Category: Places in Nova Scotia

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South Shore for Haiti

Click to go to Oxfam Canada or to donate.

I was the “Dessert Queen” in Mahone Bay on Saturday night, receiving desserts people brought to the Mahone Bay Centre, sticking their names on the bottoms of the pie plates so they’d get them back later, sometimes tasting the desserts to find out what they were and if they contained nuts, slicing up cheesecake, apple strudel and blueberry pie….Nice work if you can get it?

It was a benefit for Haiti, to collect money for Oxfam’s Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund.  Oxfam has a team in Haiti permanently, so they are well positioned to get aid to people quickly.  As we have seen, speed is all important in saving lives and preventing chaos.

The little town of Mahone Bay raised $13,600 for Haiti that night.  There were soups, chili, wonderful breads, coffee, cider and desserts, all donated by individuals and businesses in the community.  There were musicians donating their talents on 2 stages, and craft tables for kids to make things to sell and to send to children in Haiti.  300 people were fed.  We wished we could have sent all that food to Haiti, but money travels lighter.

It was a terrific community building event, spearheaded and MC’d by Camelia Frieberg of Pollination Project with Valerie Hearder and Bonnie Isabelle (who did a wonderful job coordinating a busy kitchen with at least a dozen volunteers, as I can attest) the South Shore Waldorf School, Indian Point Marine Farms, Boulangerie La Vendéenne, LaHave Bakery, CafeHaus, Rumtopf Farm and many, many local folks who brought in crock pots and stock pots full of delicious chili and hearty soups and stews.

Musicians included Shalan Joudrey, Mary Knickle and HodgePodge, Paul Buchanan and Eilidh Campbell, Slow Cooking Cover, Tim Merry, Jamie Junger and friends, the Rhodenizer Family, Tom Haddal and friends, Reid Campbell, The Trips and Russ Winham and Kirk Comstock.

You can still donate to Oxfam and have it counted in the tally for the South Shore for Haiti event until Jan. 28. Here’s how: Go to www.oxfam.ca, choose “Haiti Earthquake 2010” and in the Comments section enter “Event: South Shore for Haiti”. Or phone 1-800-466-9326 and ask them to note that it is for “Event: South Shore for Haiti”.

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The days are getting a little longer

… I think. At least the sun has come out as the temperatures dive well below freezing. After several days of hovering around the 0°C mark, the sun rose to -14°C. Time for a walk.

Wharf
Steam rises from the water of Mahone Bay in the early morning sun
Sunrise
The sun rises behind islands in Mahone Bay
Pine tree
The rising sun kisses the snow
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End of the Rainbow

I was chasing rainbows again yesterday. So what exactly does the end of the rainbow look like? In this picture, the rainbow comes down in front of the trees and lands in the water. Actually, there used to be an island there; now it’s a shoal, where seagulls and cormorants like to roost. Someone, apparently, thought the Oak Island treasure had to be there, and dug up the island (which is located near Oak Island), looking for it. If there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, maybe he was right!

Rainbow's end, near Oak Island, Nova Scotia
Rainbow's end, near Oak Island, Nova Scotia
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Soft sea ice

Ice on rocks near Oak Island
Ice on rocks near Oak Island

I love how the soft sea ice forms, bends and cracks over rocks as the tide recedes.

It was -8° C this morning along the shore of the Bay, and the tide was falling.

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Community Theatre: The Three Musketeers

Boo the bad guys, cheer the good guys and coo at the young lovers. That’s the traditional British Pantomime style: no stiff upper lip, no hoity-toity “theatah, dahling,” just good Fun for the Folks in a form that dates back centuries. And no, it has nothing to do with the gentle “mime” of Marcel Marceau. Except that this year’s play takes place in Paris, where you might go to that windmill place to dine on a Folly Burger, and see a tower that’s quite an eye-full. (Get it?)

South Shore Players‘ all-new, original, “The Three Musketeers” has finished its two-weekend run to full houses in the Pearl Theatre in Lunenburg, amazing us again at the wealth of talent around here. The sheer volume of effort that goes into such a community production contributes hugely to local spirit and culture, and the quality of the result instills pride and loyalty to the place.

Written by Jon Allen and Dave Brumwell, two transplanted Brits with fine comedic skills and a love of playing to a crowd in outrageous costumes, “The Three Musketeers” was full of cleverness and punnyness. Cross-dressing was so prominent that it seemed not to matter whether a part was being played by a man or a woman. Never mind that there are always more women trying out for parts than men, this is a traditional feature of “panto” that gives a delicious freedom to the imagination of both actors and audience, and makes for a lot of laughs.

Half a dozen musicians formed a very fine orchestra which endured numerous disparaging jokes from the actors, all in good fun.

Students from local schools were encouraged to contribute jokes and the winners each had a night to participate in the play, in costume and makeup, thus gaining a first experience on stage.

The Christmas Pantomime has become a multi-generational family tradition for us. Maybe one of us will someday take part….

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Frosty mornings bring ice to sheltered waters

Ice breaks over rocks as the tide recedes
Ice breaks over rocks as the tide recedes

I’m fascinated by the formation of ice and how it interplays with the tides. And it has started again with cold morning temperatures which leave a layer of ice which plays with rocks as the tide goes down. You can hear the cracking as you walk along the shore – just little crick-clicks now, but bigger booms when the ice is thicker.

I made a video called Frosty Morning last year which you can see here.

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Helping a friend

Jennifer Collins with two friends who shaved their heads on Sept. 12 to raise money for her
Jennifer Collins with Laurie Flavin and Ann Miller who shaved their heads on Sept. 12 to raise money for her

The other day I was contacted by a local chiropractor, Laurie Flavin, who asked if I could help with setting up a web page with a PayPal “DONATE” button so people could help her friend, Jennifer Collins, who lives just outside Lunenburg.

Jennifer, an active mother of 3 boys in their 20s, broke her neck in a freak accident while horsing around with one of her sons last February and was instantly rendered quadriplegic.  As she says, she knew right away what had happened because her body went numb, but she stayed calm for her son and asked him to call 911.

Jennifer is blessed with good friends, a supportive family and a positive attitude towards getting better.  Right now, as she leaves rehab, her needs are material: a specialized exercise bike that stimulates muscle-nerve connections electrically, and a wheelchair van.  Her dream is to get stem cell treatment, but that will involve a trip out of the country.  Ultimately, she hopes to be able to take golf lessons as she had been planning before the accident.

You can read more and donate money to Jennifer at JenniferCollins.org.

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Lake country is cottage country

Nova Scotia has so many beautiful lakes.  Some of them are lined with cottages.  In Cape Breton family cottages are called “bungalows”.  Other lakes are in wilderness areas and may hide traditional camping spots known to a few fishermen, hunters and back-country campers.

I camped out last weekend next to the cottage of friends on Lake George, on the South Mountain near Aylesford, in the Annapolis Valley.  We swam and kayaked and wished we had a little sailboat there because it was windy.  We hung out and talked and read books and ate.  When it was cold we lit a fire.  We grabbed the last bit of summer.  That’s what cottages are about.

Lake George on a September morning
Lake George on a September morning
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Hurricane Bill passes Mahone Bay

High tide at Western Shore public wharf, on Mahone Bay, around noon today, as Hurricane Bill passes us about 100 miles offshore. The tide is as high as I’ve ever seen it, but I’ve seen bigger waves when the wind had been sustained and in another direction. We’re morbidly keeping a watch on high tides, knowing that if the sea rises a metre as the ice caps melt, we’re in trouble.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazqFt9aow0
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Beautiful schooners under sail

Is there any boat more beautiful than a schooner?  What is it about them that draws the eye?  The Schooner Association met in Chester this weekend.  We passed a few heading home on Sunday.  Some photos, taken from our boat:

Schooner in Lunenburg Bay.
Schooner in Lunenburg Bay.
Ocean Racing Class schooner, apparently from Germany, spotted in Mahone Bay on August 9, 2009.
Ocean Racing Class schooner, apparently from Germany, spotted in Mahone Bay on August 9, 2009.