May 2-4 Adventures

What a fabulous May 2-4 weekend! For those of you don't know, May 2-4 is a long weekend here in Canada to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Victoria day is a public holiday here which is marked on the last Monday before May 25th. It also happens to be the long weekend that kicks off the summer season! I've noticed that it's not so much a big deal here in Nova Scotia as it is back home on the Rock. Not sure what's up with that, but it sure never held me back from creating a good one!

Friday I woke up feeling a little bit crooked. Even the glorious sun couldn't convince me to get out of bed at first. So I threw on a documentary, Munay Ki: Healing the Luminous Body and before I knew it, despite my interest in the film, I was soon back in dreamland. Beth woke me up practically singing about how beautiful it was outside. So I decided it was time for some serious opposite action. Despite my foul mood, I got up did some nesting. Soon Beth returned home with a Big Mac 'Happy Meal' to help cheer me up! How sweet is that? But her generosity didn't end there, she also let me borrow her car so I could escape to Joggins for a few hours of peacefulness. Was it ever. I was able to remain present for the two hours I was there on the beach. Watching the tide go out, hearing the waves crash , feeling the salt air tangle my hair. It was exactly what I needed.


Saturday we hung out around the nest. Beth and I had some 'nail therapy' on the back deck as we soaked up the sunshine. I tell ya, I may know how to handle a paint brush, but when it comes to painting my nails, the final result is not too appealing haha. I fired up the BBQ and we had some burgers for lunch. After a full day in the sun, we headed out to the beach for a birthday party. Our friend Fran was the beautiful birthday girl. It was so lovely to be in her company with a campfire on the beach. And the spread of food she had!!! Delicious! We had everything from mango salad, to chicken kababs, quinoa, thai noodles, quiche, and fiddle heads. Yes I finally tried fiddle heads! I really like them too.

Sunday was 'Family Funday Sunday'! Beth made the best picnic spread I've ever seen! We had three choices of sandwiches, muffins, cheese and crackers, dip and baked pitas, fruit salad, and potato salad! We loaded up the car bright and early and hit the road. Some of you may remember my blog from the fall where Beth had taken me on a scenic drive that reminded me of home. On Sunday, took that same adventure route again. Only we started with Joggins this time, then on to Apple River, Driftwood beach in Advocate, Cape d'Or, and finished at Five Islands. In Cape d'Or we stopped and had a super awesome picnic that Beth had made for us! It was so tasty!

With all that adventuring I was pretty tired today. Owen slept over last night so this morning we got up and had a yummy breakfast and then headed out to the bird sanctuary for a little adventure. When we got home I did some nesting and then when he went for his nap, I joined too! haha. Naps are the end of me! I slept for the three hours he slept, and I am still trying to wake up from it. So now I am making a stir fry for dinner and hope that will give me enough energy to finish up some laundry before I make an early visit to dreamland tonight.

Hope you all had a safe and mega fun May 2-4!

Joggins on Friday during my peaceful escape

Found this washed up on the beach. No idea what it's from, ohh the mystery!

Family Funday Sunday kicks off at Joggins where my little nephew dips his toes in the water

Making a wish at Apple River

Soaking up nature at Driftwood beach in my Project brEAThe shirt.

It's not every day you see a Dragon at Cape d'Or! We were excited.

Taste of Home

In my last blog I said I would have some exciting news regarding a very popular restaurant back in Newfoundland. Well it's taken me a few days to be able to sit down and write a blog, I'm telling you I'm really starting to believe I live in a tornado! I'm not used to this at all. Somewhere amid all this chaos and change of routine I know my true self is lingering, awaiting it's opportunity to come out and shine again. I'm still learning how to find the balance between settling into this new life and permitting myself to stay true to myself as well.

Ok so the anticipated wait is over and here comes the good news! I recieved an e-mail last week from the owner of The Sprout, a vegetarian restaurant located on Duckworth Street, St. John's Newfoundland.  You can find them on Facebook under The Sprout Restaurant. I booked an art show there for the end of February- April . Luckily just before the hustle and bustle of Christmas begins, I have a window of opportunity to showcase my work there along side photographers and maybe even my friend Dominique will have some work to showcase as well. I'm so excited!!!!

So if you live in the area, or will be visiting St. John's in the next couple of weeks, a few select pieces of my work will be hanging on the walls at The Sprout. It's so hard to organize a show when you're a province away, especially my first show. But it's an opportunity I refuse to miss. So from October 24 until November 28 you will be able to enjoy some fabulous food and see my work at The Sprout! WEEE!!!! I wish I was home to have more input with it all, but I trust the hands that I am leaving this all in and I'm sure it will be exciting. I'll have to make sure someone takes pictures. It still hasn't sunk into my mind yet that my work will be hanging in such a well known place. This is a huge mile stone in my creative journey. I would love to be home to soak up just a moment of it. See it, live it, breathe it.

So this weekend Beth made sure our adventures reflected the atmosphere of back home for me. Words cannot express how deeply I appreciate the time she takes and thought she puts into our weekend getaways. Saturday Beth's mom joined us along side with our little tater tot Owen as we piled into the car and headed to  Advocate. Appreciating my love for photography (it's not something to write home about but I love it as a hobby) Beth gave me permission to ask her to pull over at any point on our drive if I saw something I felt the need to capture. Luckily we both wanted to make the same stops so it worked out grand. Here are some photos of the scenery on our way to Advocate.

It wasn't long before we arrived at Driftwood Beach in Advocate. It was truly the first time I felt at home since moving here. The roar of the waves was so amazing here. It just made it more clear to to me that I am an island girl and belong by the ocean. I felt so alive, so unstoppable, so free in this moment: 

Of course I could have spent hours combing the beach, but the winds were very high and with a 19 month old  in company it's important to keep him warm, safe and happy. We headed towards our next destination, Cape D'or. What a place to be! I turned to my left to see this incredible view, that reminded me of Bell Island. There is a beach on Newfoundland where I have visited many times to find inner peace, clear my mind, etc, and the view was very similar to this one below:

 Again, another fabulous place that made me feel connected to my home again. It's unreal the immense amount of homesickness I feel. Lately with all this sight seeing we've been soaking up, it makes me miss the 'Pirate Adventures' my friend Kim and I went on, or the drives my friend Terri and I took. I will forever cherish those trips.

Ok so this is weird...in all my life, I've seen crossing signs for ducks, moose, deer, students, etc but I have never seen one like this:

DINOSAUR crossing?!?! It's actually for Joggin's Fossil Center, but it was pretty funny to see when you're not expecting it. We stopped into Parrsboro for some dinner then headed home.

Well that's it for today's blog. I wish you all a wonderful Sunday evening for what's left of it. Soak up the down time before the chaos of Monday sweeps you away and into the blur of another week.

Talk soon!