Blooming May

It was a great week of weather, with sunny days though coats were required on the north shore due to the cool on-shore breeze. We even had rain one night to keep the farmers happy.

My husband and I made some new friends this past week, fellow blogger Dorothy and her husband Patrick, from New Hampshire in the United States. This is Dorothy’s blog   

https://thefrogandpenguinn.blogspot.com/     

When bloggers I follow visit the island, circumstances may prevent us from meeting. This week however, we were fortunate to be able to spend time with Dorothy and Patrick on the north shore and in Summerside. A shared enjoyment of nature and similar interests quickly made us friends.

On the north shore, we visited Savage Harbour where the lobster boats were returning to port. I captured one between a gap in the trees along the shoreline. 

I always photograph the remnants of these two trees along the shoreline when we visit the harbour. Despite their demise, they stand against the elements and the colours in the setting always appeal to me. 

On this excursion, we had a picnic at St. Peter’s Bay with Dorothy and Patrick.

Another day, we walked the part of the boardwalk with our friends. We were fortunate to see our first Great Blue Heron of the season in the salt marsh.

It stealthily fished in the marsh but my favourite photo was of its wings, which look like a heart in this shot.

There was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings along the boardwalk too. 

They are always a welcome sight. The Red Squirrels were their usual entertaining selves.

Dorothy and Patrick took us to lunch and we took them for dessert at Holman’s for homemade ice cream. The garden at Holman’s is lovely, full of blooms, including magnolias.

The canopy of magnolia is a beautiful though fleeting pleasure enjoyed for a few days every spring.

Finally, we bought gas this past week for the first time for our plug-in hybrid car which we purchased in early January. We drove 3200+ kilometres on a tank of gas and the hydro bill isn’t higher. This car, a Kia Niro, is perfect for our lifestyle and we are pleased with it.

With the kids

Our three grandchildren spent two days with us recently and it was both fun and exhausting. The kids were excited and my husband and I were rested in anticipation of the increased energy level required.  

We packed a great deal into the two days including time at the playground and splash pad, board games, time in the garden planting and picking produce, walking the dog, art, baking, movie night with popcorn done Nan’s way, a trip to the dairy bar for dessert and walking on the boardwalk. Mealtime sat around talking was always fun. Between mealtime and snacks, these kids are always eating. They love fruit and vegetables though.

The oldest of the three is wide awake, voice engaged, when her feet touch the floor. The other two are slow to start. The middle child, hardly speaks for the first hour, while the youngest is slow to begin but winds up quickly. The three couldn’t be more different. 

One of the highlights of the two days was their time on the boardwalk, feeding the animals. The three were excited to feed the birds and squirrels especially. We put peanuts in the birdhouse on the bridge and the parade of blue jays made quick work of them as they flew off with the shells.

The kids were excited to sit on a bench where we had watched a grandfather and a young grandchild sit and feed the squirrels previously. There weren’t any animals there when we arrived but we tapped on the bench with peanuts and the squirrels soon appeared. 

The three enjoyed passing the peanuts to the furry fast rodents. They soon learned that the squirrels wouldn’t take any peanut shells which were cracked open. After a few minutes, we had distributed a large bag of peanuts to numerous squirrels.

With the girls on their scooters, and the youngest on his balance bike, we continued to the end of the trail. Along the way we spotted four Cedar Waxwings among the dead trees by the harbour. I’ve only ever seen one before along the boardwalk so this was quite a sighting.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the two days with the grandkids. We were both exhausted however, and napped when they left. The house was suddenly quiet but their voices will fill the quiet again soon. Yay!