What Do You Do Up There?

A friend at home asked me one day, "So what do you do everyday up there?" as we were chatting about spending the summer in Nova Scotia.  I tried to tell her but it all seemed to come up short without all the feels.  Our daily activities seem less than exciting and to someone who imagines a beach similar to those along the Florida coast or those along the eastern coast.  There are no amusement parks, mini putt courses, hang gliding opportunities or boardwalks here.  It is peaceful and rural.  Yesterday may have been the perfect example of the ideal day here at the shore so I thought I would share and maybe some of the feels will come through.

Our day began as many do up here, with exercise.  My sister, the yoga master, lead a yoga class across the street in my cousin's basement.  There were about 8 of us trying to embrace our inner dancing shiva.  It was a great class and the perfect way to begin the day.  I left the class feeling all stretched and strong.

What better way to compact my now stretched spin than to mow the grass?  Morning activities usually include a few chores and today was mowing day.  It is a very large yard!  It takes about an hour and a half to mow.  At least I get to do it on a riding lawn mower. I also get to enjoy a pretty sweet view with every turn I make!

Brings a smile to my face every time I ride by!

and on the other side of the drive...

I finished mowing and headed inside for lunch when my daughter, the newlywed, who was visiting asked if I wanted to go for a walk.  Hmmm, yoga, lawn mowing...lunch and a walk....sure.  So we took off for an hour long walk/run.  We talked, we enjoyed the breeze, we ran, we broke a sweat, we laughed, and enjoyed looking at all of the blooming flowers in people's gardens.

Nature's treadmill!

By now it was 3:00 and time to go to the beach!  We earned it!  The beach was hopping with kids playing and adults reading, chatting and enjoying their beverage of choice.  The tide was out, so we sat on the sandbars.  Some of the older kids and Dad's had gone to play golf so the younger crowd, ages 6 and under were fully engaged in their make believe "store".  This is when my heart swelled.  I watched this group of about six kids pretending, building, running, swimming, and just being kids.  I am convinced these are the times that make lasting friendships and build parts of their person that unfortunately go underdeveloped in our digital age.  They are the lucky ones!  I was lucky that my kids had those same experiences.

Planning, playing and imagining

Running on the sandbars!

No idea....but they are too cute!

Meanwhile, the adults sat in our conversation circle and talked about the books we were distractedly reading, the events of the week, the upcoming wedding, who is coming or leaving and when, and how we can cram in everything we want to do before we have to leave.  This happens every day the sun shines!

Sometimes we color coordinate.

Basic beach necessities, chair, cooler, towel, book.

Some days we sit until the water comes in around us.  This day dinner was served on the beach for some.  It was bonfire, weenie roast night.  A perfect night for it too!  So the kids went from playing to eating with no clothing change needed.  There may have been a bit of swimming involved as well.  With a day like this...how can you make yourself go up to the cottage?  So we just stayed on the beach.

Reflections of my cousin's cottage.

How can we leave this?

So peaceful and beautiful!

Dinner is served!

Finally, I had to go up to the cottage.  My daughter, the one with the three boys, was cooking dinner for us and my other daughter, the newlywed, treated us to a lovely bottle of wine.  So...we poured the lovely white burgundy....from Burgundy, and had a little happy hour with cheese, crackers and fruit.  Ahhh!  So glad for all of that early day exercise now.  Dinner was late...some of us were still in our bathing suits...and the sun set on one of those perfect shore days as we sat around the table together eating as a family.

Yummmmmm

Painted clouds and power lines

 Things may have gotten a bit silly after dinner.  We were all high on life...or white burgundy.  We goofed around with the grandsons, visited my sister next door, and finally had to call it a day.  That is what we do up here.  And we would do it every day if we could.

Scotia Woman to the Rescue

It all started washing the sheets and a blanket.  I loaded the washing machine, turned it on and went upstairs for my morning routine....tea, catching up on my email and "socials", a bit of breakfast and gathering my thoughts for the day.  TJ was doing his last minute packing for a long trip to Africa and tying up loose ends before his departure.  The blanket in the washer made the load a little off center and I heard that lovely dancing washing machine noise downstairs.  I decided to go and even out the load when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a basement full of soapy water and a dancing washer.  I stopped the cycle and evened out the load, turned the machine back on and water just came flooding out of the drain.  UH OH!  This is not good!

I reluctantly went out to tell TJ about the problem, like he was going to fix it in the ten minutes he had before driving to the airport.  Unlikely!  He did however confirm that professional help would be needed for the job.  I kissed him goodbye, finished my breakfast, decided to take the Scarlett O'Hara approach... and think about it later.  Later being, after breakfast!  This is where the village was needed! I made a few phone calls, got some advice and some references and deducted it must be a septic tank issue, oh joy!

It was time to embrace my inner Scotia Woman!

I needed my inner Scotia Woman to deal with this issue!  I had a basement full of water and a broken septic tank and it was still early in the morning.  The guys at the septic pumping place said they might be able to get out by the afternoon and asked if I knew where my septic tank was?  I had a general idea but nothing specific.  One must assume it is at the end of that pipe in the basement where all the water from the house exits the house, right?!

Meanwhile, there were very wet sheets and a very wet and heavy blanket in my washer that needed to be taken care of.  I twisted out as much water as I could and put them into a basket and took them to my sister's house and spun them dry-ish in her washing machine.  Brought them back home and put them in the dryer.  Then...while they were drying I decided to get the water out of the basement.  One half was on the side near the sump pump so I used the snow shovel to scoop it all down that drain.  I knew that snow shovel would come in handy some day!  I mopped and squeezed out the rest of the water and put it into a garbage can.  I opened the windows and prayed for a nice stiff breeze to dry things out down there.  It wasn't even lunch time yet!

Some time around 3 the Septic Heroes called and said they were on their way!  They poked around the yard and tried to find the septic tank.  Bingo!  Or so they thought.  After digging a lovely hole in the yard they decided the tank was not there.  Then they looked where I told them we thought it was and BINGO  there it was!  Only a foot and a half below the ground.  Why listen to a woman when it comes to septic tanks?  Little did they know they were dealing with Scotia Woman.

Nope...no septic tank here...

There it is!  

I was surprised at how fascinating this all was to me.  The whole stinky experience was quite interesting.  I mean there was an excavator, a giant hose that sucked up gross stuff, and lots of tree roots that prevented anything from going through the pipe into the tank.  Those giant poplar trees are very pretty and apparently their roots also think the wet, icky septic tank is a great place to grow and prosper.  I was actually relieved to hear it was roots that were blocking the exit of our house water.

Up close and personal with my septic tank!

Doing a little landscaping!

And I am glad you do!!!

All in all it was a very exciting day here at the Mahoney farmhouse.  Now I know exactly where my septic tank is and I know that it is working...for the time being.  I get to plant some grass seed and "re-landscape" the yard, I am very thankful these guys were available on such short notice!  I did think I was in full Scotia Woman mode when I put on my rubber boots to literally shovel water into the drain in the basement.  Such a great place!  Tonight I will REALLY enjoy sleeping in my clean sheets!

How is that for a segue, from a beautiful wedding to my septic tank!  One week I'm wearing heels and a lace dress and another I'm wearing rubber boots and shoveling water out of my basement.  To quote Forrest Gump, "life is like a box of chocolates!"
Keeping it real here at the farmhouse!

A "Love-ly" Weekend, Part 2

First, the sentimental stuff, because it wasn't just pretty dresses, sharp looking tuxedos, beautiful flowers, drinking, dancing and celebrating.  The big day began as many others have begun in Kelly's life.  If you read all of the Father's Day cards Kelly gave TJ, he kept, used as his toast inspiration and displayed in our weekend Airbnb house, there was a common theme.  "Thank you Dad, for the hours you spent sitting on a bucket catching for me while I pitched, the good advice you gave me about education and jobs and thank you for all the great breakfasts."  TJ is the morning person, breakfast is his favorite meal of the day!

All of that to say, when TJ woke up before anyone else on the morning of the wedding he took it upon himself to set the table and organize the most special breakfast he would make for his youngest daughter.  He went all out and included many of the bride's favorite breakfast foods... fruit, eggs, arugula, tomatoes, avocado, coffee and mimosas.  He also displayed many of the Father's Day cards and some memorabilia he has kept over the years from Kelly.

Breakfast is served!

The rest of us woke up slowly and came out to the kitchen greeted by one very proud and excited father of the bride.  It was the perfect way to begin a perfect day.
The bridesmaids and bridesman gathered and we systematically sat in "the chair" to be transformed.  The photographer arrived at noon and from that point on the momentum of the day carried us.

Cheers!

Love these 4!

The groom and his groomsmen and groomswoman had their own fun at another nearby home.  Both groups exchanged gifts, posed for pictures, toasted, helped each other get ready and basically paced, checked the time and hurried up and waited for the appointed hour.  The hours ticked by so slowly!  And then it was time!  Here are a few photos of what we all did to pass the time and calm our pre-wedding jitters.

TJ had a quiet moment and ate lunch.
Wonder what he is thinking about?

Michael and I took "Estella" the dress for a walk.

Dad got his "first look" 

Meanwhile across the road...the groom and his crew did just about the same thing.  Sort of.

There were ties to be tied.

And pictures to take.

And sunglasses ads to pose for !
It can't all be serious, right?!

Things got a little more serious as the picture taking progressed.

Floating along keeping the dress clean!

Being the best Father of the Bride!

Bridal party

It was right about at this point in the day, after seeing several of the photos that I decided I hated how my hair was done and had a mini meltdown.  We sent the bride and most of the wedding party to the winery and Katie stayed with me and we reconstructed my hair.  A decision I felt at the time was very vain because this day wasn't about me, but would have regretted had I not spoken up.  I felt much better after the reboot and so glad I listened to that inner voice.

Meanwhile at the venue the bride and groom shared their first look...without me sneaking in the shadows.  Maybe some things work out for a reason.

Hey Chris...she's right behind you!

The wedding ceremony was lovely!  The music was played by 3 of the bride and groom's friends (Esther's Temple) and was perfect.  Everyone processed to La Vie en Rose, sung in French.  So lovely!  One of the officiants was a very good friend of the bride and the other a very good friend of the groom.  They did a beautiful job of mixing traditional sentiments and vows with personal moments, readings and thoughtful advice.  It was so personal and meaningful.  They said, "I do"  they exchanged rings, they kissed and then they danced down the aisle to Depeche Mode's Just Can't Get Enough, played by Esther's Temple.  We all danced down the aisle and the celebrating began!

This one melts my heart! 
I just have to know what he is handing to his brother
 before walking down the aisle!

Here comes the bride!

They do!

You may kiss the bride!

Mr. and Mrs.!

Cheers!  They are married!

There are always a few moments that most of us miss out on throughout the day which is why you hire a photographer.  I love some of the moments that were caught by ours.  With so much going on it is so hard to take it all in and since none of us have superpowers just yet we appreciate being able to see what we missed!

This is in the "priceless" category in my book!
I hope in the future Dad can look at this and laugh...

Great job being the ring bearer, John!

She always said she loved wedding cake!

We ate dinner under the vines because we could!  When scheduling an outdoor wedding the weather is always a big question mark.  The bride and groom always said if we could we would and we could!  That perfect California weather showed up and it was a unique experience for us.  Food?  What food?  I was too busy visiting, listening to the toasts by the father of the bride and her brother, and reveling in the fact that "we" (the bride, the groom, parents of the groom, the Father of the bride, her siblings, caterers, wedding coordinator, Aunt Liz the florist and her team, Save the Date with Valerie, musicians, officiants, relatives and friends from far and wide) did it!  We made the day a cherished and lasting moment in time.

Nature's dining room!

The groom describing what it feels like to be married for an hour to his parents?

Sweet moment

Dad's toast made us smile and sigh.

Michael's toast had a little bit of everything
but most of all
it had a lot of love....and a few tears.

At this point we were all ready for the serious stuff to be over and the dancing to begin.  The band, Lucky Devils, was AMAZING!  We danced until they turned the lights and and told us we had to go home. And because this post is not nearly long enough and doesn't have enough pictures....a few more!

The first dance

Dancing with his "Brown Eyed Girl"

Priceless!

Mother and Son dancing!

Mull River Shuffle-ing?

 It was notable that the band all came out early from their break to witness the Mull River Shuffle in action.  They just had to see what the fuss was all about and they loved it!

It only took me a month to get this post written.  I am sure I have not done it justice either.  My hope is that the marriage is everything and more than the wedding.  For every moment of happiness they experienced at their wedding may they have a million more in their marriage.

May they live happily ever after!