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.

Peony time

It’s our favourite blooming time of year! A few days in late June every year, peonies fill the front garden at our house. The blooms are particularly beautiful this year, though I say that every year. 

Our love of peonies started with my husband’s grandmother who grew peonies and shared her bounty with us for our garden in Newfoundland. We both associate peonies with Classie, a name which describes her perfectly.

Of course there are names for these varieties of peonies which I don’t know. I do know the wow factor of the various varieties which leads my husband and me to take photos leading up to and during the bloom.

In our current garden, some of these blooms are the size of dinner plates. These white ones, 

with the paint-dipped petals near the centres are that big. A bunch of them is so heavy that in spite of a large basket around the plant, the blooms fall over.

These red peonies are not as wide but are as thick as the whites. They are always the first blooms of the lot.

Some of our peonies have a hint of pink with a yellow centre. 

Others are wide and thick with short white petals lining the outer pink ones. Beautiful pink petals make a thick centre.

We call the one on the right a single peony. It is a soft salmon colour without many petals and stands beside a bunch of huge fluffy pink ones. 

While some buds are yet to burst forth, 

the red ones have begun the inevitable fall of petals. 

We enjoy them while we can!

 P. S.

I posted before I checked the peonies this morning.

A surprise bloom this morning.

The depth of this bloom is amazing.

Pink blooms waiting for their moment in the sun.

Rose peonies in their glory!

To the lighthouses

It was a day of lighthouses. We accompanied friends, Helen and her husband, Frank to Indian Head Lighthouse after a visit to the boardwalk in Summerside and lunch. The red dirt road which leads to the lighthouse had been recently graded but the going was rough. Arriving at the end of the road, one discovers the lighthouse at the tip of a long breakwater.

The city of Summerside on the other side of Bedeque Bay looks peaceful in the summer sun. 

The Front Range and Rear Range lights are in place as they have been for decades, now but a reminder of the days before navigational systems guided entry to the bay. 

From the sea floor at low tide, one can get closer to the Indian Head Lighthouse. 

Some fishermen fish Striped Bass from the breakwater while feathered fishers watch nearby. 

This Savannah Sparrow sang from the bushes. 

Erosion of the shoreline just inside the breakwater is dramatic, as trees drape themselves down over the cliff.

I sat on the breakwater and took photos of the sailboat out in the Northumberland Strait. When my husband downloaded the photos, it was a surprise to see the wind turbine in the far distance, one from a wind farm in New Brunswick.

We drove on roads lined with lupins on our way to the Seacow Head Lighthouse at Fernwood.

The area provides a view of the entire Confederation Bridge, which links Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick. 

At the Head, the road disappears into the sea and nearby, waves work on the sandstone. 

The lighthouse oversees the setting and withstands the elements well.

We bade farewell to our friends who are returning to Australia this week. Meeting fellow bloggers has been wonderful!