Tom, Lewie and I managed to get a Blueberry picking trip in before Tom had to go back to Quebec. Went out to Bauline and had a really nice hike. Unfortunately there was not many blueberries so we decided to pick Partridge berries as well as blueberries. I was a little daunted by having to separate the berries. I put them into the water to wash and in the morning I noticed that they separated themselves. The Partridge berries were at the top and the blueberries were at the bottom. Made cleaning them much easier.
Well it never fails. The beginning of the new school year always occurs on or slightly just after Lewie's Birthday. This year he was fortunate that it was the second day of the school year and not the first day back. He had a good birthday. Unfortunately his dad is away but he got to speak to him on the phone so that made up for it. Lewie had a Football match on his birthday. Last one of the outdoor season. His football team the Rangers where playing the gold medal match. Each season the teams have a playoff and medals are given out for gold, silver and bronze. This year Lewie's team got through and played for gold. It was a very exciting match and the teams where very evenly matched. All of the kids played really hard and seemed to really enjoy themselves. The game came down to 10 minutes of extra time. After which the score was still 0-0. It was getting quite dark so some guys drove their big monster trucks onto the field and parked across the field so that their headlights would light up the penalty box and goalie but not so that it would be in the goalie's eyes. They spent quite sometime lining it up so that it was just so. They then had penalty shoot outs. After 5 players had gone they were still even 2-2. So they had sudden death penalty. Which ever team scored with one last player would win. Lewie's team scored and his team won the gold medals. I think it is a hard way to end the season and such a good game. All of the kids did so well. There is so much potential in some of these kids. All in all he had a good birthday just a little out of the ordinary.
We went to St Pierre for our summer holidays this year. St Pierre is a little Island which is part of France in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula. We drove down to Fortune and took the Ferry across to St Pierre. We went on a Catamaran
I was surprised when we arrived how European the place is. I was expecting it to be a little like N. America because it is so close but it is really French. I knew people would speak French, but I guess I didn't know what to expect. The Roads and Houses are really very different. They have roundabouts and no traffic lights (which is a great thing). The houses are quite different. Some of them are really colourful and stand out. Some are like N. American wooden boxes with vinyl siding. Others are poured concrete houses. Some are so close together that you would not be able to get between them. As you can see in this picture this house is very colourful and close to the house next to it. 
Have a look at this house. I found them very different. This is a poured concrete house and you can also see how close together this house is to it's neighbour and still considered detached. 
Here is a very Eclectic house. It has "fish" drying on the window sill and plastic peppers hanging from the drapery. The whole of the pavement and side of the road is painted to "coordinate" with this house. It is very unique.
St Pierre is a reasonably small town and you can walk all around it in a day. We were unable to take our car so we were back packing. We spent most of the days out and about exploring the culture. Our B&B room was quite small and better only to sleep in. The shops are an interesting combination of N. American shops and French. For example we shopped in the Boulangerie for bread and went to the Magazin for stationary. All of the shops are specific for a certain item. You buy bread and cakes in the bakery and pens and stationary in the newsagent. The off license sells liquor. There is a general grocery store selling groceries. It is not like here in Canada where you can buy everything in one shop from groceries to paint to stationary/greeting cards to tools and household items. It felt out of place when we discovered Canadian shops such as Canadian Tire outlets, Home-hardware & Rona in France.
We did manage to get some climbing in. There were some cliffs we noticed on the boat ride in. We took a day and went climbing. The walk there was tiring as it is across town, over a pool of water and up the side of a cliff. Tom and I put into practice our new knowledge of knots and anchors. We climbed all day and had a brew up. 
Tom got a lot of new gear from MEC on his last trip to Montreal and we christened all of the new gear. The Nuts and Cams are no longer shiny, they are a little scratched up.
Lewie has a great love of cars and really enjoys reading about cars and watching Top Gear. He was really excited by the French Cars here. They have some American cars but mostly Citroen, Peugeot and lots of mopeds.
So I popped Home from work this morning to bring in Lewie's Paper's. I thought it was going to rain and they often just deliver them in a bundle without any protective bag or anything. I went down the driveway and was totally focused on the papers. I turned around and spotted these little guys in the hanging flower basket. I think they are babies and learning how to peck. They look a bit fluffy. They were pecking at the wood in the basket. Not sure what they found to eat but the image of them both together pecking at the basket was spectacular. Unfortunately I have not quite been able to catch that image as they moved away to the tree. One did return but the other one did not join him again. This year has been a wonderful treat for wildlife in the garden. By the Way this is Tom's Hanging Basket Design he made it using left over bits of wood and string. Quite a Cunning Idea, and yet so simple!!!!
Well Tom has been home now for 4 weeks now and is due to leave again on Tuesday to go back up to Northern Quebec, Raglean. We have had a lot of dilemmas since he has been home and time has really flown on by. Firstly we were thinking of buying a new car. Which we still are looking around for but are finding that the car we want is very desirable by others and hard to come by. Secondly Lewie wanted to get a paper route, this has cause some discussion around is he really old enough. We decided that yes this responsibility will be good for him. Lastly we have been looking for a new house. Not that there is anything wrong with our current house. It is just that we are steadily outgrowing it and space is getting limited. Of course everything always happens toward the end of Tom's time home leaving it all very rushed and chaotic. Still it hasn't stopped us taking some time and sitting back and smelling the Lilacs. I know the saying involves Roses but mine are really not that spectacular. Not like the Lilacs. They have been really amazing this year attracting all kinds of wildlife to them. They smell absolutely fantastic. If only we had smell-o-vision. Anyways we will make the right decisions and we will try not to be rushed by time as it flies by.
Lewie has entered the Workforce. I know he seems way too young!!! He has a job delivering the paper in our local neighbourhood. He has a route with 20 papers during the week and 35 on the weekend with 22 on Sunday. He seems to be getting on really well with it. He has had a few teething troubles but all in all is quite enthusiastic about his new responsibilities. He learned the hard way that carrying a paper bag over your shoulder while trying to ride a bike with heavy weekend papers in the rain is a challenging thing to do. His dad (thankfully was still home) came to the rescue and made this trailer for his bike. He is now able to deliver his papers a little faster. Not sure what he'll do when the snow comes.
We have had some very warm days the last 3 days. We had record breaking temperatures yesterday, it was 25.9 degrees C. The Humidity has been really intense, we really need a good thunder storm or some rain to break the humidity. I was out in the garden this evening after the sun had gone down fending off the flies. It had cooled off a bit and was a lovely evening. I spotted these little guys in bloom on the bank by the truck. They look beautiful along side the truck with the yellow Alyssum and White Candy Tuft all in bloom together a mass of colour, such simple beauty. My love and thoughts go out to my Step family this week, they lost their Wife, Mother and Grandmother to Lung Cancer.
I had a day off today after working 7 days straight and I heard on the radio this morning that there were Icebergs in Freshwater bay. This is off the East coast of Newfoundland. I decided I was going to go Iceberg hunting. I drove to Signal Hill after dropping Lewie off to school. Armed only with my little camera. There are 3 visible Icebergs from the top of the hill. The biggest one is close to Blackhead and I am sure you get a much better view from there. In my pursuit of Icebergs I drove along Marine drive and stopped by MUN marine lab. There is one visible from there too. I thought I spotted another one that looked to be by motion point. So I drove to our favourite location Motion Point. For me this place has it's own beautiful spirit. A place where you are one with nature. A place that makes you respect the powerful and unstoppable force of the Ocean and Mother Nature. I pulled up to our usual parking spot to find that there is now a road there. I drove along the dirt road and there are building lots for 15 houses marked along the side of the road. My heart sank, I hardly recognised the place. I went for a short walk and found that the green space by the cliffs and down to the waterfall is still open but for how long I do not no, there are survey posts along here too. A beautiful space to have a home but at what cost.
A S'more is a traditional campfire treat popular in the US and Canada. To make it you roast a marshmallow on a long stick over the fire according to personal preference. Some people like it to be brown, charred or even on fire. You then put the marshmallow on a Graham Cracker or digestive type biscuit. You place a piece of chocolate again your preference what type of chocolate on top of the marshmallow. The chocolate starts to melt a little. You then sandwich it together with a Graham Cracker on top.
Now there are some variations in making this tasty treat. Some people like to use chocolate Graham Crackers. Some people put the piece of chocolate inside the marshmallow so that it melts a little in the fire. Some people put the chocolate on the Graham Cracker close to the fire so that it melts before the marshmallow is added. Some people assemble the whole thing together and then cook it over the fire. Lastly some people use Nutella chocolate spread on the cracker instead of a piece of chocolate.
No matter how you make it, this is one of those tasty treats enjoyed by many and is better when enjoyed in the company of good friends and/or family.
We ended up having a BBQ on my newly acquired BBQ. It worked really well. We ate outside on the ground picnic style. There were a few bitey flies around but not too bad. It was really warm and slightly cloudy. I caught the sun a little which I didn't expect. After the BBQ our Neighbours lit a fire in their pit. It was a really clear night, still warm from the day and the flies were all gone. It was an excellent evening. I think it was better then being at a campsite because we had more space in the backyard, no obnoxious Irish music until 3am (only Lewie's choice of Music) and the kids could run around and make as much noise as they wanted playing spotlight and tag as everyone in the neighbourhood were either at our fire pit or down the road a little at Burt's or gone out of town. All in all a good night. S'mores, Toasted Marshmallows, various slushy drinks and a bottle of wine later the best part was that I got to sleep in my new bed and not walk miles to an outhouse.
It has been very foggy and cold the last few days. We have had little sun. This morning we had a freezing rain warning and the car and trees were completely covered with frozen rain drops. This is a spectacular sight to be seen but nothing compares to the sight at the beach this evening. Before Tom left to go to Raglan we went to Middle Cove beach. There was a little bit of ice floating in the sea. It was large chunks of really magnificent blue ice. On the way home from taking Lewie to karate this evening I noticed how white the sea was in Torbay. We took a little side trip on the way home to Torbay Beach. The Ice in the Sea is really amazing to see. It is white all the way out to the horizon. The air is really chilly as it is coming off the sea. The Ice has the blue tint to it and is completely packed into the bay. I am no great photographer so these pictures do not do justice to the image but hopefully you can see all the Ice. A truly spectacular sight, especially as the Sun came out after being absent all week.
