Category: Canada

Here today…gone tomorrow…just passing through

It’s the season for Tall Ships. Actually next year 2017 will be the year that many of the Tall ships make their return. ( Last time was 2009)

For the past week, the beautiful Tall Ship,‘Cuauhtémoc’ from Mexico has been docked on the Halifax Waterfront. What a beauty of a ship!! What a ship to photograph! And many people have.

I am a little sad I didn’t get in to the waterfront myself…

Here are just a couple of my favourites that local photographers captured!

Photo by: Kimberley Burke

Photo by: John Tenfold ( Photomaster Studios)

13254593_10154314053031454_4280726502443497556_n

Photos by: Shaun Lowe Photographic

These ones are so beautiful!!Shaun Lowe Photographic does AMAZING work!!! Based out of Halifax Check out their other work.

13177854_10153468661211965_8131830686537876134_n

13226907_10153468661206965_6399195614321858110_n 13260272_10153475892456965_4621033618535357159_n

13221719_10153468661231965_6538461415980396757_n

Ok…and just one MORE!!

12036485_10153478443911965_6126226638109904207_n

The Tall Ship Cuauhtémoc is a sail training vessel of the Mexican Navy, named for the last Mexica Huey Tlatoani The collection of tall ships scheduled to visit Nova Scotia’s ports next year will be part of Nova Scotia’s Canada 150 celebrations.  who was captured and executed in 1525.  She is the last of the four sister ships built by the Naval Shipyards in Bilbao, Spain in 1982.

Goodbye Cuauhtémoc, thanks for visiting!

This is just a small taste of a Tall Ship.

Nova Scotia has officially been deemed a Rendez-vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta venue and will serve as the start of the final leg of the tall ships race next year.

“Plans are also being made that these ships will stop in communities all along our coast, allowing Nova Scotians from communities across our province to see these ships closer to home” said Premier Stephen McNeil. The collection of tall ships scheduled to visit Nova Scotia’s ports next year will be part of Nova Scotia’s Canada 150 celebrations.  Mark your calendars for the summer of 2017. Yay!! How exciting…the Tall ships are coming!

A Bowl Full of Cherries

Many say  “Life is like a Bowl Full of Cherries…”

I say A bowl full of cherries makes a delicious treat and spring snack!

So sweet, so good!

It’s the start of a new week, a little bit chilly here on the South Shore of NS. Even some hail this morning.

IMG_6881 IMG_6882

It’s supposed to warm up this week…let’s hope so! May long weekend is just ahead…

Wishing you a great week, I hope it’s sweet!

Wear your Plaid Proudly, It’s Tartan Day!

Tartan Day in Canada has become an annual event. The concept of “Tartan Day” began at a meeting of the Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia on March 9, 1986. Tartan Day is a celebration of Scottish heritage on April 6th each year, the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320. In Canada, on Tartan Day, Canadians are encouraged to wear tartan in commemoration of the contributions of Scots and their descendants to the fabric of our society.

(Picture below from the Government of Nova Scotia)

Screen Shot 2016-04-06 at 10.42.26 AM

And it’s so funny to me…unbeknown that it was Tartan Day today, I was at my parents last night and Mom gave me the Tartan shirt that she bought for my Dad so many years ago in 1961. It doesn’t fit him anymore and she knows how much I love the Nova Scotia tartan. I washed and ironed it, and tried it on this morning and it fit me!! A beautiful keepsake that I will always cherish.

Wear your plaid proudly!

Screen Shot 2016-04-06 at 12.49.37 PM Screen Shot 2016-04-06 at 12.50.25 PM

Blossoms

The last couple days my newsfeed has been filled with posts of beautiful pink and white blossoms from around the world. It’s Spring, my favourite season and it’s peak time for cherry blossoms around the world. From Vancouver, Canada to Washington, DC to many parts of China & Japan. Such beautiful images makes my heart long for these places…especially China where I could walk amongst beautiful trees all filled with blossoms.

Last year we were in DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. That was April last year. This year it is a little early because of the mild winter we’ve had. Oh how I miss it. I wish we had places here in Nova Scotia that were full of cherry trees. I guess I’ll just have to wait for our crab apple trees to blossom…usually in May.

Here are a few images of my favourite trees.

Screen Shot 2016-03-25 at 9.21.16 AM 10406694_1117578621627287_3932572059914886242_n

Ahh… so pretty.

Today is Easter Monday and still a holiday for some. We are heading to my parents for dinner with some of the family. These days there is ALWAYS some one working. It’s hard to get everyone together.

Screen Shot 2016-03-28 at 7.27.42 PMHave a great week friends!

A good start to March Break!

Well, thanks to a nice little freezing rain snow storm that swept through last night, kids are getting an extra long March Break. Next week is March Break in Nova Scotia and today schools along the South Shore were canceled. An EXTRA day for their break. Good news I guess, because there really haven’t been too many “snow day” cancellations this winter.

IMG_4487

IMG_4485

I guess you are never too old to want to travel on Spring Break because our son James is traveling this week too! And believe it or not he’s headed for “the land down under” So jealous James!!!

Have tons of fun and take lots of pictures!

So I think on this snowy day, I’m gonna enjoy my coffee, clean my house( it should stay cleaner long with James gone haha) and get started on a few projects.

IMG_4486

It’s Friday, and the start of March Break…ENJOY!!!!

Where are you headed to if you’re traveling?

Woke up to WHITE

Well, the signs and forecasts were correct!

This morning when we woke up it was white…and snowing! Ugh….

it’s so pretty though, almost like a first snow, and we really haven’t had too much this year BUT it is March 5 and I really like the “no snow kinda days” we have been having lately. Well…the snow came back! And there’s LOTS. About 15 centimetres down and still snowing and blowing at 8:30am.

IMG_1674 IMG_1673

ENJOY your snowing weekend on the East Coast!

It’s like this before a MAJOR storm

It’s March! And this winter has been fantastic. I can’t believe the difference from last year. Many days the sun has been shinning and warm through my windows…actually making me feel like I should be Spring cleaning. Oh the dust bunnies on those kind of days haha. But I will wait a just bit.

Last year EVERYONE was tired of snow and snowstorms, begging for a reprieve from snowstorm after snowstorm. It’s one week til March Break, one of the busiest weeks for travellers heading south to escape the cold and snow.

Halifax Airport Parking Lot March 2015
March 2015

This year is not so bad…many will still go…We usually enjoy a Winter escape in February, but this year is a little different. It’s Cuba in April for our son’s wedding, (later than usual) and I’m just thankful the weather has been so great, otherwise I would have wanted two vacations.

People in Nova Scotia who love to get out and about and photograph our beautiful province have been sharing some gorgeous photos …sunrises, sunsets, beach and wave photos, and signs of an early spring… and because we are a coastal province, many learn to watch the water to see the signs in the winds and the waves. I guess the last couple days the water along the coast has been acting the way it does before a MAJOR storm comes.

“The Bay of Fundy had plenty of power tonight. It’s not that the waves were overly large, it was the wind speed and energy coming from the ocean. It’s like this just before most major storms – I hope I am wrong.”~ Phil Vogler

Weather predictions are that we are in for a snowstorm this weekend. It’s hard to believe looking outside…other than the temperature is now -10 rather than the +15 it was earlier in the week.

What will the weekend hold? For the last couple storms we have been on the right side of the currents only getting rain. I don’t mind rain, it doesn’t need to be shovelled.  Either way, even if we do get a major storm and (cover your ears) snow…it won’t last!

Have a GREAT weekend! We are in to March now and just a few weeks until it’s “officially” Spring! SPRING is my favourite season of all!!