Notre Dame du Mont Carmel

There has been a church in this spot since 1812 on Prince Edward Island. This is the third building, here since 1898. Known as Notre Dame du Mont Carmel, this church is an islander, made of red brick from the island.

The catholic church sits in the Evangeline region of Prince county, home to many Acadians. It was designed by Rene Lemay, an architect and son of Pamphile Lemay who translated the epic poem, “Evangeline,” by H. W. Longfellow into French, in 1865, almost twenty years after it was written. 

The church is on the coast in Mont Carmel, behind a stone archway. The Northumberland Strait in the background was frozen when we visited.

There are two bell towers at the front of the Victorian era building and the traceried windows are inspired by Gothic design.

The statue of Mother Mary and Child Jesus is prominent inside the archway. 

The cemetery alongside the church is behind archways as well, one separating the cemetery from the church 

and one from the roadway. Inside the cemetery is a stone mausoleum. 

The archways amaze me, not only for their grand design and craftsmanship, use of natural elements and positioning. Rocks such as these are a rare commodity on the island. It is common for garden centers to sell rocks. For the construction of breakwaters and causeways, rocks are brought in from other provinces. We have never seen rocks such as those in the archways. 

The exterior beauty of this church makes us want to see the inside again. 

Next time.

A change in wind direction

The harbour was frozen as usual this winter and then, after the ice along the shoreline started to melt, a strong Nor’easter drove the ice field offshore. Not for long however. It was lurking offshore in the Northumberland Strait. We could see it in the distance and on satellite images. 

This Nasa image from March 26th, shows Prince Edward Island in the bottom left of the photo. There is open water on the south shore in the Strait but the ice field is along the coast of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

This past week, a south westerly wind moved the ice field onshore again.

As the week progressed, more of the ice entered the harbour. 

On days without any wind, there is a chill in the air as you walk along the shoreline. The ice isn’t finished with us yet.

Spotlight

Reduce, reuse, recycle, repeat

Spring cleaning along with minor home renovations bring the inevitable question of what to do with all the discarded material. Prince Edward Island has been in an environmentally friendly mode for sixteen years now. Sorting garbage is a way of life here. What can look like a pile of garbage, may result in a single item which goes to the landfill. Islanders do our part to keep material out of the landfill. On average, each islander diverts 429 kg or almost 950 pounds of waste from the landfill every year, making us leaders in Canada where waste management is concerned.

When you are experienced in the process, it doesn’t take long to sort the waste. We find it easier if we sort as we go rather than leave it all for a major sorting before collection. Either way, it gets done.

As a consequence, the beaches and countryside are relatively clean year round. Of course there are periodic clean-ups of the beaches for example. However, islanders work to prevent anything going in the water in the first place.

Composting is a priority here. Every second week, collection of food, garden waste plus box board occurs. Paper, assorted plastics and corrugated cardboard are collected once a month and recycled as well. We also collect hazardous waste, electronics, batteries and tires. Chances are packages which come into the home can be dispersed several ways with respect to reduction and recycling.

Then there’s the whole business of reuse. There are numerous Buy and Sell sites and often items are provided free to others. We always look for ways to reuse items or donate them, such of second hand book sales for worthy causes. 

My problem with the whole process is how manufacturing has not evolved environmentally friendly packaging to keep up with the times. Where is innovation when it comes to packaging? Why, after years of environmentally friendly practices, are we dealing with some of the exact same packaging which is non-recyclable or non-compostable. It is time for industry to come into the 21st century. Anything less is not good enough!

Jump start

Blue jays sit in the trees and call to each other, that distinctive sound we’ve come to know and love. As people approach the bridge, the jays take up positions in the trees around it, watching for peanuts, their favourite treats.

They don’t bother with the tiny sunflower seeds, a favourite of the chickadees.

As peanuts placed by their loving admirers are set on the railing, the jays fly closer and land nearby, though wary of every move of the bystanders. When they feel it’s safe, each hops to pick up a treat.

 A quick escape is essential.

Each jumps before its wings engage, which we hadn’t noticed before. A quick vertical jump, 

as if each is on a trampoline instead of the hard railing. The feet show the effect of the downward push when the bird is in the air.

The blue jays are agile as each bird can land on the railing from all sides and angles 

and jump sideways if need be. 

The wings begin to unfurl as they push away from the rail.

The birds aren’t the only ones treated this day!

Maple syrup

We hadn’t seen it before. On a recent drive through the French region of the island, we spotted a man working at the taps on his maple trees. My husband and I stopped there on the way home to take some photos. By this time, the man was gone so we couldn’t ask any questions.

 

Prince Edward Island doesn’t have many huge stands of maples. There are only four producers listed for the island this year, producing about 10% of the maple syrup used here. 

However there are a number of small family maple syrup operations such as the one we saw. We were interested to see the taps collecting the maple sap. There were a number of trees around the property with active taps that day. The trees in front of the house had four taps, one on the back side of a trunk.

We will look for some of the island’s maple products this year.

A rooster in the mail