I Hope You Dance

It's officially been one month.  A new record for my blog neglect.  It isn't that there haven't been any blog worthy events in my life over the last month.  There have just been too many.  Where do I begin?  The last month has been busy, wonderful, exhausting, exciting, compromised and some of the best weeks of my year.  It's funny how when we are living our memories we don't really realize how much we will look back and think how wonderful they were.  It is my goal to appreciate those moments "in the moment".  I try, believe me!  I try!  I made a deal with myself early in the summer to try to have meaningful conversations with people and to be "in the moment" when I was with someone but then all the busy-ness of the summer happens and I find myself scattered and unfocused.   In retrospect I did a lot and had many great times but with so many options I also missed out on a lot of moments.  We have to make choices and I hope I made the right ones.

We danced the night away on July 19th!

There were many opportunities to dance over the last few weeks.  I love to dance!  First, we danced in Madison, WI at Marathon Girl's wedding celebration.  There was karaoke, a live band, a long summer night and we danced with some good friends, their children and our oldest daughter and her husband.  After that fun night we flew with our two older grandsons back to Nova Scotia.  We did the Gigi and Grampy dance for the next 4 days.

Picnic lunches and legos!

It's been a long time since I had two kids under the age of 7!  Grampy and I had the boys for a few days and we suddenly became "young" again.  Unfortunately, we still had our old bodies but our schedules and activities were young.  I went to the Koolaid Kid meeting with my grandsons and saw how the young mums around here do it.  They do it well!  I also remembered why I am a night person.  It's because after the kids go to bed I can finally put my feet up, relax and regroup or stay up much too late with my cousins and wake to regret it the next day.  Either way it has always been my favorite time of day.

Koolaid Kids 2014

The next week involved what I will refer to as "The Games" dance.  This is a dance where you try your best to participate in or watch as many of the Christie/Brown or Brown/Christie Games (depending on which family you belong to) over the course of a three day weekend.  This dance also includes preparing and eating the usual daily meals that must be fit into the few unscheduled hours of each day. Add a few late  nights into the dance and you sometimes feel like you are dancing with yourself as you catch yourself coming as you are going. There are hundreds of people who attend and participate in these games so the possibility of visiting each of them over the three days requires a lot of dancing.

2014 Softball teams

The Games ended in style this year.  It was the 40th Annual Games!  There was a major celebration to commemorate this event which included a live band for our annual barn party.  My second weekend in a row with a live band, I must be living right!  The band, Big Fish, was awesome!  It was also a lot of fun dancing with all four of my children, their spouses and my husband, not to mention all of my cousins and friends.  I think I can accurately say we left it all on the dance floor that night!

Their "I love to dance" gene is sufficiently intact

The next weekend presented itself with more live music and dancing.  Yes, I am living right!   We all went to Prince Edward Island for a concert which featured Alan Doyle, Jimmy Rankin and Blue Rodeo.  So many opportunities to dance!  The day ended up being a perfect concert day, not too hot, not too sunny, not too cool and and not too buggy.   We had plenty of room to dance and let's face it you can't listen to Ordinary Day and not dance!

If you get the chance to sit it out or dance....I hope you dance!

Over the last few weeks I was doing a lot of dancing, there was the Gigi dance, the Mom dance, the Cousin dance, the Friend dance, the Wife dance, the Mother-in-law dance, the Daughter dance, the Sister dance, and the Me dance.  That is a lot of dancing!  No wonder I feel like I did not do all of them to the best of my ability.  I just have to accept that you can't do it all.  Oh, but I try!  Why do I try so hard?  I just hate to miss out on anything.

I not only danced with my one year old grandson, I danced with all of my kids and we had some really good times together.  There is no better thing if you ask me.  So, that's what I have done over the last few weeks.  I may have missed out on some very fun nights with my cousins, I may have missed out on some quiet time alone, I may have missed out on a lot of things but I danced!  And when you have the chance to sit it out or dance I hope you dance too.

The Art of Mowing

Mowing grass is a summer pastime up here!  Many people spend countless summer hours mowing their grass.  I am counted among them.  Most of us have very large plots of grass to mow and a rider is the required equipment unless you have absolutely nothing else to do with your time and want to push a mower... for days.

As I said in my last post, since we are blessed with 16 hours of daylight in the summer, things just grow!  The grass especially!  Throw in a little, or a lot, of rain and you get shaggy, deep grass in no time at all!  Mowing once a week just doesn't always cut it.  hehe!

Spending two to three hours riding circles or lines around the yard gives you a lot of time to think. "I wonder how people make those cool patterns in their yard when they mow?".

This is my best mowing pattern so far.....

 "After I finish I should go and weed those strawberries.".  "I'll bet everyone is on the beach relaxing and talking about interesting things, while I am riding back and forth in my yard.".  "I love how the yard looks right after it is mowed, so nice and neat!".  "Damn, this ground is bumpy!  My spine is not going to like me tonight!".

"I hate trees!  Well, I hate having to mow around them."

 "Maybe I should blog about this."  The list goes on and on with the profound thoughts that run through my head while I mow.  It's a vast wasteland in there people!  I don't dare listen to music while mowing because I am sure I would mow over something or the mower would start making funny noises and with my earbuds blasting away my favorite tunes I would never hear the broken parts churning around or notice the large tree branch I just captured.

Mowing attire is quite fetching.

There are sunglasses, to protect my eyes.  A hat to keep my hair out of my eyes and to protect my already sun damaged and wrinkled face.  Protective ear gear is a must!  I wear leather garden gloves because when you mow around all those damn trees there are many low hanging branches that seem to be right at face level and I have to give them the stiff arm, quickly duck so I don't get smacked in the face when they rebound, and keep mowing along.  I always wear the oldest pair of running shoes for the job as to keep my nice shoes nice. On this particular day I was forced to wear my husbands rain jacket because it was a bit cool, windy and spitty.  Turns out it was the perfect time to mow....I sure wasn't missing any quality beach time.

Choosing the right day to mow is certainly an art.  You don't want to mow right after it rains.  The results are large clumps of wet grass randomly strewn around the yard.  You really don't want to mow on a really hot day, you need to be on the beach instead.  If you mow too long after the last mowing the yard looks more like a hay field with clippings that could be baled.  Then again if you mow too soon after the last mowing you could just be wasting your valuable time.  Windy days are good to mow because the clippings can just blow around and disappear.  Cloudy days are good in my book.  My delicate skin does not bake in the sun and I don't feel like the rest of the world is having fun on the beach without me.  FOMO (fear of missing out) is at it's peak on sunny days.

It is a bit funny that we have a very tiny lawn at home and pay a very wonderful man every week to come and mow, edge and clean our yard.  A job that takes him all of 20 minutes.  Up here I spend 2 1/2 hours mowing the farmhouse yard and another 1 1/2 hours mowing three cottage lawns.  If only Oscar could come up and help!  The view up here is a lot better than the view from our yard at home, so I guess it is a good trade off.  Yeah, right!  I must say though that I take some strange pleasure in admiring a freshly mowed lawn.  Must be the same side of me that loves the look of freshly vacuumed carpets.  Like I said before....it's a vast wasteland up there.

A Walk

I went for a walk yesterday.  If I ever get bored up here, and it's not pouring rain, I should remember to go for a walk.  I headed towards our cottage, headphones on, a mission in mind.  At the end of my driveway I noticed my Neighbor Who Knows All was at the end of his driveway.  I stopped and we chatted about the day and I was on my way.

Along the way I was passed by a few people I know and they all waved and I waved back if I could tell who it was...I probably waved even if I didn't recognize them.  I enjoyed the breeze/wind and admired the flowers in the ditches.  I thought I'd take a detour and walk among the cottages instead of on the road.  I had not been down some of these lanes this summer so it seemed like a nice diversion.  I stopped for a few minutes and visited with the Pioneer Girls on their deck.  A little farther down the lane I chatted with Dave of All Trades, who was getting a ride home, in the golf cart with one of my Georgia cousins.  We talked about the lovely weather, when my other Georgia cousins are arriving and things going on at the farmhouse this year.

I continued up the lane and passed my favorite little cottage.  We did not chat, but I nodded to it with appreciation.  I checked out our beach to see if it still had sand after Arthur blew through here on Saturday.  We do!  This is going to be a lovely beach summer!  Plenty of room for kids to play, adults to sit in chairs and walking in for a swim won't be as treacherous as it has been!

Finding a place to put a beach chair last year was a challenge!

Plenty of room this year!

I stopped for a chat with Aunt Leadfoot and Aunt Chowder Queen on the deck of "the cottage".  I walked a little bit farther to my cottage to check and see if the renters were there.  They weren't, but I admired my cottage, because I just love my cottage.  I decided to walk home via the road.  When I got to the road my Friday Golf Friend stopped to get her mail...and chat with me (I assume).  We discussed the golf plans for the week and regaled my hole in one.  Yes, this is my cheesy way of working the fact that I made a hole in one into the blog!  I'm still in shock and think it is amazing that I made a hole in one on July 4, 2014, no less!  A day to remember.

The Friday Golf Girls...and witnesses!

I said "goodbye" to my friend and headed back home.  I walked most of the way home without visiting anyone until....a car pulled over in front of me and just stopped along the side of the road.  I wondered why they were there when I noticed I knew them.  It was Garlic Guy and his wife.  They had stopped to ask me if I wanted any garlic scapes.  "Of course!"  He said he'd bring them over that night or the next day and he and his wife headed on their way.

All of this, on one walk, in an effort to get my 3 points on the "stupid health challenge". Well, maybe it isn't stupid, but I am, for agreeing to participate in it while I'm up at the shore....or maybe I was smart.  I'm not sure my level of activity was up to par with all the stopping and visiting but I was walking and standing for a very long time.

So....if I ever get bored or lonely up here I will just go for a walk.  No wonder I love it up here!

An Ode to June

I began the month of June in Nova Scotia and I'm ending the month in Nova Scotia.  If I sit back and look at the interim I should be exhausted!  June isn't even one of the long months like August that usually feels like it has 40 days.  If you are one of those people who must always measure progress, accomplishments and things you "got done", then June was a good month.  I did not realize it until I just sat down here and tried to figure out what to write in one last post in June.  Maybe if we all took time to reflect and look back at where we have been and what we have done we would be a bit less critical of ourselves and realize... we rock!  

The month began up here on our week of planting the garden and opening the farmhouse.  The weather was a bit cool.  Even the horses were wearing sweaters!  Spring was way behind in it's arrival.  We stayed inside and began the sun porch renovation/improvement.

Sunroom "before"

One month later, bring on the sunsets and parties!

When we were here at the beginning of the month the weather was cool, very cool, unusually cool, cool enough to have a fire in the stove every day.  TJ managed to plant his garden with hopes it would warm up and his "babies" would grow.  The 16+ hours of daylight up here at this time of year definitely helped.  Surprisingly, even when it is cool and a bit wet at times... things just grow!

The garden at the beginning of June

and at the end of June!
I picked my first lettuce today....salad tomorrow!

On a different note, during the month of June we witnessed many Catholic sacraments.  We were present for two Baptisms at church up here on June 1.  When we were back in Houston for a mere two weeks, we witnessed a First Communion and the Anointing of the Sick.  Our first Sunday back here there were two Confirmations at mass.  All we need is to see someone become a priest and receive Holy Orders and then listen in on a Reconciliation and we will be done.  I'm just going to count the wedding on May 3 in the sacrament collection.  That is a lot of churchgoing in one month!  Believe me, we need all we can get!

In the month of June we traveled through 16 states and 2 provinces.  TJ gets extra credit for 2 more provinces since he went on several business trips in June.  Like I said, if I think about it....we should be exhausted!

Right around mile number 2300 in the month of June.....

Another measure of a month comes in the form of food.  I told TJ that when we were back in Houston for those two weeks I was going to make a point of eating out every night.  This was in preparation of my 3 months of restaurant deprivation while I'm up here at the farmhouse.  There just aren't any restaurants nearby.  I do exaggerate a bit because I'm sure I will eventually leave my small world up here and venture out a little and maybe even dine at a restaurant or two while I'm away but not with the regularity I eat out at home.  Of course, this never results in my waistline shrinking, go figure!  Suffice it to say we ate out most nights during our couple of weeks in Houston in June.  We also had several good meals on the road with our friends and family.

My birthday dinner night!
We also celebrated our anniversary and Father's Day in June!

Speaking about food.....wasn't I?   After all of that eating out at restaurants and driving through 16 states I needed to reel in the food and drink consumption a bit.  I once again agreed to join Marathon Girl in a Health Challenge for four weeks.  When I say Amherst Shore is not a place to limit your food and drink I mean it!  The word challenge takes on a whole new meaning up here.  Today alone, I passed up rows of homemade cookies, cakes, breads, cinnamon rolls, and candies without tasting or buying one!  This is not right!  I don't get homemade goods like this at home....ever!  Plus, we have 16+hours of daylight which equals at least 4 meals and countless evening hours for cocktails doesn't it?  What can I say, I am a sucker for a challenge....or a glutton for punishment!

June saw the longest day of the year and the farthest point along the horizon for our sunsets.  Since we were here in December and saw the farthest the sun sets in winter and now the farthest in summer , as a sunset junkie,  this a check on my bucket list!

June sunset

December sunset

Yes, I know.  Awesome...right?!

So, June has been a very long, full month.  I had planned to post this yesterday...in June, but it never got finished so here it is July already!  I guess if June can't have the most days in it at least it can have the most hours of daylight in those days so we can enjoy June to the max!  I certainly did!

start of June

after a month of 16+ hours of sun!

Happy Canada Day!
Her beauty never ceases to amaze me!

Two Umbrellas....Three Women

I had written an entire blog post about our trip up here but it was so boring I kept falling asleep while I was writing.  I guess now you know how I feel about the drive up here.  Aside from getting to visit friends and family at night it is pretty much a snooze fest!  2400 miles of very familiar roadways, a means to an end.  I am still waiting for Harry Potter's floo powder to be invented so all I need to do is go into the fireplace, state my destination and I will be transported.  Until then or until our sweet dog goes to sweet doggie heaven we are destined to drive.

Some day I'll be leaving one of these trails instead of looking up at them from the road below!

Today was one of those days you just have to shake your head and wonder if you are a crazy person.  It's Friday, and Friday is golf day up here.  We have had some very nice days this week, well, two...OK one and a half,  very nice days.  After a while you just give in to the weather and go about your business.  So I went and played golf today.

Perfect weather for golf....if you are a real Scotia woman!

I channeled my inner Scotia woman today and played golf.  Usually I don't have to call on her until I've been here a while but conditions called for it today.  We began our round and as we mildly complained about how cool the wind felt.  A few holes later when it started to drizzle we were wishing for cool wind instead of wet, cool wind.  We forged ahead and did not mind playing in a little drizzle.  After all, we had been cooped up for a couple of days this week and we were just happy to be outside on the golf course.  The optimism was palatable.  A couple of dry holes and we were happy again....until the rain started.  It was not just a sprinkle, it was rain.  I did not have an umbrella, waterproof shoes or a hat....never again!  I sought shelter under some trees and was joined by my partners.

Two umbrellas....3 women, oops!

It is times like this that one questions their sanity.  We were walking the course and about as far away from the club house as possible.  We waited it out and continued our round.  Why stop now?  We got to the last hole on the first 9 and of course the sun peeked out and taunted us, encouraging us to play the back nine.  I was a bit hesitant...and wet, but said yes. Peer pressure is a bitch.  I joined my friend in her golf cart and we headed out for more.  Before we even teed off it started to rain again.  That was it!  "I'm out!", I said.  I love golf but not this much and I know this jeopardizes my Scotia woman status.  I've only been here for four days, I still have thin southern blood in my veins.  Give me a couple of weeks and I'll have my rain gear and I won't let a little rain keep me off the golf course.

It may keep me off the cart path though.....

I trust my fellow Scotia women finished and stayed dry.  I dedicate this post to you who were braver, better equipped and crazier than me!  All it took was a little rain and the mention of Scotia woman to get my wheels turning.  Instead of playing more wet golf I came home and wrote about it in a nice dry cozy house!

Gratuitous sunset from one of the nicer days this week!

Hunting and Gathering

Our house is full of people hunting, gathering and checking things off their to-do list.  Our Saudi friends are here and they are making a point of eating at as many restaurants as they can while they are in Houston.  They are busy shopping and buying things they can't get in Saudi Arabia.  I think every day they are checking a new item off their Houston bucket list.  They are going to ball games, soccer games, visiting friends, buying baby clothes, having a baby, stocking up on as much stuff as they can fit into their allotted 14 boxes for their trip back to Saudi. They left one home to come back to a familiar place and are taking in all the sights, tastes and activities they can before they have to go back.

No we are not moving!  This all goes back to Saudi with our friends!

I find myself in a similar situation this week.  I know I will be away from home for the next few months and I find myself eating out every day.  I have also been doing a lot of shopping, yes.. it's such a burden.  I won't see any of my favorite stores for three months!  I need to make sure I don't miss any summer styles, because we all know what a trendy gal I am!  I have been playing a lot of golf too.  I want to play as many rounds as possible with my friends before I leave.  I am even willingly playing in the brutal heat and humidity that has taken over Houston.  It is like a daily reminder that my decision to head back to the shore and cooler weather next week is not in vain.  In the meantime, I'm taking in Houston and gathering a few things to bring to the shore.

Our house looks like someone is either moving in or moving out.  Really, we are just a pack of squirrels gathering our nesting materials for our other lives.  There is something to be said for having the conveniences of home...away from home, especially when your home is across the globe and many things we take for granted are not readily available.  Another way to look at it is that part of the joy of being away from home is getting away from the "stuff" back home.  I find myself compromised on this lately.  I used to love going to the shore and living in our bare bones cottage.  Life was so much simpler.  It took about 10 minutes to clean the cottage every day.  There is something to be said about living a simple life without some of the conveniences you have back home.  Lately though, I seem to want my life up there to be just as comfortable as life down here.  I'm sure this is due to the fact that I spend three months instead of only weeks up there.  I am no longer just on vacation, I have relocated my life.  Another reason is that I'm just older and as much as I hate to admit it....I'm not as willing to live the spartan life anymore.  I've gotten old and soft... curses!

Thelma and Louise....heading to dinner!
Girls just want to have fun....

Last week was total indulgence to me!  It felt like that first couple of weeks of summer when you were in high school and you and your friends got together every day and enjoyed your new found freedom and the long sunny days and breezy nights.  I had dinner with girlfriends and sat outside talking for hours.  I played outside all day on the golf course and went to bed every night very tired.  It was the perfect taste of Houston to leave in my mouth until we come back in the fall.

Boot Camp North

For most of the year I lead a pretty sweet life when it comes to manual labor.  We have a yard guy at home who mows, edges and cleans our tiny yard.  He even insisted on planting my annuals this year well ahead of the wedding so they would be established by the time of the wedding.  He weeds my beds and keeps the yard looking great.  I splurged this spring and hired a house cleaning service.  I haven't had a housekeeper since the last time we lived in Houston about 10 years ago.  Again, I used the wedding as an excuse because when I clean the house I do it bit by bit and by the time I finish it is time to start again.  Sometimes I just need the entire house clean on the same day.  With just two of us living in the house it does not get very dirty so it's easy to maintain most of the time.  If I want to exercise I have to go for a walk, a run, play golf or go to yoga.  My life in Houston is not labor intensive, it is pretty cushy.  Come to think of it, this could be one explanation for my never ending battle of the bulge.

As I sit here writing, my thighs are throbbing, I have an ice pack on my tired, over used knees and the rest of me is spent.  We have been at the farmhouse for three days.  There is no yard guy and no house keeper here.  There are countless jobs that need to be done.  When we run out of things to be done I am sure it will be time to start re-doing the things we did a long time ago!  We have entered DIY land.  Boot camp north.

The grass was super long when we arrived....BUT in order to mow we first had to pick up half of a tree that was blown all over our yard during a spring ice storm.  Must have been quite a storm judging by the amount of rubble on the ground.

Getting from this....

to these, plus one more giant pile not pictured...takes about 100 squats.

Once the grass was mowed the yard was full of...mowed grass and lots of it!  Unless I want to mow over the huge piles of grass all summer I had to do some raking.  I figure it's an upper body exercise plus a bit of core work.  I raked all morning and loaded the piles into the wheelbarrow and carted them off to the back corners of the yard.  That has to be worth at least a glass of wine or two, right?

Earning my wine one pile of grass at a time!

When I was raking I noticed our strawberry patch looked more like a dandelion patch.  Those poor strawberry plants were being strangled to death by those mean old dandelions.  After lunch I decided to free the strawberries from the clutches of the dandelions.  I need those berries for jam later this summer and the grandsons love strawberries....as do the rest of us.  Two hours of weeding not only worked my hands but kneeling for that long felt a bit like an ancient form of penance judging by my knees tonight.

"Help....we are strangling!"

"Ahhh, that's better, we can breathe!"

One more reason for my aching quads lies in our sun room.  We decided to insulate the floor, the walls and the ceiling hoping to make the room a little more bug proof and temperate.  This project meant the steps to the room needed to come out and left us with a 3 ft. drop into the room.  Going in and out means more high stepping.  The upside is that we can already feel the difference in the room.  Can't wait for summer nights in the porch!

One parting shot...TJ did his boot camp in the garden.
Talk about an upper and lower body work out!