Nova Scotia– Part 1

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! Half way through the week! This lady has been hitting the hay every night SUPER early while trying to get back on schedule from holidays last week!

Last Wednesday, we were up early to start our “drive” to Toronto..Except instead…we boarded a plane to Halifax, Nova Scotia!

Our plane ended up having some mechanical difficulties and there was an almost 3 hour delay! But, it’s a short 1 hour flight to Halifax so we still made it to Nova Scotia with lots of time left in the day to enjoy it! We grabbed our rental car (with free upgrade to a Lincoln! Thank you!) and headed to Summerville Centre for our first nights stay in the Quarterdeck Villa's. I stayed at this resort when I was young and I have such fond memories. They offer great “cottage” like rooms. Each Villa is right on the ocean! You can choose to cook your own food in your kitchen or eat at their restaurant!

After an early morning we decided to take a quick walk on the beach and then enjoy supper at their restaurant! They make the BEST seafood chowder and I was so excited to get my first taste of fresh seafood!

After an early bedtime we were up early enjoying coffee on our porch the next morning before we had to pack up! It was so relaxing listening to the waves crash while sipping on coffee while still in pyjama's.

At the check out room, Ryan was looking around the gift store and found a Christmas ornament! We were excited to purchase our new ornament for our memory tree!

We hit the road for a big day driving around Nova Scotia taking in the sights while on our way to a small town near Digby. Our first stop was a cute little town called Shelbourne where we took in some local waterfront historic sights.

We found this restaurant right on the water where we got to enjoy lunch!

We hit the road again and made the occasional sight seeing stop. We stopped in Digby for a few groceries and then took a dirt road to Margaretsville. A small village nestled right on the Bay of Fundy. We had a little cottage rented there that I feel in love with! It was so cute!

After we settled in, we took a walk down to the wharf to a local artists gallery! We found a great piece to put on one of our bare walls at home. While I was there, a little old woman was staring me down and kind of following me around the store. I got a little uncomfortable and whispered to Ryan that I thought she was watching me because she thought I was going to steal something!

Right when I was paying for our new piece of art, she put her hand on my cheek and said that I reminded her of someone. Tears started welling in eyes. I felt so sorry for her. After telling the story to my parents later that week, it turns out I have relatives around there and I may have in fact reminded her someone or may have been related to her. Small world.

We settled back into our cottage for an easy supper, freezer pizza! There wasn’t any big plates to serve the pizza on but I did find this lobster platter to use!

After supper, we decided to take the short walk down to the light house! It was neat to read about who was the lighthouse attendant and some history of people there. 

I had the BEST sleep there that night! We could hear the water crashing all night long! It was heavenly!

The next morning we woke up early and started our 2 hour drive to Halifax where that night we would finally get to surprise my mom!

To be continued…

xo

Back From Vacation

 

Happy Monday everyone! This was NOT an easy morning to wake up! I literally crawled out of bed and then reset my alarm for another 15 minutes of sleep….on the floor! Yikes! I need a vacation from my vacation!

This last week being off was absolutely wonderful! And I can’t wait to share it all with you!

The first few days were spent doing what we love most! Coffee on the porch? It’s like meditation and SO relaxing!

Puppy snuggles were also fun! This little guy isn’t use to having both Ryan and I home during a working day!

Ryan and I also decided to celebrate our holidays by going for a nice supper at The Keg! One of our favorites!

The holidays also started out great by celebrating a successful Canada Day party with all the other committee members! We golfed, enjoyed supper, swam, played Texas horseshoes! We also got to enjoy some of our own fireworks! The show was amazing!

Then, Wednesday of our holidays came along. We had REALLY enjoyed the first few days and now it was time for more fun. We had told everyone that we were going to go to Toronto for a Bluejays game. Except, we didn’t. That’s just the story we told so that word wouldn’t get back to my Mom. We were actually going to Nova Scotia to join them in a family reunion and the renewal of their wedding vows for their 35th wedding anniversary!

Nova Scotia was beautiful and it was awesome to get to show Ryan around a place that I love so much! Recap coming soon! But for now it’s unpacking, getting through the first work day back and getting back to reality!

I have missed this little bloggy home and I am glad to be back after a rejuvenating week!

xo 

Pool Renovation 2013

 

Happy Friday everyone!! The end of the week is here! And it wasn’t so bad! That’s what is great about long weekends! It makes the next work week short! I’m starting to get pumped for a fun filled weekend ahead! Not to mention next week I won’t even be at work…for the first time in almost 3 years, I am taking a SUMMER holiday!! Woo hoo!

People keep asking us what we are doing for our holidays. For the most part, nothing! We did make a few plans but our biggest ones were to sleep in and enjoy our new pool area!

We both knew that renovating the house was top priority. We had to make it the best we could first before doing anything else! I mean, that was our home! We needed a bathroom, kitchen and somewhere to sleep! But, in the back of our heads, we have always been wanting to do a pool renovation.

My parents put in this pool before I can even remember. My brother and I spent HOURS out in the pool playing! Being that the pool area was over 20 years old, it was starting to look tired. It was starting to even fall apart. You had to be careful where you walked so to not fall through some boards. But, Ryan and I had a pool and for years we made due until we could save up enough money to properly fix it up!

We decided long ago, with our jobs at the farm that requires constant attention, that we will never own a cottage. We just wouldn’t use a cottage. We cannot pack up for weekends on end and go away! There’s emergencies at the farm, watering to do on weekends and work that has to be done. Make hay when the sun shines! So, we decided to put money into this area. Make this our “cottage”, our oasis!

Before:

We got rid of our hot tub. We never used it because we keep the pool so warm with a heater!

After:

Ryan and I went with a local landscaping company, Purerock Landscaping. The owner also happens to be a friend of ours. We cannot say enough about how great Scott and his team were! Every time someone asks us how it went, we go on and on about their great work! They actually made the process easy and enjoyable! Never did we have to worry about a thing! They were there from start to finish, and if you are use to contractors, that’s not normal! Every little detail was taken care of and all I had to do was sit back and watch it all happen. We are SO thankful to Purerock for all the hard work they put into our space and for making the process so easy for us!

We are VERY happy with the outcome of the pool area. The idea for the area was that we wanted a relaxing space. An oasis that was very useable. Basically another living space! And that is exactly what we got!

The new bar area!

One of my favorite new features…the fireplace! Love it!

The outdoor kitchen!

For the first time we have a sink out at the pool area!! You’d be amazed how often we use it!

Bottle opener on one of the pergola posts.

Ryan manning the BBQ!

And I got my new hooks!!  

There are still some things we want to get done in the flowerbeds around the pool but for the most part it’s all done! To say that we love our new pool space is a huge understatement! We are in LOVE and have spent so much time out there this summer! Any chance we get, we are out enjoying the pool area! Any supper that can be barbequed, we head out and cook outside!

The pool place is our getaway. We settle inside the big white fence and close the door. It feels like a getaway to us. It’s a relaxing and fun place to hang out! We are so glad we waited, saved and did the pool renovation! Our “home”, not so away from home!

Hope you have a great weekend!

xo

Pool Party 2013

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! I know I could have written this post yesterday. I was all prepared to! But there is something about a long weekend that you just want to extend. Even if it is one extra day. Yes, I was still at work yesterday, but my mind was still on the weekend, it was that great!

The weekend started off with a relaxing Friday and then an early morning on Saturday. I picked up the remainder of the supplies for our FIFTH annual pool party!

The rest of Saturday was spent preparing some food for Sunday, party day!

This year was a particularly exciting pool party year! Not only were we celebrating that we have been hosting this even for 5 years but we also completed a huge pool renovation and were excited to show it off!

On Sunday the weather forecast didn’t look the greatest. Cold, windy and periods of rain! But the party went on as planned regardless of the weather.

Everyone started arriving around 1-2 PM and the kiddos basically jumped right in the pool as soon as they got there! The group of kids just keeps growing and growing! It’s amazing! And the older ones are so brave now! They are swimming by themselves and going down the slide over and over again!

The best part of the party for me is always standing back by myself and taking it all in! Seeing our friends enjoying themselves! Getting to welcome them to our home and use the pool that we are so fortunate to have. We really do have the greatest friends in the world! 

Sorry about the poor picture quality but someone’s good digital camera decided to stop working… 

It was neat to see how the new lay out at the pool worked with all the party guests! It actually worked out really well! The conversation set was used by little ones in wet bathing suits as they ate quickly before jumping back in the pool. The BBQ is now out at the pool area now so Ryan and I got to watch more swimming while making the burgers and hot dogs. And, because of the rain, thank goodness for the garage! A refuge to get out of the rain and cold and have some snacks!

It was another successful pool party. A pool party we almost didn’t have. We were worried that the pool party idea was going “old”! After seeing all the people (especially kids) in the pool for hours on end, it reaffirmed that it is still a successful party! Looking forward to the 6th annual pool party next year!

xo

Year Of Dates–July

 

Happy Friday everyone! Why does it feel like the week before a long weekend lasts FOREVER?!?! It’s been a good week though! I really can’t complain about this one!

The end of July and beginning of August are typically a quiet time for us at the farm. That being said, I knew there were a lot of activities this month leading up to Amanda and Josh’s July 20th wedding. So I wanted to keep this month’s date pretty low key and easy.

For July, I planned a delicious supper out and a movie with my hunny!

It was getting VERY close to August and we still hadn’t completed our date. Finally, on July 28, after church, we hit the road to start our date night.

Originally, the date was planned for us to cross the ferry and head over to Kanata. The problem with that? The theatre there does not accept my Scene card. This card is awesome! You get 100 points per movie and then once you reach 1000 points (which isn’t hard to do), you get a free movie! So instead of Kanata, we headed to the east end of the city to Gloucester.

At Montana’s I have a favourite…Pickled Caesars! Yum!

I love the table clothes that you can write on!

The power was out at the restaurant but I really had to use the washroom…thank goodness for the flashlight app on my phone! When I got back to the table this was at my place!

The difficult part of this date was that I had wrote that we should agree on a movie! That is SO hard for us! Ryan loves action and gore! I love comedy and romance! Yikes! Thankfully, Wolverine had just been released to theatres that weekend and I like super hero movies!

The movie was in 3D and it did not disappoint! So good! But the best part? The seats we were in!! I have NEVER been in a theatre with such comfy seats! They even reclined!! I was in heaven! Ryan and I both agreed that this is the theatre that we will be visiting more often! It is totally worth the extra 15 minute drive!

This was definitely one of our lower key dates but it didn’t matter to us. At this point in our “year of dates” we have learnt how important it is to schedule off that time where it is just the two of us. Where we have no errands to run around to get. It’s just all about us and doing something fun together!

Happy Friday!

xo