Another day in the clouds

Upper Kingsburg, NS

April 24, 2013

A typically foggy Spring day down by the coast.  

Warm air temps and cold ocean temps produce lots of fog.  It is often quite the contrast from inland locales where it is sunny and warm while it is cold and foggy behind the beach.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  

At the very least, all that moisture in the air must be good for my complexion, right?

Another day in paradise

South Shore, NS

April 28, 2013

Local ripper spotted this afternoon.  He makes it look easy.

How cold is that water?

Current ocean temp at Hirtle's:

~6 C

She's warmin' up....slowly.

What's on this weekend? Roast Beef! Fried Bologna! Variety!

Another sure sign of spring, more church and fire department food fundraisers.  I'm hoping to hit the Mahone Bay Roast Beef Supper, if only to snag a slice of the ever elusive checkerboard cake!

If fried bologna is your thing, Chester Basin Legion is the place to be this weekend.

Enjoy the sun, everyone!

Breakfasts

April 27
Royal Canadian Legion #23, Lunenburg,

7:30-11:30 a.m. 

Adults $7; ages 5-12, $3. 

Takeout available for pick-up $7.50. 634-4215

Saturday, April 27, 

Newfie Breakfast

Chester Basin Legion. 

7:30-10:30

Menu selections and take-out available.

Saturday, April 27, 

Firemen's Breakfast, United Communities Fire Hall, Cherry Hill. 

8- 11 a.m. 

Adults $7, 5- 12 years $3.25, under 5 free.

Sunday, April 28, 

Brunch. 

Royal Canadian Legion Br. #49, Mahone Bay.

9 a.m.- 1 p.m. 

Adults $7.00, $3.00 for children, ages 5 and under free. 

Suppers

Saturday, April 27

Casserole and Salad Supper,

Springfield fire hall

4:30- 6 p.m.

Adults $8; ages 6-12, $4; 5 and under free. 

Proceeds Springfield Baptist Church.

Saturday, April 27

Roast Beef Supper.

St. James Anglican Parish Hall, Mahone Bay

4:30-6:30 p.m.

Adults $10, children 5- 12 $5, under 5 free. Takeouts available

Sunday April 28

Variety Dinner, 

Forties Community Centre, Forties, New Ross,

4-6 p.m. 

Adults $10; children 5-12; $5; preschoolers free. 

Entertainment provided by Unity Lodge #4, Lunenburg. Auction to follow dinner. 

Organized by the Brothers of Norwood Lodge #135, New Ross Proceeds for their Special Needs Programs.

First South Variety Supper: Table Cake Staging Area

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

First South, NS

April 21, 2013

I mustered up the nerve to ask permission to take photos of the room where all the desserts were located.  The kind woman guarding the sweets room graciously accommodated my photo request.  After I took one shot she felt the need to tidy up the presentation.  I think she was surprised that I wanted to take a picture of her moving the cakes around.  I told her it was an 'action shot'.

So many delicious cakes.  I enjoyed my slice of carrot cake, though the nearby chocolate cake also looked excellent!

Have satin jacket, will travel

First South, NS

April 21, 2013

I'm glad I snapped this shot, it was a spur of the moment capture.  

I was headed towards the open door, in search of the washroom when I saw this couple heading for the parking lot.  They represented the majority of attendees at the variety supper.  Odds are pretty good they were driving a Buick. ^_^

First South Variety Supper: Squares

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

First South, NS

April 21. 2013

I've written at length about this supper in the past.  Thankfully, nothing has changed since the last time I attended.  

While we were waiting to be seated I overheard a report from a nearby diner:

"No beef tongue."
"No beef tongue?"

"Nope, there ain't no beef tongue this yea-ah"

She's ruin't, I thought.  Somehow we soldiered on without the choice of beef tongue from the meat platter.

Luckily, we got served before the scalloped potatoes ran out.  They were excellent.

I sat across from an elderly gentlemen who polished off a solid 3 - 4 pieces of table cake and as many squares as he could manage.  His daughter kept looking over at him incredulously, he was a sweets eating machine!  

I managed to down a lemon'y square and a piece of carrot cake before my teeth started hurting from the sugar.  As you can see from the image above, there was a wide selection of squares!

More pics to follow from Sunday's event, stay tuned!

The First Five Years: Book Launch

 Middle Lahave, NS

April 22, 2013

The sky was full of gorgeous clouds and the air was warm this past Sunday as we made our way to Nancy Tracey's book launch at the gorgeous St. Mark's Place.  Anyone who's driven down Route 332 in Lunenburg County will instantly recognize this iconic structure.

Once we made our way inside to the packed space, we were treated to songs by Nancy's husband Gregg Tracey, an accomplished local print maker and luthier.  As you can see, the renovation effort on St. Mark's both inside and out spared no expense.  It is truly an amazing space:

 Middle Lahave, NS

April 22, 2013

Nancy gave a very interesting talk about the topics covered in her book, The First Five Years.  If you are interested in early childhood development, I highly recommend picking up a copy.

After numerous cups of delicious coffee and as many great chats, we made our way to the equally excellent variety supper in First South.  Stay tuned for pics from that event!

Full English Breakfast: Glasgow Style

Glasgow, Scotland

June 28, 2013

A classic full English breakfast, served up in a neighbourhood greasy spoon.  

Here's what's on the plate (clockwise), starting with a lorne sausage at the bottom.  Yes, that square thing.  Tastes just like any other processed breakfast link/sausage you've ever tried but the meat was a bit coarser than links .  Next up is some breakfast ham, a greasy egg, baked beans in the middle, delicious blood pudding and a tattie scone.  The tattie scone and lorne sausage are apparently what makes this a Scottish version of a full English.  

The blood pudding tasted similar to our local Lunenburg pudding...basically lots of blood and spices to cover up the flavour of the blood.  The toast was thin and drenched in margarine.  No nutritional value in those soggy slabs, that's for sure.  Jamie Oliver would not be best pleased.

All in all, a great way to start a day of travel.  I think I read somewhere that you should eat a lot of protein before a flight...at least, that's what I kept telling myself as I scarfed it all down.

Why blackhouses are called blackhouses

Arnol blackhouse

Arnol, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

June 27, 2012 

These shots are from the Arnol blackhouse museum on the Isle of Lewis.  As you may have noticed, there is no chimney in the structure, simply an open peat fire burning in the middle of the room.  The smoke seeps out through the cracks in the walls and the thatched roof, leaving plenty of soot behind.  Hence, the name: blackhouse.  This structure was occupied in this manner until the 1960's and remains a great example of an original blackhouse.

Arnol blackhouse

Arnol, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

June 27, 2012

The acrid smell of the peat smoke was overpowering, I had to leave the building several times to get a gasp of fresh air.  As you can see in the image above, there was plenty of smoke in the air....inside!  I can't imagine what it would have felt like to live around an open peat fire for your entire life.

If you find yourself in the Outer Hebrides, be sure to visit the Arnol Blackhouse and the nearby Gearrannan Blackhouse village.  If you want to step back in time, consider spending a night in one of the blackhouses at Gearrannan!  Don't worry, they have chimneys.

That's no moon...oh wait, it IS the moon

Upper Kingsburg, NS

Feb. 25, 2013

I tried messing around with night photography back on a cold and clear February night.  As you can see, the illumination from the moon was more than enough to take a photo.  I didn't feel like messing around with my tripod so I sat the camera on the deck to steady it.  I love how the clouds look bathed in the moonlight.

Isle of Lewis: Drive-by Peat Harvesting

Isle of Lewis, Scotland

June 27, 2012

This shot was taken from the car on our way to the Callanish standing stones.  It was very common to see dark strips of exposed peat being harvested on Harris and Lewis.  

We lucked out with the weather during our stay, this was one of the few rainy days we experienced during our trip.  That darn sun just kept following us wherever we travelled!

What's on this weekend? Breakfast, Tea AND Dinner!

A bit of everything this weekend.  I must try the St. Martin's breakfast at some point, looks like a great spread of food!  The Spring brunch and sale in Petite is always great, well worth checking out.  The Sunday supper in Riverport looks great as well.

Breakfasts

April 13

Hebbs Cross Fire Department, 

7- 11 a.m.

Homemade baked beans, eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, toast, tea, coffee, juice.

Price $7, children $3.

Saturday, April 13, 

St. Martin's Anglican Church hall, Martin's River.

7:00 - 11:30 a.m.,  

Scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, pancakes, hash browns, baked beans, tea, coffee, juice. 

Adults $7, children 5 and up $3, children under 5 free. 

Proceeds for St. Martin's Restoration Fund.

Teas/Luncheons

Saturday, April 13

Spring Brunch and Sale,

Wesley United Church hall, Petite Riviere

11 a.m. - 2 p.m., 

Menu of quiche, salad, desserts. 

$8.

Bake table, crafts, silent auction. 

Sponsored by St. Andrew's Church, Crousetown.

Suppers

April 14

Riverport community centre

4:30 6:30 p.m.

Ham, Scalloped Potato and Baked Bean Supper 

Adults $12; children 6-12 $6; under 5 free. 

Sponsored by Riverport Lions Club

Just another sunny day on Hirtle's Beach

Hirtle's Beach, NS

March 29, 2013

A shot of the back side of Hirtle's Beach, Dublin Bay can be seen in the distance.  A great day for a hike out to Gaff Point!

St. Norbert's Big Breakfast Review

Central United Church Hall

Lunenburg, NS

April 6, 2013

This was my second visit to the 'big breakfast'.  I decided to limit myself to a normal size breakfast (for once).  It was a brisk and chilly Saturday, though that didn't stop the crocuses from popping up around the entrance to the church hall.  Hopefully a harbinger of Spring 'proper'.

The hall was 2/3 full when we arrived, unfortunately we arrived just after ~10 other hungry breakfast'ers so it took a while to work through all of their orders before our food finally arrived.  No matter, this is a fundraiser after all!  While we waited, I took a couple shots of the space when the sun decided to come out and made for some nice light, like this one:

 Central United Church Hall

Lunenburg, NS

April 6, 2013

Eventually, our plates arrived and we dug in.  For those who are unaware of the menu selections, there's a reason they call this the big breakfast.  I could have ordered every type of eggs and pancakes and sausage and an order of white toast.  I decided to stop at a rash of bacon, whole wheat toast, beans and 2 sunny side up eggs.  I really enjoyed the beans, though I should have ordered dry toast; it arrived sopping wet with margarine.  Oh well, lesson learned for the next time.

 Central United Church Hall

Lunenburg, NS

April 6, 2013

During our meal one of the volunteers announced that they were drawing tickets for the afghan raffle, just to make sure we were all witnesses.  I doubt there are many shenanigans when it comes to church breakfast raffles, maybe there is a story here that I'm missing.....

As the weather gets warmer, there will be more community suppers on offer.  Stay tuned for more church supper, fireman's breakfast and other community fundraiser food reviews!

Gaff Point/Hartling Bay

Gaff Point, NS

March 29, 2013

I'm not sure if Gaff Point is considered Kingsburg or Upper Kingsburg.  I do know it is an excellent hike if you have the time.  We had a great time hiking the point on the Easter long weekend, luckily the weather cooperated.  

The efforts of the Kingsburg Coastal Conservancy did not go unnoticed, especially on the wet portion of the trail.  The walkways that were constructed last year are excellent and kept our feet nice and dry!

If you haven't checked out one of my favourite corners of planet earth, I highly recommend it!

Signs of Spring: Snowdrops

Upper Kingsburg, NS

April 2, 2013

It's always reassuring to see this small patch of snowdrops pop up every Spring, even when they are surrounded by snow.  

Also spotted in the yard, daffodils and lungwort (?) blossoms!  What a gorgeous weekend.  

For all those complaining about it being cold, seasonal norms for coastal Lunenburg County are daytime highs of ~7 C, lows of -1.  Sorry folks, this weather is 'normal'.

What's on this weekend? Lotsa breakfasts!

I hope you weren't craving a community/church supper this weekend...but if you are hungry for breakfast you are in luck!

Breakfasts

April 6, Saturday

Italy Cross, Middlewood and district fire hall. 

7- 11 a.m. 

Adults $7; children (5-12) $3.50. 

Everyone welcome.

Saturday, April 

Pinehurst hall, 

6, 7 - 11 a.m. 

$7 per person.

April 6, 

Chester Basin Fire Hall

7:30-10:30 a.m.

Various menu selections.

April 6

St. Norbert's Parish Big Breakfast 

Central United Church Hall, Lincoln Street, Lunenburg

7:30- 11:30 a.m. 

Eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast and pancakes with juice, coffee and tea. 

Adults $7, children under 12, $3.50

Upper Kingsburg Sunset

Upper Kingsburg, NS

March 30, 2013

A shot from the end of a glorious sunny day.  Actually, the whole weekend was pretty damn nice!

Hartling Bay, West Ironbound Island & Gaff Pt.

Upper Kingsburg, NS

March 9, 2013

It was a frothy day in the ocean earlier in March when I took this shot.  The shining sun and gorgeous clouds were a pleasant bonus.