A day at the beach

It was a sunny but windy day and the tide was low, a perfect morning for the park and beach at Canoe Cove. We love to visit that beach with our daughter and grandchildren, so we headed out early to get maximum time there at low tide. The kids were so exited when they jumped out of the car, all laughing and talking at the same time. The Cove is a great place for all of that energy. 

First they checked out the playground at the park. Meanwhile the tide was headed to its lowest point and before long, we headed down for a walk in the sand and tidal pools. We watched a pair of Great Blue Herons fishing for an early lunch. 

Also, this is an area of coastline which is home to seals. They are in the distance in this photo but as so often happens, I didn’t notice them until I looked at the photos later.

This cove drains off most of its water during low tide so all that remains is water in low lying areas. The exposed sand shows the action of the water on the sea bed. 

Seaweed is strewn around the beach and we spent some time observing the Toothed Wrack variety 

which anchors itself to rocks via a holdfast. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if each person in the world had a holdfast to anchor us when the storms of life are particularly rough?

We explored the animal life remaining on the beach including barnacles and periwinkles attached to the rocks. 

The periwinkles in the tidal pools were crawling over the sand and explored our feet when we walked among them.

It was an interesting sensation. Around the exposed seabed, we found several dead crabs which were intact. 

We didn’t find any starfish that day however.

Several jellyfish were in tidal pools and stranded along the beach. 

The children always avoid them but are curious about them too.

Overhead, the Bank Swallows darted through the air in pursuit of insects and from the exposed shoreline, we watched as they entered and left their nests through the holes in the bank above the sandstone.

Along the shoreline, driftwood of various sizes stands against the elements, 

while trees drape their roots over the elevated shoreline. Those trees will eventually be but a piece of driftwood too.

Our grandson played with toys to make a channel in the sand. It flooded later with the rising tide, a lesson in tidal action he will remember.

The girls had mud baths, coating themselves in some muddy sand along one of the tidal pools. They had a natural spa day with the mud bath and the periwinkles tickling their feet.

Lunch in the park at a covered picnic table was a cool affair in the shade on that windy day.

As we left the park, the rising tide sent people off the beach as the Cove filled with the rising sea.

Canoe Cove at low tide is a great place for children to explore and swim. The added bonus of the day park facilities makes it an ideal location for families to spend the day.

Wildflowers of the island

While I enjoy flower gardens, I enjoy especially the natural gardens of wildflowers which Mother Nature produces every year. She is a clever one too since she orchestrates a succession of beauties, as some go to seed, other blooms take their place.

Now the lilacs and rockets of the roadsides and pathways are gone to seed. The daisies which spend some of their blooming time with those two, 

now commune with other blooms.The variety is lovely. 

Vetch, in its pink/purple beauty attracts bees 

as do the wild roses which are also in abundance. 

Red Clover grows tall, reaching for the sun in a crowded field, as does St. John’s Wort.

Numerous Broadleaf Meadowsweet blossoms line pathways now 

as Goats Beard claims a spot along an embankment. 

Some are gone to seed.

A close look on a sandy trail reveals Red Sand Spurrey, a tiny bloom about the size of a baby’s little fingernail.

It looks like a succulent and is easy to miss although it is worth one’s time. A tiny blossom on a vine among the shrubs, is easy to miss too. Bittersweet Nightshade looks delicate but its purple blooms with yellow centres cause one to pause and admire them. 

Blue Flag Iris always catches my eye along a trail. 

One works hard in a garden to grow blooms half so pretty. Buttercups, familiar blooms of our childhood, are favourites of the ants.

Tall Meadow Rue is almost waist high among the shrubs 

and Spreading Dogbane is a shrub with tiny bells.

Along the shoreline at Rice Point, some familiar blooms along with Bedstraw and Large Hop Clover almost hide the fence along a property line.

Wildflowers are so much prettier than fences.    

Our comedy of errors

It started out as a small project, the way many things do for us. I planted green beans in the garden and the dowels I used for years to support them were in bad shape. My husband, never one to shrink from a project, decided dowels were inadequate, so off he went to the store to buy some planed lumber he could cut into sticks for the garden.

He wasn’t gone long so I wasn’t surprised when he returned without the wood. “You wouldn’t believe what they were charging for a few short pieces of planed lumber. I’m going to the sawmill to get a few pieces,” he said. “Come with me?” The sawmill was half an hour away. 

So, not wanting to miss an adventure, I agreed and within minutes was whisked away to Richmond, west of Summerside. There we stopped at a Handy Andy hardware store for directions to the sawmill. “You can’t miss it, about 700 meters up the road,” reported the clerk when asked about the sawmill. Meanwhile, my husband was distracted by the stock in the store.

“There’s one item of everything from a needle to an anchor in there,” he reported as he returned to the car. “I have to come back here one day,” he added. I thought about the return visit and the untold nuts and bolts which would be added to the supplies in our garage which is already chinched as Newfoundlanders say. We headed west.

Before long, we saw the sign for the sawmill and turned into the driveway where potholes were filled with water from the latest thunderstorm. The bottom of the car hit in a pothole. Oops! “Wonder what was damaged?” he queried as he exited the car and went into the store. There wasn’t a sawmill in sight.

Outside the store a lumberjack stood guard. He kept a silent vigil and could have been a good lumberjack but I didn’t hold out much hope for wood cut with that axe.

Out came my husband with directions to the sawmill, “Further along the road, take the first left,” he said. We left the driveway carefully so as not to do any more damage to the car. As we drove along we listened for problems and reminisced about Handy Andy stores which our fathers frequented when we were children. We hadn’t seen one in fifty years or more.

Eventually we found an exit left and drove and drove. Ten minutes later, right turn and soon the sawmill appeared in the distance.

A clerk showed my husband some pieces of board which would normally have been discarded but now were his, without charge. That price was right. Half an hour later we were home and soon, he was cutting the strips with the circular saw.

Now you would think the story ends there, however, you’d be wrong. Rarely does my husband do a project without drawing blood from some appendage. Knowing that the circular saw was involved I had said, “Don’t lop off any fingers.” Emergencies involving blood make me weak in the knees.

Well, twenty minutes later he came from the garage, blood dripping from his thumb. It was a close call though the thumb was still there. The flesh on his thumb was mangled and it took some time to stop the bleeding. A week later, it still hurts him to do anything with that hand. Who knew your thumb was involved in so much hand function?

We saved forty dollars on sticks. 

 

Friends along the boardwalk

The boardwalk in Summerside is a great place for exercise throughout the year. We are never bored with the section which we frequent because there is always something different to see. Each season brings its own beauty and summer doesn’t disappoint. These are some of the animal friends of the boardwalk which we have enjoyed on our walks the last several weeks.

Red squirrels are as busy as ever and approach walkers for food which many provide. 

The tiny rodents have favourite areas, such as the bridge or a favourite bench where walkers pause and enjoy their company. 

Eastern Chipmunks collect maple seeds which fall on the boardwalk. 

They also take sunflower seeds from walkers although they are not as bold as their fellow rodents, the squirrels.

Dozens of Blue Jays hang out near the bridge too. 

They gather if one stops on the bridge. If you leave peanuts, they will quickly take them. The birds also provide the alarm system for the other animals if a predator comes into the area.

The Common Grackles are noisy and spend time around the bridge as well. 

They will eat seeds left in various feeders but are not as willing to be around people as the jays are.  

Red-winged blackbirds are their usual noisy selves. 

The males will chase off any crows who get too close to their nests among the bulrushes, where the females tend the young.

Every June, Sora visit the stream along the boardwalk. 

These birds are elusive and can be difficult to photograph. I was lucky enough to be there at the right time. Notice the length of its claws.

Herring gulls frequent the area 

and American Black Ducks live along the stream too. We didn’t see any ducklings this year however.

Recently, another walker pointed out a Leopard Frog in the grass along by the boardwalk. 

It was well camouflaged as it watched the proceedings. It stayed quiet and barely moved as we watched it for ten minutes. We had never see a frog there before.

The Song Sparrows are numerous along the length of the boardwalk. One doesn’t have to walk far to hear them perform.

Great Blue Herons visit the bay throughout the season and often stop by the salt water marsh and stream. 

Recently one took flight as we arrived at the gazebo and landed in a tree overlooking the boardwalk.

One great sight along the boardwalk this summer has been a pair of Belted Kingfishers. They perch in the trees along the shore and fish along the coastline. They fly to an area, hover, look below in the water and dive into the water to catch food such as fish, then fly into the trees with it. I have watched them on several occasions now and was lucky enough to take video of one such fishing expedition. You can see it here.

Finally, the last photo is of the end of a culvert which empties by the side of the boardwalk. A young fox on the walkway escaped into the culvert when people came along. We saw it poke its head out once and waited for another glimpse, to no avail. We hope to get its photo one day.

 

  

Thunderstorm at the beach

The forecast called for rain with the possibility of a thunderstorm. We watched from home as the sky darkened. Hail fell then it turned to torrential rain. Thunder rolled nearby.

Our daughter and the family were at a beach on the north shore of the island. It was a regular day at Cousin’s Shore. The stream flows from the pond behind the dunes and crosses the beach, flowing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Everyone was enjoying the beach but in the east, the sky darkened. 

These are our daughter’s photos, taken with her cell phone. 

The family started to pack up when they heard thunder in the distance. 

The sky darkened in minutes.

As they headed back to the car, they saw lightning flash through the clouds. The kids were scared. The drama in the sky continued 

as they watched from the car.

The formation passed overhead 

and slowly appeared to lighten and widen in appearance. 

As they drove away from the area, the rain started. They were amazed at how quickly and dramatically the storm rolled in. Our family was lucky to have been close to the car park so everyone could get to safety.