Oreo flavored Blizzard is a yummy ice cream treat from Dairy Queen. It consists of ice cream combined with chunks of oreo cookie.

To us an Oreo Blizzard has a slightly different meaning:

BLIZZARD

Blizzard

OREO

We adopted both kitty’s from SHAID Animal Shelter. We’ve had Oreo a little under a year and Blizzard has now been with us for almost a week. SHAID (Sheltering Helpless Animals In Distress) provides temporary care and shelter to helpless animals in distress, be they abandoned, homeless or relinquished and they try to place as many as possible into responsible and caring homes. They are always happy to accept donations whether it’s cash or food/litter, etc.

Visit their website today – SHAID

Canada Day Celebrations

Frequently referred to as “Canada’s birthday”, the occasion marks the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on July 1, 1867.

Most communities across the country will host organized celebrations for Canada Day, usually outdoor public events, such as parades, carnivals, festivals, barbecues, air and maritime shows, fireworks, and free musical concerts,as well as citizenship ceremonies for new citizens (we’re not quite at that stage yet). In the South Shore region, New Germany is famous for it’s Canada Day celebrations. This year there was a Children’s Parade, which we didn’t see, and then an Ox Pull:

The Ox pull lasted for most of the day, but we skipped out to watch the Parade in between:

Turn over for more….

Our New Home

As I am sure you are all aware by now we have finally purchased a house. It’s in a small community about 35 minutes drive from Lunenburg, called New Germany.

Map

New Germany has an approximate population of 500 people. We also have a grocery store, elementary and high schools, gas station, the all important liquor store and a few other bits and pieces including Guppy’s restaurant (more on that later). New Germany even has it’s very own website:

Website

Here is a picture of our new house. It’s small but very cute with lovely maple trees in the front garden (we’re thinking of starting our own maple syrup company)

The first weekend we got the keys we were busy painting the inside – sorry I still have to take some pictures. However, here are a few of the garden!

Cameron doing the hard work of digging up all the weeds in preparation for some new plants:

Before

A trip to the garden center and we soon had it looking pretty:

After

The next job was to get rid of the horrible old flag stone and replace it with chipped rock. Guess who that job fell too (I like demolishing things):

Not a very flattering picture but I wanted to prove that I was working hard too!

Next we got the pressure washer out and cleaned up the front of the house and the steps. What a difference it made!

There is still plenty to do. This weekend we are off hunting for some more furniture. We have plumbers coming to look at replacing the bathroom, construction men looking at our driveway and building a garage for us. It’s a busy time but lots of fun making it our own. Will post more pictures as we get the work done. I’m trying very hard to be patient and not let my “everything needs to be done now” attitude get the better of me. However, if anyone fancies a “job” (we pay in beer if you’re lucky) painting or gardening etc – give us a call!

Anniversary Celebrations (part 2)

Mum and Dad at Indian Falls, near Newburne. The river runs from Sherbrooke Lake out to the Atlantic via several other smaller lakes and the Lahave River.

Can they make it?

Cameron tries on his “old man’s beard” or maybe he was just getting a head start for the Stanley Cup Finals (hockey players do not shave so long as their team remains in the finals, meaning that the winning team usually have some rather impressive beards).

Mum and Dad check out alternative routes home since the Icelandic volcano still continues to cause some disruption…

The reason for lack of posting…

Coke Vs. Pepsi

Recently whilst browsing the internet, I came across the following video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAP2yVsgI6c

Coke Vs. Pepsi, one of those classic, age old debates. So maybe it’s about time someone tried to solve it…

First, a little history..

Cola was originally intended as a patent medicine when it was invented in the late 19th century by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.

Pepsi was first introduced as “Brad’s Drink” in New Bern, North Carolina in 1898 by Caleb Bradham, who made it at his pharmacy where the drink was sold. It was later named Pepsi Cola, possibly due to the digestive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts used in the recipe. Bradham sought to create a fountain drink that was delicious and would aid in digestion and boost energy.

So if both drinks were originally made to have similar purposes, what are the differences?

Coca-Cola is the original cola, while there isn’t a huge difference in taste, Pepsi mirrored their cola after Coke’s, being just different enough in taste to not actually be the same drink.

Pepsi tastes sweeter than Coca-Cola, This is the reason why many prefer Pepsi over Coca-Cola in a blind test but prefer Coke when drinking an entire can.

Coca-Cola has more carbonation than Pepsi depending on what region you are in. It was said that depending on where each one was made the amount of carbonation in them will be different therefore proving that neither Coca-Cola nor Pepsi have more carbonation than one another.

Both drinks are no longer seen as a beverage but mainly as a brand. Both companies commit heavily to sponsoring outdoor music festivals and even charitable projects in third world countries.

Personally, I believe that they will both successfully rot your teeth. Unless of course you opt for a diet option – in which case there is clearly only one winner!

Thee Original…

Alternative

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The Taking of Pelham 244

We’re on the move again, another rental, another spot in beautiful Lunenburg…

This time we’ve ended up in a gorgeous townhouse, on Pelham Street (walking distance to the pub again!!). The house was recently renovated from the ground up, including propping up steep original foundations on the side of Shipyard Hill – see above map.

Sitting Room No. 1

Stairway

Ensuite Bathroom

There are several pros and cons to being back in town. As mentioned we’re once again within walking distance to all amenities and work (for me). However, although we still have an ocean view it’s not quite so spectacular as the one at Blue Rocks.

Upper level deck

Another disadvantage would be our lack of garden, however, we’re only here until July and therefore it shouldn’t be too much on an issue. Oreo isn’t much into the great outdoors and prefers the heated floors anyway!

A few snowy snapshots from round n’ about!

So after a very green November and December, Nova Scotia is once again starting to look like a winter wonderland. Here are a few random snapshots we’ve taken whilst out and about the last few weeks.

Snowbanks at Walmart

Snowed In!

Follow the leader

Cameron

Snack time

Cameron spent 2 hours this morning shoveling the driveway! We have to admit that as much as we love our ocean view we are looking forward to moving back into town next month – more on that soon…

Snowshoeing

According to Wikipedia… “In the past, snowshoes were essential tools for fur traders, trappers and anyone whose life or living depended on the ability to get around in areas of deep and frequent snowfall, and they remain necessary equipment for forest rangers and others who must be able to get around areas inaccessible to motorized vehicles when the snow is deep. However, today snowshoes are mainly used for recreation, primarily by hikers and runners who like to continue their hobby in wintertime. Snowshoeing is easy to learn, and in appropriate conditions is a relatively safe and inexpensive recreational activity.”

Our experience with snow shoes began this Christmas when Cameron’s parents kindly bought us both a set – only for recreation, no fur-trapping!

Traditional Snowshoe

Our new Snowshoes

Christmas here was a non starter, with only patches of the white stuff available, however almost a foot of fresh snow in the last 24 hours made today the perfect time to try them out.

Bigfoot!

Adventuring

Too nasty a day to go very far, but a couple of circuits of our garden and driveway already showed us how much easier these big feet make winter walking. Neither of us fell over, even in the deeper drifts so we reckon our first adventure was officially a success!

Snowy feet