Category: East Coast Culture

A drive on the beach…

There’s no question I LOVE the beach!

“This really is my favourite beach! We are so blessed to live this close to such a beautiful beach.” I said to my husband as we were driving, yes driving, on the beach yesterday.

There aren’t too many places that you can drive on a beach but Crescent Beach is one of them and it’s not far from our home. We usually don’t drive on it. We usually like to walk this beach, like on January 1st of each new year. It’s tradition.  But this is our “go to beach” and we like to visit often.

The first couple days of February have been so unbelievably mild and sunny that yesterday we went for a drive to the beach and because the sun was soon setting, rather than walk we just slowly drove the length of the beach and watched the waves roll and the beautiful glow on the water. There is something so relaxing, so soothing and peaceful about this to me. Ahhh…

I often say we should buy a place or land and build here, so we can have this EVERY day but, I also like the convenience of living right in town too. Hmm…

If the remaining weeks of Winter could be like this…I wouldn’t mind it a bit. However, in a day or so I’m sure there will be another snow storm. We’ve just got to be thankful and enjoy the nice ones.

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~2016~ It’s a BRAND NEW YEAR!!!!

 

2016

What will this new year add up to for our family?

LOTS of Special Moments and a few Milestones too this coming year…it’s so exciting!!!

Here are a few things we are looking forward to…

On April 16th Andrew & Kristina begin their life together as a MARRIED couple. Wedding in Cuba!!

June 4th, another Goode Family wedding!

July 18th is  30th Wedding Anniversary for David & I. It’s a milestone one!! and…hopefully we will be in Paris to celebrate.

September 2 is Kristina’s 30th Birthday. No more 20’s for our sweet new DIL.

December 26th my last Birthday celebration of the 40’s…

I’m looking forward to seeing how this and MORE all unfolds over the next 12 months!

We’re starting it off right with our New Year’s Day walk on the beach…

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And then lobster chowder for lunch when we got back!

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Happy 2016 folks and here’s to a brand new year!

A little puzzling…

Not puzzling as in confused.

Puzzling as in it’s the time of year when it’s snowy and blowing outside, and it’s Christmas vacay,  and it’s time to stay cozy inside and do puzzles…LOTS OF PUZZLES.

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This one posed a bit of a challenge. So many small pieces and too close to Christmas Day when I needed the extra table for Christmas Dinner.IMG_3001But it got done!

IMG_3294It’s David’s thing to do and the kids and Mom & Dad will join in sometimes. He’s all stocked up with puzzles, so we should be good for the next few months…

especially when it’s a blizzard like yesterday’s snow outside!!!

Get Your storm chips ready!

Get those shovel’s ready! It’s time to dig out the snowblower and shovels because today Eastern Canada is expected to get the first major snow storm of the season!

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And as Frankie Mac Donald would say…get your storm chips ready!

At 10am this morning it started.

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And 5 minutes later…IMG_3247

And then this afternoon…snow, ice pellets, rain, ice pellets, snow…

1st snow of season 1st snow!And then rain and ice pellets.

In Bridgewater, I think we faired pretty well. Not a major one after all, just very pretty.

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It’s Christmas…My Heart is FULL

It’s Christmas!

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I Love this special day with my family.

The kids are all home.

CrazinessMy parents and my sister and her family here. It is our family tradition and It has been a wonderful day celebrating together.

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A beautiful afternoon meant family pics outside, a few minutes on my rocker ( a Christmas gift made by my Daddy), a motorbike ride and enjoying a beautiful sunset.

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And this year…December 25th, there is a Full moon in the night sky. A beautiful conclusion to a wonderful day.

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IMG_3086Christmas is a day of reflection, gratitude, togetherness, cheer, warmth, giving, and goodness. It’s unique for many reasons, one of them being that it happens one day a year. When a full moon occurs, there’s an overwhelming energy that arises. The sun and the moon are in opposite Zodiac signs. And while it proves to be a time of utter charge, it also brings about balance. The solar yang and the lunar yin are congruous.

It makes it even more intriguing that the last full moon we’ll see in 2015 happens to be on one of the most celebratory days of the year. People are enthralled with this idea, perhaps because it’s so spectacular that two big things are coming together. Bizarre and beautiful occurrences take place during full moons. Wonderful things happen on Christmas. The combination of the two is like a treat you never knew you needed until you’re informed of its presence, and suddenly the excitement consumes you.


The December full moon is special because it rises near sunset and then sets close to sunrise. This means that it is the only night in the entire month that the moon stays in the sky for the whole night. And even better is that a full moon on Christmas day hasn’t occurred for 38 years (1977)and the next one won’t appear until 2034.

As I gaze up at the moon tonight my heart is full, I’m so thankful and I’m thinking about family and friends all over the world that are seeing the same moon, and wishing them a wonderful Christmas and may all their dreams and wishes come true in 2016.

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I am so blessed!

Merry Christmas From Nova Scotia ~ East Coast Style!

Nothing says East Coast and Christmas more than a great feed of lobster. After all, it’s Lobster season here along the East Coast and it’s time to enjoy our annual Christmas time tradition of Lobster ( a little extra seafood too)

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from Nova Scotia

It’s Winter time again…

the most FAVOURITE season of all Canadians…NOT! Well ok…for some it’s the favourite!

It is known as the longest night and shortest day. It is the Winter Solstice!

The winter solstice happens every year when the Sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. In other words, when the North Pole is tilted furthest – 23.5 degrees – away from the Sun, delivering the fewest hours of sunlight of the year.

The Sun is directly overhead of the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere during the December solstice and is closer to the horizon than at any other time in the year, meaning shorter days and longer nights.

The day after the winter solstice marks the beginning of lengthening days, leading up to the summer solstice in June.

Happy 1st Day of Winter!

Ps. ( No snow in the forecast until maybe next week)

To Inspire Others…

…with the Spirit of Giving!

Because that’s what Christmas is all about!

Who doesn’t love the West Jet commercials at Christmas? West Jet is a Canadian low cost airline that does amazing things at Christmas to give back to the community and to people in need. In case you haven’t seen it or you’re not in the Christmas Spirit yet…just watch this year’s miracle!

Thank you once again West Jet and may we all be inspired to do something nice…something wonderful for someone who needs it this Christmas!

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Yes B’y

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Christmas shopping is so much fun! Yes B’y she sure is!! lol I especially love finding different and unique gifts. An trip to some of Halifax’s Malls and shops and there are all kinds of interesting possibilities.

We stopped in to one very interesting shop to browse…who doesn’t love chocolate? And this here shop is Newfoundland Chocolate.

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It started as little more than a hobby for Christina and Brent, both graduate students at Memorial University of Newfoundland and is now a famous Artisian Crafted Chocolate Company.

A bit of “Their story” From the Newfoundland Chocolate company’s website...Boxes weren’t just boxes of chocolates; they proudly displayed iconic scenes of the company’s namesake on the covers and instead of just descriptions of the chocolates inside the box, there were maps of Newfoundland and Labrador.  For example, a chocolate wouldn’t just be a chocolate with blueberries, it would be a chocolate featuring incredible Newfoundland blueberries and would be named after, where else, but the blueberry capital of Newfoundland – Brigus. 

 The bars would feature those iconic jellybean houses that dot the streets of St. John’s with their colour and character.  The pan rolled beads of chocolate would be Newfoundland Chocolate Beach Pebbles and when it came time to name the Easter Bunnies, well they just had to be Joey, Danny and Clyde after some of Newfoundland’s most famous or infamous Premiers.  And, when terms of endearment were chosen for the valentine’s day bars, they wouldn’t say, ‘be mine’, they’d say ‘Me Duckie’ and ‘Some Sweet’.

 Everything about the Newfoundland Chocolate Company would be a celebration of not only delicious artisan crafted chocolate but of the culture, beauty and charm of Newfoundland.  Brent and Christina’s vision was to bring Newfoundland and Labrador to the world by making the best, most delicious, most artistically crafted and beautiful chocolates around.

Such a cool store! So if you haven’t found the perfect gift or stocking stuffer for someone…maybe treat them to some nice chocolate…Yum, it’s delicious and FUN even for a Saturday mid morning treat this time of year!

IMG_2915Yes B’y!!