The History Lesson

Dave and I under an a willow tree that was there during the Expulsion.

This has been an amazingly busy week! I don't even know where to begin.

Well first, like I've already posted, I've started with the soap making. It's so much fun and I wish I had more time to make it. I made 2 batches on Monday. We've started to use 3" PVC pipe for the molds and it works great. It's hard to get out, but "Red Green" already has his brain smokin' on a way to take them out easier.

Then we got an email from the Baptist minister we met on the ferry last month. They're coming for a month long visit next summer. They've already booked at a B & B. This is going to be lots of fun.

Dave has sold all his piglets from this litter. Well he's got deposits on all of them. I've also found out how to make lard!! So when we take our pigs to the butcher I'll be able to get free lard! Cheaper soap.

The goats have gone nuts. I think Tommy has begun to be bucky. Tonight we were getting whiffs of some different odor while we were beside him. I haven't seen him pee on himself yet, but I'm also not here all day. Cindi Lou was going nuts tonight. She was trying to jump on our backs and stay there as we were walking away. She would actually walk on her hind legs and follow us. Methinks she's going into an early heat. Even Febe is getting edgy and nasty, which means heat time is a coming. It would be so nice if they could be bred early in the season. Then I could relax the rest of the fall. So far in the past years, Febe has only come in heat at the end of October, early November.

We put Tundra in with the goats a little while ago. We stayed there. Thank Goodness!! Who needs a livestock guardian against coyotes when you have Febe. If we wouldn't have been there, she would have hurt badly or even killed Tundra. I mean Tundra is now almost the size of a coyote (they're small here, about 50-60 lbs). But we tried again tonight and it went a bit better.

I'm holding a scorpion!!!

This last weekend we went to the Windsor Exhibition. It was really good. Lots of animals, tractors, old, old machinery and a venom show. I got to hold a tarantula, a scorpion and pet a python and an alligator! How cool is that!

My grandmother had one of these and so did my mother while I was a baby.

We also went to Grand Pre. Ok, here's a quick history lesson.

J. and I in front of the chapel at Grand Pre. The statue is of Evangeline.

In this part of the province we are mostly Acadians. Acadians were peace loving French people that came to the new world sometime in the 1600's. (Don't quote me on that, I can't remember my history at the moment, lol) It was also at the time when the British and the French were fighting for this land. To make a long story short, the British won the land and wanted the Acadians to swear fealty to them. They didn't want to swear fealty to them or the French, they just wanted to be left alone, in peace to live like they had been for years.

Dave put J. in the tree, so he could climb it. Then on the other side we saw a sign saying ,"DO NOT CLIMB THE TREES" Opps. But I mean, doesn't this tree just beg to be climbed?

So one night the British told all the Acadian men to meet them in the church for a meeting. After they were all there, they were locked in and held prisoners. That's when they began the deportation or expulsion of the Acadians. They were sent to the four corners of the earth. Most ended up in Louisiana. Some were sent to Jamaica but never made it since it was hurricane season when this happened (no cruise ships here chickies). It lasted from Sept 5, 1755 to Dec. The men were separated from their families, children from their mothers. It was a great way to break their spirits. I mean, if you've just lost your entire family, what is there to live for?

This is the exact spot that the Expulsion took place. This is known as the Acadian cross. I have the same in gold on a chain. (only a lot smaller, lol)

If you've ever heard of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Evangeline" this is where he got the inspiration from.

This tree was so desolate. It was by the path going to the beach. It just seemed to fit.

Many of the Acadians actually walked back from Louisiana to Nova Scotia. To return to their land. And that is why I'm here today. Because my ancestors were extremely stubborn. A couple of years ago, we actually got a formal apology from the Queen of England for the Expulsion.

This is the beach where they were sent away. So sad.

But that's all in the past, we learn from our mistakes ...don't we?

Anyway, Grand Pre is where it all happened. So we wanted to show J. his heritage. As we were walking the grounds, he kept saying to himself, "I'm so proud to be an Acadian." I felt so proud that he recognized his heritage at his young age.

So that was your history lesson for today children.

So that was my "slow" week. Saturday is our annual yardsale at work. It's going to be a long day. Sunday, if it's nice, I want to go apple picking after church.

Have a Blessed Week!

Lisa