Idyll, Yet...

Georgie, the golden grand-dog is visiting again and we walk with her every day. 

 

Confederation Trail on Prince Edward Island is one of our favourite places to go. It is the former railbed across the island and we can let Georgie off the lead if there is no one on the trail. She loves to run 

 

and explore the rest areas.

 

Our first walk started well. It was hot and sunny with a westerly wind, keeping the mosquitoes in check, ideal walking conditions. Part of the trail had workers doing summer maintenance, so we went in the opposite direction.

 

There are fields of crops on either side of the trail, wheat, potatoes,

 

corn and grass for hay, to name a few. With no one on the trail, Georgie ran around us, having a great time.

Both sides of the trail are lined with trees and at ground level, wild flowers 

 

and ferns. 

 

The wind in the trees was a pleasant companion and created waves on the wheat. We walked to the end of this section of trail and turned back. Georgie was tired now and stayed close by. At one point, we put her on the lead because bikers were on the trail, seniors in this group.

 

There are several sections of the trail with gaps in the trees so you can see the fields. Looking out into the wheat field, there was a spraying machine, 

 

ready to apply its contents to the fields. 

 

With the high wind that day, we hurried to leave the area. 

 

However, when the operator started the sprayer, we could smell the chemicals, thus breathing in the spray. We didn't get out of there quickly enough.

Reality check!

 

The Wish

On this summer Sunday, from nature's cathedral, I wish you peace.

 

The Hay

On a spectacular summer day recently, we had a picnic at a nearby park.

 

We took the long way home to explore some of the many back roads of red soil in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. The terrain in this area is flat, 

 

and the ocean is often within sight. 

 

That day, crops were beginning to appear in the fields, corn, potatoes, canola and soy beans.

 

The first crop of hay was drying on several fields. 

As we turned on to a paved road again, a piece of unfamiliar farm machinery turned into a field in front of us. It turned over the hay, 

 

at an incredible speed.

 

My grandfather, Gus O'Brien, came to mind immediately. 

He was a fisherman but had a farm as well in Maddox Cove, Newfoundland. He kept horses, cows, chickens, and sheep on occasion. He needed hay, so he mowed using a scythe on the tall grass and left the hay spread out to dry. If rain was forecast, everyone hurried to the fields to pile it in a mound, decreasing the surface area so the hay would not get wet and rot. When it stopped raining, we spread out the hay to continue drying. Besides work related to rain, the hay was turned over by hand to ensure it was dry, using a pitch fork and hard labour, often in the blistering heat. Granda had a horse and cart to transport the hay to the barn where he stored it for the winter. Providing food for the animals over the winter was a great deal of work.

I spent summers with my grandparents when I was young and often helped with the hay. The grass seeds and bits of straw flew around, landed in your hair and stuck to your sweaty face. Granda, a fair skinned Irish descendant, was always red faced and covered in sweat. He could out-work any of us at the hay or anything else.

As Granda carted the hay to the barn, I rode among the straw, enjoying the experience, with Granda talking to the horse, guiding it home. Then we had to stow the hay in the barn and care for the horse after its hard work. It felt like an endless job but no one complained. 

On a hot August day, Granda was mowing hay in a friend's yard, a last bit of hay for the winter. He stopped, suffering with abdominal pains. He was misdiagnosed at the hospital and died of a heart attack that night.

Granda lived to be seventy-two, though he suffered from angina for a number of years. In the last few years of his life, doctors told him to watch his diet. Gus said, "I worked me whole life ta get a bite ta eat and now that I have lots ta eat, I can't eat it." Granda died as he would have wanted, not sick and lingering, but doing what he knew and loved. What more could anyone want?

About Chives

It is that time of year again when we can pick food from the garden for the table. One of our favourites is chives,  which my friend, Hiltrud, gave me several years ago. The plant survives every winter and has a prominent place in the vegetable patch. We love the flavour of the tender stems as well as the flowers, so nothing of this wonderful plant is wasted.

 

While numerous recipes incorporating chives are available on-line, our favourites involve the simple addition of the herb to dairy products such as butter, cheese and sour cream. The subtle flavour of the chives adds special summer flavour to these dairy products.

 

Chive butter makes a great spread for homemade bread toasted on the barbecue. I add finely chopped chives to softened butter and leave it for a few hours to let the flavour develop.

Chives added to cream cheese or goat cheese make a savoury spread for crisp bread or crackers, especially if you make it ahead of time. 

The puffy flowers, pulled apart, add a subtle onion flavour and colour to salads.

 

Chives and sour cream are delicious on baked potato.

A taste of summer at our house includes chives.

 

Classie Time Again

Every year this time, when the peonies are in bloom,

 

I think of Classie, my husband's maternal grandmother. Classie was a loving wife, mother and grandmother, a great hostess, a fabulous cook, and a whiz at any number of crafts and sewing. She loved her garden on East Valley Road in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and grew vegetables, cherries in a little orchard and flowers. Her garden was her retreat.

 

When we moved into our home in central Newfoundland, Classie gave us two peony plants, taken from plants in her garden. The flowers were deep red, huge as a dinner plate and they grew into multi-flowering bunches. Sadly, we had to leave the plants behind in Newfoundland. In Classie's honour however, our first purchase for our new garden was a peony.

 

Over the last several years, we added several more peonies. Blossom time is highly anticipated, though incredibly brief.

 

This year again, while the buds increased our anticipation of the blooms to come, 

 

the ants feasted on the nectar which the buds secrete. 

 

Slowly the blooms unfold 

 

and the spectacle begins. 

 

The varieties of peonies vary in petal arrangement and colour, yet each is a masterpiece of nature. Classie would be pleased!

 

The Lobster's Delight

 

Somewhere out there, a lobster is delighted at its good fortune in having missed this trap!

 

Our Canadian Home

July 1st is Canada Day, a national celebration of the country we love. 

 

 

In addition, Newfoundland and Labrador, the tenth province of Canada, commemorates the Battle of Beaumont Hamel, part of the Battle of the Somme in the First World War. For Newfoundlanders, today is also Memorial Day.

In that battle, Newfoundland, a small country of 250,000 people at the time, lost 324 men, while 386 were wounded. The morning after the battle, only 68 members of the Newfoundland Regiment answered the roll call. The loss of these young men was felt for generations. Today, we remember their bravery and sacrifice.

 

Thinking of our country today, I think of my family's two island homes, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.

 

                                                                           NASA photo

The islands look so beautiful as seen from the International Space Station.

 

                                                                           NASA photo

They are lovely at ground level of course, but looking at the NASA photos, I am struck by their isolation. This island of Prince Edward, nestled in the Northumberland Strait, has a fixed link to eastern Canada. It appears more protected than Newfoundland, which is out in the North Atlantic, off the edge of North America.

While these islands are not tropical or exotic, and are different in many ways, each holds family and friends, and is comfortable and familiar. Home.

Our country is huge, the second largest in the world. With only 35,000,000 people, it has vast wilderness, with the majority of the population living in cities. Rural Canada is in decline. However, with oceans to the north, east and west, we are influenced by the sea and for those of us who choose to live near the ocean, it is part of what makes us Canadian.

This link to the sea is well expressed in a song written and performed by Wayne Chaulk of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. It speaks of life by the ocean, away from the bustle of the big city. It captures the essence of  island life, our part of Canada.

Salt Water Joys is here.

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians all over this great country. Each part of the country, with its geography, customs, traditions and people, makes us Canadian, different but one. We have much to celebrate.