Experience of a lifetime!

 If any of you haven't figured it out yet,

I love the great outdoors and everything that

goes along with it.

Except wood ticks, not sure why God put them on earth. Yuck!

And in all the things I am involved with I meet a lot of 

interesting people.

I think we first met Amelie at one of our garden club meetings and the

next year I met her partner Shawn at a gardening symposium.

He was giving a talk about birds! 

And I guess he would know a thing or two about them since

he is a professor at University Ste. Anne.

He's an ornithologist. (bird specialist to us ordinary folk)

They are always present at our Seedy Saturdays to represent 

the students from the University Ste. Anne with 

all the plants they have grown in the university

greenhouse.

Last year before Covid hit, I asked Shawn if he would

come and talk to the garden club about birds.

Unfortunately he couldn't make it, but he did offer

for the club to come with him on his Saw-whet owl 

research nights.  

Well of course!  Even if nobody from the garden club

would be interested, I know we would be!

Before we could set a date to go, Covid hit.

He could only take 4 people at a time and they had to be 

students.  But if ever a student couldn't make it he would 

let me know.

Last night I got a text from him asking if Dave and I were interested.

I was so excited I could barely contain myself.

I mean, who wouldn't be excited about going out in the cold,

forest at night! Well I was anyway...but I'm a bit

strange...or so I've been told.

So we all met at the lighthouse on the university grounds.

We marched to the woods behind the university while it was still

a bit light out to set up the nets.  

The nets are very lightweight and are specially designed for

this purpose. It's not something you can 

go and buy anywhere.  Only a few specific companies

make them and you have to prove that

you have a permit from the government to study birds.

They also have a speaker that emits

the call of other Saw-whet owls.

Then we went back to the lighthouse and waited...and waited...

after 30 minutes we set back out to the woods.

By this time it's rather dark out and you have to watch

your footing.

Our first foray out was unproductive. Nothing.

So we went back to the lighthouse for another

30 minutes.

While we waited Shawn explained a bit of what

they would do if we caught one. And also about this tiny owl.

-the female is larger than the male

-they only weigh between 54-151grams

-they're approx 6-8 inches high

-they have a certain pigment under their wings that

is detected under UV light and determines their age

-their main diet in this area are voles and mice

-they are cute as buttons and so, so soft! (ok, I added that)

So we went back to the net.  Once again no luck.

But the third time was the charm! We had one!

It took a few minutes to take it out of the netting, but Professor Shawn

was very, very gently taking it out.  The less stress that is 

put on these animals the better. 

We brought it back to the lighthouse to begin taking 

data about this cutie patootie 

(ya, ya, I know not very scientific language but you'd be calling it that also if you'd been there)

It was weighed, measured and it's age determined and then banded.

Showing a proper grip on the owl called the "backpack grip"

The UV light showing the pink pigment that tells
us it's a juvenile

Getting ready to have a band put on

Teeny tiny bands all numbered.

They even record from what direction it came from, the wind speed,

temperature and moon cycle. 

Then after we fawned over it for a few minutes, it was let go. 

It was determined that is was a female from this year.

Another hold they use to make sure it doesn't get hurt.

Honestly, how cute it this!!

After everything was done, they went and took the net down.

We just want to thank Professor Shawn for letting us tag along

with his research last night.  We would do it again in a heartbeat!

We hope after Covid is done that we will be able to bring the garden club

to experience this.

Have a  Blessed evening

Lisa

Man of many talents

 Things are cooling off here in Southwest Nova Scotia.

The time also changed this past weekend.  

Something that drives me nuts!

But anyway, we had one last warm Sunday.

So I cleaned up my strawberry beds to put them to 

sleep for the winter. I also noticed that there was still some parsley, cilantro 

and green onions that had popped up in the warm temps we had.

I even found one last feed of beet greens.

In this neck of the woods, green onions, shallots, scallions

whatever you want to call them are used a bit differently 

than other places. 

We have a few local, ethnic dishes (rappie pie and chicken fricot)

that salted green onions are a staple.

All this is it's shallots and lots and lots of salt.

The shallots are chopped and then added to the bottle 

and salt is added and they keep forever.

It adds a lovely flavour to boiled chicken, stew meat

etc...but obviously don't put too much.

Please excuse this post, for some reason Blogger is adding empty

lines in some places and not in others.

Every year I have a hard time  making carrots germinate.

Well last year I found out  the trick and I had plenty of

carrots.  But I still get paranoid they won't come up

and I wayyyy over plant carrots.

So thanks to my cold cellar, hubby built,  I have plenty of room to

store them.  We are trying the dry method in shavings and Dave

has learned to can!  Oh my.  That's pretty much all I can say.

Well when I was campaigning I was too busy to can, plus the dog attack

left me without the use of my right hand for several weeksv

so Dave took up the slack.  

I think he likes it.  He's  made salsa, spaghetti sauce, 

pickled hot pepper, yellow beans and carrots, carrots and more

carrots!! He's also discovered pressure canning

which I'm too afraid to do.

And some of our carrots grew a bit.  That's Dave's size 12 sexy foot

you're staring at beside the carrot.

We planted regular carrots and rainbow carrots, so it makes 

lovely jars.

Saturday was a bit chilly, but I bundled up and planted tulips

while Dave planted the garlic.

I also made him his favourite.

Butter pecan tarts.

I have to spoil him somehow.

Have a Blessed Day

Birchdale

There is a serene, beautiful place in Nova Scotia called Birchdale.

Amazingly not many people know about it or the stories behind it.

But enough people know about this legendary paradise to want to make the very,

very, very long journey in the woods on dirt roads to get to it.

And don't bother with your GPS cause it has no idea how to get you there.

Birchdale is over 100 years old and was built by a prominent man from the

area.  It was built as a hunting and fishing lodge.  Throughout the years many 

people have visited Birchdale some regular people like myself and Dave...

some not so regular...people like 

Teddy Roosevelt,  Babe Ruth, Danny Kaye, Greta Garbo..ya know

normal people.

When I was younger this place was what dreams and stories are made of

because nobody was permitted here.

A group of Carmelite monks bought the property in 1972 and renamed it 

Nova Nada.

If I'm not mistaken, they would open it to the public once a month

on Sundays, but we never went.  

For one thing it was too hard to find and in those days

you didn't travel like you do now.

The property consists of a main lodge and super quaint

cabins.  There are around 14 or so scattered all along the

lake and property. 

In 1997 the monks disbanded and there was nobody in the buildings for 

four years.  While the monks were there though, they built a beautiful 

round library and chapel overlooking the lake. 

Eventually someone bought the property and returned it to its

original name of Birchdale and kept it till last year. 

She then sold it to two lovely ladies from Toronto.

Tracey Erin Smith and Sarah Garton Stanley

They have a Facebook page that you can check out.

Birchdale

It's not open everyday to the public because it is their home.

I mean would you want people barging onto your property unannounced?

But they do have Afternoons at Birchdale.

We've been there 3 time so far this summer.  Twice to visit and

once to interview them since I will be writing an article on them

in the French newspaper very soon. 

But in the meantime here are some photos I took of both times we 

went there.  Once was earlier this summer and the other was 

just yesterday.

One of my favourite little cabins

Snuggling on the porch of the main lodge

My parents with Dave and I

My mom and I...in case you hadn't guessed

Massive pine trees!!

Just swinging along!

Have a Blessed day.

And I hope you'll someday be able to visit Birchdale.

 

Politics...the good kind

I've been thinking about it for years.

But it was never the right time.

It's now the right time.

This year it's the municipal elections in our neck of the woods.

And I'm running for councilor.

Lisa Doucette running for District 3.

I like helping people and talking to people and my community

is my passion so it's time for me to give it a go.  

I know I can do good for the people.

I want to help the older people, but also 

bring new and younger people to the area.

Both can benefit from each other.

I have a lot of other concerns.

Things like the environment, jobs, preserving our culture

and I could go on and on.

But what I really want is to listen to the people and 

have them tell me what they want. What their concerns

are all about.  Because I mean, it's them I'll be working for...

right!?

Covid is on so it's not the most ideal time to be running for

an election. But it needs to be done. Some of the candidates

are not going door to door.  I wasn't sure what to do.

But after many sleepless nights and speaking with 

the public and following the provincial 

protocol, I have begun going door to door.

I wear a mask, stay a minimum of 6 feet away and I have

my stash of hand sanitizer ready at all times.

So wish me luck!

Have a Blessed Day

Lisa

Harvesting has begun!

It's time to start harvesting.

I just came back from picking blueberries in our garden.

Yum!

Our paprika peppers  are starting  to ripen also.

That means they will be going in the dehydrator soon.

Perennial flowers are still going strong even without the rain.

This phlox smells sooo good and the colour is amazing.

The pink is actually brighter in person.

Wow!

The tomatoes are almost ripe and the regular peppers also.

I've picked some yellow beans  but they are late coming because

I had to replant them since most didn't come up.

But all in all it's been a not bad gardening year considering the lack of rain.

Have a blessed day!

Lisa

Happy August!

Summer is almost over and it's still so hot you can't do anything

outside.   We've been in a heatwave for the last

week or so.  It's regularly 30 Celcius but with 

the humidex it's over 40.  

We are supposed to dig up the garlic but it's just too

hot!  Plus there's no rain.  

Tomorrow we are getting up at 6am to dig up the garlic

hopefully it will be cool enough.  

Even with Covid things are still busy around here.

Nova Scotia is doing well.  We've gone over 2 weeks with no 

cases in the province.  But then some people came in from 

another province and we had a few cases.

We were almost at 2 weeks again when 

someone came in from another province and now we have two cases.

It seems like we are just going to have to learn to 

live with it.  

Being not very densely populated area we are fortunate.

We never had a case in this area yet.

But that's all I'm going to say about Covid.

I'm just finishing a week of vacation.

We went to the Oak Island Inn and Marina but our tickets for our 
Oak Island tour had been cancelled.

We went on the mini vacay anyway.

Just to get away from it all for a bit.

The garden started slow, but things are ramping up.

I had to plant my yellow beans twice but they are finally

producing.  We ate some yesterday.  

The carrots are doing awesome.

I'm having a cold cellar built to store everything in there.

The potato plants are beautiful so hopefully there's 

potatoes under the soil so I can put in my cold cellar.

The spaghetti squash is coming along nicely.

We've eaten a few feedings of peas.  

But my radish and lettuce have gone to seed.

That's okay.  I'll save the seeds for next year.

My herb garden is gone wacko!!

The greenhouse is doing well also.  As you can see, my watermelon

is growing! 

So this year I've been drying even more herbs

than I did last year.

And a friend of mine dries wild rose petals for tea.

So I did that also.

My spinach was going to bolt so I dehydrated, crushed it and 

I'll use it in smoothies this winter.  I have a full 

bottle of spinach.  This was only at the beginning of

my experiment.

One interesting thing we did this year is with our garlic scapes is

dehydrate them and crush them to create garlic scape powder.

We also had a camera crew  (ok, one guy because of Covid)

come and interview us regarding our bees and gardens.

It was pretty cool.

The only thing was that it was the hottest day this year and poor

Dave had to get in his bee suit and show the bees.

He  had to go change clothes after because he

was soaking wet with sweat!

Last night my mom and dad came over to play radio

bingo. It was finally cooling off.

And Grenouille likes the heat.  She was panting like crazy and instead of 

getting out of the sun, she'd just pant some more.

So I put her on the stool beside me so she could cool off.

We went a few weeks ago to some public gardens and it was gorgeous.

Our friends took our picture.

Well that's the summer update so far.

I hope things keep going well.

Have a Blessed Day

Spring fling

Things started off a bit slow in the gardening department.

I had to replace a few cucumber plants because they just up

and died on me.   And pretty much all the tomatoes I had

started from seed bit the biscuit.  

So I went out and bought new ones.

I'm not sure what the heck I did but 

oh well...live and learn.

The temperatures are finally steadying. But like most years

now, we need the rain.  I remember back in the day, springs

were  so wet.  Like they're supposed to be.

Not anymore.

But thank goodness for our new well...(see last post )  

It's also lupin season in Southwest Nova Scotia.

I find they're lovely. When I was younger I didn't

like them all that much. 

I guess my tastes are maturing as I 

get older.

Well for the 8th straight day, Nova Scotia has no new cases

of Covid-19.  There are only 2 active cases in the province. Both are in

the hospital.  I hope they recover soon.  It's bad enough the deaths

we have already had. We don't won't more families suffering

the loss of a loved one.

And yes, I remember a few posts back saying I wouldn't mention it.

But it's hard not to when it's the  only thing happening.

It's rhubarb season!! My patch did well, but I didn't harvest too 

many because  we don't eat it all that much. So I picked a bit  

and froze it for desserts this winter.

If  things keep going well like they are, we are going to have 

a ton of blueberries, strawberries, plums and even a few cherries!!

The bees have been doing their job. Wowsers! 

Speaking of bees....we picked up our new nuc a week and a half ago.

They seem to be  settling  well.  We are feeding them

sugar water at the moment, so they can concentrate

on setting up housekeeping instead of foraging for food.

Here's Dave putting them in their new home.

Saturday was a beautiful day. So we went to the Annapolis gardens.

They have opened  their doors  and lowered the entry fee.

It's a beautiful spot.

The rhodos were in full bloom.

Friends met us there and they took our picture.

Since restaurants can now serve at half capacity

we ate at the German bakery in Annapolis Royal.

Oh my word! You gotta eat there!

It was so good!!

I love my province and I love my municipality. I'm a proud Acadian.  

Yet I usually only put pictures of our property or places we visit.

I've been walking a lot on the local beaches lately, especially ones

that most people don't go to. 

So I thought it was high time to show you guys a few pictures of

our great municipality of Clare! 

We have awesome beaches.  Some are sandy, some are rugged.

All are gorgeous.

This is Saulnierville Beach at low tide.

Most of you don't realize that we have the highest tides in the

world in this neck of the woods.

But from now on I'll be adding pictures of our area. Just to tempt

people to come and visit when things get better.

Check us out!

Municipality of Clare

Well I guess it's time to go put the chickens to bed and weed a garden or two.

Have a blessed day!

Lisa

Well, well, well....

Things are turning great here on Spring Peeper Farm

It's been a strange spring.

Not particularly warm or cold.

Evenings are still cold.

And wind.

Lots and lots of wind!

I've planted almost all the seeds except the ones

that are cold sensitive.

But  the tomato plants I started in the basement

are pathetic.

Wow. I won't even post a picture of them.

Sad, sad, sad.

I hope they make it through the 

season.

The pepper plants didn't look good at the beginning, 

so even though some died,  the ones that

survived are looking good....so far.

If there is one thing that lifts my spirits on a sad day

is cut flowers.  I just need to buy a small bouquet

of cut flowers and my day is made.

Well since Covid, cut  flowers are harder to

find than sanitizer!

Today we were in Yarmouth and I found some!

I was on cloud nine.  We also

went a had a visit at Ouest-ville Perennials. 

Yikes!  Let's just say I'm broke.

But my gardens are going to be beautiful!

Alice, owner of Ouestville has  the best plants.

Very hardy. They never die! 

What more can a gardener ask for!

I also  stopped and picked up our tub of worms.

Waste-check had worms for vermiculture for us.

It's for where I work. We are going to let

the wormies eat our compost and make poop.

Isn't nature grand.

Mr. and Mrs Duckworth finally had ducklings!!

She showed up last week with (what we think is)

13 ducklings!!

That's quite the brood.   They are so cute.

Well things can't always go well.

Dave had started my cold cellar.

He just wanted to move the water pump a few feet so

I could have more room.

I won't go into details (because I don't know the details)

but we had to dig up the well, which we had

no clue where it was, and put a pump in the

well.  Chaching! Now we're broke.

It was going to happen eventually. It was just a matter

of time.  At least it happened now and not

in the winter when the ground is frozen.

So now, hopefully we won't be bothered with the pump 

or well for 20+ years.

But at least we know where our well is now.

About 2 feet from the herb garden. Phew.

That was close.

Have a Blessed Day.

Lisa