The north shore

We have walked between the raindrops for most of this summer. Now as autumn falls around us, we hope for some dryer days to have more picnics before rain becomes snow. Our visit to the north central shore of the island last week was a nice break from our boardwalk routine.

The beach at North Rustico was busy with walkers some of whom were tourists enjoying the warm September day. Just below the parking lot is a stream which crosses the beach 

and Bonaparte’s Gulls were enjoying the water. The little gulls, the smallest of the species, always make me smile. You can see them on this short video here.

We continued along the coast to Rustico which we hadn’t visited for years. Possibly the oldest dwelling on the island, Doucet house, is there. 

The main beams of the house date to 1768. It was moved from its original site and restored in this beautiful location by the Rustico Bay. 

Our picnic by the old fence meant we could watch the oyster fishers 

busy at the oyster farm nearby. 

We could imagine the days when bread was baked in the garden oven and slathered in homemade butter thanks to the family cow.

After lunch, we stopped at New Glasgow to shop at the Island Preserve Company where I bought some lingonberry jam, known as partridgeberry jam by Newfoundlanders. We usually buy some in the fall and it is always a treat to visit the garden at Island Preserve.

The garden is a beauty 

but workers were there doing some fall clean-up so I was limited in the photos I could take. This worker did accommodate all photographers however.

It was a lovely day and a great picnic by Doucet house. This coming week may be a dry one, so we will be out and about again, enjoying a picnic and a walk on Prince Edward Island.

Lunch at Doucet House

When I first saw Doucet House in Rustico this past spring, the gray-blue sky appeared to sit on the roof of the old place. 

However on this summer day, the house, believed to be the oldest on Prince Edward Island, looks like it is smiling. And no wonder!

The old house was built in 1772 by Jean and Marguerite Doucet, an Acadian family, on a site across the bay. There they had nine children. The house stayed in the family until 1982. In 1999, the new owner donated the little house as a museum and work began to transport it across the bay to sit next to the first Credit Union in Canada. 

My husband and I couldn’t see the inside of the building in April but we could visit on this day. There are three rooms on the main floor. The largest contains the kitchen, with the stone fireplace in the center of the house, where food cooked over the open fire. 

The original walls are visible today but sometime in the life of the house, were covered with sheet rock. It was removed during restoration but leaves its trace on the old wood.

Two bedrooms complete the main floor, a smaller room 

and a larger with a double bed and a mattress filled with straw. 

There is a half story above which was used for storage.

The furniture was donated by local Acadian families and includes items such as an old butter churn 

and reminders of spinning

and weaving. 

Outside, the community oven cooked bread and other staples for all the Acadian families in the area.

The fire started at the front of the oven and the coals were pushed to the back to make room for the food to bake.

There is a shed with the usual items such as a yoke for oxen 

and a wooden seeder. An old manual washing machine, invented in the United States  in 1846 and in common use until 1927, must have been a blessing to the women who used it originally.

We had our picnic outside as we imagined the ghosts of those first Acadians going about their daily lives all around us. They were great company.