Notes from the isle

Every so often, the weather surprises us. It was hot and humid in the latter part of September and has now turned cold. However, there was a wind storm last week which lasted three days. The wind gusts on the first day were as high as 89 km/h or 55 mph. It lifted six pieces of soffit from our house. While I was willing to wait out the wind storm, my husband was determined to save the remainder of the soffit. Out went our huge step ladder, with husband on it screwing in pieces of soffit hanging from the deck above. I held onto the ladder, feet firmly planted, steeled against the wind gusts. Success! We didn’t lose any more soffit and retrieved the pieces from around the neighbourhood for reuse. The winds were the strongest I have ever experienced while working outside. With a friend’s help, the soffit was fixed after the storm.

One grape vine winds its way around one of the support poles of our patio deck. Usually we share the grapes with the crows, stealthy thieves that they are. This year they didn’t get many of the grapes which is unusual. Maybe they are social distancing. This meant I had some grapes for juicing. It results in quite a mess in and around the juicer. However, the glassful of juice which resulted was tasty, just shy of sweet. I made it last two days, drinking it in sips, savouring the rare home grown treat.

Soup season has begun again for us. As the weather turns colder in the fall, the soup pot comes out. Our most recent soup was a creamy butternut squash with carrot and onion. We like ginger, nutmeg, allspice and garlic in the soup too. I always add a touch of turmeric. For our main meal, we have a sandwich with it. So good! Stew season is also on the horizon. 

Our grandchildren have been back at school for over a month and dance classes have resumed after school. While there have been new Covid cases on the island, there isn’t any community spread to date, no hospitalization or deaths from over 60 infections. The cases are the result of travel outside the four Atlantic provinces, known as the Atlantic Bubble, but the people self isolated when they returned. This Bubble has kept people here safe thus far. We were able to get together with family for Thanksgiving last weekend. A recent outbreak in neighbouring New Brunswick however, keeps us on alert and following precautions strictly.

Listening to the world news every day can bring one to despair. However, a local news story about a city park has caught our attention. Beavers moved into the park where they cut trees, like beavers do. Residents who frequent the park are unhappy with the rodents’ tree cutting activity. The city has responded saying it will relocate the furry lumberjacks. I feel bad for the beavers but they should realize you can’t set up chop just anywhere these days.

Have a great weekend!

A new ride on a changed trail

My new E-bike has arrived finally and I am enjoying the ride. My husband and I rode around our neighbourhood before we headed further afield. It took me some time to adjust to the pedal assist, throttle and gears. It is lots of fun however and the day it arrived I felt like a child at Christmas. 

Then we had high winds, up to 89 km/h, 55 mph, which ruled out cycling for several days. When we were able to ride again, we took to the Confederation Trail. One month ago, when we rode this particular section of the trail, the scene was different.

Remember this old fence and the horses? 

The horses are not in this field as the fence is destroyed, probably a casualty of the wind storm. It was sad to see the old fence this way.

This was the trail last month, 

the green walls reaching skyward as we enjoyed the setting. A month later, 

the green is replaced with autumn colour, predominantly red, as the maples reveal their Canadian identity. The sight makes us stop periodically to take in the fleeting beauty. 

Many of the fields are already harvested and have been replanted for winter to prevent soil erosion. This field was harvested last month 

and seeded with grass which has grown well. 

The sound of water along the trail is unusual and again we stop. 

Ice has started to form on the water, a reminder our days of cycling are numbered for this year. It’s gotten a lot colder this last week.

There is something calming to the spirit about cycling. Although the physical effort can be demanding, riding with the wind in your face, the sound of the birds and the occasional sighting, eyes on the trail ahead and the vegetation all around, are all exhilarating. The spirit absorbs the essence of the experience. You can call it the effect of endorphins, but I like to think the spirit recalls the experience and provides a sense of well being. I can’t wait to go again.

Joy of a boy

We have a daughter and two granddaughters. Girls are familiar and such a joy. With our daughter’s third pregnancy, I was convinced she’d have another girl. Then she delivered a boy. Surprise!

My husband’s aunt has a son and two grandsons and always speaks of the joy of little boys. I didn’t say much and kept an open mind as our little one grew. And you know, she’s right! 

Our grandson is three now and he is such a delight. From his earliest days he gravitated to trains, trucks, and tractors. He is the child you drive to a construction site and stop to observe the activity. Meanwhile his pink doll, called Baby, inherited from his sisters, is a treasured bed time comfort. 

He loves to play dress-up with his sisters, donning a tutu or a princess costume and playing along. He enjoys whatever the girls are doing and joins in the play. His favourite colour is pink.

When he directs the play at our house, we build a train track or a bridge, a tunnel out of furniture and blankets or go camping using the same materials. He can concentrate for an extended time and if I have to stop, he continues to play on his own.

Recently, I walked into a room at his house where he was playing with legos and trucks. The girls were at school.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Making a mess,” was the reply. The couch was covered in lego.

“What will we play?” I asked.

He took out the cement truck which we filled with legos using the “excabator,” then emptied them into the dump trucks, which he emptied at the construction site. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Pure joy!

Along the shoreline

Gulls are a common sight in Summerside along the shoreline and in the harbour in the spring, summer and fall. Some stay year round. When the harbour freezes in December, those birds head for open water around the island. Having lived all my life on eastern Canadian islands, gulls are as much a part of life as the tides. Their calls are synonymous with the sea. 

They stand into the wind along the beach like sentinels of the marine environment. 

They glide on the wind as if at play and are the cleaners of the environment as tremendous scavengers. 

There is so much to appreciate about gulls.

This past summer, my husband and I were interested to see some of the smallest and biggest gull species. Great Black-backed Gulls are the largest gulls in the world. When we have seen them with other species of gulls, they can be aggressive, taking food from the others. 

On one occasion though, a Great Black-back with its mouth full of crab, landed in the middle of a group of smaller gulls.

The others wanted the crab but with one lift of its wings, the large bird sloughed off the other birds with a loud cry. They quickly moved away.

Late July every year, Bonaparte’s Gulls return to Prince Edward Island from their breeding grounds in the northwest. They are among the smallest gulls and are unique among gulls in that they nest in trees. We always see them in a flock, adults as well as immature ones spend time along the shoreline, in preparation for their trip south. They feed along our shoreline for a month or so.

The adults have black heads when we see them in the summer. 

The juveniles have white heads with a black dot behind each eye. 

One of the last times we saw these little gulls this year, they were facing south. I imagine they were pondering the long journey ahead.

Herring Gulls are common around the island too. They are larger birds and their call is the sound of the seaside I grew up with in Newfoundland.

The juvenile Herring Gulls look different from the adults and with their dark grey brown feathers you would not connect them to the adults of the species.

Herring Gulls are some of the birds who drop seafood in shells from a height to break the shell on the rocks below. 

We have watched the Herring Gulls prepare their lunch this way and other gulls last winter did the same as we watched them fly along the Grand River.

While gulls also live in inland parts of Canada, as an east coast Canadian island woman, gulls are as much a part of my life as the sea itself. I cannot imagine life without either.     

 

Heated

Our LG double oven stove has been broken twice this year. In February, the bottom convection oven of the seven year old stove wouldn’t work and a local repairman determined a controller board was broken. Over $330.00 later the oven was repaired. Six months later, the repairman confirmed the same thing had happened. We were disgusted and talked about repairs or buying a new stove. My husband, not one to sit back and take anything without a discussion, called the company to explain the situation about the board having lasted only six months. 

He spoke with the initial call centre person for the better part of an hour, then asked to speak to her supervisor. A stern sounding man reported that the board was only guaranteed for a month. How ridiculous is that! My husband kept his cool and referred to the man as sir, listening, then saying what he thought. The man finally offered my husband $200.00 which was not sufficient. After an hour and a half, he was told to call to speak to the same man in two days as the company would have a final determination. Of course my husband called back. 

The full cost of the repair was covered. The repairman was surprised to receive a call from the company covering the total cost of the repair as well as the part. “That never happens,” he told us. 

We asked him what he thought were the best appliances from the various brands he deals with and he named LG. If they are the best, how long do the worst appliances last these days? Obviously, the more functions on an appliance, the greater the chance of problems. My mother’s old stove only cooked and baked but it lasted for generations. However, that stove was a huge improvement from a wood stove.

To us, it was worth my husband’s time to have the total cost of the repair covered. How many people have the time or determination to do the same? Shouldn’t a company guarantee its parts for longer than a month? If not, the quality should be reflected in the price. Also, who knows why the company covered the cost? What magic words did the trick? Maybe it was my husband’s investment of time over two days or his attitude which brought the positive result? We will never know.

Meanwhile, the stove has been working well for the last month but the controller board is past its guaranteed date. We’ll see what happens.

An autumn ride

It is a beautiful fall morning. The heat and humidity are gone now and temperatures are seasonal. A jacket is in order. The colours of autumn brighten the way as we cycle on the Confederation Trail.

We leave from Emerald this time, a pretty farming community in the centre of the island. Many fields are already harvested though some have equipment turning over the soil today. Gulls cover the newly exposed earth, gathering the spoils of the ploughing.

The trail is leaf covered in places and they crunch as we pass through. 

In some areas, large ferns are rusty now. They catch the sunlight filtered through the trees and lower in the sky on this autumn morning.

There are many red maples along this trail and we ride over perfect Canadian flag specimens spread out under the colourful trees. 

Through the trees, we see horses grazing in a field not far from a farm house. 

There are large farm properties along this section of trail. 

In another area, an old barn has succumbed to the elements.

As we approach the turning point for us today, we see a herd of cows, many large with calf. 

They graze on one side of the trail, while on the opposite side rolls of hay for the coming winter are ready to go.

Every so often I stop to take photos, one foot on the ground, the other on a peddle. However, every so often, I get off the bike and take a look around. Some scenes require your full attention. 

 

Along the way 6

As we go along our way around Prince Edward Island, my husband and I always see interesting or unusual things as we have the last few months.

In August one day along the boardwalk, we looked out to sea at a fishing boat off-shore. Fishing boats and other vessels are a common sight here. However, that day, the top of a cargo vessel appeared in the distance behind the fishing boat but the hull of the ship was never visible. The vessel was a long distance away and I took numerous photos, but the hull never materialized. It was a curious sight.

When we visited the lighthouse at Panmure Head, we saw this mailbox down the road from the lighthouse. The box has a mermaid and a number of symbols of the island such as potatoes, part of a lobster, red sandstone and a lighthouse. Destiny rests on the side of the mailbox and several items we couldn’t identify were on top as well. Does the owner feel that destiny brought her to this island?

There was an Canadian Air Force base at Summerside until 1994. The Royal Canadian Air Force Base was established during the Second World War as a flight training school. Later, during the Cold War, the base was a NATO training site. The airfield is maintained today and the RCAF out of Greenwood, Nova Scotia has Hercules aircraft exercises regularly at the airfield including paratrooper training. It is normal to have Hercules aircraft flying over our neighbourhoods as on this day I was out for a walk.

On the Bonshaw Trails, this flower was high on a tree trunk. My husband and I looked for others wondering if it was a way of marking the trail for some reason. We didn’t see any others so the mystery remains.

On our bicycle ride yesterday, out in the country parked by a house, this old truck has an interesting advertisement. We smiled when we saw it. I wonder if the smiles translate into business?

Sometimes after we have been on a hike, my husband and I will stop at a dairy bar for an ice cream. One of the unusual sights we’ve seen at a dairy bar is a pet rat on a leash which a young couple brought to the service window at the dairy bar. The rat spent time in the man’s hood and went down his neck and came out the bottom of his hoodie. It was an unusual sight for sure. 

What is next I wonder?