Toby and the Magic Mist

Toby is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and he lives up to the retriever part very well. In the summer we go to the little beach here in the Village nearly every day and throw sticks or a ball into the water for him. He plunges into the water without reservation and brings the object back, dropping it at my feet every time. And he never wants to quit. I also take him to open areas and throw a soft(foam covered in sturdy cloth) frisbee for him. He loves to charge after it and pluck it out of the air as it flies. My phrase has been, "if I can get it up in the air, he can catch it". This is all very much fun and pretty cool but like many things, compulsiveness is not always endearing.

The bad part of Toby's retrieving craziness is that he cannot be around a snow shovel. As soon as the blade is dipped in snow he becomes a monster. If I try to gently lift the snow and set it down he will be under the shovel biting at it and trying to swallow the snow. This usually leads to him getting hit in the head or the mouth with the shovel. If I'm more careful and avoid him by throwing the snow a little higher, he leaps and tries to catch the snow just like it was a frisbee. Although this behaviour is hilarious to watch, it's very frustrating to try to get the job done with a dog flying around the work area. Recently, I was shovelling the sidewalk for friends who are basking in the Florida sunshine and Toby was with me. His shenanigans were so distracting that I had to lock him in the car. But, so keen was he that he howled and barked from inside the car every time I lifted a shovelful of snow. I have included a couple of photos of him jumping and landing in the magic mist and leaping for a frisbee.

This week's snowfall was about 30-35cms deep before it stopped. In fact we had another few with the light flurries that continued for a day or two after the storm ended. After each storm our neighbour, who runs a gas station, clears the snow from our 12 car parking lot. I'm always amazed at the old tractor he uses for a snowblower. It's hard to believe that the thing still works. But it does a pretty good job still and I'm glad to see that Charles, the owner, has managed to keep it going all of these years. Nowadays, after every storm, the village is cleaned up by by a few modern four-wheel drive diesel tractors with heated compartments and stereos. The young drivers do their work in T-shirted comfort. Not like the old days when we had to 'walk 30 miles through waist deep snow just to'.....

No Pizza Tonight, Sugar

As I sit here typing, the snow continues to fall. So far today we have had 10 cms(4 in) or so and the forecast is calling for 30 cms before it's over. Needless to say, our Tuesday night supper is cancelled and there are at least a dozen women disappointed to miss a winter gastronomic event. We are now wondering what to do with all the ingredients for a half dozen large homemade gourmet pizzas. I guess we will be offering pizza for our special this Friday. Or, maybe my loyal reader will call in and order one. I'll deliver if you wish.

This snowy winter weather is a great setup for our impending vacation in Florida. N and I are looking forward to our trip. Not only are we staying with Pugwash friends, we know of several other couples who will be in the same area when we're there. So, I'm expecting some get togethers. Remember folks. What happens in Florida stays in Florida. But really, a little sun and sand at this time of year is a welcome relief.

When we return, I expect we'll hear our customers asking us to be open more often in the off-season. Pugwash is a wasteland for eateries in the Fall and Winter. The Sandpiper is closed for the season, the Hillcrest has closed for good. The Ahoy Mate pub is closed and Shillelagh Sheila's Country Inn is also closed for the season. That leaves the Chatterbox Cafe which is also closed for the season, almost. There are plenty of opportunities to serve the market in a greater way, but we were attracted here by the seasonal nature of the Cafe. It's tempting to open for longer but we remember those 100 hour weeks in the summer when all we could think about was our leisurely winter break.

And N needs her time to create her beautiful paintings. Here is a sample of one of my favourites.Later, in the Spring, I'll try posting some of her new paintings which are in the works now as she prepares for a gallery show in Lunenburg this Spring. With her permission of course. What are you doing to keep the winter's blues away?

A Gripping Adventure at the Beach

Lately our weather has been variable. We have had days with temperatures in the -25C range with wind chills making it feel like -35C. And we have had some days where the mercury rose to the positive side. This morning it was raining and the forecast is for temperatures falling back to the numbing ones again. Needless to say, with all of this change, we have some very icy patches lurking around and under thin layers of snow. This is a recipe for broken bones. Or at least embarrasing moments. Toby and I generally go for about three walks each day and lately it has been so slippery that, even with four legs, he has had trouble getting a grip. So far, I've fallen three times. Thankfully, I've only ended up with a few bruises. More importantly, my falls have all been in the dark so I don't think anyone saw me go down.

But Santa came to the rescue! In my stocking I received a new pair of ice grippers. These stretchy rubbers pull over shoes or boots and present several small steel studs between my sole and the ice. Suddenly, I am able to skip across icy surfaces and climb frozen slopes as if it was summer. Well, almost. The little studs really do dig in to the ice and provide stability and confidence to an old guy. So now, when we go out, poor Toby has to wait while I put on several layers to keep warm and then struggle with my Grippers. By the time I'm ready to go he is usually dancing with his legs crossed by the back door. But now he can't drag me in an out-of-control slide along the street while I wave my arms for balance and implore him to, "Take it easy on me, Buddy".

Yesterday the Cafe was open for the usual Friday fare. Around noon my friend Alan dropped in as he was on a trip from New Brunswick back home to Halifax. He decided to stop in to the Cafe to see if I wanted to join him for a hike over to his cottage. Oh boy, I thought. This will be an adventure!. You see Alan's cottage is on an island in an inlet of the Northumberland Strait called Fox Harbour. He was proposing that we hike across the ice to the island where we would check to make sure the building was secure. It was a beautiful afternoon with temperatures about -12C and sunny. The wind was blowing in off the Strait so it required us to bundle up well to keep warm. I donned my trusty Grippers and confidently crossed the ice with nary a slip. Unfortunately the Grippers don't hold well on my worn out winter boots and I had to take a number of embarassing backtracks to locate my lost studs, but all in all they worked out pretty well. The cottage was in good shape and all doors and windows were well closed. Although we didn't stay very long it was a wonderful two hour hike in a glorious winter setting.

I couldn't help but think of the contrast between the beach in our favourite summer season and the way it is now. It is no less beautiful in the winter. As I walked across the ice, squinting from the glare, I thought of the summer days when the sand can get so hot that you have to put sandals back on or head to the water to cool your feet off. And I'm sure that I'll be able to keep cool at the beach next summer by just closing my eyes and remembering the day we had yesterday. Since Alan suggested we take another hike out to the island this winter and stay overnight, there may be a continuing story here. Stay tuned.

Have you got any favorite places where the contrast between seasons is dramatic? And more importantly, do you like them equally?

It's All a Blurrrr.....

Well, it's been a while. I just can't seem to get my thoughts organized to write something thoughtful and creative. So, once again, I'll just ramble and see what happens. The harbour is completely frozen over now and the shipping season ended with that barge load headed for Mulgrave. What have I been doing? It seems like Christmas lasted a month. Indeed it is that long since Christmas-by-the-Sea and we were busy.

We were invited to a few gatherings during December at peoples' homes in the area and enjoyed celebrating with them. On the 18th, we hosted our annual Christmas party. The Cafe was decorated and the tree was in the front window. We had a large turnout of about 60 people. All of them have become friends and customers since we moved here. I am touched by the love and support we have received. We ate and drank and there was wall-to-wall chatter.

A week later N and I drove to our daughter's house near Halifax to spend Christmas with the family. This year we were fortunate to meet and share it with the fiance's parents. In all there were seven adults. And, oh yeah, between us we also had six dogs and two cats. But it all worked well and we had a lovely time with stockings, presents and turkey. During that trip we also went to a Christmas Eve gathering with old friends and stayed in the City long enough to take in our Boxing Day movie(I actually liked this one. Called Slumdog Millionaire, it was worth the watch).

We arrived back in Pugwash and spent a day getting re-organized. Then we went to our Farm in Wallace Bay where we were joined by Jon & Karen. We went for walks in the snow, played games, ate and drank too much, read books by the fire and of course, I performed my New Year's au naturel run around the house in the snow. We were there from Sunday thru New Year's and arrived home in time to open the Cafe on Friday morning. There was a 24 hour blizzard on New Years and I had to shovel some rather large snow drifts before our guests could come in. The open areas were blown clear by the 120 kmph winds but there were huge drifts in many places. Storm surges had driven ice up onto the shore and driving was impossible for a day or so.

Now that the holidays are over, I have been trying to get our year-end completed and things are settling in. The curling rink has offered a nice diversion as I have been playing 2 or 3 times a week. N goes occasionally too. On Thursday she left on her annual writers' retreat to an abbey in Rogersville, NB. She and a few other women take the train and spend 10 days together with daily periods set aside for writing and personal relection. Meanwhile I'll be doing the cooking and running the Cafe by myself.

Did you receive any Christmas gifts that were fun or special? I did. I got some good books and some things I find useful such as a new digital kitchen thermometer and a coin sorter. But there are a couple of items I specially wanted to note. From my daughters I received a 2 day/5 draw package of tickets to the World Curling Championships being held in Moncton in April. I will surely attend those games to see the best teams in the world. And I also received 2 CDs with impossible to find music from John Allen Cameron and Gene MacLellan which I will treasure. It seems that my friend received a turntable for Christmas last year which is designed to play and digitize LPs. Ever since then I have been bugging her about not having copied any of her records yet. So, to shut me up, I have been rewarded. But doesn't she realize that now I'll probably be even more of a pain?

Thanks to everyone for making our holiday season so wonderful! I hope yours was just as much fun.

Did You Feel the Earth Move?

The other night at midnight we were lying in bed and N said, "Did you feel the Earth move?". I thought about that question for a moment and how I should respond. Finally I said, "Uh huh, that was great!".
Then she said, "No jerk face; that was the explosion at the mine".
"Oh, of course. That's what I meant", I replied.

Every night near midnight, we do feel the earth shake briefly. That's the time that there is the daily blast at the Windsor Salt mine. I understand that each of these explosions generates another 5000 tons of the white stuff. Did you know that, according to Windsor Salt Company, there are over 14000 uses for salt? Much of the salt produced at the mine in Pugwash is used as road salt but table salt and water softener salt is also processed here. There were over 30 shipments by salt boat or barge this season and now that winter is closing in upon us, the shipping season will soon be complete. But for now the shipments continue. Recently the barge "Sault au Cochon" arrived to collect a load. I managed to snap a photo as it was being pushed out of the harbour by the tug, "Tony MacKay". With winter storms raging through the region, I wondered how difficult it would be for a tug boat to handle a fully laden barge out on the Strait and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I think that this load was just going to Mulgrave in the Canso Strait so it would only take a few hours. The skipper must put a lot of faith in the Marine forecast.

I started this post a few days ago and felt that that could have been the last shipment of the season, but since then, the same tug and barge have returned to get another load. Surely that must be the end of things as the harbour has started to ice over this week. Presently we are having a severe winter storm with official wind warnings, snowfall warnings and storm surge warnings. With wind gusts near 80 kph I wouldn't want to be out in any boat today.

Christmas-by-the-Sea

For many years Pugwash had a very successful manufacturer of pewter products that attracted buyers from far and wide. In the Fall each year they and other merchants organized an event called Merry Madness which attracted hundreds of shoppers to Pugwash. Alas, Seagull Pewter no longer manufactures here and the 'big draw' no longer exists. In an effort to revive the event and create the excitement of those heady years, a committee of the Chamber of Commerce organized a community event which they called Christmas-by-the-Sea. It was held for the first time in 2007 and was reasonably successful. But the 2008 version of CBTS was larger and even more successful. The event was held over 2 days, Friday and Saturday and featured a number of activities around the Village. There was a Tree Fest featuring over 30 trees decorated by members of various community groups and businesses. There was a chowder supper at the Curling Club, family activities at the High School, a dessert fest at the Cumberland Lodge, readings and a sing-along at our Cafe, and a Parade of Light through the Village which culminated with the lighting and hanging stars of Peace on the Village Christmas tree. There were several other events held as well. Almost all of them were well attended and a wonderful spirit of sharing and co-operation was created.

We were open as usual on Friday, but this week we added Saturday afternoon to our hours and hosted a reading and sing-along event. We had eight people who are known throughout the community read a short Christmas story or poem. Some of the readers offered their personal works and others read something a little more traditional. The Cafe was full with about 30 people and all were enthusiastic. The crowd contained young school aged children and senior citizens. I was particularly moved by the poem of peace written by Maya Angelou entitled Amazing Peace. Its simple message gave everyone a chance to reflect on what Peace means to them. The afternoon concluded with Ben Smith leading the audience in singing some Christmas songs. All in all the weekend was a great success and already the organizers are thinking of ways to make next year's CBTS even bigger and better.

It's a real reward to find something that brings the Villagers together and leaves them with a feeling of peaceful togetherness. On Friday evening after the tree was lit we stood around it and sang Christmas carols. Some of us had lights and some of us had copies of the lyrics. I shone my light on a young man's page and we sang the words together. I had never met him before but at the end of the caroling he turned to me introduced himself and shook my hand. It was one of those special moments that makes these things worthwhile. What will you be doing this holiday season that will give you that warm fuzzy feeling and verify once again that there is still hope for humanity?

Not Happening Today

Even though the Chatterbox is closed for the season we still prepare Tuesday night suppers, open Fridays from 10-2 and hold other events. During the last few weeks N has organized a series of workshops. There were watercolour, creative writing, hand built pottery and introductory music sessions. Today she had another watercolour workshop planned. The soup is made, salad materials bought, tables brought up from the basement and all ready to go.

But, mother nature got in the way again. We are hunkered down and watching our first blizzard of the season blast its way through. Power outages are being reported throughout the Maritimes and so far we have about 30 cms of snow. I had to lean my weight against the door this morning to get Toby out for a brief walk. The harbour is angry and sending spray up over the rocks. Needless to say the workshop is canceled and it looks like I'll be eating soup and salad for the next few days.

For those of you who have enjoyed a seat on our deck in the summer, here is a picture taken this morning. For those who have not sat on the deck in the summer here is a picture of what you missed. We'd love to have you come for a sit next season. You too can enjoy a nice lunch or a refreshing beverage. We had many happy customers this season but few were more laid back and contented that our young friend, Avery shown here in one of his more relaxing poses.